Hello From MD!

Just a quick hi from me!

We've made it through two days of workshops....had wonderful fun, good munchies, great conversation, lots of laughter, sewing machines pedal to the metal, lots of progress made on scrappy quilts....

New friendships made, old ones strengthened....

It has been so fun to meet people face to face that I have known through the wonders of the internet for years and years!

We have had people from other guilds travel great distances to take the workshops! I will be visiting their guilds in 2008 and it will be so fun now to know at least a few people in person there when I go. I'm looking forward to it!

I didn't bring my own machine because I wanted to go student to student and help where needed, but when people were happily power-sewing away I was able to get out all those gadzillion bonus 1/2 square triangles I have been saving over the last several projects and start pressing them and trimming them. MAN!! There are a TON of these! I've been looking through kathy's quilt books trying to find patterns that would be perfect to use these in. I think we found one. Time will tell. There are still a bazillion left to press trim. You know how tedious that can be? Well it goes really well in the midst of a workshop when I'm not needed...so I think for the next little while the press and square up routine will follow me to my workshops :c)

Today we are going to hit some quilt shops and do some touristy things. I have never seen the chesapeake bay, and there is a lookout about 20 minutes drive from here. I hope to get some good pics. I love to explore new places. I also saw on my way from Virgina "The birthplace of George Washington". I think tomorrow I'll take a little side jaunt and see that historical site. I love visiting those. My family hates it! So it is great when I am out on my own and can take the time to see new things.

Wednesday I'll be heading home, and I think I'm going to route myself through Charlotte, NC....I'm feeling a need to make a stop at Mary Jos. It's been over a yaer since I've been and since tomtom can route me without getting lost....I'll just take a different route home! :cD

Bonnie

All Packed & Ready to Roll!

I'm heading to MD in the morning! The car is loaded with quilts, my bag is packed...

It's about a gazillion degrees outside right now with killer humidity. I'm going to be leaving here about 5am so I am headed to bed now even though it is only 9:30 as I type this!

I'll be back next wednesday evening. I hope to get lots of pictures of the fun that I have with the Pax River Quilter's Guild!!

I'm on my way!
Bonnie

Quilting the houses....

My 4pm client canceled today. Wonder of wonders, I was able to quilt the happy houses quilt. I'll get the binding on,but I probably won't sew it down....I'll save it for evening work while up in MD...something to do!

The colors are WAY off on these pics because I took them with no flash and side lit. But I'm happy with the quilting texture.

Quilting scrappy quilts like this with one color of thread is sometimes a challenge for me. I don't usually like thread that is too dark over light areas, nor thread that is too light over dark areas, and with a quilt like this? Well, something in between usually works both ways. I chose a medium gray. It hides pretty well against most of the quilt. I'm not too thrilled with how light it looks on the blue border fabric, but tough beans. It looks better than it would have if I had quilted everything in that royal blue.


So that's it for today. I'm off to bed. As of now I won't be leaving for MD until friday morning. Plans I had to meet up with a friend on my way up have not panned out, so that gives me a bit more time here to get things ready.

Tomorrow I'm working on hand outs for the workshops.... :cD

Bonnie

Welsh Quilting Tutorial....

Many eons ago I ran across Cassie on the net somewhere....we were on fly lady or some list on simple living,etc...we hit it off great. Through many moves and changes in our lives we temporarily lost touch with each other, but due to her referring a quilting client my way, we are back in touch.

She has been BUSY! She left quilting alone for a while and got heavily into knitting and spinning...

She is back to teaching classes in NYC, and back to her amazing ability to quilt whole cloth quilts with gorgeous detail in the welsh tradition.

Check out her blog, TOO MUCH WOOL and watch the progress!

Bonnie

Leader Ender Trees & Ebay find..

I found this cutter piece on ebay a couple of weeks ago. I love the pattern, the setting, the colors, the fabrics! I couldn't stand the thought of someone else buying it and cutting it up farther!

I've trimmed it, and added a binding. I'll hand stitch that while on my trip to MD next week. I'm planning on just using it as a table-topper or other display piece. It is DIRTY. I'll probably gently soak it to see what I can get out of it after it is bound..

And because I love cheddar/gold so much I was drawn to the same color for my leader/ender trees blocks. However...I'm not sure if I like the effect? Maybe I should do them in a "zig zag" layout like the cutter piece I just bought? Maybe the color isn't deep enough as far as setting squares go? Light fabrics make it look washed out...just as in the pic of the blocks laid out on the carpet. I thought the gold was a good choice..but now I'm not so sure.

I only have 25 blocks. I don't want to make more, I'd rather start on a different leader/ender project!

Let me know what you think....

Bonnie

Antique of the week!

So, I'm dreaming that I'll actually get to create either one of these, but these finds were so wonky and fun I have to post them!

The first one is 9 patches and strings....look at the half row of blocks at the bottom! And don't some of the green strings look like stems/leaves to the 9 patch flowers? I thought this one was really fun.

The second one has pink sashing...and I think it is really funny how the sashings don't line up. I remember how when I first tried to do sashings without cornerstones that I was mortified when they didn't line up EXACTLY...now I think it looks so fun in this quilt with the pink.

Of course both of these quilts claim to be african/american made. They very well MIGHT be? But there is no proof that they are. That kind of provenance wasn't always documented, and many white southern housewives during the 1930's 1940's and 1950's made utility quilts like these. But on ebay it's as if just putting the name "african/american" quilter makes the price go up? Things that make you go hmmmmmm!

P.S. After Patricia's comment I realized she may have missed the point. Of course these quilts COULD have been made by anyone in that era. Depression times were hard on many and women of ALL backgrounds quilted (just as we do now) I just believe if someone is going to give a quilt more credence because it was made by African/Americans they ought to have proof to back it up. I think there is an increase in this type of utility quilt showing up on ebay because they can get more money for them if they are listed as African/American than just "old scrap quilt". It seems to have more folk art appeal if it was not made by a white woman (or hispanic or whatever) I believe the quilt should stand on it's own no matter the maker. Of course I love the stories behind the quilts, but we don't have anything other than what the seller says.

Bonnie

Room To Spare!

Oh man, I love Target! :cD

I did find a shoe cubby thing...this one is bigger with more cubbies and a different brand than the one I had before, But I'm not that big into matchy matchy, you know me! It was on sale too $39.99..$10 off. The new one is on the bottom, the old one is on the top.

I drug it home...cursed when I found the electric screwdriver was not charged, and proceeded with the neanderthal arm-strong screwdriver to put the thing together. It went pretty slickly.

I moved the previous unit out from the corner of the room where it was kind of behind the computer...and moved it to the other end of the cabinets for easy access. I ditched LOTS of old pantos because I didn't want them anymore. I'm talking about the original ones that came with the machine, ones from Norma Sharp that were like comforter patterns? The kind that go great with big puffy poly batting :cÞ I ditched some other stuff I knew i'd never use. I know I should offer these to someone, but I really don't want to be bothered to mail them to anyone, unless you can pick them up from me by thursday when the trash guys come! And believe me..they are ones that just don't work well.

Some of them look good on paper..but the lines are so close together that there is no way to hand guide them that intricately and be right on. They just don't quilt up nice. There has to be room for error and variation in pantos, and if the lines are too close together chances are you will get them crossing each other and I hate that.

I now feel so much better than I did just a couple hours ago. I can see the difference it makes to my room. Easy access....less to wade through. I've got them organized by style...so feather designs, leaf designs, flower designs, star designs, etc...that is easier for me than doing them by name because half the time I can't remember what the pattern is called...just that one with the "squiggles" or "doo dads" You know? :c)

My arms also feel more rested having given them a couple hours of not massaging and not quilting. So tonight....the machine may be humming!

Bonnie

PS....I just went through a stack of old magazines and removed the pages that I want to keep. Will add those to page protectors in my inspiration binders. The rest....trash-ola!!! Cleaning something always makes me feel so much better! When my life is too cluttered emotionally...cleaning something physically just seems to be the ticket to help work things out!

Procrastination, tired arms, too much fabric, yada yada yada

I finished my last massage client last evening about 8:30pm. I got home from the office, ate a bowl of cereal, went to bed! Next thing I knew it was 7:30 am and I had a 9am client scheduled this morning. Shoot! I should have just stayed at the office and slept on my massage table the way I was feeling!

So now I'm back..nothing scheduled for the afternoon. Good thing. My arms are achy and feel heavy....I'm not sure I can run the quilting machine with any dexterity at the moment! I thought I'd give it a few hours rest and then quilt this evening.

So here I am thinking that some putzing around the quilting room is in order. For one thing, I have not found a good way to store pantograph patterns where I didn't have to go SEARCHING for the one I want. Right now I'm using stackable shoe organizer cubicles. But I still have to pull them out and find the one I want...tho there are two units stacked here, I suppose I could use one more.....it would organize better. So....trying to remember where I got these! TARGET?! Maybe I'll go to target today and see what they've got, but then maybe it was home depot?

I'd love to know how other machine quilters store their pantograph rolls. Really...I need HELP in this department!

I continue the desire to want to make scraps usable, downsize, streamline, produce scrappy quilts without great expense and have fun with it. I want more time to finish my own projects instead of piling up the unquilted tops, but I'm having a hard time figuring out just HOW to do it! There are so many things I want to participate in. Like the 365 block challenge on the heartstrings quilt project list. Big bin of strings here...plenty of desire, but my time has had to be spent elsewhere remaking quilts for lectures and workshops.

I know you are all shaking your heads at me thinking "When is she going to realize that something has to give!?" I think I am at that point. If the workshops/trunkshows keep filling in, (I'm doing some booking into 2009!) that is going to leave less time for quilting other people's quilts. Facts is facts! And I hate to do that because I love to quilt other people's quilts. I feel like I'll be letting people down if I don't quilt their quilts..but SOMETHING is going to have to give. October is my 12th year anniversary of being a longarm quilter. TWELVE years! That is a huge milestone. I'm not going to stop quilting for others, I'm just going to have to spread it out a bit so I don't spread myself too thin.

Maybe I should just forget about going to Target for the shoe organizer thingies...and just take a NAP!

Bonnie

Happy Scrappy Houses, Too!

The top is done! So far I think this has been my favorite quilt to "re-make" for workshop demos. It uses up a ton of 2" strips....and a gazillion pre-cut 2" background light squares, colored 2" squares for the windows, 2" squares for the chimneys, and 2"X3.5" pre-cut bricks for the doors. It was a wonderland of mix & match!



I love scrap quilts because of the riot of color, I think. I put fabrics together that I probably never would for a "whole quilt" type color scheme. I broke every self-imposed rule I could come up with...including using the back side of the fabric (not always on purpose!) Mixing batiks and metallics with 1980's and 1990's calicoes, and even some novelty prints!

A while back I needed to borrow some fabric from Lucy. Okay...I was begging for fabric from Lucy! And she said she was happy to give me what I wanted, but along with that piece, I HAD to take one of her "ugh!!" fabrics and I had to use it. That fabric got cut up into 2" squares and I have used it now and again in projects, always laughing while sewing it in, remembering the fun time we had while she was trying to force it on me and I was trying to give it back to her, or leave it behind by "mistake" :D

I used that "ugh" fabric for the window in the green house block above!

I also did a house that reminds me so much of my friend Tonya....I had a brick that had little bright neon frogs on it...so that became a door on this block!

The last time I was at Tonya's and we were sewing with my crumbs, I had made some wonky star blocks just for fun. They got set aside......when I picked the blue fabric for the outer border on this Happy Scrappy Houses quilt, There would ONLY be enough if I used contrasting cornerstones. Plain fabric cornerstones looked boring...so I pulled these little wonky star blocks out and set them in the corners. Now I have that memory of sewing with Tonya in this quilt too.

I love music! So it was fun to make a house using this strip of blue music fabric.

All of the cornerstones came randomly from the 2.5" scrap square bin. I did end up buying the sashing fabric (on sale at Joanne's) and there is NONE left...what little bit there was is now cut into strips and put into the strip bins.

I need to do some more scrap cutting since I weeded through my FQ's when Lucy was here in April. All of those "CUT THIS UP AND USE IT!" pieces are in a laundry basket sitting on my floor here. The task feels daunting! But it will be fun having new strips, squares and bricks to work into future projects.

On Aug 9th I am heading up to Maryland to teach two workshops and do a couple of trunk shows! I'll be gone about a week, and I am really looking forward to the trip!

Bonnie

My Header Quilt

I've had people asking to see pics of the whole quilt that my header pic is taken from.

I LOVE this quilt, and no, I don't own it, but I wish I did!

It has terrific chrome yellow sashing and with those green cornerstones and wonderful scraps in the blocks, it is just so FUN to look at

I think this would be a fun way to use up crumbs and small bits! :cD

Bonnie

Weekend Dreams.....

I worked today on massage clients! I've worked several saturdays in a row, so when I got home about 4pm, I crashed for a 2 1/2 hour nap! Believe me, it was much needed. I've been working on a customer quilt ever since.

I learned that my library has downloadable audio books from the library's website! This is WAY too cool, so I've been listening to them while I work or putter around the house. I'd rather do that than watch TV!

No time for sewing for me right now....but I did get some "Topsy Turvy" triangles sewn around the happy scrappy house blocks for the demo quilt I'm recreating. Maybe tomorrow I'll get it laid out with the sashings and get a pic.


I did treat myself to a new rotary blade to 1/2 hour of scrap trimming. I'm very low in the light 2" squares....I've used a lot of them in several projects so I went and trimmed some neutral FQ's into strips and squares to spice up the mix a bit. That's fun...finding the need to ADD elements to the scrap bins to keep the variety workable. I must be making a dent in the stash somewhere, even if it isn't apparent by looking at it!

I did some browsing on ebay for a break. I found this antique quilt with a very unique block pattern! it is called "Endless Chain". I might have to play with this one, it is so unusual! And of course I LOVE the fan quilting....

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Bonnie

Antique Eye Candy

I love the solid red "stretched star" that appears in this 4 patch "jewel box" variation (or buckeye beauty type) quilt! Another one of those "WHO SAYS!?" quilts that I love to use as an example when someone tells me you should not use solids in reproduction quilts because they will just "read as flat".

Can you see me thumbing my nose?! I love solid red! I love solids. I mix solids and prints...no one is going to tell me I can't and I've got history on my side to prove how effective it is :c)

I also never get tired of 4 patches or 9 patches. They are just timeless and fun!

Bonnie

To Pickens & Back!

I had the most wonderful time with the trunk show and lecture in Pickens SC!!

I left here around 3:15 pm...car fully loaded, and the TomTom programed to take me where I'd never been before. I love this thing. The "Victoria" voice is so friendly, it is like having someone's sweet auntie telling you where to go..*hehe* And it works! I ended up right where I was supposed to meet everyone, at Tony's Italian restaurant with about 7 minutes to spare!

A whole group of ladies showed up to share dinner with me, Including an internet friend that I'd emailed back and forth with for at least the past 5 years or so, but had never met in person! Joan Parker brought her lovely daughters (and they are quilters too!) and joined us for dinner and for the trunk show. Joan is a fantastic quilter, and can you believe this was her first guild meeting EVER?! I hope it isn't her last. She has so much to offer :c)

I think if Joan and I had been in school together (we are close to the same age) we would have been the ones in trouble for giggling in the back of the room. And giggling at the silliest things! You know how something can hit you funny when normally it wouldn't?

I mean no disrespect for anyone in the Pickens guild who reads my blog, this is meant in the kindest most fun way! During the business meeting, it was announced that a member with the name of "Cookie Bar" was going to be in charge of this that or the other. And I thought it was the cutest name, and I started to giggle! Then Joan joined in....and we were so terrible! And now every time I think of the name Cookie Bar, I am jealous that I don't have a name that makes people smile. :c)

This morning I died laughing when Joan sent me an email saying she she had changed her name to MERCEDES PARKER! *LOL* And guess what? I get to be known as BARGAIN HUNTER. Oh thanks. She gets the hoidy toidy cute name and I get to be the goodwill girl ;c) But I guess it is better than being called Bounty Hunter or Head Hunter. But maybe if I was Bounty Hunter I could have the kind of life Stephanie Plum does in the Janet Ivanovich Novels :c)

After the meeting I was treated like a queen and stayed at a guild member's lovely home out in the woods. Thanks Paige! It was a real treat to meet everyone, and I have a chance to meet them all again at the Quilter's of South Carolina state guild retreat in October. I'm looking forward to it!

Bonnie

Two More Hours!

I have about 2 more hours until I head out for Pickens, SC to meet with the Upcountry Quilter's Guild! We are meeting at a place called Tony's for dinner before my lecture/trunk show at their guild meeting tonight.

I'm spending the night at a guild member's home. I love doing this. It is so fun to see other people's quilts in their homes, how they display things, what their sewing space is like. And of course spending time WITH quilters one on one is great.

The car is loaded...OH MY. I must have 200 lbs of quilts in the car! But they said that there was no such thing as too many quilts in a trunk show, so I'm taking a lot :c) Even the ones that are washed and worn and have been used on beds have a story to tell.

I'll be back tomorrow in time for my afternoon massage appointments. I'll have to leave recovery until thursday!

Bonnie

Binding Finished!

I finished the binding on the plaid star struck last night while watching CSI Miami. Reruns are good for that,you don't even have to look up to see what is going on ;c)

I love how home-spunny this quilt looks. And tickled with how much it used up!

I also had a few hours last evening since I was in between customer quilts..(next one goes on today)to put the pineapple blossom on! This one has 36 blocks set 6X6 with sashings. It turned out to be a really good size with the borders added, and the border used up nearly all the bonus triangle squares that came from the piecing of this quilt!


The binding is on, so is a hanging sleeve (good way to rid yourself of yet another 1/2 yard of fabric from the stash!) and I'll be starting on hand stitching the binding down in between massage clients today. I have a 10am, and an 11:15 am...and then nothing until 2pm....so there are a couple hours for binding in there, along with some lunch.

I also have to show you the nifty I got from TAZZIE!! She is selling cute little quilty things on Etsy and I fell in love with this piecer's mat she made! It is wonderful! It has pockets in the front, flannel panel in the center to hold your block pieces, and it is pieced in the cutest prints! The back has a non-slip surface. Here i have it placed under my sewing machine so I can put my goodies and notions in the pockets. It will be great to taking to the dear jane workshops I've started up again to finally push to get that pink/brown thing done! Check out her Etsy Store HERE!

I'm using the next couple hours before I leave to load that customer quilt and get it started so I can work on it some more this afternoon when I get home from massage....I just don't know what I'd do if I had more time on my hands! :cD

Bonnie

Triangulations!!

A gadZILLION!!!

I had a client reschedule this afternoon..so I don't have to go in for another hour or so. Fine with me! I needed to do some cleaning and sorting in the quilting room...before the piles overtook me. (Yes it does happen!)

I had pulled out a bunch of border fabrics for the pineapple blossom...got Jeff giving his input....the pink? No...okay..how about the aqua with blue squares? No? okay...maybe this deep purple? Yes..the deep purple got his vote, and I was fine with it so deep purple it was. But then that left refolding and putting back all the other fabrics that I didn't use.

I'll get a pic of the top as soon as the sun is down far enough in the yard. Maybe tonight.

I did have a piece big enough for a backing, and I feel quite righteous getting that OUT of the stash :cD

So..back to the folding and putting away.....I came across the baggies of bonus triangle squares that were left from the piecing of the plaid star struck. SCADS of them! I knew I had more baggies of these kinds of bonus triangles around, but I was unaware how many!! I got them out...and had to take a pic. These are from several projects, but because the projects used the same corner square triangle technique...they are all going to finish at the same size...

After the pic...I found ANOTHER bag! These gold/black ones are from the Road To Camp Gravatt quilt!

The last quilt I did that used these goodies was my Ocean Waves. I'm now looking for a pattern that will use these little 1/2 sq triangle squares as a leader/ender project. It never ends! There is always more to sew, more to use up, and I love every minute of it!

Charlotte and I have talked about ways that we can get together and do this mindless kind of stuff...the pressing and trimming of these little squares is enough to drive me batty....BUT....if we rented a couple of chick flick DVDs..and sat there and watched with TV trays, with some good company and some distraction (can you say Matthew McConaughey?? I think these little guys can be pressed and squared and ready for use! Anyone want to join us? :cD

Bonnie

It Came!

My new license plate finally arrived!

When I got my new Saturn Vue in April, my old PT QLTR plate from my PT Cruiser just didn't fit anymore. I started telling people that the PT stood for PART TIME or PONY TAIL or PRETTY TALL or PIECED TOGETHER...but it just didn't fit the car.

A few weeks ago when Jason went to get his SC license, he brought me back an application for a new plate from the DMV. I guess HE thought it was time that I did something about the mis matched plate too.

I decided to be a generic QLTVLLE and it will go on any vehicle I have in the future. :c)

It's funny though..just when you think you are the only one...I went on Etsy to register myself as QUILTVILLE and someone had already taken that name! Kind of floored me. It's not like I OWN the word or anything, it's just that I've used it for the past 12 years and am used to being Bonnie from Quiltville. I wonder if other people get her confused with me?

That said, there IS another Bonnie Hunter out there who is also a quilter, and I have gotten her mail! She is up in Maine somewhere I believe. It is a small world!

Yesterday was crazy. I had massage clients back to back from 2pm until 7:45pm last night. There was NO quilting time for me yesterday evening! I got home, had dinner, went to bed without even checking email.

This afternoon will be much the same,but I do think there will be some time for hand work in between a couple of clients so I should finish the binding on the star struck. I'm working on borders for the pineapple blossom, using all the cut off bonus triangles in the border. I'm shooting for having a TOP to show at the trunk show I'm doing on Tuesday in Pickens SC.

Oh...Tom Tom is a hoot! DH and I both like the British lady's voice. We've named her Victoria. ;c) "take the motorway" sounds so much better than "take the interstate". ;c)

Bonnie

Under Foot!

Well here we are at Wednesday! I'm not sure where this week is going....it's just going fast.

It's been quietly uneventful here, which is very nice. Just my usual routine of quilting when I am not doing massage or quilting for others. I reconfirmed to myself that no matter how much I like being out around people and doing things with others, sometimes I really cherish the quiet time at home alone to reflect, unwind, decompress, create, rest, restore.

Last night I had dinner at Charlotte's and we both did some hand work while watching some TV and visiting with our kids. I've got one side of binding left on the plaid star struck to go.

I met up with Sally at a quilt shop in Lexington yesterday for a bit of stash enhancement and lunch at the Crab Shack. FUN! I don't do that often enough I think. Just take off in the middle of the day to do something that wasn't on the work roster. I need to do more of that. I bought a couple half yards and one fat quarter. Both 1/2 yards are light backgrounds, and the FQ was a cheddar I didn't have. I feel justified in these purchases. I've been using up lots of lights the past few quilts, and some replenishing was in order.

Working a bit each day (maybe an hour before starting my regular work day) I've been able to get 36 pineapple blossom blocks pieced. Here they are laid out on the floor...and I have decided to sash them to make the quilt a bit bigger. I like the "churn dash" that appears at the block corners when they are put together with sashing. I have a couple quilts from other people that I will take to the workshop with me as well that have different layouts and border treatments. It will give people some options on how to set theirs. It is perfectly all right to let the blocks speak to you differently than they do to me!

I've got 3 of my 4 beasts under foot today. Sadie still has to be watched so she doesn't chew the bindings off of ever quilt she comes in contact with. Buddy is 7 years old and such a mellow fellow I never imagined what a challenge it would be to train a new dog with just ONE bad habit! And of course Oscar is always around wherever I am, finding a corner to curl up and take a nap!

Bonnie

Quickie Post!

Thanks so much for all the encouragment on my "wrong" (or different) spinning blocks!

I ended up setting the blocks as is, bordering them with leftover plaids...and will use the remaining blocks in a completely different quilt.I want to toy with different lay outs, maybe add a different design element and see what it looks like.

This turned out to be a good twin size...and it will be a nice lay on the couch size too. I'm happy with it!

You can tell from the close up pics that I used a lot of OLD lights in this quilt. There are cutesy hearts and chickens and music notes and a whole variety of old old calico prints as well as all the plaids.

Some of these fabrics are at least 20 years old!

All the light 2.5" squares for the digaonal corners came from the 2.5" square bin, and because I double sewed all the corners, I now have a gadzillion little 1/2 square triangles to square up and sew into some cute little blocks down the road.

I'm off to work...got massage clients lined up til about 4pm this afternoon.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Bonnie