Appliqué class at Little Quilts

I got 5 little hearts done during class.  Our instructor, Wanda Hizer, does wonderful work.  She treated us to samples of her Baltimore Album blocks, and then brought out this beauty:

We are angling for a class on Les Fleurs from which this is a sample. Pardon my punchy writing.  This is the second attempt at a post.  My first attempt was wiped out by computer gremlins.

I enjoyed sharing a table with Deb P. and I got to see Becky (The Quilting Book Lady). After class, some of us (BJ, Suzanne, Pat, Mary Ellen and Vicky) went to eat across the street. Suzanne asked me had I seen her basket quilt.  And, yes!  Here it is:

Suzanne's quilts are wonderful.  This is just one of the many possessions of Suzanne's that I covet.  Yep, just add this to the list.  I am one pitiful envious person.

But back to Little Quilts.  Here is another class I want to take:

I love art quilts!  Everywhere you look: eye candy!  Look at this little gem:

Just adorable.  Makes me think I need my blankie.  I do too!

Night-night ya'll.  See you next weekend,

Karmen

Healthy Eats

This picture of Kitten sums up Saturday at this house.  It was DH's 60th birthday, so I lazed about most of the day keeping him company.  We laughed together about the fact we are getting older and all we want on birthdays is premium ice cream and extra sleep. 

I spent some time in the kitchen making healthy food.  I have a vegetarian stuffed pepper recipe I love to make.  After the Shop Hop and work week eating at fast food joints, I was ready to make something green, so along with the peppers I made (from top) cabbage and leek soup, sautéed beet greens and Swiss chard,  and cucumbers with watercress salad.  My version of yummo! 

I want to say thank you to my Auntie from Primitive Woolens, Becky from The Quilting Book Lady, Debbie from Woolen Sails, Renee from Liberty Star, Melisa from Sweet Home and Kim from Magnolia Bay Quilts for congratulating me on our wedding anniversary. I have truly enjoyed getting to know you all through your blog posts, and it touched me that you sent kind regards my way on that important day.

So now it is off to Little Quilts in the northwestern Atlanta hinterland.  Sheesh, I am just hoping for an uneventful drive there and back.  This time I have directions from their website and NO mapquest, so perhaps I'll do better than last time.

First (Locker) Hooked Rug

Yea!  I finished (locker) hooking my first little rug!  I had so much fun doing this.  It is an addictive craft.  And I SO needed another addictive craft in my life. I put the shoes in the picture for scale, and, what the heck, I had shoes the right color.  Go figure.

Look at all those rows of scrunched up fabric.  The center is the only batik I used; the rest of the fabric came from a garage sale (thanks Ann) or Walmart. The printed fabric had to be folded in half with the print side out as I hooked. I wasn't persnickety about it though. And I TORE the strips.

I have had this dress for a while.  It is cotton, so I am waiting for the weather to warm sufficiently to wear it. When I initially spied it at SEARS, I was totally going to cut it up for the fabric.  But then I tried it on.  Love it.  I should have purchased two, since I really want some of this fabric in my stash.
Well, tomorrow is the adventure to Little Quilts.  Remember, I got lost twice on that side of town during Shop Hop, so wish me luck getting there. I am ready though!  I packed my supply box last Sunday, and it has been in my car all week.  I have two things to purchase when I get there: a blue Wonder pen and some template plastic.  I went to two quilt stores on this side of town, and, no surprise after Shop Hop, they were both out of the template plastic.  I need a bunch, since I have some ideas rolling around that require it.

Love and kisses for now,
Karmen
P.S. I did get full credit for the ironing board from Sears.  I will shop in their brick-and-mortar store from now on though.

Framed!

The borders are on, and the backing is cut and pieced.  I found some Asian-inspired fabric with the gold accents in my stash, so I am going to use it.  There were two pieces of 1/2 yard each, so I put them together to cover the back.  Not my cup-of-tea color or design wise, but a good little project to practice machine quilting on.

These are a few more things I picked up at A Scarlet Thread in McDonough.  I watched a chenille demonstration at the Expo last week, but I didn't buy any, so I picked this up off the discount table.  I want to give it a try.  Not sure what I'll apply it to yet.  AC didn't seem impressed by the process, but I think chenille is an adorable accent.  The roll of white stuff (on right) is supposed to be for the bottom of slippers, but I have in mind a non-slip cat box mat.  Quilt stores haven't started making those yet, but then again one-eyed cats fall under the cat-egory of "special needs," so there probably isn't great demand for cat box mats in the general population.

Night-night, ya'll.

Fan-cy

I am getting somewhere on my Kratovil class Coffee Filter Fans wall hanging.  I may have the borders on by tonight.  Depends on how ambitious I feel.  Right now I am out of steam.

Kitten was lazing on the Renee Plains project I finished last summer.  Kitten got a new spring collar, so she is stylin'.

Kitten is listening to the thunder storm and thinking how lucky she is to be an inside cat in a house with homemade quilts on the beds.

I had forgotten it was our anniversary.  I keep a "cheat sheet" with our anniversary on it in the china cabinet.. Hubby went to the store for microwave popcorn. I bought a bottle of German wine yesterday, so I will "celebrate" with popcorn and wine. Whoopee! And back to sewing.  I have both my machines set up, so I can go back and forth.  Loving that.

Booty, too!

Look at this adorable number fabric (in the background).  I like the red jacks, too.

Maybe I can use the numbers to make one of these skirts to wear to work (when I tutor math students)?

I picked up some turquoise, since I didn't have any in my stash.  See the airplanes in the foreground fabric?

The stash also needed some stripes.

And some great stuff from the sale bins (40% off).  Shop Hop was a great opportunity to add to my stockpile.  I don't need to do this much shopping ever again.  Ever.  I'm sure.  Oh wait, they keep coming out with new stuff.  Yikes, I know the temptation will be too much for me.  I need an intervention.  Do local law enforcement people allow you to enroll in work-release programs?  It would be a good thing for me, only being allowed out to go to work and back.  What about house arrest?  Can that be entered into voluntarily?

Shop Hop Loot (Booty Call?)

Between Shop Hop and the Expo, I am all shopped out.  I need machine time!  But I want to show Mom what I got.  I am sure she won't know why I bought anything at all, or what I plan to do with any of it, but that is why we get along so well.  Neither do I! Honestly, how could I leave Hemming House in the discount bin all lonely and pleading for a loving home?

And Robyn Pandolph for $4/yard?  A sin to leave it there when I can find a use for it.

And I need some fabric for Eron's firehouse quilt.

Can I use some floral type fabric in a fireman's quilt?

All kinds of ideas to think about.

Here too.  Look at the corner of the MJF mag.  One dollar!  It had to come home with me.  I haven't read this issue yet.

Scenes from Friday

Seen at Starbucks on Sugarloaf yesterday when I stopped to get coffee before my Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop road trip:

Cool, huh?  I made a game of guessing which coffee drinker belonged to the car, and I guessed correctly.  The owner was a WWII veteran decked out in ball cap and unit patches.  I didn't disturb him.  I am sure he gets a lot of folks inquiring about his car and his life experiences.  Anyhow he was gone shortly after I got my coffee.

Perhaps I scared him off with my attire:

My apologies to my mother.  When I was lost in Marietta on Thursday, I found a Syms store, and before I had a chance to ask the sales lady for directions, I spied these Burmudas.  Boots and Bermudas.  It sounded so right.  Plus these boots are so DANG comfortable.  And you need to be comfortable on Shop Hop.

So on to my road trip: I made it to 3 more shops for a total of 9 out of 11.  I am sorry to say I didn't make it to Jonesboro or Newnan.  Maybe next year.  I spent the most money (by $3.18) at Sweet Home Quilt Company, but the close second goes to A Scarlet Thread.  There is a three way tie for biggest volume of goods purchased.  I loaded up on sale fabrics (and miscellaneous other items) at Georgia Sewing and Quilting, Patrick's and Sweet Home Quilt Co.      I really don't need to see another quilt shop for a very long time.

HOWEVER, while at Silver Thimbles last night I heard tell of a shop I hadn't been to yet:  Dragonfly.  And why wasn't Betty Sue's Quilt Shop on the Hop yet?  Uh-oh.  I am in big trouble.  I think I need to seek OCD meds.

Vacation Day 2

My plan went out the window yesterday, but I had fun.  I started out for the Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop two hours later than I'd wanted to, so I had time to appreciate the green March has to offer.  These are pictures taken outside my front door:  A star my Dad made-

Some pretty flowers from a past Mother's Day-

And a random bowling ball. Say what?

I was planning to make the bowling ball a beautiful yard ornament like this one: Beautiful Bowling Ball. So you see how far I got with that.

I made it to 6 of the 11 shops yesterday.  I got lost twice in the northwestern Atlanta provinces.  I am really scared about finding Little Quilts again when I take a workshop there next week. I saw samples from two other classes I MUST take, so I need to get a Garmon GPS.  Hey, hubby's 60th birthday is next week.  Do you think he'll pick up on the fact that I am gifting him something I need?

There was drama yesterday at Red Hen Fabrics involving police, fire and ambulance.  A police officer told me (when I was getting directions from him as to which way to turn exiting the parking lot) that there had been a couple of car accidents on the corner by the shop.  BE CAREFUL LADIES! Thank goodness, no one was hurt seriously.  

One other interesting thing from yesterday.  I saw a bundle of wet fabric in the dirt on the dumpster side of the building at Red Hen.  It was this quilt.  I am happy to report it was not a throw away, but a youngster's picnic blanket that had been forgotten.(You know how those little folks can be.)  It has now been returned to it's rightful owner.  I hope she washes it in really hot water.  There were a good number of crawly things on it.

 

This morning I am going to drive to McDonough to see A Scarlet Thread.  I keep hearing about this place, and I need to see it for myself.  My end goal though, is to make it to Thimbles.  Alas, are vacations ever long enough?

My Big Plan

for an awesome adventure doing the

Greater Atlanta Quilt Shop Hop

1)      Leave at 7:15 a.m. (revised)

2)      Lie about going alone (revised)

3)      Start in Marietta (revised)

4)      Allow 30 minutes/shop (we’ll see)

5)      Visit all 11 shops today (maybe)

6)      Make it to tennis practice at 7:00 p.m. (no exceptions)

Heck, I am on vacation; who needs a darn break-neck schedule?  I wanna have some fun today.

A Little Spring Chickie

This was a lot of fun!  At the Auntie Ju's Quilt Shoppe booth, I took a "make it and take it" class. This is the first time I needle punched, and it was really fun.  The little chickie was already punched for us (thanks Linda!), so all we did was fill in the background and sew the pin back on, but it was a great introduction to something I'd wanted to try.  I think it looks quite at home on the strap of my Farm Bag. 

Well, whatever changes Blogger has in it, I will just have to adapt.  Here are the Coffee Filter Fans Quilt setting ideas from Debby Kratovil.  The bright one in the middle is the idea on our patterns with one small difference; we have 12 fans and this one has 16.  I like the pastel setting better, but it also has 16 blocks, so I will have to be creative about what I put in the 4 corners.

And this lovely green and orange is a sample Debby Kratovil is working on.  I love these color and am fascinated at what a difference the setting makes.  Personally, I think the squared off fan base works the best in this setting.  I will have to play with my blocks to see what I end up choosing.

One confused blogger here.

I don't know what is up with Blogspot.  I watched 5 pictures load, but only one is showing.  I am confused.  Anyone else having blog trouble?  Is it my computer?  Could it be eating downloaded photographs?  Ah well; let me tell you what this photo is.  This is from a class I took yesterday at the Original Sewing & Quilting Expo in Duluth, Georgia.  In Debby Kratovil's Coffee Filter Fans class I learned how to paper piece.

This is the assembly line construction the student behind me was doing.  My table was a little more messy, so hers made for a better photo.  Debby showed us three different ways to set the blocks when we finished piecing them.  Those were the other photos I downloaded. 

Original Sewing & Quilting Expo

Kitten loves my new Peacock Pincushion!  I made it in Vickie Clontz' class at the Expo in Duluth.  Tomorrow I get to sew Coffee Filter Fans with Debby Kratovil and a make-it-and-take-it at a booth for  Auntie Ju's Quilt Shoppe. Do you think Kitten will try to eat it once I am out of the room?

I am a little peeved right now.  My immediate concern is that it seems Blogger has changed a bit, and I don't like it.  Second, I purchased a pricey rolling suitcase for my Bernina so I could take it to class tomorrow.  The Coffee Filter Fans class is "bring your own machine," so I got a $100 rolling case from the same vendor who sold me the machine.  The saleslady assured me that my Bernina would fit.  It doesn't, so that means I have to lug my machine by hand.  I hate having to return things (pricey rolling suitcase).  It is getting to be that I just won't buy things in the first darn place. Too much hassle to find what I need in a brick and mortar store (locker hooking supplies).  I may find what I need on the web, but that has proved unreliable; sometimes items arrive broken (plates) or a hassle to return (ironing board).  Am I the only one worn from working all day and having to run around taking care of errands in my "spare" time? Huh?

Locker Hooking

It is coming right along, but sheesh, it takes a lot of work.

Feeling left out

Of the whole wool rug hooking thing (I am allergic), so when I got a glimpse of Locker Hooking, which is done with cotton, I was more than interested. I am thinking utility pieces here. I love learning new things and making useful goods. (I know Mom, you said cut not tear, but I am lazy and this is faster.)
My new choos (will they be quilty-practical enough for Thimbles?) took Rosebud for a walk around the block. Oh wait a minute, back up. I woke up with a serious headache at 3 a.m. It would not go away. The headache I came down with Thursday morning lasted through half of Friday, but when I went to sleep Friday night, I thought I was done with it. These headaches are accompanied by chills and nausea. Thursdays pain was on the left hand side; this mornings pain was on the right. I can't figure it out. I was thinking I should have my blood pressure checked when my cell phone rang. It was son number one, and he said he'd be right over with his blood pressure cuff. Well darned, two minutes later he was here, and two minutes after that he was gone. My lungs were fine, my blood pressure also fine. His advice was forget aspirin and get some fluids and ibuprofen. I had 800 mg tabs in the cabinet and took one, so I have finally started feeling better. Therefore, the dog finally got a walk and my new choos got broken in. What would I do without that boy?

Wait another minute; he will be 30 next month. Yikes! April is coming. Husband person is 60 (glad it's him, not me) on March 27, number three son is 22 on the first and then number one son is 30 on the 18th. And my birthday follows all of them.

Vintage Quilt and Cleaning the Sewing Room

Mr. Simon-from-work has given me a wonderful quilt! I think this one may be from feed sacks, but I cannot be sure, since I am not familiar with how to identify real ones, but this is definitely vintage. Simon purchased it near the Fort Donelson National Battlefield when he was working on a project as an engineer (I think for DNR).

I love, love, love this quilt. Look at this edge! It makes me wonder what happened. Did someone spill something on it? Did she run short of backing fabric? One thing for sure: She is human which means prone to imperfection. She made the best of her situation though. I am in love with what she has done.

The back of the quilt has a bit of a sheen. Does this mean it has linen in it? It is a wonderful piece of utility fabric.

Thank you Simon!

Ah, and now to the mess I have been wanting to fix:

I was in Walmart the other night (too late, I think running around in the cold weather is why I am sick), and I found these shelves which will fit this many plastic boxes:

So I bought two sets of shelve, and a whole bunch of plastic boxes. I had so much stuff already that I didn't get a single new box on a shelf. But it looks so much better already. And, as I told the Mister, I certainly have plenty of room for a fancy sewing table for my Bernina. I plan to look at tables when I go to the Original Sewing and Quilting Expo.

Last time I attended the show, I won free classes and admission to this year's show. Yippee! At the last show I took a class and made a bag (See it here). I also tried some new sewing techniques (See stuff here). This year I am taking "Coffee Filter Fans" and "Peacock Pincushion." It should be fun. I am going to take a real good look at the sewing tables at the show.