A milestone

I have a milestone coming up soon, my 1000th blog post. When I started blogging in 2007, I wanted a way to post about my classes for the people taking them as well as for other people interested in quilting. I hadn't read a lot of blogs at that point, but I loved what I saw.

I had sort of a rocky start, not really posting much to begin with. I'm not sure why that was, exactly, because I wanted to focus on quilting on the blog, and I am usually doing some type of sewing or quilting related project most of the time when I'm not work. I don't really consider myself a writer, per se, so I do have trouble with the writing aspect, sometimes. Part way through 2008 I started doing a better job of posting more regularly.

 I thought it might be fun to look through some of my pictures from 2007 just to see what I was teaching back then.

I remember that I loved this circular bargello when I saw it on a shopping trip with friends, so came home and started working on it. I had already made a couple of other bargellos, the one below was supposed to depict a garden scene with flowers, a stream and a rocky path. not sure if I succeeded, but I thought so at the time and had this quilt hanging over my bed for many years. 

I bought this panel while vacationing with my sister in Canada...I got one for my friend Jo as well and we put together wall quilts and embellished them with beads and stitching. I don't seem to have a picture of hers, but this is mine. 

A group of friends and I did a round robin block exchange. We gathered our own fabrics and passed them around monthly. You had to make blocks that were the equivalent of three 12" blocks....two could be 12" blocks, but at least one had to be equivalent parts. It was my first experience with a round robin and I loved it.

I designed the Potato Chip quilt around that time and have taught the class and sold the pattern many times. I made this quilt for a friend, so eventually gave it to him. A few years ago I made a new version.

A few years ago I made a new version.  These are just a few of the things I was working on back in 2007...I won't bore you with all my pictures!

 I'm not sure how many of my students actually read my blog, but I have enjoyed the blogging process and met so many wonderful quilters through this medium. I don't always have as much time as I would like to read other blogs, but try to keep up with some of my favorites as well.  I find it to be relaxing and inspirational to read about what others are doing in the quilting world. 

Do you blog about quilting? What is your favorite thing about quilting blogs?

A little cube quilt and a trio.....

I made this little trio of asian quilts about 5 years ago. I made three separate pieces, the idea being that I would hang them together, but they wouldn't be joined. I planned on hand quilting them and embellishing them with beads. As you can see, that hasn't happened, so they were next on the 'finish it or dump it' pile. I sewed them together with strips in between so that it would be easier to load on the quilt machine. They really aren't very big. Then I sewed the little 3D Tumbling Blocks quilt that I finished the other day to it with a strip in between. I didn't have a backing fabric big enough for both that I liked, so I pieced two backs together too.

By now you're thinking, what is she doing again? I forgot to take a picture of the 2 quilts sewn together...the trio was smaller so I had to add a piece on the end so they were the same length. I figured if I connected them I could quilt both at the same time. (Of course, doing all that piecing together might've taken some time too....)

Here they are as I'm loading them, you can see the asian trio is to the left, the tumbling blocks to the right.

I was trying to use up smaller pieces of batting that were left over too, so ended up using 2 different pieces, the one on the left is cotton, the one on the right is poly.

It's almost finished, the dark green with leaves is the dummy fabric I put on the end. This is working well as far as quilting it goes, I just feel sad that I am quilting right over those faces. I still might try to do some hand work on them, but finished is better than it sitting around gathering dust, right?

Weekend fun and my daughter's surprise...

I finished my daughter's asian Circle and Spin quilt in time for her birthday party Saturday night. She loved it!

This is a pic of the back...she loves these colors and it is a large print so worked well on the back. She also loved the quilting.

 I made some pillows to go with the quilt.

She picked this fabric out one time when we were shopping, but I didn't want to cut it up for the quilt. So I just made a large pillow case for a bed pillow.

I got some cleaning done this morning, so now on to blog checking to see how hard the Letter M is going to be to make, among other things.

Mini Diamond quilt bordered...Happy H and Dotty I

I got the border on the Mini Diamond quilt. It is throw size, about 54" square. Now to get it quilted. I am going to make the binding later so it is ready. I think I will do scrappy.

 I made some progress on quilting Rachel's asian Circle and Spin this morning. I really like the design  I am using. I will try to get some good pix when I am finished.

 Such a Happy little H and a dotty I.

 I ended up making an extra set of H and I out of the dotty fabric. I wanted to make a lower case I as well...they are so cute! Monday will be an exciting day, the very jaunty letter J!

If you want to check out Lynne's great tutorials and letters, she is at Patchwork Menagerie.

MIni diamonds and quilting

This mini diamond quilt has been fun to make. I am going to put 2 small borders on it and it is finished! It is about 45" square right now, actually bigger than I thought it would be. Hard to imagine when you just have a pile of leftover diamonds.

 I spent a lot of the day quilting the asian Circle and Spin so haven't made my letter H yet. I am getting together with friends tonight, so it will probably have to wait til tomorrow.

It's finished....

Ok, I pretty much did nothing but this all day yesterday, but it is finished!The color doesn't show up as vibrant as it is, but it is the best I can get now. Sometimes when I take things to the store, I can get a better picture. It does have borders on the top, it just hung too far onto the floor with them showing.
Here is a closeup of the borders... the fabrics are gorgeous. I am glad to have it finished, now to write the pattern. I am going to my mom and dad's today, should be fun. I think we are going to sew a bit. I am taking my son-in-law's t-shirts with to prep them for a quilt. I have had them since last summer, so guess it is about time to start on it...

Wednesday is back to school day...

Yesterday I started something with some of my vacation fabrics and some geisha girls I had. It is just bits and pieces of asian fabrics with girls and the kimonos which is the main reason I wanted to make something ( I had to buy the geisha girls--they were the last on the bolt & were calling my name). I think it is going to be 3 separate pieces that can be hung together. I will probably do some quilting, then add beading to it, so it may never be finished ( like the Mermaid) as it is hard to know when to stop!

I love my job at school, but it is so nice to have the relaxed summer schedule, too, with only quilting classes to worry about. We had a beginning of the year gathering for all 1100 odd employees of the district. It was nicer that usual, we sat around banquet tables with coffee and rolls. The speeches weren't too long and our new superintendent is actually a motivational speaker. This is her second year, so guess she is not new yet, but she told us today that we saw improvements last year, but our work is not done, we have to try harder this year.....

Once I actually got to school I spent the day putting the library back in order and laminating for the teachers. Tomorrow is our first day of kids, so they will all arrive with new books, clothes and best of all NEW CRAYONS!!! I love the smell of new crayons, and still remember the thrill of it from when I was a kid. The library won't be open for a week or so, as I have to update and enter students and other not so exciting stuff, then I have to do a short orientation with each class. Then we get down to a regular schedule. I have 7 classes that I read to, the rest of the kids just come and go when they need books. It is a great way to do it, though sometimes it gets sort of busy. But I like that. It is never boring, that is for sure.