Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild.

Today we met at Sarah 's home, it's the third meeting of the Phx.chapter and the second I have attended.
BJ drove this time and we had brought snacks to share along with our Mug Rugs for swapping!
As expected there was quite a variety of styles and designs......

and the backs were as interesting as the front of these little pieces of art.

The following are items from "show and tell", some complete, others WIPs [Works In Progress]

and the pieced backing.

Below is the backing of this WIP.
and the pic below is the back view.
There were about a dozen of us there this month and we plan to meet again the last Saturday in February.

The Mug Rug

The Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild is to meet again next Saturday and I understand there is to be a "Rug Mug" swap, so this evening I took a few minutes to make one.

I sewed on a little pocket and put in a ginger tea bag. I might stop into the coffee shop and pick up one of those sticks with sugar crystals on them.

I pulled out an orphan block, sandwiched it with a piece of scrap batting and a couple of strips from the scrap drawer for backing.

A few more strips from the scraps collection and I had enough for a binding............
and the whole thing went together before I had even watched an entire episode of "Criminal Minds"!

I promised last post to show a pic. of how I sew the binding from the front using my SID foot, shown above, very slick!

Here's a close-up so you can see the 'almost invisible' stitching attaching the binding from the front.

A good way to use up an orphan block and a few scraps, every little bit helps to keep the stash under control!

Baby Girl Quilt In A Hurry

End of this month we are expecting another baby in our church family, a girl. The baby shower was today and I needed to make a quilt-quickly!

I had another of the Minkee backed kits I had bought from Connecting Threads a few months ago and it's mostly pink, how convenient. I quilted it with a freehand all-over floral design, now it is bound and ready except for the label- I am waiting on a name for that!

The quilt had to be done this week, even without the urgency of the shower because after tomorrow my big machine will not be here to do the quilting, it is going to CA for maintenance. I have had it four years and other than my own regular attention my A-1 has had no other technical care. The local A-1 rep. is going to "Road To California" next week and kindly volunteered to lug my LA with her for the A-1 owner Stewart Plank to do a maintenance. Very nice of her and an offer I could not refuse! These big machines are fairly easy to maintain but every once in a while they benefit from a professional check-up. The Gammill longarm I had for 6 yrears before the A-1, was only once taken to a prof. for maintenance and that was right before I sold it.

I will be without "Ellie" for about week but I have plenty of other sewing, always another quilt to piece and when the LA comes back it will be in tip top shape and ready to roll!

This afternoon BJ and I sewed, she was working on a pinwheel baby quilt for her shop's challenge. I forgot to take pics but it's turning out very cute and the method is really nice and easy. I was impressed enough that I think I will use the idea for the next baby quilt I am planning for niece Brooke in Australia, expecting their third babe in a couple of months. I have heaps of baby fabrics in stash, plenty for a scrappy pinwheel quilt.

This afternoon I did get Claudia's last quilt bound, only needing a label, then I can get it to her family next month while we are in CO. I found the binding on the sale table at "Quiltz", the colors go perfectly with those in the quilt. I do not know what Claudia had in mind for the binding but I am sure she will not mind that I chose this.

I love this binding method-sew to the front, turn to the back, pin from the front. I then attach my Stitch-In-the-Ditch [SID] foot and sew carefully from the front removing the pins as I come to them.

As you can see the stitching in back is neat and in front not visible-well, not unless you get your nose practically on the quilt and use a magnifying glass, LOL!

I just don't sew binding by hand anymore, not worth it, I much prefer to use the time to make more quilts!

I am very visual and I suspect lots of quilters are too, so next time I do a binding I will make a little video and post it.

Mannheim Needs a New Family!

Friends here in Phoenix have a sweet little Dachsie that needs a new family. Due to family circumstances beyond their control they feel that they can no longer give Mannheim the attention he deserves, so with much sadness they are searching for a wonderful person/persons to adopt this little guy. Because we are doggy people and we have lots of doggy friends, I offered to spread the word.

Mannheim is a miniature weighing in at about 12 lbs. Below is the description from his current family so that you will be aware of his particular needs.

If you are interested in adopting Mannheim, leave a comment so that I can forward your contact info or send me an email from my profile page, and I will see that his family gets it.

"He is a very sweet 6 year old boy. He is a cuddler—affectionate, happy, and spoiled rotten. He needs a home without children or other animals. He does not do well with other dogs, because he doesn’t know he is a dog! He was neutered as a puppy. Also he was born with congenital cataracts in the right eye, which were repaired surgically. He will need to be on one eye drop a day for the rest of his life, but his vision is now quite good. The drops are inexpensive and I have a 4 month supply of drops that I will give to his new owner.

The ideal home will offer him companionship of an adult couple or a single animal lover. He needs to be taken in and out every few hours. He is housebroken if taken out to potty frequently. He is also trained to go into his kennel when the owner leaves the home. He does best if left alone for only 4-5 hours at a time. He likes to travel and is good in the car.

Here is a picture. Thanks so much…Can’t stand the thought of giving him up, but also realize our schedules are not ideal for the home he deserves!"

Un-quilting!

Let me preface this post with a disclaimer-It is about 10 years now that I have been a longarmer, and to date had never encountered my current problem! So either I have been extraordinarily blessed or just dumb lucky?

Without going into details of how, when, where and why, I will simply tell you that I am un-quilting this large and very pretty quilt.....and needless to say it is a great deal of work that will keep me occupied and away from more interesting/fun activities for a week -or two?!

This huge job has me searching for faster and easier ways to "frog" [rippit-rippit] my quilting.

I began with the quilt on the longarm but after a while when I realized I would probably want to remove all of the quilting, I unpinned the quilt and took it to the couch, more comfortable than sitting on the saddle stool at the LA.

Above is the commonly known Dritz seam ripper, quite effective, but I thought perhaps another brand or style might work better so I purchased this one with it's "ergonomic" handle. So far I have not really noticed any difference in how my hand feels as I work at this but if I do I will let you know.

Another handy tool for removing stitches, the hemostats-when did you ever know a nurse- no matter how long retired-who did not have at least one pair of this handy tool! I have several and for this task they are absolutely mandatory for saving my poor hands extra stress.

The quilting you see in these pics is a view of the back of this quilt, the stitches are fairly small and in the sashing and corner blocks there is a lot of backtracking-two rows of stitching one upon the other-making the chore even more tedious!

I am whining a lot [not wining LOL] to anyone who will listen so you can be sure I will be celebrating to all and sundry when it is finally done!
One final tool, a pair of tiny, fine pointed scissors for snipping knots that defy removal!
I will be frogging daily most of the day, with breaks for something more rewarding, like putting the borders on the NYE Mystery quilt.

The borders are all cut and ready to sew......

this is the order of application, the small blue stop border then two more additions to use up most of the balance of these fabrics.

I plan to intersperse the frogging with other activities, blogging, walking Button dog, going to the gym , sewing and perhaps even quilting to make the whole process more bearable. We are expecting another new baby at our church and I need to quilt the baby scrap quilt I made a few weeks ago, so that might be good therapy for an unquilting break!.

You can be sure that I will be celebrating right here once this chore is finished and I can put the top back on the LA to begin anew!

Happy New Year Mystery Quilt!

BJ and I sewed along with over one hundred other quilters in nine different countries to make the online NYE Mystery Quilt today. It was her first and I think my fourth for this event but the first time I have had company [other than Button dog] for the project and it's much more fun to have a quilty friend to share the day!

This is BJ hard at work.........

and here's a sample of her blocks. BJ is ambitious, making a queen size version.

My blocks..........

and 16 of them sewn together. Having more fabric I made another row of blocks, in the pic. above it's only 48" square. There is still enough left for three small borders making a nice lap size quilt and using up just about all of these fabrics. I have no idea about backing at this point.

BJ and I are both quite pleased with our fabric choices and the results of our labors today. Time goes by easily as we sew and press and trim and chat, stopping only for caloric sustenance, a bowl of potato soup and some beer bread!

For Phoenix it has been bitterly cold this week, a good time to stay cozy indoors and sew and eat soup!

Happy New Year to all and a healthy and successful 2011- for quilters may all your tops become quilts!

Till next year................

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas to all my bloggy friends! I hope you had a lovely day, spent just the way you wanted!

This morning I made monkey bread, half of it was cinnamon buns and the other half just monkey bread. I mixed up brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts and distributed it over half the rolls as I placed them in the Bundt pan, I wish I had a pic because it rose like crazy as it baked until the rolls were hanging over the sides of the pan like stalagtites! It was monkey bread on steroids, LOL! I made cream cheese frosting for the cinnamon bun part, oh my they were delicious!

We had roasted leg of lamb and garnet yams baked with EVOO and balsamic vinegar, and fresh asparagus. Yummy lunch with some nice red wine, the house smelled heavenly.

Our family gathered this afternoon for fellowship and sharing gifts. I always have such good intentions to take lots of pics but seldom follow through I get distracted with all the jollity! Our boys get together and the fun never ends, the stories they tell!

Here's Daniel with his quilt.......

Logan hiding behind part of his! You can see a pic. of the whole quilt in the previous post.

Baby Matthew...........

this is a cool toy Grandmother!

The big grandsons will only have one night under their new quilts before heading up to Colorado tomorrow with Grandfather for a week on the slopes- they are so excited, they will be out of here early in the morning.

And I am so excited to have a week of peace and quiet, just Button dog and me and my quilting!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Finished For Friday

And just in time for Christmas!

Logan's quilt is laundered and ready to give him tomorrow.

I used color catchers to wash it because I am not good at pre-washing fabrics and I thought it safest. Daniel's quilt bled more color than Logan's, they are different fabric manufacturers but both are black, white and red.

The center is the AZ Cardinals logo I had to draw and applique. Some of the fabrics in the immediate area around it came from a kit from Connecting Threads that was really only wall hanging size, so I purchased additional fabrics and pulled what I could from stash and kept inventing another row of blocks until it was large enough for Logan's bed. It's another one of those quilts that simply evolved, I made it up as I went along!

The backing was pieced from stash, I have made a serious dent in stash of this color-way with five quilts so far this year in red,white and black, and there's enough left for at least another couple of scrappy quilts!

And since no quilt is finished without a label, here it is!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

We won't divulge your age to the entire world mostly because that really dates your Mother,LOL!

You were a beautiful baby and now a handsome and successful fella, very much loved and deservedly so, you have grown into the kind of man who would delight any parent.

Many happy returns son!

Your baptism................fishing on the Great barrier Reef with your "little" brother.........

with two other Aussies!
And as Darth Vader!

Puppy Love

Wordless Wednesday

Button and her buddy Baby Matthew.

Phoenix Branch Of The Modern Quilt Guild

On Saturday I went with BJ to what was I think the second meeting of the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild. This meeting was at the Spaghetti Company and we had a pin cushion swap.

Aren't they terrific, such a plethora of creative ability in this group. There is a pic of us on the group's FB page.

I loved them all so it's hard to choose a favorite - in the bottom left corner is one made using an Altoid tin with roses created with felted wool. I want to try this so I need to go to the thrift store and buy a couple of cheap wool sweaters to "felt". BJ's in the tulip bowl turned out beautifully, top left corner and the donut is very adorable. Ten of them and no two the same.

It was fun to meet some new quilty friends, though I am not sure that my quilts really fall into the"modern" category, but I plan to continue attending the monthly meetings.

Stash Report

For the first time I am linking up with Stash Report at Patchwork Times blog.

My goal for the past couple of years in keeping track in the sidebar of fabric purchased and fabric used, is to keep ahead of the game by always using more than I buy. That said I have been successful but it doesn't seem to make any more space on my shelves! They are a bit messy right now because I have been pulling stuff out and shoving it back with less than great care. There will have to be an accounting and when that day comes I will re-arrange and tidy up what I have untidied!

In addition to these there is ...........

the scrap strip drawer[I cut my left over pieces into strips, 1.5" to about 4"].........

the selvedge collection, and, not pictured, a small tub of patriotic fabrics that I use for the Quilts Of Valor for our wounded warriors.

As much as possible when I plan a quilt I really do try to use from stash and much of the time I am able to. This year I purchased quite a lot of red, black and white fabrics for the two quilts for my older grandsons, and have been able to use up even more of those in a scrap quilt this past week.

I don't count fabrics as "out of stash" until the quilt is finished up through the binding, and currently to date this year I have 143 yds. used out of stash and have added 75 yds. leaving me with a net "loss" of 68 yds! And I am not done yet for 2010, I will complete at least two additional quilts perhaps more!

This is about the same result as last year using almost twice as much as I buy. I wish it showed more in extra space on the shelves...........

Originally I had planned to make a second Shakespeare In The Park quilt because I gave the first to my friend Katie, but as plans for the boy's quilts developed I decided to use the Snail Trail and star blocks in their quilts rather than construct another SITP, one of those is enough I have decided!

Still I ended up with some orphan blocks so they went into this quilt and there are yet a few more I hope to incorporate into a backing.

Crockpot Candy

Someone on one of my online quilt groups posted a recipe for Crockpot Candy. It sounded simple and tasty, so I picked up the extra ingredients I needed and cooked up a batch last night.

Typically, I did not follow the recipe perfectly and here is my adaptation.

1lb.almond bark

1lb.Girradelli semi sweet chocolate pieces.

16ozs.jar salted peanuts

16ozs. jar unsalted peanuts

Melt all together in large crockpot on low, stirring occasionally for two hours.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto wax paper & allow to set.

This recipe made about eleven dozen pieces of yummy candy, I recommend it highly.

The original recipe called for 1.5 lbs. of almond bark, I didn't find anything by that name but I did find a white bark that seemed like the same thing.

I plan to make this again and next time I will use pecans or almonds and some craisins, sound good?

I will report back on the success.

Daniel's Christmas Gift Quilt

The binding on this finally done this evening, another Christmas gift finished, don't you love to cross projects off the "to do" list! I am quite happy with it especially since I really had no idea how I would make it or how it would turn out!

Someone once said that you never experiment on your dinner guests but I do and I also experiment on quilts I am making. I know it is a risk but I am not patient enough to make practice dishes or practice quilts either!

This quilt is my own design, Daniel showed me what he wanted for the center and I used some monkey wrench blocks I had left from a UFO then built around them to about an 88"x90" finished size.

The quilting is a freehand peacock feather with Line Dancing in the monkey wrenches and a tiny version of peacock feathers in the center. Using Sew Fine thread kept the quilting subtle because the fabrics are so busy. Bottom Line was used in the bobbin.

The backing is pieced from leftover fabrics from my stash. I think it's masculine enough to please an [almost] seventeen year old lad, so I hope he will be happy with his quilt- he never looks at my blog so there is no risk that he will see it before Christmas!

Now I need to get his brother's quilt finished it is on the LA but I haven't touched it this week at all, I was finishing up the piecing of a scrap quilt and getting this one bound.