Memorial Day Monday

HELLO HELLO EVERYONE, AND HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY...

It has been such a wonderful weekend... I have sewed and sewed to my heart's content...

My gazillion hexagon project grew some new pieces...

And this box of knitted blankies got all boxed up to go to Project Linus in Greensboro, NC... the Greensboro Linus ladies have a special place in my heart and my quilting history, so they get a box at least once a year...

It was a lovely sunny day , so I spent some time out in the garage sandwiching some charity quilts, mostly lap-size...

And this lovely quilt got partially born... it has three more rows and some borders to go on it... this will be a Christmas present... can you believe I am starting it before December??? Wonder if that will avoid the last minute rush - probably not!

I hope you all had a great quilty weekend...

unfortunately I must return to the 'day job' tomorrow, so my progress will slow to a crawl on all these projects... oh well, must pay the bills! Take care,

Kate

Labor Day Weekend Day 2

HAPPY LABOR DAY - DAY 2
Oh boy am I having fun !!!! Yesterday was a whirlwind of quilty pleasure:

My second Hands-to-Help Charity Quilt is out on the table, ready for pin-basting




The Hexagon quilt got bigger, as I attached another star point to it::



I quilted and bound this little panel for the Guild's Charity Quilt project:

And my sister's quilt, designed for a Christmas present, began to take shape:

From the endless bins of yarn, this colorful baby blanket was edged and finished, ready to go in the box for shipping:

And I made another heart block - this one to send to my new friend Mary Lou at http://cheaperthantherapy.blogspot.com, as a quilty hug during her time of great family sorrow.

And - oh - a few Lotto blocks for the Sunshine Quilt Guild got finished, too:

What a fabulous and fun day!!!

And I have another one coming right up.... can't wait.

Kate

Quilting Marathon Day 1

Hi everyone - it's Saturday morning, and the coffee is brewing, and I have nothing to do today except quilt... I rarely have a whole day with no errands or appointments, so this is an incredible comfort day for me. I have on my sweats and some yummy socks, and am looking forward to a great day!

My first project of the three-day weekend is this heart block, finished in the wee hours this morning before I ambled off to bed. I'm sending this heart to Victoria Findley Wolfe, who is collecting signature blocks from her online friends for a signature quilt.

Isn't this a darling paperpieced pattern? It's called "Feathers in My Heart", and I found it on an Etsy site called Piece By Number. There are lots of cool patterns there that can be purchased for a few dollars each... go check it out ...www.bcheri.etsy.com

I'm also sending a check to Judy Laquidera, at Patchwork Times, who is collecting money for tornado relief in Joplin , and who is generously raffling off several of her quilts as a fundraiser.

I love the generosity of the quilter's online community - and their loving support when someone is ill or has a family crisis. My online friends have become a very special part of my community!

So - now I am off for a great quilty day !!!! I'll keep you posted on my accomplishments!

Happy holiday weekend to you, too.

Kate

Compassion

Good Evening, All...

My heart is filled tonight with compassion for one of our fellow bloggers
as she experiences a crushing family loss.

http://cheaperthantherapyquilting.blogspot.com

Her strength and resilience is amazing.

Kate

That Fabulous Time of Year

Hi all - and welcome to spring in the life of a professor: academic ceremonies...

This is just the best time of the year - happy families, smiling students, beautiful music... it just does not get any better.

As a teacher, I know my life intersects with people - sometimes I forget that these individuals have complex lives - they have children, they have illnesses, they have - well, situations... Just because they are students, they are not exempt from problems, financial, personal, and more..

So let me tell you one story - last January, one of our students was hit by a car on campus - she was terribly injured, and we were told she would not survive - head trauma. Weeks later we learned that she pulled through... and then I lost track of what happened to her, and did not know whether she returned to school or not.

Well, Saturday morning we had a lovely ceremony for the Honors students - my role was to put medals on lovely ribbons over the heads of the honors graduates...

As I put one over the student's bowed head, I could not but notice a horrific scar from top to bottom of this young woman's head, hardly hidden by some very short hair...

YEP - IT WAS HER...

SHE GOT BETTER........

SHE GRADUATES WITH HONORS...

HOW BRAVE AND STRONG SHE MUST BE.

I'M GLAD I GOT TO CONGRATULATE HER.

Happy commencement season...

Kate

Where WAS my Sherpa???

I NEEDED A SHERPA TODAY ! to carry my quilty booty::::

It was the annual 'clean-out' sale of the Amador Valley Quilt Guild... I LOVE this guild. They do the greatest stuff...

First they gathered donations from everyone - unwanted fabric, UFO's, blocks, notions, thread, yarn ... some from stores, from other sales, carloads of stuff...

There were bolts........................................................and bags (I resisted buying scraps - lord knows I already have plenty of those)

There were good panels for $1 each !!

And this great snuggly top, also for ONE BUCK!

It's made of chenille and soft upholstery fabric - it will be fabulous when i get it all quilted. Some senior will love is textural variety...



!!
I ended up with TWO HEAVY cardboard boxes full of fabric!!! yippee





Then later, after resting up from the big purchase, I worked on my tops for the H2H Charity Quilt initiative , run by Judy the Green Fairy of amazing machine quilting...

I finished up this top:















And put binding on this quilt for BOYS !!!

I had a FABULOUS quilty day !!!

Hope you did, too...

Kate

Oh Boy, Do I Need to Focus !!

Hello Everyone - it's Friday NIGHT... yippee!!!!

Here's the latest on my hexagon quilt... it's growing!!!! it's gonna take for EVUH, but I am still enjoying it...

I've been doing a lot of soul-searching lately about why I felt like I was chasing my tail, so to speak - so this afternoon I did a bit of inventory ... so here goes::

This box of crocheted receiving blankets is a product of some baby yard I was gifted - I just finished the one that will fill the box - then it goes in the mail to Project Linus in Greensboro, NC... I love the Linus chapter ladies there, and send them a box of something once every year...

I just finished this top for Quilts for Kids - sweet in pink and blue, isn't it???

TThis string quilt in blues is from ends and pieces from other projects - will go to the charity quilt project of the Amador Valley Quilt Guild.


And this is almost finished - my RRCB from the Bonnie Hunter mystery - it just needs one more border and the top is done. Boy, it is HUGE.. This is not getting given away to ANYONE...

Did anyone else buy fabric from the Zooks and Sauders sale??? Mine just came today - I will open it tomorrow when I have time to ooh and ahh.. I can't remember what I ordered , I just remember it was beautiful fabric for $2.99 a yard!

Oh, I bought some other fabric, too - this came from Quilt In a Day, from THAT sale!! Ooh, I have been a bit naughty.. trying to help the economy... but, I could be buying SHOES !!

And last, for now , is this in-progress - for the H2H charity quilt drive of Judy the Green Fairy...does this scream BOY or what??? It needs some top and bottom borders to make it a big more rectangular, then an edge border all around...it was fun - fabric donated by a swap partner and searched out in my stash... I have bought several novelty fabrics for those 'boys' and not gotten them sewn - glad to have this one finished..

Well, that's my insanity... but...

DH is going away for five days, which means I will sew and quilt like a maniac, like I always do when he is away... maybe I will finish all these things!!!

Kate

Amador Valley Quilt Show Eye Candy

Happy Sunday Quilting,

Kate