My Love of Quilting

Dini

2010-07-26T12:23:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday morning, my husband, Michael, was suppose to pack the car and drive me to Hershey PA for a quilt weekend. Michael was going to spend the first day and night with me and then leave me for the next few days to sew, shop and have fun with some quilting friends. We ended up leaving much later. When I entered the bathroom, I found Dini, our eldest cat, lying in the cat litter box. As soon as I walked into the bathroom, she began purring. I knew something was really wrong because no cat lies in a cat box. She did not move out of it. I went and got Michael. I told him, I thought Dini had a stroke. He tried to pick her up and she wiggled out is his hands. She was trying to walk but was dragging her left leg behind her. She made it to her bed and repositioned herself several times. I woke my daughter Kate and told her Dini was very sick. We ended up taking her to the vet. She confirmed my diagnosis and gave Dini oxygen. Dini was breathing through her mouth and the breaths were labored. The vet said she was in pain. Of course, we had her put to sleep and out of her misery. Dini was 16 years old. Somehow she found us when she was only a few weeks old. We found this tiny kitten hiding around our mini van. Michael and Kate (at the time, 5 years old) asked all the neighbors and no one claimed the cat. We ended up keeping Dini. She was not a lap cat and would hide when visiters came. She had no problem hanging out in the same room with us. She would let us know when it was time to pet her and feed here. She would even come to my quilt room and sleep right next to my sewing machine while I was sewing. She was a sweety pie. She had a lovely purr. I really miss her.

In the picture above: Dini kept on lying in a plastic bin of fabric that I was working with. Michael took her blanket and put it on top of the bin so that her hair would not shed all over my fabric. So here she is lying on her blanket but surrounded by some of my fabric. It looks like one of Mark Lipinski's line. The other two cats that live here, rarely come to hang out with me while I'm sewing. Dini would come often and I would have to scramble to make sure there were no pins lying around to stick her. RIP Dini.

Rag Quilt Blocks

2010-02-26T17:35:00.003-05:00

These are the blocks for the Rag Quilt that I'm making in a class with my Viking dealer. Class two has to be rescheduled due to snow.

I had fun making these blocks. For each color I used a different stitch. I love using my Interchangeable Dual Feed foot.

First Quilts For Kids

2010-02-26T17:30:00.002-05:00

This is my first Quilt For Kids that I made with my stash.

I still have to quilt and bind it.

I'm looking forward to quilting it with my new interchangeable dual feed foot. Now I can use some of the cool stitches that came with my Viking Designer.

YTRR 2010 Step 2

2010-02-12T12:43:00.003-05:00

Here is Step 2 of Carol Doak's 2010 YTRR

YTRR 2010

2010-02-12T11:24:00.004-05:00

Yours Truely Round Robin is a challenge that Carol Doak gave to her Yahoo Group Members.

Step One: Make a center using any number of paper-pieced blocks (my designs)in any size in any number of colors.

Family Pictures

2010-02-12T11:07:00.008-05:00

Christmas 2009 Pics:

I'm not really good with labeling pics.
My pictures are of:
Me and Pumpkin, our youngest cat. Yes it looks like I'm strangling her but I promise, I'm NOT hurting her. LOL
Buster our faithful dog. He looks like he's posing. My sister Bert (Roberta) and I.
My children Kate and Andrew.
Me and My sisters, Bert, Me, Cathy and Carol. Yes we were laughing. For the most part, that's what we do when we get together.

Perfect Points

2009-12-04T18:44:00.004-05:00

This is a really silly pic of us but this is Carol Doak, paper piecing queen herself and me. I took her Perfect Points Class at Quilting Possibilities. Long drive but a fun class. It was GREAT to see Carol Doak again.

Carol Doak Mystery Quilt

2009-07-06T16:48:00.002-04:00

Yippee!

I finished my Carol Doak Anniversary Mystery Top.

Carol Doak Mystery Step 2

2009-06-13T18:50:00.002-04:00

Here's a pic of Step 2.

I'm new to Facebook. I really don't understand what's going on with it or what it's for but it's fun.

Now to pick out fabric for Carol Doak's Anniversary block.

Carol Doak Mystery Step One

2009-06-10T09:51:00.003-04:00

Here is Step One of Carol Doak's Second Mystery Quilt. I hope she posts Step Two soon.

Now I have a RWB swap and more Carol Doak BOMs to work on.

Embroidery Placemats

2009-06-04T12:11:00.004-04:00

Ok, I have finally worked on my machine embroidery. I took a class with Roseanne from Viking, located in the Joanns in Colonia NJ. I made four placemats and four napkins. I could not finish all these in one class so I hung out with Roseanne at Joanns over the weekend. It was fun. Sewing and chatting.

Carol Doak Lottery Block

2009-06-04T11:57:00.003-04:00

Here's my June block for the Carol Doak Lottery.

Carol is providing a free mystery quilt pattern. I still have to pick my fabrics and cut them per instructions. I do have my patterns printed out. I think that's what I'm working on today.

Can It

2009-06-04T11:20:00.003-04:00

One of my online groups, SewGoodFriends has a swap going called the 'Can It' Swap. We're swapping items that we can fit into a Lays Potato Chip blue canister.

I hope I can figure out how to properly post these pictures. I'm posting the items I received from Dee (Arkansas) and another pic of the items I sent her. I made a draw string bag and put a necklace in it and made a case for reading glasses. I coordinated the fabrics, the button and the glasses. I hope Dee likes it.

Carol Doak 2cond BOM

2009-05-15T13:08:00.002-04:00

This is the May Carol Doak BOM. This is the second BOM that Carol has offered. She's quite generous. Unfortunetely this is the first block I have done. I believe this started in October/November of 2008. I'm in the process of catching up.

2009-05-15T13:02:00.002-04:00

I'm so happy. I'm back to sewing in my quilt room again. Yippee!

I listened to the audio book, 'Emma' by Jane Austen.

Here's a pic of a Springy colored block for the Carol Doak Group's May Lottery block.

I like the colors. I'm sending this one out for the lottery. There's a chance I may win 20 blocks. Time will tell.

Pics from Blockbuddy Ohio Trip May 2009

2009-05-05T12:00:00.014-04:00

Pictures:

Carole(NJ) showing us the hula hoop.

Ila and Carole in Front of Miller's Dry Goods.

Horse and Buggy hitched right in front of Miller's Dry Goods.

Ila looking quite happy after we exchanged our Scavenger Hung bags.

The window at Heini's Cheese Chalet

Dinner at The Millersburg Inn

From Left to Right: Kathy (Texas), Ila (Michigan), Ann K (Michigan), SandyFromNJ, Carole (NJ)

Amish Countryside

A couple of horse and buggys.

Group pic taken in Donna's shop:

Front Row: SandyFromNJ, Kathy (Dallas, Texas), Ann K (Michigan)

Back Row: Carole (NJ), Sandy (Ohio), Donna (Ohio) and Ila (the pirate from Michigan).

Ohio Blockbuddy Trip

2009-05-05T11:16:00.006-04:00

I have just returned from a road trip to meet some of my online friends from the Blockbuddy Yahoo Group. The trip was lots of fun. It was great to actually meet some of the group in person.

We left NJ on Thursday, the drive was approx 8 hours long. The Amish towns we drove through, had no restaurants opened. We ended up driving all the way to Ohio to have dinner at Mcdonalds. Afterwards, I did meet up with Ila (Michigan), Ann (Michigan) and Kathy (Dallas Texas). The lobby of the Comfort Inn was quite accomodating with tables and chairs, TV, sofa and a rocking chair or two. We had brochures laid out in front of us, picking out the places we wanted to visit. We had a plan to meet the next morning and shop until it was time to meet at Donna's new shop (a 90 minute drive north from where we were).

The next morning, Friday, we drove to a quaint little town called Berlin. Shopped. We went to Helping Hands quilt Shop and Museum, Queen Anne's Lace, Berlin Chili Traders, an Antique Store (Huge), and a bakery. The quilts were lovely. Too bad I didn't think to take a few pics. Later, we drove up to Donna's, had a tour of her house and her shop. Yep, I bought more fabric there too. :D It will be a lovely shop when it's all done. Afterwards, we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. Yum.

The following morning, Saturday. We went to Charm. We visited Miller's Dry Goods, bought more fabric. It was a nice store. We also began traveling around the area, we went to Gramma Fannie's Quilt Barn. Heini's Cheese Chalet, and Breitenbach Wine Cellar for some Dandalion Wine. We also went to Zinks Fabric, another bakery (big one), a candy store, we ate at a couple of Amish restaurants during our stay but I can't remember the names. In fact, I don't remember the names of all the different places we visited. By the end of our days there, we were so exhausted, I have to admit, I slept very well.

Quilt Show

2009-03-06T19:38:00.002-05:00

With my husband's help, my Quilt Room is improving. I can actually see the floor. I still have to put the design wall up, put the fabric in 'color' order and organize all my notions but it still looks a lot better.

This weekend is The Quit Fest of New Jersey V. I went on Thursday and started out really good. I just bought the taboo, Quilter's Home issue and two books, on quilting with strips. I figured, I needed those books for ideas on using up my stash. Then I realized that there were open quilt classes and before I knew it, I signed up for a full day class for the next day. Weaver Fever, taught by Jackie Robinson. This meant that I needed fabric. If I was home, I would have went to my stash and pulled fabric out but I was at a Quilt Show with lots of vendors. I needed 5/8Th's of a yard of 7 different fabrics, plus 1 1/2 of border fabric. Since I wasn't sure what I had home, I ended up buying 9 yards of fabric! So much for using up my stash! I went home put it all in the washing machine and went to get my hair cut. I went home, threw it in the dryer, watched American Idol. Bye Bye Tatiana. And I ironed the fabric, added some of my stash to it and began to cut it into strips according the the directions given by Jacki, the instructor. Unfortunately, I was tired while I was cutting the strips and missed the direction to cut some 1 1/2" strips. Good thing I brought the extra fabric with me to the class. I was embarrassed but I had to cut up the extra strips before I could set them in order.

Weaver Fever- The class ran from 9-4. It was a long day. Jacki Robinson was a lovely woman, very kind, with lots of patience. The poor thing had a cold but did her best talking while having laryngitis. First, Jacki showed us the correct way to cut strips and explained the correct way of sewing them together. This quilt requires exact 1 1/2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2" strips and exact scant 1/4 inch seams. Unfortunately, I'm not an 'exact' person but I chugged along anyways. Next was the sorting of the strips, first you place row one in order (according the the book directions), row two on top of row one 'one inch' below row two and keep on going till you get to row 10. Then you sew row 10 strips together strip 1 to strip 2, flip it over, don't break the thread and sew strip 3 to strip 4, etc until you sew all the row 10 strips together. Put that aside and sew row 9 and keep going until you get to row 1. Then you iron the 10 different strip groups. Now it's time to cut each of those strip groups into 1 1/2 inch rows, put the rows in order and sew row 1 to row 2, row 3 to 4, 5-6 etc until you have a block. So far for the entire day, I have one block finished. with 23 more to go. This is a lot of work. If I looked at the book without taking the class, I would have put it down and not buy it because without someone explaining it to me, I would NEVER have figured out the directions. Even now that I understand, I don't know if I'd do this again. I don't know. I'll have to finish this quilt. I put so much time and money into it already. I really want to finish it.

New Year

2009-01-11T09:16:00.003-05:00

It's been a long time since I posted anything here.

The pic from the Carol Doak Class had prompted me to eat healthier and exercise. So far, I've only lost 15 pounds, but I'm a work in progress.

Quilting: I have not been sewing for months. It seems that my Quilt room has become a Catch All Room. My goal for the next two months is getting my room in order. It seems that, over the last year, I obtained even MORE fabric and it does not fit on the shelves, it's now spread to the chairs and the sewing table. I really have to STOP buying fabric and work with what I have.

I need a plan.

I'm thinking of removing the dresser that is in the room and putting that in the bedroom. Then take the bins out of the closet so that I can easily get to all my gadgets, WIP, UFOs and other things in the bins. Eventually, EVERYTHING will have to come out of the room so that I can reorganize it all again. I know I have many UFOs. I have blocks just waiting to be put together to form a quilt top. Right off the top of my head I can think of Carol Doak's BOMs, lighthouses, teacups, friendship blocks and sampler blocks. Oh and all those Build a Blocks, postage stamp blocks and various paper pieced blocks that I have done. Many kits, just waiting for me. A quilt top that is in the process of being put together (I HOPE I have all the pieces). Not to mention the tops that I have done that need to be layered, quilted and binded.

Then there's two mystery quilts that are just SCREAMING for me to make them. There's the NYE quilt from the Pickle Group and the newest Quiltville Mystery. I just won't be happy unless I do them. And then from my Blockbuddies group, I want to participate in the challenge and make a potato bag.

I have not joined in any type of block swaps on any of my groups. I must get this room straightened out and then I can go from there.

Orange Crush in Progress

2008-10-15T16:20:00.006-04:00

What's my next project?

I stopped making a mystery quilt to start working on those darn lighthouses. The mystery is from the Quiltville site. It's called Orange Crush. I'm trying to figure out where I'm at, what step I'm on. I've come to conclusion that I finished step 5 and made 30 spinning stars.

The other pic is pieces that I have left. I printed step 5 and now have to figure out what fabric I was planning on using for this step. Apparently, I do have the smaller block pieces assembed, ie the pic of the pieces. I also need a total of 140 3.5" squares of fabric. 120 are suppose to be orange but I already put orange in the quilt, I will have to see what I have. I also need 20 3.5 inch squares in blue, that's the easy part. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the orange part. I'll have to see if I have another shade of orange or if it will be too much orange with my orange spinning stars. I'll have to see what I have in my stash.

Good thing I have a few days off from work. I can work on this mystery AND be home for the refrigerator repairman. Ugh!

Tea Cups

2008-10-15T16:15:00.004-04:00

This is the type of paperpiecing I enjoy. I made these teacups from Carol Doak's design for a Carol Doak Group swap. I made these in one day. I was able to use some of the charms from the baseball group. Lots of fun!

Lighthouse

2008-10-15T16:00:00.002-04:00

I posted a pic of one of the lighthouses I made for the Blockbuddy Swap. I had to make 12 blocks, each block had 15 tiny sections, each section had 3-10 pieces. These are only 8 inch blocks. I will NEVER do this type of paper piecing again. It was too much. It became a boring and monotonous process, until the end. Once I had the 15 sections done, they went together easily and quickly. Yippee! I'm sooooo glad they are done!

Finally!

2008-10-15T15:20:00.001-04:00

Schlep Bag

2008-09-06T10:00:00.004-04:00

I belong to several Yahoo Quilting Groups. I enjoy them all. I'm always inspired by others creativity.

On my group "SewGoodFriends", Jana puts out challenges for the members. The current challenge was to make a schlep bag. The pattern can be found here:
http://sentimentalstitches.net/free-stuff/free-quilt-patterns/schlep-bag/

I also belong to the baseballswap group. We swap 6 1/2" squares of cotton fabric. The amount you swap and receive depends on how well the MLBB team or teams that you're backing are playing. I began participating last year. I chose the Mets, because that's the team that I grew up routing for AND I chose the Tampa Bay Rays because no one else in the group was picking them. Of course, because of the Tampa Bay Rays, I sent out more than I received last year. This year, is another story. Tampa Bay ROCKS!

Anyways, I now have quite a few 6 1/2 inch squares and decided to make a schlep bag while utilizing some of them. Since I used smaller squares of fabric then the pattern called for, I had to modify the pattern and got lost doing it. Regardless, the end result came out nicely. Here's two pics, one of each side.

Quilter's Home

2008-09-05T14:08:00.006-04:00

I love Mark Lipinski. His magazine, Quilter's Home is a joy to read. I also enjoy his Yahoo Group, even though, right now, there's a political debate going on there.

Ann from the group shared a quilt mystery over the summer called, "If I had a Nickel". I was able to use a few of the 1000 FQs I have in my stash and make a nice top. Buster loves it and already was breaking it in, even before I could actually quilt it. Nope, his eyes don't usually glow like that but the Red Eye photo edit thingie doesn't work on his eyes. He's really a sweet dog.

I must work on 'the lighthouses' but I really want to work on one of those schlep bags. I wonder how fast I can make one................

Hershey Quilt Show

2008-09-05T13:45:00.004-04:00

I know it's been a while....

The Hershey Quilt Odyssey Show 2008 was lovely. My sister, Roberta and I had a blast. We took one class with Marilyn Doheny and two classes with Carol Doak.

Here's a pic taken at one of the Carol Doak Classes. Starting from the left, that's Cathy, my sister Roberta, Cathy's Mom Carol H., Me and Carol Doak. It looks like we're selling books. LOL We were just fooling around.

June BOM

2008-07-11T20:03:00.003-04:00

Here is my Carol Doak June BOM. I don't know how I missed the June block but now I'm all caught up on the CD BOMs.

Now I must prepare for the Hershey Odyssey Quilt Show.

Things to do prior to the Quilt Show:

1.Make 3 inch blocks for Cathy's block swap.

2. Quilt and bind baby quilt to donate at the quilt show.

3. Prepare quilt fabric for the 3 full day classes.

Much to do ! :)

2008-07-05T13:48:00.003-04:00

This is my Carol Doak July BOM. The colors in my house are very neutral. The colors in my quilts are wild! LOL

I don't think I made a June BOM. I don't understand how that happened but I'll work on that today.

Carol Doak

2008-06-27T16:04:00.003-04:00

Woo Hoo!
Carol Doak put my YTRR Quilt on her Yahoo Group Home Page! Yippee!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarolDoakQuiltingGroup/
I feel so honored!

I was afraid that I would not get my quilt pic posted on time because Kate had my camera. I found this pic on my camera of Kate at her friend's house. She's really hamming it up! Luv Ya Kate! You're so cute! :)

Ok, now I have to work on my LightHouse blocks and Cathy's Miniature Quilt Block Swap. Both of these projects have to be done before the end of July.

Until next time.............

Your's Truely Round Robin

2008-06-27T10:40:00.003-04:00

I finished my Carol Doak YTRR top. Yipee!

Here's a pic.

I might have said this in the past, but I'm a HUGE fan of Carol. Last year my daughter Kate and I took a class with her at Hershey Odyssey Quilt Show. We had a blast.

Sadly, this year, Kate is unable to come with me to Hershey. The good news, my sister Bert is coming with me. We're taking two of Carol's classes, Bright and Bold and Bright Stars. We're also taking a Marilyn Doheny class called Topsy Turvy Table Toppers.

I'm soooooo looking forward to this weekend.

Bye for now............. :)

BlockBuddies

2008-05-31T16:15:00.004-04:00

One of the many Yahoo groups I belong to is called 'Blockbuddies'. It's a friendly group and I enjoy swapping with these gals. My completed, BuildABlockRoundRobin has come home to me. I made a 4 inch block to start with, then the block is sent to three other members and they add on to it. Thank you to Sheila, JoAnn and Lori, all of you did a GREAT job, the colors are wonderful. Joann makes the BEST points, don't you agree?

What am I working on......

2008-05-31T11:50:00.000-04:00

I've started this Blog and have not continued with it. I'm hoping to change that.

The last time I blogged, it was about the Hershey Quilt Show last year. Well, I'm going again this year. This time, I'm bringing my sister Roberta (Bert). She knows how to sew but has never quilt. I'm hoping to change that. :)

I'm a huge fan of Carol Doak and have made the 3500 member block. I'm going to add this block to my Carol Doak BOM blocks. My plan is to have enough blocks to make a bed size quilt.

More pics coming soon...........

Hershey Quilt Show Weekend

2007-08-02T18:28:00.000-04:00

Started late on Thursday. I used the GPS to get there. You're suppose to attach the GPS thingie on to the front windshield but I chose not to do that and just put it on the passenger seat. It just seemed like it would be a distraction and mess with my view. The problem is, it's a tap screen and if you touch it, you mess up the trip programming and have to reprogram your trip. I pulled over a few times to fix it. I was on 78 west for a long time and thought maybe I drove past Hershey. Up to this point, there's no signs that mention Hershey, no road signs or advertisements. I took the next exit, stopped at a gas station and reprogrammed the GPS thingie. The Englishman (with English accent), did not direct me back on to the highway but on some side roads. VERY country like roads, so hilly that I'd be driving up a hill and could not see anything but sky until I started going back down the hill. I just kept going up a hill, down a hill, up and down, over and over again, with twists and turns on a narrow country road. This lasted about 5-10 minutes and then I found myself right smack in the middle of Hershey. On my right was a big roller coaster and on my left were houses. Apparently the amusement park is right in the middle of town and people can be sitting in there backyards, having a BBQ and hear people SCREAMING as they're making their descent on the roller coaster. Soon I found Hershey Lodge and relaxed. Hershey Lodge is HUGE. The motel room was FAR FAR away from the quilt show but I did not have to go outside to get to the show. And the open sewing room was somewhere in between my room and the show. There were four different restaurants to eat at and a bar in the lobby.

On Thursday, I rushed to the vender area and bought fabric to use for my project on Sunday. They closed at 5 pm. I liked shopping between 4 and 5, there were less people. Then I found a restaurant and ate at the bar with Harry Potter (Ok, a book). I also had two glasses of wine with my sandwich. I found the open sewing room, where people can set up their sewing machines and work on whatever they wanted. It was so much fun to meet different people, they were all working on different projects and ALL of them were friendly. I learned a lot in that room. Sewing tips, good places to shop, fun quilting teachers, good sewing books to buy and this is all while people are sewing, joking, etc.

On Friday, I took a long shower and used all 10 of the different water sprays on the shower head. I took my time. I picked another restaurant and had a lovely (expensive) breakfast with Harry. I then went back to the room, got my machine and went to the open sewing room (open 24 hours). Hung out with the ladies and started cutting out my fabric for my class on Sunday. At noon, I stopped and met Denise, one of the members of the online Carol Doak Group. Denise is from Bucks County PA. She was able to get into Carol's Friday Class. When I tried, I was unable to get in, it was full. While Denise was in the class, I was in the open sewing room. I hung out with Denise for lunch, shopping, and dinner. I found out I could sign up for sewing classes that had openings. So I signed up for a Saturday morning class with another teacher, Billie Lauder. Denise and I attended Carol Doak's desert lecture together. Here, I met another gal, Connie from another online group I belong to, Stashbusters. The lecture was very entertaining. We really enjoyed the day. During the lecture, Kate finally showed up with the wonder boy, Steve. They're just friends is the story she's telling. He was going to sleep in his car and I let him sleep in our room, ON THE FLOOR. I'm too nice. The kids went out exploring the lodge and Later, I went to the open sewing room, until 1 Am. (Steve hung out with Kate on during the day and then left on Saturday evening.)

On Saturday, I woke up, showered, did not eat breakfast, just went right to the class. After the class, I ran back to the room to drop off my sewing machine, I had lunch plans with four more ladies from the Carol Doak Yahoo Group. I was late meeting them. I was on the elevator waiting for it to get to the lobby so that I could go find them. I started on the 3rd floor, the elevator slowly went down to 2, then 1. The stupid elevator stopped on the 1st floor. I groaned. The elevator door opens and there's Carol Doak standing right there. I told her I was meeting some gals from her online group and asked if she would come say hello to them. So I showed up to meet the girls and I brought Carol Doak with me!!!!! LOL She could not eat with us because she had to get back to a class she was teaching. I had a lovely lunch with Glenda, Cathy, her husband, Sue, Debbie and Dot. I went to the vendor area again and bought fabric for Kate's project at Sundays class. I went back to the open sewing room to cut up the fabric for Kate. Kate and Steve went swimming in the three pools at the motel and then to the movies to see The Simpson Movie. Steve left for home, late but he left. I took a nap. Missed dinner but I was able to get a cup of soup and some crackers. On Saturday, there was something called 'Show and Tell'. I smuggled my soup in and ate it while the festivities were going on. All the instructors were there and made their students show what they made. They were also throwing out fabric to the audience. On the way out, we were able to pick a gift out from a tables full of stuff. I was practical and picked up blades for my rotary cutter. After that everyone left for their rooms, there was a line going to the elevator so I stopped at the bar and had chocolate martinis with Leslie, a women I met in the open sewing room. :D

Sunday, I woke up, took a quick shower, threw stuff in the suit case and packed everything up so that Kate and I could make the 9 AM Carol Doak class. THIS was the reason for going to Hershey in the first place! We did our best, packed the car and practically ran to the class. We were a bit late but it was ok. Carol Doak was really impressed with Kate and wants to post Kate's pick on her Carol Doak site, not the group site but on Carol's very own site. We didn't finish our projects but now we must so that I can send Carol a pic of Kate.

On the drive home, Kate was with me and would not play any of my CDs. We listened to hers but she did give me lots of bubble gum. It helps me stay awake while driving.

I don't know if you can tell.. LOL But I had a GREAT time! I had a blast. I hope to do this again next year.

First Post

2007-07-31T15:21:00.000-04:00

I guess I can't say that I'm new to quilting. I've been playing around with fabric for about five years now. I have a 6 foot by 4 foot book case filled with fabric and another bookcase that has two shelves filled with quilting books. Due to my son leaving the nest, I now have a room devoted to my sewing stuff. I would like to turn the room, not into a sewing room, but a 'QUILTING STUDIO'. I think it sounds more artistic then just a 'sewing' room. My 'Quilting Studio' is in the works, it's waiting for 'the husband' to repair the ceiling and paint the walls. Then I need to get in there and organize all the fabrics, books, notions, patterns, sewing machines, etc. Right now, I have been sewing in the dining area but I prefer to have all of the quilting stuff in the 'Quilting Studio'.

I have completed several postcards and sent them out through various quilting group swaps. But that's the only quilts that I completely finished. I actually quilted one quilt but it awaits the dreaded binding. I think I will have to break down and actually sew by hand.

I have actually made some bags and swapped or given them away. I have made hundreds of blocks, mostly pieced. This past year, I have learned about Carol Doak's method of paper piecing. I'm hooked! I love paper piecing. I'm a HUGE fan of Carol Doak and her Carol Doak Yahoo Group. I have met Carol Doak and several members of the group. I now have a few paper pieced quilt tops, just waiting to be layered and quilted. I'm thinking, once I get the 'Quilting Studio' in order, I will be able to work more on my actually quilting education.

I'm a sucker for quilt gadgets and have one of those Fabric Movers for quilting on a home sewing machine. I read about it online, watched a video, went to the Viking Dealer who was more than happy to demonstrate it and even let my try it out.............next thing I know, I have one. Since last Christmas! I have yet to use it. Now that I'm getting quite a collection of quilt tops, it's time I learned how to use it.

Next Post: My trip to Hershey Quilt Odyssey.