At home now...

I arrived back home this evening around 6. The dogs were very happy to see me and I was very happy to be home. I have lots of pictures and lots of projects that are further along. I got so much accomplished this weekend and met a ton of new friends! The ladies that were in our room were so much fun and we all laughed a lot and got to know each other. It was neat to see what everyone else was working on and so exciting when someone got something done and showed it off. Since I got so much done, I can also say that it was great when everyone cheered for my finishes!

There are so many great ladies that I met this weekend and I can't wait to continue interacting with them at future Guild meetings and events and new small group meetings. Considering how large our Guild is, I am always so amazed when I meet new-to-me members and they are so nice and friendly! Experiences like this weekend just reinforce the idea - 'quilters are good people.' And they also help to dispel the very few number of negative encounters with a few off-putting quilters that I have had the misfortune of meeting over the last year or so.

After a weekend of many laughs, lots of chocolate and fudge, jell-o and sewing, I am ready for some sleep. And my dogs want to see all that I got done. They have to doggie test it all, you know!

Tomorrow, I start posting about the retreat. I'm sure that you can't wait!

Squishie received

Well, I have gone most of today without feeling light headed. I think that this virus is almost past! Woo hoo!!!

Last night, I was able to clean and organize things and I didn't overdo it, but I was in bed relatively early. And it was so nice to be able to sleep in and have the extra hour!

Anyway, I had 2 squishies waiting for me when I got back from Wisconsin. I was waiting to open them until I had all of my posting about Wisconsin finished.

Here is one of the packages.



Rhonda has been posting about making these paper pieced labels for herself and I thought it would be a good incentive for me to actually start labelling my quilts. I got it from eBay and it arrived while I was gone.

The other package that I got arrived from across the pond.



To see what I got, you will have to tune in tomorrow!

And at my small group meeting last Monday, Jeanette brought everyone a small gift/kit.



A small Halloween bag that is also reversible. And here are the pieces that Jeanette cut for us which included binding. Awesome!



And finally, here are the dogs fighting over one of the Holly toys that we brought home. It's one of the favorites!

Judy's Housewarming

The secret projects that I have been working on were for Judy's Housewarming presents.

Judy had been living with her mom saving money for around 2 years. She decided that, while it was nice living with Moms and saving money, she needed to have her own space and I mean she needed it RIGHT NOW! She closed on her house at the end of August and was able to move in September 13.

Tonight was the night that she offered to make us dinner and we decided that we would gift her with our handiwork. Each of us took a holiday and made her decorations for that holiday. We had been working on our items since mid-August.

Here are the pictures from the evening. First, we had some show and tell.

Linda and her table runner.



Dominique and her baby quilt.



Judy and her prizes. I didn't get a picture of her autumn item, but it was the same table runner that Linda made only she made it in fall greens and leafy fabric. And Patrice made a Harvest/Thanksgiving wall hanging, but I didn't get a picture of that.

A quilted clock that Dom made.

A winter wall hanging from Jeanette.

These adorable Valentine's Day table runners were made by Cathy.

An Easter wall hanging from Patrice. She did this all up without a pattern! Isn't it cute?

Dom made these very cute placemats for spring.

Dom made this for Easter.

A summer wall hanging by Linda.

This should look familiar.

And these are the place mats that is from my own design. You like?

Well, I can honestly say that Judy liked my 4th of July items the best! Well, this is MY blog and I can say what I want! :-D

August Monthly Accomplishments

August was a bit of a resting month after the excitement of July and the Survivor Challenge. Here is what I got done:

1. Put together 9 take along bags for Jen, Dominique, Moniek, Regina in NY, Jennifer in Indy, and 4 for some quilting buddies in my small group.
2. Started a class for the Best Friends Courier bag. I also got all of my homework finished from the 2 classes.
3. Picked up a set of bed risers to make tables higher for ease while cutting
4. Quilted Maddy's retro quilt
5. Went to a retreat
6. Quilted my burgundy and ivory log cabin
7. Finished 3 runaround bags for my retreat buddies. I also showed 2 ladies how to make the runaround bags at the retreat.
8. Made a test pair of pants and cut fabric for 6 pairs
9. Finished 4 pairs of pants
10. Quilted a quilt for Kristie I still have to mil this out! :(
11. Got fabric for an ugly quilt challenge with the small group. I also picked up some leftovers that Jeanette didn't want.
12. Finally finished the binding on a quilt that had a heavy fabric for the binding and flannel for the backing. This took me almost all month!
13. Got some hand dyed fabric from my small group buddies when they went to a class while I was working.
14. Prepared fabric for a secret project that has to be done this month.

And other non-sewing items:

1. Listened to the F, G, H, I and J books by Sue Grafton. I am really enjoying re-reading this series!
2. Worked the phone lines for the St Jude Dream Home Giveaway.

Well, that's about it. I have just over a week before I head to Florida and I have a lot to get done. Hopefully, the Shop Hop this weekend won't wear me out too much and I will be able to get some quilts quilted before I leave. :)

Final Weekend update

I went to Patrice's this evening to spend some quality time with my buds. I got a lot accomplished and it was nice spending time with the girls... erh, uh, ladies. :)

They showed me what to do with the nine patch blocks that I had made so I was able to finish that top.



Patrice got the binding finished on her Nickel Quilt Streak of Lightening. It is stunning!



I finished my August block for the Best Friends BOM. It is so close to being done! I can't wait to get the finishing kit so that I can put the top together!



I was able to give a couple of the secret projects out and they were very well liked! And Linda was very sweet and got me a copy of this book. I have thumbed through it already and it looks awesome!!



Linda also brought me a doggie bed for Max and Maisy. Linda has cats and they used the bed for a while but then abandoned it and she thought that Max and Maisy would enjoy it. Since we had one that they used that got thrown out after the flood, I knew that it would be put to good use. I brought it in, dropped it on the floor and they went crazy! It was a good 5 minutes of this:







I am sure that they are going to love hanging out in this bed while I am in the basement quilting!
So here is a recap of things that I wanted to do this weekend and how I fared:

1. Quilt an Alaska charity quilt
2. Quilt a Kid Komforts charity quilt
3. Piece an Alaska charity quilt
4. Piece a Kid Komforts charity quilt
5. Finish the 4 secret projects
6. Work on the other set of secret projects
7. Finish one more pair of pants
8. Finish my Courier bag homework
9. Piece my August block for the BOM

I didn't get any quilting done, but I will have plenty of time in the evenings this week to do that. I will need to get the quilting done and binding ready to hand off to Dominique to work on this weekend. And I want to get the other secret projects done and a large quilt quilted to send to Florida so that I can have something to work on while I am down there and watching TV in the evenings.

Tomorrow night, I am going to the Reds game with some co-workers and the auditors. Should be a good time, although I am not too worried about watching the game. And it is a short work week. Woo hoo!!!

Quilted Chaos meeting

Tonight was my Quilted Chaos small group meeting. As usual, we had such a great time! And I have pictures! On Thursday, 5 of the ladies went to a hand dyeing class while Dominique and I went to our jobs. They even went to IHOP without me! :(

They had a really great time and brought the fabrics that they dyed to the meeting tonight. Of course, all of the ladies had fabrics that didn't match the rest that they had dyed so I got a few fat quarters. Yea!!! And everything that I got goes together so well!





I also shared some stories about my weekend with the ladies and they cried right along with me and then I got hugs.

And Patrice's husband got a new toy. We got some pictures with it. Here is Patrice and Linda.



And here is me and Jan.



Something I forgot to show off from last week - Dominique gave me a shirt that she had dyed. It's a mix of pinks, reds and purples. It looks awesome!!



And lastly, Linda has booked a week in June of 2009 in French Licks, Indiana for us to go and have a retreat! I am so excited! I can't wait! Linda is getting excited, too. So far, she has come up with a very cool itinerary for the week and she has started working on the menu. Here is what she has come up with so far:

Friday - Southern Comfort Sours
Saturday - Visit winery - draw your own conclusions
Sunday - Mimosas for breakfast
Monday - Amaretto orange creamsicles
Tuesday - white Russian
Wednesday - a bottle of gin for Patrice. Not sure what the rest of us will have.
Thursday - my drinky thingy
Friday - we leave unless we get thrown out before now.

Linda is so much fun!

A Finish... Finally!

I had this quilt quilted since July 24th and I have been slowly but surely working on hand sewing the binding down. It was a thicker fabric for the binding and flannel for the backing and it seemed to take forever to sew the binding down.



Well, I FINALLY finished the binding tonight at a different Guild small group meeting! I was so exciting I think that I jumped up and down! Well, maybe not that excited, but I was still happy to be able to move on to another quilt with thinner binding and not flannel backing. In fact, I was able to get an entire side done of the second quilt in about 40 minutes and it took me 2 hours to get the last side done on the first quilt. Isn't that awful? Oh well, it's a finish for the FIUM.

Well, tomorrow is Friday and I am very excited! Saturday, I am going to Patrice's house in the morning so that we can work on our pieces and homework for the Courier bag class. I also have a couple of secret projects that I want to get to work on this weekend, too. Here is the fabric for those. I forgot to post them and Patrice wanted to see the them.

So what do you think?

Quilted Chaos meeting

Monday nights when we don't have a Guild meeting, we have a small neighborhood group meeting. Last night, everyone was there except Linda who was in Michigan visiting a friend. (Hi, Linda! We missed you! And YOU missed a GOOD time!) We always bring things to show off.

Dominique finished a quilt that she calls the B*tch quilt. I think it looks great! And all the quilting is free motion that she did on her frame.







Since I had the camera out, I had to get a picture of Daisy, our mascot! She's such a pretty girl! And stingy with her kisses! :)



Last week, I showed off my pants that I finished at the retreat. On Thursday, some of the ladies went shopping and Patrice got me a little something.

How cool is this?!? I can't wait to put them in my pants! :)

Lastly, before we left, some of us exchanged some ugly fat quarters for our mini-challenge. We have to make something with out fat quarters by the end of October. Here is what I got. I think it's pretty! And it's a half yard so I have to figure out something really awesome to make!



And Jeanette found some other fabrics and scraps that she wanted to get rid of while she was looking for her ugly fat and we were all lucky enough to come home with some extra pieces. This is what I got.



Well, that is it for now. I'm off to work and then tonight is the second class for the Courier bag. I am excited to be getting back to classes! I always have a great time!

Small Group

Monday night at Patrice's, Jeanette showed off her latest almost-finished top. She got the fabric is Paducah and swore that it had armadillos on it. Since the fabric is called Earth Chameleons, we now call these Wisconsin Armadillos because Jeanette is originally from Wisconsin! :)



The top is now put together, but I don't think that we will see it next week. The pattern looks really easy, too! Jeanette did a great job!

Sunday Get Together

Sunday, a couple of my quilt buddies and I got together to quilt and chat. I didn't get much done because Bubba was really acting up. Jeanette ended up calling her hubby to bring her Brother over for me to use. After that, I was able to get a couple of more take along bags done. I wonder who those are for....

Here is one of the bags. It looks like mine, but there is one tiny difference - the stitching on the handle.



Here are some pictures of our day.







Linda is almost done with her binding on a Baptismal quilt. This is Grape Jam - very pretty!



We all had a great time and Dominique even made her homemade spaghetti sauce. Yummy!

Update - Last week in July

When we last caught up, we were through the last weekend in July. I will quickly catch up on the last week since I don't have much to report.

On Monday, I got up early and finished adding the borders to the Lover's Lane quilt top. It didn't take me long to get it finished. And I took it to work to get a good full view picture. I'm sure that you are getting tired of seeing this, but I'm not getting tired of showing it off!



Monday night, I met up with some of the ladies from my small group. Even though our meeting was cancelled, a few of us got together to chat and do some hand stitching. I worked on sewing down binding on a Kids Komfort quilt.

Tuesday, I worked on binding in the morning and during dinner and then I started on a star block for someone in our online group who is in the Navy and is out at sea. We are all putting a block together so that she can have a quilt when she comes back. By this time, I knew that since I couldn't do 10 hours a day I wouldn't win the challenge, but I didn't give up.

Wednesday, I finished the star block and cleaned up my house a little.



Thursday, I worked on binding and helped keep Jen going. She was getting super tired, but she had the lead and just needed to keep on going! Then, I started having computer problems so I went to bed around 11 confident that Jen was winning. Woo hoo, Jen!! Congrats!

Friday and Saturday, I didn't do much. I worked on cleaning some more and preparing to head to my retreat this weekend. Saturday, I did run some errands and picked up some goodies to mail to Jen. And I slept! It was much needed rest!

Catch up post - Last weekend in July

**Note - join us for Finish it Up Month! Join the Prolific Quilters Yahoo group for support and post entries on your blogs of what you are working on! And when you have a Finish, post a picture! And you don't have to have a blog to participate. You can leave a comment with your email and I will contact you.**

Since I was busy sewing the last weekend in July, I didn't have time to post about what I was working on. Here is the update from the last weekend.

Friday night, I added a binding onto a Kid Komfort charity quilt for my Guild. I had loaded a quilt onto Lenny and had issues with the backing being loaded upside down so I had corrected that error and quilted the quilt with loops. I really enjoy the meandering loops and it just gives the quilts a little more ooomph, I think. I had some issues with the blue thread that I was going to use, so I just used a light brown variegated and the tan Bottom Line on the back. The quilting shows up a little more than the last quilt, but I think it looks nice.





The rest of Friday night, I ironed and read through patterns.

On Saturday, I packed up 2 quilts that needed binding sewn down and headed out to work at the St Jude Dream Home again. I was able to finish one quilt and start on the other while we sold tickets and answered questions. After we worked, Amy, Lynn and I headed to Don Pablo's for dinner. Yum!

Once I got home from working and dinner, I cut out pieces for my secret projects and got them quilted on Bubba.



On Sunday, I finished my projects. Now here is where the idea came from. A couple of weeks ago, I met Jeanette and Patrice at one of the Guild's small groups meeting and I had my binding supplies in a plastic bag sitting in front of me. Patrice was teasing about me not having a quilted bag to carry my supplies in and said how she had done the same thing and Jeanette gave her a bag. She held it up and showed it off. Then, Patrice said that if she was a real friend, she would make one for me, but I could make one for myself and make sure to put on my blog that she made it for me! We had a good laugh out of that so I set to work.

Here are the first 2 that I finished.. I mean, here is the first one that I made on the left and the one that Patrice 'made' on the right. Of course, the pink one is for me.



Patrice did a great job on the quilting!



And here are all of the bags that were made. This is the Lazy Girl Purse-Nickities pattern - the Nickole - and I made some small adjustments. I stitched the zipper flap on the inside of the bag down with a top stitch on each side of the bag. I also made a box bottom so that it can sit up.



And even though they aren't quilts, Maisy still had to test them out. Notice that she isn't making eye contact with me. She knows that she shouldn't be on them!



Now, 2 have already been claimed - mine and Dominique's. And the other 2 will be mailed out this week. Anyone have ideas who will be getting them?

Once I got these 4 things done, I worked on the Lover's Lane quilt. Now, I have already posted some pictures of the finished quilt, but these are other pictures that I had taken during the day when I was assembling the quilt top.

Here are the first 2 rows sewn together and hanging on my design wall.



And the rows all sewn together and laying on the floor so that I could see how cool it looked!



And someone getting into trouble after the inside border was sewn on. She just can't help herself!



So, after 15 hours and 15 minutes, I gave up and went to bed. I had the first border on and the second border cut and ready to be sewn on. But it was a very productive day!