More Bee Night Fun

Last night was another great Bee night.  Only four of us here but we had a lot of fun and productive.

Mom was sewing on four patches to use in her quilt as you go project.

Suzanne is hand piecing a patriotic quilt with block patterns from the original 13 colonies.

The block in progress.

Not only did she hand piece, she hand traced the pattern and made templates for the block.  What a girl!

Susan is working to finish her basket quilt.  Tonight she was piecing the setting triangles.  She is piecing nine-patch blocks to be cut for the setting triangles.

Susan having trouble cutting a perfectly good nine-patch block into quarter square triangles.  "Why cut up a perfectly good block".

The quarter square triangles look wonderful cut from that 9 patch block. 

Lastly I had some orphan blocks left over from my Stars Over Carolina quilt.  I decided to try using the dancing nine's layout and see what happened.  I think this will turn out to be a great Quilt of Valor.  I'm putting a small blue inner border then piecing a scrappy red, white and blue 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch brick border to finish it off. 

 Off to work this morning.  Hope you have a great quilting day.
Shelia

Auction Find

My husband loves auctions and is always browsing for online and in city auctions.  This week he found a local online estate auction and it had a box of quilt goodies.  So of course I had to bid on it...hehe.  And I won the box!  So here is what I got for my $30 bid.

A luscious lemon yellow and white 9-patch quilt top which measures 82 x 82.

 It has some spot stains on it but I also got 10 extra pieced 9-patch blocks and one of the white blocks that I can use if needed to repair.  I may be able to get the stains out with gentle washing.  If so I will have some 9-patch blocks that can be pieced into a baby or doll quilt.

 The next bag that was in the box was astounding.  These 9-inch applique butterfly blocks.  There are 243 total of the white background blocks.  The butterflies are hand appliqued down with black thread with button hole stitch.  In the bag were multiple colors of butterflies.  I got 13 Salmon, 32 Red, 26 Green, 26 Yellow, 6 Pale Yellow, 33 Orange, 10 Baby Blue, 7 Teal, 19 Dark Blue, 23 Pink.  Then there were some others were orange background with orange embroidered butterflies 42 of them, 2 green back ground with green embroidered butterflies and then 4 odd ones with different fabrics.  So that is 48 additional of the different background blocks.

 I also found this handwritten note from the quilter which she had done her figuring for the blocks.  On this she lists the colors and that she wanted to make 20 blocks of each of 7 different colors (Orange, Red, Yellow, Orchid, Pink, Blue and Green) for a total of 140 blocks to make 4 twin size quilts.  I'm thinking she had 4 grandchildren for whom these were to be made.  

If you set these 9-inch blocks 5 x 7 you would have a quilt 45 x 63 without any borders or if you used sashing in between.  I figure there are enough applique blocks for 7 quilts that size.  You could also do an 8th quilt out of the different background embroidered blocks.

 A close up of one of the pink butterflies.

 A butterfly garden on my design wall.

 I had so much fun sorting the colors out as I pulled these out of the bag.  Talk about a surprise bag of goodies.

 These are the different embroidered blocks.

 Next there was another bag of applique blocks.  These measure 18-inches.  There were 12 of the blocks with pink flowers and vases.  Hand applique.  Enough of these to make a quilt set 3 x 4 would be 54 inch x 72 inch without any sashing or borders.

 The box just keeps revealing more and more goodies.  Next is a bag with more of the 18 inch applique blocks.  This time with purple flowers and vases.  There were 11 of these blocks.  Yes another quilt!!

 By this point I think I am done, but no.....in the very bottom was a large bag with 4 pillows, some candlewicked, but stained, to me beyond repair.  but at the bottom of the bag was this hand embroidered cloth which measures 88 x 88 inches.  It has some small stains which I think will come out with washing.  She had hand hemmed the edges like it was to be a table cloth maybe, or maybe she was going to trim it down to a certain size later.

 You can see some of the stains at the edge of the basket.

So for my $30 I have enough quilt blocks and tops to make 12 quilts.  WOW!  Now I call that an awesome auction find!  Someday some lady will purchase a box at an estate auction and find some of my UFO's inside.  I hope that she will be just as excited with her purchase as I am with mine.  Makes you wonder if someday someone will complete a project of yours and understand the love and attention you put into the project.  I sure have a lot of admiration for this wonderful lady and her needle work.

Happy quilting,
Shelia

Another Studio Project Completed!

Today we worked on building my thread rack for the studio.  I am so excited as this is one of the final projects we had planned.

 It was 90 degrees with 70% humidity out in the shop today but I didn't care.  I was getting to put some nails into the rack and I was so tickled.

 Now to move it into place in the room.

So excited

Now I'm playing with sorting all of my thread out.  YIPPIE!!

The rack hangs straight.....just the photographer can't take a straight picture...hehe.  So much fun......so little time for fun......but more and more I'm getting little bits and pieces of time that I can play.  Better get back to sorting thread.  I hope to be able to watch Bonnie Hunter on Quiltcam tonight at 9:00 pm.  Maybe I can get some more blocks pieced for a quilt of valor.
Happy quilting,
Shelia

Another Fun Day Quilting

Today I've spent more time playing in my studio.  Amazing how much stress it can relieve just playing with fabric and moving things around.  Today would have been my dad's 79th birthday so I've been a little off today, but thanks to my wonderful husband, my studio and my precious friend Suzanne I've enjoyed today.  Suzanne didn't even know about dad's birthday, we just had fun playing.  She cam e over today to cut out some more fabrics for her Bonnie Hunter class and some kits for philanthropy quilts for the quild.

I've hung some more quilts in the studio today.  First I hung Mom's guild challenge quilt from 2007.  For the challenge you brought in a brown paper bag a UFO to the quilt meeting.  It could be blocks already pieced, cut out etc.  You then went home with another bag of someone else's UFO and had to make something out of what was in the bag.  Mom received a bag of log cabin blocks made with different plaids with black centers.  I thought they were horrible and told her to just throw them away.  But we didn't.  Mom and I had just taken the Square in a Square class at a local shop and were trying out the ruler.  We cut one of the block with the ruler and wow did it change how they looked.  We came up with the idea of a basket being turned over and dropping the blocks out.  I thought it was so cute.  She won 1st place at the guild challenge that year and a 2nd place at the Quilt show with the quilt.

 On the back of the quilt she pieced the remaining blocks that she started with into the backing.

I also hung my brown kaleidoscope quilt behind the couch in the studio.  I love the circular effect of the quilt.

 In another area I hung my 2006 Guild Challenge Quilt.  "I'll Get You My Little Pretty" was the name of this quilt.  The theme was the Wizard Of Oz.  It won 3rd place in the challenge and 3rd place at the Quilt Show.  I had a lot of fun making the quilt.  I used a piece of vinyl to make the globe for the quilt. 

 I'm not an artist, as you can see, but I had a lot of fun making this quilt.  My husband was glad to see me hang it in the studio.

 

Suzanne brought a pattern over for Quilt of Valor blocks.  I pulled from our cut bins of 3 1/2 inch squares and 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch bricks and pieced 13 blocks in just a few minutes.  How awesome is that!!  All we had to do was dig through the pile of already cut pieces.  Thanks Bonnie Hunter for making our quilting making days easier.  Your scrap user system is transforming the quilting world as we know it.  We're not just saving scraps, we're using them!

My bee girl Sue brought me a quart of fresh blue berries last night to bee, so today I decided to make a cobbler.  Being the "throw whatever you got" kind of cook I am I also added some apple pie filling to the cobbler.  So apple blueberry cobbler was born.  YUM YUM!  It was great.  Me, Roger and Suzanne snacked on it while we were quilting and I sent some home with Suzanne for her and Vince to have for supper.  Suzanne also brought me a gallon bag of blueberries today.  Now to fix something else with them.  Gina & Dave's blueberry bushes are sure putting out this year with all of the rain.  Suzanne has picked over 10 gallons while they have been gone.  God's blessings are abundant!

Better get back to sewing.  Happy quilting,
Shelia

Great Friday And Lots Of Fun!

Yippie it is Friday.   Today I've spent almost all day in my studio.  A quick run to the grocery store to purchase needed items for Taco Salads for the bee girls tonight.  Suzanne is bringing homemade brownies....yum...yum.  Just to level out the taco salads of course.

I've been continuing to put my studio back together.  Today I gathered all of my different types of fusible web and put them into one basket.  Now I can go to one spot and find the type of fusible I need.

 Mom loves doing the string piecing and has been using tons of phone book pages but Suzanne bought this deli paper at Costco (it came as 3 boxes to the set and 500 sheets per box) so she gave mom and I a box to use.  It is great for string piecing especially for larger blocks.  The box says it is 12 x 10 3/4, but I measured 11 1/2 x 11 1/2 when I pulled it out.  Mom uses her strings and covers the paper then we can cut it down to whatever size we want.  Works great.

 This is the paper as it comes out of the box.

Here is the back view of a block mom has pieced.

 And now the front.  Cute how she has pulled Halloween fabrics out of the scrap bags to piece these blocks.

 Today and at bee tonight we have been cutting fabric on the accuquilt and putting the scraps into the bin for mom.  We've only done a little cutting and look how many more scraps she is taking one tonight.

 We sewed the binding on mom's braid quilt tonight so she could whip it down at home and I used the left over black binding to bind some more scraps I had left from my yellow and brown braid quilt.  I made a table mat and two coasters.  Cute.

 While we rested today in between projects mom decided that she wanted to make Bonnie Hunter's Bricks in the Barnyard quilt.  So she is going through our precut 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 rectangle (bricks) and 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch blocks to pick out the pieces needed for the quilt.  She went home tonight with all of the pieces cut.  All I had to cut for her was the half-square triangles which only took me a few minutes to do.  She will probably have that pieced by next Friday knowing her...hehe.

 Suzanne has been cutting fabric for our Bonnie Hunter class coming up.  She decided to take a rest and look through some magazines for inspiration.

Sue is hand quilting on a quilt as you go project.

 I got a couple more quilt hung today.  My scuba diving quilt and my Uncle Sam quilt.

And look......we're watching Bonnie Hunter's quiltcam on the TV!!  Found out I can get youtube on the TV.  Amazing technology.......now to just figure out all the buttons on the remote!!

Hope you had a great day quilting.....more fun on my list for tomorrow.

 

Happy quilting,

Shelia

I Am Officially Caught Up.....I Think... With The Blog.

Many of you have asked about my blog and when I was going to post again.  Today I think I have filled in as many of the holes as I can.   So there are lots of posts back dated to when it happened.  The past few months have been really busy with work, building the studio and family.  I love blogging and hope now to be able to keep up with it again.  You know once you get behind on something it is hard to get yourself jump started again.  This blog is my life, my family and my quilting.  Each year I have my blog printed into a book as a journal of that year.  Roger and I truly enjoy going back through the year and seeing how much we really accomplished and everything that happened.  It's amazing how much we actually do each year (we all do, it's just keeping a record of it that is hard).

Today we have been putting up the remainder of the hanging pins for my studio.  This allows me to hang quilts of varying sizes easier than with just rods.  I like the idea and Roger has made the hanging racks cover the entire studio. 

 The pins are clothes pins which he has attached to a board and painted.  He put pins every 4 inches all the way around the studio........and honey that is a lot of clothes pins.  I think I bought everyone that the dollar store had and mom brought some she had.  Roger is so patient with projects like this and I always love the outcome. 

 They look great and hold quilts of any size.

Now to get more quilts up.

The other project we are working on today is the TV for the room.  There are just too dang many choices in TV's and sizes these days.  But we chose one and Roger is working on running the cable lines and mounting a shelf for it to go on.

The last project on our list for the studio is my thread rack.  I've been drawing and figuring and trying to decide how big to make the rack.  I have a ton of thread already and want to make sure it is big enough to cover what I have and some extra space.  I don't think I am going to put the longarm thread on it due to the large spools and the additional amount of thread.  I have the longarm thread in a drawer under the machine.....and think it is better to stay there.  More decisions!  Hopefully by this weekend I will be able to post the studio tour.  FUN....FUN....FUN!

Happy Quilting,
Shelia