Retreat!

My morning view while I was having my coffee, getting ready to sew all day. My bee is here in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia sewing and relaxing.

Quilt show weekend 2017

It is always a very special time each year when our guild puts on our quilt show. We are a small guild but we put on "The Best Little Quilt Show in Maryland". I know I am biased but we really do have amazing quilts. We are a very talented bunch of women.

I won first place in the extra-large pieced category as well as a vendor award and Member's Choice.

This is Blue Jay. I made it for my son Scott and his beautiful fiancé Kayla for their wedding in June. The pattern is Stars for a New Day by Sue Garman. I hope they love it as much as I do.

Find the joy,
Susie

Test post

Ignore :)

Back in the saddle

A lot has happened since I last blogged in 2012. (Yikes). Thanks to my techie friends Terri and Mary I have figured out how to get into my blog. Long story short Blogger is no more. How dare they! So Terri googled it and discovered Blogo! Wow I have not been able to access my blog in forever and now I am celebrating with a glass of wine. PS. I am not drinking alone.

Here are Terri and Mary working hard on their blogs. I will try tomorrow to blog from my phone where all my photos are.

Welcome back, Susie!

Tiny nines. Each square is 1/2".

Testing

Trying to get back to blogging

Baby Quilt number 2

So this one was a little easier. I used a cheater for the center and put a pieced border on. I am quilting it now and it is going very fast. I also bought a nursery rhyme book that has a music CD with it, to give along with this cute Mother Goose theme.

I had a few misgivings about making a "cheater" for their baby but in surveying my friends and cousins both quilters and non-quilters everyone thought this was very cute.

The baby shower is Aug 26 so hopefully I will get a little break to work on some of my own quilts.

My son bought a house and will be moving the end of this month. I have plans to make him a t-shirt quilt to give him at Christmas. And since he loooooves Christmas I'd like to give him a Christmas table runner and maybe even a Christmas quilt too.

Hmmm, I just got an idea for my next blog post. I will show you the millenium quilt I made for his high school graduation in the year 2000.

Happy sewing,
Susie
Check out Patchwork Times to see other design walls

I did it!

Done!
Three weeks from purchasing the fabric to washing the final quilt.

It is in the dryer as I type. And a week early I might add (the shower is next Sunday).

I always wash and dry a quilt before I give it away. I also let the recipient know how to care for it and since this is a baby quilt I hope it will be used and washed often.

I think I might even ask for this one back in March to enter it in our quilt show.

Lots of drama in our area over the weekend. A severe storm hit late Friday night and caused a whole bunch of wind damage and power outages. I have to admit that my husband and I slept through the whole thing. We are usually the first to lose power but this time blessedly we didn't. I ran out Saturday to get my hair cut then quickly back home and otherwise I stayed inside the whole weekend. I was worried about the traffic lights being out when I came to work this morning but they were fine on my route. My heart goes out to those without power. The power companies are saying that they might not get everyone back on until Friday.

Happy sewing,

Susie

Check out Judy's blog to see other design walls.

Second fastest quilt

This summer I have two deadlines...two baby quilts . The two babies (two different moms...more cousins!) are due the beginning of October so I figured I had a few weeks. I found out the beginning of June that Jill's shower will be July 8th!!!! Good grief that only gives me a month. Can I do it? Should I just give her the top and quilt it later? I decided to go for it.

I went to the Annapolis Quilt show on June 9 and bought the fabric. It is Karma Baby by Northcott. She's having a boy so I chose the blues. I knew I wanted to make her the alphabet pattern from Fat Quarter Fonts by Atkinson Design because I made her an alphabet quilt when she was born in 1978. It was my first quilt ever and I shudder to think of what it looked like and how I made it. I was a garment sewer and didn't consider myself an official quilter until 1999 but I had made a few baby quilts before that.

I got the fabric washed that weekend and scanned it into my computer. Then I played with the combinations and while I am not 100% satisfied with this version, I decided to stop playing in the interest of time. Last weekend I got them all cut out and all last week I fused them and started machine blanket stitching them. I finished the top (including the borders but didn't take a picture) Friday night. Basted it Saturday and started quilting. I am about half way done the quilting so I think I will make it. I think the longest part of the process is in the designing. Whew. Oh and the first fastest quilt was here.

I'll show a photo later with the borders on and this baby will be DONE!

Happy sewing
Susie

Slow progress

I am almost too embarrassed to tell you how long this quilt has been in the works but you will know if you click here and see how it started.

Well, it is still not done but it is back on the design wall. I bought the border fabric at our guild show in March and now I am deciding if I want a pieced border inset into the solid blue border. It would be something simple like four-patches or nine-patches on point. I have a lot of blue scraps left over but not enough for a whole other quilt. I might just put a .5" white inner border and call it done though. You will see this one again but this time with the top done.  Now quilting it is a whole other story!

Check out Judy's blog for more design wall updates.

Happy sewing
Susie

Better than sewing

Progress is being made on my Burgoyne Surrounded. I got the blocks and sashings put together and hopefully I will get the borders on next weekend. I think I want to try burgundy with maybe some nine-patches extending into the border. If I don't like that I will resort to my default color....blue! This quilt is gonna be huge. Those blocks are 15" and with the sashings  the center is 75" x 93". So with borders it will probably be a queen size. Not sure where this quilt will live though. I do plan on giving it away.

Now, I know all you moms will agree that one of the things better than sewing is spending time with family. Especially when your children are grown and you all can get together at the same time in the same place! We went to a family wedding on Saturday. Then on Sunday we all went to church and then had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration. I cooked, my husband grilled delicious salmon, and they all cleaned up! Ohhhh, it was wonderful and I feel very blessed.

It's always great see my two boys and daughter all together all dressed up!

Happy sewing,
Susie

Check out other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Matchy-matchy

I don't  make many matchy-matchy quilts but sometimes one just strikes you and you have to give in. I love them but usually lean towards scrappy quilts. Gotta use all this fabric somehow!  I saw this exact pattern in a magazine a few years ago and a vendor at our local quilt show had all the fabric by Jackie Robinson. I was intrigued by the border fabric and I entered it in our quilt show in March. Well, as you can see I won first place in the large pieced category and a vendors choice award. I am particularly proud of the freehand feathers quilting. I think you can see it if you click on the picture.

And remember this quilt? Here is our sweet Everleigh one year later doing her favorite thing...eating....just like her mama! She does really well feeding herself.

 

Check out other design walls over at Patchwork Times.

Happy sewing,
Susie

Restarting

I love the space in time between finishing a quilt and starting a new one. The possibilities are endless.

I finished this quilt for a cousin's wedding shower and gave it to her yesterday. She was registered at Crate and Barrel and mine was the only gift not in a C&B box!

The bride's sister told me she wanted burnt orange, khaki and tan. I was originally looking for a large-ish burnt orange print and was going to make a fractured crystal pattern but actually changed my mind while I was standing in line to get the fabric cut! So I got out of line, chose a few FQs  for variety and never looked back. I usually trust my gut in these cases. I bought the fabric on Super Bowl Sunday at our local quilt shop's sale. I got the blocks done at our guild's retreat over President's weekend put it together and quilted it between then and now and sewed the label on Friday night. Whew this was a fast one. You see, I work full-time and even though my profile says I try to sew every day the operative word here is try.

So I got up Saturday morning with no deadline! I actually cut up some scraps into strips (following Bonnie Hunter's scrap system) and later in the day after grocery shopping and laundry I started sewing on a new piecing project. I am also planning which quilts I want to enter in next years' quilt show which involves basting and quilting. Remember I like to have projects in different stages.

Check out other design walls at Judy's blog.

Until next time...
Susie

Burgoyne Surrounded Swap

Last week when my Bernina 153 just stopped working and my other machine, my Bernina 180, was on loan to a friend, I sort of went through sewing withdrawal. I mean I was really discombobulated. So I got out my featherweight and started sewing together these blocks.

My guild, thanks to Cappy and Mary, organized a scrappy swap of the components for these blocks. We swapped all dark 4-patches, dark-light 4-patches, dark-light 9-patches, the 5x2 unit for the sides and plain neutral rectangles. It took a few months and some of the ladies have already completed their quilts.

I have always wanted to make this pattern. Throw in the scrapiness and the little pieces (each square is 1") and I knew this was in my future. I love working on this. It sure came to my rescue when I needed to just sit and sew. I only have three blocks done.

Once the holiday busyness is over this will be my next finish project. That is after, (or I should say while) I finish the baby quilt, and quilt two or three other tops!!

I always have a few projects in different stages. That way I tame the A.D.D.!!!

Wishing you a few moments to sit and sew
Susie

PS I got my 180 back from my friend so all is right in my world. The 153 is still in the shop.

Visit Judy to see other design walls

They just keep coming

Weddings and babies that is and not necessarily in that order ;-)!

I have a lot of cousins and we all got married and had kids around the same time so that means that all those kids are now getting married and having babies around the same time too. I am not complaining mind you. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. And those babies sure are fun.
This is a baby I spy for a little boy to be born in February. When his parents announced his gender they started calling him blue and then blueberry. So there is blueberry fabric right in the middle. There are also other significant fabrics in there like Redskins for Dad (even though they stink!!!) and Ravens for Mom (not my favorite team even though I am a Baltimoron).

It is mostly put together and I plan on quilting it over the long Thanksgiving weekend. That is if I can get my sewing machine to work. It just up and stopped running right in the middle of quilting another quilt on Saturday. I lent my friend my other machine and will get that one back tomorrow so I do have a backup. I was surprised at how "off" I felt this weekend without my Berninas. I got out my featherweight and pieced some but I still had this feeling that something just wasn't quite right. Anyone else feel that way about their machines?

Happy stitches,
Susie

Oh, and go visit Judy to see what's on everyone else's design wall

In the blink of an eye...

...more than two years pass.

I stopped blogging in August 2009. That's about the time our family got dragged into the middle of a Jerry Springer-esque drama. But I am proud to say we all kept our integrity and dignity and handled it with grace and class.

You know the first few lines of the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens? "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Well that was how 2010 was for our whole family. It started out a nightmare and ended with the long-awaited birth of our first grandchild, Everliegh Laine.

So that is where I will resume this blog. As a quilter you all know that you can't have a granddaughter without making a special quilt. She was born four days before Christmas last year and came home on Christmas Eve. Needless to say our Christmas was very special.
Here I am holding Everleigh with her mom, my daughter Maggie, and her quilt hanging in the Southern Comforters quilt show in March. I was disappointed it didn't win a ribbon but I didn't go home empty handed. This quilt won first place in the large pieced category.
You might remember it from here.
I quilted freehand feathers all throughout and they turned out better than I expected and were so much fun to do. I hate marking a quilt so anything I can do without marking is my preference.
I have visited my blog everyday since August 2009 because I use it to check my favorite blogs that I read everyday. I have lots more favorites now and I will update them soon.

Happy stitches
Susie

Design Wall Monday

Every Monday, Judy, over at Patchwork Times lets people show what's on their design wall. Every Monday morning when I get to work I think DUH! I forgot to take a picture. Well I finally remembered, mainly because I am binding the quilt I have been working on and actually got a little organized in my sewing room. I cut these out last month and took them to the beach with me. (In case it rained) Well it did rain one day but I was having so much fun hanging out with my grown kids, that I didn't even open my sewing stuff. So, I have been piecing them in between quilting my Asian Wallhanging that I am going to hang in my office. I'll show you that one when it's all done.

I think I'll lay these out and start sewing them together this week. Then I get to go shopping to buy a border and back. I haven't been fabric shopping in months and months. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Until next time...
Susie

Getting caught up

It has become a tradition in our guild for the past two years for members to make a 12" block with a given theme fabric. It is the brainstorm of Cappy and she finds the most fun fabrics. The first one (if my memory is correct) was chocolate, the second one was pizza, and this one is a mexican theme. The fabric we were given had tacos and chili peppers and margaritas and everything mexican. I used it in the center of my block. I was going to put the pinwheels all around but then I found the stripe fabric waaaaay down in my stash and had to use it. I can't wait to see all the finished blocks. This is another one I would love to win.
Mary is our a new Block-of-the-month chairperson. She has started off simple, but to be honest, sometimes they make the best BOMs. We were to do lime green and black nine patches... because lime green is the new beige! We usually have so many people participate that there is enough to do three or four drawings. I don't do a block every month because (and excuse me here) sometimes people don't follow directions. So you always get one or two blocks that don't play well with the rest. I have won those before. So I like this one and don't see many ways to go astray.

Drawings are in August. Hope I win these too!

Until next time...
Susie

Enthusiasm

Our guild has been blessed with some mighty fine program chairs the past few years. It wasn't always the case though. I think that program chair is one of the hardest jobs in the guild. We have been on a roll and the last two program chairs set the bar high. Their enthusiasm has held because now we have Wendy! She came up with a great idea to make a quilt for our Quilt Bingo in October. Everyone makes two rows 60.5" wide for a row quilt. One set will be used for the quilt bingo and the others will be won by a lucky participant who made a row. The theme is fall colors. We have seen some of the rows already and this quilt is gonna be good. I have always liked row quilts and would love to win this one (even before it is revealed). I did these over the weekend.
Enthusiasm is contagious!

Until next time...
Susie

Starting something new

Ahhhhh, I love this feeling.
I few times a year (and I mean a few...maybe two) I get to a point in my quilting adventures where it is time (without guilt, I might add) to start a new project. After our quilt show in March (which caused all sorts of deadline stress) I found myself finishing lots of odds and ends, including getting a few tops put together, making backings, and rounding up batting for said same. Oh and I also have been doing some superficial organizing-as-you-go in my sewing room. Soooooo, I have been accumulating piles of projects (ie fabric with patterns in boxes and bags) ready to start when the moment was right. Well I have spent the last two weekends cutting, cutting, cutting. I have three quilts cut and bagged, ready to start piecing. Here is one of them.
You can see the sample in the upper right corner. Deb Tucker made this quilt and I just loved it, mainly because it uses lots of different fabrics. Deb taught our guild the Hunter's Star class (she invented this amazing ruler that makes the quilt so much fun to make) and she brought all sorts of quilts to show us during her lecture.

There is something strange about this quilt though. All I had was the photo to go by and when I drafted it out to cut, I wanted the trees to be taller than they are wide. So the blocks are not square. You can sort of tell by the red nine patch.

My family will be going to the beach in a few weeks and I want to take something all cut so I can just piece. (Only if the weather is bad though)

More tomorrow. (I promise)

Until next time...
Susie

I am very (parenthetical) today huh?

Beautiful butterfies

I just couldn't look at that Stack 'n Whack anymore. The more I look at it the less I like it. So feast your eyes on this beauty.
This beautiful quilt was made by Carolyn. She won this top a few years ago as our guild's anniversary quilt. It won first place in the group quilt category in this years' show. You can check out all the winners of our show here. Click on 2009 quilt show.
One of my favorite guild activities is the trash-to-treasure sale. I bought all these buttons (above) and lots of thread and a book or two (below) and of course some fabric. But my favorite find was a Joan Jones Santa face.
I bought the kit at Lancaster last year. She sells the faces already done but she showed me how its done, I bought the face fabric and the markers, and was confident that I could do it. Well, every time I thought about starting that quilt the face stopped me. I just couldn't get started. So when I saw this in the trash-to-treasure sale I grabbed it. So how many people think I will finish it before this Christmas? ....Yea I thought so--no takers. Oh well maybe I will at least START it before this Christmas.

Until next time...
Susie