The last days of Summer....

Two days ago was my official last day of summer :(

Yesterday I was back at the school opening up the nurse's office

getting ready for the new school year.

So how did I spend that last day you ask???

Well QUILTING of course!

Yup I had another UFO back on the longarm at MAQ

I did my basic meander stitch in the center of the quilt.

I had previously marked the inner boarder with a

Fons and Ported White Mechanic pencil

My new favorite tool!

It marks great on dark fabrics and it stays on while you quilt!

I used a blue water soluble pen to mark the outer boarder1

I'm finding my last few quilts I used the longarm machine

for the center and then mark and quilt the boarders

on my Bernina 440 QE! Crazy - I know!

Now that I'm back to work I'm going to miss my weekly visits

quilting on the longarm!!

UFO update...

SO I've been working this summer to quilt through my UFO pile,

and I finally have a few photo's to share!

The first project that needed finishing was my daughter's T-shirt quilt...

well I can FINALLY say it's DONE!

I finished the last stitches of binding while on vacation!

Here is the front

(drapped over the king size bed of the house we rented in Chatham!)

and the back 

It came out a bit HUGE!!!

Needless to say she was thrilled

and cried when she read the book label! 

Her comment through the teary eyes....

"Boy Mum you put alot of thought into this"!!

PRICELESS!!

The second project was a bib with iron on vinyl

this was made special for my nephews baby girl...

she'll make her arrival in November,

but he and his wife were visiting us at the Cape and I wanted done

for the baby gift box I was putting together.

The next item to come of the UFO list

was my Lobster Table runner.

Here it is on the dining room table with my

ceramic Horseshoe Crab ... Alfred!

He came from Chatham Pottery. 

I stipple stitched around the bigger lobsters so they would puff

out a bit. I like how it looks like they are climbing out of the rocks! 

A Pink and Green baby quilt was next and will be shipped off to Virginia

for a special gift for Baby Maggie! 

I made it using the Yellow Brick Road pattern from Atkins Designs

and I think it will make a great play mat!

In May I attended a Jo Diggs workshop and out first task

was to make a mini Landscape.

All hand appliqued and quilted.

It makes a great Mug Rug!

That's FIVE projects done!

I have another four more that are almost done!!

Back to quilty work I go!!

A Day in the Sewing Room

Today I spent the day quilting!

I had finished marking the boarders of my Lime Quilt,

using a stencil and my new favorite blue marking pen.

The stencil didn't fit the way I wanted so with the addition of

a fancy motif that I drew onto Golden Threads it was ready to quilt.

 

I'm loving my Bernina BSR today!

It was finally working properly - not skipping stitches.

I guess it helps to have the machine cleaned and updated every once in a while!

So off I went ... quilting away!

Does it get any better than this!

Quilting away while watching the "Quilt Show"

and sipping diet ginger ale!

My own litle oasis!

I guess that's why my daughter bought me this little sign... "Paradise"

she said it reminded her of me playing in my sewing room!

and my beach wagon car!!

I love my car!

I've had her for 8 years now and she always puts a smile on my face!

And I have no trouble finding her in the parking lot!!!

Tonight I bind my Lime quilt,

and take her off my UFO list!

Working on my UFO Pile ...

I spent a few hours at MAQ's yesterday as was

able to finish my Navy and Lime Quilt!

Yippee!!

I also finished a SCQG charity quilt

it was a Cowboy/Rodeo Quilt

I meander stitched it up in a flash!

I LOVE this place!!

All I have to do is bind them and then...

Cross them off "My Quilting UFO" list!

Another YIPPEE!!

Sewing Basket

The beginning of the summer I made this cute sewing basket

as a store sample for my favorite local quilt shop.

The sewing basket is the "Eva Sewing Basket"

by Hemma Designs.

It came out really nice with the only challenge

coming when I needed to attached the bottom bias binding.

But with the help of  these clips

it was very do-able!

 

2012 Images Quilt SHow

The Images Quilt Show was in town so last Friday and Saturday

2 of my Quilty Gal Pals (Joan and Diana) and I spent some time exploring Lowell!

We arrived and bought our multi day pass and we were off!

First stop The New England Quilt Museum - of course!!

The show hanging in the gallery was:

"BACKSTITCH:

a 25 year retrospective of Advances & Milestones in Quiltmaking"

This is a MUST SEE exhibit.

My absolute favorite quilt was...

"Innocence"

 by Hollis Chatelain

she has stitched images of women and children into the boy's face

just awe inspiring incredible!

here is a picture of it (hope it's OK to post it?!)

 

Second stop the American Textile History Museum...

it was fascinating to see the history of textiles especially since

my grandfather was a worker in the woolen mills,

I can only imagine the work that he must have done.

And my grandmother who worked in the weaving room

was in charge of designing and setting the patterns to be woven!

I had goosebumps just thinking of it

especially when I came to this room...

"Homefront and Battlefield" was the special exhibit and

it was so interesting to see the quilts that came from

the Civil War Era - I especially loved the quilt from a mother

using the fabrics from her two son's uniforms -

one Confederate gray and one Union blue.

It was very touching.

You can see a tiny bit of it in the photo below.

They didn't allow photography so this was the best I could do!

Once back at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium

I white gloved for 2 hours!

I LOVE to white glove - you get to handle the quilts!

Get up close and personal with them and really check them out!

Here are just a few of my favorites ....

BEST of SHOW
Fabulous! When I saw this quilt I thought I recognized it
and realized I follow her blog!!
It's a small Quilty World!!









all hand quilted - unbelievable! Tiny stitches!

   

Just Love Rosemary Bawn's Red Sox Quilt

Love quilts made from photos ~ will
have to try one someday!

 

On Saturday we started did more white gloving and then took part

in the Lunch and Learn with Gladi Porsche.

She is a full time doctor and she quilts!

Applique and hand quilted quilts!!!

Her quilts were fabulous, and she told a great story

about each one ~ great way to spend a lunch!

The last stop in our two day adventure was the

Appleton Mills Loft and Gallery

where the Boston Modern Quilt Guild

had a small but LOVELY showing.

I am really taken with this modern movement,

love the use of bright colors off set by white and solid colors ~

those quilts really capture my eye.

Oh and as if all of this wasn't exciting enough.....

Guess who I had the chance to meet.....

Marianne Fons and her daughter Mary Fons!

They were so gracious stopping to chat and have photo's taken

What a great Quilty World we live in!!!



Bayberry Quilt Show

Last week while vacationing on the Cape

I took time to take in the BayBerry Quilt show.

I am so glad I did!

They always do a fabulous job with their show.

The quilts were great -

with a wide variety to styles and skill levels.

When you walked into the venue you were greeted

by their Red and White Challenge quilts!

Very Fun.

There were so many fabulous quilts but these are

just a few of my favorites...

Life at Round Pond by Diane Craft



fabulous hand quilting and applique!



My Cape Cod Quilt 2000 by Cynthia Harris



red work designs by Marilyn Scholte



Tree of Life by Elsa Hahn

 Just Loved these crows!

Crow's Feet by Lynne Conroy

 This quilt was unbelievable with

hand piecing, applique, embellishing with silk ribbons

Patience Mini Brides Quilt by Audrey Germer

Fowl Play by Jean Howes

Hiding Herons by Mary Lou MacFadyn



Circle of Life by Cecilia Macia



 Just look at this hand quilting!



It was a wonderful show.

Can't wait for their 2013 show!

Yesterday I spent a few hours at MAQ's

to work on quilting another UFO!

This is my Blue and funky Green quilt

featuring my favorite ... Amy Butler fabric!

 This is the design I'm quilting.

You think it would be easy tracing the dark lines with the red light!

But NO!

I seem to have the biggest issues with the rounded sections...

Boy do I need LOTs of practice!

A lot of my rounded centers are a bit pointy!

But I selected a nice turquoise blue thread that really

blends in so you can't actually see the quilting!!

I am so loving working on these UFOs,

with each one I'm completing I feel my sewing room

getting lighter and lighter!

I don't think I'll ever be UFO free, but just clearing out

 these few have really helped me get over my stuck feeling!

Where I sew ....reorganized ... AGAIN!

In the beginning of July I decided to rearrange my sewing room (AGAIN!)

So I took EVERYTHING out of me sewing room

(the living room and dining room were a bit of a mess for sometime!)

And then brought each piece in one by one.

What prompted this you ask?

Two things....

First I wasn't happy with the flow of my sewing room the way it was.

I just felt the energy was blocked....

I was in a Quilting Slump!

Secondly a challenge was issued from one of the guilds I belong to.

RNQG's summer challenge was do finish UFOs

(blogged about here)

With my sewing room arranged with a better flow

and all of my UFOs in a bucket by my sewing machine

I now feel like I'm becoming more productive!

I have completed 4 UFOs!!

But I'll blog about them later!

Here is my new sewing space!

This is what greets you as you walk in

my sewing and computer area

A view from the sewing side of the table.

As you can see behind the chair I have

8 plastic storage boxes filled with projects - all in

various stages ... I didn't even count these on

my UFO list!!!!

Another view of my sewing / computer area.

My ironing station - it overlooks my deck, garden and pool -

so I can daydream while ironing and pressing!

The heavy wall!

This has my book collection, TV, stack of storage cubes,

movable cutting table, pull down design wall,

and fabric stash (behind the closed doors!)

I have just as much fabric neatly packed in my basement,

but this is the stash I dip into most often!!

SO there you have it....

my newly rearranged (again!!) sewing room.