9/11 quilting marathon

The TV was all about the 9/11 tenth anniversary, so I switched it on to listen to while getting some work done. I'm sure you will always remember where you were that horrifying day...I was in Germany, visiting my military daughter who was returning to work that very day after a two month maternity leave. It was supposed to be a meet and greet with the new grand daughter, but I ended up in a lock down situation on base with a toddler, a baby and a dog!! After a few days, my daughter was able to come home and we had one evening together before I had to fly back to the States. I was on the first domestic flight out of Frankfurt to the USA after 9/11. The pilot thanked us for being brave and flying with him to Chicago, and we all clapped and wept some more. I thought about that today, and wept again for the innocent souls taken by terror ten years ago. The quilting is a balm to my own soul, and I guess that is why I do it. Here are the quilts of 9/11/11. Peace.

Big quilt exercised my brain!!

Last week I worked on a quilt that really made me think outside my box for how to quilt it. It has BIG open spaces that screamed for quilting, as well as beautiful hand applique. The pillow tuck was the hardest part. I traced the applique motifs and made some plastic templates to use. I marked all the motifs on the area and quilted them in, removed the marks and did background fill. It took one whole day to do this!! This was day 2 since day one was spent stitching in the ditch and around all the applique with invisible thread. Day 3 I tackled the 15 inch wide borders. Deb Levy taught us to divide and conquer, so that is what happened. Two more days of quilting and filling the backgrounds and I was finished!! The quilt is to be a bedspread for a queen size bed, but I have a king bed so the picture isn't an accurate depiction of how it will eventually look. Anyway, my customer has her work cut out for her just applying the binding, don't you think?!

Where did August go?!

Wow! This month flew by and I am in a twist trying to get a bit caught up on the customer quilting. I had a little guilty indulgence and made the signature quilt from the blocks given to me by the guild three years ago!! The most current past president got hers done before I did. Very bad. Anyhoo, the multi colored cheerful quilt is done and in the guest room.It's in the first photo.
The other quilts are some of my customer's work. They truly are a talented group, don't you think?
Now, I am off on a sad journey to Chicago for the funeral of my dear friend June Ellis, with whom I traveled the world for ten years. She was a wonderful neighbor, a great story teller and hostess, and a treasured friend. I'll be back to work on Sunday, and missing her ever after.

WAZOO! August 2011 Retreat

This free photo slideshow made with Smilebox

Challenging myself

Last month I went back to Wisconsin for my class reunion and saw my best friend from school, Marcia. She has always been a wonderful artist, and showed me a photo of a 'wooden quilt' she made for her garden. I was really impressed and wondered if it would make a nice 'real' quilt. Well...OF COURSE!! Here are the two quilts and I am here to report the 'real' quilt has been mailed to Marcia as a surprise. Yes, I am a nice person. Most quilters are. Enjoy!

Four to Nine

follow along with the photos and see if you figure it out!

Having fun

I have been back to work this week now that my sister is gone, but I allowed time for my quilts, too. I have a retreat coming up, so I had to come up with my new project. My friend Carole sent me a wonderful block that uses a technique to transform four patches into nine patches. Once I got started making them, I was hooked. My sister made one quilt using a more controlled palate and I made mine from a Bali layer cake. ( 10" squares). Here are the pictures of what I came up with for the project in two sizes.Go to the next entry to see how it's done.

Company!!

My sister and my niece are here from Texas for a visit! I hurried up and quilted a few charity quilts for my sister to bind (she loves that part...) and my niece is busy getting pruney in the pool. I have to work a bit, but I suspect we have some fun ahead. Stay tuned.

Ahhhh...High School memories

Just back from the reunion, and had a great time there. Got to visit with my best friend from school, my friend I still keep up with, as well as see how the handsome boys turned out.Everybody seemed to enjoy the evening and look forward to the next one in five years. Now, it's back to work.

Holiday weekend

I took a little time to get caught up on my own projects and it was fun! Here are a couple of photos of my quilts in progress. I need to quilt the big one, but the piecing is all done. The little wall quilt was fun to do and now I'm adding a bit of applique to it. Tomorrow it's back to customer work, but for today, I'm on a lark!