Fun Auditioning Hugs and Kisses:)

Auditioning fabrics is my favorite part...input welcome....First, I went for the wild...red wine helped a lot here:)  

Second, I went for the boring (white bikes) .

Happenstance found my son's green shirt from high school  (He is now 28 with three children). 

 I think, maybe I can get my pastel look with  his shirt???

Not sure here if I need those bikes at all.....Strange?? My son shows no interest at all in the fact that his mother  has saved a shirt of his for 11 years......I just know that everyone else's son is delighted...ha!

This is an interesting post by Angela on Modern Quilting.  I do not really care what the definition is because I like to do my own thing...but I did find this interesting.  I identify with Deb on her post, too.

Sew Relaxing......

When I have leftovers from a project, I cut them into 5" squares, 2.5 inch strips, etc...so I have my own pre-cuts when I just want to play.....

 Dipping into my "charm" box above.. helped me whip up these little Hugs and Kisses for a hospital quilt.

A little relaxation after a day of grandkids' love.... at the park...on their bikes... and eating nonstop.  This quilt was supposed to be pastels with the pinks...but I never seem to get to the pastel part of it...

Lots of X's...

Finished here just in time for linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts....Finish it up Friday!!!

 Great time to use some of my Kaffe shot cotton on the back:)

Busy day here...The Mr and the Mrs went to the Charlotte Quilters' Show, then a return to IKEA, and off to exchange our phones finally after 3 years, upgrading into the modern world.  Himself put together my new machine table which came this afternoon...sigh with such joy:)

 Clearly I needed a new machine to sew up the mess in the background:)

Then too...had to do a Start it up Friday...ha... A little Hugs and Kisses from MIssouri Star Tutorials

Fun!

Just playing around with my new baby.....

And sharing......Pat Bravo does vimeo again

My Joy is here...Arrived...OMG

She is here!!!  I can tell that she is wonderful by the way she looks at me already:)  This  Janome 8900 machine is huge...almost industrial and you should see the foot pedal.  Nose was pressed to the window all day for the big brown and yellow truck.  At 5 pm...up it came.  I was so very happy to see my UPS man that I gave him a potholder:) 

 But, then I had to leave for Guild.  Himself opened it up on the dining room table....no water aerobics or errands for me tomorrow...I will be oh, so  busy!!!

Locally, I buy all my Janome things from Peggy at AAA sewing.  She could not match Quiltcon prices for this machine, or I would have bought it there(:    Still AAA is the best place to get all Janome things locally and to have any machine serviced.  Lucky me got Quiltcon price without having to go to Quiltcon:)

 Sitting at  Guild tonight, I made all of these.hexies..thx to Drenna for threading my needles and Courtney for inspiration!
Lately, I am enamored with Craftsy.   Craftsy English Paper Piecing is on its free block of the month page.  It is very well done.  This block is the block of the month for Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild.

The awards for the Charlotte Quilt Show next weekend were given out tonight.  My "Grandma and Me" won an honorable mention...My grandmother would have been proud!!!

Do not forget to see the wonderful Charlotte Quilters's Guild show this upcoming weekend.  Click on the blue for the details.  So there Julie!!!!!

The Mess

My mind is a mess!  I am having concussion relapses and there is nothing I can do about it but rest.  Now, usually rest is not my style.  Today it is.  Feels a lot like ennui...hmmm

  Himself is at tennis. He deserves it after working all morning to afford my latest treat:)

 I am trying to explain to Zoey, that I have always been a cat person.  She does not care.  She jumped into my lap anyway....hmmmm

 Sitting with my fake fireplace from Aldi, with my flea market quilt and the latest Victoria book that is just my style.  And how could you have ennui with me, says Zoey??????

 I ordered online this cool and awesome Verelux full spectrum lamp.  It is perfect.  I did not want to pay so much, but, like I said, it is perfect for me in my cozy corner.

 /Doing things with grace makes me feel better.  I am using the rug mug I made from Grandma's needlepoint.

 Always Diet Coke...but caffeine free for my concussion days...doctor's orders.  And pretzels enjoyed by Zoey and me...in the old fashioned bowls from when I was a child living on Cape Cod.  Red was my mother's favorite color then.  The whole cottage kitchen was red.

 I am so over everything I am making.  I hate it all.  I am trying to finish this for Finish it up Friday...but I do not want to.  And, I do not want to change the thread to start something new...hmmm

My darling old Milito has this large and growing 3 inch tumor on his hip...no pain, but not nice

 UPS has sent my package to Greensboro instead of to me....Tomorrow is my day...patience is my foe...

Writing my therapy post on this gloomy, rainy day makes me feel better already. I think I will cut the binding for the above quilt...I am ready:)  Then back to my chair to r.e.s.t....hmmm  And like my mother and sister are so fond of saying...."No sniveling"....Ha!!

Hexies

I love my modern quilt guild...They inspire me :)  Here, not only am I using fabric that I bought in Japan 40 years ago...but making my first hexies in 30 years!!!  Even as I write this, I am amazed at the time frame...

It is hard not to get swept up in the enthusiasm....

Leah Day

Lucky me!!  Lucky, lucky me!!  I spent Saturday with  friends and the best free-motion quilter ever....Leah Day!   She is wonderful...in quilting and in teaching.  I learned a lot and had a wonderful time.  Now all I need to do is practice......

 Practice squares from class........

At our CMQG, we had a drawstring bag exchange.  I got Kelleigh's.  How cute is this?

Now I have heard simply awesome things about the new Janome 8900!  They were featured at QuiltCon...anyone have an opinion or two???

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:)