December session at Lori's

Courtesy of Li, we have this lovely picture of the spread we sat down to eat last Sunday. We had risotto, pork loin, salmon, sweet potato burritos, orange fluff, shrimp and fudge while listening to Christmas music, and then had to sit and stitch because we were too full to move!

Thanks, Lori, for hosting. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the New Year!

Shawls

Okay, another not quilting post but I'm excited to have finished these two projects!
This is my first blocked shawl. I think it came out well.
Here's Declan helping me block my second shawl (although I'd completed the knitting for this one quite a while ago). Fortunately he's laying on the spine so you can't tell that I didn't quite get it straight.

International Quilt Study Center

Last week I visited the Quilt Study Center while in Lincoln to teach the CACC. I stayed over an extra day specifically to visit the Center. My friend Ann came over from Iowa to ooh, ahh, and enable my yarn habit - in all fairness, my trip helped her in the same area.

Here's a couple of the quilts we saw that I think you might find interesting.
Quilt made of the quilter's father's ties, including the one he wore at his wedding in 1931.

Part of an exhibit on English paper piecing and mosaic quilts. Sorry the images aren't more clear.
Isn't this one incredible? Most of the hexagons are about 1" across at their widest point! (Same is true of the detail from a different quilt above.)
Crazy quilt made by a group.

Purple disappearing 9-patch

Here is the top, without borders.  I used a $3 scrap bag from the Block Party Quilt show "member boutique", and fabrics from my stash. 

Disappearing 9-patch

http://valentinequiltworks.blogspot.com/2009/02/disappearing-9-patch-quilt.html

Remember those 5" charm squares of transportation fabrics that I sent to S&B a while ago?  Maybe it was last year.   This super simple pattern is the PERFECT way to use them.  I bought some purple florals scraps at the Block Party Quilt show last month.  I used a tone-on-tone dark purple for the center squares, otherwise, mixed lights and darks around.  But, you can make it in a more organized fashion like this example with red center and black and white around.  I think we could use the transportation novelty prints in the 4 corners, and a "solid" for the center, and perhaps black/white prints for the other 4 squares, or maybe blue tone-on-tones.  I haven't taken a photo yet of the purple florals yet, but I'll have the top done (without borders) by tonight (I think).  

courtesy of QQ

As some of you know, I get together quarterly with other quilters (hence the name Quarterly Quilters) to make quilts for various charity groups - usually kids. After one of the sessions earlier this year, some of the women asked Celia to bring me a bunch of scraps - two large bagfuls. The red/white/blue lap quilt and the strip premie quilt resulted from that generosity with a lot of help from Elaine - who I roped in by sending her a box of the larger scraps. Elaine also made 4 other premie quilts from various scraps and used a bunch of flannel that had been donated to the group for the backs on those quilts.


This last quilt's one that Elaine made to use up some forlorn squares that I love making but was tired of seeing. The border fabric is one we found in Island Quilter's sale rack - too fun, how could people not have seen the possibilities but lucky for us, they hadn't!

Something old, something new, something finished - woo-hoo!

Some pictures from the October session of S&B at Jane's house:

This is a quilt Jane made after a class. She made it a bit bigger than the class project. Can you spot the mis-aligned block?

The 2012 CFC quilt is finished! Thanks to Kim H. (and USA for running an NCIS marathon) for doing the binding. The quilting is really fantastic

Another project based on a Lintott book. This one was inspired by Elaine who needs pink quilts for a sister-in-law and two neighbor girls. I like the way the Phillip Jacobs border print keeps the top from being too saccharine sweet. (Nope, this isn't one I bought on Vachon. I bought it at Artful Quilter during their closing sale specifically for this quilt.) This was a very fast top to complete (once the strips were cut.)

To brag on Kim

7’ long and 6’ wide - and lots of handsewing! But it's finished now.

I know most of us had already seen this but for posterity, I thought we should add it to the blog.

Kim said one of the highlights for the University Park celebration was the puppet show by Jim Henson's daughter. I'm glad the weather cooperated by being beautiful.

Hawaiian Sunset

This is Elaine's quilt that she made in Hawaii while on vacation. Did you ever notice that a lot of quilts have feet?

ttfn :) Yuki

Chinese Coins

I started this quilt over 10 years ago when we still lived in Maryland. Now it is just waiting for Alyssa to put on the binding. Hurrah! Thank you to Jenny for helping me select the green fabric from the sashing and large floral for the border.

On the right is our Kim working on her University Park quilt. Doesn't she look like she's having fun. Of course a day quilting with friends is always a good day!

I have to brag a bit here. She's wearing a vest that I made for her over 10 years ago. Can you believe it!

ttfn :) Yuki

Nine Patch and Hourglass blocks

I think the first Lintott book had this design, and both Jenny and I have made it at least once. I have a second one started (red/white/blue).

Here it is again, I found it by clicking on a web that came up on the right side of the blog! It is from a Kaffe Fassett book. Yuki -- do you get any .002 cents from that activity?

http://www.gloriouscolor.com/store-detail.php?cat=413&ID=20

Not a quilt but oh, so cute!

Very fun, very easy and a free pattern on Ravelry using sock yarn and buttons that were on sale! And it fits! Does life get much better?!

This is an image of the sweater I knitted for my great nephew (yes, he's great but he's also my niece's baby boy). I made it using a sock yarn I bought while out in Ames back in August. The sweater is knit from the right sleeve cuff to the left sleeve cuff so the only seaming that's needed in the end is the underarms. I finished it just before heading north to Alaska. Leslie's sent me an email to say that Rhys has been wearing it every day since they received the package last week. If Leslie's willing, I'll post a picture of the boy in his sweater.

Jenny at Island Quilter (out of focus!)

Even if this is out of focus, I still thought I'd post it. Do you see all the stacks of fabric? Those were "ours" the 4 of us who went to Vashon last Saturday. Rebecca was buying polka dots--I think she bought 1/8 yd of 12 different fabrics (right stack on table).

This is an example of why it is often better to have a REAL camera, instead of relying on a smartphone, which I didn't bother to adjust!

Juki machine with B-line frame

Here is the machine that Beth and I bought used. We split the cost 50/50. Frank set it up in our basement. Tonight I was all ready to practice, but after 6 inches, I had to replace the bobbin and I did something wrong and broke the needle! We did not get any extra needles with the machine, so I will need to buy some tomorrow. The previous owner recommended 90 Titanium. We have it set up for 7 ft width, but the max is 12 ft. We think it is better to just do small quilts, and leave the bigger quilts to someone with a long arm. You can see that we don't really have that much room!

Here is Jackie posing with her Bellisma quilt. Those orange pinwheels are so cute! This picture does not do her quilt justice. Seems everyone has done so well with their Bellisma quilts. I'm quite impressed. Mine is still in blocks on my sewing table. Well, the challenge was to get them to quilt top stage by the end of the year. I've got a few days left.

ttfn :) Yuki

Sunday was S&B day!

Li, our youngest and newest member completed her first quilt top. We are so proud of her! She did a great job. Look at that pretty face. Doesn't she look happy. I plan on putting this quilt on my long arm so that I'll have it quilted before our meeting next month. I can't wait to see what she does with her scrappy half square triangles.

ttfn :) Yuki

Well, Well: Quilts In This Month’s Glamour Magazine

Just taking a mental health break at work. I am supposed to be writing my "Critical Job Elements and Performance Standards." One of the examples for a performance standard is "encourage the development of plans...." how is that measurable?????

Look at this fun post that I found in the Fons & Porter blog
Well, Well: Quilts In This Month’s Glamour Magazine

Do you need any Quilting books?

I went to Borders here in Seattle for their close-out sale. I ended up with 2 Kaffe Fassett books, each 40% off. I can't figure out if the 780 quilting books on their website are also 40% off OR NOT. You might have to start the "check out" process to get the discount applied, but I didn't get that far, and quit. Anyway, they have lots of K Fassett, Lintott (2.5" strips), ideas for scrappy quilts, "best of" Fons & Porter, etc. I thought I would look at the machine quilting books, but did not want to decide on anything that I couldn't browse the pages.

My Juki machine and frame (50% ownership) is being delivered to my house RIGHT NOW. Beth (the other 50% ownership) and her husband Tom are at my house, since I am still at work. :-)

CFC 2012 progress

Several of you saw this at Clara's last weekend. For those of you who weren't able to come sew with us, this is just an update on Jackie, Elaine and my project for this CFC campaign. This weekend I'll try to do the last bit since Elaine and I have completed all the blocks for the outer edge. And then it will be OFF to the quilter!

Elaine has asked that I take a good picture of it before sending it to the quilters so we can start the sales campaign as soon as CFC kicks off in October.

eye makeup -- not about quilting!

I apologize in advance because this is not about quilting, but it is a scary story I heard from my friend Leslie yesterday. She wore make-up because she was getting a journalism award (she writes travel articles) and since she wears makeup so rarely, didn't have eye makeup remover. So, she used body lotion (L'Occitane) instead. When she woke up her vision was like "looking through waxed paper." When she went to the emergency opthalmologist, they told her that her eyes had little tiny pin pricks. The lotion had burned or scorched her corneas! They gave her really large soft contacts to wear for 7 days that had a gel with some kind of medicine in it, and she is better now. She said that eye cells regenerate quickly.

So... the moral of the story is ONLY use eye makeup remover when you are doing anything near your eyes.

Stitch and Bitch was a great time for all

I made lasagna for lunch. What a lot of work!! I've been experimenting on different recipes and found that the Bertollis sauce in a jar was pretty good. It was also cheaper than making it from scratch. For meat, I used a combination of 1 pound of organic 95% fat free hamburger and 1 pound of Jimmy Deans hot sausage for each 13 * 9 deep aluminum lasagna pan that you buy at the grocery store. I made 1 spinach for our vegetarian friends, 1 gluten free, using rice noodles that came in a brown box, with meat and 1 regular with meat. What a lot of work, oh I said that already. LOL Then I used 3 different kinds of cheese which I thought were very good. I mixed ricotta & mozerella for the cheese layers with a couple eggs. Yum! My sister said to use cottage cheese, that no one will know the difference. Well, I did. LOL I'm not much of a cook really but it was fun experimenting with recipes and seeing what I liked the best. The problem was eating all this lasagna was not good for the waist line. I still have on regular meat lasagna in the freezer. This will be the end. I don't think I'll be eating lasagna for a long while after this.

I think the next tme I host, it will be salad. LOL

Clara was working on her Bellisima quilt with stripped bias binding. It was stunning! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with.

Here is Snowflake enjoying everyone's attention. She's such a ham. Speaking of which, the vet said that she needs to lose 4 pounds off this 15 pound frame. Has anyone had any luck putting an emotional eater on a diet? I have 3 cats. Sometimes, the cats will have a tiff and Snowflake gets upset and heads for the food dish. oh well

This is Jackie with her center medalion for the next CFC quilt. Every year, they make something even more stunning than last year. I'm going to win this one, even if I have to buy 100 tickets. I can't wait to see the final quilt.

Hope everyone is having a nice summer. See ya'll soon!

ttfn :) Yuki

Jane's Baltimore Bunny Quilt

This is Jane's Baltimore Bunny Quilt. I met Jane 3 years ago at this block a month, Baltimore Bunny Class. My BB Quilt is still a work in progress. I'm on block 10. I am so envious. Jane's quilt turned out so well. Her charming husband Frank, hung it in the dining room. It's just wonderful. I can't wait to finish mine. You can double click on this photo to see the detail.

ttfn :) Yuki

2011 University Park Classroom Quilt

The University Park Elementary School Quilt is done! Each year I work with Ms. Coon's Kindergarten class to make a quilt. This year I got a late start, so we went with a simple nine patch. But it turned out really cute. The kids chose the pattern to use (they could only use triangles and squares so it would be simple) and the fabric for each piece. I assembled the nine patch and top. Then they quilted around their square. Next year I am going to start land have them sew the pieces together. They really love sewing and do an amazing job for 5 year olds!

Sewing with the University Park Elementary Kids

I again leaned on friends and neighbors to help an entire kindergarten class decorate their own "button blankets." We do a very nontraditional version of a button blanket, with lots of pink ponies, lace, and beads.




Each of the kids chose an animal, color for the animal and color for the background. S-n-B members helped sew the basic forms and several members were able to come to the school. I appreciate any and all help, however, I never want anyone to feel pressure to help with my crazy projects.





On our big sewing day, we took over the library and worked with the kids one-on-one. They chose buttons, trim, beads, patches, and thread to decorate their animal.

The grown ups were amazed how well the kids could sew! They had some practice working with me on the class quilts.

The kids really enjoyed the time with their grown-up and were very excited to be able to take home their art at the end of the day.

update of "ugly fabric" quilt

My friend Ann in Seattle quilted and bound this quilt and it has been donated to Quilters Anonymous as a charity quilt. Look at my post in December to see it when the borders were not yet complete. Ann did a fabulous job quilting each motif block.

I am looking to forward to seeing you IN PERSON very soon.

All Saints window display in Seattle

It is really difficult to take a photo of this window display. This is a clothing store in downtown Seattle near Nordstrom, but on 2 sides, they have very large windows with stacks of old sewing machines mounted. There must be more than 200 machines! Each vertical column might have 10 machines. I think this might be the building where the Coldwater Creek store used to be.

2nd try: Elaine's Bellissima

Maybe this looks better!

stitch and bitch

There is something odd going on , online.

When I search for Stitch and Bitch, lots of other stuff shows up but not this blog.

This is very odd. So I'm going to post this message and see what happens.

We shouldn't have to type Stitch and Bitch Quilters to get to this site.

ttfn :) Yuki

Elaine's Bellissima top

Hi Everyone -- my color combination is related to Clara's, but mine is more of a seafoam green. I took this photo with my new smartphone (which I LOVE). I am going to be soooo obnoxious now with posts to Facebook!

Happy Birthday Jenny!!

We secretly made blocks for Jenny for her birthday. Mary Ann & Beth hosted Stitch and Bitch where we gave Jenny her blocks. We had a wonderful lunch and Jane made a yummy chocolate cake.

Here is Mary Ann telling Jenny about the blocks. Look at that cute quilt on the chair Jenny is sitting on.
Jenny was surprised. What fun we had!




Here are Kim & Jane. Look at the panels on the closet. Mary Ann & Beth are such great decorators.









Here are Lori, Clara & Beth. Can you see the blue coming from the room behind Beth? She seems to be glowing.










Mary Ann was having too much fun playing with Jenny's blocks. Maybe we should make some for her, too.






Doesn't Jenny look happy!

I can't wait to see what she makes.






This is Bellisima. As a challenge, I gave everyone directions to make this quilt to complete by the end of this year. Clara said that she just had too much to do but look at what she has done! These colors are wonderful. She did an amazing job!

I haven't even begun mine.

Movie "Stepmom" with Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts

Yesterday, I was watching this movie at the JW Marriott hotel in Chicago. Susan Sarandon is a mother of 2 (Julie Roberts is the girlfriend of her ex-husband) and quilts. There are several quick shots of quilts throughout the movie, e.g. when she watches here children asleep in bed, and also important role of quilts in the ending scene. There was one scene that bothered me when she was at her Singer sewing machine and she was using large shears, instead of a smaller scissor for thread cutting.

BTW, I figured out that I am not a W hotel fan. I spent one night there, then moved across the street to the JW Marriott. I just can't get "into" the concept of the hotel lobby and reception area as a nightclub --very dark with only purple and pink lights, including the elevator. Did I tell you that this is the same "problem" I have where I get my haircut, except the DJ doesn't work on Monday.

quilt idea from NJ trip

Isn't this fun? It's a glass tile mosaic on the wall of a hotel lobby in New Brunswick, NJ. Fortunately I had a trip to Montpelier, VT the next week or I would so have been cutting green fabric!
This image is for Kim F. - see, you can use your stone piles as home decorating accents. This is the same hotel lobby. There was also an interesting coffee table using split log sections for the base. Unfortunately the glass top prevented me from getting a good picture.