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Archive for the month “July, 2012”

30 Jul 2012
9 Comments

I’m late… blame the Olympics

Okay, so I’m late with getting my post up but who can blame me?  I come from the generation that thinks the Olympic Games and still important and relevant.  Saying that I was also very busy with the quilting that I wanted to get completed.  I finished the quilt for my almost born nephew Jayden, completed the top for the quilt that I’ve decided to title “Land of Whimsy”, and started the blue pinwheel quilt that luckily enough Kay has agreed to do with me.

See, I have only been slacking with posting up!!  Have a wonderful week full of games and quilting everybody.

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28 Jul 2012
1 Comment

And the winnner is….

And the winner is…

ADaisyGarden!!!  If this is you, then you are the lucky winner of the Persian Plum Setting kit give-a-way!!  Please email me at txmlawrence@bistroquilts.com for prize information.

 

And for the rest of you, I’ll be having another giveaway on 8/18/12.  Stay tuned and as always keep quilting!!

Posted in Giveaway and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
26 Jul 2012
5 Comments

When do bits of fabric become a quilt?

Someone at my work asked about the quilts that I make and made the mistake of asking me to bring one of them in.  I do still get some ribbing from the guys that I work with for being as passionate about quilting as I am.  I take it in stride though, and sometimes it still does get to me.  Luckily my passion outweighs any reservations I have about spending my time with this wonderful art form.

Waking up early, I prepared for my day… made coffee, packed my lunch and, oh yeah… remembered to take my perfectly folded quilt with me to show off at work.  It was a little of a let-down when I found out that the person I was supposed to show the quilt to was off-site all day due to some issues that he had to deal with.  On second thought though, this would give me a reason to take it back with me the next day.

As I was walking back to the car I realized that what I had under my arm was no longer bits of thread and fabric.  I could feel the weight of it and even the feel of it had changed from when I was sewing the fabric together.  As I took the quilt home I wondered what it would feel like when I finally washed it.  This wasn’t the most complicated pattern and if you’ve followed my posts at all, you’ll know that it is one of five that I made in nine days.  It has become mine though, unlike any of the other quilts that I’ve made and that’s saying a lot.  I want to say a special thanks to Linda my quilter, the person who did such a wonderful job quilting these bits of fabric into such a resplendent quilt.

While talking to my daughter Samantha who I’ve convinced to pick up this passion, I mentioned that I hadn’t come up with a name for my quilt yet.  She reminded me of a time when she was only six years old and had come home to find a doll that I had bought for her.  The doll was made out of fabric and dressed in blue and white pajamas, had yellow yarn for hair, and big blue eyes.  You should have seen her face when she saw the doll, she said “she looks like me!”  I told her that the doll’s name was Sally from a bedtime story that my father had told to me.  This quilt, my daughter told me is like the doll you gave me and should be called the ‘Sally doll quilt’.

Yes… it’s the middle of summer but as I sit here writing this and it’s still over 95 degrees, I am wrapped up in my quilt and still I wonder… when did these bits of fabric become a quilt?  The minute it made the connection to my heart through my memories.  It will always and forever remind me of that day of happiness with my daughter.

Sally Doll and her Sally Doll Quilt

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25 Jul 2012
6 Comments

Heidi Grace Panels are done!

While getting ready to finish the top for the “Acadia” Heidi Grace fabrics quilt, I had received a call to pick the other quilt up from my new Long Arm quilter. I did manage to finish all of the panels before I left and have put them out on the bed to get a sense of what it will look like when finished.

Tonight I will hopefully have the time to finally finish sewing the top together. I still have so many other irons in the fire however that I might not be able to get the back together until the weekend. I feel a little bad because I’m already thinking about the next quilt I’m going to make! Focus, focus, focus should be my mantra!

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24 Jul 2012
3 Comments

Free Fabric!! Joann Fabric’s Persian Plum Setting Kit

Just a reminder that I’ll be pulling a name for the Free Friday giveaway this Saturday July 28th.  Just click the link off to the right of this post and comment there.  Don’t forget to follow my blog for your chance at some really cool prizes.

Posted in Giveaway and tagged , , , , , , ,
23 Jul 2012
4 Comments

Bound and Determined

This weekend I finally did it!!  I received a call from Linda who had my blue and yellow Sage Garden Quilt that it was ready to be picked up!  After wrapping up what Kay and I were working on we drove the 45 minutes to the quilters and picked it up.  It turned out so very beautiful and I could hardly wait to get it home.

What I didn’t know at first touch, was how stiff it would be with that much quilting on it.  I was actually unprepared and we started joking about it being so stiff that it may just walk off on its own.

When I got it home and pulled out the fabric to use for the border, it was close to 8pm already.  Determination set it however and I put most of the fabric together for the binding… yes I said “most” of the fabric.  Like any great story with trials and tribulations, I hadn’t measured correctly and while sewing the binding on came up a little short.  Not to worry though, I quickly added two more strips on and I was off and running.

No one every mentions it, but when you have something with that much quilting pushing the needle through the fabric is very difficult.  On several occasions I looked at my finger at the hole that was forming from where it created an indentation!  Well, here it is, I’m very proud of how this turned out.  Now I have but to put the label on to put it in use.

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21 Jul 2012
1 Comment

The wife is still sick…

Last night I took the night off of all of my projects to take care of a sick wife… and that was the plan.  Then work called because they lost power at one of the job sites and for the next three hours I was monitoring servers with one half of my brain and the other half spent trying to make Kay comfortable.  I didn’t even have time to write this until this morning where thankfully she is up and around and causing all kinds of ruckus between her and our grey cat.

It might seem that because I said “grey cat” that we have more than one, but that is not the case.  He is the neediest animal that we have ever had.  He’s been out of sorts for the past few days because Kay has been too sick to play with him the way he likes.  He has been taking his frustrations out on me.  Last night as I remote in to the servers to check their status, he jumps up and starts putting his cat feet on the keys to see if he can help.  I just assumed he wanted me to finish my work faster so we could play.

Seriously though, I am VERY pathetic when she is sick.  Being married so long we men don’t know what to do any more when we’re left to our own devices…  I “teasingly” at dinner time asked Kay what I was supposed to do.  She laughed so hard and then started coughing and I felt bad for the ill-timed joke!  This morning all is right with the world however and I’ll be finishing my beautiful Heidi Grace quilt and will post the top for all to see sometime tomorrow or Monday.  Until then…  happy quilting!!

Posted in Daily, Pets and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
20 Jul 2012

Joann Fabric’s Persian Plum Block 8

Block 8 for the Persian Plum was definitely an easier block to put together than block 7 was, at least for me.  It was fun and went together in less than 30 minutes!

I can hardly wait to see all of these blocks together in what I hope is going to be a beautiful quilt.  Let me know what you think of this one.

Here is the fabric that came with the kit:

And then the sewing began…

Here is the block almost finished

And here’s the finished block

I took a break from my quilt to put this block together and you can see the reviews of my post for the previous blocks

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Posted in Block of the Month, Blogs, Daily, Reviews and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
19 Jul 2012
2 Comments

A look at my future quilt

I know I’ve talked about it a little before, but what is on my mind right now is the Heidi Grace quilt that I’m putting together.  Half of the panels are done and even though it’s slow going during the week, I’m still at it.  Kay has a nasty cold that she’s been battling with lately and I’m not the best caregiver but I’m trying to take some of the dinner making and house cleaning duties off her shoulder while she gets well.

So I wanted to post a few more pictures of the Arcadia quilt in progress and here they are:

 

Posted in Daily and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
18 Jul 2012
2 Comments

Patience and Anticipation

A funny thing happened last night that I was reticent to talk about without the approval of my spouse.  I asked her only because I am making fun of both of us, but didn’t want to offend her by including it in my post.  She of course approved of my using it because she’s fantastic.

I had to do some work from home last night and knew that I wouldn’t be able to do too much on the quilt that I’m finishing.  All of the blocks are together, all that’s needed is to piece the blocks together to make the panels and then sew the panels together.  Two of the panels are complete, but rather than have the expectations of finishing during the week, I’m trying to be realistic and have the patience to finish this weekend when I have more time.

After my work was completed and dinner was finished, we went back into the sewing room for the last hour of the night before we went to sleep to get a little sewing in…  After I’ve sewn my first strip to join two blocks together, I realize that I’ve sewn the strip on the wrong side of the block (with this pattern there is no way I could leave it in and make it work).  Now I have to say that on occasion this happens to me, but with this quilt… let’s just say that it is chronic.  It was at this point that Kay looking over at me and my “new” difficulties and makes fun.

Kay suggested that I give it up for the night and laughed a little at the continuing difficulty that I’ve had with this quilt.  Sewing blocks and strips to the wrong sides, forgetting to use the 1/4″ selection of the machine, and other trials I’ve faced while making this quilt.  I was thinking (you could actually see the gears move) of something pithy to reply to her when I looked down and saw that she was using the wrong sewing foot for what she was working on!!  What ensued at that point was nothing less than storm of cursing at our machines and the collective fate of our two quilts.

We could have given up at this point, but given our nature we hunkered down, brought out two seam rippers, and proceeded to “fix” our mistakes.  Rather than stopping afterwards, we completed what we had started before finally going to bed.  I had finished another panel, number three out of eight.  I realized though that I’m kind of enjoying the time that it’s taking to finish this quilt.  I happen to be making it for myself and think that as I use the finished quilt this Autumn, I will appreciate it that much more knowing as I do the time and patience I’ve had to have with it.  All of the effort I’ve put in leaves me feeling a great anticipation for what this quilt will be when it grows up.

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