Another year end quilt

Here is another recent customer's quilt. A very interesting color palate.

I got a lovely thank you note from my customer, she said " the designs you chose took the quilt from something very simple to something remarkable"

I love my job!

Happy New year!

A new year, a fresh start. I love the idea of all the possibilities. Hopefully some of my aspirations will take hold.

I finished out the last year with a few quilts for customers. No surprise there. But one was especially dear to me. While on the Sew Nice retreat in Nov., Diane - the shop owner- made a wall quilt for her partner, Flora. It was to be a surprise for Christmas so we were all sworn to secrecy. I looked at this quilt and knew immediately how I would want to quilt it if I had the chance. The more I looked at it, as it hung on the design wall all weekend, the more it spoke to me, so I offered to quilt it. Mind you it is four weeks until Christmas and I still had two other quilts to complete.
Sometimes you just have to squeeze one more in.

In addition to wanting to quilt this little gem, I was honored to give something back to Diane and Flora of Sew Nice in Norwich, NY. They have always been very supportive of my business and have allowed me to teach many, many classes at their wonderful shop.

Here are a few pictures:
details; Qulters Dream midnight poly batting, Superior So Fine tread in many colors! Swarowski  crystals applied afterwards.

What a wild few weeks here in central NY. First an earthquake, then hurricane Irene, followed buy tropical storm Lee.
We have been drying out form the last two but so many homes and businesses in our area have been devastated. Two major floods in five yrs is just too much.

On a cheerier note, I have been quilting,

Where are the lazy, hazey days of summer?

How is it possible that it has been two months (less one day) since my last post? And summer is coming to an end, it was 55 degrees this morning. I was tempted to put socks on!

What has been keeping me so busy you might ask? Along with my usual jobs, I have been teaching twice a week at a local quilt shop. In addition I've been putting in lots of extra hours at the computer at the Volvo Club's new website. The integration of our database to the new software of the site has been less than smooth. In fact for the first time in 25 yrs of this job I seriously thought about if I could make up the income with more quilting.

We did have one lovely week off in the Finger Lakes. We visited wineries, breweries, quilt shops, yarn shops, took a cruise on Seneca Lake and stayed in a charming B&B.

See you soon, I am off to the studio to quilt!

Baltimore Album - Amazing

I recently had the pleasure of quilting an amazing example of a Baltimore Album Quilt 96" square. This was a four year project of Rhoda Bushnell, a customer of mine. She call this her mourning quilt as she made it in the months and years following her husband death. Here is the kicker, its not hers! She was hired to make it for a friends daughter in AZ. I sure hope she charged enough, not that you ever could. Enjoy the show!

This is the center block

More of the center top

Side view of center block

Corner of center block

One of four wreath blocks surrounding the center

a second wreath block

Cornucopias in each corner

Center block flanked by four large baskets, this is one

Last row, notice- no borders.

Last but not least, the back.

Socks!

After much trepidation I finally got the courage to make a pair of socks. They are about an inch too long but hey, finished is better than perfect! I have already started another pair, hopefully they will fit better.

My First Zentangle Quilt

Lat month I took a class from Pat Ferguson at MQX on Zentangle. I have been playing a bit and finally decided to put my needle to cloth. Here are my results. I love it! The Zentangle tile is on the left and my quilt, enlarged 200% from the tile is on the right.

MQX

Third Place Small Wholecloth

My expression does not do justice to my excitement at winning this ribbon. Do you think David could have taken another picture? or waited for a smile? He claims he was focused on the quilt, I guess it could be worse.

A visit to Old Sturbridge Village

On our way to MQX quilt show in Providence, RI we took an extra couple days and visited Old Sturbridge Village. It had been at least 30 yrs. since our last visit and in our early marriage we were members (courtesy of my parents) and visited often. Thankfully it has not changed much. Life in the 1830s seemed like a pleasant time to be alive. Between wars, technology was advancing, for the first time people had leisure time as there were machines to do some of the labor of the past. If you are ever passing by be sure to plan a visit, well worth your time.

As you approach the village

The village green

The sawmill

Oxen at rest

The blacksmith shop

The manor house, opposite end of the green from the church

Stopping for a chat

David, checking the map of the grounds.

Spring!

Well, by the calendar anyway, yesterday we had more snow... and not just flurries either. Shoveling is getting old!


Not much new here, I finished the One Block Wonder quilt and my customer was here to pick it up before I got it unpinned. So no new pictures, but she loves it, whew!

Last week I took a bus trip to the AQS Lancaster, PA quilt show. Up at 4AM back home at 11:45. Looong day....
The quilts were amazing, the vendors plentiful, the company outstanding. Here is a picture of some of my loot.

First thing I purchased this wonderful basket to carry all my stuff. I found a new presser foot for my Featherweight machine, and belts for same and a treadle. A couple new books, one on piecing and one on Zentangle. A bunch of new stencils, not pictured, and a very cool powdered fusible product. I have already used that on on my damaged wholecloth.
And last but not least a piece of George Washington fabric for my mother. She has a "thing" for George. How many have a George wall in their home? Nuff said.

Last Week Of February

The longest month of the year is almost over. None to soon in my book. Spring is coming, the birds are singing their mating songs, the trees are tapped for maple syrup and the sun is getting stronger.
While I have been waiting..... I have been sewing, quilting and knitting.

I an currently working on a king size One Block Wonder, almost finished with the ruler work you see here then it is on to Slab 'O Borders

I have also been working on my Feathered Star. I have the star border almost finished.

And I also made 3 Dear Jane Blocks this month:

Not much to show for my knitting, I am attempting to learn Magic Loop. Unraveled once, on my second try. So far so good but I only have a couple of rounds completed.

Have a great week, productive, happy week!

Chenango Piecemakers Featherd Star Raffle Quilt

I will deliver this tonight at the monthly guild meeting of the Chenango Piecemakers. Every two years they have a Festival of Quilts in October. One of the big attractions is the raffle quilt. This year Linda Scheben pieced the center block and the members of the guild made the surrounding stars. Cally Pletl had the vision and the challenge of putting it all together. I had the pleasure of quilting it.
I hope it brings lots of $$ for the guild and its charities but mostly I hope it goes to a home where it will be appreciated.

Kathy's Applique Quilt

I am so lucky to have the best customers! Kathy B. appliqued this gorgeous quilt and asked me to quilt it for her.
After many hours of serious quilting time I am so pleased that she got to see it finished today when she picked it up. I must admit I am going to miss having this masterpiece around to enjoy.

Some details for my fellow quilters, the quilt measures 88" square, I used Quilter's Dream Wool batting, stitch in the ditch with Maderia Monolon, all other stitching Superior So Fine. Bobbins were Magnaglide.

Dear Jane

Every two weeks or so, that's the plan anyway, I meet with my friends Pam, Pam and Linda and sew. Pam R., Linda and myself work on our Dear Jane projects. and Pam S. works on her Album applique. On Monday we met at my house. I was the lucky on who did not need to go out in the cold. Linda S. is on the left, Pam R. is center and Pam S. is on the right,we are sewing in my center parlor, a basically useless room of doors and windows. Works well for this though. Come and join us!

Snow and more snow

It seams as if it snows everyday this winter. We have not been walloped like New England, our snows are more of the lake effect variety. Snow showers, snow squalls, snow. My sister in CT got 21" yesterday, but afterward the sun was shining and the roads are clear. Here on the other hand.... it's snowing..... still....and cloudy....still.....


And to add injury to this insult, this morning I am in my office thinking to myself "g it's a bit chilly in here" i look at the gas stove and it is stone cold! Not even a pilot. How nice, I am out of propane!  So I plug in my EdenPure heater and call the fuel company. Grrrr. or shall I say Brrrrr.

Oh goodie, I was going to add a picture here but Google tells me that feature is not available at the moment? WTF? I guess I'll go quilt, see ya!

A New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends! Those who read my blog anyway, lol.
I loved having a long holiday weekend to start the new year. David had friday off so we drove to Syracuse to visit his step dad Bob, who just turned 90. We were talking about how long we had known Bob and realized it was more than 25 yrs. Then David said, gee, that's longer than I knew my Dad. David's dad died when David was 21 and our first year of marriage. It was the end of November and the holidays have never been the same for him. I treasure the relationship I had with my dad as an adult, I'm so sorry that David never had that.

Back to the long weekend.... I should have been in my studio working on a customer quilt but I am waiting for a thread order. I decided I did not have the perfect thread I needed. Do we ever? Yeesh.
So I spent Sat and Sun. in my jammies and in my sewing room. Never even stepped outside. Just sewed and played with fabric for two whole days. What a great way to start the year!

One of my internet quilting friends, Gayle, and I took a class at MQX 2 yrs ago. Well Gayle has been working on hers again and has inspired me to pull mine out and hopefully finish it this year. Somehow my center was 2" too small so I needed to redraft the sawtooth border. I made fewer and larger blocks but then decided to ad another element to them. Instead of 2 color I used 3.

Here is a picture:

The blocks above are Dear Jane, another ongoing project......

The next border is stars set in a black background. I have begun selecting fabrics for that. I think I am almost there and ready to begin cutting. maybe next weekend?

Winter is here

After what seemed like a long autumn I do think winter is here for awhile. We have had snow everyday since the weekend and it is starting to pile up. I am once again shoveling my way to the studio and office to work. Yesterday in the snow we had new kitchen windows installed. It actually went pretty well considering the weather. The kitchen sure seems warmer without all the drafts but it will take some getting used to looking at the broad expanse of white windows. It is the only white in the kitchen :(  sure wish we could have afforded wood but there were expensive enough and will have to do.

On a cheerier note here is a lovely little girls quilt I finished recently for a customer.

Just Checking in

How time flies! How is it even possible that Thanksgiving is next week? Like most professional quilters this is a busy time for us, however none of my customers are expecting quilts for xmas this year. Since I specialize in custom work my lead time is at least 6 months. Fortunately I have wonderful customers who desire my quilting and are willing to wait. Life is good.

Here is a quilt if finished recently, it was King sized and the borders are 14" filling that space was a challenge but I am pleased with the results.

My next one is loaded, it is a beautiful applique quilt and I will spend some serious time on it as soon as I return from quilt retreat this weekend.

Vacation Sept. 2010

Niagara Falls Canada, taken from the Skylon Tower

Niagara on the Lake, a charming town. We had lunch at the Irish Harp. A pub brought over from Ireland.

Gum Wall. Who does this? How does it even get started?

David and me, at the Flower Clock.

View from our room 32nd floor, and my knitting basket.

Watkins Glen, NY  on Seneca Lake. View from our room.

Spanish Aero Car.  250 feet above the whirlpool rapids, down stream from Niagara Falls. Yikes!             This was scary!

Daivd and I took a real vacation this year. One that did not include Volvos, quilting or family. And we took 2 weeks off! First time we have done that in 20 yrs. When you are self employed it is hard to get away for that long. We easy to get away but hard getting back as no one takes care of the work while you are gone.

We decided not to fly and that limited our choices but Niagara Falls seemed like a good choice. And it was. We took advantage of almost all of the touristy things to do, the first full day we signed up for a bus tour that took us to several of the sights. No parking, no tickets, no lines, no waiting. It was great! But exhausting too and we got soaked, twice. Once on the Journey Behind the Falls and later in the day on The Maid of the Mist boat ride.
The other days we did lots of walking and one day we drove north to the most charming town. Niagara on the Lake.
The down side was that the food was fair at best and very,very expensive. We were glad to get back to the states for a few days before heading home. One the way back, first stop was in Buffalo, NY. Duff's, home of the Buffalo Chicken Wing. David and I shared a plate of hot wings for lunch - yum! I should have taken a picture of that too, lol.