Friday Finishes

Its been a very busy, productive week.  Monday, I spoke and provided a trunk show to the Fair City Quilters in Sandwich.  Tuesday, Harry Potter, my Australian Shepherd, and I spoke to the kids at Tiskilwa Library for the after-school program.  Visiting the library may become a regular fun thing for Harry and I .  Its so much fun to see those young minds working.

 

I also got some baking done for meals and made cookies for the social hour at church. 

I am heading out to visit with my retreat friends in Fulton today and I will also be taking oatmeal raisin and chocolate cookies for a snack.

 

Here's my finish for the week.  This blue and brown scrap quilt pattern is call Keep Kids Warm by Ami Sims.  It is a free pattern on her website.

 

Here's a close-up.  I used a quilting pattern called Star Spangled B2B.  The thread is Robinson Anton brown. 

 

 I used my scraps across the back to lengthen the backing fabric.

 

Saturday I will be teaching beginning quilting and free motion quilting at the Fair City Quilt Guild.  I prepared muslin and batting pieces for the students to make fabric sandwiches to practice on. 

 

Supplies ready, pins, 505 spray, marking tools, stencils, quilting gloves, etc.

 

Congratulations to Anne B.  Your quilt is featured on Link a Finish Friday on Richard and Tanya Quilts. 

 

Today I am linking up with ..... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, Freedom Fridays, and Crazy Mom Quilts. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

Work in Progress Wednesday

I hope you are keeping busy inside this week. Baby, its cold outside. Most of the country is suffering from the brutal cold or snowy weather.  As I write this it is -2 F, -11 F with wind chill.  Pull up chair and get a fresh cup of coffee or hot tea as this might end up being a long post.

 

Monday night I traveled to Sandwich, IL, to share my lecture "Charting My Journey" with the Fair City Quilt Guild.  What a fun group of ladies!  It was a very interactive group.  I had fun getting to know them a little and giving away a few goodies.  Inside each triangle pouch was a spool of thread and some chocolate. 

I will be returning to Sandwich on Saturday to teach beginning quilting on your domestic machine. We will cover sandwiching, pinning or spray basting, different types of marking, stitch-in-ditch and basic free motion.  Just the basics to get started.  I provide fabric sandwiches for the student to practice on.  This morning I cut up muslin for the sandwiches.

This is the raffle quilt that was shown at Sandwich.  It will be raffled off at the Camp Tuckabatchee Quilt Show on March 14-15.  It is king size.

 

Yesterday I hit the floor running first thing in the morning.  Heading to the horse barn to feed Hoot and clean the stall.  We jokingly call the barn the "marble factory" during these really cold days.  The marble factory worked overtime, as there was a lot to clean out.  The more you feed, the more production there is! :)

 

Then I ran home to clean up and take Harry to the vet for yearly shots.  Actually, it ended up that he only needed the distemper.  We are trying a new type of dental care for him.  He gets one rawhide each day which is treated with a product that will help clean his teeth.  There is some improvement of the tartar build up.  We will re-check the progress in April.  I am trying to avoid putting him under anesthetic for the teeth cleaning.

 

Yesterday afternoon, Harry and I went to the new Tiskilwa Library for their afterschool program. 

We had seven kids at the library.  We talked about Harry, Australian Shepherds, herding dogs, and show dogs. The kids took turns showing Harry different parts of the new library.  The visit went so well, that we have been invited back next month.  I believe the kids will be reading stories to Harry.

I will let you know what our adventure in March turns out to be.

 

After getting home from the library, I mixed up oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies.  The cookie dough chilled overnight and today got baked off.  I had set out frozen bread dough yesterday morning and it got baked last night.  The house smelled so good.

 

 

Now its time to head to the basement for quilting.  I need to make progress on quilts for the quilt show.  This quilt is now being loaded onto the machine. 

 

Today I have linked up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

Monday Design Wall

I was all set to post my pictures and story about Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses class when "boom" my computer had a virus.  Hopefully, the computer is all better after a visit to the computer emergency room.

 

On Saturday, February 7th, we had a class on English paper piecing using the Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses book. 

 

Valerie Langue was our lecturer and teacher.  Valerie owns the The Quilt Merchant Quilt Shop in Winfield, IL.  Her love of the Patchwork of the Crosses is contagious. 

 

Valerie brought small kits for the blocks. 

 

   I bought my kit from Valerie at the Chicago Quilt Show at the Rosemont last October.  I have anxiously been waiting for Valerie's class.  I was afraid I had picked out the most difficult block with matching the pattern to create a circle.  It was quite easy once Valerie explained the process.  Once you know the tips of how to cut the fabric pieces, it is a simple process.  Here is my block.

 

This is my friend, Maribel's block. 

 

This is my friend, Kathy O's block.

 

Below are Valerie's blocks.  Aren't they stunning.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After taking this class, you never look at fabric the same way.  You are always looking at how you could use the fabric in a Patchwork of the Crosses Block.  We have talked about carrying the template with you so that you can audition fabric through the viewing window of the template.

 

Have a great Monday!  I will be traveling to Sandwich, IL, this evening to give my lecture and truck show to the Fair City Quilters. 

My bags are about packed and the house looks naked.  I had to wait until this morning to take a few quilts off the bed.

 

Today I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

Friday Finishes

Well, its Friday!  TGIF!!  Doing the happy dance today as it has been a productive week.  I have not been posting this week as my computer has been in the hospital.  The computer started talking to me Monday morning telling me that it had a virus.  I could not get rid of the talking screen and I was afraid to call the 800 number it was telling me to call.  I took in to the computer hospital for a cleaning and check-up.  The computer is now feeling and acting much better. 

 

So while the computer was being fixed I was busy in the studio quilting. This is a king size beauty.  The thread is turquoise Magnifico and the pattern is Feathered Paisely by Anne Bright.com.  This is so big it was hard to get a total picture of it.  My quilt holders worked a lot of overtime this week so they were not home to help during daylight hours. 

 

 

 

 

I finally laid out some sheets on the deck and then laid out the quilt.  The wind wanted to flip the corners on me. 

 

This is bright, cute baby quilt is quilted with Clover E2E by Handi Quilter with Barley Omni thread.

 

 

 

 

This gorgeous star quilt is quilted with neutral colored Goose thread by Omni using Handi Quilter's Star E2E.

 

 

 

 

I have two more quilts to finish quilting for customers and then onto quilting my own for the quilt show (March 21-22).

 

Stay warm this weekend if you are affected by this artic blast coming through.  I will be preparing to travel to Sandwich, IL on Monday.  I will be giving my trunk show to the guild.  Time to pull out the big suitcases with wheels to transport my show and tell quilts.

 

Today I am linking up with ..... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, Freedom Fridays, and Crazy Mom Quilts. 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

Friday Finishes

We are having a heat wave, its 27 degrees and the sun feels so warm.  I have been hearing the snow slide off the roof as I sit here typing.  I almost think I can hear the trees' relief as the snow and ice melts off  as the branches.  It will be interesting to see what happens to many of the large pine trees that have branches touching the ground.  Will the branches bounce back?

 

This lovely woven quilt is my finish for the week.

 

It is quilted with the Drop of Paisley pattern by Anne Bright.com.  The thread is Mulberry by Omini.

 

Below is my computer screen showing the pattern. 

 

This will be Cathy B's entry into our Covered Bridge Quilt Guild's Bi-Annual Show on March 21-22, 2015.  It will be held at the Bureau County Fairgrounds in Princeton, IL.

 

Today I have been working on printing pictures and completing entry forms for my own quilts for the show.  Tonight at quilt guild we have to turn in our entries.  So my goal is to finish seven (7) quilts.  All the quilts are made, but six of seven still need to be quilted.  I also have four customer quilts to finish quilting.  One is loaded on my machine and the other three will be dropped off to me tonight.

 

I also completed an entry into a juried show today.  This is only the second time I have had the courage to enter a juried show.  I am praying the quilt gets accepted.  I will be notified by Feb. 13th.

 

Today I am linking up with ..... Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link a Finish Friday, Freedom Fridays, and Crazy Mom Quilts. 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

 

 

 

Work in Progress Wednesday

So much to do, so little time.  How many of you feel like that?  I am busy trying to finish customer quilts for the Covered Bridge Quilt Guild's Bi-Annual Show on March 21-22.  It will be held at the Bureau County Fairgrounds in Princeton, IL.  I also believe they will be linking up with the Barn Quilt movement and have a tour of all the Barn Quilts that have been hung over the last two years.

This is my friend, Kath O.'s barn quilt hung last Friday before the big snow storm.



 

 

This quilt is loaded and is in the process of being quilted.

 

After this quilt, I have four more customer quilts to quilt.  Then I will move on to my own.  I have set a BHAG(big hairy audacious goal) of 7 quilts.  Only one of seven is already quilted.  I spent Tuesday, taking pictures of the quilts, cutting batting and starting the completion of entry forms.

Now before you get too excited about this goal, most of the quilts are small.  If I don't get them done then I will just pull the entries.

 

Its snowing again.  They are predicting another 1.1" on top of the 15.3" we already have.

 

Today I am linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP-Wednesday. 

 

Yours in quilting, 

Terry

 

 

Mother Nature's Design Wall

Grab a cup of tea, coffee or your favorite drink.  This will be a long post this morning.

So are you having a snow day and sitting in front of the computer looking at what is going on the internet?  We have 15.3 inches of snow on the ground. 

Here is a view outside my backdoor today.   Everything is coated with ice and snow but beautifully sunny.

 

This was the view yesterday morning out the front door. Dreary, windy, snowing,...

 

So let's back up a little and talk about the weekend.  Saturday, I got to slow down a little bit from the busy week.  My friend's son passed away and we spent the week supporting her and the family in whatever their needs were.  Saturday, my husband took care of me since I was so tired.  We bought groceries.  I prepared food for a Super Bowl party knowing that the weather might prevent people from coming to our house.  My husband and son cleaned.

 

Here's our menu:

Vegetable tray along with Grandma Esther's chip dip and chips

Little Smokies in BBQ Sauce

Overnight Chicken Casserole

Fluffy Jello Salad

Party Corn

Hot Rolls

Coconut Cream Pie

 

Good news, one couple made it to our Super Bowl gathering.  The food was yummy!

 

Saturday night we snuggled in with a batch of Vegetable Soup.

We started to watch a movie but it was ugly, violent and intolerable.  So we shut the TV off and went to bed early knowing that it was going to take a lot of energy to dig ourselves out Sunday morning.

I am thankful for a very strong husband and son who are physically fit and able to dig us out.

 

Sunday morning, my husband and I went to the fairgrounds to feed our horse.  We had to park at the gas station nearby and walk into the fairgrounds.  I did the chores cleaning the stall, feeding and watering the horse while he got out the tractor and plowed.  I was able to go back out and drive into pick him up.  We also could drive in later to do the late afternoon feeding.  This morning was a different story.

The barn door is drifted in.



 

My partner, Indy, walked in with me. 

 

As I walked and took this picture, I realized how quiet it was.  Even though I was in town, it was peaceful, no traffic noise, no wind, a majestic blue sky and sparkling snow. 

 

When I arrived home, my husband called to let me know he arrived safely at work.  Its going to be a great day!  Time to get to work.  I have a roll of batting out and time to cut pieces to fit the quilts awaiting quilting.

 

Today I will be linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times. 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry