Got my mojo back!

I was determined to sew SOMETHING today, so I started with something small.  I had seen a tutorial for making headbands from old t-shirts, and I have some old t-shirts lying around as well as unruly hair, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Quick, easy and I LOVE my new headband!!!  It is the most comfortable headband I own.

Then I decided to finish the Orange Creamsicle top once and for all.  A couple borders and it was done.  What took me so long?

Then it was time to drop the kids off at karate and head over to the quilt guild meeting and trunk show. Our presenter, Kevin Womack, has been quilting since the 80s, and nowadays does a lot of fabric dyeing. Here are some quilts he made with his own dyed fabric (warning - awful lighting!).

 
 

Tomorrow, he's doing a workshop with the guild making these:

Unfortunately, I can't go because I have basketball games to go to, but I might try something like that on my own one of these days.
All in all, it was a good day!

Dear Jane comes to town

Saturday morning was our monthly quilt guild meeting. This month, a group of 4 women in the guild shared with us their Dear Jane quilt journeys. It was a wonderful presentation - part history lesson, part technique workshop, part getting to know each other better. Two of the presenters "just" have some of the blocks done, two of the presenters have completed their quilts.

This is Kerry. Her top is done, and she is currently working on hand quilting it. For some reason, the whole photo turned out a bit orange-ish, but take my word for it - her quilt is stunning and her hand quilting is a marvel!


This is Marcia. Her quilt is completely finished. She shared with us her FIVE YEAR JOURNEY as she completed this entire quilt BY HAND, piecing and quilting. It is amazing! And like the original 1863 Jane Stickle quilt, each block is made from a different fabric.

Here is her signature block in the corner. Do you see those stitches??? Just BEAUTIFUL!


I could have admired these quilts for hours!



You would think that this eye candy would have inspired me to come home and quilt, but no, I spent most of the weekend reading. But finally, on Sunday, Jason got me down into the sewing room because HE wanted to sew something. He wanted to make a shirt, but I let him know that I had no idea how to begin making something with sleeves, so we settled on a vest. His school has a Western Wear day every year, so he used the cowboy fabric that he picked out for himself last time that we went to a quilt store together, and lined it with a plaid fabric that he picked out for himself from his grandmom's stash while we were visiting last week because, "Mom, cowboys wear plaid!" We had no pattern, and the only clothing I've ever made was that pleated skirt and that pillowcase nightdress for my niece, but his vest actually turned out pretty darned well!
(no buttons, though, because I have no idea how to make button holes. Gotta do some research on that. Besides, a cowboy vest deserves some cool buttons, don't you think? Or better yet, maybe some pearl snaps like so many western shirts! Hmmmm.....)

I'm particularly impressed with his control over his speed with the foot pedal - I remember when he first started how he couldn't help but go from a standstill to 60 mph and then to a stop again. He's becoming quite the sew-er. Now, of course, I have to help Donald make a vest, too - he wants to use that pirate fabric that I picked up for the boys when I was in California in May.

While I was down there helping Jason out, I finally got the lead out and started piecing together the baby quilt for my co-worker's newborn. I added a pieced wonky star to eliminate some of the plain-ness, and am now working on appliqueing down the initials using needle-turn.

What I really need to be doing is hand quilting the Pick and Choose quilt. I should go do that now...

On the road, again!

Travel season has begun! I am posting from gate E24 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, awaiting my flight to Atlanta. Thank heavens for airports with free Wi-Fi! Of course, I have 3 books with me, but that's what I do on the plane. I hate to run out of reading material before the end of my trips, so I ration out my reading accordingly. I also have my 4th of July Tablerunner to quilt (big sigh of relief when my needles and scissors made it through security), but I thought I'd check out what was happening in blogland, first.

Besides, I got 3 (almost uninterrupted) hours of sewing in yesterday afternoon, putting the blocks from my Great Great Grandmother's Quilt into a top. Ta-da!

I love it! This is a quilt top that will definitely become an honest-to-goodness quilt sooner, rather than later.

I finished sewing it together just in time to make it to the tail end of our Quilt Guild Business Meeting (there were some very satisfying 'oohhhs' and 'aahhhs' during Show and Tell when I held this flimsy up - I'm not above wanting my work to be liked by others!), and in plenty of time for our featured speaker, Mrs. Jane Hall, foundation piecing expert. She brought quilts and slides and her sense of humor. She was prepared; I was not. I brought my camera case, but the camera was at home next to my computer. Doh!

Luckily, you can see her quilts on her website. My favorite that she brought last night was one of her most recent, Vinas Viejas.

You really have to see it in person to appreciate the complexity, though. Those borders have so much depth and texture because they are PIECED! Just awesome! I enjoyed her talk, and am envious of those in my guild who are doing an all day workshop with her today while I fritter away my time in the airport. Just know that there is a workshop that I WILL NOT MISS - Bonnie Hunter is coming to our guild in February. I don't care what is happening in the world of college admissions on that day - I will be at that workshop! (OK, everyone, all together now, knock on wood.)

Going on this trip today is not all bad. Tonight, I will be staying with my quilting buddy, Nancy, who moved away in June. On Sunday and Monday night, I'll be staying with one of my buddies from back when I lived in Atlanta, and one night will be Girls Night Out with my twin sister's college roommate who has been a friend of mine for many years. And I don't have to cook, clean, taxi anyone around, etc for 4 whole days! Both boys mock-cried and clung to me when I left this morning, but they'll be fine. And I'll be back home on Tuesday night, and our reunion will be sweet all around!

Introducing my husband!

My husband has finally been convinced to contribute to a blog at work. He wrote his first entry this week. Can you say COMEDY? He agonized over it like it was a graded essay! He read it to me over and over and over... it was so endearing!

Obviously, he and I are very different. He is an extremely private person who is not interested in sharing his thoughts/feelings/experiences with many outside a very close circle. I'm about as transparent as a sheet of glass - my thoughts, feelings, experiences are all right there for everyone to see. His blog entry is a philosophical treatise that all ties together nicely at the end. My entries are stream of consciousness blather with punctuation and capitalization thrown in (my high school English teacher made QUITE an impression on me).

I encourage you to take a peek and see/hear/experience the man I share my life with. Many people think he is quiet, but they don't know the real him. The man can TALK! And WRITE, too, if the length of his post is any indication. But I found it pretty interesting, and hope you will, too. There are some funny kid stories in there, and one of my favorite photos of Jason of all time.


Introducing....my husband! http://wlusidelines.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/children-and-basketball/




Have a great weekend, everyone! Travel season starts for me tomorrow, and I am off to Atlanta, GA, but first, tonight, the guild is hosting Jane Hall for a trunk show. Fun, fun, fun!