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Monday, April 30, 2012

Hexagon-Stealing Goblins!!!

It's that time again - time to take a "first of the month" photo of the Ginormous Hexagon Quilt.... and I swear it's not any bigger now...  I think Goblins sneak in during the night and remove the hexagons I have just put on !!!!  Seriously, one background corner is finally done - those big patches of cream are just nuts...  and you can see the little skinny piece at the top that frames the top corner.  Wowee, there's still lots to be done, but I am totally committed to finishing this by next March - or I may need to BE COMMITTED !!
 I am loving shadow trapunto, and just finished this little piece - so much fun.. a Geta Gramma pattern from her new book, Shadow Trapunto.  I am thinking of making some designs of my own, and perhaps offering a class...  I have some nice designs of snowflakes and of chinese characters that would make great holiday wall hangings or table runners... now just to find time to do that!
Meanwhile, my quilt room is in total disaster state...  just no way to leave it like that...  so I need some serious intervention there!!!  Actually the cleanup has already begun...

Take care, everyone, and quilt your heart out!!

Kate


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Beth's Mardi Gras Quilt



 Beth C, whom I have never met, sent me this lovely quilt to quilt and bind...  isn't it lovely???  She says it reminds her of Mardi Gras - and I think it does, too!!!

 She sent this fabulous backing - isn't it gorgeous?????
and some binding, too!!

I can't wait to work on this, Beth... it will be great fun !!!!

And when it's done - I get to donate it to a charity quilt initiative....  yahoo - a win-win...

Hope you are having fun quilting, too..

Kate

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Quilting has made me insane!!!

 Happy Sunday !!!!  Somehow this photo reflects my feeling this weekend...  I've been like a manic little bee, flitting from quilty project to quilty project - but having a blast!!!!











First up was a set of 8 blocks for the Sunshine Group Block Lotto.  It's pastel month, so I just made some simple little blocks in pink, green, and blue...  quick and easy, but they will look sweet in a baby quilt.


Then, there was a lot of quilting....some on this blue/yellow - -  I can see the end, but I am not there yet!!!

 Perhaps if I had not decided to quilt every one of these tiny little circles, it would not be taking so long  - - HA HA !!  Once you start, you can not stop, you know!!
 I think there must have been an earth tremor when I took this next photo - pinning on the Hands2Help quilt... all pinned and ready to quilt...













and lots of quilting on this shadow trapunto piece...  tiny little micro quilting... 











And it's just Sunday morning - I can flit around on these and other projects for the rest of the day!!!

insanely quilting...

Kate

Thursday, April 19, 2012

She Did it With Dignity and Class

 All week I have been thinking about Pat Summitt - if you don't know who she is, you need to Google her.  She just rocked.  She grew up poor, in a backwoods town, with a mean daddy - but she was tall, and she could play basketball - and her family moved across town so she could go to a high school that had a team FOR GIRLS.  And she grew up to be one of the greatest coaches in BASKETBALL HISTORY ............ NOT WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY - - ALL BASKETBALL HISTORY... 
 I stole the 'data' from the web::

She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division. She has been coaching since 1974, all with the Lady Vols, winning eight NCAA national championships, second only to the record 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden. Summitt is the only coach in NCAA history, and one of three college coaches overall, with 1,000 victories. She was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century in April 2000. In 2009, the Sporting News placed her number 11 on its list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time in all sports; she was the only woman on the list. In 38 years as a coach, she never had a losing season.

She is sidelined now with early-onset Alzheimer's.  WE ARE ALL STRONGER FOR HER SUCCESSES.   Way to go, Pat ... thumbs up.

........................ today it ain't all about quilting...

Kate

Monday, April 16, 2012

Quilt Inspector is Back on Duty !!

My quilt inspector is back on duty, as you see...  my dear Georgie continues to feel better, even though we take it one day at a time...  he has returned to his role as quilt inspector...  On some days the highlight of his day is a nap in the sun - but , after all, a nap in the sun is a thoroughly fabulous thing to do when you are an elder kitty.


This is a quilt for Sarah's Hands2Help initiative...a fun, annual charity quilt initiative. 

As part of the fun, a partner picked a color palette for me to use... My first thought was "oh no, not enough contrast" - but then I decided to give it a good try...                                 


I
  I discovered these strips of HSTs in a ziploc bag, discarded from Bonnie Hunter's Roll, Roll Cotton Bowl - precisely because I didn't think they had enough contrast...

And, somehow, those lovely muted greens and lovely creams turned into a soft, comforting quilt...

Why even the quilt inspector says he likes it - -

But he will like it better when it is quilted...  I better get busy !!

Happy Quilting,

Kate







Sunday, April 15, 2012

Decisions, Decisions - Can You Help?

Well - I have always thought of the hexagon quilt in this orientation, with the red six-pointed star with its points facing top and bottom... like this, with a border below and above.  



 But, then today, I looked at from the other angle... 









like this:  with the flat side of the large border on the left and right...    So now I don't know which one I like best.... 


WHICH WAY DO YOU LIKE IT????  Please leave me your thoughts....    First one, or Second One???   Many thanks for your feedback..






I worked on some trapunto applique today.... isn't that blue just yummy?? 
This pattern is from the new Shadow Trapunto book by Geta Grama.  Fabulous patterns.  

and Kitty George took a long nap on his favorite skein of yarn... his favorite little pillow...

Happy Quilting Weekend to everyone,

Kate










Monday, April 9, 2012

The frustrations of Kitty George....

Hi all -

Kitty George got a new toy that he wants to share with you... 
A time-release feeder !!!!

As he recovers from his past grave illness, he needs to eat throughout the day, but not all at once...  so here's how this went::

Step One.  food in the feeder -  he can smell it - and waiting for the sliding top to spin around and open up the section with food...
 Step Two.  I KNOW it's there - I'll just push on it...maybe the food is UNDER the feeder...
 Step Three.  Pushing it across the floor - may be the food will fall out.
 Step  Four.  Smash... he is just disgusted with this thing.  What kind of a feeder won't open??? Same as a tin can...  need someone to get the can opener, asap.

 Step Five - the feeder finally opened , and he is off sleeping somewhere... !!!!!

Now to quilting...  a cool set of four blocks -  for the Hands2Help initiative...  I'll write more about that soon - but I really like the calmness of these blocks together...  
and a little charity quilt for the Sunshine Yahoo Guild that I quilted up this weekend...
Happy Quilting, everyone...

Kate

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Quilted My Fingers to the Bone !

Oh, hello but I had a fabulous weekend - I did not put on a bra shoes all weekend!   Just sewed and sewed and sewed... boy did I have fun...  Most fun of all was this little shadow trapunto piece - just needs to be squared up and some binding!!    I love love this technique...


I spent a lot of time on this top - which is now as long as it needs to be, but needs to be one row wider...  oh well, maybe next weekend.  Then there will be three borders, a small white one, a print one, and a dark red one at the outside...\

And - see kitty George there, acting as the Quilt Police?    He was so very sick, but is now a bit better... he's so so skinny and frail, but is gobbling down his food and hollering for more - we hope he can gain just a little bit of weight, but at any rate his days are peaceful and he sits in the sun and watches the birds...
I also finished up the quilting on a little charity quilt for the Sunshine Yahoo Group !  Isn't this bright and cheery!!!


and now, Boohoo!,  the weekend is coming to a close...  oh well, I can steal a little bit of sewing time every evening ............ and there's another weekend coming. 

Happy Quilting...

Kate




Saturday, April 7, 2012

YARD SALE SATURDAY: GREAT BOOKS


Hi all - I'm participating in Bonnie Hunter's Yard Sale Saturday, and offering some fabulous books to new homes.  Each book cost $19 - $29 new - and all are in pristine condition - they just need a new home.

They are beautiful, fabulous books, that will inspire your next fabulous project!

Each book is on sale for $10.00 plus shipping/handling costs. Continental US only.   Email or leave a comment (include your email addy) if you want to add one of these fabulous books to your collection at a great sale price! I'll write you back to make arrangements for payment and shipping.   I can send you a Paypal invoice, or you can mail me a check...


 The applique birds in this book are absolutely fabulous!!! Pamela Humphries is a genius of design and color.   APPLIQUE BIRDS IS SOLD. THANKS.
 I want to make everyone of these jackets, but I know it's impossible - somebody else needs to make them!!!
 Gorgeous book for the art quilter... 
 A fabulous book about design and color, something we all need to know more about!
 Oh, my but the stuff in this book by Anita Schackelford is gorgeous..  THREE-DIMENSIONAL APPLIQUE IS SOLD.  THANKS. 
Susan Propst's book is just fabulous...

Be sure to stop by Bonnie's site at Quiltville  to see what others have for sale!

Kathleen



Thursday, April 5, 2012

Look What the Quilt Muse Did !!!!

Quilt Muse, you say?  Is there a quilt Muse??  Well, here's what Google revealed about Muses... 

hmmm, not sure which one is the Muse in that photo!!!  One of them looks cold - perhaps needs a quilt to cover up with...

The Quilt Muse makes good things happen - like when you go to your stash, and just the right color is there...
Or when your bobbin does NOT run out just before you finish attaching that binding...
And - She is ALWAYS working to see that your joining seam in the binding does NOT show up at the mitered corner - amazing how well she does with that one, isn't it????
Well - last year I did Bonnie Hunter's "Roll, Roll, Cotton Bowl"...  some of you probably did, too...
And I made these units to go in the blocks:::



 Well, typical of Bonnie Hunter quilts, I made a GAZILLION of those units:::


Well, unfortunately, when I put them on a block, they looked limp, and colorless, next to some other bright colors... blah, blah... boohoo............ so I didn't use them, and made a bunch more in a better color, and chalked it up to the challenges of Mystery Quilts... and I thought "bad quilter, you made WASTED UNITS..............grrrrr

And I put the WASTED UNITS in a ziploc bag, where they just annoyed me...  I didn't hide them away, like I should - I left them laying out, say "here, look at us, we are WASTED UNITS!",  and "oh, you are wasteful, you didn't use us WASTED UNITS"... and stuff like that.  I nearly threw them away at least ten times, just to get them out of my sight...

Enter Sarah's "Hands2Help" initiative - and her plan to have partners pick a color Palette for each other...

My partner picked this palette from the website Design Seeds:


So I went to my stash, and was pulling out soft greens and gentle tans and greys - and then - EUREKA - I glanced across the room... and the WASTED UNITS jumped up and started waving their tiny arms up in the air,saying "IT'S OUR TIME, YIPPEE".............
and a block was born... a soft, gentle block, that will turn into a lovely, comforting quilt... perfect for the Happy Chemo initiative - perfect for snuggling under while you are undergoing a scary medical procedure...
 I don't know yet how I will set these blocks - I'll wait for directions from the Quilt Muse... I'm sure she'll send me a text or a tweet soon.


THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP, QUILT MUSE........
Kate














Tuesday, April 3, 2012

I NEED to Give This Away!!! Where Did it Come From, Anyway??


Will someone take this??? It's a panel of Christmas stocking... I believe there are three or four stocking on this piece of fabric.   I don't know how I got it, where it came from - perhaps Santa snuck into my sewing room and left it there on Christmas Eve!!!

Let me assure you the stocking has a toe - it's just on the other side of the fold!!!



Someone want it?  Just leave a comment below - be sure you are not "Anonymous" - and I'll pick random in a few days...  and pop this in the mail to you...

Kate

Sunday, April 1, 2012

A Sewing Sunday and Some Lost Candlesticks

What a fun quilty day I have had!!  And there are yet a few hours left to do some handwork.

First I worked on this top... I love the quiet elegance of this pattern - just a 9-patch and a square-in-a-square...  but it comes out so lovely... This will be a gift, or will be one of my daily-use quilts...  we will see.
There's more to go, and a border to be figured out...

Then I tidied up a bit - washed some fabric...

And I unpacked a box marked "unwashed fabric" - from our move to California 18 months ago...  and guess what?  Buried in that lovely unwashed fabric were - yippee - my candlesticks!!!  I wondered how I had lost them...  lovely now to see them - like old lost friends who have come home...

And then I made "units" -...  just some little squares, into four-patches... not sure what I will do with them, but they sure are cute - little 1 1/2 inch cuties...  so fun...

And now I will work on this damn adorable hexagon quilt...  this is month number 13 on this baby...

Hope everyone is looking forward to a good week.... five days and there is another WEEKEND - yahooo.

Kate




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