This is my darling daughter showing off the apron I made for her class auction. The theme was fireweed. I had an apron that I traced around to make the pattern. The picture is all fused then appliqued. I can't believe how that mountain fabric works so well.

Guess what? My sewing room is still clean even after this apron project, and mending the clothes, button, seams, etc.

I didn't do any quilting today but I cleaned up my sewing area. That is really an accomplishment. There is no fabric on the floor and all the pins are picked up. I even went thru the scrap bin and separated big pieces from little pieces, 2 1/2 inch squares, nickels, and took out the fq's and such that just needed to be put away. The lid even fits nicely on the blue scrap bin under the table! My dd said I made a horrible room look better and my dh asked where the aliens were that abducted his wife. I guess it was really bad.

This has been today's project. I made this top a couple of months ago, and today I quilted it. I used Golden Threads quilting paper and marked on it with pencil (not the greatest idea, the graphite rubbed off on my quilting gloves). It turned out really nice, two puckers on the back that I could easily fix, no pulled threads, and no tension problems. I put brushed cotton on the back, fuzzier than cotton, but not so fuzzy as flannel. This quilt is for a baby boy, notice the quilting design is airplanes, and I thought a dark back would make it more boy-ey. I put on a blue binding and it is finished now and in the washer.

I will have to make another quilt like this as I really like it. And making it from scrap strips is the best.

Wow! Those squares look really orange in this photo. They really are not so bright. The squares will go all the way around the top with a dark border as the outer edge. Notice how they go around the corner! I am so proud of myself!

This top will be about 60 x 80, and maybe I will applique some leaves on it. Maybe.

The quilt festival was GREAT! I got to go Friday evening for the mystery class, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I got to meet Billie Lauder, Amy Bradley, Marci Baker, and Judy Niemeyer as well as two teachers from Anchorage, Carol Jones and Pam Ventgen. They were all really nice and let me take lots of pictures. There were workshops about applique, paper piecing, making jackets from sweatshirts, beading, quick methods, and curved piecing with strips between. All the projects were really lovely.

This is my mystery top, it is about 40 x 60. It was designed by Trudy in Valdez, who ownes the Calico Whale quilt shop. I don't know if I like it, tho. I like the colors and the way they play with each other. I like the pinwheels and the crosses. But I am not sure I like the asymetrical layout. Maybe it will grow on me.














I took a class with Billie Lauder, about quick piecing methods. She sews large squares together and then cuts and reattaches to make the blocks. And the 16 patch blocks are made so that each fabric is in one block in one space, and never repeated in that space.















This is my friend Judy, I met her two years ago at festival. This is her bargello project from a class with Billie Lauder also.













During the festival there is a shop hop kind of, around town, different stores and businesses have a quilt square and you have to go to the stores to build the years sampler quilt. This is the one for this year.

I mostly made and finished this quilt top today, two of the blocks I made last night. I wish I could crop out the garbage can!

This top is about 60x72. All from stash nickels. The border is really an 80's blue with little pink roses on it. But I had enough, so I used that. There is a dent now in my nickels, I think I have used most of the ones I like. There are 192 nickels in this quilt. There is one hst I put in the wrong way, but by that time I was ok with that. Can you find it? Look at end of post for answer. Can you see the stars in this top? I think they don't really jump out very much. It kind of just looks like four-patches and square in a square.

I just packed up my stuff to go the quilt festival tomorrow. I am so excited! I am taking my older smaller machine, my 6500 won't fit in the carrier I have. All those little things you need, sewing machine needles, pins, seam ripper, etc. I think I got them all.

HST that is wrong: upper right corner third one to the left, top row.

Here are two more nickel blocks. They are 16 inch blocks so I only have to make 20 and with a border the quilt will be 76 x 92. The half square triangles were nickels to start with, so they end up being 4 1/2 inches. So then I cut some nickels to 4 1/2 inches and sewed them together. It is a little slow going because I haven't got the design figured out in my head yet, so I have to check each piece to see if it is right. This pattern is from the book "Nickel Quilts", however in the book the blocks are 8 inches.

Tomorrow, I get to sew all day. Kiddos and DH all in school. I will have my own little retreat. I will listen to QNN, watch Fons and Porters DVD's, eat some chocolate, play in EQ5, fondle fabric and make some more stars. I will probably not work toward my Sept. goals at all.

The fall colors are so beautiful right now. I better enjoy it because it doesn't last long. Snow is predicted for Sept. 16, so less than 10 days. It was 38 when I got up this morning. I walked the kids home from school yesterday and we walked on a path through the woods. I was just in awe of the colors surrounding me. First, the bright blue sky with puffy white clouds, the grey tree trunks and the clear yellow leaves. Green in the fir trees, and brown bark above the orange and green and yellow and red ground cover bushes. The cranberries are clear bright red, the fireweed is seeding and blowing away. The fireweed leaves are red, as are the dogwood leaves on the ground. I am amazed every season at the colors that all go together.

I drove by the shop and got my camera out of the car. So here is my quilt top, all finished.

This is the top I am putting together today. It is inspired by a red and white quilt on Bonnie's site www.quiltville.com posted in April.

This is an EQ5 rendition instead of an actual picture because my camera is in my car which is locked in the repair shop!

The colored squares are nickels from exchanges. This quilt measures about 60 x 80.

My Week in Review

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Dear MIL got home safe.


2. White Chocolate Cherry Bread from Great Harvest Bread Company


3. I didn’t overdraw my checking account


4. I saw the northern lights


5. DD, 8, started 3rd grade and loves it


6. Finished August Calendar Quilt Block on time


7. Fons and Porters Love of Quilting came in the mail


8. DH left the jeep for me to drive today


9. Chicken Soup


10. Plenty of Kleenex

Things that have made this week a challenge:

1. Round trip into Anchorage, 11 hour round trip to drop off MIL, always a rough trip, no time to pick up vacuum from repair shop.  AGAIN


2. My DS, 5, got sick and then so did I, spent the day mostly in bed


3. My car broke down, and will take $400 to fix it


4. Missed two days of work, one for dear boy and one for me (less pay)


5. You already heard about the wheel off my sewing chair


6. You already heard about the missing thread after pressing


7. I don’t think I will get to go to two days of quilt festival


8. I don’t have the money for the car payment


9. My LQS is closed now for good.


10. I tried to sew tonight and I am just not tracking straight enough to get things right

September Quilt Goals:

• Put Coffee Quilt top together


• Finish 4 more border blocks from As Time Goes By


• Make 20 more friendship stars for swap

My Week in Review

Things I am thankful for this week:

1. Dear MIL got home safe.


2. White Chocolate Cherry Bread from Great Harvest Bread Company


3. I didn’t overdraw my checking account


4. I saw the northern lights


5. DD, 8, started 3rd grade and loves it


6. Finished August Calendar Quilt Block on time


7. Fons and Porters Love of Quilting came in the mail


8. DH left the jeep for me to drive today


9. Chicken Soup


10. Plenty of Kleenex

Things that have made this week a challenge:

1. Round trip into Anchorage, 11 hour round trip to drop off MIL, always a rough trip, no time to pick up vacuum from repair shop.  AGAIN


2. My DS, 5, got sick and then so did I, spent the day mostly in bed


3. My car broke down, and will take $400 to fix it


4. Missed two days of work, one for dear boy and one for me (less pay)


5. You already heard about the wheel off my sewing chair


6. You already heard about the missing thread after pressing


7. I don’t think I will get to go to two days of quilt festival


8. I don’t have the money for the car payment


9. My LQS is closed now for good.


10. I tried to sew tonight and I am just not tracking straight enough to get things right

September Quilt Goals:

• Put Coffee Quilt top together


• Finish 4 more border blocks from As Time Goes By


• Make 20 more friendship stars for swap