Companion Angle Found!!

HA! I knew (or hoped) it would show up!

Last evening when I was gathering everything to go to my Bee meeting...I went to add the pink thread to the handwork bag for binding the quilt at bee, and lo and behold...(And a HUGE AHA! and TADA!! and HAPPY DANCE!) There was the companion angle...I must have picked it up and put it into the bag when emptying my car!

I knew it had to be around somewhere, because I had the easy angle, and knew they were together..so that issue is now SOLVED!

I had a great time at bee last night. These ladies are SO fun to be around, oh we laughed and joked and talked and commiserated on life, love and chin hairs. :c)

Yes, you heard that right. Yesterday, I kept feeling SOMETHING tickle me. I couldn't figure out what it was, I kept brushing it away, brushing it away, right there, under my chin, on my neck.

I found the culprit..a hair..about 2" long. Only.......*gasp* it was ATTACHED! OMGoodness. I was horrified! I called Jeff to come check it out. He was repulsed..*LOL* And then curious...."Mom, how come YOU can grow those, and I can't?!"

*MORTIFIED*

Straight to the bathroom to grab the tweezers out of the drawer and remove that offensive 2" long hair.

What I want to know is.....is walking around with a 2" long "under the chin" hair akin to walking around with broccoli or spinach in your teeth? Where everyone else sees it but you, and you don't find it out yourself for a long time, then have to go through your memory wondering if people were really smiling at you because they found you charming, or they were just secretly chuckling at your broccoli grin? :cÞ

Do me a favor. Next time you see me with a really long chin hair, take me aside, do the kind thing, and tell me. I promise you will be my friend for life!!

Back to the kitting up. I've got my little block parts all stacked in this walmart cake carrier! I love these..I can stack 4 of these in my big Lands End tote, and it's perfect to take to a retreat! I've got some other projects to go too. I'm working on a quilt where part of the blocks are string pieced, so that string piecing bag is going to go with me too. The phone book foundations are already cut to 8". :c)

I talked to my editor yesterday...quilts need to be sent for photography TOMORROW! *EEK!* So I've got to finish that binding and sleeve on the last one today, make sure everything is labeled, do the instructions for the two last quilts..and get everything to mail off tomorrow. It's going to be a cram packed couple of days.

I'm off to the gym...I've got an appt with my personal trainer at 10, I'm sure she is going to kill me but good since I haven't seen her for 3 weeks. I need it. I just hope I can walk when she is done with me :c)

AUUUGHHHH!?

The gremlins seem to have run off with my companion angle ruler!! (*&#@$(*&!

I found my ez angle in my stuff from the last trunk show..but WHERE is the companion angle? :c|

Official Jammie Day!!

I've just decided to rebel! I'm staying home today...I'm kitting up stuff for taking to Indiana with me. I'm teaching at a retreat at Camp Mack in Milford Indiana starting Friday. It's sponsord by the Sew Easy guild of Butler Indiana! I SO can not wait...

The following weekend I'm teaching at Home of the Classics Quilt Show in Auburn, IN...I've got 5 days in between both gigs, and I'm staying with Bev, who has told me I can feel free to sew all I want while there.

So, back to the kitting....it's lots easier and more productive for me if I kit up the tops I'm making, so I don't have to bring the WHOLE STASH in the car. And I figure if I need something, well, what's a girl to do? SHOP? :cD

It's been a long time since I've stayed in Jammies all day. I have a quilt bee meeting tonight at Laura's, but never fear, I'll be OUT of Jammies by then. I finished quilting project #12 for the leaders/enders book, and it's coming with me to put binding/sleeve on while at bee. So some of you will get a sneak preview ;c)

I had a great time snapping pics of vintage quilts while wandering antique malls, so I'm leaving you with some eye candy here!

Maybe, just maybe you'd like to join me for a Jammie Monday too? Come on, you know you WANT to!

Do You Leader & Ender? :cD

I'm down to the wire on getting this next book to bed. As most of you know, its title so far is "Adventures with Leaders & Enders" with a subtitle of "The Joy of Piecing Between the Lines".

I'm not sure how much room this book will have. I'm limited on page numbers. and they have even gone to s smaller book size, about 8.5 X 11 Which is a bit narrower than the last book. If they shrink the diagrams, it shouldn't make too much difference I don't think.

Remember last book? i had you send in your recycling hints? I am wondering...IF there is space...if you'd like to send in testimonials and comments on how sewing with Leaders & Enders has enhanced your quilt making.

You can easily leave your testimonial as a comment to this post. If you would do that, I would be ever so grateful! please include your first name, last initial and your city/state. I'll turn everything in to my editor, it will be up to them to decide what they have room for, but I think it would be fun to expand on the ideas in the book with things you have done with your own quilting!

Thanks for taking the time to participate!

Home Home Home ;c)

I arrived home Friday evening...what a beautiful day to drive from Ohio to West Virginia, all the way through the mountains to Virginia, and down into North Carolina! it was overcast, but not raining most of the way, which makes it easy on the eyes for seeing. Blaring sun doesn't make me so happy when driving...but overcast? nice!

It did rain a bit once I went through that last tunnel from WV to VA..enough to clear the bugs off my windshield and then go away! Perfect.

Needless to say that yesterday was spent unloading the car, going to the gym and the bank, and taking care of household things....groceries had to be bought in there somewhere too, the house was empty after 2 weeks away!

I just brought my purchases from my trip down...well...except for the ones that were edible, and got eaten on my journey! I found a Trader Joes not far from the hotel where I stayed in Indianapolis, and I had fun doing some shopping there. We don't have one here in Winston Salem. My weird purchase? Candied Ginger chews. they are hotter than you think they would be, but good! I also bought a bar of dark chocolate with chrystalized ginger in it. Yummy.

I'm sure you are going to be rolling your eyes at me....I was shown the way to the Goodwill Clearance Center in Indianapolis, not far from my hotel either! (Do you think they booked me near by on purpose? *LOL*) And I did find some shirts that I needed for a project that was with me. Not just for stock piling, but ones I could cut up and use right away while on the road. I'm sewing for the sequel to Scraps & Shirttails so it is fun to pick up shirts on my travels and incorporate them in the projects!

What was I in most need of? NEUTRALS! LIGHTS! I am always drawn to the blues, reds, greens, oranges, etc...but a white shirt with a pale stripe or plaid to it just doesn't ring the bells, you know? but that was my mission this time. LIGHTS. And I found them. And some others too, and since they were something like $1.39 a pound. They came home too.

And what else was at the clearance center? How about a 1930's feedsack doll quilt...hand quilted? in the $1.39 a pound bin?? I snatched THAT right up! It's pretty primitive, maybe made by a girl for her dolly, but it will be a cute display piece.

In the pic above you see my goodies :c) The dolly quilt is the one with the light blue border....bags of shirts on the floor...

On the way to Ohio back from Indy, I stopped at a HUGE antique mall..and that's where the other damage was done..*LOL*

I found the 9 patch crib quilt, all indigos and shirtings...for $40. It's in GREAT shape, and I love seeing all the shirtings in it!

I really love pink depression glass, and the pink biscuit jar was in a booth that was 20% off..it just had to come too.

The ironing board cover...well...it was in the most offensive booth in the place! *LOL* Granted, it was a cutter quilt, and you can tell. The ironing board covers aren't TOO bad, and I have this one here on my antique wooden board for display, but I would much rather see cutter quilts being used for things like table runners and teddy bears, than made into *GASP* toilet seat covers?!? and toilet TANK covers?! Is this just because of my knowledge of what it is like to raise boys? Still. Ruffled lace around a quilted seat cover is just not my thing...

I was taken to the Goodwill store in Pataskala, OH, also on the lookout for more shirts. Hit the jackpot! Pink tags were 99 cents. Yellow tags were 50% off...so I paid 99 cents for most of the shirts, and 1.50 for the ones that were yellow tags. Not bad. Hard time restraining myself, but a quick thought of what awaits me at home with all I've accumulated kind of did put on the brakes.

So what's up now? I'm home for a week, and I'm book writing hot and heavy. Everything has to be to the editor by mid Sept so we can get this book put to bed and ready for release in February! It's all so exciting. And I know I've kept a lot of things under wraps, but I just feel the need to. I hope you understand and will like what you see when it comes out!

I'm off to Indiana again on the 27th. I'm going to know this road very well by the time I'm done with the fall! I'm teaching at a retreat at Camp Mack,in Milford, IN, and then the Home of the Classics Quilt Show in Auburn, IN....

Need to pack up more projects for the next shirttails book so I can sew on the road!

Thoughts from Ohio (Via Indiana!)

Hi guys :c)

I'm still on the road...heading up for 2 weeks now! I've been bouncing from town to town giving workshops and lecture/trunkshows from place to place.

Sorry if I haven't been able to connect much! I'm in small towns, bad connection, no connection, or just too tired after giving an all day workshop followed by an evening trunkshow and having to drive 5.5 hours to the next place.

I have all these good intentions to keep up with the blogging in between everything, but..well, sometimes something has to be let go, and the blogging was it!

I have had a wonderful time meeting quilters I only knew via email or their blogs! It has been so fun to put faces to names and voices to faces and put it all together!

The show and tell at the guild meetings has been so inspiring. Each guild has it's own flavor and it is exciting to see what is going on with quilting all over this country of ours (and the world at large)

I've taken some pics on my phone as I've been out and about. What you see above are my shots of Lake Erie, from where I was in Westlake Ohio. PRETTY!!!! I can't imagine what it is like in winter time...I stayed 10 minutes away from the lake, and when I found out how close I was, I just had to go put my toes in. It's the North Coast, you know? :cD



I'm now in Newark OH....home of the Longaberger Basket Co! I love oddities, so we had to drive by the building...which is of course SHAPED like a basket! Too funny...

While in Indiana....after teaching a full day workshop, I was invited to go sew for the EVENING from 6pm to 11pm at the quilt shop "sew in!!" And that was a lot of fun. I've got 4 tops that I've been able to finish while on the road...one was assembled into rows and needed to be sewn into the top, and borders added. That is done. One other was a center that ALSO needed borders..that is done...one was a pile of blocks that needed set..that is done...

And I was planning on setting that one with a bunch of big 1/2 square triangles for setting it "straight furrows" but it didn't work out. The 1/2 square tiangles overwhelmed the blocks. So..did hour glass blocks instead, and that left me with a bunch of 8" 1/2 square triangles. THOSE became the seeds for the next top which got sewn together yesterday (still needing borders) And I am off and running on another project...so my down time has been productive even if I couldn't get time for an internet connection!

I've got an afternoon workshop today, a lecture tonight, a workshop tomorrow..and home on Thursday...So it will probably be a few days before you hear from me again!

(but thanks for the emails telling me to come up for air and asking me if I was okay!)

Love,
Me

Whooowhooo it's done!

Well, all except the binding that is, which is sewn on (as is the sleeve) and will go to Ohio with me tomorrow, and I'll finish it on the road :c)

I was trying to think how many states this little quilt has traveled to and been quilted in. TOO MANY!! I lost count!


These pics are from my phone, so they might not show the quilting detail really well, but I'm tickled pink. I finished the quilting in Georgia a couple days ago, sitting on Joan Garland's couch :c)

I had a wonderful time with the Hall County Quilt guild....plus the other 30 or so visitors that came from as far away as parts of Alabama. One lady also came from somewhere like Michigan, she happened to be in town visiting her son and came to the lecture/trunkshow/booksigning I did at a local shop after the guild meeting. It's SO fun to be in touch with quilters from every where. Like we are our own Sorority Phi Beta Quilta or something ;c)

Many of you may remember my dilemma about a year and a half ago when I was moving to NC from SC, downsizing my house, and having to sell my piano because there wasn't room for it. It broke my heart, but I did get rid of it and thought "good riddance" because my life was too busy to really have time to practice and play.


Over the past 6 months or so I have really really wanted that piano BACK! Only there was still the problem of where to put one. I don't have inside walls that are in good locations for pianos. There is that whole issue of having to tune one...

Through talking with a friend, and then seeing my mom's digital piano when I went home to Idaho for Mother's Day and trying it there...I really decided that this would be GREAT for me. I ordered a yamaha, and it arrived last week! I am SO tickled with it. The keys are weighted action, they feel like playing a real piano, doesn't feel or sound like an organ, it SOUNDS like a piano! So I have had fun reclaiming sheet music and feeling very rusty with it all, but loving it.

The piano is down here in my studio with me.....I moved an antique treadle in a parlor cabinet out to the other half of the basement and rearranged things, and it is perfect in here up against the wall!

I realized something...that my music was the one thing in my life that was NOT quilt related. And it was important for me to have something that got me AWAY from even the quilting. I feel balanced. It is a stress reliever to me to sit and play, even if I am rusty (okay, I suck!) and I have missed it!

I'm packing the car right now (well as soon as I hit send) to head to Ohio and Indiana in the morning. I won't be back til the 20th. I will try to post on the road, but I'm not promising anything! I get down to the end of the day and there is just no energy left....

Oh, and here's a funny. This is when you KNOW your planets are aligned or whatever:

I had to fill book orders today, and I needed to print stamps from stamps.com. If you've not done this..here is how it works.

You have a little "bank account" that you set up like a debit thing....tell stamps.com how much money you want them to charge your credit card for, and then you can print stamps up to that amount.

There are special sheets of paper that you have to print on.

Printer #1 was OUT of ink. I needed stamps PRONTO. I thought I'd try printing the stamps on printer #2, my laser jet. When you say print a full sheet...you see the money DISAPPEAR from the little "bank account" reserve fund....however much it costs to print the whole sheet. In this case, about $65.00!!

At this point, the printing should commence. But it started...and stopped...and said PAPER JAM!! But the money was now GONE from my account! crap crap crap crap....

When this happens, you are supposed to clear the paper jam....print out a refund report..mail it to stamps.com in the snail mail (with ANOTHER stamp!) and in about 6 weeks they will credit your account. AUUUUGHH! $65.00 down the tubes!

I still couldn't get the printer to go back to normal, and then I thought.....maybe...just maybe....that the printer memory STILL had the stamp printing job in it! So...I turned off the computer, and when it rebooted....yep! the printer memory took over and I was there with the form to PRINT those stamps!!! ANd they DID print..and I was NOT out the $65.00 for 6 weeks. Can you spell RELIEF!??

So something must have been right in my world today....amazing.

And with that story, I'm off to finish packing, get a good night's sleep, and hit the road bright and early!!

Double Delight Opportunity!

I don't often do this, spam everyone too much. I like to keep that to a minimum or there would be a spam post every day from someone wanting me to post something, but this one was too good to pass up!

Sheila writes:

Dear Bonnie,

A while ago I told you about a charity quilt project I was working on. It is the Double Delight Opportunity Quilt to benefit my quilting friend and her family who lost their home to a fire this past March. The quilt has been on display at my local quilt shop and has made a few guest appearances at local outdoor events. I had several thousand tickets printed and still have quite a few to sell. The drawing is in September and I was wondering if you thought that maybe some of your blog followers might be interested in taking a chance to win this quilt by helping a fellow quilter and her family get back on their feet.

There are many worthy causes out there, but this one touches my heart. I have often had nightmares about losing everything to fire. I hope this raffle helps restore some normalcy to this family!

You can find out more by clicking on this LINK

Double Purple :c)

This is the quilt I brought home from Sisters with me! Really, I thought I was going to get away from there without having to buy anything...HA! But this one, oh THIS one...and I asked the lady if she would take less than the asking price, well, when she met MY offered price, I couldn't walk away, could I? I mean....would have really looked stupid if she said yes, and I said I changed my mind :c)

I love this quilt...all that double purple is rare to find. There is a faded-to-brown stripe on the fold down the center, It was probably stored where light hit it. The other fabrics are not specifically gorgeous, but many interesting pieces, definitely some feminine and some masculine scraps in there.


I love the burgundy resist prints, and of course many of the stripes and plaids are cut VERY off grain. She was definitely cutting the pieces whichever way the template would fit on the scraps she had.

It doesn't look like it at first glance, but it is a 54-40 or fight block! The lights just kind of blend together giving it a different look.

And while I was photographing the quilt, I couldn't ignore Chloe who was shading herself under the picnic table on the deck. She is still here, doing well, loves being outside, and is even MORE apt to letting you get closer for a belly rub these days than she ever was when she was a "house cat".

Thanks for the comments on the issue of BIG QUILTS. Its nice to know I'm not alone in my thoughts! I do make some smaller things, those are the ones I travel with so I can stitch on the road, but for the most part, quilts that cover people from head to toe (at least) and cover beds (at most) are where it's at for me! (Still thinking this is going to help me use more fabric scraps.....)

Mary Jo's Run...

Last Friday, Four of us took a run down to Gastonia for a Mary Jo's Cloth World Fix.

We Came, We Shopped, We Conquered!

I really didn't "NEED" anything. Not in the way of fabric or anything, but I will tell you what I did need! The laughter and companionship of girlfriends out on a road trip.

The other day I read a quote from "Sex in the city" that has just given me the giggles and rang so true in many ways at the same time. It goes:

"Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with" --sex and the city

The longer I live..the more I see so much sense in this! My girl friends are there with support and laughter and understand every quilty need.The guys? Well, in this house, I'll give them the benefit of TRYING to get me, but mostly, they have just learned to raise one eyebrow, but keep their mouths shut! *LOL*

So what did I come home with? Not a lot (unless you count the sore belly muscles from multitudinous and copious amounts of genuine belly laughter!

I hit the remnant bins on the cotton solids. I always hit those, never know when you are going to find some AWESOME solids that will be just the right accent to whatever project. Solids to me are a legitimate purchase, just the same as the B words..backgrounds, borders, bindings, backings.. I love this darkest darkest dark chocolate. There are two pieces of it. It's yumtious! I'm thinking of using it in place of a black background on a solids project.

Two Green FQs.
Two fun fabrics for possible borders. 2 yards each.

That's it. That's all the fabric that said "TAKE ME HOME" and I was able to say no to everything else.

One EZ Rule 6.5X13 inch ruler. I love these rulers. What can I say, yes, I also like the creative grid, but this is just a smidge longer. I like that it has the 1/4" dashed markings all along the outside edge of the ruler, around all 4 sides. Makes it great for squaring things up and trimming. The numbers are HUGE...and it has no green or yellow so it is easy for me to read. And unlike the creative grids, you don't have to flip the ruler around to use the stuff on the half inch. And it was cheap. About $10.00.

Yesterday I got to the point where I actually had to turn the computer off and walk AWAY. The pattern writing is stressing me out to no end. I've got 8 of 12 done. # 12 is still in the piecing stage. #9 and #10 are just not easy for me to diagram even in EQ because I am so EQ challenged. Even today..I'm putting off writing?! That's why I'm writing this instead :c|

My fears? My quilts are too big for what people will want. I make bed sized quilts. All the beds in my house are queen or king. I have no lap size projects in this book. No foo foo book covers or table toppers or cutesy hand bags for this book. None of the novelty "make it quick" type projects. It's BIG QUILTS. Is there a market for that? I hope so. I have some small wall hangings made with leaders/enders but I'm not sure if there will be room for them in the book at this point, maybe just a gallery section with small enticements, but no patterns for them. Then people will want patterns for them. So yes, I am stressing to the max here.

One thing I've always told myself is to make what *I* want to make...just for the enjoyment of it. It might not be the best marketing strategy, but it keeps me anchored to what I love.

Pre-EQ!

I found this little lovely in an antique mall many months back. Somehow it never made it into a post, but I have had the most FUN playing with this thing!!

Quilter's Blocks! Each side of the wooden cube has either a red, white, yellow or blue solid, or a half square triangle. What a boon this would have been to a quilter of yesterday before computers.

What I really like about them is that you play with design, without really spending too much time on color because your choices are limited in the blocks. It's more like just designing in "gray scale" which allows your mind to put your own colors where you want them, without the colors themselves clogging up your design process. At least that is how it works for me!

I'm not sure when this little ditty was manufactured, but if you ever come across one, pick it up..FAST!

I found THIS SET on Ebay. It is set number 14, manufactured in the 1920s. Mine is set number 34 so maybe mine are from the 30s,40s. I didn't pay near what the set on ebay was running for!

Just a sweet piece of Quilt-nostalgia that I wanted to share with you....as I get back to drafting patterns in EQ to the point where I would do ANYTHING to get away from the computer and just go SEW SOMETHING!!