Orange Crush, Part Deux!

A day late, a few hours sleep short..but here it is gang, I know you've been waiting for it. All that talking of recycling ideas, etc didn't deter you from the knowledge that I PROMISED I would post part 2 as soon as I got back from MD...well here it is...sew your hearts out! :cD

I think of these little gems as a "split four patch"! You can do all kinds of things with them. They play nicely with other units of the same size! There are all kinds of different ways to sew these,but I find the simplest is also the best and most accurate for me. For this step we will be using the easy angle ruler. I love this ruler, and you've heard me say it a million times. If your tools give you accurate cutting, and you and your machine have mastered your accurate piecing skills, there is nothing better! Cutting with this ruler to sew these units saves me the time it would take to cut rectangles from a size of strip that I don't usually keep on hand. I'd have to make a template guide, and stop and draw lines on the rectangles. I just want to SEW!! Since I can cut all the pieces from strips I keep on hand, and use the ruler to give me the pieces I need with accurate results, I can simply sew!

If you don't have the easy angle ruler, you can click HERE for the regular rotary cutting directions for this unit. Pieces are given to make a single block unit, you will need 142 units just like everyone else!

The next step is a couple weeks away yet, so you have time to jump into the mystery if you haven't started yet.

I'm off to run Buddy to the vet for his post-op check up :c) After that, it's a couple errands, and try to figure out what to do for dinner. You know? Mom's home now...they expect me to COOK!?? :c}

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Nifty Thrifty's Quilting is Done!

I had three goals to meet today. I needed to get my NC driver's license..Yes, the SS# card arrived in the mail while I was gone last week....and I had some bank/tax stuff that HAD to be done today. I got those errands done,and spent the rest of the day quilting on Nifty Thrifty!

I love how it turned out. I was going to do a panto on it to call it done....a lot of heavy quilting just doesn't suit utility quilts like I am striving for,but this just begged for more. And it shows up, quite well in spite of what I was thinking!

There is an interesting story to the back. In SC I had Merry Maids come every 2 weeks to help me keep on top of things while I was doing massage full time and quilting on the side. Oh how I miss them! *LOL* My two little Hispanic house cleaners loved my quilts,always curious to see what was on the machine. One lady didn't speak much english. One day she came with two huge trash bags of FABRIC for me to use. SHE was decluttering...and I was the recipient!

There were two pieces of madras plaid in the bags. I don't know the age, I just know that they feel terrific and they are cotton. I used them both up in the back of this quilt. Fabric gifts come from surprising places!

It's midnight. I'm off to bed. Orange Crush step #2 is CLOSE to being ready to upload..I just need a couple more hours, but my eyes are too blurry to continue on...*yawn*

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Recycle Concious Quilters!

Hey Gang...I've been working back and forth with my editor on how to best get the recycling theme through the book with applying to every day life,not just to quilts from recycled clothing.

I have this idea of with every quilt page having a little "pop up message" (message in a box) with a different earth-friendly tip from quilters.

Some things I have come up with, besides the obvious....are the fact that I'm not going to buy bottled water anymore. I'll keep some bottles on hand to refill, but I don't like these bottles filling up the landfill.

I have ideas for hints using batting scraps in cleaning, dusting etc. Can anyone add their ideas and what they personally do?

I have a little page about ways to piece batting scraps and use them in quilts.

Does anyone make dog/cat beds with their smallest strips and scraps and donate them to animal shelters? Would you write me about what you do? How big,how full, what goes into it, etc?

I would love to know what anyone is doing with selveges other than quilts. After being shown really cute baskets at a couple of classes...oh my. Here *IS* something I've been throwing away. 1/2" strips! Who would have thought. (No, I'm not going there...at least....well, maybe!)

Are there items you have made that are NOT quilts that could be considered earth and recycle friendly?

(Please,no beer can crocheted hats...remember those?! *LOL* or crocheted bread bag stories..those are just...hmmmmm...*LOL*)

We are not only quilters, but we are home makers and wives and daughters and sisters and friends....as an earth concious quilter, what are you implementing in your daily life?

My book is also going to include some simple patterns and ideas for cloth grocery sacks. I'm using the top part of a pair of recycled jeans for this project..it's cute!

I know you are waiting for step 2 of OC...I have tonight dedicated to finishing up the pdf file and getting it out to you.

For instance, I wash zip loc bags again and again. I buy ONLY the freezer bags because they are heavier, more washable and a better value than the flimsy ones that get thrown out "too soon". I use zip locs a lot in my quilting as well...

What do you do??

What do you guys think?

I'll submit them to my editor with your name, city and state, so please include that info in your email/comment!

Bonnie

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Dogwoods Still Bloom!

I got home last night...and found that while the Bradford Pears had all gone to leaf, and the blossoms on all the bright yellow forsythia are gone, I have DOGWOODS in bloom!

We have put a picnic table down by the creek in the grove of trees there. I think it's going to be a great spot for gathering, when I get it done. I envision a wooden swing with an arbor over it in the trees there somewhere too..maybe a hammock...and some adirondack chairs. With the leaves already emerging, I already can't see neighbors. Is this a good thing? I think so!

That table looks awful "plastic" sitting there, I want a bright oilcloth table cloth, a big pot of geraniums or something to anchor it down...but it's a start.


Spring is just one of those things that can come and go so quickly, we really need to take time out and notice. I think there is a life lesson in this for me. Somewhere.

I want to introduce you to the newest member of my family! My sister Joy gave birth to her fourth child, a daughter, last night!


Taylor Noel was born at 7:30 pm on Monday evening, April 14th. She was born at an even 9 lbs. and 19 inches long. She has a ton of dark hair and is beautifully chubby! Joy and Taylor are doing great. Except that Auntie Bonnie has NOT finished the baby quilt! The top is done. And guess what...it's scrappy trips! It's been done for quite a while, but hasn't been quilted yet. Soon Joy, I promise SOON! I suppose the baby won't worry if I can't get to it for 6 weeks, but I do!

This is what I've learned since yesterday:

Basically, through my talks with Billie and Easy Made I have reinforced my discoveries on the following:

If someone uses your same block pattern, same size, same method,same number of strips per block but makes their quilt bigger...it is theirs.

My instructions were for the BLOCK, not the finished quilt. Ie...my instructions don't go all the way to the borders, they let you "border as desired" so that alone makes it "different enough."

If someone makes their own illustrations instead of using pics to show the steps....it's theirs.

If someone takes your directions and puts them in their own words, it's theirs.

If someone alters anything in the border, the whole quilt is theirs.

If someone gives the quilt a different title than yours, it's theirs.

If a designer says they never ever heard of you or your website, that makes the design theirs.

The ONLY thing you can protect yourself from as a designer is someone publishing your EXACT words. Basically when it comes to quilting....that's about it folks.

Maybe this will free me up in my own worries in the future.

Oh...I was also told that it is my own fault, and basically I shot myself in the foot for putting my ideas out there in the quilting world for "free" to begin with, because they ARE great ideas. (No Kidding.) In my heart of hearts....this is what quilting has always BEEN for me. Something shouldn't be more protected simply because it was sold for profit.

I have fretted left and right worrying if I was stepping on anyone's toes over a design. I think this is going to loosen me up a lot as far as what is protect-able or not. But then, there is this thing called ethics.

I have 90 pics from my trip to MD!! I had the best time, great hostesses and wonderful guilds for lectures and trunkshows and workshops. Thursday...this is crazy...just to give you an idea of how it goes, I left my hostess's house at 8am to go to Glen Burnie for a morning guild meeting and luncheon. I got lost even with Tom Tom because the address I was given didn't say 1st Ave SW..just 1st Ave. AUUGHH! So I learned to always double check addresses before going anywhere.

I got to the guild meeting in time, but everyone was already there while I was setting up....in comes these 5 "body bags" of quilts....but after my program, we had a fabulous luncheon! We got out of there after 1:30pm, and I was taken quilt shop hopping, and even better...an antique mall (BINGO! I found a lovely book on Indiana Amish quilts!) and a couple thrift stores where I hit the jackpot in the clothing department!

From there I was dropped straight off at ANOTHER restaurant to meet up with another guild....at 5pm!! I still wasn't hungry from lunch, and there I was being fed again. Then we went to the guild meeting from there....I did my evening presentation (yes, unload the car and the 5 body bags, and set up, take down, etc) and got to bed LATE LATE only to have to get up early to do the first Friday workshop.



Friday's worskhop: My blue Heaven!

Happy Scrappy Houses was held on Sunday at Patches, a wonderful quilt shop in an old house in Mt Airy, MD:



I think the most fun class of all was the Happy Scrappy Houses. A couple of CULPRITS, after hearing my lecture and trunk show, stopped at a yard sale on the way to the class, and picked up a bunch of shirts! They were WEARING THEM!! and as I said...ooooohhh...nice COTTON! They took them off and gave them to me. I was floored, little did I know it was PLANNED. So...I took a sleeve off of each of the shirts, and cut it into house units and gave everyone part. I then went and took some not-so-desireable fabrics and cut those up and spread them around telling everyone they HAD to use it in their houses. What a riot. We had so much fun. I have to thank Janie and Susie for the whole yardsale shirt hilarity. Talk about giving me the shirts off their backs! *LOL*

I'm feeling like half of a zombie at this point. The car is not unloaded...I have so much to write about, but first things first.....the directions for step 2 of Orange Crush have to be written and uploaded!

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