Quick Catch Up

It seems time has gotten away from me for the umpteenth time.  I don't know why I don't keep up with my blog.  Well, I do, but I won't mention it. 

I have been busy in the last 10 months.  Wow, that's a long time.  First of all, I put a Dear Jane quilt in the frame, one of my student's, on January 1st and I finished it on Halloween.  Of course in that time I attended 3 retreats, visited my Mom for 6 weeks or so while she had hip replacement surgery.  I also made it to the AQS show in Des Moines, Iowa the first week of October.  I also lost one of my childhood friends to cancer.  We walked to school everyday.  I still think about her so often.  Her memorial service is this Wednesday.  I miss you Susan.  You were loved by so many!  I also got a new dog...uh, I mean puppy.  Bo consumes waaay too much of my time.

In ten days time, our Twisted Sister retreat group will have their annual Christmas gathering.  We don't do the traditional gift exchange.  We have for the last 3 years conducted a Treasure Hunt or scavenger hunt.  We exchange the treasures that were on the list as one gift and the majority of us find it really fun.  This year's list has been really fun as it got my creative juices flowing. I have come up with ideas for other gifts.  After Christmas, I will post the list and a picture of some of my items and also a picture of what I receive.  Most of us collect the items on the list and we go all out packaging/wrapping each one individually.  It is as much fun to watch the receiver discover everything as it is to collect it for a person.  We also don't know going in who will be receiving the Treasure Gifts.

Last week I created a new blog-why I don't know.  It is called A Traditional Quilter's Corner and I hope to focus on recreating yesterday's quilt with today's methods and tools.  I am going to start off with the techniques I used creating my Dear Jane (c).  Hope to get my first how-to on prepared applique posted by the end of the week.

I have also recently started on a challenge project.  (I always seem to write about starting things, but never finishing them.)  Four of us are going to sew along with the AQSG 2014 quilt study.  Even though we are not members, I thought it sounded like a fun thing to try on our own since we all like Civil War era textiles and reproduction fabrics.  Mine, I hope, will be using a new method to construct an old pattern.  (If it works, you may see it on my new blog eventually.)  If I find it impossible to complete in 10 months, it will be back to the drawing board for me.  But I am really charged by it.  I think I can do it.

Weather here has been cold and wet, but no winter weather to speak of-just rain despite a winter storm watch for 2-3 days.  But temps in the low to mid 30's.  Supposed to get sunshine tomorrow.  But the wood stove sure has been nice this week.  We still have lots of wood to burn from the tornado 2 1/2 years ago.  I dream for a white Christmas always, but rarely do we have one here in Texas.  I will continue to dream.

Sew Having Fun,
Sarah

Just a note…

Things have been a little wet here this week;  that’s good for the drought but not quite good enough.  But we’ll take anything we get.  It is good sewing/quilting weather though.

I have been keeping busy quilting a student’s Dear Jane© top.  It is slow going, considering it has been at least a  couple years since I had a quilt in the frame.  I have also been trimming up hourglass blocks from a swap we did between 9 of us with my Twisted Sister retreat group last fall.  I have a lot more to trim but it will be pretty when it is finished.  Not so bad if you trim a few a day.  Just take a look in the 19th Century Patchwork Divas book, History Repeated, published by Kansas City Star Books and you can see a quilt that I am working towards.  I am planning on mine having an applique' block in the center from a pattern by Lori Smith.

I am also eagerly awaiting Betsy Chutchian’s new book,   Lizzie's Legacy, also published by Kansas City Star Books.  I know it will be as good as Gone to Texas and History Repeated.  I have had my local quilt shop order it for me.

Also this week, I taught a hand quilting class at Celeste at Quilt Mercantile.  I had 6 students and I heard nothing but good things about my class.  It had been so long since I had taught it that I had my doubts.  Maybe I will have another one in a few months.

I have also been planning a log cabin quilt as I iron and put away my new fabric purchases, of which there have been quite few.  I will get back to that another time.  I am trying to decide just what how many fabrics I want to include-planned scrappy or totally scrappy.

Hopefully this evening I can get my last 2 Prince’s Feather blocks back basted.  I already have the leaves stitched down on the remaining 2 blocks.

Until next I write I am…Sew having fun,

Sarah

Hello 2013!

It seems like forever since I wrote, close to a year.  But after that last post my year went downhill from there.  Last year was not good for me.  I lost my dad, 3 pets and my husband was in the hospital with meningitis/encephalitis.  This year has got to be better.  Right?  It can’t be much worse is the way I look at it.  It has to be better.

I have not been busy sewing other some applique’ now and then.  I got a new Bassett mix and he is still very much a puppy and into anything made of fiber-cotton, cellulose, thread.  Plus some things that are not edible.  If he’s not chewing, he’s in my lap.  His name is Clooso, like Inspector Clouseau.  He is not the smartest dog we have had, but he definitely has personality.

I have had one retreat already this year and I had a great time as usual.  I actually finished 2 of my applique’ blocks for my 4 block quilt that I started close to 10 years ago.   Now to finish the other 2 with a dog in my lap.  But any progress is a good thing for me.                                                                               

This block I adapted from a pattern booklet I adapted from one of Mrs. Scioto Danner’s catalogs.  It said it was for a 24” block but I did not think it filled the block enough so I redid it to where I thought it filled the block better.  The original 9 block had sashing between the blocks so I think that is why it said it was for a 24” block.  The original of this quilt is (or was) in the Denver Art Museum. 

I have also drafted the block from the plate I talked about in my last post…Inspiration!  I drew it for a 20” block and am thinking about a 9-block quilt with red and green on a cheddar background.  Only time will tell if I get around to it.

I think that’s enough for this post.  I will do my best to blog more in 2013; I do enjoy it.

Sew having fun!

Sarah