Home again Home again

I finally feel rested up after a very busy week. Just a little recap>>> I got home on Thursday night at about 10:00pm. Fat Quarter Log Cabin was my late workshop - 5:30 - 8:30. What a fun class and making the log cabin with Marty Michele's ruler certainly made it a lot faster.

Hip to be Square was my Thursday afternoon workshop, all about making sure your long arm frame is set up right each time before you load your quilt. Renea Haddadin was the instructor. Renae had several of her award winning quilts on display and I must say she does stunning work. It was a very informative class. I know I don't have a long arm - Yet. :)

Friday was a very busy day starting at 8:30am and going until 4:00pm. Free motion quilting 101 with Micky Dupre. What a great class following Frieda Anderson's on Wed. I certainly feel more confident about jumping in and PRACTICING my Free Motion quilting. Micky really took us step by step through various stitches that all worked off of each other. Kind of like building blocks really.

I came home early and went to bed early and now it is about 4:00am Sat morning and I wanted to let you know that if you didn't take any workshops this year there is always next year. It is definately well worth the money. The instructors are all professionals and your classmates are all very nice and friendly. I loved it and look forward to next year.

Of course I didn't get out of the show without spending more money. :) I bought a table extension for my sewing machine,(recommended by Micky) and quilting thread for my FM quilting projects.

Well there you have it, Des Moines Quilt show 2009. Today is the last day so if you haven't gone yet, stop in and check it out. There are a lot of Beautiful quilts and tons of goodies.

Hope you have a great weekend. Keep reading as I am going to have a fabric giveaway coming up. Stay tuned for details.

Talk at you later,

Des Moines Quilt Show and workshops

Good Morning,

Sorry I didn't get this in last night. I came home, fed the animals and crashed. I was sooo exhausted. Mostly because I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before my workshops.
I kept waking up about every 2 hours and then finally got up a 4:45am to get ready. I left the house at 7:00am to be sure I would get there by 8:30am and be sitting in my class ready to go. Well I got there okay, found a parking spot ($6 for event parking) and arrived 20 minutes early, (plenty of time to find a good seat and get situated)only to find that my first work shop was cancelled. :(

After getting the refund paper work completed I now had 4 hours to kill before my next workshop, so off I went to look at everything.
WOW! So much to see, vendors, quilts, people (I met some of the gals that are in my online quilt group) and more. I checked out several long arm dealers, picked up a new 18 inch ruler and a book. I looked at the quilt collections and it was time to get something to eat and go to my next workshop. I didn't even have time to go look at all the quilts that were on the main display floor. I was so tired by then I wasn't sure I would make it through my workshop, but I did and I am so glad I took it. I learned so much in such a short time and the teacher was fun and very informative, not to mention patient with us newbies.
Now I need to find out about quilting on my little Janome so I am going to their display today to see about a quilting foot for free motion.

Here are some of my practice quilt sandwiches. It was such a fun class.


I practiced writing my name.




This is me practicing stippeling. Can you see the instructors stippeling in there? It is the really nice and smooth one.



Such a serious sewer. Just trying to get my hands and foot to coordinate.



Yes that is a new Janome we practiced sewing on. Boy was it nice. That is about it, if you have any questions go ahead and post a comment and I promise to get you a prompt answer.

Today my first workshop is at 1:00pm and then another at 5:30pm. Can't wait to tell you all about it.

It's raining out now and looks like the weather won't be so great. I am sure it will be fun at the show and maybe I will see you there.

Hope you have a great day.

Gettin ready for DM workshops and Show

I have my supplies all packed for tomorrow. First workshop is at 8:30 am and it's called Bordering on Lunacy for Beginners. It is a workshop on borders and sashings geared for the beginning machine quilter. That's me! That workshop will last until 11:00 am and I have a break until 1:00 pm. The 1 o'clock workshop will be my first free motion machine quilting class and it lasts until 4:00pm. I have my "quilt sandwiches" all made up



and I am ready to go. I am so excited I hope I can sleep tonite.:)

I hope you all sleep well tonite too and I will talk at you tomorrow.

Gratitudes:
1)Thankful that I had all the fabric on hand for all of my workshops.

2)Thankful for Daughters that are soo encouraging for this newbie quilter.

3) Thankful for a good car to get me to DM tomorrow.

Well the weekend is over and I survived.YAY!
I had a great time with my 5 y/o grand-daughter Areigna Rose. We went to the pumkin patch in Grinnell on Sat. afternoon. Grandma could barely keep up with Areigna. It was a good thing her aunt Casey and uncle Kevin and cousin Leo went too. The day was beautiful and there was lots to do. So keeping an energetic 5 y/o busy was no problem.
Here are a couple of little treasures I picked up at the pumkin patch shop. There was a big sale and I picked these each for $1 each. Cute aren't they.



This one is kinda blurry. I must have been shaking while shooting. :)





While at Grandmas house, Areigna kept busy sorting scraps into color piles and bagging them up. She did a great job and enjoyed helping Grandma who was very glad for the help. I was really impressed with her eye for color. She also played with the dogs, helped to feed the rabbits and played with some Cabbage Patch Dolls that were her Aunts dolls when they were little girls.

We really enjoyed having her this weekend and look forward to her coming back soon. Maybe Grandma will teach her how to bake some cookies or make chains for crochet or something else really crafty and fun. If you have any ideas for crafty things a 5 y/o can do, they will be greatly appreciated.

Today I am going to figure out a design board so I don't have to lay my quilt out on the bed.

I also have to get my supplies ready for the workshops that I signed up for at the Des Moines Quilt show that starts on Wed. I have 2 workshops on Wed, 2 on Thurs and one on Fri. I will blog each day to let you know what new things I have learned.
I had better get busy because I also have laundry and cleaning to do today as well.


Gratitudes:
1)My quiet time with my Lord. Helps to keep me focused.

2)My home made laundry soap, Just pennies per load. Love it.

3) My Family, Husband, children, grandchildren and parents.I love you all very much.

Thsnks for stopping in, Have a great day.

True Blue and Crocheted Baby Afgan

I am finally done with all 100 blocks for the TB quilt and am ready to start assembling them into the quilt top.

I am still working on how to edit this blog and thanks to my daughter Casey I did get the pictures in the right place. YAY!!! In the first one TB is laid out on my bed (I really need to make myself a design board). That isn't even all of the blocks because I couldn't fit them all on my bed. You can really see the pattern pop out.


The next photo is the last 10 blocks ready to be assembled.



Now I am ready to put it all together but not today. :)
I am going to Cedar Rapids today to pick up my 5 y/o granddaughter for the weekend. YAY!!! I haven't spent a lot of time with her this year and now that I am currently unemployed I am taking advantage.

I just wanted to give a short update to everyone on my activity the last 2 days. I went to see my youngest daughter, Casey, both days. We spent the afternoons with her new son named Leo. We baked cookies on Wednesday, chocolate chip, my favorite. I stayed for supper that night. She made a delicious meal of vegetables from her garden, glazed carrots and steamed potatoes along with Scallops sauteed in butter and wine. It was wonderful.

Yesterday we enjoyed a leisurely lunch together and she helped me to put a signature to my blog. We had lots of conversation. I snuck in a few hugs to her as well as being able to hold my darling grandson as much as I wanted. :) A good time was had by all. Leo is growing so fast. He is already 10 weeks old and such a handsome little fellow. I sure do love being a grandma.

This the baby afgan I am crocheting for my sister-in-laws first grandchild. It takes 2 strands of yarn and will be a very warm blanket when it is finished. Baby and family all live in Utah.


Those are my current WIP. What is WIP? you ask? Well it stands for work in progress.

That is all for now. I will work at blogging on a more regular basis to keep you updated.
Thanks for stopping in. I love to read your comments so thanks for taking the time to comment.

This is something new I picked up from crazy mom quilter:

My Gratitudes:

1) My husband who works hard and never complains.

2) My 3 adorable grandchildren who bless me so much with their energy and huggableness. (is that a word?)

3) My Mom. I love you very much Mom.

Talk to all of you soon,

Monday's

Thought I would post another picture of an unfinished project. This is a comforter that I am tying called Majic Nine Patch.I need to finish tying and putting on the binding and it will be done.
Today is Monday. Start of a new week. Yay! Getting the house cleaned up and laundry done then into the sewing room. I have a gift I need to finish up. I will post that at the end of next month.
Still working on the blocks for TB. Only 30 left and then laying it out. I can't wait so I better get busy.
Thanks for checking in. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful autumn day. Enjoy. :)

The blahs>>>>

Well, all I have been doing these last few days is peeking in at my sewing machine. Sometimes I go over and turn her light off and on. Mostly I have been sitting with my back to her while I mess around on the computer.

Just haven't had much ambition these last 2 days. I don't know if it's the weather or what but I better get my rear in gear if I want to get these 40 quilts started and finished.

I need to get ready for the workshops I am signed up for at the Des Moines Quilt show at the end of this month. I have all my tools that I need in a nice little container. Now I have to make some "quilt sandwiches". These are squares 13 to 15" big made with a top, middle (batting) and bottom (backing). I will use these in the machine quilting workshops to learn machine quilting on. I need 9 for one workshop and 6-8 for another.

Was looking at the next pattern I want to get started on. It is called Splendor and probably will be the hardest one I have done up to now. It has pieceing that really has to have accurate 1/4" seams. It is a beautiful quilt in cream and green with red flowers. I bought the kit in Cedar Falls at a quilt shop there. They had the completed quilt on the wall and it was just beautiful. I may have gotten a bigger challenge than I thought.

Maybe the thought of that quilt is bogging me down. Oh well, I have put it away for now until I get finished with True Blue. I put a couple of pictures on of the blocks for TB quilt. They really are coming together nicely. A lot of Half-Square Triangles. I am getting fairly good at making them.

Just looking at those blocks and writing this blog has encouraged me to at least go and get those nine done.

Well I guess I'll go make some coffee and reintroduce my self to my sewing gal Sal. I have never named my machine before and think that is a good one. So Sal it is. Hope you were inspired to get in your sewing room today too. Take care and talk at ya soon.

Happy Stitchin,

~Nan~

Photo

]
I thought I would put up a picture of my very first quilt top. This is called my "Quilt for Jesus". The pattern is called Burgoyne Surround. It was on this quilt that I learned how to use a rotary cutter, mat and ruler. The top itself came together pretty fast. I think I had it almost completed in the workshop that I took. I'm not sure now as that was back in the early 1990's.

I started to hand quilt it and as you can see, I have not completed it yet.
One of these days >>>
You may be wondering why I named it the way I did. In the Bible it talks about giving your first fruits to the Lord. This is my very first quilt top ever that I pieced and someday when it is complete I will give it to the Lord via donation.
Well I am still new at this blogging and I wanted to put up other pictures but the blog page wanted to put them all at the top of the page. So I will enter ths one for today and I am off to my sewing room. Have a nice day.
~Nan~

Lets Get Started>>>

Today is the first day of my blog. I wanted to keep track of the quilts I am making and am going to make. I have sewn since high school, mostly garments and patchwork. In the early 1990's I took a class on Strip Quilting and this is where I learned all about a cutting mat, rotary cutter and a much faster way to piece my projects. It was at about this time that I had visited a local quilt show (first time) and was amazed at all the beautiful quilts on display. I decided at that time that I wanted to learn how to make something that was not only beautiful but also functional as well. A quilt.

I was a single mother back then and my children were getting more involved in activities in school and just growing up.

Quilting got set aside until last year my oldest daughter became pregnant with her first child. I decided I wanted to make something special for this new grandbaby. A woman I worked with at the time, who was a quilter, gave me a pattern called Magic Nine Patch to make a baby quilt. I put it together in soft flannels with christmas themes. I had never worked with flannel before and learned a lot with that baby quilt.
 My grandson Grant was born Dec 30, 2008 and I presented him with my first official quilt. It was really called a comforter since I had tied it instead of quilting it. Unfortunately flannel has to have a finished edge or be double stitched in order to keep from raveling. I didn't find that out until my daughter washed her comforter for the first time and the border separated from that body. I was so disappointed, but learned a valuable lesson.

It was on Dec 31, 2008 that I found out that I was going to be a grandma again as my second daughter announced that she and her husband were now pregnant with their first child. This was going to be a summer baby so no flannel for this one. My daughter and I worked on her baby quilt together. I wanted to teach her how to use her sewing machine and give her some tips on sewing.

Well she took to sewing right off and made her curtains for the baby room and a ruffle for the baby crib. Together we made a Magic Nine Patch baby quilt and this one I had quilted by a professional.

So up to this point I have a pieced quilt top from my strip quilting class back in the '90's that I call my "Quilt for Jesus" - the pattern is called Burgoyne Surrounded. I have completed one baby comforter (that needs to be repaired), one baby quilt (quilted by a professional), another quilt (queen size and quilted by a professional), a pieced baby quilt that I am learning to machine quilt on myself (unfinished), a throw that I am tying (unfinished), a table topper that I machine quilted myself and a table runner that is pieced but unfinished.