Quilt-Cam, 4/30/2015

Good evening everyone!

I’ve got a treat for you ---before we sew.

This is Jane’s lovely sampler…check out the unique setting with the on point squares in columns dividing everything!

Isn’t it spectacular? From what she says, it’s an Edyta Sitar design.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the lone star border…how fabulous!

Jane sent me a message – and though she is probably off to bed now and missing it completely I wanted to share it with you here ---

She writes:

Hi Bonnie!
I have just discovered your Quilt Cam on You Tube and I LOVE it! You're great company while I'm playing with my HandiQuilter 18" Long Arm Machine . You're in the basement and I'm up the ladder in my loft! I am on a mission to use up the scraps from the earliest origins of my stash and I have just completed this scrappy star block quilt made with blocks from a BOM project. I laid them out on a neutral background and added an Edyta Sitar style border. (See pic).

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More Scrappy Sweetness from Spokane!

These ladies!  SEW MUCH FUN!

The whole room was great….but I am just using this photo to remind you of LAST SATURDAY when we had our Smith Mountain Morning workshop in Spokane…..yes…there are more show & share photos to go.

Did you enjoy yesterday’s antiques?

The basket quilt keeps running through my head…maybe in batiks? No..what about recycled plaids?  Oh, it might be great as a hand project because it has set in Y seams….

But there is still a hexie project to go.

((Must make sure I have enough neutrals for the trip to Italy on Satuday!)) 

Yes…brain on tangents….so much to do in the next couple of days!

But the quilts get lovelier and lovelier….just check it out!

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Nothing Like a Last Minute Class Sample!

This is the hexie block I pieced on this last trip.

This is the hexie block I had planned for a short 3 hour workshop on one of our beautiful lounging mornings in Tuscany next week!

Only—Bonnie is not used to doing just SMALL stuff.

Oh no.

She has to add “just one more row of hexies!”
Which brought the total up from 7 to 13 – nearly doubling the handwork required.

And then she thought --- it needs to BE something ---

So she appliqued it… thinking it might could very well be a zipper pouch.

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And Then There Were The OLDIES!

I'm talking QUILTS of course...not us people!

Sometimes there are reasons that some tops are NEVER to be quilted.

Take this one for example – and a great example it is!

Because this wonky free form top including hexagons and strings blocks would in no way EVER ((And yes, I mean EVER, no NEVER!!)) lay flat ----or be SQUARE for that matter ((heheheh!)) We have the ability to study it from the back side as well as the front.

Was this two piles of blocks that someone inherited and tried to combine together? We will never know…but what we do know can be seen on the back of the string blocks:

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Friends from Far Away, and Quilting All Day!

This is Gail!

Gail and her hubby hail from Ontario, Canada and they just happened to be “passing through” as they travel the blue ridge parkway and discover parts of the South East, from North Carolina up through Virginia and head back home.

I love those kind of road trips. 

I’m actually jealous!

Today they were planning on spending time in Old Salem here in Winston Salem, and I hope they had a good time.

When she let me know she had hoped to pick up some books on this trip, I was happy to gather what she needed and meet her near by!

I also directed her to a fabulous quilt shop, Sew Original –not too far from the area they were to be exploring.

I don’t know if she bought out the whole store yet, but I hope she tells them that Bonnie sent her!

So nice to meet you Gail! Safe journeys to you--

I spent the rest of the day battling this:

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Great Things Come in AQUA!

I fell off the wagon.

I didn’t mean to!

I wasn’t trying to!

I’m not even sure how it happened….

But what good is a wagon if you can’t fall off once in a while?

I just happened to be trolling Etsy. 

Innocent enough?

But I came upon a listing for a sewing machine that just called out my name…..I wasn’t even SEARCHING “Sewing Machine”  I was searching for “Sewing Jewelry”….and well, you never know what a search is going to toss into your browsing path.

When I arrived home from Spokane, TWO boxes were waiting for me….and it is important that there were two.

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Holy Hexie Day!

I returned home from getting my new pair of glasses –and dropping off the book orders to the post office, and making a run through the bank, and Fed Ex….

Little did I know when I returned home I would find a box stuffed full of…

VINTAGE! HEXIE! GOODNESS!!

No one ever expects these things…and when it happens, I am just so overcome!

This box came with a story:

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All the Spokane Show & Share!

My favorite part of all!

It’s about YOU!  it’s about what you’ve made, and I know all of the hard work, hopes and dreams that went into sewing each piece – all the while life was churning wildly around you.

It’s no small feat to finish a quilt ---we work at it a bit here, a bit there –those small moments that we claim for ourselves.  The other moments?  Jobs, Family, Kids, Grandkids, Fur-kids, aging parents, other life situations that pull at us so much –but this is the time when we recharge our batteries.

A few moments to cut some pieces here.  A couple of hours to sew some pieces there.

And at the end of it all, we have something beautifully amazing to share, like this lovely Orca Bay quilt from String Fling!

I just love her use of orange and turquoise!  So yummy!

I took several photos while in Spokane – some at the meetings, several during the workshops, so pour yourself a cuppa and prepare to be inspired!

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Galaxy-Gram! Short Photo Post!

This is a short photo post before they close the boarding door!

One more flight to go-

Spokane to Seattle to Atlanta to Greensboro!

Home soon!

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A Spokane Smith Mountain Morning Day!

Let your Quilty Love Shine!

And we surely had the Quilty Love flowing in our Smith Mountain Morning workshop yesterday with the Washington State Quilt Guild in Spokane!

I love the dedication that quilters embody.

Who else would drive all the way from Whidbey Island ---a 375 mile jaunt one way to spend a couple days sewing together?

Who else would come from Calgary, Canada?

Or Montana?

Or La Grande, Oregon?

Or any other far away place just to gather together with a bunch of strangers for a couple days workshops…

Only we aren’t strangers anymore!  That’s the BEST thing about being a quilter –we aren’t strangers for long!

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Galaxy-Gram! Spokane Smith Mountain Morning!

Hello from Spokane!

We had absolutely the most bestest ((yes,  that is a word in my book! )) day today!

Most fun of all was the group of Canadians who actually joined the guild so they could road trip 8 hours from Calgary and come to the workshop!

This little feat now makes the Washington State Quilters an INTERNATIONAL guild!

Half square triangles!   Quarter square triangles! Tri Recs units!   Log cabin rectangles! We did it all and had a great time doing it.

I love these ladies and hope to see them all again!

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Texas Braids, Spokane Style!

“If it’s STILL Ugly, you didn’t cut it SMALL enough!”

This has been my buzz phrase for more than 15 years, and it’s STILL my mantra!

I love how it makes folks giggle, while giving their brain a dose of reality.  It’s true!

By the time you cut up that languishing fat quarter, that old and out-dated piece of VIP calico that has been hanging around in the deep stash since 1984 ---it’s not so bad anymore!

Texas Braid from Adventures with Leaders & Enders is the perfect project for making a wonderfully fun scrappy quilt from the dregs of the scraps, and it ALWAYS looks wonderful!

All we were doing is separating our scraps into two color families…..neutrals/colors  or if you want to think of it as light/dark that is okay too!

We filled the conference room at the Spokane center to capacity with 46 quilters, machines, fabric, notions, tools – and happy laughter.

This is such an easy workshop that everyone got long lengths done and had so much to share.

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Galaxy-Gram! Texas Braid Friday!

Great day with Washington State Quilters in Spokane, Washington!

We sewed all day long and made so much progress!

Braids are extra fun when made from scraps, cut ahead of time and ready to sew.

Students are encouraged to swap rectangles with other students to increase their variety! It was an awesome day and I will be seeing lots of these folks again tomorrow for our Smith Mountain Morning workshop.

I keep forgetting what time it is back home since I am three hours earlier here on the West Coast, and I know this is posting late according to the time I regularly post - but I need to stick with the time zone I'm in otherwise it's way too confusing!

We are out for a bite to eat with several of the class members, and then back to the hotel room for some easy piecing on a borrowed featherweight tonight.

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And They Came to Spokane!

Spokane is such a wonderful city – a hidden gem to many.Yesterday was beautifully April, and we headed out at 10:30 am to set up for the Quarterly meetings of the Washington State Quilters.

Living in Idaho the many years that I have, spending my first couple of married years in not-too-far-away Prosser, Washington ((Where I encountered my first EVER quilt shop!)) I never had the opportunity to make it this far north to this beautiful area tucked into the mountains along the Idaho pan handle.

This place is AWESOME!

When I asked Lexi how many quilt shops they had in the area….she ran out of fingers to count them on.

How do you spell LUCKY?

The Washington State Quilters Guild meets 4 times a year, Quarterly and their members are many.  The Quarterly meetings have both a 1pm meeting, and for those who work, a 7pm session as well.

I was floored when I looked up from a packed book signing table to see this:

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Piecing on my Alone Time!

When one wakes up at 5:30am, and isn’t being picked up until 10:30am one has time to SEW!

5:30 may sound early, but it is actually 7:30 Wichita time – so I’m considering the 8 hours I got as a total WIN WIN WIN in the sleep department!

I’m writing this little ditty to post ahead, as I’ll be busy with two lectures on Pacific West Coast Time ---and I wanted to share what I got done this morning.

So here we are!

I only packed one piecing project knowing that I wouldn’t have time to sew in Wichita.  That was a crazy trip with hardly time to sleep, let alone sew!

But this morning….my soul was centered by some simple piecing of my on-point 4 patch units.

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All the Kansas Show & Share Goodies!

Those Kansas Quilters sure know how to produce beautiful quilts!

The quilt shown here is Star Struck from the Free Patterns tab  at the top of the blog.

It was a super quick visit to the Sunflower State, but I took SO many photos of gorgeous quilts, many being started with my last visit 3 or 4 years ago, and several mysteries as well!

Midwest winters can be long and hard, and what better way to make it through those cold cold months than to be sewing along with friends! 

Those who don’t quilt are missing out on our secret to a happy life, aren’t they?

Making something beautiful lowers stress!  Creating, making ----all of the color, all of the texture, and the joy of putting it together is balm for our souls.  Gifting and giving the creations of our hands and hearts also fills us with joy, because quilting is indeed a loving giving thing.

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A Four State Day!

This is a Wichita airport scene at 4:45am waiting for a 6:20am flight to board at 5:45am.

Talk about an ungodly hour!

It was even more ungodly when a rapping at my door at 4:05am signaled the arrival of my cab driver ---about 30 minutes earlier than I had expected!  My alarm had only gone off 5 minutes previously and I was in the throws of getting dressed, brushing my teeth, packing the rest of my stuff.

The fruit and yogurt that I had gathered the morning before and squirreled away in the fridge in my room ((intending THAT to be my morning breakfast before my cab ride to the airport)) was left sitting there on the table….

I stuffed a few grapes and a couple of pieces of pineapple into my mouth as I grabbed my bag and headed out the door and down the steps to the awaiting cab.

4:05am??  No one should have to be awake at this hour!

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Diggin’ the Love Shack in Kansas!

Okay, everyone!

A one, and a two and a three!

Happy Birthday to you -Happy Birthday to you-Happy Birthday, dear Sharon,
Happy Birthday to You! 

You only turn 70 once and what a great way to spend your special day with your guild friends who gathered to celebrate with you doing what we love most!

And then there is cake!

I have never met a more beautifully lovely 70 year old, inside and out.  Thank you, Sharon for spending your special day with us -- and with me!

We had a great time yesterday in Rose Hill, Kansas with the Country Rose Quilt guild.  36 scrappy lovin’ quilteres gathered for a fun day of sewing up the crumbs, scraps and strings for our Love Shack workshop and we had a screaming good time.

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Galaxy-Gram! Ready to Present!

It's been a crazy busy day in Kansas!

A full and fun Love Shack workshop with 36 students and straight to the high school when the workshop was over to set up for tonight's lecture.

Seats are filing and I'm shooting this off to let you know I'm alive and kicking and enjoying these quilters so much!

Tomorrow is an early ride to the airport with 4:15 AM pickup time.

After the lecture is done tonight, books need to be boxed and dropped to FedEx before dropping me back to the hotel fire a few hours sleep.

There may be a delay in tomorrow morning's blog post and slide show due to this crazy schedule so bear with me!

I'm in good hands--doing what I love!

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A Wichita Evening Stroll!

After checking into my hotel and dropping off my bags, it was suggested we do the nickel tour of downtown Wichita, followed by a little walk down by the river.

There is a beautiful park along the river, with downtown visible in the near distance, and it was a beautiful evening.

Folks were out in numbers enjoying the sunshine, the smell of the grass,  enjoying the green of leaves bursting on trees.

I was told the story of how the Plains Indians had settled this place at the convergence of the big and little Arkansas rivers, believing that a place where two rivers joined deemed it a sacred space.

Water is such an important necessity for our existence, I can see why it was felt that this place with both water sources was sanctioned for prosperity by the Great Spirit.

If you look closely at the bridge above you will see the arms of a great warrior raised in supplication.

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Before My Head Hits the Pillow!

This was my morning travel from Greensboro, NC to Atlanta GA and finally on to Wichita KS ---

When I wasn’t snoozing behind closed eyelids that is!

This morning was SUCH an early shock to my system.

I honestly don’t know how the gate staff and folks in ticketing can be so dang cheerful at 4am.

No one in their right mind should have to get up at 3am for ANYTHING or ANY REASON! 

But….I had been afraid I would over sleep and miss my flight, so part of the problem was that even though I told myself I’d get 6 hours of sleep last night and that 3am wouldn’t be TOO BAD…I kept waking up about every 90 minutes  and checking the clock afraid that I had slept through my alarm and missed my flight already.

When it’s dark out – it’s dark out…so it is hard to guage what time it is unless you lean over and look at that clock.

Oh goodness!

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The Trip That Wasn’t…or Isn’t..Yet!

It all started like this.

With a simple 50 minute delay, that turned into a 2 our delay ---

I called Delta, and they were nice as always on the phone, trying to get me to Wichita tonight – but it just wouldn’t happen.

I could take my chances that my connecting flight in Atlanta would also be delayed, but if I got to Atlanta, and that flight had already left, there were no more flights from Atlanta that could get me into Wichita tonight.

So guess where I am??

“Come back to the airport and pick me up, I am rebooked on a flight at 5:25am tomorrow morning!”

UGH.

And I had to uncheck my luggage – ALL my luggage:

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Treadling in the Evening!

Something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but haven’t had a chance!

Sometimes I feel a bit isolated in the basement.

Especially on evenings when we are all home.

And yet I have deadlines and need to get as much done as I can – even if I try to take it at a more leisurely pace, deadlines still loom and I honestly can not just sit and watch TV in the evening without doing something.

When I was up to the cabin last, I set up a table behind my comfy chair in the family room, and sewed on the 301, asking others if the machine bothered them at all.

“Nope!  You are fine!” was the answer.

This made me feel much more a part of things.  I was right there.  I could converse, I could laugh at the funny bits, and I could make the progress toward these deadlines that needs to happen between road trips.

So last evening I turned the treadle machine from the wall, to face the back of the couch!  It worked!

Not only that, but Emmy Lou felt content enough to hop up on the back of the couch and take a snooze while I was stitching away:

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For the Simple Love of Simple Squares!

Wonderful things happen when you think far enough ahead to cut down scraps as you make them.

I LOVE boxes of individual squares, whatever size they are.

They are quick to grab for simple Leader & Ender units, and I can ALWAYS find places to use a four patch or a nine patch ---

If that scrap on my cutting table is big enough to cut a square from it I will.

The best thing about this little box?  VARIETY!

Variety means I don’t have to comb through boxes of fat quarters, yardage, or untamed scraps and head to the ironing board to press before I can cut what I need.

They are already ready!

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Treadling Afternoon!

Some days are just perfect for Deck Treadling!

I got back from my eye doc appointment yesterday afternoon, brought in the mail, put away groceries – and LONGED to be outside.

It was just that kind of day with temps in the low 70s, sunshine, gentle breezes and birdsong.

My orphan backing parts were laid out on the same level, on the living room floor…so this actually saved me from having to run up and down the stairs to sew the parts in the basement….I can justify ANYTHING!

So out onto the back deck I went, rolling my beautiful 1890s VS 2 right out the door and setting her up on the deck to sew.

There are not many deck days here before it gets too hot.  My back deck is not covered ((YET!  That’s on the bucket list)) and the sun can be awfully hot in the summer…so I’ve got to grab the opportunity while I can.

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Quilt-Cam, 4/17/2015

Another Quilt-Cam opportunity!  How great!

Maybe we are making up for lost time?

Whatever the answer, I’m grateful for it. 

It’s the perfect anecdote to my being home alone tonight ---and we can work together!

It’s been a wonderful day of sewing here at home with a few errands thrown in.

Anne in the UK has also been busy at it, finishing up her Spiderweb top and she wanted to share her story with us.

She writes:

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Up On The Roof….

This is the story of before and after.

Last 4th of July when family was visiting from Texas, us old folks accepted our much younger nephew’s offer to go up on the roof and clear the gutters because they were just not doing what needed to be done.

The cabin is a tall structure, three levels as you can see, and the pitch of that roof can be a bit scary.

And while the gutter clearing produced miracles, we also discovered places that were going to need repair.

The cabin was built in 1999, and up on our knoll in the Blue Ridge Mountains that wind can howl something fierce.

It was time to re-roof.

Can you see a couple of guys up on the top there?  They are getting ready to do their thing!

While I was away in Maryland and New Jersey, the cabin got a new roof!

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Another Ride on the Orphan Train!

Got an Orphan Box?

Oh, sure!  EVERYONE should have an Orphan Box!  Loads of fun stuff can come out of here….

Leftover blocks and parts and units and UFOs and even gifted blocks that haven’t found their way into a project are stored in here.

And right on top there is just what I am looking for.

I’m pulling anything and everything blue that will help me put a backing together for the quilt with the blue piano key border I was working on a few weeks ago.

I get EXTRA bonus points if I can clear some of this up as well as use some DEEP STASH in this back.

I love the challenge.  I love the fun.  I love the slow down and take some time on getting a back together.

I mean, what’s the rush?  It’s not like I’m in a hurry to get this quilt done because another blizzard is on the way and there aren’t enough OTHER quilts in this house to keep us warm if we really needed them.

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The Long Drive Home!

I stayed the night in Amish Country, Delaware!

About a week before I left for Maryland my friend Marti from Delaware emailed and said….”I’ll be seeing you in Jamestown, NY in June..do you want me to deliver cases of books for you so you don’t have to ship them ahead?”

I said..YES! 

I had to drive past Delaware on my way to/from New Jersey and it was a no brainer just to leave New Jersey at the end of my workshop and drive to Delaware for a home prepared meal, some great evening visiting, a comfy bed, and an early start the next morning.

There are boxes of books now waiting in Marti’s long arm studio  and I’ll meet her in New York to retrieve them.

This sweet Amish buggy was clip clopping down the road as I made my way from Marti’s house toward route 301 that would take me “the slow back way” through Maryland and Virginia, bypassing the Washington DC area all together.

That was a no brainer also.  It was a beautiful morning for a drive, and I had no curfew and wanted to take this day as leisurely as possible.

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Talkin’ Turkey with the Jersey Girls!

Combine 35 quilters and 35 machines with buckets, bags and boxes of fabric.

Stir in a measure of smiles and laughter, sprinkled with talking in between lines of chain piecing and what do you get?

A great day of sewing with the Garden State Quilters in Chatham, New Jersey!

We met at St Paul’s church in Summit, with plenty of room to set up and stay the day.

Eager and ready to go by 9am…we set into working with flying geese from a few different methods, each choosing the way that worked best for them….

When you take those geese, and a center 9 patch and put it on point with string pieced corners, what do you get?

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Hexie Love Drawing Winner!

Good Morning from Chatham, New Jersey!

I’m up early this morning to do the drawing of our Give-Away for an online copy of the new Digi-Mag, Hexie Love by Julia Wood.

Do you want to know more about this issue? 

Visit my original post HERE.

You will find oodles of hexie inspiration  in this publication that is coming out 6 issues a year, right into your inbox!

For more information on Julia’s new book MORE Quick & Easy Hexie Quilts AND Hexie Love Magazine, visit Julia’s Blog.

Let’s do this drawing!

And our winner is…..

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Show Many Quilts!

Hello from Providence, New Jersey!

I drove up here this morning, arriving early afternoon.

After battling crazy drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike, and even crazier drivers OFF the turnpike, on to the parkway and through construction zones, I battled my way to my hotel, checked in and promptly fell asleep for a much needed NAP!

I had a text from a friend this morning who said simply said “Watch out for those New Jersey drivers, they are so ZIPPY!”  Made me laugh!

I’ve got a few minutes before the guild gals pick me up and whisk me off to a quick meal before setting up for tonight’s presentation so I thought I would pull up all of the great Show & Share photos we have had while in Maryland.

This first one….it’s a BACK!  Isn’t this awesome? Can you guess which quilt this goes to?

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Oh, That Midnight Flight!

Just how many pieces does it take to make ONE Midnight Flight block?

EIGHTY EIGHT!!

There are 22 pieces in each block quarter…which means we have a lot of fun breaking the workshop down into easy units and just stockpile them until we have enough variety to start putting things together.

I absolutely love how easy simple units can combine to make a design that looks extremely complicated, but isn't!

Patchwork is a puzzle of the BEST KIND, isn't it?

We had a great day meeting at the Volunteer Fire Department community building in Sykesville, MD with the Four County Quilters.  What a fabulous venue!

And while the gals were sewing, I also had some time to visit and play…

Here’s something I don’t get to see very often….

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Galaxy-Gram! Scenes from Midnight Flight!

Today's Midnight Flight workshop in Sykesville, Maryland was a complete success and such a wonderful time.

The members of the Four County Quilters from Mount Airy, Maryland were joined by others who had travelled from near and far to fill the classroom with eagerness and excitement.

I was so happy to spend the day with this great group of gals.

Each one is special in their own right, and I am happy to consider them amongst my real life friends now that I have spent a couple of days in their midst.

We all cheered for Amy who made a long drive from New Jersey to take this workshop - leaving her hubby to care for their one year old twin girls known as the M&Ms!

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Playing in the Crabapples!

It was a busy busy tree filled day in Sykesville, Maryland where the Four County Quilters had gathered at the Volunteer Fire Department community room for an all day workshop making Crabapple blocks form my book Adventures with Leaders  & Enders!

Checkerboard tree tops are fun to piece…especially when we double check seams and adjust machines so that the strip sets measure what they are supposed to.

It’s important that the tree top parts FIT the paper pieced tree trunk section ---because we just don’t want to have to go lopping off branches, right?

I had several students who had never done any paper piecing before, and this is a great pattern to get some experience for this technique under your belt and whet your interest.  After this – you can feel confident and move right on to Pineapple Crazy as a pro!

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Galaxy-Gram! Crabapple Saturday!

Trees were bursting into bloom today in our Crabapples workshop with the Four County Quilters of Mount Airy, Maryland!

We met at the wonderfully new volunteer fire department community room in Sykesville. What a wonderful place for workshop--

There was so much room each quilter had their own six foot table. The lighting was perfect, and best of the best - the number of machines mixed with the number of irons did not even flicker the power!

This was the first time the group had used this wonderful location, but I can bet that it won't be the last and I am looking forward to having tomorrow's Midnight Flght workshop in the same fabulous venue. 

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A Talkin’ Turkey Friday!

Happy things happen when sewing with friends all day long!

We had such a great day with the Faithful Circle Quilters in Columbia, MD!

I admit it – the weather has been less than spectacular, but we had all the sunshine we needed inside where we were sewing up some Talkin’ Turkey blocks from my book String Fling.

36 quilters made the room quite cozy!  But there was ample space for EVERYONE.

There are always more than way way to do any unit or technique ---so we set out to make flying geese using one of 3 ways demonstrated…and if students had another way they preferred they were welcome to use that.  As long as they came out the right size, their geese could fly!

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Galaxy-Gram! Talkin Turkey Friday!

Hello from Columbia, Maryland where I spent all friday with the Faithful Circle Quilters in a Talkin' Turkey workshop!

It was a great day for playing with the easy angle ruler and companion angle ruler in making flying geese - oh how many flying geese!

We talked and we sewed and we laughed and we chatted and sewed some more and when it was lunch time we enjoyed a fabulous potluck buffet. What could be better?

These ladies were fabulous, and they made it such an easy day for me and there blocks are beautiful!

These are just a few of the photos from today, I've got a large editing job up ahead of me this evening so the slideshow can post in the morning.

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Love Shack in Columbia, MD!

What do you get when you mix a room full of 29 quilters, boxes, bins and bags of scraps and a pot luck dinner?

A great retreat day of sewing!

our workshop was planned to begin at noon after the monthly guild meeting, and we sewed all the way until nearly 7pm when we were promptly kicked out by the boy scouts who had their own meeting after we were done.

If it weren’t for the boy scouts we would probably still be there sewing!

It was a great day of improv piecing combined with some siple house blocks turned on the tilt.

What were we making?

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Galaxy-Gram! Love Shack Afternoon!

It was a very scrappy day in Columbia, Maryland!

It started with a morning guild meeting and flowed right into an afternoon Love Shack workshop complete with potluck afternoon dinner ending at 7 p.m.

What a long day!

We had a ton of fun and everybody came out of class with some fabulous blocks and some new techniques under their belts.

I'd love to say I was going to sew tonight, but I think the only thing I will be seeing is the back of my eyelids as I head to bed early.

I am bushed!

And tomorrow we do it all over again with a Talkin Turkey workshop.

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Sew the Night Away!

Not too many hours passed between the time I wrote my evening post last night, and when I went to bed, but boy did I sew!

I’m on a roll with getting these Lozenges together ---check out the LOBSTAH! 

Memories of last week’s trip to Maine!

If you remember – I’ve been having serious issues with my phone which have only gotten worse.

So last night I bit the bullet.

I did everything I could see to do to back everything up, made sure I saved all the passwords out of my password app just in case, crossed my fingers, crossed my eyes and hit reset to factory.

And while it was doing its thing…I sewed.  Like a crazy woman.  Praying with every breath that I didn’t do something stupid that would have me lose everything.  EVERYTHING!

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Driving North, from Hot to Cold!

Finally! 

A beautiful warm spring day for driving….a long road trip ahead, and the sun is shining, and temps are climbing the closer I get to the Virginia/North Carolina state line.

I’m heading north on I-85 –I know this route like the back of my hand.

It leads me from Greensboro toward Raleigh/Durham and then north toward Petersburg, Virginia.

SO much history happened in this area.

Everywhere you look are signs for battle fields, military museums, historical markers and sites.

There is no time to stop – I’ve got to make it all the way past Richmond, Past Fredericksburg, Past DC…oh my gosh, DC…the worst traffic in the country!

Do NOT get stuck on this side of DC during heavy traffic times….I need to make it to Maryland.

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Hit the Road, Bonnie!

Shamu is loaded to the gills.

I’ve got a full tank of gas and a whole day to get me to Columbia, MD!

What kind of adventures can I stir up today? 

I am in the mood for some antique mall haunts.

I want to walk down aisles laden with “STUFF”.  I want to see what there is to see…..both the best thing, and the worst most ridiculous thing are always fun to search for.

((Sometimes the silly stuff really makes my day!))

I’ve packed a featherweight and a couple of projects for evening time sewing.  I’ll be gone a week, so there should be some opportunities for stitching in there.

Audio books are at the ready for my long drive.  I’ve got my kindle in case I am just too tired to sew at night and just want to lose myself between the digital pages of a book.

This is the time of year I love – when the world awakens and all turns green.  Trees are flowering all over the place in North Carolina and I am expecting the same up through Virginia and into Maryland.  I’ve packed my lunch, and perhaps I’ll find a lovely park or rest area with picnic tables to enjoy some outsidedness.  I long to be OUTSIDE.

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Quilt-Cam 4/7/2015

This is Beatrice’s productive mess as she watches along as she is sewing!

Are you envious of her lovely 301? 

I get the biggest smiles when you send me photos of your sewing space, including me in your creative space!

I know this is an impromptu Quilt-Cam, the opportunity came along suddenly and I grabbed it, knowing that if you missed it, at least you’d be able to catch in in the archives under the Quilt-Cam tab at the top of the blog at your leisure.

It turns out that Mona was able to finish quilting her second quilt and was on her way home by 3pm or so.

After I returned from a post office run, and found myself home alone for the first time in I don’t know how long, and realizing that I’d be home alone tonight due to the Hubster having tennis league – I decided to be spontaneous!

Aren't you glad?

I am.  April/May/June are going to be insane months and I’m not sure when we will be able to next fit this in, and I’m missing sewing with you!

So what am I doing tonight?

The Lozenges are coming out to play:

Remember these?  They just need to be sewn together!

If you missed the Lozenge Leader & Ender challenge, check the Free Patterns tab at the top of the blog for more info.  We started these last summer, and I want them DONE so we can start another challenge THIS summer.

What kind of fabric works well in these?  EVERYTHING!  I mean….even that “Where did this come from?” “What am I supposed to do with THIS?!” and “Holy Moly, that is weird!” kind of stuff works.  The sillier the better, the more fun it is to sew it up!

I think it would be great for this piece of fabric I received as a gift in the mail yesterday…hehehe:

Strong Men or Acrobats…in purple speedos with purple socks.  LOL!!

((Perfect lozenge material..only need 3.5” X 6.5”!))

You can use ANYTHING….if you are lucky, someone might send you a box like this:

Oh BOY!  This arrived yesterday…what fun!

Definitely some good lozenge candidates in here!

So this is where you will find me tonight….

1950s Singer 404..still haven’t switched out machines.  NO TIME!

Let’s sew!  Click the arrow on the screen to start the feed…and leave me a comment below!  I’d love to hear from you!

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