Friday, September 18

Hello everyone! All is well here in Billye-land -- work is slow (yay, today, since I'm really not into it!) and I've not posted photos of some work I've done lately, so let me see if I can throw some up here.

Let's see, I was working on Twisted Sister and the log cabin quilt last I posted. Here's a photo of Twisted Sister (I've since changed the bottom two cornerstones since although I did them that way on purpose, they ended up looking stupid).

This is a Christmas/birthday/whatever gift for friend Lynn. She's seen the photo and loves it. Time now to get it sandwiched, basted and quilted.

So the other quilt was a log cabin -- as I think I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd never done an Eleanor Burns pattern, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was so easy! Only thing is, it makes a big quilt, so I'm going to have to do the QAYG method on this one -- I've assembled the blocks and made the back . . just need to quilt it.

I don't think I ever posted my completed bargello. Well, it didn't turn out quite like I planned, and the photo is lousy -- but it was too skinny and I wasn't in the mood to add to it, so, I cut it in half and bound it and hung it up on the wall. Artist's license, right? LOL

And my latest craze is crazy quilting. I've done 3 blocks. Ok, that's not true. I started the first two blocks, and they didn't even sort of lay flat, so I went back to the drawing board and figured out if I did the blocks like a paper pieced block, then I'd have a better shot at getting it flat. So I did that, and sure enough, it worked better. I've been doing some collecting of threads, lace, beads, etc. and have been given yarns and various other trinkets to add to my CQ by several friends (thanks to all of you!). The block is a bit further along now than this photo, but here's where it was a few days ago:

I've outlined the rose (bottom left) in pink and begun satin stitching it. The heart in the middle is done (thanks Barb for teaching me those French knots!!!). Some of the yarn that Diane gave me is on the line between the heart and the block print, and the block print now has "X's" across all the blocks. I'll satin stitch the hummingbird eventually. I did something in the top right corner, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is right now!

Retreat is coming very quickly, and I've tried to pull fabrics and kits for it so that I don't take everything I own! I plan to get quite a few Christmas gifts finished at Retreat, and am taking smaller projects than quilts, except for one, my City Lights. Also, at some point my X-Block needs it's borders finished and to be quilted . . . the borders just don't make me happy right now, so I'm thinking on them. I hate for things to end up as UFOs, but you know how that goes!

I'll be taking a class on art quilts at Retreat and am looking forward to utilizing the technique in my own art quilts. And sometime in mid-October or early November my Shakespeare in the Park should be coming home!!! YAY!!! I'm sure Barb will have it quilted beautifully and I can't wait to finish it up and put it on my bed. The pillow shams have been done for some time now.

I am also on the lookout for an old Singer 301. I can't afford the Janome 6600 that I want, but I've been doing some research and that old Singer 301 has the largest harp and is probably the most dependable machine that's ever been made. I'm going to be checking thrift stores/garage sales, etc. Hopefully I'll find one for next to nothing, because people think they're old so they're junk. NOT!!

All else is good. Everyone have a great day!

Sunday retreat progress

Sorry! No photos to post -- way too tired! Yesterday morning I finished putting the borders on the Eleanor Burns log cabin quilt and making the backing. Then I went to run errands with a friend and came home 6 hours later exhausted! I put stuff away and then did some work on my CQ block, but really, not much. Spent most of the evening vegetating and packing for today -- and a super hot bath, which is next on the agenda for tonight as well -- I'm tired.!

So today was sewing with Diane and Barb at Barb's house. What a great day! I learned how to make Twisted Sister blocks and Barb showed us how she makes baskets and rugs with the toothbrush technique -- -I need to get me one of those! We let Barb get by with not making a Twisted Sister because she has to have the basket made for a class she's teaching. . . Diane's fabric choices, as always, were gorgeous, and my blocks ain't too shabby either.

Stopped at my Mom's on the way home, took her to the bank and then to the store. Made dinner, eating it now and am beat, beat, beat. I was planning on painting my bedroom tomorrow, but unless I make a miraculous recovery, I'm thinking tomorrow is going to be a sewing/relaxing day. Sewing relaxes me -- does it relax you? Painting -- uhhhh. . . not so much!

Hope everyone is enjoying this virtual retreat - I know I am!! Thanks for hosting, Susan!

Billye

Labor Day Virtual Retreat

Mine started last night. Well, the quilt started last week, but my retreat started last night. Here's a (bad) photo of the quilt I'm working on. Since this photo I've assembled the blocks 3 rows and then 3 rows. My plan is to put a burgundy 3" border (unless when I audition it that seems to dark, then one of the lighter darks as border), and do QAYG with the burgundy as backing (if I have enough). As much as I love FMQ, I'm thinking straight lines. Any ideas anyone? And can you believe I'd never done an Eleanor Burns pattern? Duh. SO EASY!! I wish . . . well I wish I'd gotten one of her books a lot earlier, but then perhaps I wouldn't have tried the more difficult things I've done, like my Shakespeare in the Park or Bonnie Hunter's Double Delight (which I absolutely adore!).

Today will be spent doing some housework and putting the borders on this log cabin - if the weather stays nice taking my dog to the park this evening. . . and hanging with a friend for a few hours this morning. Tomorrow I go to my friend Barb's with another friend Diane for a long-planned Twisted Sister sew day. That quilt will be for my friend, Lynn, for her birthday (passed already) and Christmas present. I chose colors I thought she'd like -- then have spoken to her and, uh, maybe not so much. Still, I'll make it and if she doesn't like it, I'll make her something else.

I also had an epipheny last night. Repurpose, reuse, right? Well, I've been wanting a quilt rack. I don't have much space, but I never use my front door so I thought one somewhat like a ladder to lean up against the door. Then I realized that I HAVE a ladder that I really don't have a place to store . . it's metal, not exactly what I had in mind, but . . . . here's a photo of what I did. I'm not sure why my photos last night are so fuzzy -- it must be me!

On Monday I plan to paint at least one wall of my bedroom -- it will be a pale yellow, which hopefully will look really nice with the pale yellow stars on my Shakespeare in the Park. Barb, who has it to long arm, says it's slated to hit the frame in mid-October. The shams are ready and waiting!! I have time to paint the room, but Monday seemed like a good day, and hey, it's still quilt related, right?

So I'm off to decide on borders for the log cabin. I really would appreciate any thoughts on quilting it! I've even thought of doing a pantograph of some sort on the back and trying my hand at that. This quilt will probably end up going to my estranged husband . . . . all the fabric is stuff from my stash that I probably would never have used . . . and I enjoyed making it. It's a bit masculine for most anyone else, you know?

Well, imagine that, it's Tuesday again!

Here I am back blogging on a Tuesday. Here's a photo of my great-niece Becky's quilt -- I've named it "Rising Star" and put on the label "Made Especially for Becky -- who is the rising star". I thought that was pretty cool -- I'm not usually very creative with stuff like that. Maybe that's not very creative either, now that I think of it! LOL. I'm still in the process of finishing up the binding, but should finish in the next day or so. These blocks are left over from my Shakespeare in the Park, when they were just too much color and the greens didn't flow with the greens in the snail trail blocks. Pretty decent for leftovers, I think!

This is a Joann's block of the month -- I fell in love with it, although it is a technique I had never tried-- machine applique. This is the center block -- I've since purchased (with coupons of course!) 2 more blocks but have not begun them. I don't think it's too bad for my very first machine applique. And no, I have no idea where I'll put this quilt -- it will be huge when done and here we go again, another one on point! However, I am rewarding myself every pay period with another block kit. The kits are pretty cool. They come with the backing fabric and all the fabrics and the patterns. You trace the patterns onto the fusible web, iron it on, cut them out, place them on the base fabric, iron it on and then do the machine applique. You can also do needle turn applique, but I'm really not into doing that, so I chose machine applique, but it still takes a lot of time (AND THREAD). Right now this is just one block stuck up on my wall (with pins yet!), but eventually, I think it'll be a gorgeous quilt! And no, I have no idea how I'll quilt it. Maybe I'll do it QAYG and try some stippling in the free spaces. Heck, I don't know! This one is on the back burner for now, but I want to get all the blocks while Joann's still has them.

Shakespeare in the Park is still with my friend Barb, the long armer. I am anxious to get it back, but I know she's got many quilts in front of mine, and that's a huge quilt. It'll cost an arm and a leg to get it out of hock when she finishes with it! But it'll be worth it. Barb, Diane and I are quilting over Labor Day. Their significant others are out of town and we're contemplating a mini-retreat. That would be fun, but if not, my plan is to get at least one wall of my bedroom painted that pale yellow to go with my Shakespeare in the Park quilt. If we do a mini retreat, well . . . the walls will just have to wait!

All else is good for the moment, and now it's time for me to get back to work. Have a great day!

And here are the pillow shams I made for my Shakespeare in the Park. Looking forward to it coming back from Barb, my long arm quilter!

Ricky & Natalya

I just had to post this adorable photo of my grandchildren!

It's Tuesday

Tuesday seems to be my day for blogging. As mentioned earlier, my friends and I had a sew day where we made X-block patterns. Here's a photo of my flimsy -- without borders (which are sewn but not squared up or added as yet).

The top is actually square -- it's just where I hung it up to snap a quick photo and the edges are falling off. Diane's and Barb's look completely different -- but just gorgeous! They used different X-Block patterns. Here's photos:

This is Diane's X-block -- cool, huh?

And this is Barb's -- her's has what are called "belly buttons" and is a lot more difficult. Gorgeous, huh?

So yesterday was my Mom's 87th birthday. We had a whole weekend of birthday stuff, and it was great. My sister and brother-in-law (although he wasn't here) took us all out to Red Lobster on Sunday and we had a wonderful dinner and a great time. Before that we went to "The Ugly Truth." Warning about that movie -- my 87 year old mother, sister, niece, and 18 year old great-niece (as well as my aunt) went. It's a bit raunchy and I couldn't stop laughing at all of us sitting there watching this rather racey movie. But it turned out OK. My niece and great-niece and I went to see Harry Potter Saturday night. Trixye and I spent the night at Mom's (Trixye did super well, I was so proud of her) and Mom got some rest on Sunday morning. I had to work yesterday, but Mom and Sandi went out to dinner at Olive Garden, and my niece and great-niece stopped in for breakfast. I think she had a good birthday. I laid out the star quilt I'd planned for my great-niece and she loved it -- she said. I hope it's true -- lots of work to be done on it yet. I also got to see the quilt my great grandmother made (or is that great great -- I'm not sure, I think it is), that my great-niece has. Lovely scrappy split rail, all done by hand, with the most beautiful even stitches, just gorgeous.

I had to ruin it a bit due to more trouble in Meghan's world. It is so hard to be so far away and not be able to help. Now she's got cancer, and has been denied MediCal (California's version of Medicaid) so no insurance and they've referred her to a place that only charges 10%. But 10% of thousands and thousands of dollars of treatment is out of reach. I'm sure she'll figure it out -- I only wish there was some way I could help her.

I've been racking my brain trying to figure out a quilt for my sister. She likes things very luxurious, and she wants a queen size. Having just finished a queen size (which is with Barb, my long arm quilter now -- I'm sure it won't be done for months), I'm not quite sure how to attack this one. She doesn't really want geometric, which as you know is about all we do! Then she looked at the comforter on her beds and realized they are geometric in design. Part of me wants to attempt a double wedding ring -- but I think that may be past my skill level. I know I need lots of extra templates, etc., to even attempt one. I'd like to make her one for Christmas, but I'm just not sure what she'll like. She wants jewel tones -- maybe I could find a nice quilt as you go pattern and come up with a queen size. Any ideas anyone? Any patterns you'd suggest? What are jewel tones anyway? Golds, purples, sapphire blues, ruby reds? Would they clash? Maybe with the right pattern . . . . scrappy or not? I don't think she'd like scrappy. It's scary to try to make something and just hope she'll like it. I want to do it . . . . just not sure what to do! I'm open to suggestions!!

Oh, Talya is healthier than she's ever been, she's talking, beginning to walk, etc. Had a minor ear infection yesterday (to top everything off). But she has insurance and the doctor treated her. Kids and grandkids -- God the worry! I try not to worry, but I don't succeed.

Did I tell you I gave Mom my One Block Wonder for her birthday? She was at my house a few weeks ago and claimed it was her favorite. As many of you know, it's my favorite too (well, one of them -- Double Delight and SITP are too) -- but isn't that why we quilt? To give the ones away that people actually love? So I did. I hope she didn't feel it was a "left over" or anything, and I know it doesn't match a thing in her house, but she did claim to love it back then -- I hope she still does! It was hard to give that one up. So much of "me" went into it.

Started to design my shams for my Shakespeare in the Park last night, but with the phone calls from Meghan, etc., I lost interest. But I do have a layout. Can't work on it tonight-- going to the American Idol concert. A birthday gift from my friend Lynn. I think she's the only friend I have that is addicted to AI as I am. So this will be the third or maybe fourth time we've gone to the concert. Third, I think. I'm trying to pull my mood out of the basement so that I can go and enjoy it.

Anyway, any thoughts, ideas or suggestions on a queen size quilt (not past my ability level) for my sister would be appreciated. I know she wants one, and I want to make it. I'm just somewhat intimidated by the size and scope of the project, and what pattern to use. . . . and whether she'll like it once I've finished. But I know she really wants a quilt. Help!!

Billye