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Monday, January 16, 2017

A Home Sewing Weekend!

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I found myself home for the whole weekend, a weekend all to myself to putter, to organize, and to sew!

Wow, this hasn’t happened in quite a while!

I arrived home about 11pm on Thursday from my whirlwind trip of Arizona.  I’m still smiling at all we fit in there.  It was wonderful spending time with family, taking hikes through the rough terrain dotted with saguaro, to meeting with two different quilt guilds and guests who came.  It was the best of both worlds.

Friday was full as son Jeff helped me get all of the book orders caught up and out the door by post office closing time.  And then I was faced with a weekend of free time on my hands.

Because I leave again on Wednesday for the Hilton Head area of South Carolina, we opted to not go to the cabin.  And I’m glad!  There isn’t a long arm quilting machine there, and Garlic Knots has been calling to me to become a “real quilt” and the weekend was just what I needed to get it done.
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Locked, Loaded and Ready to Roll!

I tested several colors of thread and ended up with a light grey that blends through most everything without shouting out as too dark against the lights, or too light against the darks.  When it comes to choosing quilting thread options, I go for minimal contrast always aware of what it might look like during photography.

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So far so good!

The edge to edge design is called Country Garden by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting, Australia.  I’ve used it before and I love the effect!

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Started on Saturday, Finished on Sunday!

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Find the strong men!! LOL!

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Trimmed and ready for binding!

There are fabrics in here that date to the 1980s!  See the peach strip in the lower left with quilt block print on it?  Oh yeah.  That was from my 1980s country peach and sea foam green phase.  Bye bye!

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Last Night’s Adventures in Late Night Binding!

Binding is on, sleeve is on, label is on – just need some evenings of hand stitching.  I talked about this binding, while I was sewing the strips to each other on yesterday afternoon’s Quilt-Cam.  I use 2” strips for a 1/4’’ finished binding that is tight and full to the fold.  Did you catch this episode? It’s a short one, only 40 minutes.  The battery on my tablet died.  Oh well, more time for sewing!

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And what are these?

Well, over the weekend I issued a challenge for those who wanted to join me to do ONE HOUR of sewing space re-organization before sitting down to sew.  It happened Saturday, and it happened yesterday…but part of the problem with digging in to reorganize is you find things you forgot about – like these little string blocks I started while teaching at a retreat on Lake Okoboji in Iowa last MARCH!  That’s almost a year ago.  And there were many of these just waiting to be trimmed.  They are so stinking cute.

But what about the red blocks I started before I went to Arizona??



Oh I love them!  (Major case of SQUIRREL here.)

All I want to do is be locked away on a desert island (with electricity and wifi) and sew string and crumb quilts from small pieces for the rest of my life.  I’m formulating a plan for these, stay tuned. These are paper pieced and require an accurately sized foundation, so they may end up as a future Addicted to Scraps column in Quiltmaker Magazine so they will be easy for you to copy.

The weekend is actually still in full swing, it’s Martin Luther King Day which means the Post Office is closed, so I have a bit of a reprieve and can make time to meet a friend for lunch, tackle some more studio stuff (just ONE HOUR, and then SEW!)  and start to pack the van for my voyage to Hilton Head on Wednesday.

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Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage quilt found in Chandler, Arizona.

This can be a hard one. Some things are worth sticking with because you know in your heart it's what you need to do, but other situations that steal your happiness? Life is too short for that. Let It Go.

I want to add to this the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, because letting things go can be scary.  He says: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

What a remarkable man.  Today I celebrate his life and his wisdom and everything he tried to accomplish.  Because of him, I also have a dream.

Happy Monday, everyone!


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10 comments:

  1. The quote from Dr. King reminds me of the scene in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". Jones is ordered to take a step into a seeming canyon but when he takes that step we see the bridge. I think of that a lot. Faith!

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  2. Love, love, love the Garlic Knot quilt. I have some box kites blocks on my wall that I also love and need to make more of before they become a quilt. Today though, I am making charity lap quilts that I will give to a group that distributes them around the city to those in need. Later I will work on En Provence.

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  3. Love, love, love the Garlic Knot quilt. I have some box kites blocks on my wall that I also love and need to make more of before they become a quilt. Today though, I am making charity lap quilts that I will give to a group that distributes them around the city to those in need. Later I will work on En Provence.

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  4. Love, love, love the Garlic Knot quilt. I have some box kites blocks on my wall that I also love and need to make more of before they become a quilt. Today though, I am making charity lap quilts that I will give to a group that distributes them around the city to those in need. Later I will work on En Provence.

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  5. My Sewing Birthday Weekend wasn't as productive as yours. I have more sashing and Block parts to get trimmed for my En Provence. I couldn't just leave it as a small 4 Block quilt. It said go bigger! I love the bigger Blocks. They were fun to web together. Have a great Lunch with your friend. I was glad to catch QuiltCam on my Birthday. Love the grey thread on your Garlic Knots. Good thinking.

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  6. Enjoyed Quilt Cam last night. Love the binding fabric for Garlic Knots. Today I will continue on my Crumb quilt and start on the challenge project for my local quilt group. A Mondo bag. Lots and Lots of 2.5 inch squares and an interesting way to sew it together. On to the sewing room.

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  7. I'm finally nearing the end of my En Provence. Christmas and all the kids getting strep had brought progress to a halt! :) I can't wait to have it finished and on the bed, as my crumb box and your Wild and Goosey are calling my name! Enjoy your long weekend.

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  8. So nice that Jeff helped knock out the book orders so you could relax and enjoy your weekend! I love my son and his good heart! You must have had a ball this weekend, you were so productive. Love the garlic knots and the red blocks are adorable. But, OMG, the glimpses of your R,W&B quilt, sorry can't remember the name of the block right now, WOW, just WOW.
    Safe travels this week!

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  9. Bonnie: I Love Your Garlic Knot Quilt. Someday, I will have to make one.
    I Love the Quote of the day. I have a situation in my life right now that this fits, and this quote may just be the urge I need to push ahead, walk away get past it. New Beginnings are on the horizon.

    Donna
    Kasilof, AK
    Where it is cold. It is done snowing for a few days, but we are in sub zero temps for the next few days, also.

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  10. Your garlic knots quilt is awesome what a happy quilt.
    Love how you combined everything it is no wonder that you are the best of the best.
    You have excellent taste and you do everything so quick.
    String piecing is my favorite thing to do too am still cutting and organizing but hope this weekend to start a new string quilt.
    You are a miracle quilter for sure.
    Glad you had some time to string quilt Bonnie.
    Happy Quilting,
    Yoka Bazilewich.

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