I have another quilt finished. It's an issue quilt too. This is it when it was on the machine.


Don't get me wrong; I love getting these quilts. These quilts are my bread and butter so to speak. The issues don't bother me at all because I can quilt them very quickly and move on to the next top. Still.... there are times when I have to wonder..... what were they thinking?

Why do the toppers feel the need to include that much extra fabric instead of measuring and cutting to match? Is there a nationwide shortage of fabric I don't know about and people want to hoard it in their quilt? Who is teaching these toppers? Do the toppers own an iron?

I know of some machine quilters who would refuse to quilt a top like this. They would tell the topper to take it home and fix it first. I know of other machine quilters who would feel the need to take it apart themself and fix it. My thoughts are.... and I've said this for many, many years..... Your quilt will be quilted in the condition it is in when you bring it to me. So here is this one all quilted.

I do love the Circle Lord for quilting these tops. It's reasonably flat and even just waiting for me to wrap the back over the top for a binding. Yup, I did quilt in a few tucks here and there. Someone will love it and treasure it.... issues and all.

I try to give each topper a new tip on improving their work. For some, one issue quilt will be the only top they ever make. For others, they continue to make tops and improve with each one.

This next quilt is by such a person. A few years ago she brought me her first top. Oooo eeee, did it have plenty of issues. But just look at how she does now. Not perfect but very much improved! I feel like a proud moma at a kid's graduation to see the work she's doing now.

Her tops have graduated to semi-custom. This is for a grandchild so I did baby rattles and love bears on it.

Remember this quilt from a few months ago? It's a charity quilt that's been waiting for a new home. I had planned to send it to a family that lost their home in a fire. By the time I finally got it quilted I had forgotten who the family was or where to send it. That's what happens when I don't have finished charity quilts waiting to be sent out as I see a need.

Circumstances have prevented me from making charity tops for several months. I'm making plans to change that this coming year! I have a bunch of ufos and pigs just waiting on me.

Yesterday, I had a very good customer call me to ask... if she could make a top very quickly, how long would it take me to quilt it? When I asked why she needed one finished so urgently; she said it was for a cancer patient who always felt cold during treatments.

Well heavens, it is the xmas season. I get urgent calls like this every year about this time. I had to explain that I'm booked for the rest of the year with xmas quilts. I really wanted to say I could quilt one for her; but, it would be unfair to my other customers who have waited months for me to get to their name on my waiting list.

What I suggested to the customer was that she go ahead and make a top and trade it for the one I already had completed. We both win in this situation. She gets what she needs and I get another top to be done for another charity in the future. I don't feel so bad about saying no to a good customer nor do I rush myself to squeeze another top into an already full schedule.

Today is guild meeting. We are meeting today since the last meeting was cancelled due to Ike. I won't be getting any customer quilting done today.

The next finished quilt. Another crib sized.


I simply outlined the characters with clear thread.

Then did a ribbon design on the sashing.


I went to the Southwest Library over the weekend to see my quilt on display.




It looks good hanging there in the window.



It is sad when one of my quilts leave me, never to be seen again. But.... that is my hope for all my quilts. A hope that I make them so well the owner never has to bring them back for repairs. I do hope this one raises a lot of money for the charity and the new owner keeps it a long long time. There will be many high influence people there to bid on it in the silent auction.

Today's finished quilt. It took two days (12 hours each) to quilt this one.


The owner wanted grid lines on it. The lines are not meant to be straight or even. She wanted the look of random.


A close up of the back.


I have a good friend who will be stopping by my blog for the first time today. She wanted to see pictures of these quilts.

This quilt is leaving me next week. I most likely won't see it ever again as it's donated to Mayor Jerry Abramson's Derby brunch as a fund raiser for the Farnsley-Moorman House. For those of you who don't know.... that's a restored mansion from the colonial days of Louisville. It's a nice tourist attraction. This one is called.... Let's walk.


This is my guild challenge quilt for this year. It's finally finished. This is actually the first time I have posted a picture of this one. This is before the quilting. It's called.... I love you too. I was given permission by Mary Engelbriet to reproduce one of her paintings into fabric. It will eventually be donated to a charity though I'm not sure which one yet.



This is a close up of the faces.


This one is also leaving me in about two weeks and I won't see it again either. It's donated to the New Hampshire SPCA after it competes in the Machine Quilter's Expo. It's a fabric challenge quilt. This one is called.... Adoption Dreams.


I've discovered I really like doing fabric challenges. It's something I could get hooked on very easily. I may look around to see if I can find some more to do. But.... not just yet. Work is calling me to the studio so that's where I'm headed.

I finally finished an easy quilt. Yeah! I pieced it myself in the design requested by the owner.


4 pieces of fabric sewn together....


With these symbols appliquéd in the center. Circle Lord square dance quilting on it.


But.... like everything else I've done lately... there is a problem.


Well, heck! I clean the bobbin area after every bobbin and do a really thorough cleaning once a week. I've yet to figure out where these little dust bunnies hide in there.

I sent in my entry for the MQX Pet Pourri Fabric Challenge. There aren't any rules saying I can't show it... so here it is....


Here is a blurry close up.... sorry, I still don't know how to operate my camera very well.


I think I could become addicted to fabric challenges. After the show this will not be returning to me. It has already been donated to the NHSPCA as a fund raiser quilt. Yup, another charity quilt. I'm also working on one to be donated to our animal group here. Same design, different fabrics.



The design is my interpretation of the MQX Pet Pourri logo. Sign.... if only I could do nothing all day but create art quilts like this. Isn't it the wish of every quilter to do nothing but create quilts? Well, since I can't create all day, my customers all provide me with a blank canvas for my other passion.... machine quilting. And... I do have one of those waiting for me right now.

Yesterday was an in home quilting retreat day. When my sister in law comes over I don't usually get on the quilting machine. I can't concentrate on quilting and talk at the same time. I just spend the day teaching her and doing some piecing on ME quilts.

I finished up these spider web block sections and trimmed them. Now I have them pinned together to form the blocks. It's a Bonnie Hunter design.


I finished cutting the pieces for my necktie dresden plate quilt. I used the Just Curves template set I had for a year or so and hadn't tried yet. With these templates a person can make a pieced dresden plate instead of an appliqué one.

I don't think I will use them again. Personally, I feel it's a wasteful way to make one of these. It's also difficult to cut the pieces. For me, the curves of the templates were difficult to cut even with a tiny rotary cutter.


These necktie pieces were in my stash of quilt kits I made a few weeks ago. Remember when I put quilt kits together? The kits were put in bags like this....


I also started a denim quilt made from circles. I'm putting that one on my other blog as a tutorial so I don't need to talk about it here too. I hope to have it ready for viewing later today or in the morning. I won't make the tutorial public until I finish the quilt and take the pictures of the finished quilt. It's very small so it shouldn't take long to finish. There is no batting or backing required to make that quilt. A really good budget conscious quilt for those struggling to pay for machine quilting these days.

Today is our guild meeting. I haven't been there since September. I'm anxious to see everyone and get a look at the other member's challenge quilts. The last time I was at a meeting we were still in the drawing and planning phase. I have the piecing on mine finished and ready for the machine. I hope others are near completion too.

Much better today

I'm feeling so much better today. The swelling is almost gone. I guess the dentist did pull the right tooth after all. My jaw is still pretty sore.

I managed to finish quilting this one. I put it into the washer to see if the blue marks would come out. Still there. Gee, old quilts sure do wrinkle a lot. I think it will relax more over time and use. Now all that I need do is finish the binding. I'll put that off for a few days while I finish some other work.

Seven steps of fate???

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Here is today's finished quilt.


It has a pieced back too.


This is a close up of the quilting. The fabric is all about cats but I didn't have a cat design that would work really well and the customer didn't want paw print meandering.



The rest of this post may get a little lengthy as I explain the seven steps of fate.

A couple of days ago I had made up my mind to not enter any juried contests anymore. I was content with the decision. I know I can still create quilts and art without entering contests. One of the contests I had decided not to enter was MQX because it had gone to being a juried show.

I wasn't discouraged about my work. I was simply understanding that taking full shot photos of a finished quilt is impossible for me. I don't have the space or the set up for taking photos. I don't know enough about using my camera or about the best way to take pictures. I don't know how to make my old computer transfer images to disk either.... even with a new cd burner installed on it.

Yes, I do a fair job of putting photos on webshots or in my journals but its not the same as what is required for entering juried contests. I don't have the money in my budget either for paying a professional photographer like some are doing.

I think fate is telling me to think again about my decision. A series of events have taken place the last couple of days which cause me to believe I should give it one more try with MQX.

First - I get an email from LAFTA (the local textile artists group I belong to). They have a class next month on taking digital photos for entering contests and transferring them to disk. It's at a college campus close to my house instead of way out at the edge of the county somewhere. I can get there by bus in a few minutes instead of a couple of hours. The class also fits into my budget nicely because its free. I thought to myself....what the heck...I can always use more knowledge....so I signed up.

Second - this arrived in the mail. I had completely forgotten about it. What is it?


Its the challenge fabric for the MQX Petpouri this year. Most of my customers already know that my favorite charities are ones that help animals. I've been donating quilts (in this area) for a few years. Receiving this fabric really tugged at my heart.


Third - This also arrived in the mail. Its the new issue of American Quilter. The magazine you get by being a member of AQS. In it were our guild challenge photos for getting second place this past August at the Nashville Show. Now really! You think I care about getting into a small local art contest when I can see my quilt in this?


Fourth - as I sat to take a closer look at the challenge fabric a design popped right into my head. Usually I have to think and contemplate a few days before a design takes form. Not this time. It was all right there in my mind.

Fifth - as I was cleaning up the catch all corner of my studio, the tripod for my camera kind of lept out at me. It had been buried beneath some stash fabrics and books for a couple of months.

Sixth - I started doubting myself. I thought...Gee, I don't have enough time for starting another quilt right now. There are the Christmas quilts to finish. The organizing to do. The vacation. The other quilts I'm already committed to doing. I simply don't have the time. I take a look at the MQX booklet, the deadline for entering isn't until March 1st. In the life of a professional quilter that's plenty of time. Then I get a phone call from a customer. She has not been able to finish her 4 quilts. Can I please move her name to the end of the waiting list? Gee, that's 4 to 6 extra days of time.

So I go back to cleaning the catch all corner.

Seventh - And what happened? In my effort to clean up the corner, out popped the perfect fabrics to put with the challenge quilt fabrics.

Ok, is there any doubt now? I've had every obstacle to creating one more contest quilt taken away. I simply must at least try. Now if only I can keep my design a secret until after the deadline for entering....hmm....

Rejection letter

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I got my rejection letter from Form Not Function yesterday. It was only a week late. I had entered these two and another one I don't have a photo of right now.




I do believe that will be my last attempt at entering any juried show. Getting into a juried show is simply not worth the expense. I create quilts because I enjoy making them.

I originally entered that contest because I wanted to see what my work would look like hanging in a gallery next to artists. At the time I entered; I believed this to be important. But you know what? That isn't really all that important anymore.

The best gallery in the world is the wall of my grand children's bedroom. Or that of a homeless man walking down the street with a quilt bedroll hanging from his shoulder. Or seeing a quilt I donate raise money to benefit a charity in some small way.

So I will continue to make quilts. I will make them because the urge to create comes upon me...not with the intention of getting into a juried show.

My quilts will be appreciated much more by those who receive them than those who run a quilt show. My quilts will get love from the homeless families, the elderly lonely, the very sick, the children, the charities who need an auction item, the animal charities, and family members.

So with that said....I'm headed off to the studio to create today.

Technology irritates me!

This is today's finished quilt. I still don't know what I'm doing wrong with my camera. I don't have any time right now for sitting and reading the booklet. Too many commitments with too many looming deadlines.

This was taken with the flash on. See the dark area?


This was taken with the flash off and only the overhead lights. No dark but the sickly green cast.


This is the back of the quilt. It's actually a bright white backing but looks so yellow green here.


Same problem with this picture. An ugly yellow green cast. But the pictures do show the stitching designs I used.


I had a few minutes last night after I finished that quilt and loaded another one for today. I worked on the lady's hat. I wanted to see the peacock feather in it. Nope! Can't use that. The feather doesn't look right because it's too dark next to the white feathers. I will try another one using maybe a lighter color feather from the fabric. If I can find a lighter color one.



Here is another one of those dogs running loose in my neighborhood. He looks kind of friendly but I won't take the chance on getting bitten. I don't know if he has had shots or not. The angle on the photo comes from a white porch post in the picture.

Things just happen

Yesterday was a day away from home with my daughter. It was her birthday so we spent the whole day together. We went baby stuff shopping. We didn't buy much but it was just fun going and being together. We don't spend much time together anymore. When kids grow up they lead different lives.

Sometimes things just happen to let me know I'm headed in the right direction. A couple of years ago when I created a unicorn quilt things just kind of happened along the way to it's creation. It won best of show at the state fair. My best quilt ever.

It's happening again. If you look at the drawing I posted yesterday. Look at the hat on the lady. I had in mind to have a peacock feather in the hat center. I don't have any peacock feather type fabric so I thought I would shop to see if I could find some. We couldn't find any. Well look what the fabric fairies left on my porch yesterday. That fabric was just kind of peaking out of the bag.

The lady is going to be dressed in purple. I had been thinking about buying thread to match all that purple. Look what arrived in the mail. Two cones of purple that are a perfect match to the fabrics for the dress. (thank you Kathi!) It's hard to tell in the photo but it's does match perfectly.


And my rug frames are put together. I have a small one and a large one.


I don't have the cording for stringing it yet but I can start cutting up fabrics to get ready for when it arrives. There was a whole box of fabric left by the fabric fairies yesterday that is just right for cutting into rug strips. You think I'm heading in the right direction now? Hmmm....you think the fabric fairies could leave me some brick fabric for the house in the charity quilt? Ok, fairies, I'm making a wish for brick fabric.

Time to get into the studio for a bit of cleaning and putting things away before doing some 'me' things today. Hopefully to work on the charity quilt and possibly cut up some fabric strips for rugs.