Good stashbuster

I just love piano key borders BUT I must admit I am not wild
about thirties prints. They are cute and all, but not my first
choice. So how did I end up with enough thirties prints in my
stash to make this quilt you ask??? Well, I'll tell ya!

I got swept away by a BOM at Cottonseed Glory in
Annapolis a few years ago. It was one of those deals where
you pay $5 for the first block and if you bring it in finished
the next month you get the next one free. You got to choose
your color way and since I had never done anything in thirties,
I thought that would be something different. I actually liked
the whole concept and participated in it for a few years
(with different colors each year)

Well you know you can't just get the block for that month
and leave. So I bought a few FQs each time and ended up with
a whole box full. I am trying to use them up and have a few
other cute patterns to try. This pattern is from one of the
P.S. I Love You books. They make really cute baby quilts and
I have given this to a friend of ours that has worked for my
husband for many years for her little girl Carlee.

This weekend will be preparations for the Southern Comforters
quilt show March 15-16. I have some sleeves to put on and
some things to make for our auction and craft booths.

Until next time...
Susie

Silk purse from a sow's ear

Remember this fabric?

This is what we were given ahead of time to make blocks
for our retreat. They were to be 12" or 6" finished or (new this
year) a rectangle block 6" x 12" finished. I thought that was
intriguing so I made a 12" block and a prairie braid rectangle.
Here are the finished products. Some of the blocks are very
creative. I think they will make a great quilt, or I should say
quiltS. They grouped them by color ways and had enough
to draw five people's names. Not mine though :(

The cute antique wash tub in the foreground was filled with
lots of stuff that people donated to be used as door prizes.
Every few hours for the whole four days Terri would draw
two names and you got to pick something from the tub.
There was some great stuff in there. It worked out so that
everyones name was called twice. I got a new roll of
Golden Threads paper and some quilt magazines
(Like I really needed those!!!!) I should have taken this
cool ruler that had holes punched in it at the quarter inch
mark. It had 90º, 45º and 60º angles. I'd love to find it
somewhere. Has anyone seen this somewhere on the internet?

Until next time...
Susie

Carolina Rebel-Done

I am still not caught up on my sleep from retreat.
I do want to say that quilt retreats are good for the soul.
Four days of nothing but quilting, eating, and laughing.

This is just one of the projects I finished.
It is Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Crossroads mystery and I
changed it a bit so I called it Carolina Rebel. I seem
to always change patterns or colors.

I am not going to border this. Just bind it and I will
donate it to our guild's Quilt Bingo. I have another
black, white and red quilt that is ready to be put together.
The blocks are done but I think I will wait until I can
face black, white and red again.

I have been working on this quilt since before Christmas but
couldn't say anything about it because it was the mystery
quilt for this year's retreat. My friend Debi and I were in
charge of the mystery this year and we chose this pattern
from Maryquilts.com. It is her spiderweb pattern. I made
mine in Red, White and blue and will donate it to QOV.

Here are some more versions. Some quilters were faster
than others so they are in various stages.

Until next time...
Susie

Carolina rebel

Being the rebel I am, I changed the last block for the
Carolina Crossroads Mystery around a bit. I thought the large
white squares surrounded by all that dark made the stars
disappear. So I figured out a way to lighten up that block with
the minimum amount of work. Luckily I hadn't put that block
together yet when I saw the reveal of the final quilt. All I
had to do was make 25 more nine patches with red on the
corners and dark in the center for the centers of step 7. I
actually used the 25 light squares I had previously cut for
the small lights in these nine-patches, so I didn't really
have any waste. I turned the rails outward and also turned
the red-in-the-corner nines outward too. I like it. Depending
on how big this turns out I might not even put a border on it.
I am also thinking about donating it to our quilt bingo for
one of the prizes.

I will finish putting this together this weekend at RETREAT.
This time tomorrow I will have the car all packed and be on
my way.

Until next time...
Susie

Another wedding quilt

Another cousin's daughter getting married. This one is in
September and I figure the shower will be in July or
August. I am certainly starting way ahead of time--for me,
at least--(unlike the last one I made). I cut this out this past
weekend (while I was sick) and it is going to be Bonnie
Hunter's Pineapple Blossom. (with no sashings and a piano
key border). I will be piecing it at retreat (3 more days!!!)
but I couldn't wait to see what the greens looked like so
I made one block.

I had asked Jill-the bride's sister about colors and she said
Jill likes green. Lime green?? Olive green?? Forest green??
Grass green?? Sea foam green?? Who knows. So I will
make a scrappy green quilt. I figure that is safer than
choosing a green that might not match her decor at all.
Any excuse to make a scrappy quilt huh!

I went to my LQS Super Bowl Sunday sale and bought 20
green FQs. I do have lots of green in my stash but I
figured the FQs would all be the same size and faster to cut.
I did get beige background from my stash. I also bought the
backing because if you finished a bolt you got it for 30% off.
Who can resist that? I'll show that when I show you the
finished top. (Hopefully next week!)

Until next time...
Susie

When you have to have it

Back in the fall, after Quilt Market, I saw a photo on the internet
(sorry I cannot remember where) of a quilt made from a new
line of fabrics. I printed out the photo and thought I would run
across the new line somewhere soon. Yep, I found it at my LQS
but they didn't have the whole line. It is by Lakehouse and I
searched some of the other quilt shops in my area and found
some more. I don't know if this is the whole line but this is
what I bought. There is one more piece coming (the large blue
and green stripe) that I will use for the binding. The large
hydrangea print will be the backing and the rest (1/2 yards)
will be a sort of square in a square. You can see more of this
at Holly's blog.

Isn't it just beautiful?!!!!
When you gotta have it, you gotta have it!!!!

FOUR more days until retreat. I was under the weather this
weekend with a terrible cold and sore throat so I didn't get alot
done as far as packing goes. I did the fun stuff like cutting
and organizing. But, I want to get the house vaccumed and
dusted, the laundry done and some food cooked for my poor
lonely husband, so I saved that for this week when I
hopefully feel better. All this in between working too!

I have to remember to tell our kids to visit him this weekend.
I know the boys will be over to help finish the roof on the shed.
Hope the weather holds. I think secretly he likes the little
break without me around.

Until next time...
Susie

What a mess

I haven't been doing much sewing the last few days. I've been
cleaning and organizing the closet in my sewing room.
I took the doors off years ago because they took up alot of
space into the room. There used to be two filing cabinets in
the closet and that didn't leave much room for anything else.
So we took out one cabinet and that left room for these great
shelves. I still have to tackle the top shelf which is just boxes,
a basket full of old neck ties and some old magazines.
I think both my husband and I come very close to being
called pack rats. I actually have boxes of boxes, bags of bags,
and bags of boxes!!! For some strange reason I like to keep
bags and boxes. It is satisfying to find just the right size of
box or bag when I need one. We do periodically go on a
tossing spree. It feels good.

So for now everything that belongs in the closet is in the
dining room. Think it will all fit back in??!!!

It has been fun going through the boxes and getting re-inspired
by all the fabric and UFOs.

The closet will be put back this weekend along with . . . . .

seriously packing for retreat! I have some cutting to do and
just generally deciding what I want to work on for four days
of blissful sewing. . .and eating. . . and laughing. . . (notice
I didn't say sleeping--not much of that goes on)

Nine more days!

Until next time...
Susie