27 DAYS TO...... drumroll

DID YOU GUESS IT??? HAVE YOU BEEN THERE????

IT'S ASILOMAR - - EMPTY SPOOLS SEMINAR...

YIPPEEE - I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO GO...

I'm going to be obnoxious about this - I am sooo excited!!!

color me jumping up and down in excitement - - more details to follow!!!!!

Kate

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

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

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

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

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

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