Woo Hoo I Finally Have A Design Wall

My design wall need some more tweeking, but I'm happy with the start.


I've also been trying my hand at a controlled scrappy border trying to use up some of those 2" strips, plus throwing in some variety from my small stash. It's very pleasing so far. Next, I think I'll start making some coin stacks.

What Does This Picture Have To Do With Quilting?

Nothing...but it is one of my favorite photos. I took it off the back of the ferry in Bay View, WI at about 6 in the morning. Sweetie and I were taking a motorcycle ride around Lake Michigan...this was the first leg of our journey. Although...it might make a lovely landscape quilt.


Where has the last week gone? I finally was able to attend an Apple Country Quilt Guild meeting. It was a combination Show & Tell and a pillow case class. They were very welcoming and everyone that brought something to show received "oohs and aughhs". Myself included...I brought my quilt that I had posted a picture of. A few pillow cases are on my to do list now.


Also this week was the Coosawattee Handcraft Group, which mainly consists of residents of our gated community. I will be hand quilting said first quilt, although,I may have to try my hand at knitting again.

Hopefully others had a sneak peak of spring this last weekend. It was so nice to be outside gathering rocks for landscaping projects.

What Keepsake Have You Had The Longest?

This doggie is my oldest possession.  My Aunt Margie made it for me out of what appears to be a feed sack.  I'm not sure if it was made before or after my birth, but I did have it by the time I started cutting teeth.  It's poor tail got the worst of it, followed by the nose and front feet.  It also appears to have been gutted at some point.  Oh by the way, I'm 58.

Eventually, I will attend a quilt guild meeting!  First, the meeting was moved to another church, then I couldn't get it together in time to go to the next one, and this week I get to the church and no one is there.  The church secretary said they cancelled because there was going to be a funeral there that afternoon.  Who should walk in but the lady that was reading the sign on the door the first week.  Her Internet must still be down.  The church secretary took my name and number just incase there's a funeral next Tuesday.  She said to not give up on the guild because they were a really good group. 

Next week is Show and Tell, if they stay on schedule.  This week was to have been a class on making pillow cases.  Bubba is a little bulky to take to class, so I'm glad I was just going to meet, greet and observe.  Guess I'll have to think about getting a light weight for classes...any suggestions?

Ok, back to watching the Olympics fulltime.

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My First Quilt Block!

Yes, that's what I said, my first quilt block. Everything I've done so far has been done with strips and panels.

There are a lot of little pokey holes from all the seams that I had sewn and then picked out when Bubba was having issues. I love the fabric and wasn't going to waste it.

The fabric is from an abandoned project that unfortunately called for 2" strip...I"ll just have to work with it. Also, the instructions called for the seams to be pressed open, which made alignment a little dicey and off!

It snowed 2"+ yesterday here in North Georgia...got home from the LQS just in time. Snow sure is beautiful when you don't have to shovel it, fight you way to work in it, or have it turn a dirty grayish brown.

'

Bubba Trouble

Monday, I stopped into my LQS to see if the little screw came in to attach Bubba's foot. It hadn't so Pam took the screw out of her display QC 1000 and on my way I went. Now I didn't get down to doing any stitching until Tuesday afternoon and had to rip out every stitch that I put in.....many times. The upper thread tension was just too tight and everything I tried didn't change a thing. This morning, I surfed the web to see if I could find some pearls of wisdom to solve my problem. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything new. After re-doing everything I had tried yesterday, I decided he needed professional help. Off to town we went. Pam checked a few things and then went into Bubba's computer and tried a few things. At that point she said she would need to keep Bubba and check the computer some more.

Sweetie and I ran some errands, got some lunch, checked out some roads to see where they went and by the time we got home, there was a voicemail from Pam that Bubba was ready to go home. I may wait until Friday to pick him up because I was going to the LQS then anyway for it's Fat Quarter Friday Sale (buy 3 get 1 free).

These are the metal bamboo racks and oriental plates that will end up on the dormer wall to the left of the window.

No It's Not A Potholder

It's really the first Mini Quilt (really it's the first quilt completed - period)that I have completed. I was testing the Fun N Done templates that I had purchased and used some fund raiser fat quarters that I had in my tiny stash.

Last Tuesday was to have been my first guild experience, but it wasn't to be. When I got to the church, there was a lady reading a sign on the meeting room door. I asked if she was there for the guild and she was. She said they occasionally hold the meetings at other churches in town and that her Internet was down so she didn't get notification. The kind lady said that next week would be a better time to start with the guild because it would be the business meeting where they will plan for the following month. So next week it is!

Tonight, Sweetie and I are going to a Potluck dinner sponsored by the Good Neighbor Club. It's a group for property owners to meet once a month and get to know each other. Each month they rotate what each couple or person bring (desert, main dish, salad, hot vegetable) by alpha groups. I'm bringing a pasta salad.

First Quilt Guild Experience Today

Today will be my first quilt guild experience...Apple Country Quilters meets every Tuesday at the Methodist Church in Ellijay. It has to be better than the Garden Club....no body showed up...must be defunct.


Ok...This is my first quilt. As you can see, it's not anywhere near being done. Somewhere in there I have started hand quilting around each rectangle, but I'm not sure when or if it will ever be finished. The border material was purchased years ago (long before I ever thought of quilting) at a really cool shop in Cedarburg, WI...love that little town! The fabric really grabbed me and I knew that someday I would do something with it. In the gated community where I live they just started a hand work craft group that will meet for a couple of hours twice a month. Maybe after a years worth of meetings I'll have this done.

After I started hand quilting this, I decided machine quilting was the way to go and started practicing free motion quilting. I'm sure I've gotten pretty rusty in the months of move prep, moving, and unpacking, so I'll have to practice, practice, practice again.


Some things I've learned: 1.) I don't like quilting in (or is it on) a hoop and would rather just have it on my lap. I thought I was going to be making a crib size quilt, but this is almost a twin and a real lap full. 2.) I'm not wild about hand quilting...even though I'm not that bad at it.