forgiveness vs permission….

so i did some quilting for a new customer and i neglected to remember to ask permission to post pictures of her quilt on my blog…….

 

and since it is 4 in the morning, i hated to call now and ask permission.  remember that old saying?  “sometimes it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission”?

so, i figure if i only post pictures of the back, i’m ok.  right?

this is the most full on shot that i could manage.  it was a BIG quilt.

a corner shot.  bead-board on the outside border, heart-like feather in the inner border

tiny stipplige in the center of the sashing

more blocks.  freehand quilting based on the piecing of the individual blocks

more blockage

and there you have it.  my “quilting” but not my customer’s “quilt”

quilts & girls

So another gentle soul reminded me that it is certainly a long time between posts.  i know.  hanging my head in shame.  I have loads of stuff going on that is blog worthy but i have burdened my poor computer with almost 14,000 photos and that S L O W S it down.  Must get an external hard drive and remove several thousand photos.  there it’s in writing now so it will get done right?  maybe.

In the mean time, here’s some snaps of the end of the year gathering of a little group I belong to.  We focus on civil war quilts.  we meet mostly monthly and spend the evening working on handwork stuff and yakking and of course snacking.  This past year we chose a block and we each were to make a quilt top-any size any pattern using the CHURN DASH block.  are you ready for some snaps?

darling lisa.  she is our over achiever of the group.  she typically makes LARGE quilts.  and see her quilt top here?  it’s QUILTED.  the only reason it’s not bound is that she just got it from her quilter that day.  wanna see a closer up?

you can see a little bit of the quilting in the upper right hand corner.  Twyla quilted it in what i would call a “cinnamon roll” allover stitching pattern that i discovered through Kim Diehl.  Not sure what Twyla calls it or where she got her inspiration.

Kim is up next with lovely red churns set off with a tan alternate block top.  Her’s is a nice lap size.  While Kim certainly got hers done in time, she dithered about deciding on a pattern because the churn dash wasn’t her favorite block.  but now she loves her quilt.  go figure.  🙂

and who WOULDN’T love this lovely?!?

and H E R E ‘ S twyla with a very scrapped up dash.  really rich colors that the pix don’t do justice to.  and now for her close up.  Vanna?  where’s her close up.  dang it.  please talk amongst yourselves while i go get the close up from the 14,000 snaps in the file…….

and we’re back.  lovely no?  yes.

another master scrapper, Karen modified a kim diehl pattern.  again, the colors are much much more vibrant in real life.  i liked the original pattern design.  but i LOVE karen’s arrangement.

yumalicious.  yeah, totally made up word.  i know that drives some of you nutso.  sorry about that.  sorta.  not really.  sorry about not being sorry.

sadly, this is my quilt.  yes.  i failed the assignment.  This is all i got put together.  I have a box of blocks ready to go but need more variety in the backgrounds before i could put it all together.  this is an on-going project for me.  in addition to being my churn dash quilt, this is also my “pound” quilt.  for every pound i lost in 2011, i make a block.  and since i have more pounds to go, i will have to add to it in 2012!  good reasons for not getting it done.  but still, i failed on this one.

and here we all are.  mostly.  one of our group was unable to attend due to a family illness.  we missed you nancy!

but what is this?!?!  this looks to be done…..

more on this the next time we meet……

so it has been brought to my attention

that i had neglected to fill you in on the history of the gramcracker square quilt.  sigh.  i’m so behind.

pretty simple deal really.  gramcracker spent some time in the hospital and a rehab facility during the last 6 weeks of her life.   As a family, we spent the majority of those round the clock 60,480 minutes with her.

We sang songs.  At one time kelly and i were singing.  I don’t remember the song, maybe kelly does.  We finished and gram said. “that was nice girls.  you’ll do better tomorrow”.  🙂

We read stories and magazines and the Bible.

We shared memories and confidences and pictures.

We held hands and cried tears.

and sometimes we even argued with each other a bit.  🙂  A family of lily livered unopinionated people we are NOT!

When I would stay with Gramcracker overnight, i toted my portable sewing table and sewing machine with me.  and gram and I would talk fabric and stitches and quilts.  when she would sleep for a few minutes, i would sew using just the light on my machine and the light that drifted into her room from the hallway.  My pattern was very random and my corners do not all match up.  and i’m good with that.

I named the quilt “gramcracker squares”.  I quilted it very simply with just crosshatching.  I made a label (i KNOW! ) using a writing that I read at Gramcracker’s funeral which I had written many years ago:

My Gramcracker has magic hands.   Some people are very important. They have impressive titles or lots of money in the bank. Maybe they run a company or dress really fancy like. They live in big houses and drive Cadillacs. My Gramcracker has magic hands.  If you glance at her hands, they just look regular-like. Four fingers and a thumb on each one. Some of her fingers have rings on them. Sometimes her nails are painted in real pretty colors like pink and rose. In the past years, her fingers changed some. There are noticeable “knots” and “bumps and curves” in them. Sometimes she tells me that they hurt. That makes me sad.

 

I have a quilt made from Gramcracker’s magic hands. It’s the very best place in the world to take a nap. If you really need to rest, just cover up with this quilt and soon your mind and body will get the rest you need. It’s a magic quilt because Gramcracker’s magic hands cut the fabric and pieced it together and then tied the 3 layers together into a quilt. Gramcracker put some of her magic into the quilt to share with anyone who needs a little magic. I learned to share real good in kindergarten so if you need to rest, let me know.

 

Gramcracker’s magic hands know exactly what you need. When I was little, sometimes I wouldn’t listen so good and when her scolding was punctuated with finger waving, I got the message loud and clear. The magic hands must have opened up my ears real good!

 

Lots and lots of babies have been cradled in Gramcracker’s magic hands. From her children to grandchildren to great-grandchildren! Every single one of them found love and safety in those magic hands.

 

Sometimes no matter how smart you are, you find yourself in a situation where you don’t know what to do or say. I found myself there once. My mind just couldn’t wrap itself around the problem. I couldn’t fix it. I couldn’t change it. I couldn’t control it. Gramcracker may have felt the same way. It’s a scary thing to be powerless. But Gramcracker’s magic hands knew what to do. They held onto my scared and powerless hands. That’s all. They just held me. Nothing in the world that day changed. I still couldn’t fix or control the situation, but Gramcracker’s magic hands held mine and they comforted me in a way that nothing else could.

 

Some people travel all over the world for fun. They eat imported chocolates in places like Paris and ride the Orient Express. They collect diamonds to wear to the opera or symphony.

My Gramcracker has magic hands.

and SNAP

 

an entire week goes by just like that <insert me snapping my fingers>

so here’s a snapshot of some quilts from the quilts and vines show.  seriously, if you missed it, you REALLY missed it.  the weather was unbelievable!  beautiful.  and the VINES!  ohmylanta!  they were incredible.  entertainment was good, quilts were terrific, wine was WINERITA senorita!   ok, onto some pics.

these are the quilts i put in the show:

I pieced and quilted these 3 myself.

these 2 were birthday gifts to me.  the gray ladies from Kris and my face from gayle.  Thanks girls!  while they looked stunning on the vines, i really LOVE LOVE LOVE these quilts on the wall of my clubhouse!

these next lovelies belong to karen.

 

 

didn’t i tell you they were lovely?  look at the wild mums SNAP!  karen and i sometimes do quilts alike.  i have the wild mums and the checker board ones pieced but not quilted.  i have the tumbler one cut out.  dang! karen is speedy!

and that wraps up karen’s entries.  onto to sheries:

don’t you just hear the PINK singing?!?!?  that middle tumbler one should be mine i think.  even tho i have one pieced in darker civil war fabrics.  this one is all done.  can i have it?!?!?

and sherie’s done.  i’ve got more SNAPS to share but it will have to wait.  quilting calls me today……..

you’re all invited!

to wish Liam a happy 1st birthday!

(click to enlarge any photos)

carin started with green paper and then printed the circles and verbiage on it.  the monster head is made with 2 pieces of felted wool and a pinch of poly stuffing.  tiny orange triangles make up the teeth and spikes while a circle of white and a tiny little black button make a perfect eye!  we used fabric glue to attach the head to the paper invite.

the next item on the “to do” list was a quilt.  carin designed the quilt herself.  pretty snappy for a beginner quilter!  i’ll do a separate post about the quilt since this post is about the party…..look for more details down the road.

 

it made a perfect backdrop for the present opening table!

and what monster party worth it’s salt doesn’t have MONSTERS!?!?!?

as in monster CAKE POPS!

carin put an assortment of pops in painted metal pails using floral foam covered by curly ribbon with a balloon attached to the pail handle.  these did double duty- first as table centerpieces and then pops were sent home with guests as thank you treats.

you can’t really see it well, but each pop has a little cut out slid onto the stick saying “thanks”.

and MORE monsters!

silver trays of rainbow colored monster cupcakes and a monster “smash” cake completed the sweets!

carin scored some great candle sticks and these silver trays at a thrift shop.  she painted up the candle sticks and glued the trays to them.  WALAA!  cool cake plates!

don’t forget to sign the guest book:

and just 60 minutes before walking out the door to the party, we added a #1 to the back and a monster to the front of liam’s party shirt!

so since you obviously made it to the end of this LONG party post, i think you deserve a reward?  don’t you?  what could it be?….  how about some cake pops?  i haven’t mailed any before but i’ll give it a shot.  USA entries only.  except kris and neil, if you win, you can collect in september when you come here!

leave a birthday comment along with your email addy so i can contact you and i’ll random draw a winner on Friday may 20th for some cake pops.

remember pretty in pink?

no, not the movie, although i do like molly ringwald.  even in that silly tv show “the secret life of the american teenager”.  i digress…..

pretty in pink.  the pink and brown quilt that i made during our pink and brown retreat:

and don’t forget about the delicious texture the funky fans quilting created (along with a hot bath and dry)

yum.  this quilt currently resides on the back of the deacon’s bench in the dining room.  but again, you’ve seen all this….

the point i’m trying to make, is that once upon a time, i finished a project.  i know.  shocking.  well there it is.  anyway, i had some scraps- triangles mostly.  at this point i don’t remember if i cut extra or if they were cut offs.  anyway, i suppose since they were PINK, i couldn’t throw them away.  so after toting them around for several months, i finally did something with them:

yep. i made me some postcards.  i typically don’t have a plan when i start.  i just start.  these turned out quite nice i think.  a bit of rick rack and buttons and WALAA!  i just did a straight line of stitching around the edges and then trimmed using a pinking edge blade in the rotary cutter.  slick as snot.

you can click on the thumbnails if you want to see them up close and personal (another good movie….)

and do you remember this:

way back in 2009, i got a birthday gift from a couple of friends.  and it’s still just a project.  but it’s cut out! i had strips roughly an inch or so wide left over. so i made these:

that’s right.  more postcards.  but also a couple atc’s!

after sewing the strips together, i added a couple little bits of yarn, a ribbon (which i fancy stitched on) and some bling.  again, i straight stitched the edge and then pinked it.

so there you go.  trash to treasure.  unless your eye is still beholding trash, then well…  oh well.

quilt retreat-part2

so, our theme for this retreat was ruffles and rick rack.  and although i’m not the trinket master, as location hostess, i am allowed to have a small “welcome” gift on the beds when the guests arrive.  naturally i made treat bags!  seriously, haven’t you made one yet?  best thing since sliced bread.  even better than that since i’m not much of a bread hound.  better than CHOCOLATE.  ok, that’s going a bit far.  i like the treat bags.  i’ll leave it at that.  🙂  i filled the bags with lotions and what knots and had a pair of VS slippers on their beds.

i made my ATC’s to go with the bags.  the bunny design is from a quilt i made ages ago for ian.  i think it was a joined at the hip pattern.  in the pattern, the ears are pieced.  but we’re talking those little pieces are only 1/4 inch wide, so i just stitched ’em down.  cute huh?!

then i got to thinkin’, the girls might want to regift their bags to their favorite little girl on easter and want the bunny tag to go along with it.

this was my official ATC to trade with the girls.  ruffles and ricrac-get it?!

and these are the cards i received.  so cute.

and before i could even get my sewing machine set up and needle threaded, i had this lovely little (NOT) bundle on my table:

luscious pinks and browns.  how did they know?!?

yum!  i don’t know how much yardage is there, i didn’t want to rip into the bundle (well i DID but i refrained).  i’m sure something wonderfully scrappy will come from it.  🙂  and while i refrained from ripping it apart, i did NOT refrain from licking it.  🙂

and now the trinket master began her trinketing. or mastering….  we started getting prezzies!

a quilter’s survival bucket.  gum, bandaids, lotion, chap stick, nuts, tissues etc.  yea!  now we can sew all night!

technically, the little quilt is called a “candle mat” but for obvious reasons, karen called it a “candy mat”.  and those little pinwheels are TINY!  the carmels are about 1 1/2 inches long so that tells you how tiny the pinwheels are!  and what a perfectly lovely square ruler!  and yeah, the bag of candy?  gone!

here’s the “candy mat” by itself.  karen made it using a little template.  i don’t remember the information, so karen will have to chime in here and give the deets on that.

homemade hot cocoa mix and a cappuccino bali pop!  and of course, MORE CHOCOLATE.  yumm.  mine was coconut.  and yeah, it’s gone too.

and what quilter doesn’t need a little floofy note pad to carry in their purse?  with a GIFTCARD to a favorite quilt store inside?!?!?  am i spoiled or what?!?!

and lastly (i KNOW!  i bow to the trinket master.  i am not worthy).  a brand spanking new book using charms.  i love charms.  oh!  and remember the candy mat?  the template was not this, but something similar only smaller.  this one uses 5″ charms.  that is so charming.  really.  🙂

whew.  i probably forgot to take a picture of somethings.  in fact it’s likely even.  i’m blaming a chocolate induced coma.   not that i minded.  and it only took me a week of salads to dump the 5 pounds i gained.  thanks for that trinket master.

oh, you’re wondering if we worked on any projects?  why yes we did.  part 3 coming soon to a computer near you……

 

things i overheard at the quilt retreat…..

sometimes i get a giggle when i hear just a snatch of a conversation.  i giggled alot at the quilt retreat this weekend.  i’ll toss some photos in too for your enjoyment!

we arrived at the retreat center on thursday night fully loaded down with chairs, machines, cutter, thread, projects, snax and clean underwear (well some of us did anyway).

we quilted kinda late thursday night.

“i don’t really wear pajamas”

twyla made and gifted us all tuffets.  we did not sit on our tuffets.

“i tried it once but i didn’t like it”

“how big are your balls?”

“one is round and one is square.”

“a thing to hold his balls”

“it was a vibrating thing.  i heard it”

“i like to do handwork while i watch tv”

“you  need to chill your balls before you do it”

“you cheat, you get your nuts chopped off”

“so he fished my high heels out of the reflecting pool and i walked away with as much dignity as i could muster”

“you sometimes feel something hard in your bed”

“those girls lost their balls”

“is anyone experiencing flatulence”

“my balls were all tangled up”

“there is no underwear in arlington”

and now for the grand finale you’ve all been waiting for.  ok not really but it is progress anyway….

scott’s quilt is growing slowly.  this is 3/4 done.  yea me.

a close up

and a close up with a quarter.

whew.  that was fun.  i felt very productive, laughed loads, met some great people and had a blast with some buddies! and as far as the quotes go….most of them are totally innocent and completely out of context.  🙂  and now back to our regularly scheduled (g-rated) programing…..

baptism quilt and gown

one more time around for the baptism quilt and gown.  🙂  this is a family baptism quilt and gown that i made for my daughter carin.  the quilt is made from dupioni silk in a champagne color and quilted using isacord thread in a matching color.  jamie wallen inspired feathers make up the cross.  i echo quilted and pebbled around the cross.  i used renee haddadin’s amazing rays to do the radiating lines and embroidered a bible verse at the 4 points of the cross.  as the children in carin and scottie’s family are baptized, their name and baptism date is embroidered beside a ray.  i used a poly batting to give it a nice loft.

the gown is made from the same dupioni silk.  my mom helped tremendously with the construction of the gown part.  ok, she did it all!  it’s pretty simple design because we wanted to be able to use it for girls or boys (much to my brother’s dismay).  over the gown we attached a skirt of lace that i made using my embroidery machine.  i used isacord thread in a matching color for the lace.

ok everybody

you can all get off my back now.  you know who you are…were i mean because you’re all off now. thank you.

ta da!!:

and now you’re thinking “what’s the big honkin’ deal” right?  well let me tell you.  this here quilt.  yes this one that is COMPLETELY finished…..borders binding and label (ok no label but that’s how i roll)…..yes, this quilt is kaiden’s birth quilt.  i KNOW!  yes, he’s already (several months ago) had his 2nd birthday.  and you’re all tisk tisk tisking me because, well, because well i am a quilter.  and how could this poor child go 2 years (24 months) plus without a birth quilt.  i’ll tell you.  just because.   just because i am the nana and i say so.

anyway, kaiden’s quilt is done.  🙂  horray.  sisboomba.

and now a word from our sponsors:

pattern is by kaffe fasset.  the man loves templates.  and i don’t.  so i bought his book (one of many actually), and looked at the pattern, and figured out how to make it using a rotary cutting method.  and a liberal amount of fudging.  some of the fabrics are his dots which i combined with hand dyed fabric by ME! (and a few by janet myers because i didn’t have enuf greens and she had gobs).

i couldn’t decide on the border fabric so i used both.  i like it.  mitered corners even!  a little pizzaz if you will.

the backing fabric is by starr designs.  quilting thread on backing is a variegated by signature (yellow, orange and green).

quilting was a bit out of my comfort range…..i’m much more freehand, swirly, loosey goosey style.  this quilt just kept yapping at me.  so i caved and did ruler work.  ugh.

i quilted 2 of the borders in a chevron style and the remaining 2 borders in piano keys.

and lookie here.  i did the binding by machine.  yes i did.  i watched judy l’s video and tried it and i stunk it up.  looked so dang easy on the video.  i really need to find a method that works for me.  so i tried another way (not original).  this time i sewed the binding to the back of the quilt, and did a fancy little stitch on the front.  it’s okay.  not fab.  i think the key for me will be to use the same fabric for the border, backing and binding and top all that off with a matching thread.  but since that wasn’t the case this time, i decided to make the stitching stand out and used the variegated thread again.

good enuf for the boys i go with.

i’m working on another binding right now (who would guess that the outdoor QUILTS AND VINES show is in a couple weeks?!?).  it’s working pretty good.  by no means is this method fast for me.  i’m pinning about every 1-2 inches.  but my hands are not in pain when i get done so it’s a good thing martha.