Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday. I get to see (almost) all of my very large family in one place to enjoy wonderful food and laughter. Since I will be off the grid until after Thanksgiving, I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I know a lot of us take time during this busy holiday to inventory all the things we are thankful for. I have so much to be thankful for, but this year I can add all of you to my list. Thank you to all who read this blog and comment and inspire me.

I couldn’t decide which of these lovely images to use to I am giving you both!

Have a wonderful holiday!

All leaves present and accounted for!

I put the last quilting stitches into my Burning Leaves potholder blocks last night and finished all the hand bindings (there are 36 blocks in all). It seems like I’ve been working on this forever, but in fact I started this at my retreat in June and fully intended it to be the “slow” pick up project that it turned out to be.

I made lots of other quilts this summer including 3 baby quilts, 2 wedding quilts and 4 veterans quilt tops. But this was my “go to” relaxing hand work project and I was almost sad this morning to not have it to pick up (I do need to stitch them all together but that will come later).

Thank heaven for my new Quilty 365 project. I am absolutely loving these little circles. I started on November 8 and have appliqued one circle each morning as I sip my coffee. So much fun. Thanks again Audrey (Quilty Folk) for giving me the nudge. It’s not too late to join in the fun!

I know what you are thinking. What is she going to do with the little circles?? I have to cut out the backs as sometimes feedsack fabrics are so lightweight they show through, so I end up with yet another little circle. Hmmm???? I will probably keep them for a giveaway next year of 365 little circles! Stay tuned.

California here we come

I just found out both of my little quilts were accepted into the Road to California Show coming in January. I just wish I could pack myself into the box with them. Maybe I will get out there next year!

Happy Hexagons

 Pan Blackened Applique (a potholder quilt)

If any of you get to go I would love to have a photo of you with one of these little guys.

Have a great day.

Twice in one day?

I’m not sure I have ever posted twice in one day. But, after reading Barb’s  (Fun with Barb) post for today I felt I needed to share something to my fellow quilters. I hope I don’t blather on too much, better get something to drink.

One of favorite shows is Quilter’s Gathering which is now located in Manchester, NH. I love the fact that it still has quite a few hand quilted entries, but also has lots of modern and pictorial quilts. A really good mix. I usually go with friends and we have a super time. It is only 3 hours from home, but for some reason this year, I just didn’t make it over there. So, I was surprised to see not one, but two ribbons in the box when my quilts came back.

Thanks Judie (over 600 different Judie Rothermel prints in this quilt) won a second place for hand quilting.

Stone Soup (a potholder quilt that I started in 2012 but hope to add to soon) won a third place ribbon for color compatibility

Quilter’s Gathering doesn’t send you judge’s comments (although I think they have in the past) so I can’t tell you what the judge(s) were thinking. These are in no way my best quilts but just fun little pieces to make and I love sharing them with others.

And hereby lies my reason for this post. Barb was surprised a bit by one of the comments the judges gave her about the binding on her stunning Jubilee quilt. I was thankful she shared these comments with all of us as it allows us to learn how others feel about our work.  This was my comment on her post:

Hmm, where to begin? I don't like to make truly negative comments about judges and judging otherwise, why would I even enter quilt competitions? I enter to share my quilts and learn from the comments and from viewers. That being said, it is perplexing to get these kind of comments about bindings. I used to be marked down every time for using straight binding. That doesn't happen as much now and I'm wondering if they have finally figured out (in judge school) that bias binding is really a 20th century thing. 99% of the antique quilts we see here in NE have a straight binding and often with only 3 mitered corners - it starts on a straight edge like yours. So maybe they are learning. It is one area that I am not going to change so I guess I'll never win the big Kahuna award! I love your dolly quilt! And thank you so much for moving those scraps along. I'm sure the winner will appreciate them.

So what I really want to say here is don’t be afraid to enter your quilt in a show just because you may get a negative comment. I love to see ALL quilts in shows. I love getting ribbons and awards, but I can TRULY say that my main reason for entering shows is to share my quilts with other people.

Please check out Barb’s quilt (here) as it is absolutely beautiful.

And go enter a quilt.

SVBAQ Blue Flag finished

I have finished the second block (actually I made 4 of the first “Pineapple” block) in the SVBAQ sew along and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I did do a little pattern re-work. I didn’t like the little stem on the buds. It’s not perfect now but I like it better. I am in hopes that this will mean I can keep up with this project in a timely fashion.

I mentioned last week that I have taken on yet another sew-a-long with Audrey from Quilty Folk. I have found the perfect little case to keep my little circle blocks in. My plan is to prep 7 blocks on Sunday and pick one at random every morning to applique down. A circle a day keeps the boredom away – seriously?? Are we ever bored? 

When the Cat's away

The mice will quilt!

My husband has to go to the Caribbean Charter Boat shows in the late fall for his job as a yacht charter broker. He goes for a week in early November and again in early December. My non quilting friends (yes, I have a few) say, “Are you crazy? Why don’t you go with him?” and my quilting friends say, “Lucky you! How much quilting did you get done?”

So, here’s what I accomplished in a week of no cooking, cleaning or dishes!

I made 3 throw pillows and two dish towels for my Mom who is moving into an efficiency apartment at my sister’s house. She loves paper dolls and Peter Hunt so I incorporated both.

I’m up to date on my Time Warp stars:

Week 43: Provincial – (oddly enough I bought this fabric on a Caribbean sailing trip in 1993, so I do go with him when he is not working the show!)

And week 44: Early roller print clouds and storms

I am in charge of the Veteran’s quilts for my group and I try to make at least one top a month and also one with blocks from the group. I made two tops for our group’s Veteran quilt project, but unfortunately gave them to the quilter before I photographed them.

I made pretty good progress on this month’s block (Blue Flag Iris) in the SVBAQ sew along.

And, for some unknown reason, I started another sew-a-long thanks to Audrey at Quilty Folk. This one was right up my alley and I just couldn’t resist. She is calling it Quilty 365 and it consists of making one circle block a day. How hard can that be? Audrey is such an inspiration. If you have never read her blog, do check it out. Her quilts are so delightful. She has a fantastic and often daring color sense and she is very creative. Anyway, I love appliqueing circles, so I am in. I decided to use feedsacks as I have a ton of scraps and need to move out a few boxes! I started on Sunday the 8^th so here are my 5 blocks so far. I am making one each morning before work which seems doable so far!

So I had a productive an relaxing week and I am looking forward to his return tonight!

Thank goodness for the Time Warp stars!

Otherwise I would have little to post about this week. Busy, busy, busy! Anyway here are the last few weeks worth.

Cadet Blue and Celestials

Neons - whoohoo!

and Sprig Muslin and Indiennes

Now I am only 1 week behind! Woohoo! Happy stitching.

WooHoo Winner!

First, I would like to thank each and every person who commented on my giveaway post. I truly enjoy hearing from people.

When I did a scrap giveaway a year ago, the box went to Vic in NH. I didn’t know her at the time and have since read every delightful post on her blog. I have made so many blogging friends this year and have actually met one face to face (Sue from the UK).

So, I was delighted when I found out the number (55) that my husband chose (he was less than thrilled that I woke him up this morning to pick a number from 1 to 63) belonged to Barb from Fun With Barb! Congratulations, you are the proud owner of a box of scraps!

It has been a fun year and I hope to continue to post things of interest, or whatever tickles my fancy.

Enjoy the day!