Nike was right!

 I just have to "do it"! I set a goal on my last post to write one every Monday. That might have been a bit ambitious since that was October 9 and I've done nothing since. So...

I will start with a few finishes since October 9 and will NOT pressure myself into thinking that I will post every week. I feel better already!!

In mid October I finished my "Scrappy Stars Sew-a-long" with Taryn Falkner on Instagram. I made mine in the potholder method, so when the last blocks was posted, I was able to get it finished pretty quickly. I was amazed at how many people joined this project. There are some wonderful versions! Actually, they are all superb!

 

Back 

When my friend, Linda Collins (Quilts in the Barn) came to visit, she gave me a wonderful little kit to make a "sewing kit". It went together very quickly thanks to her EPP papers and great instructions! 

 

 

I made her this little mini to take back to Australia as a reminder of her trip to Maine. 

I finished a t-shirt quilt made from many of my grandson's old shirts. I sent it to his mother for her birthday in October. I have made a few of these and each time I make one, I say "never again". This one was easier because I gave it to my friend Kathy Boudreau to quilt for me. 

 

I had one lefteover and since it was one of my favorites, I put it on the back. 

That's all I can muster today. Hope the spirit moves me to get the rest of the finishes out soon. 

Oh where or where has my little blog gone?

 I believe that my lack of blog posts recently is due to the fact that I have done so much this past summer, I just don't know where to begin! So... I'm going to begin with a quick post of a few great visits. 

In September, my friend Janet (RogueQuilter) and her husband took a cruise. One of the scheduled stops was Bar Harbor, Maine. The last time they came to Maine, our husbands met and really hit it off, so we were both excited at the thought of meeting them for lunch. We had a super time catching up. It went by way too quickly, but was well worth the trip! 

 

 At our "Seven Sistahs" monthly get together we decided to cut back on the food. As you can see by the "spread" we all forgot or simply ignored our decision. There is always too much food, but oh so much fun!! 

 

At our previous meeting, Karen M. brought a number of goodies from her Aunt Marsha. One of them was this unfinished block. We decided to do a round robin and them donate the finished quilt in the end. Fotini did the first border.

 

I added the blue 4-patches. 

 

Also in September, this exciting news - Barb Vedder (FunWithBarb) was featured in Quiltmania. 

Cecile Denis did a wonderful job writing the article and the photographs are just beautiful! Barb also designed this fabulous quilt and her pattern is included in this issue (#157). 

I highly recommend subscribing to this publication. I know people say that it is expensive (what isn't??), but it truly is worth every penny. 

Over the weekend I had a visit from someone I have been wanting to meet in person for years!! Linda Collins (Quilts in the Barn) and her friends, Brenda and Liz came all the way from Australia just to visit me! 😂😂  Actually, they are here on a two week vacation after which Linda will be the guest star in a two week tour (America's Heart Tour). I was so thrilled that they were able to visit my little corner of Maine! 

 

 

That's it for now. Hopefully, I wont lose momentum and will post a few things I've been working on soon!

Scrappy Star and Fabulous Gladi Porche presentation

 I know this will come as no surprise, but I have decided to finish the Scrappy Star Sew Along with Taryn Falkner (Reproquiltlover) in the potholder method. 😏

Here are the first 3 blocks quilted and bound. I decided on this peachy print for the alternate blocks as I have very few solids in my collection and it seemed the next best thing. 

 

 

The backs are cut from my extensive collection of chintzes. 

 

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of seeing my friend Gladi (Gladi'sQuilts) at our state meeting in Augusta, Maine. I had seen many of Gladi's quilts over the years, but I was still blown away by her collection and her pleasing way of describing her process and her passion. She is truly remarkable! Thanks Gladi!!

 

Scrappy Star Sew-a-long

 Yup! I've been drawn into another sew-a-long. I had no choice really. It is hosted by Taryn (Repro Quilt Lover) and it is from an antique crib quilt formerly in the collection of my friend Judy (Roche) and, it is made up of 20 of the cutest and scrappiest Ohio Star blocks so...

I am going to try to be true to the colors in the actual blocks as we go along. It is a bit difficult from a photo on a monitor screen, but it is loads of fun and I like the result thus far. 

Block #1

 

Block #2

I am toying with the idea of making it into a potholder quilt. 😏 Stay tuned.

Stash Hash potholder quilt update

 I finished this outer border of my latest "pot luck" potholder quilt some weeks ago so I guess it is time to post an update. I have had so much fun digging through odd blocks and piecing then together. This is the second potholder quilt I have made in "strips" as opposed to block by block. I learned a lot more this time and am really looking forward to the next one. In fact, I have already started another potholder with the "leftovers" from this one. I think I should name them all "Sourdough" as they just keep going and going! 

Front

 

back 

 

We've had the wettest summer in recent history which has allowed for lots of indoor stitching. Now if I could just open my laptop once in a while to post all my progress... 

Hope you have had great quilting time too!

Thank you Cyndi

 While visiting my friend Cyndi (The Busy Thimble) a few weeks ago, I spied this beautiful appliqued block on her table. "how is it that I have never seen this one before?", I asked. She said, "They were not really my colors, in fact they are more like yours, here, take it". After I picked my jaw back up from the floor, I thanked her profusely and took it home.

I bought the border fabric at Cyndi's shop about 20 years ago and have been trying to find the right quilt to use it in ever since. Voila! 

I'm still trying to figure out the "big stitch". I think I am getting better - the border stitches are twice the size of my regular quilting (in the center), but I know they should be larger still. Will keep trying! 

The colors are reminiscent of 1850's Lancaster, PA, but it looks great in my 1950's decorated kitchen! 

Thanks Cyndi!!

Quiltmania Mystery Quilt 2023 - step 4

 Well, almost all of step 4😏 

I am enjoying working with these wonderful Dutch reproduction prints and I love Susan Smith's applique designs.

 

 

 

 

A little outdoor stitching on a calm day. Lately it has been too windy to stitch outside!

I am however a bit puzzled with the measurement directions for the vines (with attached hexagon flowers) so I will hold off that step until I see what others are doing. I am a visual person! My mother was lefthanded and therefor claimed she couldn't teach me to knit. I now know lefthandedness was not the reason! I just don't follow directions well. 

Hope you all get a little outdoor stitching time too!

Maine Quilts 2023

 No excuses for my bad blogging, I'm simply going to move forward without another word about it. 😏  Our statewide show (Maine Quilts 2023) was (in my humble opinion) the best in years. The reason being, there were two special exhibitions that were close to my heart.

My friend Sue Rivers curated a show of our friend Judy Roche's antique quilts and it was spectacular. They were truly amazing, but these are my two favorites. 

 

I just adore both of them!

 

I would love to reproduce both of them. My dream is that when I am long gone and people see my quilts, I would want them to say, "Oh what fun, I would love to make that one!"  

And, speaking of reproduction quilts, the other special exhibit was a room full of the wonderous reproductions of Hortense Beck. She was a remarkable woman who reproduced many (some famous, some not so famous) antique and historical quilts from private and museum collections. And... she didn't start quilting until she was 60!! These were my favorites.  

 

  

 

 

 

 

You can read more about her online, she was simply remarkable!! 

 

And, for more news... Here is my friend Barb (Fun with Barb) with her outstanding chrome quilt. Many of my friends cornered me at the show and said, "I thought this was a Wendy Reed quilt!". I wish it was!!! 

 

And here she is talking to someone about her "Chernobyl" quilt. This was inspired by a Jen Kingwell pattern. Barb is great at using her quilting to tell a story. This one gives me goosebumbs! This woman was fascinated as was I. 

and this was one of my entries: "Petaluma" was made using Dawn Cook-Ronningen's (Collector with a Needle) patterns called "Fig Leaf and Flowers". I rarely use patterns, but Dawn's fabulous patterns of her antique quilts are superb. This one was in Houston last year so it had until this year to be at Maine Quilts. It is a very patient quilt. The little wool hand means it was hand quilted. I counted them this year and there were 37 (out of over 400 quilts). I am now anxious to see if next year brings more or fewer hand quilted entries. When I first started quilting (before the dawn of time), machine quilting was frowned upon. Oh my how things have changed! Some of today's machine quilting simply blows my mind!

 

And, here is my friend Meliss' quilt sporting her first ever ribbon. It is a Jen Kingwell pattern using 19th century reproductions. Just fabulous!! And, hand quilted! 

And, speaking of Jen Kingwell... She was the speaker for our Friday night banquet and I would have to say that she was the best one I had ever heard. When she started talking about how she was technically challenged and really didn't like using the computer and how she preferred hand work over the machine, I thought perhaps we had been separated at birth. She was so humble and gracious, thanking those who helped her get where she is today in the quilt world. I really enjoyed her. 

The best part of the show was (and always has been) seeing all my quilty friends. A few of them got a little weepy while saying, "It is so good to see you looking so well"! I was so sick last summer, I am just so thankful to be returning to my old self. Now, if I could just get back into Blogland...😊

Have a super day!!!

A little Zoom to get me going!

 It seems like months since I was able to join one of Chooky's (Chookyblue) Zoom sessions. Perhaps because of the 13 (plus) hour difference from South Australia to Maine, I never seem to make it at the right time.

I was thrilled that yesterday's session fit into my day. It is always fun to catch up with quilters from all over the world. It was particularly great to see Clare's face. She was still having a hard time speaking after her recent surgery, but she was able to type in her comments. She showed us a few heart blocks that she had received to "cheer her up". These two from me will hopefully arrive in Australia soon! 

 

My friend Grace (citymousequilter) showed what she was working on and then lamented that she never seems to accomplish all that she expects too. She asked if any of us ever felt that way and we all laughed hysterically! The funny thing is when I look at what Grace actually accomplishes, I am always amazed. I wonder how I can quilt every single day and still not finish as much as I think I should. I guess we are all a little too critical of ourselves. I enjoy my daily handwork and I just have to be patient for the end result. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here!

One project that I am diligent about is my daily circle project. Since I am doing it in the potholder method, I can see progress each month as the blocks get finished. I sew one circle onto a 3" background each morning, then at the end of the month, I quilt and bind the block and assemble it. I am quilting the June block now, but I've already assembled January through May. 

 

And the back is fun too 

 

I had made plans to go to the Vermont Show with friends, Barb (funwithBarb) and Randy (Barrister'sBlock) so when the show was canceled we decided to stick with our plan and visit Vermont anyway. We went by way of Lowell to see the potholder quilt exhibition curated by Pam Weeks from her book, "Portable Patchwork". We met up with Gladi (Gladi'sQuilts) and other friends for lunch. Great fun!! 

 

 

I've been working on the 3rd and 4th (final) borders of my recent "pot luck" medallion potholder quilt. The final border has created a volcano of light fabric strips all over my sewing room. 

Can't wait to see how it turns out. Enjoy the day!