More, more, more

 I got the body of the star quilt sewn together yesterday. I really like these  stars! Then I spent some time auditioning borders. I know I am going to make a scrappy piano key border using up more of my leftover fabrics, so thought I should have something a little calmer for a small border in between the quilt and the piano key border.

 Blue with circles?

 Love this green weave-look fabric...too green?

I like this pink a lot, but is it too busy?

The dark teal will frame the quilt nicely, but is it too dark?

I really like this orange polka dot, though I'm not sure it shows up well enough. Which one would you pick?

I am going on a mini shop hop with friends today...can't wait!

More wonky stars.

 I finished sewing the stars with the green background yesterday and then spent some time arranging them on the design wall. I was just using up leftovers for the backgrounds, but I was able to fit them into this layout. I thought maybe it was too organized, but random didn't really work since I have different amounts of each color. I love this green...I used it for a backing on a quilt a long time ago, and was glad it worked for this quilt. I will probably do some type of scrappy border too.

My sister Deb is coming down today so we're doing some shopping, then I have the second session of the Four Patch Petunia Minicourses tonight. 

More funky stars

 I spent most of Monday sewing funky stars. I am using up lighter backgrounds and leftover strips from other projects. I love finding ways to use up bits and pieces. I have noticed that some of my collections are pretty much made up of bits and pieces now, most notably my batiks. Time to start collecting them again, as I never get tired of using them.

This lavender might have overpowered the stars a bit, but think it will be ok when I am finished.

 I love this blue as a background and love how the stars look on it. This is the blue I used for my great-nephew Matthew's quilt.

I have about 7 more partially finished with a green background. Hope to get them finished today. It might be an interesting quilt to layout, as I won't have the same amount of each background color. That just makes it more fun!

Yesterday I sewed with the ladies all day. I finished the Potato Chip Quilt, and pieced the back for it, so it is ready to load onto the quilting machine. I meant to get a picture of it, but forgot. I will when it is quilted and share. 

Family and the Good Wishes quilt

 We all gathered at my sister Sharon's house on Saturday night. Nancy is still here from Canada and Kathy and her husband came from Missouri, so my brother and sisters were all there. We see both of them when they are back, but they don't always get to see much of each other as their visits don't always coincide. My other 2 sisters and brother live in my hometown, and I live about 50 miles away. It was a good chance to give Mom her Good Wishes quilt.

 She loved it. I filled the pockets with the wishes I had, and the rest of the family will add them as they get them.

 It was a great night and I took lots of pictures. Here I am with my 4 sisters, brother and parents.  My sister has a great deck and gardens out in back of her house, and the weather was perfect to sit outside and visit.

Kathy went back yesterday and Nancy is leaving tomorrow to go back home. We have all enjoyed her visit a lot and I know it has helped Mom and Dad to have her here.

I worked on some more  Funky Rock Stars yesterday. I finished 8 more and have another 7 partially finished. They are so much fun to make! I will post some pix tomorrow.

I'm going to sew with the ladies today, then I have a class tonight. Should be a great day! I love sewing with others! Usually I am teaching and so am watching the sewing, not participating!

KIds Quilt Camp

The kids making the More Peas in a Pod quilt did really well last week.  As you can see, they picked lots of gorgeous fabrics.

 The girls were all dedicated to getting their quilts finished.

 One of the girls is coming back this week some time to finish her quilt. She had to leave early on Friday.

I don't have as many classes this week, just 2 evening classes. So I hope to get more done around here! I did get some cleaning done yesterday, so hope to continue today.

My sister is still here but is returning home on Wednesday. I went up to see everyone Saturday and gave Mom her quilt. I will share some pictures tomorrow.

Omaha Quilt Guild Show

 It's been a busy week, so I'm a bit behind.
I went to the Omaha Quilt Guild Show Thursday night. Lots of gorgeous quilts. The one above was made by my sister-in-law, Denise. It is a paper pieced Double Wedding Ring Quilt. It took her 2 years to make it, but what a beauty!

 I love this quilt too. I have a paper piece pattern similar tot his that is waiting to be made. Gotta get busy on that.

 Love these barns.

 Ok, this one I just stood and went AHHHHHH.

 This was made with a panel...

 with lots of beadword done to the panel. Gorgeous!

 Love it!

 Another beautiful pp quilt. Love these so much!

 I love this too! The quilt maker took a class from Scott Murkin...I have to try this. I couldn't find any books by him...anyone know if he has published any books? I have done a free cutting technique similiar to this so guess I'll just wing it!

 The lattice in between were not attached to that black...the quilt itself was wavy strips connected by the lattice pieces.

This was so pretty, not sure the pic does it justice. The quilt maker used needlework pattern to design this quilt.

It is always so inspiring to go to quilt shows and see what others have made. I did a little shopping at the vendors, but only bought one 5 yd bundle. I forgot to take a pic of it, so will later and share another day.

My kids quilting class went well. I took pics of the girls and their finished quilts, so will post those tomorrow. It is fun to work with kids....they are so creative!

Good Wishes quilt finished.

I finished Mom's Good Wishes quilt yesterday by adding the binding. These pictures are a little better than the previous ones and show the buttons I added to hold the pockets down and add detail.

 Family members have been sending me messages to put in the pockets. I plan on going to see them this weekend, so we will give it to her then.

 I also finished my round robin quilt and washed them both last night. 

These pictures are before the washing.

I am teaching 2 classes today....the first session of More Peas in a Pod, that I am teaching as a kid's camp this week and session 5 of Sampler 12 tonight. A very quilty day!

Tuesday snips

 I did some simple free motion quilting on the Good Wishes quilt. My APQS quilting machine is older and doesn't have front controls, so I don't do much free motion. I have to sort of lean over and sideways to see what I'm doing. I can manage simple stuff like this though.

 I didn't want to go through the pockets, but wanted to quilt down as much as I could. So I did a simple zigzaggy down the sashings and sort of swirled across the top of each pocket. I used a leafy panto for the borders. I got all the loose threads tied, buttons attached and binding made yesterday, so I plan on putting the binding on today. Then I will take some better pix of it.

I have an appt. with the dentist this morning and then I will go quilt with some friends. Should be fun (once I get that dentist part over with)!

Family Camping

 Just so you know up front...I don't really camp. Two of my sisters and their families are avid campers, so a few years ago the rest of the family decided to go camping with them. Some of the Iowa parks have cabins, so we have tried out several different parks. They are all nice and cabins wonderful, but usually the camping is at a distance from the cabins.

  This year we went to Yellow Smoke Park by Denison. There are 2 cabins, with a camping spot adjacent to each cabin. So those of us without campers had nice cabins with bathrooms, and my sisters could camp right beside us.

 You might remember those two babies that were born 6 weeks apart last winter....they both went camping with us. They were both really good and loved all the attention they were getting as well.

I'm tired today, and not too ambitious. Hopefully I will pep up here soon. I did get most of the camping laundry done last night, finishing it up this morning.  I finished quilting my mom's quilt on Thursday and have some handwork to do before I put the binding on, so it might be a good day to kick back and do that with a movie. 

Quilt Show Bed Turning

We did a bed turning during the Quilt Show on Sunday. We wanted a special way to showcase the older quilts, as well as show quilting from then to now. So we had antique quilts as well as a few more modern ones. You can see the tables that we used for the turning behind the quilt as well as here. It took six people to keep it going: two to pick up the quilt and hand to the ladies on the ladder. They then waited for them to be show it, then they took it and folded it. Then another set of two pick up the next quilt and hand it to the ladder ladies.  They then waited for their quilt. So the four ladies kept the quilts moving through the bed turning so there was really no down time. The ladder ladies held up the quilts, and in some cases talked about the quilts as well. The head of the committee and I read what people had written about their quilts. 

 The audience loved this part of the show, as there were some very interesting stories to go with some of the quilts.

 One of the committee members had a wall hanging she had made using 1930s reproduction fabrics. One of these fabrics was in the antique quilt being held up now. I am pointing to the green matching fabric in the photo below, though not sure how well it shows up.

 This ladder lady made this quilt out of older fabric that a family member had in a box.

 Crazy quilt.

 Lemoyne Star quilt made out of curtains.

 Last but not least, yummy treats that were provided after the show.

Off to finish packing for a family camping trip this weekend. We got a nice rain last night, and it is still cloudy this morning, so I hope it isn't going to rain all weekend. It will be fun no matter what...we have campers and cabins, so don't have to worry about sleeping on the ground!