Sample spree

Last night was sample spree, the shopping frenzy where quilt shop owners and those who came with them can buy the latest and greatest new stuff: fabrics, patterns, other goodies. People get in line hours in advance, I kid you not--totally unnecessary because once we open the doors at 8 pm every one is in within 5 minutes.
Hundreds attend and the lines wrap around the building in two directions. Here is an idea of the eager crowd:

Welcome to Houston

The bad part: getting up at 4:15 am to catch my two flights to Houston. The good part: getting to spend 13 days consumed with all things "quilt", and spend time with some dear friends. It's a lot of work but it's worth it.

Here's how I spent my last free afternoon--at the pool and the rooftop
Lounge where it was sunny and breezy--just perfect!

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday October 22, 2012

This is the mad dash to get ready to leave home for two weeks--I'm headed to Houston this Wednesday for Quilt Market and Quilt Festival.  As usual, I keep thinking "I need one more (day) (week) (etc) before I leave".  Of course, it wouldn't matter--the more time I had, the more things I'd fill that time with. 

This is what I've gotten done.  The samples for the classes I'll be teaching January-April, 2013 had to get done.  This one I really pushed to get done the last few days and it still needs the left and right borders--a quick trip to the quilt shop this morning will make that possible.  I love this quilt--the traditional tumbling blocks sewn in straight rows only, no Y seams!  Of course, I made it very difficult by using different fabrics for the light diamonds--NO, use ONE fabric only and the layout will be much faster!  The pattern is in the book:  Antique to Heirloom Jelly Roll Quilts, by Pam and Nicky Lintott:

 

Next, I needed a photo of the Trash 2 Treasure sample--these blocks are just on the design wall--they'll get sewn together after Houston.  My plan is to make this a Quilt of Valor:

The class is based on Trash 2 Treasure by Gyleen Fitzgerald--not paper pieced, it's a great stash buster.  I changed the last round by adding a larger triangle to replace 2 small rows--much easier and I like the secondary red square where the 4 corners come together.

Then I got busy finishing the Just Takes 2 red and white blocks and sewing the 3rd quarter unit together.  The blocks in the upper right corner are just "place holders" for this photo--they may or may not be what goes in there when the last quarter is unveiled.  I changed out the placement of some of the blocks based on the fabrics I had used. 

So, there you have it.  Besides the usual therapy appointments, (I graduated!), haircut, cleaning up the potted plants and moving the tropicals back inside, cleaning out all the leaves I could get out of the pond so husband and son could put the net in place, and the usual running around, I also did 26 hours of continuing education classes online for my return to H&R Block and had my interview.  This will be my 33rd year.  Working sure cuts into my free time.

Saturday I spent with my beloved husband at a luncheon reunion of his high school class.  As they've gotten older, they thought meeting once every 5 years wasn't enough so in October the class of 1965, Fairview, AL high school has a potluck lunch.  There were 125 students in the class and most still live close to home, about an hour from us.  My Philadelphia high school, class of 1971, had a class of 1210, and I have no idea where most live--not in touch except through a Facebook group.

Check out Judy L's blog to see what others are doing.

Look for updates from Houston--can't wait to get there!

Let's quilt!
Barbara

Design Wall Monday October 15, 2012

I've been busy but don't have a lot to show for it.  I've gotten most of my red/white Just Takes 2 blocks done for this section--I plan to have that 3rd section sewn together to show next week. 

Here is my first row of Grandmother's Choice BoW:

I used the Panorama option on my Iphone to get it all in.  So far, so good...

A friend I'll see in Houston has asked me to bring her some pomegranate "crowns" for a craft project she is doing.  We have 3 large pomegranate shrubs in our yard that are loaded with fruit.  Here you see dried ones I cut in August, the tops of fresh ones I just cut this weekend,  the actual 10' tall "shrubs" and the real prize:  the seeds.

The seeds drop to the ground and we get many seedlings each year.  Anybody who is local is welcome to have seedlings, next spring when the next crop pop up. 

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what others are doing!  Have a great week...

Let's Quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday October 8, 2012

It's been a busy week--as I get closer to Houston, the list seems to get longer.  Everything on the list will get done in the next two weeks but it's going to take some doing.

I made my two garments for Houston.  Each year we are given fabric from one or two companies, and we all select the colors and patterns we want, from the same line. We can make what we want, and on the assigned day we all wear the same line.  Because the colors and styles are different, we don't look the same but we do appear to be "staff"--good for helping people in the crowds.  And it makes it fairly easy to pack for almost 2 weeks--several black slacks and a bunch of tops and I'm good to go with my jackets.  Here they are:

Fabrics from Troy Corporation, designed by Marcia Derse.   The print is an old one and a real favorite of mine.

Fabrics from Moda, designed by Brigitte Heitland.  This jacket pattern is not my favorite--bad thing to learn once I've cut into the fabric. 

Then I made a gift for a friend--can you tell what it is?  My husband's first guess was a strawberrry, then he guessed a pomegranate.  No to both.  Can you tell?  If not, maybe this isn't such a great gift after all...

Lastly, I made the Grandmother's Choice block for this past Saturday and began to join the blocks to tegether with a 1" finished sashing.  By reading all the information posted on Barbara Brackman's block of the week, I'm learning a lot about the suffragist movement--very interesting!

I've still got 4 Just Takes 2 blocks to get done before the October 15 batch shows up.  Only have therapy once this week and am seeing good progress on the knee.  It's turned much cooler--I think everyone is happy with that! 

Be sure to see what other folks have been doing on Judy L's blog.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Design Wall Monday October 1, 2012

It's October already.  Six weeks ago I was in surgery and 3 weeks from now I'll be in Houston--for Market and Festival--the highlight of the year!

Here is the dark version of my Simple Symmetry quilts from Paula Nadelstern's class in May:

These blocks were made from the same fabric as "Day":

Try as I might, I could not get them to play nicely in one quilt so I made two.  It's amazing how different the blocks look on light and dark backgrounds.  They are simply quilted with variegated thread, using the walking foot.  Someday, I'll tackle free motion quilting, maybe...

 

The other little bit I accomplished this week is the next block in Grandmother's Choice from Barbara Brackman's Suffragist Block of the Week:

I'm going to start piecing these blocks together in rows, just haven't decided what color I want to use yet, either a brown, black or something light.  Maybe I'll know by next week.

 

Therapy continues and I'm feeling stronger each week.  I had fun helping my beginning students select fabrics for their quilts--this week they will make their first block.

 

Check out Judy L's blog to see what other people are up to. 

 

Let's quilt!

 

Barbara