Weed Whackin' at Retreat!

Shelly sent me a great email with pics from her guild's retreat! She had asked earlier if she could demonstrate Weed Whacker to the girls, and I said OF COURSE!

They are the Illinois Valley Quilt Guild in Ottawa, IL. The retreat was held at Cedar Creek Retreat Center in Marseilles, IL!


It looks like they had a great time, not to mention a great room for their machines at retreat!


The pics speak for themselves. Wonderful Colors, lots of scraps being sewn up.





Great Job Girls!

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Over Being Crabby!!

I had a fun phone call last evening from our Tazzie! It is always a delight to hear her voice. I don't know how Aussies feel about listening to American accents, but I am just enchanted with her Aussie one!

We were talking about the changes that our children go through when they hit those teenage years and go from sweet darlings to AUUUGHHHH! As we were laughing about this, I told her I needed to show her (or send her) the fabric that I used on the back of the latest string star quilt.

It's CRABS! I think this came from Fabric.com at some ridiculously low price and I was at the time charity quilt coordinator and was going to do children's quilts with it...but it just seemed to fit the crabby mood I was in this past week and so I used it to signify how even unpleasant experiences can be the catalyst needed to get those creative juices flowing again. How many of you find that you sew like a banshee and feel that creative frenzy when you are stressed? I know I do! The motions of cutting, ironing, playing with color, fabric, shapes, and designs is centering to my soul. Without my quilting time, I'm like Linus without his blanket!

So! As you can see...the string stars are quilted with baptist fans...the sleeve used up the last chunk of this bright huge dot fabric I had in the closet. The binding is on and ready to stitch down! I used red strips from the 1.5" strip bin in random lengths for the inner red border, and used more red strips in random lengths from the 2.5" strip bin for the binding.

I'm headed to Falls Church, VA on thursday do do a lecture/trunkshow and a class! I am so looking forward to this road trip. The weather has turned SO lovely, it finally feels like fall here in the Southeast. The quilt will come with me so that I can do the hand work in the evenings while gone. I've also got the crumby quilt that I made at Tonya's in January quilted and the binding is on it and in the sewing on process too. So you will get a pic of that one when it is complete upon my return.

Just remember, when life gets you crabby, don't get mad, get quilting!

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The $1.00 a pound dress!

You asked for it..here it is!

This was a fun dress...easy fitting (loose) and it is two layers. The top layer is sheer and crinkly (ie...no iron, no wrinkle!) and the bottom layer,the under-dress is cream. It felt so feminine! Oh, I love weddings.

The shoes....anyone remember the old Steve Martin joke about "CRUEL SHOES??" I think these shoes were the next runner up in the cruel shoes contest! Oh well....

It's a lovely day here in SC, windows are open, breezes wafting in. It's a good day for quilting at the machine, and that is just what is on the agenda today! (minus the cruel shoes!)

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Sneak Preview!

I have had some fun playing with some orphan string star blocks!

I haven't had a chance to post about last week's retreat at Camp Gravatt, nor about Randy's and my trip to Charleston (which was FAB!) but I'm in a hurry, so hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow. Let me say that it was HOT HOT HOT...in the high 90's with unbearable humidity, and my poor California friend Randy was not used to that kind of Southern Oppression! (While a pic was being taken at the close of retreat she said "Hurry up! I can feel my hair frizzing as I stand here!) :cÞ

While at retreat, I was gifted with a baggie of strings and partially pieced string panels from Stephanie! She knows I love this stuff, so instead of tossing it..she brought a big bag with my name on it!

I made a couple more string stars to round out the number to 9, set them with easy asymetrical sashings, and used 4 patches made from the leftover strips from the star struck quilt as my cornerstones! I am calling this quilt "Out on a String..."

Stephanie's strip pieced panels quickly became stringy sawtooth triangles for the border...I think it turned out really cute. I'm going to use this one as a tutorial for teaching 8 pointed string stars (Yes, with set in Y seams and everything, I think they look best that way)

As to the setting, I think this would be a great setting for any blocks you've got hanging around out there! I played with this in EQ 6, and I really like it. I've got some swap blocks I also hope to set this way. The sashings just go on two sides of the block, and then you can twist and turn them any way you want...

I'm off to my choir director's wedding! I got my hair highlighted and trimmed yesterday...felt good to have some "pamper me" time. And get this...the dress I am wearing is gorgeous and came from the $1.00 a pound bin at the good will clearance center! I kid you not!....The shoes came from Burlington Coat Factory, and were NOT as cheap :c|

Will report back later! Have a super weekend everyone...

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