Homecoming

With out of town company, my daughter's homecoming actitivies and a tumble I took down our stairs yesterday I have not accomplished much on my quilting the last few days. Now all the activities are over and lucky that I didn't break anything I am ready to get back to my quilting.

This week I hope to get a twin sized customer quilt loaded and quilted, a couple of bindings finished and a few more of the Hospice ornaments completed. I started four more of them yesterday but didn't get to far.


I also just had to share a picture of Mandy ready for Homecoming. I still can't believe she is already in high school, where have those years gone.

Kathie

Thursday Already?

I don't know where this week has gone. Ever since I turned in my notice at work I have been twice as busy. Several things I am trying to wrap up and also in the process of creating a turn over book to help my replacement. Looks like next week I will be packing up 10 years worth of files to be transferred to another company.

I quilted on lap quilt this week but is the only thing I have accomplished. Have not had the time or energy to work on any charity projects (need to make hospice ornaments) or work on any craft show items this week and only the one customer quilt done.

We are having company this weekend but I hope to be able to get another customer quilt done and a few craft show items worked on after they leave.

kathie

Linus Quilts

It has been a fun but busy few days. I went to the project linus meeting on friday and continued to work on my heart blocks while several of the ladies working on the new block which was a dimensional pinwheel. I would rather plug along on last months project till completion rather than have a bunch of half started quilts. I also got a customer quilt finished and packed up all sorts of projects to go to a quilting retreat on saturday.

Saturday I finished all the heart blocks, got a binding on a table runner and made a strippy quilt top (from OLD fish fabric) from Mary Johnson's pattern at http://www.maryquilts.com.

Today I quilted a small Project Linus quilt made by Ann. I quilted it with ribbon curls from the magic meandering book by Suzanne Early, quick, easy and looks ok.

Kathie

I Quit

I did it!!!!

I have been working in office settings for 35 years, 11 ½ years at my current company and 10 years on the same program. For a long time I had been wishing that I could leave my job and do something different, the last year or more the desire has been to quit and pursue a machine quilting business that I have slowly started.

Well, Tuesday morning I came into work turned in my resignation letter. It is exciting and scary all at the same time.

I intend on doing a lot of practicing on my quilt skills. I have mastered several free hand patterns but need to be able to do much more than I am capable of at this point. I do tell people that my nitch right now is simple designs at a low cost and that I try to have a quick turn around time. There seem to be a lot of people that would like that college dorm quilt, baby quilt or Christmas present done. They want it together, finished and with added texture but don’t want to spend a fortune.

I am hoping that I will be very busy quilting customer quilts and working on all my craft show items through the holidays and then beginning with the new year I would like to find some volunteer work to do 1 or 2 days a week in addition to the quilting.

As I get older I feel the need to do something with meaning to it, something that makes a difference or helps someone out. I feel some of that with the charity quilting I do but I also want to do something more direct.

I am sure I will have lots of ups and downs and just hope that I can make it work, and that it is the right decision.

Kathie

Charity Sewing

Two charity project I have been working on a little at a time are heart blocks from a pattern given to me at the Project Linus meeting I went to. They were doing them in pinks and reds which looked to much like valentines to me. I decided to do my blocks totally scrappy and use from my stash. I have four blocks done so far of 12 needed to make a linus quilt.

Our quilt guild is also going to do a hospice tree this year. I made these small four patches and fused the poinsettia on them and put a crystal in the middle.

Kathie

Quilting Assistant

It seems like a lot of people have a "quilting assistant" and this is mine. My husband had just removed a sewing machine from the well in this table and went into another room to get another machine to put in. In those couple of minutes Sammy decided it looked like a great place to lay. To bad his eyes look so strange in this picture but then again Halloween is the end of the month and he would fit right in.

Kathie

Sunday Goals

I did real well with all the goals I wanted to accomplish by sunday night.

1. 2 small customer quilts quilted - DONE
2. Two runners quilted - DONE
3. Load Quilt - DONE and quilting started
4. Piece baby quilt backing - not done
5. Sew bindings on two runners (above) DONE
6. Hand stitch bindings on two runners DONE
7. Make Project Linus blocks - not done

So I made real good progress but didn't accomplish everything on my list, but then again I made two small wall hanging tops that were not on this list.

I am posting a picture of the one small quilt I quilted. This was for my youngest customer and she did a great job on her quilt, she is 13. I am also posting a picture of on the table runners I got bound this weekend. You can't tell from the picture but is is decorated with lots of crystals.

Kathie

Stash Busting Vs. Collecting

I belong to the on line Stashbusters group that encourages people to use up their fabric stash instead of buying additional fabrics. I have never joined the “no buy” group but have been trying to use up some of what I already have. I have been semi successful and have used up several groupings of fabric I had purchased and never did anything with. I have also been trying to use left over binding strips etc. laying around in scrap projects.

That being said I have also purchased a fair amount of fabric in the last year. I have slowed down on purchases and have been using some of the OLDER fabrics up so I don't feel to bad about the newer purchases. There are also some times when a new trend, idea or whatever hits and you just HAVE to collect fabric for it.

I have seen several quilts lately in black and white with touches of red. I love how graphic is looks and decided that I just had to make one. I still don't know what pattern I am going to use but have a couple of ideas that use FQs. I have started collecting ½ yard pieces so I could make multiple blocks in one fabric and this is what I have collected so far.

Now I have to make sure I really make this quilt and it doesn't just become another Project in a Grocery Sack (PIGS).

Kathie