Monday, April 30, 2012

April UFO report

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Yes, you read it right.  UFO #10 for April is done!  (Yes, I cheated and substituted #5 for #10 – but I got a UFO done in April and that is what counts.)

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These are part of the pictures my friend Christine took, so you have the benefit (?) of seeing me next to my finished quilt.

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The fabric is a charm pack titled Mother Goose & Friends by Moda (designed by Terry Clothier Thompson), and the wonderful quilting is done by my friend Moe.

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See other completed UFO’s on Judy’s blog.

Bonnie

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Photo Session

My friend Christine came to my house yesterday to practice her photography skills.  She asked if she could take pictures of some of my quilts and of me.  Even though I’m rarely pleased with pictures of myself, I let her snap pictures for several hours – some 300 photos.  She will edit the photos and put them all on a thumb drive for me, and I will post them on future blog posts.
In the meantime, here is one picture she emailed to me of my design wall.
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The fabric in the center of most of the blocks (black with primary colored numbers) is a fabric I choose and distributed to members of our Bee group.  Each person made a block for me using that piece of fabric. (The little notes on each block is to remind me of who made the block.)  I’m thinking of sashing the blocks with the black and green striped fabric with a yellow fabric for the cornerstones.  I have a co-coordinating black fabric with primary colored letters to use as a border.  This is the first layout I have tried.  I will let my Bee group make suggestions for improvements or other choices – and of course I welcome ideas from blog readers/lurkers!
Bonnie

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Excited !!!!

At my door today……

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a HUGE box containing……..

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my cousin’s quilts – all quilted and ready for me to add the binding.  They look wonderful and are very heavy.  No one will ever get cold sleeping under these quilts.

Gotta run now – I have lots of binding to do!

Bonnie

Monday, April 16, 2012

Shopping with friends

This past week my dear friends were here for a visit.  They have been visiting me every year (now twice a year) for at least 35 years.  We have such a good time together that we hate for the visit to end.

Shopping and eating are high on the agenda, along with sitting around the breakfast table and Show-N-Tell time in the evening.

They brought along this Timeless Treasures fabric for me, a sweet Bunny kit and a placemat pattern.

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We all get along so well together when we shop – some hitting the boutiques for clothes and jewelry while others of us hit the quilt shops and book stores.

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This is fabric I got at one fabric store – children’s prints for pillowcases and the beginning of a polka dot collection.

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At another quilt shop I purchased this fabulous turquoise batik and some words fabrics.  Also expensive thread (I keep running out of this color), a pigma pen, and some walnut shells.  Why the walnut shells?  I saw something recently that I wanted to make that required stuffing with walnut shells.  Of course I don’t remember what that something was, but now I am prepared when next I might need them!!!

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At the book store I picked out two Maggie Sefton mysteries that I have not read – in a “Knitting Mystery” series.  Good series.

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The gals are gone now with the promise that they will be back in October.  It is time for me to get back to my regular life, my quilt UFOs, my stitching and knitting, and my reading.  Retirement is lovely.

Bonnie

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Precious Masterpiece

This drawing may not seem like much to you…….

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..but to me, it is a Masterpiece.  Drawn by my two-year-old great grand-niece, this is the first (and hopefully not the last) picture drawn especially for me – an Easter gift.

My Easter was filled with church friends, family friends, really good food, and lots of love and laughter.  I hope your Easter was equally so.

Bonnie

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Beautiful Spring

The tree in my front yard……

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The tree in my back yard……..

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Spring, beautiful spring!

Wishing you beautiful days….

Bonnie

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Measure twice, cut once, ha ha ha ha ha

The quilt I am currently working on is very simple.  It is scrappy and is comprised of large rectangles – 6-1/2 X 9-1/2.  Yesterday I got the last of the rectangles all cut and today I started sewing them together in rows. 

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Easy, easy, easy.  However, when I went to sew the rows to each other, things were not matching up.  How could this be?  I measured my pieces and discovered that quite a few measured 6 inches across instead of 6-1/2.  What to do?  My solution?  I made a design change and the middle row will now consist of rectangles with a strip down the middle.

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Hmmm.  I kinda like these.  Should I go back and change all the others?  Oh dear, it was supposed to be such a simple quilt.  I think I will stick with one row of these split rectangles and just leave it a simple scrappy quilt.

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Yesterday I pulled out an old, old stitchery.  It is a big piece and this is just a little portion of it.  I put it away because I didn’t care for the colors, but now I’m liking the colors – soft blues and beiges. 

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Maybe it will eventually get finished.  I love it when that happens!

Bonnie