Fabric Overload

Sunday Slump

2011-09-25T14:53:00.002-04:00

So here I am feeling sorry for myself for a host of reasons, most of which have to do with my dear Red Sox. There is nothing like the thrill of winning or the doldrums of defeat. But hey, go see MoneyBall with Brad Pitt. This movie will be sure to lift your spirits.

BUT

Quilting always has a way of lifting me out of myself. What IS it about the texture of the fabric, or the color and design? Or a particular pattern that speaks to your soul? Wow....I'm feeling better already!

Here are two versions of a baby quilt pattern that I made as a request and as a personal gift. Happy thoughts!

For Kate's Baby Girl

For Michelle's Baby Girl

Bent!

2011-08-23T20:40:00.004-04:00

My pal and I are registered for a quilt retreat in Litchfield in early November. This is something we've been wanting to do for a long time and this year is it! The issue today is, "What the heck are we going to work on?" So we spent a good part of the day recently teaching ourselves a new technique for putting together a Hunter's Star. So we picked some ugly fabric to experiment on. Well, the results are OK, but the method to make the star with a "special tool" was no time-saver and is not fail-safe by ANY means. It took the two of us to puzzle over and think about the written directions. AND did I say it took almost a whole day to do this? Perhaps if we had treated ourselves to our glasses of Sam Adams Summer Ale first we would have breezed through this exercise.

My vote? Thumbs down.

Unhappy blocks

Pre-Quilting Era

2011-06-27T21:53:00.004-04:00

Before I took up quilting, I did a LOT of needlepoint and bargello. Because I give everything I make away, the only piece I've got is this one that lives over my bed.

I loved working on the patterns from a graph. No painted canvas for this girl!

Gratuitous picture of adorable grandson #3

(I admit it - I'm only posting so I can put pics of him here!)

Quilts for MIL

2011-06-27T21:36:00.003-04:00

These quilts were made over the years and given to my mother-in-law.

Flannel Lap Quilt made from scraps of
Kim's "pregnant" quilt

A Star for All Seasons, a perennial favorite

First ever Mystery Quilt

My favorite Christmas quilt, also a mystery project.

Blue and Yellow Fans, from a class.

Gratuitous picture of adorable grandson #3

Court Street Quilt Retreat Update

2011-06-27T21:13:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been several months now and the CSQR participants were busy during the winter months trying to finish their projects. Here is an update on our progress:

Joann's Quilt

Due to what we think were very badly-written directions, Joann spent HOURS working on this masterpiece and had to buy MORE fabric! She is still looking for a particular Fusion green for her border. Completed quilt top will be posted!

Barb's Quilt

The pattern is Deb Tucker's Star Shadows, using her Flying Geese method and ruler. Let me tell you, I lost count of the number of Flying Geese units! As I began this project I thought I would make three separate wall-hangings in different color ways to reflect the seasons. Yeah. Now the challenge is to hand- or machine-quilt!

Really??!! It's been THAT Long????

2011-06-02T21:23:00.009-04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been 6 months between posts! That tells you how busy I've been! In addition to today's feature quilt, I've been working on my sister-in-law's birthday quilt from last August, and I've started a new Civil War block-of-the-month, Civil War Chronicles. It's a huge quilt with a LOT of sewing.

My nephew Nick and fiancee Jamie were married on May 20 in Stockton, California (another California quilt!!!). I was not sure what I would make them because I did not know what they shared together or how they spent their time when not working. Well, that question was answered as soon as I walked in to their home last May! It's contemporary in shades of brick red, brown and black. Bingo! I've had a kit in those exact colors sitting in a project basket for a "few" years and I was so excited to finally make it!

Living and Dining Room

Master Bedroom

The happy couple stopped by Mom's (my sister's) house before beginning their honeymoon trip, so it was the perfect opportunity to present The Wedding Quilt. They were exhausted from partying all night but were very happy to receive something for their home. The quilting was done in a tan thread in a vine and leaf design, but it's very subtle.

The Unveiling

Full View

The Back

The Newly Weds - and Tank

On a Snowy Day

2011-01-27T12:10:00.003-05:00

What's better to do than spend a snowed in day working on quilt projects! After digging out from the latest snowfall, I'm starting new projects and catching up on some ongoing ones. I usually post only completed projects, but in this case, I'll make an exception. If I posted all my unfinished projects, there would be a LOT of reading to do!

I'm working through my Civil War projects which until lately have taken a back seat to other, more pressing gift projects. I recently completed the small wall hanging using 5 inch charm squares. The big single block is the first in the Civil War Chronicles series, which in the end will be HUGE. The 6 smaller blocks are from the cover issue of the June American Patchwork & Quilting magazine (the same one that the plaid churn dash came from). I am just loving this day!

Christmas 2010 Quilt

2011-01-15T11:04:00.004-05:00

My son Kevin, the paramedic firefighter, was the only one to get a quilt this Christmas, and it wasn't even planned. My pal Joann suggested that a churn dash pattern in a recent magazine would look great in plaids and wouldn't that be a great way to sew down that particular stash?! So I challenged her to show up at my house the next morning at 10:00 to start this project - and she did!!!

We finished our tops in record time and I sent mine off to be quilted ASAP, as I was leaving for California mid-December to spend the holiday with my West coast grandchildren. I like to put the binding on myself and knew I would not have it finished in time for Kevin to get it on Christmas morning in Connecticut. So I brought it with me and managed to actually do some sewing on the plane! I wound up sending the finished quilt by overnight mail to his firehouse in Massachusetts, so that he would have a gift on Christmas morning. (A 24-hour Christmas Eve shift and all day Christmas schedule prevented him from spending time with the CT family contingent.) While he loved the quilt, he made me promise not to send any more boxes to the firehouse unless there was food he could share with the guys in the house.

Court Street Quilt Retreat

2010-11-13T18:29:00.004-05:00

I've just hosted a quilt retreat at my house!

My quilting buddies, Joann and Barb, and I have been discussing attending a retreat for a long time, but retreats are beyond our budget right now and I have to work. But because the opportunity presented itself (no man around for a few days), and I was able to work out some time away from the office, I jumped at the chance to take a couple of days off work and create my own retreat. Thank goodness everyone was available!

We kept it very simple because the point of the 3 days was to produce. Over three days we each worked on our own projects with varying levels of satisfaction. Our days began in the morning with coffee and bagels, then down to work, with a break for lunch around 2 pm, then back to work until early evening. Lunch menus consisted of home made chicken soup, baked macaroni and cheese, and Greek salad with olive oil ciabatta bread. Beverages were coffee, tea, water, soda and wine (the sources of our only exercise, climbing the stairs to the bathroom). I provided a cutting table, iron and ironing board. And background music. Tony Bennett and Michael Buble had us dancing in our chairs.

My project was to make a wall hanging for my mantle at work. I am using almost all batiks which work really well for the pattern. It consists of stars in 3 sizes and a LOT of flying geese units. I still have not finished the little guys, but I am very happy with the way they are coming out. These are the blocks; finished item to come.

Joann's project was a quilt that she adored at a recent quilt show. She is working with some beautiful greens and a great pattern. However, frustration reigned from the first block she completed. Much ripping to come, but she did complete the four corner blocks in a method not included with the pattern. So this quilt will be uniquely Joann's. Here's a finished block:

Barb joined us for a couple of days, but due to her busy schedule, she only got as far as cutting for her project, a table runner.

All in all, it was a great way to spend time together and help each other out. But it's not really over. Tomorrow we are traveling to a favorite quilt shop for a quick visit before continuing on to my daughter Laura's house for a Tastefully Simple party. Mmmm, more good food!

5:20 p.m.

2010-10-02T17:25:00.002-04:00

That is the hour I had to turn on the lights in my quilt room today. The dying of the light was not subtle, one moment I had bright sunlight streaming across my worktable, and the next moment it was gone - just like that!

Autumn has arrived.

Peggy's Quilts

2010-09-18T06:00:00.009-04:00

Peggy and I have been friends for about 29 years now. We met when we were neighbors and our girls were very little so we would spend a lot of time together. We took up knitting and made some really cute sweaters for our kids. Then our family moved, I went to work full-time, she moved and went to work full-time but through the years we've been in close contact. (We still live in the same town...). Now we meet for happy hour instead of koffee klatches.

A few years into my quilting obsession, Peg asked me to make this quilt when she saw the pictures in Sharon Yenter's first book, In the Beginning. I agreed but convinced her to help. So off we went to purchase the fabric. I did the sewing, she did the pressing, and she helped sew the binding. The was a BIG quilt, I think my first really big quilt that I sent out for machine-quilting. It came out just like the picture and Peggy loves it.

Back, oh, about 20 years ago, there was a wonderful quilt shop about 30 minutes from my house. The shop hosted "mystery quilt night" every so often. We would begin sewing at 6pm and shut the shop about 2am. I was much younger and it was a lot of fun. Now if you asked me if I'd like to do a mystery quilt night I would ask if it had a nap break. This quilt is a result of one of those sessions.

I may have been thinking at the time that I just didn't want to spend the money to buy new fabric, or I just didn't want to use my good fabric on a mystery quilt (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9Ray2AUQLXg/SQKizko0RiI/AAAAAAAAAKM/Pfj_-gm6SDg/s320/Jeannies+blue+and+yellow+1.jpg This is what results from actually using good fabric). So I chose mint green and pink as the main colors. Now, I have seen pink and green quilts and have never been moved by that color combination, so why NOW did I think this would work???? I had it quilted and put it aside, but when Peggy saw it she went all gooey with her ooooo's and aaahhhh's. Sheese! So I gave it to her for a Christmas present. I know she loves this quilt, but one day not too long ago I asked her where it was. She admitted that for some reason it was in a bin in the basement! IN THE BASEMENT!!! IN A BIN!!!

Peggy, it's autumn (almost). Time to dig out the quilt!!!

I still love you girl!

First, You Cry...

2010-06-13T17:01:00.016-04:00

"I have breast cancer..."

I could not talk; I could not breathe. I put the phone down and cried for about 4 minutes. I could hear her at the other end saying, "Barb? Barb? Are you there, Barb?"

My sister has breast cancer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That was April 23. Since then, Jeannie has undergone a full mastectomy, and will be undergoing chemotherapy soon. I gave her a choice for a chemo quilt: pink, blue (her favorite color) or funky. She chose funky but asked for it to be really soft. When I got home from California I felt the need to get the quilt made quickly, but then the OTHER news came...lung cancer. The oncologist says that each cancer is unrelated. Jeannie is a smoker. Ok, no cancer diagnosis is good, but you have to understand that the lung cancer (stage 1) was found only because Jeannie was having surgery and she needed a routine, before-surgery chest x-ray. In my view, the breast cancer has saved her life. This lung stuff is curable with surgery. So I'm off to California again and I can deliver her chemo quilt in person.

Once I got over THAT shock, I was able to concentrate on the chemo quilt. I started pulling out my funky fabrics but somehow they didn't FEEL right for the purpose. By the time chemo starts, it will be hot where she lives, so I was thinking that something softer would fit the bill. It should look cool, but keep her warm. (I've heard that chemotherapy patients are often chilly, even in warm weather.) So I hit upon a group of fat quarters I picked up at a quilt show about two years ago. And it's backed with baby blue minky embossed with stars. I hope Jeannie likes lavender and green.

Tropical Dawn

A bluebird has come to visit Jeannie whenever she goes out in her back yard:
http://www.kimtracyprince.com/2010/05/the-ghost-in-the-bluebird/

So I put baby fairies with bluebirds on it:

The lettered fabric sends messages of love, hope, joy and compassion, and you can find some pretty cool words in there too if you look hard enough. And I sprinkled it with a little bit of pink ribbon fabric for sparkle. It really is easy on the eyes. I'm sure Jeannie will love it.

Now don't go sending this post to her - she is incapable of using her computer for browsing the internet, let alone check her email (which I set up for her! She never answers back!). Let's save it for a surprise for when she gets home from the hospital, OK?

This was taken at lunch post-surgery. Doesn't she look great!!

Baby Quilts

2010-02-26T21:20:00.003-05:00

I loved making this quilt! At the time this baby girl was due, I was so happy to be making something pink! The baby who got this quilt is a big girl now and still loving it. The pattern is Barristers Block, a bow to the Mom's profession.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This quilt was made for a friend at work when her granddaughter was born. This is the grandma's quilt, to be used only at grandma's house! My friend has been kind enough to unload her aunt's quilting fabric on me so I wanted to make her something special and old-fashioned. The pattern is straight out of American Patchwork & Quilting. Don't ask me the issue; I'm not going through the piles to find it!

The sashing and backing fabric are what pulled this together for me. And thankfully, it's mostly PINK! My friend tells me that when the kid knows when it's nap time, she cuddles up in it. Smart kid.

~ ~ ~ ~

It has been many years since I've made doll anything. My daughters are hovering around 30 and 40 now, so I was very happy to make this for another person at work. I made this cutie about 10 years ago. Thank you Riley for showing it off, even though you are way past the doll years!

I'm waiting on more electronic pictures from various owners and I'll have to scan some pictures, but at least I've got this baby quilt project going!

Wedding Quilt #2: Finished & Delivered!

2010-02-26T20:36:00.005-05:00

Bear Cave

Laura and Jeff finally got their wedding quilt on Christmas Day. My camera died as they opened it, so I don't have pictures of their surprised faces.

The all-over pattern is from an issue of Quilt Sampler, Bear Tracks. I modified the pattern by putting in the Bear Paw medallion. Because Laura and Jeff really live in bear country, this was the perfect quilt for them. I used a wool/silk/cotton batting. The all-over quilt design is a funky elongated star, looks sort of like fireworks to me. The border has a flag and heart pattern which does not show on the front, but looks really good on the back. This is a heavy quilt, about 103" square.

Dominick does a great job modeling it, don't you think?

~ ~ ~ ~

Because I forgot to take pictures of the back, the unquilted version of the back will have to do. I have to say that the back is quite impressive on it's own.

For now I am done with very big quilts! Until last unmarried child weds!!!

More info than I need!

2010-02-20T19:07:00.002-05:00

Please tell me you have this problem...quilt magazine panic! I have every issue of American Patchwork & Quilting since it began publication more than 10 years ago. AND every issue of Quilt Sampler! God knows how many issues of several other very popular quilt magazines. So I started putting little flags on the patterns I thought were interesting and possible contenders for my quilt stash, and I put them in those upright magazine holders to help organize them, all with little red, orange and yellow post-it notes sticking out the tops. Well, I quickly ran out of the holders and began building piles, which today starting falling over when I just touched one magazine. All because I'm looking for one slim quilt book for my good friend. (You know how you think you know exactly where that one book is.. and it turns out not to be where it belongs? And then you go crazy trying to find the darn thing! Yeah, that's where I'm at right now.) Now I'm in the middle of re-organizing my precious quilt pattern mags, because I can. not. give. them. AWAY! AND I found a project that I had wanted to make-many years ago-so moved it to a different pile. And the Christmas issues - those go in another pile. Oh, and the slim pattern books, by single designers, another pile! And on and on and on...

So. In addition to fabric panic I now have magazine/book/pattern panic!!! I need to take some serious time off from work to, you know...sew!

The Baby Quilt Project

2010-02-20T12:53:00.004-05:00

I confess I've been dragging my fingers, waiting for the time when I finally have photos of all the baby quilts I've made for family and various friends. Well, it's time to start the documentation project, because if I DO wait, I'll never get this done!

What better time to start than for the birth of a new baby in the family! Branden Stephen was born on his Nana's 60th birthday, so I wrote to the lucky nana that when she forgets how old she is, all she has to do is add 60 to Branden's age!

Although I would normally use flannel for a winter baby, I decided to use fabric I purchased in Myrtle Beach, soft sea greens and pale blues, an "oceany" feeling. I backed it with baby blue minky, which surprisingly, was pretty easy to work with given the horror stories I've heard. I did not use batting.

Of course, with a new baby in the house, big brother Chris gets a quilt too!

I thought dinosaurs would be a nice addition to his growing collection.

Trains

Cowboys

First quilt with Laura Birch animals.

Chris also got 2 pillow cases for Christmas, which he is wearing:

I'm still here!

2010-01-07T12:30:00.003-05:00

I have been very busy over the last couple of months and will shortly be posting the finished wedding quilt along with other completed projects. And maybe some finished tops that haven't been quilted yet.

I am planning a post about all the baby quilts I have made over the years, but trying to track them down is time consuming.

Stay tuned!

Quilt Tease

2009-10-04T22:31:00.005-04:00

Laura's and Jeff's marriage quilt-a quick peek!

Today I delivered this long-awaited wedding quilt to the quilter. It measures approximately 102" square. More photos when it's bound, sometime around Thanksgiving.

~~~~~~

Beach Boy

Mom and Dominick
Myrtle Beach house, September 2009

Below is Dominick's Happy Quilt. It's only been in the pipeline for a year. The pinwheels are 3-dimensional as are the prairie points. Except for the backing, which Dominick and Mom helped pick, I had everything in my stash.

We Interrupt This Program...

2009-10-01T21:18:00.014-04:00

...to bring you Nature!!!

I realize that the purpose of my little blog is to document all of the quilts I've made over the years and I've pretty much stayed to the quilting theme, but now and then my local nature is just so beautiful I have to share it. Although we are just beginnig autumn, I'm catching up here with summer.

Here is the town green again, in full summer. It really is a pretty, peaceful oasis. This is the last in the seasonal series of the green.

~ ~ ~ ~

Summertime can be really beautiful and relaxing in my town. Over the years, my buddies and I have met at The Grove down at the beach on Sundays.

We relax and work on various qulting projects, usually sewing binding, but every now and then doing some hand piecing. Browsing through quilt magazines keeps us motivated and thinking about projects we can do together. Dunkin' Donuts is nearby so we usually take a "coffee and..." break. Most times I'll bring the Sunday NY Times special sections to read but it seems I can never get to them. We plant ourselves on the one picnic table that always has shade (you can see it in the picture above) and occasionally folks will stop by to see what we are doing. However, this past summer has been so wet and chilly that we have not brought quilting with us - so we just walk, walk walk, and then go have a late breakfast. Recently I caught two gorgeous days in The Grove and was at the beach by 8:30 a.m. Each time a friend found me and my goal of actually finishing the NY Times was not achieved!

Here are some pictures of my slice of summer heaven:

My chair and

what I see from my chair:

The Boardwalk (it's concrete) and the beach beyond:

The Sailor

In the meantime, I've continued to work on finishing up Dominick's first birthday quilt (from 3 months ago) and his "happy quilt" (to go with his smile) made with bright primary colors.

I really didn't accomplish much this summer due to travel to California and my California family coming here. Because the boys, now 4 and 2, needed a place to sleep, I had to break down my quilt studio for the month of August. I did take Kyle on a fabric hunting trip to our local quilt shop. He made me write down the names of all the fabrics he liked. The funniest was "space ormalized fabric," really a Kona Christmas fabric with stars and moons, hence the space moniker. I was able to convince him he could use new pillow cases instead of blankets. (Yessss!)

Kyle at my "office"

Bob and I recently returned from a wonderful week in Myrtle Beach where - guess what? - I found two terrific quilt shops!!! Of course I came home with more fabric and new projects!

Now back to regular quilting programming...

Winter and Spring 2009 Remembered

2009-07-04T22:15:00.001-04:00

Here it is Summer, finally! June has been a terrible month this year. I think we've had a total of 4 days of full sun. Perhaps Southern California has exported its "June Gloom" to Connecticut.

This is my spring view of our town green:

And my only yellow iris:

I can't say that I have accomplished a whole lot of quilting, although I spend almost every evening in my quilt studio. I have been working on a block-of-the-month project, The Queen and Her Court, through a CT quilt shop. I've completed the first 6 blocks plus the center medallion. Um, oh yes, I did finish the top for a flannel lap quilt for myself which I started maybe 2 years ago. And I did finish the top for Dominick's first birthday quilt, "Would You Like to Swing on a Star?" panel that Laura gushed about when she was with me at the quilt shop not long after Dominick was born. She insisted I didn't have to make it, but I kept it in the back of my mind. The opportunity presented itself and walah, a birthday quilt (which needs to be backed and quilted). I am currently working on Dominick's "Happy Quilt" for which Laura and Dominick helped pick the backing recently. It's full of primary colors. Pictures of all to follow soon.

The following was a draft post I neglected to upload back in May...

It's been a long winter here in Connecticut with snow that would not melt for weeks. Just as we could once again see our brown lawn, BAM! an end-of-winter storm dumped more than 6 inches of the fluffy stuff on us in March. I was hoping to get a better picture with snow actually on the trees, but I waited too long.

This is my winter view of our town green:

Note the still-packed snow on the street - I like driving around while the snow is still pristine, before it gets sloppy and everything looks dirty.

And this is how COLD it was...

This is actual FROST on the west window of my quilt studio. I removed the bottom curtain so you could get the full effect.

While we endured long-lasting snow, I WAS busy in my quilt studio working on Laura's and Jeff's wedding quilt. You'll have to wait to see pictures till it gets quilted, sometime this fall.

I need a new iron...HELP!

2009-07-04T18:18:00.002-04:00

Is there anybody out there who can point me to a good, inexpensive iron for quilting? I just bought a Black & Decker Steam Advantage F1000 and I am returning it. It seems that when the iron stops heating, it just turns off and will not go back on unless I unplug it and plug it back in! AND it turned off while I was ironing!!!

One More California Quilt

2009-03-28T19:27:00.000-04:00

This is the last California quilt to post, I hope. I made this one entirely in California with my Brother sewing machine I purchased out there to keep out there whenever the urge to sew came over me. This is yet another of Kyle's quilts that I made when he was really little. He uses it for his "baby" he puts in the little shopping cart out in the yard. This is the cover quilt on one of Mary Hickey's books.

On another note, during my last visit out there at Thanksgiving, I learned that the local quilt shop, Candy's Quilt Works, was moving CLOSER to my daughter's house - within WALKING distance!!!! I don't have any trips planned for the near future, but when I'm there and everyone is at work, you'll know where you can find me if I'm not at the house....

A Quilter's New Year's Resolutions

2009-02-01T17:10:00.003-05:00

Is this true for every quilter I know?

1. Finish all UFO's that have been in "the pile" for the last several years.

2. Resolve not to buy any new fabric unless truly needed for a project.

3. Sew down the stash!!!

[but I never have the right green...]

Panic Attack! I have so many more pictures to take of quilts I've made. Who knew how many are out there since I began quilting? Egads!

Time Out for Christmas

2009-02-01T14:07:00.016-05:00

Here are a few of the Christmas quilts I have made over the years. These are by no means all of them! I just have to visit other folks to take those pictures.

Mystery using Thimbleberries fabric

Pattern from a magazine

Not technically a Christmas quilt, but the colors work.

Jim Shore Collection on a Christmas block

Leftover block from A Star for All Seasons

Another mystery. The technique was "pull a strip out of a paper bag and sew it to another strip." I don't think I cheated. Lots of sewing.

Closeup

Snowmen. I could have sold this ten times over.

Thimbleberries Christmas Apples. This is so old I don't even remember piecing it. Horrors! I am now working on the binding, holding to my New Year's resolution #1.

Log Cabin Christmas Tree made in a class when I was new to quilting. Our cat ripped off a few of the bells on the ribbons, at least 10 years ago. I still have those bells...

A Moda panel. My friend Joann and I used cute buttons to embellish. Hers is still unfinished...

Kyle's big boy quilt. This is what kept me busy before Christmas. I had to fedex it to get it to Santa for delivery. Kyle picked out the space shuttle fabric, the monkey fabric and the solid blue which he said, "will go real nice with the other fabric Gramma." He's 3. I filled in with the soccer and star fabrics.

Grandchildren will put the kabosh on whatever project you've got on the table, because we can always find a reason to make another quilt for them, don't you agree?

The Road to California is VERY Long! (or "I can't believe I made so many quilts!")

2008-11-01T17:01:00.017-04:00

This is a very long post, so get your coffee, tea, vodka and soda, gin and tonic, or whatever your favorite browsing beverage is....

California Grandsons

Kyle - 3 1/2

Brady - 1 1/2

The Shooting Location (for the quilts)
The Backyard Wall

Long shot from one side of the yard.
Note quilt on the left side of photo.

Long shot from the other side of the yard.

THE QUILTS

I tried to upload the pictures in chronological order in which they were made, but that didn't work, so we've got pretty much reverse chron order.

These are Kyle's pillowcases. He'll need new ones for his big-boy pillow now.

I found this Tall Ships panel at a quilt show in Massachusetts. Perfect for Brady's room which is red and taupe (Kim refused to repaint). Once I started machine-quilting, I couldn't stop. If you click on the pictures, you may be able to see the details.

Tall Ships wall hanging for Brady's room. It hangs over his crib.

Left Lighthouse

Middle Tall Ships

Right Lighthouse

Left Lighthouse back

Middle Tall Ships back

Right Lighthouse back

Quilt Vignette

Brady's Room before he moved in.

Brady's baby quilt-Sunny Days

Kyle's Space Quilt

I took Kyle to the local quilt shop (what a great shop!) and he loved the planets and the multi-colored stripe. The owner let us in even though she was not yet open for business.

Captain Kyle
Pattern from Mary Hickey's book Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts

Kyle's Baby Quilt

Pattern from one of the PS I Love You books

The focus fabric is from the Bryce & Madeline line from Free Spirit. All the grandkids have a quilt made with this fabric (and very special friends). I have just enough for whenever my son Kevin has his first child. Not soon.

Kim's Pregnant Quilt
A flannel quilt for California

Christmas Scrap Quilt

Placemats

Table Topper - hand-quilted

Cows and Moons

Back of Moons

I forgot to take a picture of the one quilt I actually had time to make in California so that will come a bit later. Perhaps Kim will put it up herself.

Northern California Quilts

2008-10-25T00:35:00.002-04:00

These quilts belong to my sister, Jeannie, who lives in the vicinity of Sacramento. Each one was given to her while she was living in a different state. She was good enough to take pictures with her digital camera and send them along for me.

Apple Baskets, machine pieced and appliqued. I made this during a class and worked furiously to finish my homework before each session. I remember my husband and kids leaving me alone one suppertime to finish some applique before leaving for class. I loved this pattern so much I made a second one for myself. Both are hand quilted. Jeannie got this one while living in Ohio (for the second time-she moved around a lot).

Jeannie's 40th Birthday Story Quilt. This was a total surprise for her. She turned 40 while living in Tennessee. After only two weeks on a new job I had to take "time off" to fly down there without her knowing I was coming. As most quilters find themselves approaching the actual "handing over" of the gift, I was stitching away furiously to finish the binding before she got home from work. The blocks in this quilt tell a visual life history. There's the Ohio Star in the center (that was for the 1st time she lived in Ohio; the 2nd time was right after Tennesse); a Smoky Mountain block for the area she lived in; a Road to California (for the 1st time she lived there); a Sisters block; a Connecticut block; and I can't remember the others. I had a lot of fun making this quilt and the look on her face when she "discovered" me and her quilt was memorable - and loud!

Ah, the Blue and Yellow Quilt. Believe it or not, I made this FOR MYSELF in a mystery class! I strongly believe in using fabric that you love in a mystery quilt because if you are not happy with your fabric choices, you won't like the finished product. [That did happen to me and I wound up giving it away to a friend for Christmas who loved the pink/green theme.] So on my birthday one year, I fell in love with the blue and yellow floral during the B&Y craze. I loved this quilt. Then one summer Jeannie came to visit and the only place for her to sleep, other than the couch, was a cot I set up in my quilt studio with this quilt. Well, she just LOVED this quilt and could she please have it - the NERVE! I don't readily recall which state she lived in at that time, but eventually she wound up with a blue and yellow kitchen and living room in California. And now you know "the rest of the story..." As with most of her homes, she redecorates! So now her kitchen has the newest color scheme - taupe, black and white. Her living room is soon to be similar with some burgundy thrown in. [You think she'd send me pictures? Hah!] Oh, and the Apple Baskets were out of style homes ago!

Thanks Jeannie for the blog fodder! I love you! Please send pics of the new kitchen and living room!

California-Bound Quilts

2008-10-20T20:03:00.002-04:00

My Town Green

This is what I see every morning on my way to work and why autumn and crisp weather is uplifting. I just had to stop and take a picture. Someday I will put all these wonderful colors together in a quilt.

Crazy Hearts

Good Vibrations

These quilts are for twin girls born last April, very early. Except for backing, both quilts were made with stash fabric. And although each has the same backing, the quilts are different, signifying individual personalities. Good Vibrations is aptly named because the photo makes the orange stripes "vibrate" (but not in person!).

In the Pink

This quilt is for their sister, who is 3. I just can't get away from that lovely lime green! I've been putting it in almost all the baby quilts I've made in the past couple of years. Quilts will be on their way to California this week. Hopefully, Mom will send back pictures of the girls with their treasures.

Slash-a-Stash: California Quilt #4

2008-10-16T21:09:00.002-04:00

Oh, how I had fun with this quilt!

This quilt was started in a class at a quilt shop that is now, woefully, gone. I had one particular fabric that I bought in a great shop in Willimantic, CT, and had been dying to use it - a purple with electric green dots. This pattern fit the bill.

This bright, happy quilt was part of my living room inventory when Kim saw it. She loved it right away and asked if she could have it (the nerve!)... Of course I said "not a chance," but it wound up as a Christmas gift for her the following Christmas. One of her commenters on House of Prince wanted to know more about it after seeing a picture of it draped on the rocking chair in Kyle's room. Here's your answer!

This is a technique where you sew fabric around a central square, then cut that up and reassemle, using parts from different squares. It can be a nightmare trying not to repeat a sequence, but it's fun too! Then when you lay it out to sew all the blocks together, you have to be careful to hopefully not butt the same fabrics together! Aaagghh! But just look at the results!

I didn't have enought of the purple plaid for the back, so made do with leftovers from the front.

California Quilt #3

2008-10-16T20:30:00.008-04:00

This little guy has nothing whatsoever to do with anything California - I just wanted to put him up here for your enjoyment. My hand was not steady and as a result Dominick has "stars" in his eyes - very artsy. He is 4 months.

Now back to my documentation project:

I don't think I have a name for this colorful quilt. It gives me a feeling of something Arabian, or perhaps Italian tile? This is one of many of my quilts that currently live in California.
Once I began putting quilts on the back yard wall, I decided to get creative. I've got a bowl of fruit and a vase of flowers on the wall holding the quilt top. The bougainvillea adds a special splash of color.

I had purchased the border/background fabric on a whim (what other kind of purchase is there?) because I loved the Eastern flavor of the design. Then it waited patiently for the right pattern to reveal itself. Inspiration came when I received one of my copies of my favorite quilt magazine and I was off and running. The bright clear colors, drawn from my focus fabric, were just the ticket.I love this quilt, and I know my California family loves it too!

Dominick's Quilt...Finally!!!

2008-08-15T19:09:00.010-04:00

For some reason, it just took forever to get this little quilt finished properly for its little owner. I purposefully made it look like an antique quilt because his mom's decorating style is Americana. I started with the backing first.

It is a pretty pastoral with children at play and doing chores, and it was 50% off which made the purchase even sweeter. I don't think I actually had a plan in mind for this print, other than I knew it was perfect for my newest grandson.

I found the churn dash blocks at a "Quilt Happening" at an orchard in northern Connecticut. They are all hand pieced and I had to lose some of the points when I sewed them together.

Then the search was on for the perfect sashing and border prints. What? Of course they were not in my overloaded fabric stash!!! I found them on the way home from a quilt show at a new quilt shop. It took several tours around the place before I spotted what I was looking for. I love the blue sashing. It seems to tie the blocks together and blend with the stripe fabric of the border and then continues to blend with the backing. Once it was assembled, I knew I would have to hand quilt it. Nothing less would keep that wonderful oldish feeling to it. So that's why it has taken me so long to make and take a picture. Here is Dominick with the quilt:

Isn't he adorable? Now it's on to his "happy" quilt!

Introducing Dominick Lucas

2008-06-21T10:37:00.006-04:00

Dominick Lucas

June 13, 2008

7 lbs., 3 oz., 20 in.

Proud (and tired) Parents

Laura and Jeff

Grandparents Bob and Barb

I"ve been spending the last week with the parents helping to care for Mom, Dad and Baby. They are doing a great job! I'll hate to leave tomorrow, but at least I know they are just an hour away from me. Dominick's "official" quilt is not quite done because I decided to hand-quilt it, but you'll see it soon.

Two Stories about Two 2-Color Quilts

2008-05-17T16:12:00.005-04:00

Have you ever browsed the vendors at a quilt show and kept coming back to The One? Come on, sure you have! First you do the walk around to see what's out there, then you walk around to the vendors that interest you, and you keep looking at that one sample. You go around again and think about how that quilt on display is really saying something. You go closer to get a better look. If you listen closely you can just about hear it calling to you, "Take me home; you love me; you want to make me; I would look great in the den..." And THAT'S IT, you have to have it! So you buy the book with the pattern and the fabric pack all bundled just so with a pretty ribbon. Honey, you are HOOKED!

I confess that the scene I just described has happened to me twice, once in Lancaster when I made a "commitment," (story some other time) and again at the last big quilt show held in Gettysburg a few years ago. It has since moved to Hershey, Pa. What a shame- I love going to Gettysburg; this was my husband's first and last quilt show experience. Because he lives and breaths anything Civil War, I convinced him we should go to Gettysburg, AGAIN. He could tramp all the lovely battle fields; I would spend all my time at the quilt show and surrounding quilt shops. He agreed to come to the quilt show on our way out of town on the last day. Remember, this is a guy whose eyes glaze over when I start talking patterns and fabrics. The first thing he said when he walked in was, "Gee, this looks like your quilt room exploded!" And the jokes and comments just kept coming as we wandered around. He had all the women in ear shot in stitches. He even made a comment about the Best in Show - a reproduction of the quilt that Turkish soldiers made during war (you know the one I'm sure): "Soldiers don't sew! They drink and gamble, etc., etc." and thoroughly embarrassing me. But I digress.

I call this blue and cream quilt The Gettysburg Quilt. The book it came from has some great patterns in it, so I'm glad I took the plunge and bought it. I am still using the leftover fabrics in other projects, including the latest wedding quilt.

The all-over floral fabric in this second quilt was bought on the spur of the moment in one of my favorite shops that no longer exists. I went along for the ride with my friend Joann who was shopping for some needed fabric (of course! why else would we be in a quilt shop?) I had no plan to purchase anything on this particular outing. As Joann was finishing up her purchase I turned around and saw this BEAUTIFUL FLORAL FABRIC THAT SHOUTED TO ME!!!! This was one of those omigod moments when in an instant I knew what I would make with this fabric. So I found a perfect coordinating raspberry fabric, Jinny Beyer's line that has the peacocks on it. I wanted to keep the pattern simple because it would have been a shame to cut up these flowers into little pieces. So I used positive and negative churn dash blocks. I had it machine quilted in a pretty swirly pattern. I did not put a label on it but chose to memorialize the day I finished it by writing on the back along the swirls: "Last stitch placed in this quilt at the Old Grove at Savin Rock in West Haven, CT, August 8, 2004. A beautiful summer day spent with dear friends Joann and Barbara and lots of laughter." It doesn't officially have a name so I'll call it Raspberry Churn Dash. It lives in my living room.

A Long Time Ago and Far, Far Away

2008-04-28T20:45:00.005-04:00

I never did finish my quilt from the beginner quilting class I took way back when. But I believe this is the first full quilt I made after that. This is Kim's college days quilt. I think I made it for her birthday during her junior year at Notre Dame. It is a giant star in peach and green and does not have traditional binding; I sewed the edges envelope-style and turned it right side out, then tied it. Kim still uses it, especially when company comes to visit. I remember laying it out on the floor of the quilt shop and how excited I was that my oldest would get my first totally completed quilt, perfect for her dorm room. I envisioned her showing it off to her friends and how they would envy her. It's a bit faded now and has a tear and maybe a stain or two, which shows how lovingly it has been used. It's made its way from Connecticut to Indiana to California, and hopefully will wind up back in Connecticut in the not-too-distant future.

Kim's and Stewart's Wedding Quilt 2002

2008-04-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

This is my daughter Kim's (House of Prince) and Stewart's wedding quilt. They were engaged for a year and a half, so I had plenty of time to design and make it. I think what took the most time was thinking about it, how to make it personal for the both of them, and then scouring my favorite quilt shops and quilt shows to find the perfect fabrics. My two best buddies were very instrumental in this pursuit. The one thing I allowed Kim to choose was the color (blue and white). She had also requested a nautical theme, but I was way ahead of her on that one. She and Stew both love to sail, and he's a surfer as well. Almost all of the fabrics have a water or sky theme. If you click on each picture you can see much more detail.

I did not count the number of fabrics I used -- LOTS! But only one white, a very small paisley that I found in Pennsylvania at the Lancaster show. I bought the whole bolt, and then a second one so I could complete the back. The center of the quilt is, obviously, a Mariner's Compass, with a border of Ocean Waves. (Thank you Mary B. Hayes for inventing Thangles!) Once the quilt was finished, I presented the top at the wedding rehearsal dinner with a story/label (which I still need to put on the quilt). One of my concerns was that, if this was to be an heirloom quilt and I were to hand-quilt it, the wedding couple probably wouldn't see it again for another 5 years, so I let Kim make the decision. She opted for machine quilting because, "it would be an heirloom no matter what," and because she would get it back much faster. So, I went to the best machine-quilter I knew at the time, Mary Eddy of Jellybean Quilter fame. I traveled to Newtown, CT where she has her studio. We worked together in designing the quilting patterns. The result is so spectacular that I wanted to put it in the Northridge quilt show, but I would have to be a member of their guild. (Come to think of it, I spend so much time in Northridge, I might as well join!) So it's not made it to a quilt show yet.

Kim and Stew were married in Mystic, at the Seaport, on the river, so I used the Mystic Compass Rose as the center of the quilt. Let me tell you, this was no small feat to accomplish. The compass measures 36" across. I ordered a special industrial-type compass-making tool because a pencil and string did not work. I drafted it on freezer paper taped together on my kitchen floor. Once that was done, the plan was to paper-piece the thing. Believe me, cutting into this beautiful drawing was scary. But I was brave, not so confident. The only other spot of color is the red fleur de lis to mark North.

The one thing I asked Mary Eddy to put in the quilting were zodiac signs in four corners of the top, one each for Kim and Stew, one for the month they were married, and one for me as the quiltmaker. She used trapunto to make them stand out. This is Pisces, my sign. Appropriate, don't you think?

The rest of the quilting looks like ocean waves, wind and stars.

I recently returned from a brief trip to California for my grandsons' big birthday party, so I took these pictures of the back of the quilt. Below are close-ups showing the quilting on the back:

Back of compass.

Detail of compass point.

Detail of small inner compass.

Detail of side showing stars.

I tried to wash all of the fabrics first, but there were times when I had to reach into my stash to find another perfect fabric, not realizing it may have been unwashed. So the first time Kim washed it, it ran--just a little. I'll let her tell you that story.

Although a lot of quilt experts would have you believe that quilts should never see the light of day, this quilt is lovingly used, which is the whole purpose of making it in the first place. What's the point of making a thing of love and beauty and hiding it away for the rest of its life, which then becomes, why make a quilt in the first place?

Personal Quarter Inch

2008-03-27T21:36:00.006-04:00

When I first began quilting, the one rule above all else was to keep your seam allowance at 1/4 inch. So for the next couple of years I struggled with this seam allowance, fudging and fuming in fitting my blocks together. Then one year I took a class with Nancy Johnson-Srebro. It was a miniature class and I was working with very small pieces on a clunker of a White machine - it was practically eating my pieces! (This project is STILL in a box.) I was so frustrated that Nancy suggested that when I got home I should try to work on my 1928 Singer sewing machine. In the meantime, I bought one of her books, and read it cover to cover. She had the most amazing miniature quilts with quarter-inch block pieces! How did she do that? So I pulled out my old singer and proceeded to follow her instructions in "Endless Possibilities" for setting a "scant" quarter inch seam allowance. I was determined to make something tiny figuring if Nancy could do it, so could I. And with my new seam allowance all set to go, I made a tiny simple Irish Chain, about 5"x 6" with each 9 patch block measuring just 3/4" finished! Here are pictures, from closest to farthest, for context.

"Because I Could!"

Once I found my own personal quarter-inch, my blocks fit together just like puzzle pieces and I can construct a quilt knowing it will come out just fine. I even find myself not worried about points matching or seams meeting, because they just do!

So now, for each of my machines, the first thing I do is find that quarter inch. On my Featherweight I use a piece of magnetic tape. It provides a sort of ledge that the fabric butts up to. On my Bernina I move the needle position to 4. And on my California Brother, it has it's own quarter inch needle position - do you believe it? I went crazy trying to find out how to move the needle, until I read the manual. For those of you in the know, the motto is always RTFM!

So now I'm busy putting together Laura and Jeff's wedding quilt. But I am still visiting the quilts I've given away so I can photograph and document here.

Warm quilts and Red Sox Nation

2008-03-27T21:25:00.005-04:00

This is a huge flannel quilt I made for Laura and Jeff for their first Christmas in their new house. They use a wood stove for general heating, but the bedrooms can get chilly, so this was the perfect gift for them. And it's heavy! Note the bear at the head of bed.

It's Red Sox season folks and we're off to a great start winning our first game. The Red Sox bear is enjoying the warm quilt too, along with his friend Pregnant bear. (I can hear the jokes now...)

A Study in Color and Contrast

2008-03-02T21:38:00.007-05:00

Television is so bad lately that I don't mind taking the time to post.

Here is something totally different from the past two quilts. This quilt top (it's not quilted yet) was made in a color and contrast class. I was a bit hesitant about taking the class because 1) I hate circles and curves and 2) I thought I knew everything there was to know about color-I usually just go with my gut feeling. However, I thought the contrast thing was useful. So I bought this beautiful oriental floral, the only fabric I bought by the way-my motto is use what I have before buying due to the size of my stash [hence the blog title]).

I didn't want a square quilt, so I added more blocks, but not more circles. I thought the blank squares added a dimension of...possibility. Besides, there was no way I was going to make more circles! So off I went making my blocks with no idea what the final product would be. Our teacher helped all of us in the class fiddle with our layouts, but I did NOT like the way mine worked out in class, so I started from scratch when I got home. It took me two hours just to lay out the blocks. Once the blocks were sewn together, it took me two hours more to figure out what to do with my border. Thank goodness for a flannel design wall! With the border fabrics figured out, then I had to construct the darn thing. Let me tell you - THAT was the biggest challenge for me. I think it turned out all right, don't you?

If you click on this picture, you can probably see the red fabric in the border. I've been hanging on to this particular red for a number of years and it was perfect for this quilt.

This is my favorite block. I love the way the circle print blends with each triangle. The green swirl is from my friend Joann's stash. What a great fabric.

I've been debating whether to machine-quilt or hand quilt this one. I've done machine-quilting on a similar type of quilt (with curves but I got paid for that one) with gold thread, which was really beautiful. But something in me says to hand-quilt with gold thread. What do you think?

Double X

2008-03-01T14:41:00.005-05:00

Here is another heartwarming quilt. This is a Fons & Porter pattern for Double X. It was the perfect pattern for a group of fabrics I ordered on line called Kansas Troubles (I think). I remember my husband really liking the fabrics, so I sort of made this quilt for him (our bed). Do you have any idea how many pinks I bought before I happened on the right one? I wish I had a granddaughter whom I could lavish all this pink fabric on - she would never want for quilts for the rest of her life! This took me about a year to make and I used Thangles for the many, many triangle squares. Thank you lady who invented Thangles! You must be rolling in dough! And hubby's reaction? "I don't remember those fabrics..." More detail below. I especially love the black floral fabric, but only had enough for 4 side triangles.

Observation: So now I've spent a good hour either reading my daughter's blog (thanks for the plug honey), reading her favorite blogs, and posting to my own blog. And I have been known to sit here for chunks of time enjoying other people's lives and thoughts through blogs. I hesitated in starting my own blog because I knew how much time in front of the computer I would spend, when I should be sitting at my sewing machine spewing out the gazillions of quilts I want to make or design. My life after retirement includes totally immersing myself in the quilting world, perhaps even to work in a quilt shop. I once had a dream of owning my own place, but realized that was WAY TOO MUCH WORK and not enough fun. I have six years to go but hoping in the meantime that my husband's new business venture will make us fabulously rich and I can just quit work.

Here we go!

2008-02-29T19:59:00.007-05:00

The whole purpose of this blog, urged on by my daughter, is to document all the the quilts I've made over the past 18 years or so. That is a lot of quilts, so let's begin! I will post them in no particular order. If you click on the pictures, you can see the details much better!

This wall quilt is one of my favorites. I saw the model in Calico Etc., Cheshire CT, the most wonderful quilt store I've ever been in, which is now gone. This baby spoke to my heart and I just had to make it, using Civil War reproduction fabrics. I was home with a nasty cold one day and didn't want to just sit around, so I put the baskets together. This quilt went together really fast and I quilted it by hand. It now sits over the fireplace (yes, fireplace!) in my cubicle in my department at work, below:

This is a detail of one of the baskets.

Detail of border.

There is something about reproduction quilts that moves me whenever I see one. Once I fell in love with the fabrics, I started collecting them in small amounts. I also have a nice selection of patterns, but have yet to use any of them, because some other quilt always needs to be made first.

Right now I am in the middle of making Laura's and Jeff's wedding quilt. I would post pictures in progress, but now that my little blog is out there in the world (thanks Kim!), that would just be giving the surprise away.

My First Picture!

2008-02-16T21:37:00.003-05:00

This is a test photo. My two grandsons, Kyle and Brady at Christmas, sitting in front of one of many quilts made by Gramma.

No this is NOT a yoga position.

2008-02-12T20:44:00.000-05:00

My feed dogs are down!

Just when I had my quilt room back and started to sew my daughter's wedding quilt, wouldn't you know, my Bernina will not perform! This is the first time in 11 years that I've owned this machine that something is actually wrong that I cannot fix myself. It seems my feed dogs are not feeding fabric like they used to, won't sew the triangles, stops dead at a pin. I do a fair amount of free-style machine quilting, nothing fancy mind you, but something must not have clicked back into place fully the last time I used it at Christmas.

Guess it's time to pull out the old Featherweight.

The Army, Wedding Bells and Quilts

2008-02-10T17:08:00.000-05:00

Bob and I have just come from a dear friend's to say good-bye. He is off to Afghanistan after the required 4 weeks of training in North Carolina. This man is a dentist who enlisted in the Army at the officer level at age 57 after years of dental practice! It's a long story but thankfully he will be gone only 6 months. Bob advised him not to volunteer for anything and just do his job and get home safe. I guess J will be all he wants to be over there. On a happier note, J's daughter announced her engagement! Finally! They've been together as a couple for 6 years, but have known each other since they were 12. Her fiance, S, had planned to pop the question on Valentine's Day I guess, but when news came of her father's deployment, S moved up the timetable. Thank you S for making a somber occasion brighter for all.

You may be asking, "What does this have to do with quilting?" Well, J & G own two of my smaller quilts which I will be documenting soon, and now I have to plan another wedding quilt, although not on the scale of my own kids. We have known this family (hubs both graduated from ND) for years and our younger kids grew up together.

In the meantime, I've started putting away all the little kid stuff and began with closing up Baby Central. I can now move around my studio and figure out where I put immediate projects while the kids were here. So I'll be sewing up a storm for the next four months to get those projects done!

Second First Post

2008-02-09T22:33:00.000-05:00

So what got me started with this blog thing? As I mentioned previously, my daughter is the culprit. I've invited her to post because she is a wicked good writer and very witty. She has her own blog at House of Prince.

She and her two lovely boys, Kyle-2 yrs 9 mo, and Brady-9 mo, have just spent two weeks with us. When they come to visit, my quilt studio becomes Baby Central. I convert my cutting/working table into a changing center stocked with diapers, wipes, small toys for distraction, plastic grocery bags for poopy diapers, powder and lotion. Oh, and lots of colorful fabric scraps and strips. The youngest grandchild sleeps in here as well. Which means that no sewing occurs at all for the duration of the visit. That's OK because I love my grandchildren and I'll do anything to get them to come from "Earf, California" as Kyle puts it. Usually we just whisk the kids in and out of this room, but now that Kyle is a bit older, he's curious about Gramma's sewing machine and other lovely no-touch equipment. Sigh. Next time (summer) I'll really have to batten down the hatch to keep him and Brady safe.

My First Post!!!!

2008-02-09T19:47:00.000-05:00

My west coast daughter has been bugging me to create my own blog primarily to post pictures of the dozens of quilts I have made since I began quilting seriously about 15 years ago. So I've caved despite the fact that I think I might spend more time on the computer than I will on the sewing machine. [Update: I've already spend 5 HOURS reading blogs and creating my own!] I am no tech-savvy mid-50's grandmother, but I do a bang up job with spreadsheets and data bases full-time at work. I have a cell phone I rarely use and I don't have an Ipod music thingy. I just got my first digital camera this Christmas from my kids so I can take the pictures to put on the blog. Now I have to learn to post the pictures!

So here goes...please excuse any rambling randomness.

When I was pregnant with daughter #1 I discovered I had a talent for fine handwork. I began with embroidery and not just the simple stuff. Oh, no! I started with a detailed floral bouquet that I finished probably five years later. From there I went to crewel, needlepoint (from graphs no less-no painted canvases for this girl!) and macrame. Remember macrame? I made all kinds of plant hangers and some jewelry. I picked up counted cross stitch, again from graphs. Then I found quilting. After making a couple of those huge one-block wonders from patterns that were published in Family Circle or Women's Day, I decided I wanted to learn quilting "the right way." I took my first class at a quilt shop where the owner became a good friend later on. The class cost $65 and included the fabric. After the first session I was hooked. I put away the cross stitch stuff and never looked back.

My former master bedroom is now my quilt "studio" and stuffed to the gills with fabric - in a dresser, boxes, baskets, bins, bags, but NOT the freezer, in the trunk of my car, or under the guest bed. All my fabric purchases are there for my husband to see (which he usually doesn't care to see, except when I bring home reproduction Civil War fabrics). He buys books like I buy fabric so he can't complain. The studio has 3 windows that face south, west and north so I always have good light all day long. I use an old computer table that has a drop-down keyboard tray where my Bernina Virtuosa sits at the perfect height for sewing. This table is now "out of print," sorry to say. I could use a new one. But it's perfect because it is deep. But it keeps collecting other stuff that has no home, which I have to move (usually to the floor) when it's time to quilt all those baby quilts, lap quilts and wall-hangings. I love my Bernina. I also have a Singer Featherweight which I take to classes and a 1928 electric Singer in a cabinet that I found at a church rummage sale for $20. I had it tuned up and polished and it works like a charm. I was hoping to actually fix up this room with cabinets and counters and wonderful lighting, but until that happens, I work with an overhead light, an Ott-type floor lamp and table lamp, and another old small lamp that sits behind me. I feel like I'm alway working in my shadow, and my husband refers to my totally lit up room as the "landing strip."

I have a gazillion projects in different stages: Planning-wedding quilt for daughter #2 who eloped; I have till May 4 (1 year) to get the top made; baby quilt for same daughter's baby boy due in June; baby quilt for baby due March 3, baby quilts for mom of premature twin girls. Christmas quilts for all the kids. Hard cover book projects; soft cover book projects; magazine projects; Civil War and reproduction quilts - you get the picture. Under construction-very, very many. Finished-I don't think I ever counted. I've discovered along the way that I like making traditional quilts. Civil War and reproduction quilts speak to my soul, never mind the history. I make traditional patterns with wild colors. For the past couple of years, that electric limey green has been in all of my quilts, some a lot, some a little. Can't understand it.

I love fabric. During the first couple of years of this passion I stocked up on lots of fabric to create my stash. I now own a lot of calicoes, which are usually at the bottom of the drawer or box or bin. Ninety-nine percent of the time I walk out of a quilt shop/fabric store with fabric. It's a very rare occurrence when I'm empty-handed. The point is to keep the stash fresh and how is it that I never have the right shade of green when I need it?!!

I have two very wonderful friends who are quilters, J and B. We plan group projects with good intentions that don't often happen. We love to visit new quilt shops in our area, quilt shows within a couple hours' drive of home and an occasional overnighter. We have a lot of fun. Among us we could open our own shop with all of our quilting stuff. When I retire in another six - 6! years I want to work in a quilt shop-for fabric of course!