Double Delight Opportunity!

I don't often do this, spam everyone too much. I like to keep that to a minimum or there would be a spam post every day from someone wanting me to post something, but this one was too good to pass up!

Sheila writes:

Dear Bonnie,

A while ago I told you about a charity quilt project I was working on. It is the Double Delight Opportunity Quilt to benefit my quilting friend and her family who lost their home to a fire this past March. The quilt has been on display at my local quilt shop and has made a few guest appearances at local outdoor events. I had several thousand tickets printed and still have quite a few to sell. The drawing is in September and I was wondering if you thought that maybe some of your blog followers might be interested in taking a chance to win this quilt by helping a fellow quilter and her family get back on their feet.

There are many worthy causes out there, but this one touches my heart. I have often had nightmares about losing everything to fire. I hope this raffle helps restore some normalcy to this family!

You can find out more by clicking on this LINK

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Double Purple :c)

This is the quilt I brought home from Sisters with me! Really, I thought I was going to get away from there without having to buy anything...HA! But this one, oh THIS one...and I asked the lady if she would take less than the asking price, well, when she met MY offered price, I couldn't walk away, could I? I mean....would have really looked stupid if she said yes, and I said I changed my mind :c)

I love this quilt...all that double purple is rare to find. There is a faded-to-brown stripe on the fold down the center, It was probably stored where light hit it. The other fabrics are not specifically gorgeous, but many interesting pieces, definitely some feminine and some masculine scraps in there.


I love the burgundy resist prints, and of course many of the stripes and plaids are cut VERY off grain. She was definitely cutting the pieces whichever way the template would fit on the scraps she had.

It doesn't look like it at first glance, but it is a 54-40 or fight block! The lights just kind of blend together giving it a different look.

And while I was photographing the quilt, I couldn't ignore Chloe who was shading herself under the picnic table on the deck. She is still here, doing well, loves being outside, and is even MORE apt to letting you get closer for a belly rub these days than she ever was when she was a "house cat".

Thanks for the comments on the issue of BIG QUILTS. Its nice to know I'm not alone in my thoughts! I do make some smaller things, those are the ones I travel with so I can stitch on the road, but for the most part, quilts that cover people from head to toe (at least) and cover beds (at most) are where it's at for me! (Still thinking this is going to help me use more fabric scraps.....)

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Mary Jo's Run...

Last Friday, Four of us took a run down to Gastonia for a Mary Jo's Cloth World Fix.

We Came, We Shopped, We Conquered!

I really didn't "NEED" anything. Not in the way of fabric or anything, but I will tell you what I did need! The laughter and companionship of girlfriends out on a road trip.

The other day I read a quote from "Sex in the city" that has just given me the giggles and rang so true in many ways at the same time. It goes:

"Maybe our girlfriends are our soulmates and guys are just people to have fun with" --sex and the city

The longer I live..the more I see so much sense in this! My girl friends are there with support and laughter and understand every quilty need.The guys? Well, in this house, I'll give them the benefit of TRYING to get me, but mostly, they have just learned to raise one eyebrow, but keep their mouths shut! *LOL*

So what did I come home with? Not a lot (unless you count the sore belly muscles from multitudinous and copious amounts of genuine belly laughter!

I hit the remnant bins on the cotton solids. I always hit those, never know when you are going to find some AWESOME solids that will be just the right accent to whatever project. Solids to me are a legitimate purchase, just the same as the B words..backgrounds, borders, bindings, backings.. I love this darkest darkest dark chocolate. There are two pieces of it. It's yumtious! I'm thinking of using it in place of a black background on a solids project.

Two Green FQs.
Two fun fabrics for possible borders. 2 yards each.

That's it. That's all the fabric that said "TAKE ME HOME" and I was able to say no to everything else.

One EZ Rule 6.5X13 inch ruler. I love these rulers. What can I say, yes, I also like the creative grid, but this is just a smidge longer. I like that it has the 1/4" dashed markings all along the outside edge of the ruler, around all 4 sides. Makes it great for squaring things up and trimming. The numbers are HUGE...and it has no green or yellow so it is easy for me to read. And unlike the creative grids, you don't have to flip the ruler around to use the stuff on the half inch. And it was cheap. About $10.00.

Yesterday I got to the point where I actually had to turn the computer off and walk AWAY. The pattern writing is stressing me out to no end. I've got 8 of 12 done. # 12 is still in the piecing stage. #9 and #10 are just not easy for me to diagram even in EQ because I am so EQ challenged. Even today..I'm putting off writing?! That's why I'm writing this instead :c|

My fears? My quilts are too big for what people will want. I make bed sized quilts. All the beds in my house are queen or king. I have no lap size projects in this book. No foo foo book covers or table toppers or cutesy hand bags for this book. None of the novelty "make it quick" type projects. It's BIG QUILTS. Is there a market for that? I hope so. I have some small wall hangings made with leaders/enders but I'm not sure if there will be room for them in the book at this point, maybe just a gallery section with small enticements, but no patterns for them. Then people will want patterns for them. So yes, I am stressing to the max here.

One thing I've always told myself is to make what *I* want to make...just for the enjoyment of it. It might not be the best marketing strategy, but it keeps me anchored to what I love.

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Pre-EQ!

I found this little lovely in an antique mall many months back. Somehow it never made it into a post, but I have had the most FUN playing with this thing!!

Quilter's Blocks! Each side of the wooden cube has either a red, white, yellow or blue solid, or a half square triangle. What a boon this would have been to a quilter of yesterday before computers.

What I really like about them is that you play with design, without really spending too much time on color because your choices are limited in the blocks. It's more like just designing in "gray scale" which allows your mind to put your own colors where you want them, without the colors themselves clogging up your design process. At least that is how it works for me!

I'm not sure when this little ditty was manufactured, but if you ever come across one, pick it up..FAST!

I found THIS SET on Ebay. It is set number 14, manufactured in the 1920s. Mine is set number 34 so maybe mine are from the 30s,40s. I didn't pay near what the set on ebay was running for!

Just a sweet piece of Quilt-nostalgia that I wanted to share with you....as I get back to drafting patterns in EQ to the point where I would do ANYTHING to get away from the computer and just go SEW SOMETHING!!

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