Log Cabin

My neighbor called me last night to look at a quilt she got from her mom. She doesn't know who made it but it is as least as old as her great grandmother. I cannot date quilts but it looks like reproduction fabrics with muslin. The muslin has the words "honor pure finish" stamped in red in a few places on the back. She asked if I would quilt it for her. There is really no emotional ties to the quilt she just wants it finished. If it were mine I would have someone hand quilt it. That to me would complete the look of the quilt. I talked with her about that also. We will talk one more time before she decides what to do. I really enjoy seeing treasures like this.
Song of the day: "Black Magic Woman" by Santana

My First Stop

I always hit Hancocks right when I get into town. I like to get there and shop before everyone else gets there. I don't think they run out of anything but I do not like to shop in big crowds. They probably have 20 people cutting fabric for everybody. I got a few batiks and some Kaffe Fassett. The main room has all of the bolts of fabric, patterns, books, batting, thread, and quilts hanging from the ceiling. The back room has fat quarter packs and remnants off of the bolts. They have a home dec area but I never look there. So if you have never seen it here it is!!!
Song of the day: "Long Time Gone" by Dixie Chicks

Prom Night

I made it back from Paducah yesterday afternoon just in time to help my daughter get ready for prom. You can go see the winners on the AQS sight. There were some really great quilts. I'll talk more about quilts tomorrow.
The kids had fun taking pictures. It was a little cool outside so they did not burn up. I think they were a little nervous. One of the moms cooked them a gourmet dinner. I tried my hand at being a waitress, not good. Is it wrong to eat food off of the plate before serving it? Just kidding I only thought about it! The girls were very pretty and the guys very handsome. I heard today everyone had a great time. All of the pictures are posted on their myspace pages and the girls are commenting on the dresses. Now the next hurdle is graduation in May. I told my daughter life only gets better after you graduate. So many things to look forward to. Like unpacking from my trip to Paducah!
Song of the day: "Call Me" by Blondie

Paducah Bound

All packed and ready to head out in the morning. First stop, Starbucks and then I will be hitting Hancocks of Paducah before the rest of the nation gets there. That place gets crazy. I don't know if I can take pictures inside but I will try. I have to say the first time I saw Hancocks I was extremely dissappointed. I thought it was going to be this great quilt store. It is just a huge warehouse. Don't get me wrong they have everything but that kinda burst my bubble. I may head to the Museum of the American Quilter's Society after that, then go to the show on thursday. If you have never taken a workshop there you should. It is a great facility and you get to look at all the quilts. I love to point out the wooden quilt to people that have never been there before. It is so cool. I hope to return with lots of pictures and goodies to show all of you. See ya on sunday.
Here are some more photos of my sewing day. Some of us worked and some of us lounged!
Song of the day: "You Got Me Rocking" by The Rolling Stones

One More Project

I cannot leave a quilt store without something. I have wanted to make on of these paper pieced stars for a while. The one I was going to do was huge. This one is a little more manageable, 26x26. I almost left with some more flannel. She has a great selection. I am not sure if I have ever walked out of a quilt store with nothing.
I will be packing tomorrow to head out to Paducah on wednesday morning. I am getting excited. Not only for the quilts but for the food. Max's, Tribeca, and the fresh strawberry shortcakes that the boyscouts have very year. YUM!
Song of the day: "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles

One Of My Favorite Quilt Shops

Well I would like to say I had a great time going up to Ky. but we had a little tragedy. Friday night my son was playing on their playset and a rope with a little metal piece flew back while he was climbing up the slide and popped him in the forehead. When he and my brother walked to the kitchen door there was blood everywhere. I could not tell where it was coming from, his nose, mouth, head, or face. To make a long story short and to keep from grossing you out. He punched a hole in his forehead and we had to go get stitches. That's my fun on a friday night. It started raining on saturday so we could not go to the downtown carnival so we did the next best thing. We went to a quilt store. This is one of my favorite stores. They use to have a tea room upstairs that served lunch but that closed down. Lunch there was definitely a factor in going there when I went to Ky. There are little treasures everywhere. You almost cannot take it all in with one visit.
It is The Village Mercantile in Booneville, In.
Song of the day: "Right Now" by Van Halen

Fun With Friends

We had a blast today and we actually got alot accomplished. I worked on my IOP and everyone else got going on their Mumbo Gumbo. One is reproductions with black, one is brights with black and white, one is pinks and yellows with brown and blue, and one is scrappy with mainly Asian fabrics. They all look so cool. Lunch was outside on Barbara's patio. The weather was gorgeous. That makes it hard to stay inside and sew. I think we are going to keep meeting once a month until the fall then we may go to twice. It is so much fun sewing with everyone. We are responsible for bringing our own lunch but today Barbara had brownies made from scratch. That was a nice little party in my mouth!
Yah, for the Predators. Now we will have to see what happens back in Detroit friday and then back here on sunday.. There is already trash talk going on. Jo Dee Messina sang the anthem. Awesome voice.
I will see you guys back here on sunday. I am going to Ky. to spend some time with my family. TTFN!
Song of the day: "Daisy Jane" by America

50 Strips

I have more strips cut and I am ready to go. My small quilt group is meeting tomorrow and I will be working on my Indian Orange Peel. All of the strips I have cut will only make 25 of those half cresent pieces. I will have about 80 more to go. I might have to look for more fabric in Paducah. I will have used every color once. I think I will use every color at least 3 times so I may need to incorporate a little more. Hopefully I will get alot done tomorrow and put some of it up on my design wall.
We are leaving in a little bit to go watch the Predators play Detroit in the second home play off game. We left the game the other night right before things got exciting. We never stay until the end. We like to get out before all the traffic, told you we are getting older. If it is exciting tonight we will stay. If you are a country music fan Vince Gill sang the National Anthem the other night. It will be interesting to see who sings it tonight. The lady next to us was trying her hardest to get the Titans football coaches autograph. He was about 7 seats away from us. She paid the beer guy 20$ to get it for her then still had to buy the coach a beer. Dierks Bentley was signing autographs too. I would hate to be a celebrity. Everybody always bugging you. That would drive me crazy.
Song of the day: "What Was I Thinkin" by Dierks Bentley

A Little Shopping A Little Work

Now that I am all excited about my longarm I am ready to get another quilt quilted. I have another graduation present to get finished. I thought I had some flannel that I wanted to use for the back. When I laid them together it did not look good at all. They definitely do not have to match but they cant look gross either. So I drove into Franklin today to look at some flannel. I found a perfect piece, a few other fabrics, and some matching thread. I came home, pieced the back and loaded it on the machine. I rarely start quilting after I load a quilt. I usually start the next day. Maybe because my machine bothered me? Who knows!
I am getting excited about Paducah next week. I like the show but I also like to get away. I get to hang out with a great friend who does not quilt at all. Alot of my friends that I grew up with are very surprised that I quilt. I was kinda wild and crazy so they seem to think I am still that way, and I am just in a different way! I get crazy behind my machine. I tried to drink beer and sew but that didn't work!!!!!
Song of the day: "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode

Random Photo

I have not done much the last couple of days. Nothing that I would take a picture of anyway. That happens to me every now and then. I get busy with life and do not get to quilt. One of the reasons I started my blog was to keep myself motivated and constantly working on projects. I think I have done pretty well so far. I definitely want to finish some and post them. It is easy to get started but now it is time to get some of these projects wrapped up.
This is a picture of a practice piece I did before I did a larger version. Also I wanted to see how I wanted to quilt it. The larger piece I did was for Art Takes Shape, the Husqvarna Viking contest in 2005. It got accepted and that was awesome. I am so sad that they stopped that contest now. I went to Chicago when my quilt was there and it was a great display. All the quilts were the same size but very different from one another. I will post the one I did for the contest when I find the cd my photos are on.
Song of the day: "Do You Feel Like We Do" by Peter Frampton

Gifts To Give

I have 3 of my quilts done now except for the binding. I will do that tonight and tomorrow. A baby gift, a graduation gift, and a friend gift. I chose a different flannel for the back of the train quilt. I pieced all of my scrap cars and trains together for the back but that was going to be way too many seams. This is a Laurel Birch flannel that I decided to put on the back. The colors matched perfect. It just feels good to get some projects finished. There definitely is not award winning quilting on these quilts but they are done!
My husband and I get to out to dinner tonight. By the use of magic both of my children will be gone. That happens maybe twice a year. I can tell we are getting older because we have the rules when we go out. We are at the restuarant by 5 or 6 because we do not like to wait, we split food to save money, and unless we are going to a movie after we are back home in about 1 1/2 hours to get into our pjs. Very sad but true!
Song of the day: "The Lighthouse Tale" by Nickel Creek

Working At Last

I tried my hand at adjusting my Gammill yesterday. Lets just say I messed it up more than it was already messed up. So I got ahold of a lady from the guild that does long arm quilting as a business. She gave me the name of a guy in the area that services industrial sewing machines. She told me a little about him and how he helped her. I actually got him to come to my house today and look at my machine. He was here 2 1/2 hours and my machine sews better than it ever has. I can go fast now, I can sew in manual mode now, and my thread stopped breaking. It was like sewing with a different machine. I finished quilting the quilt I had put on the machine a while back while he was here. We tried every scenario on the machine. It was like a dream. I will definitely be using it more now. I also told him he could not move away for any reason!
Song of the day: "September" by Earth Wind & Fire

Its A Boy!

Someone arrived 2 days early. My friend called me last night and left me a message. She had her little boy at 9:44pm. We have a name, Carson Thomas. Hopefully she will send me a picture and let me post it. She is very petite, under 5 feet tall. Her little boy was 8lbs. 3 oz. I am 5'9 and my kids were 8lbs. Poor girl. Congratulations to them!

Needs To Be Quilted

Well this is all done except for the quilting. Hopefully that won't take too long. I will be spending the next few days watching a maintenance dvd for my long arm. I need to figure out why my thread keeps breaking. I am glad my friend loaned it to me but there are so many things I would rather be watching.
I have a hard time in the spring. I am pulled between quilting and spending time outside. The weather was great today. My son and I took the dogs for a long walk in the park. I was hoping he would get a little more excited about roller blading while I walked the dogs but he didn't. He complained the whole time. I guess I will be roller blading with him next time!
Song of the day: "Morning Glory" by Oasis

Choo Choo

I spoke with my friend Tiffany the other day to see how she was doing. I knew her due date was getting closer. I was also hoping she would tell me that they had picked out a name for their little boy. I think they hope the baby will come out and tell them what he wants to be called! Maybe if I put a name on the quilt they will call him that. I really like to personalize the quilts that I make. I also am trying to get more things finished and not let my projects lie around. So I really want to get this done. I think her c-section is the 9th. If you are reading this Tiff call me with a name or I will hold your quilt ransom.
I wanted to use bright cheery colors mixed with the black and white. Hopefully this will be a stimulating quilt for the baby. When he grows up extremely intelligent I will know I had a part in it! I put this much together this morning so I could stitch around the trains tonight. I will use black thread for the trains. I think I have some left over flannel with cars and airplanes for the back . It is not the same colors but it will look good and feel awesome.
Song of the day: "Can't Fight The Moonlight" by LeAnn Rimes

Quilt Store

I absolutely did not do anything quilt related yesterday. I figured you did not want pictures of me cleaning or going to the grocery.
My friend Julie called me last night and asked if I wanted to go help her buy some fabric. Well if I can't get some for myself that is the next best thing. She is doing the Mumbo Gumbo too. I told her that the 1930's reproduction fabric might look really cool. It would give it a lighter more pastel feel but if you put black in it the colors would really pop. She got some great colors and we found one black repro. I knew there weren't alot of black but I thought we would find more than one. I am excited for her to get started so she can see what I am picturing in my head.
I took her to The Quilters Attic in Goodlettsville, which is north of Nashville right off of I-65. It is a great store. The ladies that work there are very helpful and friendly. So if you are coming to this area you need to go by there. The downstairs is fabric and patterns and the upstairs is a huge classroom and quilts are hanging everywhere. Even though I am trying not to buy too many commercial prints I do like to support my local quilt stores.
I am going to watch hockey tonight. It will be interesting to see how the Predators play. They do not seem to be very consistant. They are fighting for a spot in the playoffs.
Song of the day: "All Around The World" by Lisa Stansfield

Crazy Colors And Curves

Today was our monthly guild meeting. It was very well attended because it was our guild challenge. You had to pick a friend to work with and make 2 different quilts. The concept was Side by Side. The only rule was that you had to use a striped fabric. There were no size requirements either. I was surprised at how large some of the quilts were. It was cool to see how each pair interpreted the theme. I do not have pictures because the room was very crowded.
I did a little more on the Orange Peel. This is what the block looks like. I will not piece this quilt together until all of the components are finished. I will see how I do piecing all of the curves. I may just have to pay someone to do it. The border and corners are crazy. Why I continue to torture myself with curves is beyond me.
Song of the day: "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley