Fall into Christmas with family and quilts

This fall started out with the Silver City Quilt guild

hosting Christine from Calico Cottage of Seekonk Ma.

It was a fabulous lecture on her journey from an online business 

into a brick and mortar shop and she brought everyone a present!!

A pincushion kit!

Mine is already made and donated to the SCQG

boutique table for our Sept 2017 show!

Then October brought another trip to Texas to

care for my daughter who had hip surgery

(she did very well!)

Poor kid was trapped in a passive exercise machine 

for 6 hours a day for a week!

Of  course we had to dress her dog Stella

up for Halloween!

The outfit lasted two hours!!

Knowing there would be some down time while in Texas, 

I had a sewing machine shipped to there ….

and brought two quilts (all cut and ready to sew!)

with me - as they needed to be done for Christmas!

And both quilt tops actually got done in the

two weeks I spent in Texas!!

Now there is a sewing machine down there for future visits!!

Great to set up the iPad and watch The Quilt Show while sewing!

We even had a chance to quickly stop in and visit

The Alamo!

While in Texas I was also able to complete the first block

of the Portage Lake quilt

by Minick and Simpson

and block 5 for my Ladies of the Sea Quilt!

The block "The Mayflower" is not actually part of the

Ladies of the Sea pattern

but since I'm from Massachusetts it will be my center block!

Definite problem here…

Quilting ADHD for sure!!

seven projects in progress!

Plus on the other side of the room are 6 quilts

stacked and ready for quilting!!

Yikes!

My 2017 resolution is to finish projects and 

NOT start any more!!

oops spoke too soon…

a Halloween Baltimore style quilt has been started 

with quilty friends Joan and Diana -

This is a fusible appliqué quilt - which is out of the box me -

so used to needle turn appliqué!

My son in Florida is loving his job as

airport manager in Tavares …

there is a special airplane quilt in the works for him!!

Since the fabric is bought, and the design has been formulated

it's technically not a "new" project!

Is it??

In December BFF Joan took me for a ride up to 

the New England Quilt Museum

to see the fabulous American Appliqué quilts!

This was my favorite

 It was in beautiful condition and

the hand quilting was phenomenal

 That brings us to Christmas preparations,

and cookie time!

The house is decorated and ready for

the kids to be home to celebrate!

 Wishing everyone a 

Merry Christmas
and
Happy Healthy New Year!

designing the quilt design!

Spending time enjoying the process of designing the quilt design.

That has always been a struggle for me …

Last spring I took an inspirational class at MQX

"Divide and Design" from Lisa Calle.

It opened my eyes to a new way of planning the quilting designs!

Take a picture of your quilt or block,

blow it up (at least 8 x 10)

using tracing paper start your designing!

Finding this method along with her dividing instructions so helpful!

If you get a chance to take a class from Lisa I highly recommend it!

Can't see her in person? 

Try taking her online class at iquilt 

After several attempts ….

the final design is getting closer!

How do you design your quilting designs?

Blog Sabbatical and Quilting!

A blog sabbatical … yes that's what happened here!

Four months of NO blogging … feeling a bit guilty!

After the kitchen redo and my daughters graduation

and trip to see my son things just came to a grinding stall!

It seems easier quicker to post in Facebook

but I actually missed blogging … so I'm back!

My guild - Silver City Quilt Guild gave out a crayon challenge

for our 2017 show …

my colors were a blue, red, orange

we have to use two of the colors and Gray

and may add in black and white

Orange is defiantly "out of the box" for me!

which made me want to use it all the more!

After scouring all my books and patterns and not able to find

something that motivated me … the sketching started ...

then out came my old EQ5 

to create my challenge piece!

Here is the index card with my challenge colors

and the beginnings of the paper piecing part of the block

The quilt consists of these two blocks

here you can see my original sketch,

the EQ5 print out of the design

and the blocks all made and ready to be sewn together.

The finished top...

just waiting now for quilting inspiration to hit!

 once it came together the name hit me like a ton of bricks

"Finding the Light thru Dementia"

It's dedicated to my mom - who is struggling with memory loss

some moments her thoughts are crystal clear like the blue skies,

other times they are muddled and grey.

but I'm always looking for that light thru it all where

she's the women I remember.

This summer was spent caring for my mom and quilting donation quilt tops.

Managed to get three tops done for the SCQG comfort quilts,

here are two of them - forgot to take a picture of the third one!

I also made a quilt and sent it down to Orlando Florida

for the victims of the Pulse night club shooting,

that was just such a tragedy - felt I needed to do something.

My work on the "Ladies of the Sea"quilt continues.

The original pattern by Sue Garmen calls for 16 beautiful boats,

mine will be scaled down to 9 boats plus the elaborate boarders

to accommodate the wall it will hang on!

The center block will be from a different pattern

"Massachusetts" by American Album Blocks…

I just could not leave out the Mayflower!

She's coming along nicely!

"Funky Garden on Red"

came home from her trip to the

Home Machine Quilt Show

sporting her third place ribbon!

and in August I was thrilled to receive

and Honorable Mention Ribbon for

"Winter Days in Shades of Taupe"

at the Mancuso World Quilt Show in NH!!

and since she is a ribbon winner she will be traveling

as part of a special exhibit in the next few Mancuso shows!!

Holy Cow!!

So if your in Palm Springs, Santa Clara or Orlando

check out the Mancuso Quilt shows and stop by

and say hi to "Winter Days"!!

All in all it was a busy Quilty Sabbatical!!

month go by fast!

Hard to believe it has been just over a month since my last post!

So much has happened!

 Winter Days in Shades of Taupe traveled to AQS week Paducah

what a thrill to have a quilt accepted two years in a row!

She didn't come home with any ribbons but just the fact that she was accepted 

and hung around with some of the Big Girl Quilts was awesome!!

Funky Garden on Red traveled to the HMQS in Utah

where she received a Third Place Ribbon for Applique!!

Wha-Hoo!!! SO excited!

She has really exceeded all of my expectations!

Finished this quilt that will now be known as "Aquarius" 

Don't ask why but she reminds me of the song!!

May was a travel month!

Visiting my son Matthew in Tavares Florida

where he is the Airport Manager of 

"America's Seaplane City"!

All though there are no regular airplanes - 

there are plenty of Seaplanes, Boats and a Water Park 

that he is in charge of! Wow!

Had a great day walking the beach in New Smyrna Florida!

Great Mom and Son day!

Then on Mothers day after having breakfast with my son I traveled to

Corpus Christi Texas to have dinner with my daughter!!

We spent some time walking the beaches of North Padre Island

Stella with her watchful eye making sure every stitch was perfect!

Victoria at her work place - the Athletic Training room

of Texas A&M Univ - Corpus Christi

Getting ready for the Master's Hooding Ceremony

Have to have a photo in front of the HUGE school sign!

 Graduation Day!!

 Proud parents!

It was a RAINY day….

 walking on the USS Lexington

 and visiting the Texas Aquarium

Stella not to happy about wearing 

Victoria's Graduation Orchid flower lei

Still managed to do a good amount 

of stitching during my two weeks of travel!!

Phew!

What a month!!

Sew many things are a happening!!

Finally the kitchen renovations are DONE!!

Hubby and I bought our house over 30 years ago,

and I always wanted a lighter and brighter kitchen.

The kitchen went from being dark and dreary

to light, bright and VERY cheery!

here is the other side

(you can see where paint colors were being tested!)

 Finally the Cape Cod kitchen I've always dreamed of!!

Went to a paper piecing workshop

taught by Jackie Kunckle!

Awesome - she is just a ball of energy!

two blocks done just a few more to go!

Then there was MQX in Manchester….

the show was fabulous,

it had a special and awesome vibe - loved it!

Here are a few of my favorites

My MQX experience also included CLASSES!!

the first was a Fabulous class by Lisa Calle

"Divide & Design"

my attempt at creating a design!

Lisa was great - very positive and creative

then...

Judi Madsen taught

"Modern Quilting Meets Traditional"

This gal is spunky!

and incredible!

so open and sharing of her designs and ideas

truly refreshing.

and a lecture with Timna Tarr

displaying and discussing her fabulous quilts.

and there were Quilty Friends!

Diana, Kathy and Michelle

Wrapping up all the quilty fun this month...

was a wonderful lecture by Alex Veronelli of Aurifil Threads

after seeing his presentation of raw cotton to the spool

I now understand the cost of thread …

totally worth it!

and best of all … going home with a door prize!!

 YUP!

10 spools of 12 wt threads!

Perfect for my embroidery!

 Also finished up blocks #12 and #13

of my appliqué Flower Garden by Kim McLean

 OH! the herd is getting larger!

decided to make this quilt a bit bigger than originally planned…

so only 21 more to go!

It's been a busy past few months!