Dresden Plate Quilt

This is Cindy’s Dresden Plate quilt.  She is still waiting on the post office to deliver it, so I wanted to give her a sneak peak.  It is made using 30’s repro fabrics.  I LOVE the bright, cheerful colors in this quilt!  She hand-appliquéd the plates down. 

   

The quilt design is the traditional Baptist Fan using the Quilt E-Z pattern boards.  This is rather time consuming, but I guess considering the other methods to get traditional BF quilting, it is probably the best and most accurate method.  I forgot to take a picture of the back of the quilt before I mailed it… SORRY!  It was very pretty!

So here you go, Cindy.  I sure hope this shows up at your house tomorrow!!

Kat

What I Won, and SIL Retreat Report

I was notified a few weeks ago that I won a blog give-away on Beth’s blog, BZYQLTR.  HOW WONDERFUL!!

My package arrived and here is what she sent…

13 BEAUTIFUL fat quarters, 2 packs of sewing/quilt related note cards, and a tape measure.  You say, “Where is that tape measure?”  See the little tin… it contains a rolled up tape measure.  HOW NEAT!  All of the fat quarters will really expand my collection, and they are beautiful spring-looking fabrics that will go with many different things.

Thanks so much, Beth!!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ALL OF IT!! And if YOU have not checked out Beth’s blog, please run over there and do so!!  You will enjoy the visit.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I have just returned from another SIL Spring Retreat at the lake camp.  I’ll give a full report of what all we did in another post, but one of the things I accomplished was to turn my collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics into 2 jelly rolls (one for me, and one for DD Jenn).  That will probably be used in my next quilt… either a coin quilt or a friendship braid… I’m still pondering this.

I also got the Swanky Friendship Braid quilt hemmed, and now just need to get the label made and attached.  This will be gifted to one of my sisters soon.

I got a quilt top made for the other sister… now to squeeze it into the quilt schedule.  (Pictures will follow later!)

And my art quilt got “blinged” in a big way.  DD Jen came out that day and visited… she was amazed at the process of applying crystals.  Here is a sneak peak at the bling, and I’ll post several other pictures later.

NOW:  Off to quilt, finish returning all my “stuff” I carried to retreat back to their original places, a little housework, etc.  The next post will also feature projects of my SILs… they both accomplished a lot, too.

BE BLESSED TODAY in all you put your hands to!

Kat

Swanky Braid Quilt

 

I’m not quite through hemming (like… 3 sides to go still!)  but I wanted to post pictures of the Braid Quilt that soon will be gifted to one of my sisters.  The colors don’t show well… sorry… inside photography in poor lighting will do that, but I don’t have time to get the photo stand out to shoot one quilt!! 

It is made using a Swanky Jelly Roll and a little more yardage.  It is a very bright, cheerful quilt and is sofa size so she can curl up with it while watching TV.  It was a fairly quick sew, but dealing with the bias edges requires a little more attention than what the pattern (from the Moda Bakeshop) said to do.

My SIL and I both made a quilt from this pattern at the last Red Barn Retreat, and I must say I like hers better!!  Her jelly roll (I can’t remember the name of it right now) was really wonderful in this pattern.  After learning on mine that you had to be more careful in the piecing of the strips together (than what the pattern told you to do) hers turned out much more square than mine did.  This is not sour grapes… just sayin’.

See what I mean?  Her quilt really sparkles because it has more contrast than the fabric I used.

  

I quilted this using the “Come Dance With Me” panto and Lazy Lime thread.  This is one of my very favorite pantos.  It has the look of leaves and feathers all in one!

I do have another almost-done quilt that I will post soon.  I’m still debating on whether or not to add crystals to it.

Be blessed today in all you do!

Kat

OOPS!!

 

Aren’t they cute??  This is a heart block for the Sew Crafty Quilter’s row quilt that many of us are making.  This block is 4 1/2” finished.

 

But what’s up with this?…  Where are the tops for THESE 2 heart blocks?  I DON’T KNOW EITHER!  That is what happens when you have several projects being worked on at the same time in the same space.  They are very small (1 1/2” x 2 1/2”).  I sewed the binding on a large quilt while some of these pieces were on the table, and all I can figure is that they stuck to the other fabric and have now gone to quilt block heaven.  I can’t find them on the floor, mixed in with other fabric, or ANYWHERE.  RATS!!  Thankfully it is just  12 pieces that will need to be re-cut and sewn to turn these funky flying geese into hearts.

 

And what’s THIS?!  It is a major “oops”!  I was trimming away the back layers of this block and accidently cut the top layer.  Thankfully it will be easy to make another one of these, too.

So… to all the Sew Crafty Quilters out there…

This is all rather embarrassing as I chose the quilt pattern, and they often ask for advice on how to do things.  So here is the advice I give today…

DO AS I SAY DO, AND NOT AS I DO! 

Have a wonderful evening.  A friend just emailed me wishes of “peaceful piecing”, and boy do I need it!  :)

 

Kat

BAD Blogger!

I have been absent from Blogville.  I apologize to my followers and promise to try and do better!  I have many irons in the fire right now, and it is very easy to read blogs and then promise to post later, but the later never comes.

What have I been up to?

I have finished my 2nd pair of socks and am almost to the heel flap on my 3rd pair!!  I also gave in to the urge to order more yarn.  I now have 7 more colors of yarn to choose from… that should get me to next winter, when I will have a whole rainbow of hand-knitted socks to choose from!  Now if I can just manage to stay away from the yarn internet site….

We spent a couple of nights at the lake camp.  DH and BIL set out yoyos  and caught a good mess of crappie.  YUM!  We had the last of them for lunch today.  SIL and I did some quilting activities… she pieced and I cut out pieces for a row-by-row quilt the local quilt guild is doing.

I got one of MY quilts quilted… actually it is a gift-quilt for one of my sisters.  I can say that because I don’t think EITHER ONE of my sisters read my blog, and if they do, they can just keep guessing as to which one gets the quilt.  I’ll show pictures later this week after I get it hemmed.

Today I am quilting on one of my art quilts.  It has been pieced for about a year now and it is time to get the quilting done.  I am using one of the fabrics I painted in a workshop with Jamie Wallen for the lining fabric.  I hope things turn out well!  Tonight may be a quilt-marathon, because DH and PJ (our dog) have gone to the lake camp to fish.  Time is my own, just as late as I want to quilt tonight.

So… hubby is away, Gussie Fay and I will play!  Later!  I promise pictures soon.

Kat

Here I am...

Just checking in. It did not SEEM like it has been a week since my last post, but it has. So what has kept me busy?

Olympics... I watch every night, while sitting in my Lazy Gal chair, propped up, knitting socks. I am almost done with my second pair... I'll post pictures as soon as they are completed.

Gussie Fay.... I think the mystery is almost solved! (I watched some more NCIS. "Jethro" taught me everything I know.) I redid the timing of the rocking finger and we are MUCH better. I see an occasional tug on the thread but I am not finding loops on the back. A little fine tuning and I should be fixed. YYYYAAAAHHHH!!!!

New dog.... a stray, although I really think it belongs to someone close by. It is an older dog and appears to be part collie and part Catahoula curr... just picture that. So that would make it a.....
coll-ahoula! But DH says it would be a catahollie. Either way, it is a large, long-haired dog with a very sweet disposition. It is all DH's fault. He mentioned about the pretty dog hanging around. When I went to investigate we fell in love with each other... he really wants lots of petting. NOPE... we did not plan on getting another dog, but PJ (our doberman mix?) is really enjoying having a playmate. I'll post pics soon. I need to take pics to post to see if we can find the owner of "Laddie", and if not, we will probably keep him. I see lots of dog grooming in my future.. UGH! I certainly hadn't planned on that! I guess it is the price we pay when a dog is so sweet you can't bear to THINK of it going hungry and being cold.

TAXES: YUCK! Today is the day... DH informed me the time has come to "get it all together", so that is what I am doing today and tomorrow.

Quilt Show: Friday daughter Jenn and I will venture to West Monroe, LA (weather permitting... they are saying snow AGAIN for Friday!) for their local guild quilt show at the West Monroe Convention Center. It will run through Saturday, also, if you can make it over that way!

Must run... the TAX man cometh!!

Be blessed! And I hope you are having the beautiful sunshine we have here today!

Kat

Amish Coin Quilt

This is Barrett’s beautiful quilt… an Amish Coin quilt.  Isn’t it gorgeous?!  It was lots of fun to quilt on.  I love doing feathers, and that fit well on this one.  (Click to enlarge pictures.)

 

I’m Hooked…

On hand-knitted socks.  I’ve never worn them before, and thought people were crazy for spending that much time and money on something they could buy at the local store for a tiny price.  Now I understand.

I have finished my first pair, and I LOVE them!  They are so cushy and comfy… I take them off long enough to wash, then put them right back on.  Yesterday I wore a “regular” pair… my feet froze.  I hurried and retrieved my blue socks from the dryer and put them right back on!

Actually, my feet usually look like THIS when I am around the house… regular socks and slipper socks at the same time.

My first pair of socks was a slipper sock made from regular knitting worsted.  I did this just to get the hang of knitting socks, but I am going to make some more.  They are a little too small but I wear them anyway.  My feet stay so cold, that the 2 pair together are heaven.

I have started on another pair of socks, this time working 2-at-a-time on one very long circular needle.  I’m making a few adjustments on # of stitches and tension as the blue pair are a little too large.

I LOVE the self-striping yarn, and I am also enjoying working 2 at once.  OH… if I could only knit faster!  I do know that I am going to knit socks year-round so when NEXT winter comes I will have a complete wardrobe of hand-knitted socks!

REBEL PARK PROGRAM:

3 brave souls ventured from Natchitoches  out through the woods for the program. 

Why only 3?  Well, it could have had something to do with this…

We had 6” of snow on the ground Friday morning!!  This is Louisiana, people… 6” is rare!   The roads were clear on Saturday (day of the program) but there was still lots of snow around.  This is a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence for us… I can only remember a few times before that we got this much snow.  We get excited over flurries in LA, so you can imagine the excitement over all of this!  It was beautiful, but I am glad to say it is now gone.

But it did not leave before DH and I built a snowman… or so I thought.  I came back into the house to get fashion accessories for the snowman and discovered that DH had added some rather voluptuous boobs to it….  HMMMM… not a snowMAN any more!!  I would post pictures but I don’t want to embarrass anyone (especially me)…  Not to be outdone by him, I added pink buttons in the appropriate places.  Thankfully we live down a dirt road with very little traffic, the snowgal fell over rather quickly, so no one else ever noticed our PG-13 rated snowgal.   Live, LAUGH, and love!  (Be careful what you ask for… I prayed for a man with a sense of humor… I got it!)

I do plan on getting back to “quilty” posts soon, but it may be after the Olympics before I do much blogging.  Please keep checking back… I have lots of ideas of things to post, but no time to do it right now!

Stay warm, and be blessed!

Kat