Fall Quilt Retreat

I love fall.  Even though living in Texas means the leaves don't really change color, unless you count varying shades of brown, at the very least we can count on cooler temperatures.  Hey now, don't knock those high temps of 86 degrees!  In Texas, that is cooler.  Fall also means Nancy's annual quilt retreat at Compass Centre in Mt. Calm.  I missed last year, opting to go elsewhere for retreat and wound up getting really sick.  Who says there's no such thing as karma?

Mom and I spent Friday through Sunday with 22 ladies and 1 courageous man (bless you, Mr. Bill) and managed to get more done than we would've had we just stayed home.  Nothing beats having someone else cook and clean up after you for an entire weekend!  Being able to pee without interruption is just a bonus...if you don't have kids, you simply cannot appreciate this.

Generally, I get a lot done at these shindigs, however, because I'm on a mission to reproduce my son's airplane quilt to replace his tattered, beloved one made by Gramma,  this retreat proved to be an exception.

I managed to get the quilting and binding completed on my batiks miniature (sorry, no picture but I did post the completed top awhile back) and finished the top for my crazymomquilts 36 patch quilt along.  Go, me!

And, because my daughter said a quilt looks better when she's in the picture, I give you....

Such a modest child, I have...the little darling.  And, yes, she's wearing shorts.

The remainder of my weekend was spent making these...

...a big-assed stack of 56 paper-pieced airplanes.  For one weekend, I was Tippie Hedren in The Birds only my birds were aircraft.  By Sunday afternoon, I wanted to jump from a plane but, by golly, they are done ya'll!  I think Seth's rather pleased...

I am exhausted, but it was so much fun...and did I mention I got to pee by myself.  Yep, it was worth it.

Happy quilting, ya'll!

In The Works

With the kids starting back to school on Thursday, most of my free time (yes, I know...moms get free time?  You may stop laughing now) has been devoted to filling out paperwork, attending orientation (no, I do not want to be a room mom), writing checks big enough to make the pen weep and generally combating whatever anxiety I may be feeling over how the year will progress.  Which reminds me, my Xanax is ready for pickup at the pharmacy...

Here's a corner shot of what I hope my entire quilt from the Crazy Mom quilt-along will turn out to look like.

I laid out the little demo for Hubby and asked him what he thought.  After picking his lower jaw up off the floor (I can't believe it...you actually asked for my opinion?  Did I marry myself a comedian, or what?) he said he liked it...not 'it's fine', which is his typical response, but 'I like it'.  Now, it was my turn to pick myself up off the floor.

The rest of the pictures are for a remembrance quilt I'm making for a local lady...

It'll have two more sets of the tan/blue strips and another two rows of horses.  I'm thinking the tan for a border or this...

 
...or maybe both.

The back will be pieced from 2 or 3 of these fabrics...

...but, I'll definitely use the Army fabric.

Happy quilting, ya'll!

Finished! Well, Almost...

I have f i n a l l y finished the blocks for my baby-sized quilt top as part of the Crazy Mom Quilt-Along.  I am really pleased with Amanda Jean's directions, which are clear and easy to follow and her suggestion of using an extremely small stitch length to help the strips snug up together nicely.  Her quilt didn't have sashing or borders, but I'm seriously contemplating them for mine.  Yes, I said mine...m-i-n-e! MINEMINEMINE!  My daughter's already asked if she can have it....MINE! MINE! MINE!  This should be a statement she understands clearly as it's a favorite of hers.

Anyway, here's what I've got to work with...

I'm thinking black for both sashing and inner border and finishing it off with a border of the leftover solids  featured in the blocks.  I shall ponder my options....

Okay, I've pondered and that's how it'll be...well, that's the easiest decision I've made all day.  Now, my pillow is calling me.  Goodnight!

  

Crazy Mom Update

I bet you thought I was talking about me..

NEWSFLASH:  I TAKE PILLS FOR THAT!

Here's the progress on my Crazy Mom Quilts quilt along project...

The night is young and the fabric pile is high...it's off to quilt I go!

Snail's-pace Progress

Let it not be said that I didn't get something accomplished this weekend because it sure as heck wasn't the housecleaning!  I made some progress on my crazymomquilts quilt-along although not as much as I would've liked...after all, we did need clean underwear. 

I really liked how well the blocks went together when I followed Amanda Jean's instructions to the letter (funny how that works) and once I got a rhythm going, I set that pedal on fire ya'll!  I left that Singer gasping for air and begging for mercy...it was kinda like being sixteen again, only, back then, that was boys.

Big whoop, I got two whole blocks done, but that's more than I would've accomplished had I not sewn at all (Ma, what are you doing in my head?  Outta there, now!!)

I've got a nice little stack of strips ready to go under the presser foot, so I can grab a minute at the machine here and there.

The flip side of that is I decided 'baby-sized' just wouldn't be big enough, so there's plenty of strips left for me to wind up with a generous lap quilt.

Happy quilting!

Quilt-Along Progress

Since today was my day off and, miracle of miracles, no one got sick, I decided to work a bit on my quilt-along project from Crazy Mom Quilts.  

I spent the morning cutting fabric into 2 1/2" wide strips which quickly got boring, not to mention the fact that precise cutting is almost impossible when be-bopping to what's playing on the radio.  So, I switched to stitching and pressing and stitching some more and this is what I accomplished...

Many thanks to Amanda Jean for her suggestion about using a very short stitch length and pinning (which I never do) to help everything go together a little more smoothly.  You can check out her blog at http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com.

Quilt Along with Crazy Mom Quilts

Amanda Jean from Crazy Mom Quilts is hosting a 36-patch quilt along and she's invited everyone!  See her blog http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com for all the details. 

I have taken exactly one class in my entire quilting career and can honestly say I'd rather have my brain yanked from my cranium through my nose.  Didn't the ancient Egyptians do that?  Anyway, I'm a tad apprehensive as this will be my first quilt-along and I've no idea how I'm going to keep up, but hope springs eternal as they say (I don't know who they are, but I think they lie) and I shall endeavor to persevere.  I know Amanda Jean probably thought 'This broad is craaazy!' when I asked in all sincerity if a quilt-along meant that I actually had to keep up with the group.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for not sending me a snarky reply or a referral to a psychiatrist, Amanda Jean! 

I finished Week 1's assignment last night: choose your fabrics; and set a personal speed record 'cause the process only took three days (go me!)  A pattern requiring even two coordinating fabrics is enough to make me cross-eyed, but I managed to pick out a total of twenty-four all without turning into a drooling, quivering, gibberish-muttering pile of mush.

   
I started to go for soft and understated, but quickly snapped out of it when I realized it was one of those  other voices in my head and, behold, this is the result.  I'm going for baby-sized, but I'm thinking these seizure-inducing prints are better suited for the adult crowd so I'll add multiple borders to make it lap-sized.  We shall see...