Halloween wall hanging pictures

The ISMACS convention in North Charolina is over... and here are the pictures of the many entries in the wall hanging contest. I had stiff competition.... mine is the black and white one with the yellow stars. K

Depressed

well, I worked like a wild person getting Leo and Sherri's quilts done so that I could get them to Texas before Leo's surgery Monday. I got the binding on Sherri's, it looked presentable. Today I put the binding on Leo's and about half way around I decided that I didn't like it, plus the application was rather awful... sloppy in areas and just not my usual standard. Against my better judgement I sent them anyway... I wanted to get them there so that they could be used to snuggle and nap in after the surgery.

I've decided that I'll ask for it back when summer comes, apply a new border and do a much better application.... Live and learn....

Ann's quilting is fantastic. The patterns that she used really suited the theme of the quilts....k

Where the magic happens

Good evening...
I thought that you might like to see where the magic happens...

Like I posted yesterday, I had a very productive weekend peddling out the four quilts. Yes, they were all done on my treadle "James Bond".

Today I delivered the three family quilts over to Ann's house where she'll long arm quilt them for me.

The three pictures are of the set up process and her quality control department....

While the hubby is sick

While the cat is away, the meces will play :) However in this instence the saying should go.... While the hubby is sickly is the wife will quilt :)

For the last 36 + hours the hubby has been suffering with an allergy attack brought on from his hunting weekend a week ago.... I am not sure what he was allergic to, but he has suffered with this for the whole.... it seems to be getting better, however. So during this time of nursing duties I've been productive. My brother is going into the hospital for surgery on Nov 2....being the lover of trains that he is I thought a nice snuggly train quilt might be just what he needed. So got busy assembling his quilt... I'd been working on the blocks thinking it would be a Christmas gift but the surgery has sort of moved up the time line. Knowing how poorly men are at being sick I figured that SIL Sherri could probably do with a hug from Georgia as well... so got her floral quilt top done also. There were a few unused blocks so I put them together for a quilt top her granddaughter Payton... and there were still four blocks remaining so made up a baby quilt inadvance, what an odd concept......

So here they are, Train quilt with Texas Ranger fabric for the backing for Leo. A floral quilt with autmum leaves backing fabric for Sherri. For Payton a floral quilt with lamb flannel as the backing....

All of these quilts are going to dear friend Ann's house tomorrow for quilting on her long arm quilting machine....there is no way I could wrangle this size quilt and get them done in my life time.... Ann is a life saver...K

Louella's quilt top done

Well, Louella's quilt top is done and was delivered over to the long arm quilter this afternoon. Ann will do a pretty leaf pattern on the quilt, Louella's father wrote a book about the wild flowers an other flora along a Georgia trail. Ann has a great selection of patterns as well as a creative mind... I can hardly wait to see what she does for this humble top.

Enjoy the pictures...

Quilt Show

Today friend Terri and I went up to the mountains for North Georgia for a quilt show at Blairsville... This was our first time attending a Misty Mountain Quilters Guild Octoberfest quilt show. What a treat.... There were enteries from all levels....

We had the opportunity to vote for our favorite quilt;this Cathedral Window by Zetta Thompson got my vote with no hesitation....

More Misty Mt quilts

This is a beautiful applique quilt of birds and flowers done by Joice Lias. She was inspired by Bea Oglesly's book Birds and Flowers.

The pink quilt is made of crocheted trims and doilies appliqued to the quilt blocks. Fae Herd made the lace work as well as the quilt... such talent.


The light natural tones quilt is the work of Darlene Barnes and called Feathered Elegance. This quilt was also for sale...the photo doesn't do it justice, it is a very charming quilt.

What do you think??? K

Some more quilts

The "String Quilt" is the work of Patricia Krick, I think it drew me over due to the colors... I like it.

The machine embroidery on this was elegant in its presentation. This was a learning experience quilt by Margaret McKnew called Simon's Folly.

What do you think of this motorcycle stitched in the border with multicolored thread....A great idea when added to the T-Shirt quilt of bike theme shirts made by Judy Lowery :)

"The Beauty of Stars" was done by Audie Gay. This is to be a wedding quilt for her granddaughter.... she'll treasure this one for sure... K

Quilts

Nancy Jenson's "Revolutionary War Flags" is an inspiring quilt.

This version of the Improved 9 Patch titled
"What Was I Thinking" was Carleen Brock's attempt
at curing her dislike of
curved piecing...
I AM NOT CURED ...
was her statement!!!
But a great little quilt :)

The blue quilt is made
with table linens left
when to Judie
Greenstone
when her mother
died. An interesting
new use...
K

Frank N. Stein on Manor Drive

Some folks just are way too clever....

My dear friend Sonja has such creative knitting needles...when she found knitting her creativity blossomed. Last Wednesday we had lunch together and she presented me with a Frankenstein dishcloth. The packaging was just as creative as the gift.... yes, its a Halloween M&M bag closed with her very own "chain stitch". She no doubt worked hard to get all those M&Ms eaten in time for the gift giving :) I greatly appreciated her sacrifice...

Davis Vertical Feed blocks

In the TreadleOn group the Davis Vertical Feed is considered a much sought after treadle sewing machine, especially for those that do machine quilting. You see, the machine has no feed dogs to move the fabric back once the stitch is finished.... how does the fabric move you asking????? The needle does the fabric moving and since that is the case when you are quilting on the machine it means that all the layers moved back together, there is less likelihood of the layers shifting or causing ripples on the back.

Even though I'd gotten my Davis vertical feed machine during summer vacation of 2008 I'd not participated in the Davis block exchange.... the blocks were due in the mail on Monday Oct 5th. The colors were jewel tones with whites... and the block design was quilters choice.... I did two sets of a Churn Dash variation. What do you think???? K

Savannah GA visit

After the graduation ceremoney my husband and I went to the Savannah GA area for a little sight seeing. We lunched at the Crab Shack which was on the way to Tybee Island and toured the Old Fort Jackson location which is near downtown. A film crew was visiting the fort, taking lighting and distance measurements for a future production. We drove around Tybee Island shocked at how it had changed since our last visit, many moons ago.

It has been our intention to spend the weekend in Savannah, but when the Welcome Center folks shared that it was going to be the first weekend of Octoberfest and drinking would be the main recreation we decided to return home.....besides, my husband missed his cats :) K

Proud of our Marine

On Oct 1st and 2nd we had the honor and pleasure of going to our nephew Sam's graduation from Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island. The Marines really know how to put on a graduation ceremony.

The event started with a Family Day on Thursday. Family and friends were exposed to the educational experiences that their loved ones had gone through during the past 13 weeks. After a short speech by the commander informing us that their young men had not smoked, drank, eaten sugary foods, talked on the phone, or driven a car during the prior 13 weeks....and he expected them to come back to the Marines in as good condition after their LEAVE, which would begin after graduation the next day. That statement got an interesting reaction from the audience.

During Family Day we could wander about the "Depot", have lunch, visit the museum or shop but we could not take our Marine from the Depot. So that is just what we did, took him to the officer's club for buffet lunch, shopped at the MCX (where we all bought T-Shirts and other Marine support items), we toured the museum.... At 3:00pm it was necessary for Sam to return to his barracks...The rest of the family (Sam's parents, grandmother, sister and his girl friend) left the Depot while my husband and I toured the open spaces of Parris Island... what a beautiful place when you are not trudging through the under brush with a 100 lb pack on your back :)

Graduation on Friday was most impressive.....
Those men really know how to march.
We are all very proud of Sam....k

River Rat TOGA blocks come home

Several weeks ago as you might remember I commented on the blocks I was making for the River Rat TOGA (TreadleOn Gathering and Academy) that was being held mid September in Minnesota. Even though I was not able to attend this huge TOGA (I believe it might be one of the larger attended events) I was going to be allowed to participate in the block exchange since I try to "gather" with the River Rats when I am in residence in Minnesota during the summer.

Some folks make their blocks ahead of time,then bring them to the TOGA while others take the opportunity to gather with fellow attendees for a sew-in while others are taking classes or going on shop tours...or they gather at night at the motel for a late night sewing bee. Which ever it is they have a blast...

The photo is of the blocks that were returned to me..... the blocks this year were makers choice, so we could do anything we wanted with in the size requirements. Only a few folks took the opportunity to participate so I think that I'll join these blocks with some already collected... maybe this quilt top will be one that I work on during the up coming Winter Olympic Games Challenge, now that is another story.K

East Cobb Quilt Show treadling

Good morning Y'all
Now that the East Cobb Quilt Guild show is a distant glow of short term memory I thought that I'd share the photos that friend Sonja took of me in action. Sonja and her mother slowly cruised through the quilt show on Friday while the beginnings of the "500 year flood" were settling in. Sonja is an admitted self proclaimed fiber-a-holic, which usually takes the form of fibers for knitting but she can churn out the cutest bags and other items from fabric as well. Don't let her fool you, she knows how to use a machine isn't afraid to push the peddle :) .

While stopping by the guild's demonstration booth she did me the honor of taking the three photos. So please enjoy them.... the subject matter might not be as fresh and interesting as it could be if some sweet young thing were treadling but she did the best with what I gave her.

Check out Sonja's blog for some posts on her favorite quilts at the show.

Even though the show was during the flood it had the largest attendance of any of the past shows...amazing. k