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Friday, April 01, 2016

April Fools Day, 2016!

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We are starting out with our Quiltville Quote, because --

IT’S APRIL!

Did you know that the first clear and widespread mentions of April Fool's Day occurred in the 18th century? For 300 years April 1st has been full of pranks and pranksters! Watch your back, but have fun while doing it!

And today on the mountain is full of April Showers, but I don’t mind.

Thinking back on April Fools days past, I am reminded of one time when I was about 10 or so that my brother put rice crispies in my bed as a joke.  It wasn’t funny at the time, but evidently HE thought it was.

Was your growing up punctuated by pranks on April Fool’s Day?

I am always searching for the right words to go with any quilt for whatever day it is, but holidays are really fun to pull into play.  I loved Mark Twain books when I was growing up, and this quote of his made me chuckle.

While I know you can’t see much of the quilt in this photo, I want to send you a photo of the full quilt so you can see it:

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Can you SEE how tiny these stars are??

And this was as close as my fiend Irene could get to the quilt as it was hanging behind furniture.  GAH!  I am so in love.  If I ever finish the on-going hexagon project, this might be my next love.  1930s & 40s fabrics, found in Kentucky.

I have had my April Fools prank a bit early this year.  Last evening I got a notice that my google account had been compromised and I had to go through the whole "choose a new password" thing.

They make it SO difficult!  How are we supposed to remember all of this password stuff at this age?

Yes, I have a hard copy notebook I write things in.  I'm old school that way.  But it isn't always with me. I'm not taking that notebook everywhere I go.

I have the app on my phone for saving passwords.  Oops.  I forgot the password to that app too.  AUUGH!

I emailed myself a short list and hid it under a certain key subject line, so if I search by that word I can find my list.  Watch me forget my secret word for that too!

It took a while this morning even to get everything synced up so I could post this blog from my writer into blogger.  Good grief.


Before I go any further I have a SPECIAL request!  If any of you are attending the Cocoon in Naperville, IL next week, Pepper Cory and I are in deep need!  First off, I would love your show & share quilts for during my lunch lecture, so please bring them!

Second...Both Pepper and I are crunching on some deadlines.  Machines are provided for the venue, but we each need to be working behind the scenes and would LOVE IT if you could loan us each a featherweight (or a 301) for our use during the Cocoon.

If you are driving, and can bring a machine, please email me at quiltville@gmail.com.  I will update the status here as soon as I hear that someone can accommodate our request, but if this is not updated, please know we are still in need!  Looking forward to seeing you!  I arrive in Chicago on Sunday afternoon!

***UPDATE!!***  Marilyn has kindly offered to let me use her featherweight, we are still looking for one for Pepper.  If you are driving to the cocoon and don't mind packing it along, please email me!

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This happened before Quilt-Cam on Wednesday!

I pieced a backing!  This goes with the green strings and the green triangles and all that other green secret stuff you’ve been seeing over the past several months.  I finished the top over the weekend and had just the perfect fabric for the back – but not nearly enough to make it wide enough.  I didn’t have time to do a lot of orphan block pieces and parts assembly, but I COULD go into my stash, pull a favorite “Quilt Diva” novelty fabric and insert it with racing stripes between the pieces of yardage and call it good!  I’ve been hanging on to this Quilt Diva fabric for quite a while and I only had 1/2 yard.  It was perfect here, leaving me a couple of leftover pieces that went right into the scraps.

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Sneaky Peeky!

It doesn’t show you much, but I wanted to point out that little neutral square with the green ruffle on it.  See it?

I get the biggest charge out of sewing with fabric that no one else wants, that others deem old, ugly, outdated, unusable.  That little neutral square with the green ruffle was actually a pre-printed country panel piece from the mid to late 1980s.  I remember these.  They were printed with country scenes like a butter churn with a goose, a loaf of bread with a saying, a heart with a floral bouquet in the middle, surrounded by a drawn lace ruffle – that was this piece.

I just took those panel parts and sliced them down and have been treating them as simply “neutrals” And I love this little bit of quilting history that will show up in my quilts, even if you can’t find it on a bolt anywhere.  This kind of fabric usage speaks to me.  This is what patchwork is all about.  making good use of the scraps you already have on hand.
 
Now think back to that diamond star quilt photo above. Where do you think her variety of scraps came from?  Household sewing!  Clothing made for herself and for her family.  The scraps tell the story of a life of living.

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Rain on the mountain!

Sadie and I headed up yesterday afternoon, running errands along our way.  I did stop back at the antique mall, and someone had already bought the Simplex machine!  It’s okay.  I really didn’t need it.  It was more of a “I need to rescue this!” than anything, but the saying is true:  If you find something in an Antique Mall you like, you better buy it then because it likely won’t be there when you return!

I hope it has a happy life wherever it went!

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Laying out and Playing!

I’ve got a plan with these now, and I’m liking how it is coming together.  I’ve had emails from folks telling me that they have searched my website for  the pattern, and they can’t find it, could I please send it?  Honey, it’s a work in progress.  There isn’t a pattern until the quilt is made! LOL!  I'm still making decisions as I work on how this will all come together.  It's in the design process, and I could change my mind at any minute on how it will go.

And how boring it would be if nothing was ever shown EVER until the quilt was complete and released in pattern form.

Isn't it fun to see the process?

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By bed time!

These are not laid out in any particular order.  I was just making sure I had enough going this way, and going that way ---I’ll mix them up more later.  I need to do 6 more blocks.  I want this one rectangular not square.

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This one is for you, Lynn!

My friend Lynn loves flamingos!  Speaking of Flamingos, check this out:



If anyone needs me today, you’ll find me in the sewing nook stitching more H blocks!

Happy April, Everyone!


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31 comments:

  1. Got a giggle out of your saying today.
    Oh my goodness, that star quilt is incredible!!

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  2. thank you for showing the process....it's sharing like that that lifts the skill of all quilters....awesome flamingos!

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  3. "S" is our family letter. I'm playing around in my head and graph paper so see if I can come up with something I like. I have a problem with you......I'm minding my own business and working on a project....and BAM you come out with another block of inspiration. When will I every finish all the projects that have resulted in your inspiration. lol!! Now where did I put that Wonky Wishes project box?

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  4. I love seeing process photos! Otherwise it's too disheartening to see ful, blown and finished projects magically appear! The star quilt is amazing, if you decide to make it we'll cheer you along!

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  5. Would someone tell me how to send the link to the flamingo video? I'm computer illiterate and I'd love to send this to someone's!

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  6. Someone! Spellcheck got me!

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  7. Those flamingos made me giggle! The whole scene reminded me of spring break trips to spend a week with my grandparents in Florida, today may be April 1, but it's no joke i'm gettin my staples out of my knee today!! :)

    I have 2 new babies coming in the family. One boy in July, a girl in October. The Razzle Dazzle quilt you showed the other day will work well fo one. Will pick up the magazine over the weekend..

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  8. The star quilt is astounding! I am surprised that it didn't 'find it's way home' with you.

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  9. Beautiful star quilt. I've gotten the hang of hexies but am still having trouble with other shapes and lining them up correctly. If I could figure that out, it would be a fun one to do. I'm also thinking of sashing between the H blocks. Enjoy your free day today.
    Donna

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  10. BJ from NJ1:03 PM EDT

    Love seeing the H blocks coming together. All I could think was Happy Happy, it is so bright and upbeat! I'm going to suggest O Happy Day as a name for the finished quilt. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. I enjoy seeing your design process on the blog.

    That saying about buying it when you see it at antique stores holds true for craft shows too. I can't tell you how many times someone looked at something at my booth but wanted to keep looking (to find the same thing, but cheaper haha) then came back and what they wanted was gone because someone else had the good sense to buy it when they spotted it. I just didn't have much sympathy I'm afraid, but it was a lesson learned that I always try to remember when I'm the one spotting something I really like.

    You're having rain on the mountain, we're having snow showers here on the plains. I'm ready for Old Man Winter to give in and let us have sunshine, warmth and less wind.

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  12. Donna from Nova Scotia1:33 PM EDT

    I recently was a recipient of a big bag of panels and the ones that I knew I wouldn't use were cut into 2" squares. I even cut up the parts with the instructions. Hey, it is free fabric. More money to spend on the nice stuff.

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  13. Anonymous2:00 PM EDT

    T Seriouslyhese silly birds remind me of my quilting girls. This is how we are walking down the aisles at Road to California! Back and forth from side to side, not wanting to miss a thing. Then we get together and we all talk at once! Seriously! Love the Hemet girls.

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  14. Love the flamingoes video - one of my friends had sent me that, knowing how crazy I am for flamingoes. It's like they're saying "where's the bar?"

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  15. Wish I knew how to send a link of these flamingos to someone. Pink flamingos, giraffes, and zebras always take my breath away when I see them in person. It just amazes me that they are REAL creatures, not just imaginary like unicorns. Their coloring and markings (especially zebras!) just take my breath away!

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  16. Anonymous5:32 PM EDT

    The H blocks reminds me of the 4-H club block I used for several projects when I was a 4-H youth specialist. I think it was featured in the Nebraska 4-H Quilt Quest Curriculum. It is fun to see the many variations of a quilt block. Thanks for sharing.Love the quilt.

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  17. I really love those H blocks! I'll have to watch for your pattern if/when you have it for us, but then I'll have to figure out how to 'calm it down.' *I* love your crazy style, but my husband is pretty anal, and I'd want to make the H quilt in a version he'd like (because our last name also starts with H). Wonder how it would look as a 2-color quilt?

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  18. Anonymous7:40 PM EDT

    the H quilt would look boring as a two color quilt, the reason it looks so good is because of the fabrics, sorry

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  19. They sound like chickens

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  20. Thanks for more inspiration, I think I have some of those country panels in blue, burgundy and brown. Used to frame in wooden hoops with a ruffle and haven't been able to get rid of them but couldn't decide what to do. Will find and cut up for neutrals, the memories as I see will be great.

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  21. To send the flamingos to someone...
    While the video is playing, click on the YouTube symbol in the lower right corner.
    That will take you to the same video on YouTube and you can copy the www. address from that page.

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  22. I love Mark Twain's clever sayings. My favorite cookbooks are from the Mark Twain library in Ct and the recipes are interspersed with his sayings and highlights from his life. Love your H blocks too!

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  23. Hi Bonnie

    the H blocks are looking good.

    I was wondering what they might look like if one row of blocks all tilt one way and then the next row tilt in the opposite direction and then subsequent rows alternate.

    I just thought it might be another option to try before you sew them all together.

    Regards
    Deborah

    PS: I love your work!!! and your sharing of quiltcam time with us all.

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  24. Thank you for telling us the story of the little neutral with the green ruffle. My eye was immediately drawn to that piece when I saw the green and neutral block. ( love "ruffley" things! So cute! Also thanks for the video of the flamingos, what a hoot! My daughter and I both love flamingos, but have never seen any in real life. Such big birds!

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  25. Love that star quilt! I sure agree with you about passwords.

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  26. Thank you, Bonnie.. I've been wanting to do something for my friend Heidi for her 70th birthday & I think those Hs are perfect. There are so many possibilities in that block.

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  27. THe h quilt blocks look great! I have used the twisted setting in the past, it always looks great and you have inspired me to do it again. Since my last name is Hutchison, this could be a great addition to our collection.

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  28. Love your H blocks Bonnie and the video.
    They all walk so regal. Never saw anything like it .
    Thanks so much for sharing.
    Happy Quilting,Yoka Bazilewich.

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  29. Alice Kane12:30 PM EDT

    I Love the raspberry strip next to the lime green on your newly created backing fabric. It's simply stunning.
    As for passwords, I took photos of my password notebook pages with my iPad before leaving on a trip last year; the photos were "buried" in the subsequent photos that we took on the trip, weren't "labeled" as such, but were easy to find in the tiny previews when I needed to see what my password was for any given site.
    Your H blocks are very cute!

    Lastly, I just love the quilt you showed with the April Fools Mark Twain quote. The quilt is every bit as complicated as your beautiful hexies quilts are and certainly uses many tiny scraps. I love that the setting diamonds are carefully chosen to create a secondary pattern, separating each band of the diamond stars. Do you have any idea how big the tiny diamonds that make up each of the star points are? Or the size of the setting diamonds? If you do decide to begin making this quilt, I hope that you share the sizes with us. I'm thinking that the 4-part star diamonds can be made from the tiniest scraps and that the border diamonds can easily be printed with Inklingo, so that the sewing of the "Y" seams would be easier to do. It's just a glorious quilt and I'm only sorry that neither your nor your friend actually owns it.

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  30. Anonymous10:30 PM EDT

    Hi Bonnie, I will be cruising to Alaska the week after you (my kids are taking me for my 70th birthday (I'm still in shock)). Anyway I was wondering since you have done this cruise route before if there are any quilt shops for the ports oh Skagway and Juneau and Victoria B.C.? It is the same cruise as yours just the next week after yours. Would appreciate any recommendation of quilt shops within easy gentle walking distance of the ship. Thanks-keep up the good works!
    Sharon
    Grammy4@cox.net

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