Paducah purchases

I don't need any fabric. Why I came home with some yardage is beyond me, but isn't it gorgeous? I was looking for a few border prints, and in the process found more pieces that wanted to come home with me. This show is only once a year, right? Had to buy the show book, and a few patterns.




The Alzheimer quilts were on display and it was so moving that I bought the cd. It contains all 52 quilts from the exhibit and audio recordings of the artists telling their stories. If you have a chance to see these quilts, don't miss it.

On Monday, Connie and I were browsing through the back room fabrics at Hancock's when who do I think I see? It was Judy LaQuidara! I've been reading her blog for a long time and recently stitched the February 'Quilt for an Hour' quilt she offered on her blog. She was kind enough to pose for a picture. It's not clear whether she bought any of the fabrics she was holding at the time of this photo.



More about our trip tomorrow.

Home again

WOW! What a week! Connie and I arrived home from our spring tour yesterday afternoon. We left last Sunday for Paducah, KY, stopping in Plainfield, IN overnight. I have so much to catch up with today, so will just post a quick picture of Annie. She didn't want this suitcase to leave the house again without her. More later. It's really good to be home.

Happy Birthday, JJ! My youngest son is now 27 years old.

On the road again

Connie and I leave tomorrow on our 16th "Once In A Lifetime" Annual trip to Paducah, Kentucky, better known as Quilt City, USA. I'll be back in a week with more pictures and maybe a few purchases to share. Take care!

Little Women Quilt

Our Little Women quilt is finished and has been turned in at guild. It was difficult to part with this one, but we hope it will bring a good price at the auction. Pictured from left to right are my sewing buddies, Jane, Connie, me, and Mary.

We drew names to see who would stitch each girl and planned the layout as we went along. The girl block was adapted from The Civil War Diary Quilt by Rosemary Youngs. The quilt was hand appliqued, machine embroidered, machine quilted and embellished. Meg is holding her sewing basket and has a dimensional bow on her bodice and beads on her boots. Jo is holding a Little Women book, has a gold, heart necklace around her neck, beads on her boots, embroidery on her sleeves and lace under her skirt. Beth has beads on her shoes, dimensional collar and cuffs, lace pantaloons and is holding a little kitten. Amy has two rows of lace on her skirt, gold knots for buttons on her bodice, beads on her boots, and is holding a black, fringed purse with gold link chain,

The ribbon at the top proved to be the most difficult challenge, but Connie was able, after a few attempts, to successfully embroider Little Women on it.

So now I am free of deadlines for a bit. I can concentrate on what to take to Paducah and straighten this house before I leave.

Tigers Roar

Go get 'em Tigers! They fought and clawed their way back from an early 4-0 deficit this afternoon to put another notch in the win column. In the late innings, the batters are being patient and they don't give up. That can be applied to the quilting and stitching UFOs we have, also. Patience and Perseverance...

Bloom where you are planted

Beating the deadline, Bloom where you are planted is finished in time for the Habitat for Humanity Auction at my friend, Jane's church next week-end. As I said last year, "Next year, I'm not waiting until the last minute." Someone, please remind me of this before next spring.

Tonight I worked on our group quilt titled Little Women destined for the guild auction in May. I hope to have a picture to share next week, which coincidentally, is when that quilt is due for delivery.

Where is spring?

Yet another spring snowstorm yesterday afternoon in Michigan! This is really getting annoying, but what can you do? How about quilt? I have almost finished the 'Bloom Where You Are Planted' wallhanging.

STASHBUSTER QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
How did you come to start quilting? Was it passed down in the family? What was your first project and is it finished? Where does it live now?

I've always done things with my hands, beginning with weaving potholders on a loom that was given to me at age eight as a Christmas gift from my godmother. Some things were more difficult to learn as I am left-handed. In the early 70s, you couldn't find many books or patterns where directions were shown for both hands. I taught myself to crochet and made many afghans, pillows, potholders, and Christmas ornaments over the years. The repetition of crocheting small items took a toll on my hands, though.

My sister, Connie and I attended the Piecemakers Quilt Guild Show and decided to join their guild in 1990. My youngest sister, Judy, joined the following year. Everything seemed to mushroom after that. We were introduced to block swaps, retreats, having a stash, round robins, antique quilts, classes, having a stash, national quilt shows, the state quild, having a stash, etc. In 1992, Connie and I had an opportunity to attend the AQS Show in Paducah. We told our husbands that is was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. In a couple of weeks, we will leave for our 16th "once in a lifetime" annual trip. We overcame our fear of driving over the 'flying geese' bridge on I-24 in the process.






There wasn't any quilting done by mom or grandmas that we know of except for utility type bed coverings that consisted of stitched squares cut from old suits and pants and tied together. They weren't anything pretty to look at, but they were certainly warm. The present generations of family, however, have many quilters among them. Besides myself and two sisters, my daughter, Kari, and granddaughter, Abigail, sister-in-law, Lori, Aunt Ruth and cousin, Mary are all quilters.

My first project is pictured in my post of March 15th, Oldest UFO. It was to be a baby quilt for my youngest son, JJ. Now it is waiting for him to get married and have a baby. :-) Did I mention that my second quilt is my second oldest UFO?

Grandchildren

Grandchildren are such wonderful blessings! Abigail and Ian are my beautiful granddaughter and handsome grandson. My daughter, Kari and her husband, Craig brought their family from Wisconsin to our house in Michigan for an Easter week-end visit. On their way here, they picked up youngest son, JJ, who lives in Kalamazoo. We all enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner at son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Simone's house. Simone's niece, husband, baby and nephew, all from Germany were able to share dinner with us, also. Temperatures were colder here yesterday than on Christmas Day, but having your family with you warms up everything.

Some eggs were dyed on Saturday, admired on Sunday and eaten on Monday. We played games of Monopoly, Skip-Bo, Chinese Checkers, Balderdash and Apples & Apples, to name a few. Those kids have more energy than Grandpa and I combined on a good day. They are growing up so quickly, too. Abby is almost 12 and Ian is 10 already. It seems like just yesterday that they were babies.

Maundy Thursday

Spring has left the area and been replaced by stiff, blowing winds, cold temperatures and even snow! Enough that the Tigers/Blue Jays game in Detroit was cancelled today. Now that's enough to make a baseball enthusiast sad in April.



I love to applique! My lists of stitching preferences would also include both hand and machine piecing and hand quilting. Hand quilting is a slow process for me, but I'm not really comfortable with machine quilting larger quilts, as yet.

In the early days of my quilting, someone at a retreat demonstrated hand applique. My initial thought was "I'll never be doing that!" And now it is my favorite part of quilting, next to the binding. When you are hand stitching down the binding, you are nearing completion, which is always a good thing. This is the project I need to finish asap. The pattern is from Sentimental Stitches and has always been a favorite of mine. I chose spring colors and am doing needle turn applique. The bottom border will have "Bloom Where You are Planted" stitched on it and then it will be bound with a light, yellow checked fabric. My preferred needle is a Clover Gold Eye sharp - size 12. For hand piecing, I use the same needle and YLI Heirloom thread. When I piece by machine, it's my trusty Featherweight.