Monday, June 30, 2008

Quilty Week

It seems like it has been forever since I have posted. Time has flown by, is there a way to stop it? I have been trying to catch up on customer quilts. Here is one that I did get done, the other I have been working on, well, let's just say I didn't pay attention and have to undo over half the quilting and have spent at least 9 hours so far picking out stitches. How stupid I feel and I should have know better, especially since it is over 90" wide. Now I have to call my customer and tell her that it won't be ready on Tuesday. If it wasn't Monday I would take the day off work and finish but can't do it today. I should finish up tonight thank heaven.
On a happy note, I received my FQ bundles that I ordered from Hancock's of Paducah. They were having a big sale and that is the only time I usually buy these kind of bundles. I haven't decided exactly what I will make with these yet but there will be projects come up that will be perfect I am sure.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Fat Tuesday

Last night was Fat Tuesday! A friend is wanting to make a Rail Fence Quilt for her grandson and asked me to pick up some FQ's for her. These are the one I picked. They are Jo Morton's and Thimbleberries, they blend very well wouldn't you say?

I always need backgrounds and I really like these. They are very creamy looking and will go with just about every fabric I have. You can never have enough backgrounds! I didn't stay for the drawing of the FQ's they gave away, no phone call when I got home so I guess I didn't win them. Darn ! My friend brought me 2 big boxes of fabric, and some quilt batting and I will get pix of those later. It was all I could do to lift the boxes and put them in my car. What a generous thing to do and it will all be put to good use!


Sunday, June 22, 2008

Weekend Finishes

It was a great weekend for finishes! I had worked on this customer quilt off and on all week and finished it up Saturday afternoon. I am not a batik person but this is such a wonderful quilt, bright, cheerful, and very well pieced.
The blocks in this next quilt was part of a block swap from the early 90's. One of the ladies in the Quilting Ministry put the blocks together and I quilted it and finished off the binding this weekend. All it needs now is the label and it will be ready to be given to a baby at church that will be dedicated.
Last but not least is my quilt from the Bargello Bowl that Bonnie Hunter had in January. It has been quilted but I hadn't got the binding on it until this afternoon. This one will also be for a little one at church. Monday evening the ladies and I are getting together to do some hand quilting on
a whole cloth quilt that is in the old fashion quilt frame. I love quilting that way, visiting with other quilters while hand quilting. It has really be a great weekend for quilting finishes! :D

Saturday, June 21, 2008

My new little Jo Quilt

After working all week, I just had to come home and play with fabric. I found these little blocks left over from another project and decided to put them into a little quilt of their own. Instant gratification!
Tonight is the "Taste of Tippecanoe" in Lafayette, home of Purdue University. I am looking forward to it, good food, good music, and good friends. May you all have such a wonderful Saturday!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Small Town USA

Welcome to the small town that I work in. I will show you around a little. It's not much but I call it home at least 40 hours a week in the summer. Below are the tubs of flowers I like to
plant out front every year. Gives the place a little color don't you think?

The next picture you see is the office building of the elevator. This is where I am at. I weigh the trucks on the scale below the walk way and probe them so I can get the test weight and the moisture of the grain.

The next picture is a picture of a truck loading milo. Milo is a commodity that we just started taking in last year. It is used in birdseed, and if you get milo on your hands don't rub your eyes! It is very irritating, ask me how I know this. :D



The next picture you see is what I call the hill. When trucks bring in grain to us in the fall, after they weigh in they go up on the hill and that is where we dump their grain and put it in the bins.
There are several bins that you can't see in these pix, but with our ground pile and all the bins we can hold 1.2 million bushels of grain here. That's alot of grain!


The next picture is in my office, this is what I call my wall of fame. It has all the people I
care the most about in the pictures that are on the shelves.


This next picture is of my 5 year award and don't you just love the little corn cobb bear?
One of my quilty friends gave that to me the year after I started here. I get more comments
on him, I call him "Corny"!

And of course, what would an office be without artwork? Naturally I have a quilt hanging
right accross from my desk so I can think quilty thoughts everytime I look up!
























Thursday, June 19, 2008

Trying a new procedure

I am trying a new procedure, well, it is new to me, and I want to thank Dawn for showing me how to add more than one picture and be able to stack them up instead of the wierd way I
have been doing it. I am doing this at work so I have no quilty pix to show but I have quite a different variety here. The top pix is of 2 of my grandaughters at a "Chicago Bears" football party. Their parents belong to a Young Farmers group and they love to celebrate a multitude of occasions and the kids all get to get in on the fun, as you can see here!

This little guy is my yard art out in the shrubs in my front yard. He makes me laugh!
Last but not least is the school bus my husband drives to pick up his "little darlings" as he calls the children that ride. He will complain now and then but he really enjoys it. You should see what he gets for Christmas from these children! One year he got a bottle of wine and a package of steaks! He had to call me to come and get them because if he got stopped and the wine was found he would be in deep trouble. LOL

I think I have got the hang of this stacking pix now. Thanks for bearing with me. Have a great day and Happy Quilting!

Trying a new procedure

Monday, June 16, 2008

A Day With Miss Rosie




It all started on Friday night in Crown Point at Bits & Pieces quilt shop. During "Shop Talk" they were showing all the new Christmas fabrics, kits, patterns, and gadgets that would be arriving in the next few weeks and Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. was there. We oohed and awwwed over all her wonderful quilts that she brought. She is a real hoot! Her stories of Miss Rosie (her dog) and some of the things that have happened in her life had us laughing until we cried! She is a real down to earth woman with wonderful ideas and quilts.
Saturday I attended her all day workshop at Bits & Pieces and had a ball! The pix is one of her new "Schnibbles" patterns that she has out now. This one is called "Imagine" and I am happy how it turned out. I used Moda's Tiddly Winks fabric (I think that is the name of this particular line) and the background I used I have no idea who's line it is but I thought it was cute. This little quilt (37"X37") will be a great addition to the baby quilts going to Mexico.
If you ever have a chance to take a class with Carrie, do, she is such a giving person and will definately entertain you while you sew!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

One Of My Favorite Things


This is one of my favorite quilts. I had quilted this for a quilt shop years ago and fell in love with it. Once in a while the shop would sell their samples. Without me knowing it, my husband bought this wonderful quilt and gave it to me for Christmas that year. Imagine my surprise! I had rearranged a few quilts tonight and went to my quilt chest to look for a different quilt and saw this and decided to hang it in my studio for the summer. It is quite a large quilt but it is hard to see that because it is hanging behind my Gammill. When I look at this quilt I think of whimsical, and whimsical always makes me smile. :D My husband, I think he is a keeper!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

IT'S ALL ABOUT JO

I really enjoy making small quilts out of Jo Morton patterns. I was in the club for a few years but have always had to drive at least an hour to the quilt shops to particiapte. I loved doing it, but with the gas prices I have stopped those trips. I have done the club online but you miss the interaction with others and seeing the fabrics choices they have made. So, now I use my Jo fabrics for other patterns and incorporate the fabrics with Moda and others. If you have seen the Quilt Sampler magazine where there is a wonderful quilt made out of Jo fabrics then you will know the Jo quilt I am working on now. It isn't a small quilt and it will showcase alot of different fabrics that I have in my stash. So, every morning before work, it's all about Jo for at least an hour. :D


Monday, June 9, 2008

Dresden Plate Quilt


I have had inquiries about the Dresden Plate quilt on my last blog and so I thought I would give a few of the particulars. The quilt is 72" X 88". It was hard to get a good pix of the full length so the side view is the best I could do. If you notice the corner blocks they look a little strange but I wanted to use as many of the blades that were cut as I could and still put them in the corners. I do hope my Grandmother would be proud the quilt she started was finished and is being passed on to future generations.

I wanted show the final border on my OC quilt. I folded the quilt since it is also too big to get a good pix but you get the idea. After it is quilted it will be bound in the dark green fabric.





Sunday, June 8, 2008

Quilts, Quilts, Quilts!



It has been a hot, humid, miserable weekend weather wise. Lightening took out our central air conditioning unit so quilting kept me from being too crabby. Here is another Bible Block baby quilt that I had to quilt, I love it because it is so bright and cheery. The little bible was embroidered in one square in each corner of the quilt. How awesome is that! (excuse the blurr)
The last quilt I had forgotten about. I was changing out my quilts I was displaying around the house and found the Dresden Plate quilt rolled in a crock behind some other quilts. The quilt blocks in this quilt were made by my Grandma Hendry. When my Aunt passed away these blocks were found and my mom gave them to me since I was the only person in the family that quilted. I finished piecing the blocks, made all the half blocks and only had 4 blades leftover. I appliqued them on muslin, quilted it, and it is now a cherished family heirloom. I decided to get it hung up and enjoy it instead of having it put away and I am so glad I did.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Orange Crush Pieced













I absolutely love this quilt! I had my doubts, thinking my spinning stars would be way too dark, but now that it is together, I couldn't be happier. Thanks Bonnie for all these great quilt patterns! You have stretched my fabric selection capabilities and you and all these other wonderful participants have been there to help when I needed it. I am going to put the small border on and add all my leftover split four patches. I think it really finishes this quilt off. Another great mystery solved! :D

Monday, June 2, 2008

More Grandaughters




Here are pix of 2 more grandaughters who live in the country just 3 miles from me. The left pix was taken this winter and the right pix was taken a short while ago. Jenna on the left, Leah on the right. It is never a dull moment with them around and we love having them with us. Their mother teaches at the school they attend and if she has to stay after then they can ride the school bus home with their Papa Dennie and I can see them when I get home from work, or they can ride to a friends house and I can pick them up when I leave work. It is always such a nice surprise when I get the call to pick them up, we always have so much fun!