September 23, 2011

Nothing Says Fall Like A Pumpkin!!

I am hosting a block swap on the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum with several ladies participating.  I have started receiving some of the blocks and wanted to share them with my readers!  They are all just wonderful!  The only rules were that the pumpkins could not "read" Halloween nor be made with novelty type fabrics.

If all 9 blocks are different, you will see all 9.  If they are different in fabric but not pattern, you will still see all 9.  If they are identical in fabric and pattern, you will only see 1 of the 9.

So, What do you think?

Jennifer (QuilterJen)

Karen (califshrimp)

Colleen (alexemmarose)

Joyce (ladybuggsie)

Debbie (debbieWI)

Kathy (omma5)

Cheryl (AuntieReba)

Ellen (kwilt4u)

Linda (lindaj52)

Kathleen (Kay-Lin)

Chris (QuilterChris)

Chris (QuilterChris)
Ellen (ekbuckeye)

Thearica (Quiltaholic)

Nancy (Nancyc20)
 
Ellen (hotpinkpeonies)

Elizabeth (ELY/SSYS) 
 

September 18, 2011

My Amazing Weekend!

I have just had the most amazing weekend of a lifetime!  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a Ricky Tims Super Seminar, with Ricky, Alex Anderson and Libby Lehman in Asheville, NC!!


Ricky demonstrated his Caveman style of piecing and showed us how he designs his Rhapsody and Kaleidoscope quilts!!  Can you say SUPER easy!! I have sat and looked at photos of his quilts and thought just how difficult it must be to put one of these together!  I have asked many times "What is in the water out west that produces such artistic quilters?"   And now thanks to Ricky and his amazing style of teaching, I can create one of these beautiful quilts myself!!

All through the seminar Ricky, Alex and Libby all interjected their quick wit and humor, only adding to the overall fun of the entire weekend!

If you ever get the chance to attend one of these seminars, you will not regret spending the money!  I PROMISE you that it will be given back to you one-hundred fold in a wealth of information!!!  You really HAVE to see it to believe just how uncomplicated Ricky's designs truly are to produce such magnificent looking quilts!!

Take a look at some of the beauties Ricky Tims had on display!





I have always wanted to meet Alex Anderson!


And her hand quilting is phenomenal!  I really miss hand quilting and this weekend has made me miss it even more!  Alex was a delight to be able to talk to about your quilting past and how you got where you were today. She was genuinely interested in what you had to say!  I loved that about her!




Libby Lehman was a bundle of energy this weekend! Here she is signing autographs with Ricky!  Her style of quilting is fun, fast and easy! 





My brain feels as though it has been fried!!  WOW!! Such a wealth of information to absorb in 3 days!  And LONG days too!  I cannot wait to get in my studio and try my hand at creating my own Rhapsody quilt!!

On Friday night Ricky treated us all to a piano concert!  He also played a Native American instrument as well!  We all sat mesmerized as he played his beautiful music! It was easy to get lost in it all... I actually teared up several times!

I am pulling this from Ricky's website.. I don't think he would mind the advertising plug-- 

He maintains an extensive international schedule of teaching and speaking engagements, is co-founder and co-host of The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com) with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims - an online, subscription-based TV show for quilters. He presents three-day Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminars in select cities throughout the United States and holds week-long La Veta Quilt Retreats at his art quilt studio in tiny mountain town of La Veta, CO. In 2010, he and Alex Anderson started a new quilting lifestyle magazine called The Quilt Life (published by AQS).
I encourage you all to check out Ricky's website to see where his seminar is coming to next!  If it is remotely close to you - GO!!!  You will NOT be sorry!! 

September 10, 2011

My Newest CQ Creation!

I thought I had blogged about this Crazy Quilt piece that I made for my good friend Elaine, but going back though my blog, I find that I never did! I cannot believe I didn't share this piece with all of you!

My good friend Nicki hosted yet another one of her CQ One Block Swaps over on the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum and I could not pass up the chance to participate!  Elaine's name was drawn for me and I was estatic!  I had been wanting to create a piece for her and now was my chance! No more excuses...no more putting it off!!

Elaine had joked around with me the entire time I was creating Allie's piece for her birthday in 2010.  She kept begging for it and I kept saying no.  So I decided to incorporate a few of the same design options as I put in Allie's.  They are still incredibly different and Elaine loves her piece as much as she would have loved getting the piece I made for Allie.

And in the end, that is all that matters right!















September 7, 2011

My Charming Mother-n-Law

I just love my mother-n-law!  She is really good to me and her son! I always try to find time to do things with her because she is always doing for others and deserves to be catered to herself.  Nothing like someone taking time out of their day for you to make you feel special and I love making her feel that way!

Her church is having a fall bazaar to raise money.  She and I went to the LQS while Allie was here and I received a 25.00 voucher to spend at a later date.  I almost forgot about it and she and I went back down to the shop to spend it the day before it expired.  I allowed her to use it to buy the pattern and fabrics for a Charming Tote by Whistlepig Creek Productions.  I didn't tell her she was the one spending the voucher until we got to the shop and she was surprised and tickled!

We got together today to make the tote.  We laughed more times than I can count because of our sloober doobers.  The first mistake came when I sewed the bottom to the top edge and had the cell phone pockets upside down. While I sewed the handles together, Mildred attempted to remove the bottom.  In so doing, she removed one of the sides first! (2nd mistake).  Now we were really laughing.

She finally got that took apart and I was sewing the handles together.  They had a layer of fusible fleece inside and somehow or other when we turned the handle inside out, the fleece was on the outside.. (mistake #3)... OK..we thought we should call it a day but I wanted to finish this thing or else...

So, I started sewing the side piece back on and got 4 inches down when I realized I had the wrong side to the right side!!  (mistake #4!!).. How many more would we have!!  This is by far the most mistakes I have ever made sewing together one thing!

Well, I finally got that side sewed back on, got the bottom put back in and all went well the rest of the way!  The tote turned out really awesome even with those darn mistakes!!

One thing about it.. Mildred and I had a lot of fun just being together so for all the mistakes in the world, it was well worth it!