2 Quilt Shows This Weekend!

Two quilt shows on the same weekend.

Is that great or what!

Plus, it's my Saturday Sew Day with the guild.

I'm in quilter's heaven. 

I want to show you my entry for the Rockford IL show.

Redwork Vintage Baskets 

 The pattern is called Aunt Bea's Parlor

designed by Judy Reynolds for

Black Cat Creations

 

I love the nostalgic embroidery basket designs.

 It took me most of the winter to 

hand stitch the 20 blocks.

 Of course, I used a different setting 

than the pattern called for. 

And I scalloped the edges.

The scallop edge really gives 

the quilt a quaint feel.

And quilted feathers complete

the look.

Have you ever scalloped the edges of a quilt?

It's not as hard as you think.

A little math and

You Tube.

The binding must be cut on the bias,

(not straight edge).

Here are easy to understand 

visual directions for

bias binding I've ever-ever found.

Print the pdf file for reference.

File it away.

One day you'll thank me.

OOO, I want to leave you with this darling

new quilt pattern and line of fabrics

from Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet.

 The pattern is called

"Vintage Dishes"

the fabric

"Sew Cherry"

 Photos taken from her site.

Take a peak.

 Don't ya just love the rick rack border

and scrappy binding!

Can you tell what I'm going to be 

on the look out for in those vendors booths?

May Basket Lotto

At our Friendship Stars guild meeting

next week we are having a

May Basket Lotto.

Have you ever participated in a 

quilt block lotto?

It's FUN!

Here is my finished 12 1/2 inch block.

Our lotto lets you make any basket design you'd like.

Because we have a lot of beginner quilters

in our group

I wanted to post an easy block with instructions

for those that need help.

Here is how I drew it out.

I'm no artist, as you can see.

You need to cut:

Background fabric

5- 4" squares (1/2 sq triangles)

5- 3 1/2" squares

 

Floral Print

3- 4" squares (1/2 square triangles)

Basket Print

2- 4" squares (1/2 square triangles)

1- 3 1/2" square

Using the 4" squares

make 6 half square triangle units 
of floral/background fabric

and 4  basket/background fabric.

Trim to 3 1/2" square.

Lay blocks in order shown below.

Stitch into rows 1 thru 4 and

Press row seams in opposite directions

so seams lay flat.

TaDa! 

Wasn't that easy?

The more blocks you make 

the more chances you have to win all the blocks!

Enough to make a quilt!

Doesn't it sound like fun?

A Happy Quilt

Check out this HAPPY quilt.

It brightens my day just looking at it!

Wish the sun would cooperate and shine 

so I could take decent photos.

This is my customer's original design.

Raw edge applique and lots of

open spaces for quilting

and "bling".

I'll be sure to share the "after bling" photos 

with you.

Feathers, fill, and cross hatching

my favorites.

The solid pink backing really shows off the quilting.

I'm working on my show entry this week.

Going to make bias binding and scallop edges.

Wish me luck.

Went to see the movie "Water for Elephants".

Pretty good.....

of course, the book was much better!

I'm reading "Union Quilters" now

by Jennifer Chiaverini.
I love period novels.
And this one isn't disappointing.

Send some warm weather my way

would ya?

Where's Spring?

Oh where, oh where, is Spring?

It's here in my embroidery!

Never thought I'd put the combination of

orange, teal, and brown together but

I love it!

If you haven't started the FREE Birdie BOM

check it out. 

We had our Easter celebration on Saturday in Milwaukee.

The grandbabies enjoyed an egg hunt and

Papa pitching the baseball.

I baked my son's favorite carrot cake.

Loaded with coconut, raisins, and nuts.

He feels the Hummingbird cake doesn't even

come close in comparison.

Click on the recipe to enlarge and print.

Busy this week getting customer quilts finished. 

It's almost that time of the year again.

Quilt Show Season.

Are you entering any shows this year?

Easter Cake & Bird Nests

  My Grandma made this cake every Easter 

when I was a little girl.

She loved to take it to church pot luck suppers.

Always came home with an empty pan.

Click on the recipe to enlarge.

A cookie favorite from last year.

Quick & ohhhh so easy to make.

The kids loved them. 

   

Hope you have a wonderful

Spring weekend!

I just know it has to be Spring somewhere!

 

The Good, Bad & Ugly

The Good

A charity quilt for HospiceCare, Inc.

 

A bright pink "happy" backing.

The Bad

I remember years ago playing a game in Sunday School. 

We stood in a circle, about 12 of us, and the teacher

told the first girl a “secret”. 

Then that girl whispered it to her neighbor. 

And the story went from girl to girl. 

When it came to the last person she was 

asked to repeat the secret out loud. 

Then the Sunday School teacher 

held up a piece of paper with the original secret. 

The truth was completely distorted having been repeated 12 times. 

That is what I have been dealing with this past month. 

Gossip spread like wildfire thru our quilt guild.

Not much truth was told in the end. 

I've been a member of five different guilds, in five different cities.
And not once have I seen such rude behavior or
ugliness spoken at a meeting.
Hopefully, it is behind us now and we will move forward

promoting our love of  fabric, quilting and friendship.

The Ugly

Snow in the middle of April!

Aren't retreats wonderful?

Only trouble is

it takes me a week to recuperate!

We had sew much fun.

Laughed, ate lots of chocolate, 
laughed, went to bed way toooo late.

 I did manage to piece a top (still needs borders)

and work on a few other projects. 

But didn't complete anything.

 This is the studio.

Enough room for 24 quilters!

 Lots of windows and sky lights.

 

 Kitchen area.

Unfortunately, it was tooo chilly to eat on the deck.

But we did have our morning coffee out there.

And this beautiful view from the deck

we didn't see.

Not that green here in Wisconsin YET.

All of the above photos were taken from the

Magnolia Ridge website.

I forgot my camera!!

***************

 Click on recipe to enlarge.

These are  quick, easy, and delicious.
One of my favorite recipes from
our Guild Saturday Sew Day.

Finished quilting Kathleen's

"Round Robin" quilt this week.

Now I'm off to load another customer quilt.
Maybe I can get some piecing time in today.
Here's hoping......

Connecting Threads

I just received my order from Connecting Threads

and couldn't be happier!

The fabric quality is excellent, has a nice soft silky feel.

And the price can't be beat! 

Just let me say, no affiliation, no paid commercial.

These fabrics are from their Firecracker line. 

A real country red and bright royal blue.

I purchased enough of the red prints for backings.

At $3.00 a yard, how could I not!

Love the blue "friendship star" print.

Going to be borders on my BOM guild quilt.

I also ordered their thread for the first time.

White in the middle, with natural on the left and antique on the right.

The antique is a perfect match for muslin fabric. 

A real bargain at $2.49 a spool.

100% Egyptian cotton #50.

I will give it a test run this weekend at retreat.
Have you tried it yet?

These 2 fabrics, are labeled as "seconds".

Seconds meaning the print is wavy.

I looked closely and was unable to see any major waves or distortion.

An affordable backing, priced at $2.28 a yard.

Don't get me wrong.

I love the major manufacturers "designer fabric" lines.

But at $9.95 a yard and up .........

I need to find a few alternatives to make my hobby affordable.

I ordered 2 spools of their Essential PRO thread.
Thought I'd give it a try.

I love to have a variety of threads available for customer quilts.

Remember my thread wall?

 

 Freehand roses and rosettes.

With a paisley background.

 This is the customer quilt I was working on for last 2 weeks.

King size plus.

Love the pieced back.

 Well, I'm off to gather my treasures for the weekend.

Leaving bright & early tomorrow morning.

 Shop Hopping all the way there!