BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

But not with quilting.  Our Godson arrived on Monday night, along with his family.  They were welcomed by torrential rains that soaked central Florida all day Monday.
Tuesday morning we headed off to Animal Kingdom at Disney World.  The weather was great, and we had a wonderful day. 

Today they are coming for a BBQ with about 20 of our friends and neighbours.  It is "must-go" season in Snowbird country - everyone is trying to use up all the food in the refrigerators and freezers before heading north for the summer.
This is also my weekly quilting group day, so I have most of the preparation done except for a couple of green salads.  The rest of the week will be packed with visiting, so not much quilting going on.....  just lots of fun!

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

My wall is a little bare.  I have finished the last block of the fairy tale series by Bobbysocks Quilts.

 The twelve blocks will have to wait until I return to my stash for completion.  I have collected lots of red with white, white with red, and red, white and black fabrics over the past few years.  I save them to use with my redwork projects.  I guess I'll have to figure out an interesting way to set the blocks.  I try to do something different with each project.
I'm almost finished block 11 of the Baltimore Bliss quilt from Fat Cat Patterns.

 I also managed to do all the "stitch-in-the-ditch" quilting on my pinwheel "Stack-n-Whack" quilt this morning (blocks shown here).  I am in the process of hand stitching the binding, which will take a while as this quilt is big!

Now head over to Judy's blog to see what projects everyone has on their design wall.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY WEEK 13

Used this week   13.375 yds
Used year to date  86.05 yds
Added this week  4 yds
Added year to date  32.375
Net Used 2011  53.675

I finished Raggedy & Friends this week.......

 The rest of the pictures are found here and here!
I hadn't planned to shop for fabric, but a friend gave me a gift certificate for a local quilt shop, The Patchwork Pig in Lakeland FL, and I had to use it before heading north for the summer.  I picked up 4 yards of lovely taupe/grey fabric that will make a great blender in a future project.
Check out how everyone else is taming their stash at Judy's blog.

HOUSEWORK, HORRIBLE HOUSEWORK

Rose blooming at Epcot

Very little quilting going on...... baking bread, vacuuming, scrubbing floors - I guess I have to do it every so often.  If I won the lottery, I'd hire someone to clean and do dishes, so I'd have all my time for quilting!
Two new quilters visited our group on Wednesday, and plan to join us next year.  Lots of projects getting close to finishing, and some just starting.  Two quilts were basted, and a group helped one quilter do some "unstitching", always a tedious job, but much faster with many hands.
I took my computer, and helped with the final plans for several quilts, using Electric Quilt.  Several were working on the 4-patch Stack n Whack, like the one I made here.  Since the size of the squares depended on the size of the repeat, all of the finished blocks were different sizes, and each person had a different number of blocks as well.  With EQ, I could quickly change the size and number of the blocks, as well as decided if they wanted to use sashing or not.  Lots of fun, and one person is asking for EQ for her present next Christmas!

More Epcot roses

ANOTHER FINISH

Raggedy & Friends is finished!  Thanks Kaaren at The Painted Quilt. 
I wasn't sure how to quilt it, so I used Kaaren's quilt as inspiration.  I don't usually do regular feathers, but managed to stitch some in this project.  I reverted to my "Hooked on Feathers" type for the border.

 I stippled around the stitching in the redwork blocks with shiny white rayon thread.  The stitch in the ditch was done with monofilament (invisible) thread, and the stitching in the black sashing was done with the smoke colour monofilament.  The rest was stitched with a medium beige coloured thread, showing nice dimension in some of the areas, and showing up wonderfully on the darker fabrics.  I stitched area by area, and was surprised how quickly I finished.  I used a chalk pencil to draw in some guidelines, but just stitched freely, using my Juki set into a table and moving the quilt.
Now I'll be able to add the fabric used in this quilt to my stash report on Sunday!

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

I'm beginning to look forward to our return north, where I have an actual design wall!

 I've been preparing the applique bits for my second-last block for the Baltimore Bliss quilt.

A sneak peek at the quilting on the Raggedy and Friends quilt.  I began by stitching in the ditch around all the sashing strips, then I added the binding.  Next I stipples with white rayon thread around all the embroideries in the blocks.  Now I am having fun, filling in the blocks with quilting.
Check out all the design walls at Judy's blog.

STASH REPORT SUNDAY

No fabric added this week, and the smallest of three quilts finished!

Used this week  6.5 yds
Used year to date  72.675 yds
Added this week   0 yds
Added year to date  28.375 yds
Net Used 2011  44.3 yds

Light Block completed

Light Detail

Dark Block Completed

Dark Detail

Border Detail

Fruit Squares

 I had fun quilting the fruit designs in each block.  I used a variegated Rainbow thread from Superior Threads, in an orange/rose colour.  Then I stitched the light squares with a darker green/blue variegated thread, and the dark squares and border with a light green variegated thread.   Lots of fun.  I machine quilt with my machine remaining stationary (not on a frame).  
Now on to the next quilt in line - Raggedy and Friends.

Check out everyone else's progress at Judy's blog.

HAPPY NATIONAL QUILTING DAY

I hope everyone has something "quilty" planned today!  I'm back at the machine, quilting the second of three quilt tops.
Yesterday, DH and I went to the flower and garden festival at Epcot (Disney World).  The display of flowers were beautiful, making me anxious to return north and play in my garden.

Patchwork Flower Beds

Towers of Flowers everywhere

Floating Flowers

Japanese Bonsai

Drifts of colourful flowers

Beds of Cyclamens

soft blue Hydrangeas

Bromeliads

Begonias

Butterflies everywhere

Of course, there were topiaries of all the Disney characters, displays of outdoor kitchens, play areas, lectures by some of the stars of HGTV (a sponsor this year), along with all the regular rides and entertainment.  It was HOT, HOT, HOT, so we decided to head home around 6:30.  Now back to my "normal" life, whatever that is.....

Fun Day

Nineteen quilters had fun at lunch yesterday.  It's great to get together without the work/fun of quilting getting in the way.  I received a lovely card, signed by all the quilters, with a little "treat" inside.
After lunch we split up and headed for some retail therapy.  The group that I was with wanted to check out a couple of "not so local" quilt shops.
There was much laughing, and matching of fabric etc. going on.  The first shop had a 25% storewide sale, and I found these....

 I had seen a quilt made using these templates, on my friend, Sandy's blog, here, and had to give it a try.  I also wanted to have my group try some curved piecing next year, and thought that the larger size would be great for those new to curved piecing.
The smaller size can be cut from charm squares, so that is an added bonus.  I had planned to order these from the designer's site, but when I found them on sale, I couldn't resist.
Off to get my work started!

Back on Track

Tuesday morning was spent adding backing fabric to one quilt and batting to another, then back to pin-basting.
I managed to get all the straight line, stitch-in-the-ditch sewing done on both quilts, then added the binding.  I always do it at this stage, as it makes it tidier to quilt (no quilting through a turned under edge,) and it gives me boundaries for the quilting in the final border as well.  I managed to get the binding stitched down on the fruit squares quilt,

 and I'm half-way around the Raggedy and Friends quilt!

 I have the quilt piled on a foot stool, as we are dog-sitting for a neighbour, and I didn't want her to step on a pin.

Today my quilt group is going out for lunch, and then some shopping therapy.  About half of the group wants to visit two more quilt shops, and the rest will be doing some "regular" shopping.

Tonight is the meeting to see if people want a quilt group or guild formed in our community.  This will be a once a month, evening get-together.  We'll see how many are interested.  I hope to finish the binding on Raggedy tonight, so I can get started at the more interesting quilting tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have to bake bread, and plan to quilt while doing laundry.  DH is playing golf, so there will be few interruptions.

Frustration!

I took the 2 smaller quilts to the clubhouse to pin-baste.  The first one went well until we had to re-position it on the table, then discovered that the backing fabric was 3 inches too short along one side!
The backing came from a bolt I had bought some time ago.  I cut the pieces much larger than required, stitched them together , then washed and dried, followed by a good press.  I can't believe how much shrinking occurred!  Fortunately, 2 widths of fabric was more than needed, so I'll be able to cut off the extra and stitch it along the side.
The second smaller quilt was laid on the table, and this time the batting piece was too short!  According to the package size, there should have been enough to provide batting for both quilts!
So this morning I'll be adding backing to one, and piecing batting for the other, then I'll be finishing the pin-basting instead of quilting!!!!!

Design Wall Monday

My "wall" looks very empty....

 I did complete the stitching on "Rapunzel", and I'm working on "The Frog Prince", all designs by Bobby Socks Quilt Co.
I have 3 quilt tops waiting to be sandwiched,  the final fruit fabric quilt, the Raggedy and Friends quilt, and my pinwheel Stack-n-Whack quilt.  I pieced backings for them, then made sure they were washed and ironed (the biggest one is waiting to be done first thing this morning.)  Then I have to check the schedule at the clubhouse to see when a couple of big tables will be free for some pin-basting.

Bougainvillea

 I have the final two blocks to prepare for applique, and then I'll have all 12 of the "Baltimore Bliss" blocks complete.  I'll probably finish this quilt when I return to Canada in less than a month.

Check out everyone's progress at Judy's blog.

Stash Report Week 11

Once again, I fell off the wagon and added some fabric to my stash!  DH and I and 6 quilting friends headed to the Sarasota quilt show on Friday.  I can't believe that out of 8 people, no one remembered their camera.  The quilts being exhibited were wonderful, and there were different vendors, since we were a bit farther from our area than usual.
I found some cloth books and panels at one booth - I look for cloth books with no real cover or end page, then cut them apart to make a quilt instead.

I found this one, "Somebunny's Garden"  by Wilmington Prints.

 Then I found "Garden Gate" by South Sea Imports.  It has lots of various size blocks on the panel.

Then "Tea & Sweets" by South Sea Imports, with lovely squares just waiting for a design.

Then DH spotted this pretty dragonfly fabric from Timeless Treasures.  My son's girlfriend loves anything dragonfly, so it is destined for a gift.

On Saturday, DH and I headed to Dade City to ask a couple of questions about the guild that recently formed there.  While I was getting information, DH was looking at fabric.  He showed me both of these batiks, pulling each bolt right off the shelf  so I could have a better look, so I felt obligated to get a yard of each as well!
Since I haven't completed any quilts this week - here is my stash report for this week.....


Used this week  0 yds
Used year to date  66.175 yds
Added this week  6 yds
Added year to date  23.375
Net Used 2011  37.8 yds
Now head over to Judy's blog and see how everyone else is making out....