Saturday, October 27, 2012

Binding and Hexagons

Today I finished the binding on the table runner I made yesterday.  I love working with colorful batiks.  Such yummy colors!

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The popularity of hexagons led me to purchase one package of hexagon papers and now I am trying my hand at this old-but-new-again piecing. 

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(The blurry part  in the upper right hand corner must be my thumb.)

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Friday, October 26, 2012

…and this afternoon….

I decided to use a package of batik charm squares that was gifted to me last year and make a table runner from a free pattern found at www.prairiepointjunction.com.
Trimmed and ready for binding….
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Showing the backing….
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With binding sewn down (hand sewing not done yet.) It is very colorful and was a breeze to make as it is quilt-as-you-go.
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Also made some cards this afternoon, using my Cuddlebug and a new technique my cousin shared with me (the green card) and using some beautiful Japanese paper for the little flowers (white card).photo (11)
It was a good crafty day.
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So far this morning….

……I made a couple of Lazy Girl bags – a little gift for a friend who does not read this blog.  I think I will add some nice zipper pulls.

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And I made a little Quiltsmart bag for myself to house library books and/or my Kindle.  I’ve made many of these bags and right now they are all in use housing knitted scarf projects.

Quiltsmart bag

The afternoon stretches before me and I’m not sure which project to work on next.  There are so many!  I can’t think on an empty stomach though, so first it is time for a salad lunch.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Fabric buys

While my friends were here we went to three quilt shops.  Even though I don’t NEED fabric, I felt compelled to purchase something at each store.  After all, I don’t want any of them to go out of business.  (Aren’t I wonderful?)

Some fabric to perhaps make a Modern quilt.
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And some fabric to add to my Christmas stash.
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Fabric can be so yummy!
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Gift Quilts

Keeping a secret is not easy.  I made four quilts for my four friends that visit twice a year.  They call me the Queen and I call them my Princesses.  They have been coming for some 35 years now and we talk, laugh, eat and shop until we are exhausted and/or invigorated.  This year I arranged for a photography session in which I would give them the quilts I made - Christmas quilts.

Here are the gals with their quilts, and I am in the middle with the quilt I made out of gifted fabric from the photographer!  Notice that we are wearing our crowns.
Tumbleweeds with quilts

There is always one crazy thing that happens each visit and this time it was our restaurant choices.  Wednesday night we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen at Woodfield, Friday night we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen at Deer Park, and Saturday night we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen in downtown Arlington Heights.  We kinda like California Pizza Kitchen!

Today I got a picture from one of the gals showing her quilt placed on the back of her sofa with Tiki guarding it.
Tiki and quilt

What fun it is to surprise friends with the gift of a quilt.  I’m not rich with money, but I sure am rich with a wonderful family and wonderful friends.

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Priceless Rings

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My friends and I wearing our LED strobe light plastic rings.  We are always at the height of fashion.  (Thank you MB.)

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Thursday, October 18, 2012

It’s a different world

My friends are visiting and we are sitting around the breakfast table.  Now-a-days we have our iPads and Kindles at hand to look stuff up.

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Monday, October 15, 2012

On my design wall

A very bad photo of what is on my design wall……
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….a black and white tumbler quilt in the process of being pieced.
See more design walls at Judy’s blog.
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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Blog envy

Some bloggers that I follow post several times a day, some daily, and some weekly.  I envy those bloggers because they are consistent.  I, on the other hand, am very inconsistent, blogging in spurts and sometimes not blogging at all for weeks on end.  Not promising anything, but I really am going to try to blog more often…….maybe.

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You see, it is embarrassing to blog about putting another jigsaw puzzle together when you have endless UFOs waiting to be finished. 

What have I been working on?  Here is my latest project – all ready to be quilted.  It is a banner for my church and will be used on Christmas Eve.

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Some of the holly leaves are dimensional. There is a star in the center of the upper circle which will have gold thread hand sewn around it after quilting and maybe the flames also.  (For those that might not know, the three purple candles, one pink candle and one white candle make up what is called an Advent Wreath.)  I made the candles oversized because this banner will be seen from a distance.

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

Non-Reply

Several people have asked me about the pattern for my pumpkin quilt.  First of all, the comments were "non-reply" and when I was able to at least get to your blog, you had no email address listed.  I cannot answer questions if you do not give me an email address.  Either change your settings so that the "non-reply" is eliminated and it shows your email address, or send me a regular email instead of just a comment.

Also, asking about the "pumpkin" quilt is not specific enough.  There were pumpkins in three of the quilts I showed on my blog.  Which quilt are you asking about?

I will be glad to share information, so please give me your contact information.  Thanks.

Bonnie

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Thoughts on Sunday

1.  Even though I knew that my “what will people think” way of living was not good, I still forced myself to wash my dishes in case someone stopped by, make my bed in case someone might see my mussed up sheets, clean my house when company was coming, and put things away because I heard the echo of my mother’s voice saying “pick up your room Bonnie”.  Yesterday, at my advanced age, it suddenly dawned on me that I liked my bed made, I like having the dishes washed, I like having things put away.  It was an A-HA moment realizing that the chore of cleaning for someone else was replaced by the joy of  cleaning for my benefit.
2.  My quilt studio is quite large and is in the basement.  I can leave it a mess when I am in the midst of a project.  I prefer it nice and neat, but it is very difficult to work on a quilt project and have everything neat at the same time.  The same is true when I make cards.  But I still prefer it all cleaned up.
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Saturday, October 6, 2012

UFO night

Thursday evening my friend Christine and I had a UFO party.  She worked on knitting a sweater, struggling to figure out where she was in the pattern.  It had been eight years since she picked it up!

Christine's sweater

I worked on turning some holly leaves for a church banner that I am making.

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We had a “comfort food” dinner before starting in on our projects.  Salad, Mac & Cheese, and broccoli, along with garlic bread and the overflowing apple cake.

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I also worked on the binding of a little wool applique quilt done by my friend Moe.  Notice anything unusual???????

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Christine and I talked more than we worked on our UFOs, so I think we will have to have another UFO night. 

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Thursday, October 4, 2012

My cake overfloweth

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If you put your cake recipe in a pan that is too small, guess what happens!
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(I ate the overflow and it was very good!)

On another subject, I had to restrict comments on my blog because even though I don’t get many comments, lately I have been getting a lot of spam comments.  I just don’t understand why people do this.  Does someone actually think that I am waiting for an email/comment so I can buy their drugs?  Does anybody respond to those kinds of emails?  It is very irritating and so unnecessary.  I’m NOT going to buy your drugs Anonymous, so stop bothering me.  (End of rant.)
Company is coming for supper tonight and we are having comfort food – Mac & Cheese, and the above overflowing apple cake.  Yum.  We are going to spend the evening working on UFOs.  After the comfort food, we may fall asleep though.  Hmmmm.  Better make some coffee.
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