Guilds and Bees

I am in two Guilds and three Bees...so love that quilting!!!  The Guilds are very different.  The Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild  has about 50 members.  We are small and warm and cozy with swaps and block exchanges, parties, outreach options and friends.

The Charlotte Quilters' Guild is about 200 people with international speakers, quilt shows, small bee options, outreach options and friends.  Our quilt show is coming up.in early March.  Check it out .here.   Both are wonderful!!  Lucky us in Charlotte, NC.

This month's swap for the CMQG is: Drawstring Bag Tutorial  I just finished mine now...the tute is sooo easy and fun.

This month's block exchange for CMQG is: Hugs and Kisses  This tute is also very easy...a take on the Indian Hatchet block, by many other names.  In about 15/ 20 min, I finished 14 of them...ha!!  The instructions are to use "Emerald"...the color of the year.

A great tip that I got from this tutorial, was to iron the line instead of the time consuming drawing the stitching line.  This is why I finished so quickly:)

Sharing now my excitement about next Saturday.  I am preparing now to go to Leah Day 's  free-motion quilting workshop at the Sew Much Fun quilt store in Gastonia, NC.  I do not know if spots are available.  I just know that I was first on the list!!!!  So wonderful:)

So sad...

It's only a zippy...but I am sad.  Sometime on Friday I lost my coin purse.  It is full of memories and special things, gift cards, receipts...things friends made.  All my fault for being careless.  I have called everywhere, tracing my steps.  This morning, before my errands, I made a new one.  I even took one of my precious zipper pulls and used it for me.  It is not the same, but I am starting anew... It is only a zippy....I know.....

Working with oilcloth scraps, clear Walmart vinyl, just putting one piece on top of the other and securing them with two lines of straight line topstitching.  I used my vinyl foot, my quarter inch foot and my zipper foot.

A fun time all around.....

A really nice weekend here in Charlotte...Beautiful skies and a night out seeing my favorite group.....Cherish the Ladies!!!

Today, time with my two oldest grandchildren while Himself played tennis.  My second grade grandson is quite taken with the graft paper notebook I gave him for school.  Today he picked out fabric for a cover for it.  I made it tonight...so much fun..  (If you are making one from this tutorial..remember to measure your book.  I get a number of composition books at the summer school sales.  I have figured that the best measurements are 17 x 11.5 and 5.5 x 11.5 for the flaps, using a 1/2 inch seam.)

 Took a stick on sticker and iron on vinyl, secured his name tag with some zigzag so his classmates know it is his...

Then from Rachel  comes this interesting piece on pre-washing fabric from  Piece O Cake blog.

Finish it up Friday...TBTG

I have so many pin basted quilts, that I am almost out of pins!!  Now thanks to Amandajean and her Finish it up Friday links...I am on my way motivated.  Sooo happy!  This is now done.  I practiced my free motion quilting on it with a large meandering and I am pleased.

I am linking up to Finish it up Friday

PIeced Laminate Baby Changing Pad

So done and so cute...It was fun to use my gift fabrics and good for me to try something new.  I learned new things about laminate...put some updates on the last post.

Pushing my comfort zone...WIP

Today I decided to try something new for me.  I took some of the paler of these laminate scraps that Marie gifted me last week, cut them into charms for a baby changing pad.

Even though it is a bit more time consuming with the pressing part, I think it is worth it.  I finger pressed the seems and then pressed with the pressing cloth.

Next step, cutting the squares into the disappearing nine-patch.  I plan to spray baste it and secure it with the "wiggle" stitch...So far, so good.  I have not even had to use my vinyl foot. Stay tuned to my new adventure....

Joining Connie's Linky party at Freemotion by the River
1/  Update...I am having some trouble with seams...Disappearing nine patch has alot of seams.  I switched to the vinyl foot and the trouble went away.  But, you have to watch the quarter inch seam with the vinyl foot.

2.  Update...no matter how much pressing, the laminate tends to want to go back to its original position...thus the seams stick up and do not lie flat...so working quickly with this project is the way to go.

3.  I use masking tape to number my patches...cannot use pins with laminate anyway.  But, beware of pressing the masking tape by mistake.

Cats...Everywhere...

 Here we go with more of the cat collection...on left a needlepoint pillow made for me by my sister.  On the right from a craft show, my daughter's cat with two color eyes, just like she has.

On the left, a cat I used to know where I got, until.....  On the right below is Pumpkin...vintage for sure at  14 years old.

Then..My Milito caught in the act this morning and not even sorry...At 14, he should be sleeping like Pumpkin and not getting into trouble with my spider plant babies!!!

PS...I went into Tuesday Morning yesterday and found more of my wonderful new Baby Blue..Kenmore Mini Ultra sewing machines just sitting there waiting to have new homes...still $59..OMG., a steal for this machine.

Carolina Blue

Less than 24 hours after our cool and awesome 2" inch snow storm, we have Carolina Blue skies and 40 degrees.  The front yard is melting fast.  But, lucky us...we live in the woods and the back  yard still is a wonderland.

 At a party last week, Mr.O'Quilts and I met the lovely young and beautiful S.  She works in the neonatal intensive care unit.  I asked her if she got any of the Guild quilts there...Oh, yes, she said...We just love them.     They give such a lift to not only the parents, but the staff too.  They put the quilts over the incubators of the premature babies, spreading cheer.   She told me that they do not let the parents take home the quilts because, they do not have enough!!!   Now that got me working.  Usually I send in one quilt a month for outreach...Now I will try for more.  This little quilt was nothing to make...a mere 32 x 37 inches made of scraps.  A three inch square sewn to a 3x6 inch rectangle...done in just a few hours.  I think that this is my favorite part of quilting...making someone else happy while I have fun!

Misc. pieces of stash flannel finished off the back...

Carpe Diem

Snow is a big deal in Charlotte.  This is the first snow in two years and it will probably be gone by tomorrow afternoon!

 So...we gotta strike while the outside is cold!!!   Homemade chicken soup from Susan Branch's chicken stock that I started yesterday in anticipation...  A very clever potholder by Karen:)

Mr. O'Quilts made the wonderful  pretzel bread

 Aldi furnished the fruit:)

 Himself made the fire....

 A glass of cheap wine...Thank you Dear Ol' Ma...*

 Then, since this is a quilting blog, not a snow blog and the old fashioned movie is over and the coziness enjoyed..I thought I would take some pix of my vintage cat pillows...  The blue one below made by a friend's grandmother in Miami...1979

  God knows where I got this one.......or..................................This one???  I told you I kept everything!

* My mother wins these bottles of wine at the Assisted Living auction.  They give the residents 100$ fake money to bid on donated goods.  It is one of my mother's favorite activities.  She takes her fake money and buys wine and baubles.  She never gets around to have it opened and she can get a glass of wine if she wants at dinner...so she gives it to me.  Good thing as I am not on a million Parkinson's medications!!  And, it comes in handy on a Charlotte snow day:)

Snow in Charlotte

On duty...no matter what the weather....

 Making friends....Have I met you before?

The two year finish(:

 I know that you all thought that I had finished this in 2010 when I posted the top...but oh, no...you would have been wrong.  I finished it today....Our quilt show is coming up..they were short on quilts so in this one goes.  The quilt is tied and big stitched and of not sufficient stitching quality for a quilt show...However, I do love this quilt and feel like sharing it anyway.  I am glad that the upcoming show gave me the push that I needed to finally be done with it.  Looking forward to a cuddle with it in front of the fireplace after the show on March 9.

The back used the secondary HST's from the snowball corners!!  Yup frugal even before Lent:)

I visited my mother today.  I told her about my Lent commitment...no more buying of new fabric.  She said...Oh, my Dear, that sounds sooo religious..!! 

 That mother of mine was resting in bed eating the rest of her lunch at 4 pm.  She had gone on the wheelchair bus to a fancy restaurant where she had ordered Eggs Benedict, Creme Brulee and a glass of French wine.  I was a bit taken back at this telling of the story.  But, she soon added that the French wine was not good and her caregiver said that she could send it back and not pay for it...TBTG.....Oh, Mother!!!

Linking up to Finish it off Friday

The Love Keeps Coming

Happy Valentine's Day from my dear Mr. O'Quilts...

From my friend J at my water exercise class.  She knew how thrilled I was with the buttons that she gave me last week....so she looked some more and found these hand carved and  painted buttons she bought in Japan years ago.

  On the back of the button card was this...explaining what they were.

 I got these two...How so wonderful life is sometimes.  The Buddha rules!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Thru the ages, around the world...from Bath, England...

To my house in Charlotte, NC........ 

And from Ireland comes my most wonderful love of all....My husband!

And then, of course is the new and modern...more fun from Ryan and Pat Bravo 

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Lucky Me

Marie went to the big Faust sale leaving poor me behind.  But, she brought me back a present and what a present it was!!!!!  Just look at the 16 pieces of laminate I got all rolled up.  The pieces are about 12 inches by 24 inches..so perfect for pouches,etc.  Most of the patterns I have never seen.  Marie, it is the most perfect present that a person could ever want.  I just love them.. I will pat them and love them for this week and then I will be willing to share:)

Then my sister came with this treat...she gave me half of what she got.  So adorable..  This is the first day of Lent....so who would have to buy fabric with friends and family like this!!

The Fat Quarter Bag

The fat quarter bag directions are here....Jo...are you watching...this is for you.'
Mine are here...posted awhile ago...

I LOVE this bag...I have two of them and I use them all the time:)

1997, The Magazine and Me..

I am no good at math...but it seems like it was 16 years ago that CITI magazine visited my home for an article on antique quilts...It was sooo exciting:)

 The writer and the photographer went upstairs into our bedroom, arranged the quilts, put up the lighting and snapped away pictures of some favorites of our quilt collection.

I have decided to record the thrill here in case I lose the magazine....

PS.  Tomorrow starts Lent.  For the record, I am giving up fabric buying for Lent!!!!  Here it is in writing for all to see.  (GW exclusions apply)