Quiltmaker Magazine’s Goings-On!

Just a heads up post for things to look for!

First off…The November/December issue of Quiltmaker is OUT! It’s a great issue with gorgeous quilts!

Click HERE to get a preview of what you will find in the issue….I am in LOVE with the red feathered “Infinite Stars” quilt! Definitely a must-do on my Quilt-Bucket-List!

I’ve also got a really FUN Addicted To Scraps block in there for you!

I call this block “Moth in the Window” and it is GREAT made with scraps from your recycled shirts, plaids, stripes, etc! Grab those pre-cut strip bins, your easy angle ruler, and get to piecing!

Quiltmaker has drawn up this layout inspiration for you as well:

((I tried to biggie-size it, but it got blurry…but I think you can get the idea here!)) I love the 4 patch cornerstones….those could all be made from your leaders and enders while you are piecing the blocks!

And that’s not ALL that is going on!

The next edition of 100 blocks by 100 designers is about to be released! Check out the link for some sneak previews and more information! This is Volume 4, and is the 3rd issue I’ve had a block in, and all the issues have been great. If you’ve missed any of the previous issues, they can be ordered here.

My block even made the COVER! Woot! Can you guess which one it is? Look close!

I will be participating on the blog tour, which runs November 7 – 11!

This means there will be a GIVEAWAY here on MY blog! And the fun part is --- it takes place while I am at sea on the cruise with Pat Sloan and 55 or so other quilters! ((My guess is those 55 people will be too busy and without net access to leave a comment and enter, so your chances of winning just went up a few notches.. ;c) ))

Just be watching for more info…I’ll keep you clued in, and just like last cruise, stuff will be written ahead of time ready to auto-post so you won’t miss a thing!

UGH!

I am just back from the doc with another whopping case of bronchitis. Coughing up the proverbial lung so to speak ((Or barely whisper, or squawk, as that is all the sound I can get out other than a horrible rumbly cough!))

I kind of “KNEW” I was in trouble when the tickle that I acquired in Maryland started to feel “chesty” on my way home last Tuesday. But I was flying to Maine on Wednesday and there was no time to get to a doc or get a prescription as I got home around 7pm, and my flight left at 7am the next morning!

I did what any other “home remedy” person would do and started on the mucinex DM, airborne, vitamin C, Advil cold & sinus, lots of fluids, good amount of sleep ---and it seemed to be doing pretty well until Saturday afternoon late when the cough turned “productive”. ((NO, I’m not going to sit here and describe to you how yellow/green is not your friend!!))

I also knew there was nothing I could do until I got home --- Rangeley doesn’t have a pharmacy, you have to drive an hour away down the mountain to get to one. I just had to hunker down and suck it up!

Yesterday morning before heading out, I called my doc and made an appt for this morning. 7:50am. After getting home at midnight? Okay. I can do it.

Bronchitis confirmed, and two shots in the tookass, and a long wait-around at Sam's club pharmacy for the other meds---I’m back to laying low at home waiting for the meds to kick this out of my system before I leave for New Mexico on Saturday.

I WILL BE WELL DANGIT!

On the home front --- along with coughing up a lung, I’m worried about my son’s wounded heart.

Jason and his long time girl friend of 4 years just broke up this week. There is always more than one side, and I’m not butting in. I’m just here to listen. And I hurt for him.

He's devastated of course, but he found an apartment in the same complex as his brother....though on the other end as to not be TOO close. I'm glad they are both there in Columbia. Jason seems to be doing okay, big rants and lots of anger and "Love stinks" kind of messages coming from his facebook --- but he is entitled. Time wounds all heels as they say.

The hardest part? Feeling like I’ve lost a daughter. Kim was the daughter that I never had. I love her parents too, and I’m just extremely sad. But THEY need to work this out, or not --- and I’m learning as a parent of a grown child just how hard it is to want to jump in and “fix” things, even when you can’t-- and it’s hard to sit on your hands, and just be here to listen and encourage and try to keep him focused on hope for the future.

And with that….meds are making me a bit sleepy, so I’m off to crash for a bit. Unpacking can wait for later!

And I Sewed, Too!

I have to tell you, I felt like I was slacking and playing hooky and getting away with something I should not be getting away with either!

And it was GREAT!

Usually, my trips go like this…..I teach ONE class per day that lasts either a half day ((4 hours)) or a full day ((6 hours plus time for lunch)) with the average day running from 9am to 4pm. And everyone does the same class. And I spend my time with each student, making my rounds around the room.

If I need to sew for a demo, I bump someone out of their chair and use their machine.

I don’t sit! I certainly don’t sit at the front of the class and work on my own projects, that’s not what I am there for.

So Thursday night I taught from 2pm until dinner time….and then *I* got to sew!

Remember the trouble I had with the difference in seam allowance when switching between machines at retreat in Shipshewana last November? Even though my new featherweight had a brand new highly touted “PERFECT” 1/4” foot on it, all my blocks came out to be 1/4” too small when compared to the ones I had made at home on my Bernina.

I was NOT going to deal with that this time! ((And yes, I ditched that 1/4” foot with the little black guide because it sews FAR too wide, and because that black thing is there, you can’t see WHERE the edge of your fabric is))

On the left is the pair of triangles sewn with the “perfect 1/4” foot with guide. TOO WIDE!

ON the right is the one I sewed on my home machine, my Bernina 1080, with it’s scant 1/4”.

These triangles needed to measure 2” when pressed. The one with the 1/4” foot on the featherweight came out 1 7/8”. You can see just by looking at the pic that the seam allowance on the left hand pair is too wide.

So how do I get what I sew on THIS machine to match what I am sewing on my home machine? I had a light bulb moment!

I put my original foot on that came WITH the featherweight…..this foot is too narrow by itself for a 1/4” seam, but I took the “CORRECT” triangle pair, the one I sewed on my home machine, and put it under the needle. I sunk the needle right into the stitch line. I used my little screw on seam guide and adjusted it right up to where the seam allowance needed to fall.

I knew the seam would be the same as the ones I sewed at home at this point…I double checked by holding ones I’d done at home against the ones I was doing here. NO DIFFERENCE. I think this is even more important than measuring your seam with a ruler. Just be sure you bring a unit that you sewed on the “other” machine so you can set the traveling machine to give you the same result.

Friday I taught until about 3:30pm…and everyone had really gotten into their projects and didn’t need me anymore, and the machine beckoned!

I sewed until dinner, and I sewed after dinner until I crawled off to bed around 10:30pm ((Yeah, I know, what a WIMP!!))

Saturday I got in LOTS AND LOTS of sewing time! So much so that all I had left were the leader/ender bow-ties I had brought….and they became primary project material!

Woah! Can I actually do it this way? Is that cheating?

If I am using one bow-tie to be the leader ender of a second bow-tie…does that make it more legal!?

When I ran OUT of pre-cut bow-tie parts..I grabbed the motley crew of scrap fabrics I had brought with me and pressed them. And then I had a cutting fest! ((Yep, there are some real classic vintage oldies in here! How fun to put them to good use in these ties!))

I spent my last night in Rangeley back at Quilt Inn, covering the wonderfully large cutting table with little kitted up squares for MORE bow-ties!

I’m headed to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM on Saturday. Guess who’s going to be ready for some MORE piecing time?!

Quilting and More Quilting!

What a wonderful place for a retreat!

Here we all are, on our last morning….trying to gather for a group photo! The weather was not as cooperative as it looks, it was windy and cold and we were huddled together trying to brace our smiles on while poor Dan had the job of taking pictures with 17 different cameras.

Hard to believe that after being together Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning ---filling the space up with the sounds of machines running and talking, laughing and even singing….that this wonderful space would once again revert to being completely empty.

This is a glimpse of what it looked like before the onslaught:

Look at all these great windows! Lots of natural light…..plenty of ample space for everyone to sew and visit!

20 Quilters, plus Carol and myself! Can you see where my spot was? Hint --- look for the hot magenta featherweight!

When the weather cooperates, this is the view from the back deck!

When it doesn’t, you get fog, and rain, and a whole nuther kind of beautiful! Besides, if it’s raining, there is no guilt about staying inside and sewing!

Little by little the retreaters arrived, many of them eager to see each other since they haven’t been together since the same time last year.

We started sewing at 2pm….and everyone was eager to get working on their projects!

The quilters had their choice of which quilt to make, either Star Struck, or Texas Braid…and they came with strips and pieces cut and ready to go! This was my first time teaching two classes at once, and the juggling act was a bit of a challenge, but soon all were headed in the right direction with pedal to the metal!

At 6pm we were called to the dining room for a wonderful meal! Our sewing went on into the late evening hours…but I have to confess that I was pooped out and in bed by 10:30pm each night. I have become a total wimp when it comes to burning the midnight oil. If I don’t get a decent sleep I just don’t do well the next day! So off to bed I went…

A glmpse of my cozy room! It was right off of the sewing area, and very convenient! We also used the bed as a place to lay some of the larger quilt pieces out. I pity the maid who has to get the thread bits off of that white coverlet bedspread! LOL!

Take a wander through the slide show and see what we had going on! There are over 50 photos in the album, not all of them show in the thumbnails below. I was tickled at the variations that people were coming up with, and enthralled with the mini version of the Texas Braid quilt that someone was making in 50% scale..her pieces were 1” X 2.5”!!

		Quilt Camp, Rangeley Maine 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

I’m on my way home today! We’re leaving Rangeley around 11:30am and making our way toward Portland where we will meet up with “cityquilter” Grace for a shopping spree at Mardens! I’ve never been there before, but I’ve been told it is a Maine Must See, so we will! Anything I acquire will have to be shipped home as the luggage is already at maximum weight capacity!

As fun as this has been, it’s time to get this girl HOME!!