Choosing a quilting design … Always a challenge

Yesterday was spent designing a quilting border for this quilt….

 Winter days in Shades of Taupe

(just love the Japanese Taupe's!)

It's a Crab-apple Hill design that has been in the works 

since 2012! Now it's time to quit it!

This is always a challenge for me.

Thank goodness for "Golden Threads"

LOVE this paper!

It gives you the ability to draw out designs,

place them over your quilt

and "audition" designs before

needle and thread hit the quilt!

Option One is funky feathers

(leaning towards this one!)

Option Two is from a quilting stencil 

(thinking it looks more like ocean waves)

Here is my label, 

elongating one of the houses to fit around the writing,

then adding a few trees!

Today's challenge…

decide on the quilting design

and baste the quilt!

Or maybe I'll go to SCQG sit and sew or

to the Narragansett Bay Quilt Show.

Love a weekend with choices!

UFO quilt top finished!

About 2 years ago Linda Warren gave an "Over the Moon" 

workshop for RNQG …

Great workshop blogged about it here

Well thanks to the UFO challenge from SCQG

I finally completed the top!

But two of my "moons" blend into the background!

So the quilt is named… "Double Lunar Eclipse"!!

Now the next challenge…. how to quilt it!!!

What a difference a year makes ...

Last Patriots Day was spent quilting in my quilty room,

when at 2:57 I received a text from my 20 yr old daughter

that simply said….

"Somethings happened at the finish line I'm fine"

I turned on the tv to see the horror that was unfolding

at the Boston Marathon.

I didn't hear from my daughter for hours after that,

she was in the midst of working the medical tent.

As a student athletic trainer, her assignment that day was to 

help the runners at the finish line get to the medical tent if

they needed help.

Little did anyone realize how much help 

would be needed that day.

Fast forward one year and again 

I'm spending the day quilting in my quilty room

watching the marathon 

(you can see my little tv - Tatyana McFadden receiving her

laurel wreath and medal for winning the wheelchair race!) 

and looking for maybe a glimpse of my daughter 

who was back volunteering at the medical tent.

Victoria sent pictures of the medical tent

(sorry they are a bit blurry)

Thanks to The Boston Modern Quilt Guild the medical tent

was filled with colorful Boston Strong Quilts!

She said it was Fabulous to see!

Thankfully the marathon went very smoothly.

While working at the finish line yesterday she was 

interviewed by the Boston Herald!

~ ~ Volunteer Victoria Elia stood by a row of wheelchairs, 

looking out for runners struggling to walk after the long race. 

Anyone in bad shape she wheeled to the medical tent.

Last year Elia rushed into the blast zone with a wheelchair 

to help those wounded in the bombing. 

She was initially nervous to return to the marathon 

but said “It’s going to be a great day.” ~~

my daughter was happy to have returned,

put bad memories behind her

and created new happy ones!

So very proud of her.

The Plymouth County Cranberry Quilt Guild and Folded Flowers

Last Thursday the Plymouth County Cranberry Quilters

invited me to present my folded flowers workshop.

They are such a fun group, 

last year we did sashiko mug rugs

 great room for a workshop 

and it's in the Carver Library!

 Having fun folding flowers!

This is Fran - the PCCQ Programs person

think she's having just a little bit of fun!

Just Love this group!

There are a few cross overs into my home

guild - Silver City Quilt Guild,

which makes it great!

And next year they've invited me back to teach

my Sashiko Table Topper!

Happy Easter and a quilt top finish

Happy Easter!

After dinner I had some quiet time and was able to finish

by green strip quilt - posted about earlier.

For some reason this quilt reminds me 

of a turtle swimming in a pond!

Didn't have enough blue fabric for the top and bottom border…

improvised with a green stripy insert!

It's all ready to give back to the SCQG community coordinator

for the next step .. quilting!

A big Fish that has nothing to do with Quilting!

It was a year ago my husband and I were doing a day trip to

Race Point Beach on the Cape to see the whales… 

on the way we stopped into Kemp Pottery

and purchased this beautiful bowl

the color comes from sand that Steven Kemp retrieved 

off the beaches on the Cape!

Just love it!

At the same time we commissioned him to make a 

stain glass window of a Striped Bass!

A wish of my hubby - the Stripe Bass fishermen!

Last fall we went back to Kemp Pottery to see the

drawing Steve came up with

Wow! It looks great …
now to put it into glass!

Yesterday Hubby and I went back to the shop 

to pick up his Stripe Bass Window!
It was Finished!!

It now hangs proudly in our front bow window!

JUST AWESOME!

Exactly what hubby wanted!

It was so worth the wait!

The little school of fish we purchased a few years ago

at Yankee Ingenuity in  Chatham Ma.

While at Kemp Pottery I also picked up a few more lovelies …

OH! and yesterday we actually saw two Right Whales feeding!

Just Incredible!

This morning hubby is sitting at the dining room table
having coffee admiring his fish…
now we just have to wait for the weather to get just a bit warmer
so he can actually catch one!

Busy Week … Another Lecture / Workshop and the MQX show!

Had the pleasure of presenting my Sashiko lecture / trunk show for the

Capital Quilters of New Hampshire.

What a great group of ladies!

They all had fun making their Sashiko Mug Rugs!

The next morning we had the follow up Sashiko workshop

for a table topper

 Everyone Busy at work … stitching away!

It was nice to see the variety of background fabrics.

most of the gals stuck with the traditional navy blue

but a few ventured of to beige and purple backgrounds.

After the workshop my Quilty Gal Pal Joan and I zipped over

to Manchester NH for the MQX show.

PHENOMENAL!

Best of Show was a quilt by

Karen Kay Buckley and Renae Haddadin

"Majestic Mosaic"

check out her blog to see this beautiful quilt ,

in the mean time here are a few pictures from the show….

Overall view

Close up

and the BACK!

Which is absolutely stunning!

Just look at those tine feathers!!

This show just always knocks my sox off!!

Here are a few more of my favorites in no particular order!

Just LOVED Margaret Solomon Gunn

beautiful Ribbon Winning Quilt!

Her work is just exquisite

My apologies for not getting the names of the makers for

the next group of quilts. Usually I take a picture of the quilt tag to 

refer back to and unfortunately this time I did not.

 I am alway in awe at those that can master thread painting,

just look at the expression in the horse's eye

Unbelievable!

This was a whole cloth quilt!

Stunning

The nest two are of birds in flight ….

just beautiful…

and this one!

A New York Beauty all done in THREAD!!!

Outstanding!

The show was wrapping up and I went back to get another look

at "Aunt Millie" to find a teacher pinning her

Faculty Award onto my Quilt!!

It is very special to have a teacher recognize your work

Thank you to Kim Stotsenberg.

Check out her blog - she has some very nice videos!

It was a fun filled, jam packed 24 hours!

New England Quilt Museum and a mini shop hop!

Today was a day for a Quilty Road trip! 

It was my last opportunity to get up to Lowell and visit 

the New England Quilt Museum to see "Quilts of Japan"

SO Quilty Gal Pal Betty and I zipped on up

(stopping first for a medium iced coffee!)

then zipped on up - a quick hour and 15 min ride

but well Worth the trip!

The quilts were exquisite!

They allowed non flash photos for personal use,

I'm not showing entire quilts, just small sections of my favorites!

I hope it's ok.

If your in the area PLEASE see the exhibit

it is hanging until April 12, 2014

Just look at the tiny pieces and the beautiful appliqué

and delicate hand quilting.

loved this hand dyed red quilt that

featured aluminum tubing wrapped in thread!

And this was just unbelievable

the maker Mikiko Narita

sketched flowers from her garden

for the center and this was a piece of the border she created

using reverse appliqué to create a lace look!

Just look at the tiny hand quilting stitches in the

double cross hatched background.

I went back to this one a number of times!

The Japanese taupes have always been my favorite

they are just so calming (I need that some days!)

Can not imagine sitting and hand piecing 

all of those tiny pieces!

The colors and stitching are just incredible in this one.

A village all made out of repurposed jeans.

Soohee Lee of Korea

wanted to create a representation of everyday life with this quilt.

Here we are the Quilty Gal Pals

Betty and myself

in front of the red quilt that used the aluminum piping.

Of course what would the day be without a little shopping!

At the museum

I picked up a few sashiko projects, fabric and threads

plus a book that's been on my wish list!

Then we zipped over to

"Quilter's Way" in Acton.

Very nice shop,

bright, cherry and the staff were super nice!

Pick up more goodies!

patterns...

a fabric kit and 2 fat quarter bundles

(aren't the whales the cutest!)

a book and a magazine

to add to my ever growing collection!

After Quilter's Way we went over to the

"Franklin Mill Store"

where I was good and contained myself

while Betty bought Kaffee fabrics

to add to her collection.

All in All it was a great Quilty Day!

Nice to get out and about like this once in while,

and since my favorite local quilt shop closed

I've been in a bit of a funk…

but with these new goodies 

things should be turning around!!