Monday Design Wall-Lucy Boston Fever for Fabric

Good Monday Morning!  The sun is shining here in Illinois.  Its about 36 degrees with a promise from the weatherman to reach 67 degrees today.  The dogs have been in and out several times because there is no wind and the sun is warm on the back deck this morning.  Indy has decided to lay out on the deck and watch over the neighborhood.

I have a lovely quilt on the machine downstairs calling my name to get finished quilting.  But, blogging first is my duty.  How did your weekend go?  My Thursday, Friday and Saturday were so much fun.  Thursday and Friday, I worked at the International Quilt Show in Chicago.  Through a mutual friend, I had the great joy of working with Diane in the Sew Batiks booth.  I worked with their rayon batiks for clothing.  Its just yummy to stroke, has beautiful drape, and easy care.  Also, check out their Nuance Gradations and 112" wide backs.  Looking forward to seeing Diane again in Paducah!  Check their website for their travel schedule for a show near you. (This is not a paid ad, this is my opinion on a great product.)

I drove home Friday night and slept in my own bed.  Saturday, I hopped on the bus at 8am with my local guild and headed back to the show to shop.  The view walking into the show was breath-taking seeing the Ruby display of red and white quilts.

 

The piecing, quilting and fabric selections were fabulous. 

 

We headed over to my "Easy Street" quilt for pictures while we were fresh. 

Pictured above from left to right, Kathy Olson, myself, Maribel Kern, and Cathy Kieser.

Pinch me is this really happening? 

Cathy Kieser and I shopped for the fabrics together, texted back and forth from our sewing rooms and provided lots of moral  support while we both made Easy Street.

Cathy had the idea to put in secret messages instead of several four patches.  This is the "You can do it!" block.

I may never experience this again so I took lots of pictures.  This was living the "bucket list" dream to have a quilt in a juried show.  Thank you for all the support and kind comments I have received on Facebook.

 

Before leaving the show, I picked up a t-shirt to commemorate the occasion.

 

We shopped on Saturday and I brought home about five Civil War Repro fabrics and two 1930's fat quarters.  My dining room table became my design wall......

Since I have caught the Lucy Boston Block bug, I laid out my many fat quarters and started to pair them up for future blocks.  Now I will need a cutting day.

Two boxes of more fat quarters and that doesn't include all the dark ones downstairs in the drawer.  Kathy O, Cathy K and Maribel K, I think I am ready for the cutting day and have plenty of selection!

 

Today I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times, Nurdan at Hug-a-bit Quilts, and Beth with Main  Crush Monday at Cooking Up Quilts.  Have a great Monday. 

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

 

Super Saturday

I have worked at the Chicago International Quilt Show for the last two days in booth 1331, Sew Batiks from Mayville, ND.  Stop in and see Diane the owner if you are at the show, tell her Terry sent you.  I will be on a bus early tomorrow morning headed back to Chicago to enjoy shopping with my friends.  So glad to be sleeping in my own bed, Friday night, before a big day of shopping.

While in Chicago, I did get to sneak a peak at my quilt hanging in the Midwest Marvels Display.

 

 

So here we are, the quilting peeps.  Watch out Windy City, we will be blowing into town.

 

Have a great Saturday.

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 

Friday Finishes

Today I am showing my seven quilts finished last week for the Covered Bridge Quilt Guild's Bi-Annual Show.  First is the baby quilt pattern called Kid's Couch Quilt, designed by Country Threads.

 

2013 Country Threads Block of Month quilt made from my stash. 

 

Rustic Hearts, pattern from McCall's Quilting. This one is queen size.

 

Keep Kids Warm Scrap quilt,  pattern designed by Ami Sims. 

 

Cabbage Rose Tablerunner, pattern by Eydta Sitar.  Won third place. 

 

 Pink Patches Doll Quilt, pattern by Kathleen Tracy

 

Ladies Framed Wreath

 

There were 11 customer quilts that hung in the show also.

Congratulations Sylvia on your second place win with your king size bed quilt.

 

Anne B's baby quilt. 

 

 Anne B's queen size oriental quilt.

 Sue W's red & brown beauty.

 

Anne B's whimsical doll quilt. 

 

Cathy B's royal purple woven quilt. 

 Sue W's Christmas Log Cabin.

Anne B's Spring Hexies. 

 Sue W's country log cabin.

 Anne B's Stars

 Sue W's rainbows of log cabins.

 

Thank you to all of you who attended the show.  A very special thank you to all of my customers for trusting me with your 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

Thursday Things

Just an update on Harry Potter, aka therapy dog.  We made our second monthly visit to the Tiskilwa Public Library on Tuesday this week.  Harry, very patiently, listened to about 10 stories from the children and Miss Lisa, the Librarian.

We will be back again in April for more stories and possibly participate in the summer reading program.  It so much fun to see their young minds at work.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

Work in Progress-"See My Work at Quilt Festival Chicago!"

"See My Work at Quilt Festival Chicago!"

 

 

On March 9th I dropped some clues HERE to something important coming up in the future.  I can now share to good news that my "Easy Street" quilt has been juried into Quilt Festival Chicago at Donald Stevens Convention Center.  Easy Street was chosen along with 28 quilts to be in the Midwest Marvels display. Below is the invitation received through my guild.

 

"Midwest Marvels would like to invite you and your guild to have your best work shown in this exciting exhibit focusing on Marvelous Midwest quilters. This exhibit is open to quilters in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan."

 

As Paul Harvey would say, "now for the rest of the story".  When I received the emails from the Gems of the Prairie Guild and Quilts, Inc. about the entry forms and pictures, I was literally walking out the door to a funeral for my friend's son.  I was distraught and didn't see how I could possibly meet the deadline less than a week away.  I responded to Quilts, Inc. and they were so understanding. They gave the quilters another week to get all entries sent in.  Not only did I have a funeral to get through, we had a major snow storm.  Trying to get professional pictures taken of this extremely large quilt was almost impossible.  I took it up to the local quilt store and hung it off their second story bannister, which created a bend in the quilt.  Plus, my friend's professional camera malfunctioned so no appropriate pictures.  Then the roads were icy and it wasn't safe to travel. Next we took it out to our church and hung it on the wall, but my friend forgot the camera.  When her daughter brought us the camera, it wouldn't work.  Argh!!! 

 

Between doing everything but ride a snowmobile to take pictures and fancy cameras that didn't work, I was about ready to throw the towel in.  My friend, Corry, suggested that we try using my cell phone camera as it was a high quality camera.  Bingo!  We had great pictures.  I ran home quickly, cropped pictures and completed the entry form.  Yippee!! the quilt was entered with confirmation  received.  Now the waiting began. 

 

The entry form stated we would receive notification on February 13th, whether our quilts were juried into the show.  On that day we were shop hopping and I purposely did not check my email.  Late in the day I finally gave in and checked.  There was the response but I was hesitant to open it afraid of rejection.  Instead of rejection, the email said "Congratulations!" your quilt has been accepted for the Midwest Marvels display.  Whoopee!!!

 

The quilt was prepared for shipping according to their instructions and was received in Houston on time. 

 

Tomorrow I will be  heading to Chicago to see my quilt hung in the show and work at the Sew Batiks booth for Thursday and Friday with my new friend, Diane.  If you are at the show, stop by and say Hi, I would love to meet my readers in person.  I also will be across the aisle from Handi Quilter, my favorite longarm dealer.

 

I get to come home and sleep in my own bed Friday night and then take the bus with my guild friends back to the show for a day of shopping. 

 

Today I will be linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry

 



Tuesday Tips - Shopping Prep & Organizing Basket Pattern

(Kathy O, Maribel, Cathy K and myself)

I am preparing to attend the International Quilt Show in Chicago on Saturday.  I am attending with my quilting peeps, Kathy O, Maribel K, and Cathy K.  We are so jazzed up about seeing what the new trends will be this year.  We are also planning at going to Paducah this year.  Kathy O and Maribel are new to Paducah.  I always think it is so exciting to see Paducah through a newbie's eyes!

Maribel has asked me for some advice on how to prepare.  I thought this would be good information to share.  This is just MY opinion on how to prepare for the overwhelming experience of walking into the convention center at Paducah and loosing sight of your budget instantly.  Believe me....temptation will greet you at the door!

I keep a running "Wish List" on a little note pad by my sewing machine all the time.  That way when I go shopping to the local quilt shop, JoAnn's, shop hop or Paducah, I always know what I NEED.  On that list should be two kinds of lists:  NEEDS and WANTS.  That is why I call it a Wish List.  Needs will be things like sewing machine needles, thread to match a project, new rotary blades, etc.  If you need to match fabric, make sure you tape a scrap of fabric to your list for matching.  These are items you absolutely need to finish a project.  The other side of the list is WANTS.  This side consists of things you have seen in magazines, on the internet, suggestions by quilting peeps, new fabric lines or books coming out that you need to check out. 

I am going to share my current list so you get a feel for what I am explaining above.
NEEDS:

1. Handi Quilter 18 needles
2. Handi Quilter Bobbins
3. Grandma's Recipe Spot Remover in spray bottle
4. Soft Fuse 18" x 3 yds $20
5. EQ Printable Premium Cotton Satin fabric sheets
6. Threads for longarm

WANTS:

1. Smart Needle Essentials Sew Caddy-Ladybug $12.99
2. A Pattern to make Selvages Quilt
3. Farm Girl Vintage book by Lori Holt
4. Riley Blake Fabric for Farm Girl book
5. Civil War Remembered book by Country Threads

Notice that I also listed prices on several items.  This is so I know if I am getting a good price on the item.  If I buy at the show instead of on the internet then I won't be paying for shipping.

My friends and I have talked about our budgets and will help hold each other accountable.  I have even offered to hold their credit cards for them, if necessary! 

While on Linked In yesterday morning, I found this cute basket pattern and wanted share it with you.  What a cute way to use up scrap fabric, batting, and interfacing.  All of us need additional storage.  You could adjust the pattern to make them smaller or larger to fit your needs.  I think little tabs on the ends would be cute embellishment.
http://quiltsocial.com/a-tisket-a-tasket-this-sewing-table-needs-some-baskets/

I would love to hear how you plan to shop when attending shop hops or quilt shows.  If you can't leave a comment you can email me at quiltcrazie@msn.com.

Today I have linked up with Connie at Freemotion by the River and Fabric Tuesday by A Quilt Story.

Yours in quilting,
Terry

Design Wall Monday

Hello, again its me!  I am a blob today.  I spent all of last week preparing my seven quilts for our Covered Bridge Quilter's Guild Bi-Annual Show.  As of Monday last week, I had three quilts left to load and quilt.  I loaded and quilted the first quilt on Monday. The first quilt was my Country Threads 2013 Block of the Month. That made me feel more confident that things were going to go well all week, well I wasn't that lucky.

 

After unloading this quilt, I loaded my Rustic Hearts quilt Monday afternoon.

The top border went smoothly using Navy Omni thread.  I used the piano key swag border by Handi Quilter.  Then I switched to Light Sage by Omni for the quilt center.  I used heart one e2e for the center design.  Things went pretty smoothly until I took a break for dinner with my husband.  I went back down after dinner to try and finish the quilt up and the machine started stitching basting stitches and hopping around not following the pattern.  I stopped for the night, picked out the stitches and shut down the machine.  I prayed that a fresh start on Tuesday morning would be a good thing.

 

Tuesday morning dawned.  I made breakfast for my husband and myself.  As Rod headed out the door, I decided to run downstairs, turn on the machine and prayed for a great start with no machine malfunctions.  Things did start better than things ended on Monday.  I got the center of the quilt about done and the phone rang.  It was our contractor wanting to come take some more measurements for our new addition.  EEK!  I was still in my pjs and robe.  After a mad dash upstairs, I flew into some clothes and tried to meet him at the door in a cool manner.  I always try to shower and get dressed first thing each morning so I don't get caught in my robe.

 

After the contractor left, I headed by downstairs thinking, "I am so close to finishing this top".  I was ready to advance the quilt to finish the bottom border.

Here's a picture of my next problem.  I was at least two inches short of backing fabric.  Yikes! Yes, I had more fabric to match, so I followed my friend, Corry's instructions on how to add fabric without unloading the quilt.  It worked slick and I was back in business quickly finishing the border.  Unloaded and turned the quilt to finish the side borders.  Now number two quilt was quilted.

Loaded the final quilt #3 for the week.  I finished #3 at 3pm on Wednesday.  

 

Now on to all the finishing work:  labels, sleeves and bindings.  At this point I had four bindings, five labels and seven sleeves to sew on. 

Above, is my bag of threads to match bindings and labels, along with pins, needles, and scissors.

I sewed on all the bindings, made sleeves or matched pre-made sleeves with each quilt.

I lined up the labels that were left and snuggled in on the couch for an all-nighter of hand-sewing Wednesday night.  (Label tutorial available HERE.)  Yes, you read it right.  I stayed up all night to finish everything necessary to enter all seven quilts in the judging first thing Thursday morning.  I turned the quilts in at 7am and went home to sleep.

 

I got a few hours of sleep, ate a quick bite of lunch and headed back to the judging to be a scribe all afternoon.  Thanks to Chris Moline from Naperville, IL, for doing a great job at judging.

 

Friday, we spent the day setting up the show.  The show was open to the public Saturday and Sunday.

Grandma's Attic was the show's theme.

The Dresden Kaleidoscope was the queen size raffle quilt.

 

Thank you to one and all for all your hard work or for attending the show and making it a great success.

 

Today I am linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times, Nurdan at Hug-a-Bit Quilts, and Beth at Cooking up Quilts.  Tomorrow's blog will be on preparing for your trip to Paducah or a big show along with a free basket pattern for organizing.

 

Yours in quilting,

Terry