Quilt Show Choices

Hello Everyone!!

And Happy Saturday afternoon!

I'm picking quilts today - choosing what to enter in the upcoming Amador Valley Quilt Guild Quilt Show... the date for entries is soon...

Here's my first choice: it's hand quilted and hand pieced - from a class taken in Upstate New York with Sharon Stroud.

The second one is a Mystery Quilt sponsored and run by Kris Driessen of The Quiltbug Quilt Shop in Esperance, New York. It was an online Mystery on SuperBowl Sunday a couple of years ago. I believe this is Kris's design...

And from yet another class: a little pineapple wall piece from a class at Quilter's Corner in Ithaca New York. When I started this I thought the colors were gaudy and hideous - and then it turned out to be gorgeous and I love it! Go figure.

And, last but not at all least is this Mariner's Compass that I started in a class with Judy Niemeyer at New Pieces Quilt Shop in Berkeley, only a few days after moving to California - I was amazed I coluld find sewing machine and notions, but knew I could not miss the opportunity to take Judy's class. This one has yet to be sandwiched or quilted, but I think I have time before the quilt show. (disregard the weird look on the bottom edge - it doesn't really look like that.


Well, that's my eye candy for today...

I also found time this weekend to start my hexagon quilt - - stay tuned for pictures of the tiny seed that will grow to a humongous quilt, hopefully!

Happy Quilting,

Kate

Winner !!

Oh So - Sorry - I forgot to post the winner of the book giveaway!!!

(and for the life of me i can't figure out how people post the photo of the Random Number Generator, so you just gotta trust me !!! :)

The winner is Cat from Michigan... who told me to pick a book for her from two that she did not already have ! Well, Cat - it's on it's way tomorrow (also a bit delayed by my real life)...

Keep watching here - more books will be up for grabs within the next few days!

Happy weekend to everyone!

Kate

Natural Grandeur

Hello all - what a privilege i had this week... DH and i took a road trip up the northern California coast... WOW... as a newcomer to California, i knew it was beautiful, but seeing it in person - oh my...


We drove from our home near San Francisco to the quaint town of Arcata, where Humboldt State University is located, and where I had some business for the 'day job'... (the one that pays for the fabric)... We drove up the coast, and then through the AMAZING redwood forests, with gigantic trees more than 300 feet tall... nature in its most incredible display!


here's just a hint of the scenery:





It was simply fabulous, and we had a great trip! Coming home we found TWO quilt shops: Scottie Dog Quilts, in Eureka, and another shop called the Quilted Quail... that DH spotted on the road, and said 'oh honey, there's a quilt shop'!!!!! SCREECH, UTURN, CREDIT CARD...

So now we are home, only to discover that some ne'er do well thugs tried to steal DH's car while we were away, resulting in the ignition being smashed and some of the electronics all pulled out when they tried to hotwire it... good grief - we live in a fancy neighborhood with a security patrol - these were BOLD thieves!!

But it was a fabulous trip nonetheless... and the car is being repaired...

And it is Friday, and I am tired - but tomorrow there will be quilting... only two more weekends before I must finish any thing I want to enter in our guild quilting show in april... great excuse for some finishes!!

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Kate

Water Water Everywhere, but not a Quilt to Snuggle

Poor Poor Dear Hubby (subtitle: oh what a bad wife am I)

DH: Honey, I'm cold, can I wrap up in this quilt, on the arm of the chair?


ME: Oh, honey, not that one, it's being hand quilted and has safety pins in it

DH: Can I wrap up in one of these?


Me: Oh, not those, they are display quilts, not daily-use quilts.

DH: (moaning) I can't wrap up in a pink and green quilt
.


Me: Well, I'm putting binding on that one at the moment anyway.

DH: this one???


Me: Oh, that's not finished either, sweetie...

DH: Is there a quilt anywhere that I can wrap up in?


Me: Well, there are several upstairs - but down here at the moment there is only the cat's blanket......

UGGHHHHH...........i'D BETTER GET SOME FINISHED QUILTS IN THE FAMILY ROOM - PRONTO!


Happy Quilting (and finishing),

Kate

BOOK GIVEAWAY -

Three more days to comment to win a lovely quilting book!- see post below (two down)

I'll pick for the first book on Sunday !!!

Kate

Holy yikes!

HI FOLKS!

WHAT DO EGGS LOOK LIKE AFTER BEING BOILED FOR ONE HOUR ? - - i am sure you have often pondered that question. Well, fret no longer, here is the outcome.

They smell really funky, too. Compost heap, here they come.
I wonder if I cooked them another hour if they would combust?

On more 'normal' topics - my hexie design is growing:

and the postman brought a box of fabrics from the "Quilt in a Day" sale... can't wait to open these up and fondle them

Meanwhile, the day job is challenging - and the Quilting Professor advises you to find the local college, and give a professor a hug. State budget cuts are tough on professors - and secretaries, and cleaning people... it is disheartening to see something so very vital as education becoming the whipping post for political games and showmanships...

and now i am off to the bath - oh, the bath.... the bath...

Happy quilting,

Kate

Oh What to Do! and Giveaway

Hello everyone, and happy Superbowl Sunday!

It's a perfectly beautiful day here in the Bay area... 74 degrees, bright beautiful sunshine, and these are blooming and growing: yes, that's a lemon, and beautiful camelias all along the fence!

It's a good day for a walk, or..........as George suggests, a nap

But - I have a small problem: My bookshelf is too full of quilting books!

(and that's only one shelf of one bookshelf!)

So - these three books need a new home... so I will be giving one away every Sunday for the next three weeks - chosen randomly from the comments left below... (sorry, no international shipping, just too costly). These are great books, I just have too many and need to clean out so I can BUY SOME MORE! So leave a message, and let's find them a new home....

Hope everyone is having a great Sunday...

Kate

The Charity Quilt that Stayed Home

Hello hello everyone on a fine Thursday evening... I have been really empathizing with everyone who was snowed in and iced over... living in California can make one really smug, but I lived in the east too many years to forget how yucky all that snow and ice can be! I hope everyone is comfortable and all dug out...

Way last winter I started this little string quilt, made out of fall color scraps from other projects - I just love browns, greens, and reds - I am continuously drawn to those colors... I keep saying I'm going to use more different colors, but am drawn to the fall palette.

So here is the top all finished... it was originally going to be a charity quilt, but

it seems so snuggly and cozy, even before quilting, that I have decided to keep it!

For now, it gets a home in the closet of "tops waiting to be sandwiched"""

I need to have a weekend where I do nothing but make sandwiches!

Happy Quilting, everyone!

Kate

The "O" Moment

I FIGURED IT OUT...

WHAT I ENJOY MOST ABOUT QUILTING... I KNOW WHAT IT IS NOW

For a while I thought it was selecting a pattern...

or sewing the first block...

or buying the fabric (yes , oh yes, moan moan)

BUT now I know

My "O" moment in quilting...

That moment that makes me sound like Meg Ryan in 'When Harry Met Sally"...

IT'S TRIMMING THE YUCKY EDGES - THAT'S IT...

I just finished this UFO from at least three years ago - a sweet little baby quilt... and trimmed off the extra batting and backing - and OOOH LA LA DID IT FEEL GOOD!!

If I were in an old romance movie, I'd go have a cigarette!

Everybody keep having fun quilting,

Kate