Turning Twenty!

No...not me!  I passed that nearly 40 years ago.  Turning Twenty is the name of our quilt pattern for the month of March. Our "Material Girls" quilting gang meets monthly to learn new patterns and techniques.  I think this one will be a queen size quilt for my bed.  I still have about 5 quilt tops waiting to be quilted...various sizes and shapes, but none of them are large enough for my bed.  Turning Twenty makes large (and quick) blocks, so I think I will border it until it is large enough to fit our queen.  I will post pics as we progress through this project.

Charity Quilts

Our group of ladies, the Country Quilters, has taken on a charity quilt project for the month of January.  We have a local pregnancy crisis center that expressed the need for baby blankets.  Many times young girls are on their own and/or in poverty and may depend on second hand clothes and accessories.  We decided that every baby needs a brand new, handmade, quilted-with-love baby quilt! Sue generously donated fabric, backing and batting...we just provided the time and, of course, the love!  I can't wait to see all the finished baby quilts. I'll post pics later. Two years ago our group volunteered to make quilts for children's hospitals through the Quilts For Kids project.  Click here http://www.quiltsforkids.org/ to read about this worthwhile project.  They provide the fabric and pattern. You provide the batting, complete the quilt and return it to Quilts for Kids for distribution. Click on the section "Volunteer" for information on helping with this project.

Awesome App!

Today I came across and downloaded an awesome Android app (not sure if it is the iTunes store or not but will check on that later.) It is called QuiltCalc and it has 8 different calculators related to quilting. There is one for determining how many blocks of a given size can be cut from a specific yardage, one for determining how much binding (both straight grain and bias) can be cut from a given fabric amount, one that can calculate and determine the size of the square piece you'll need to cut in order to create set-in triangles, plus five more! Can't wait to use these. Go check it out in the GooglePlay store!

It has been way too long since I have posted to my blog. It's time to apologize and take the bull by the horns! I have no excuse for staying away for over a year, but I'm ready to tackle blogging again and I hope you will join me. Since I last posted, lots of things have happened. Last post...daughter was getting married...two years later...I'm sewing on a regular basis for Rosalie Faith(due in March!) I still sew for my other granddaughters...latest projects for them was a Frozen themed quilt and a baby doll miniature quilt with matching pillow. Here are some pics of projects for Rosalie's nursery. The rocking chair was an online yard sale find...$10! Nasty cushions, so I found a nice heavy fabric on a remnant table...total was $15 for five yards (enough to cover all cushions and the footstool plus leftovers.) The nursery theme is sock monkeys and Hobby Lobby had tons of sock monkey fleece and cotton. So, (or should I say "sew"?)-blankets, pillow, hat, and burp cloths, have been made. There are a few more items on the list for using up the sock monkey fabric. I also finished a really nice heart applique baby quilt that I started long before she was even a twinkle in her daddy's eye. As for my quilting world...Sew Sue's Fabric Shop where I taught quilting classes has closed. Sue relocated all of her machines, (including a nice long-arm) to an out-building at their house. The Country Quilters still meet there once a week. I will be teaching "Mexican Stars" during February. I will post pics of the projects as we go along. I also spent quite a bit of time organizing and sorting fabric. I bought some large storage boxes and consolidated smaller boxes to better utilize my space. My next BIG sewing room project is to clean out the closet and move my other crafting supplies from the laundry room to the sewing room. More on that one later.

Welcome to 2013! Is it just me or do the years fly by a lot more quickly than they use to? I am so excited about tonight as we begin our first quilting class of the new year. We are going to do a fun, easy and quick project that has lots of options for pattern arrangement. We will be piecing jelly roll strips and solid 2 1/2" strips together and then we will cut them into triangles, piece them back together into blocks and then sew blocks into rows and magically a beautiful pattern will appear! Super easy! I did a bit of sewing as the holidays approached. Each person in my office, and my daughter/son-in-law received a quilted table runner and I gave my boss and his family a Christmas lap quilt (disappearing 9-patch..see below) I put together a "memorable" T-shirt quilt (see below)for my son...his reaction was, "Wow!" (I took that as a positive comment.) I have a few UFO's in my stash that I will be finishing in the upcoming weeks and I will try to post descriptions and photos along the way. Happy quilting!

Good grief! I had full intentions to post regularly to this blog, but I guess that hasn't happened. My daughter's summer of 2013 wedding was moved up to August 4, 2012! (Bless their hearts...don't think they realized how long a year was.) We are excited and have almost everything done. I did get the baby quilts ready for the girls at church and I did make it through VBS, so maybe I can get back to blogging regularly. And I did manage to get a couple of small quilts started (really needed a few more UFO's in my sewing room...that is "Un Finished Objects" for those of you new to the passion.) This batik quilt is made with nothing but half-square triangles done in light/dark combinations. In my next post I will share with you two ways to quickly make dozens of half-square triangles and also about a few additions to my sewing room that will make you green with envy!

Class project

This month I am teaching a quilting class for beginners at Sew Sue's Quilt Shop in Calhoun, GA. We have eight wonderful ladies who range in their quilting abilities...from those who are just learning the basics of sewing in general, all the way to those who are accomplished quilters who want to learn new patterns and network with fellow quilters. We are using the English paper piecing technique to make blocks sometimes called "grandmothers flower garden." There are numerous ways to put these blocks together, so I am really looking forward to seeing the various finished projects these creative women will produce. One girl is planning a full size quilt while others are making table runners. I'll post pics along the way. Here are my blocks. I have a plan in mind that will incorporate some applique...can't wait to get a little further along to see if my idea will look like I want it to. Do you ever have a plan in mind and then when you do it...yuck...not what you had in mind at al!