Finished this week

I finished my great-niece Chelsea's quilt this week.

Doesn't this just shout feminity. 
And I threw on two of my table runners so I can mark two more off of my UFO list.  The scarecrow table runner was done at our little sewing group's retreat last September.  Everyone else had their runners on their tables in October but I will this October!!!  And the yellow/blue just matches my dishes.  Nothing special about it other than it is FINISHED (well, I still need sew bindings on but that won't take long).  It still goes into the finished pile.

Aren't those little pumkin-headed scarecrows the cutest things! 
And this is the quilt I'm working on now on my design floor.  (Yes, I know I made a design wall but it is full of other quilts in process.  No room for this one!)

Fourteen more blocks and I can get it sewn together.  I'm thinking of an applique border for it though so it may be awhile before it is ready to quilt.  This is the 9 patch quilt kit that I bought at Paducah in 2010.
Next week we head to Knoxville to the AQS show.  Can't wait.  We say we are going to the AQS show but we are really, really going to have the avocado sandwiches we had a couple of years ago there.  Sure hope the restaurant isn't closed.  Don't know the name of the restaurant but I think we can find it. 
Off to can some green beans and get my house cleaned.

Happy Birthday, America!!

What a special birthday today is.  I feel so fortunate to live in the great USA.  I grew up in Texas and you are taught patriotism from day one.  Thank you to all my teachers for instilling in me the love of my country.  I am not sure the next generation will have that deep felt patriotism.
Enough on that.  No quilting on today's blog.  Just a little country life.
July 4th is grilling day.  I have a Boston butt on the grill.  Any time the grill is going, Bruta is on guard.  Don't you just love that sad look!  Now, yes, he is spoiled rotten.  Every time I grill, he always gets a grilled cheese sandwich and whatever is left of mine.  It is not a treat.  It is a given.

Is there anything that smells better than barbeque?  Well, yes, I can think of a few:  fresh coffee, vanilla.  I'm sure there are others.
I'd be remiss if I didn't include the other member of our family, Li'l Bit (although I now call her Fat Bit).  She is 6 years old and to think the vet wanted to put her to sleep when I got her because she was feline leukemia positive.  I just couldn't put her to sleep and here she is 6 years later.

We do have "people" members of our family, daughter and son-in-law, Stacey & Jack, and one grandson, Zachary.  But they are in St. Louis for the holiday. 
A picture of my flowers in bloom:

And our vegetable garden.

I am so ready for ripe tomatoes but not yet ready.  We have had squash, zuchini, cucumbers and green beans.  Have watermelons and cantalope -- tiny ones right now.  And lots of green tomatoes.  
There is no quilting for me today.  I am taking a class from quiltwhisper.com by the Pixeladies on Photoshop Elements 9.  I am behind on the class and plan to catch up today.
HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE 4TH OF JULY!!

River Quilting Retreat

I have just returned from a F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C quilting retreat on the Tennessee River.  We are so fortunate that one of the ladies in our little quilting group has a son who has a beautiful second home on the Tennessee River and let us have a retreat there.  Lots of quilting, good food and relaxation!!!  Thank you, Nancy, your son, Brad and D-I-L, Betsy.  It was so peaceful and quiet that it was hard to work -- but work we had to do --  after all, it was a quilting retreat!   
Here is a picture of Debbie, Barbara and Nancy.  Sorry it is so far away you can't really recognize them but I wanted a picture of the entire home.

A picture of the sun setting over the river.

Now, why didn't I take pictures of the quilts we worked on!!!  The only excuse is that I was either busy quilting or eating and I forgot to get my camera out until the last night.  Nancy won the prize for accomplishing the most -- that is, if we were giving prizes.  Barbara worked on applique, Debbie worked on a t-shirt quilt and her Crazy Bet quilt and I worked on the 9-patch Gathering Baskets quilt (I bought the kit at Paducah in 2010!) .   Nancy worked on so many quilts (finished a couple!) that none of us could keep up with her. 
Barb fixed a great appetizer from thepioneerwoman.com called Shrimpo de Gallo.   Check it out if you like shrimp because it was out of this world!  What can I say but all the food was excellent!!!  (If you want to read a good blog, check out thepioneerwoman.com for some beautiful pictures and commentary.  No quilts, but she has a lot of good recipes.

Now back to longarming.
I have finished my great-niece's (Chelsea)  butterfly quilt.  These pictures show it on the machine before it was finished but it is ready to be delivered on our way to Knoxville to the AQS July 13th. 

Have a great day!

One Off, One On

I finished this quilt for a my friend, Barbara.  Love, love these fabrics -- so much that I ordered some from Hancocks-Paducah!  Yep, one more project goes to the UFOs.  Barb was right on on  the points and where they all came together laid flat -- no hammer needed on this one!  Great work!!!

My nieces and great nieces did an exchange of butterfly blocks last year.  I think there were 24 or 25 in the exchange.  (My oldest brother had 5 girls and 2 boys so we have a big family!)  We copied the butterfly from an old quilt of my maternal grandmother, Katie Mae Whitlock King.  This one belongs to my great niece, Chelsea.  These quilts will be treasures for years to come.  (No, mine is not quilted but it IS ready to go on the machine.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.,

Some used their creative license and drew different butterflies from my grandmother's.  This has been so much fun and what a treat to see my young great-nieces loving quilts.

2001 Appliqued Patriotic Quilt -- FINISHED!

This quilt was started in the summer of 2001 before there was even an inkling of the 9-11 tragedy.  So apropos to finish it before the 10th anniversary!! 

The last picture is after binding and laundering.  The 4 applique block patterns are by Dinah Jefferies, Garden City Gateworks, Blue Springs, MO.  She has some of the most beautiful applique patterns!!  The mariner's compass was paper pieced. 

BOM update, etc.

I am catching up on Ruffled Roses BOM.  I now have the 4 patch borders on and am up-to-date on my baskets.  Still lack some on the log cabin type border but it will be done before July 1st!!!

And I'm still quilting on my patriotic quilt.  IT DID QUILT OUT!  This is going much faster than the micro work on Sherman's March.

Ruffled Roses BOM Progress

I am a little behind on The Quilt Show's BOM but I will catch up.  I have the 4 baskets finished for May:

And I have the appliqued border finished and sewn on.

And two of the 4 patch borders finished.  Now to get the other two finished.  They go next to the appliqued border.  And this picture also shows portions of the outer border.

I have just printed off the June instructions so maybe by July 1, I will be caught up. 

And this is what is on my LA now.  This is my patriotic quilt and I would like to have it finished before July 4, 2011.  After all, the top was done in 2001!!!!!  Gee, it sure looks like I have a lot of fullness but I think it is because I have it pinned in places.  Oh, well, IT WILL QUILT OUT, right?????