Two finished projects!

Last week I made a fleece blanket for my niece, Rachel. The store receipt fell out of the fabric when I went to make it so I know that I bought the fabric in February right before my wedding. It was one of those rare days when I went into Sewphisticates http://sewfisticated.com/dorchester-ma-store/ and they actually had exactly what I was envisioning: fleece fabric printed with horses and white minkee for the reverse side! Rachel's 15th birthday is next week, so I thought it would make a nice gift if I put it together. These fabrics wanted to be a blanket and sewed together effortlessly. I mailed it this morning along with a pair of horse earrings. My niece is an accomplished equestrian, so she loves anything with a horse on it. Just the same way I feel about anything with pugs!

Here is the blanket. It is a nice size, about 60"x72". You can see the white minkee in the lower left hand corner.

A close-up of the horse fleece.

Last night, I finished Baby Angie's quilt. Ironically, I bought this pattern a long time ago. I believe the copyright is 1996. I probably bought it to make a baby quilt for Rachel! The pattern is called Animal Crackers  http://webstore.quiltropolis.net/stores_app/Browse_Item_Details.asp?Shopper_id=3057731192253057&Store_id=663&page_id=23&Item_ID=1039 and is published by The Country Quilter http://www.countryquilter.com/. I was surprised to find out that they were still in business and online!

I kept it fairly true to the original pattern colors, except that I embroidered all of the animal sounds on my Bernina 200 embroidery machine instead of appliqueing them. It was a lot easier! I'm really proud of this quilt! Most of the fabric came from my stash! I even made a pieced border! The background is a tiny multi-color polka dot. This fabric along with the pale pink dot that the embroidery is on are the ones I mentioned in my earlier blog, When bad fabric happens to good people! http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1468938580096647718#editor/target=post;postID=8228897532570423567 . I need to make a label for the back before I put it in the mail.

Good night dear friends and readers! I will blog again soon so you can see all the fun we had at our recent Brown Baggers Quilting Weekend.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

A Fun Friday at the Cape Cod Quilt Show

Yesterday, Marion*, Joannie, and I took the day off and we went to the Cape Cod Quilt Show in Harwich www.bayberryquiltersofcapecod.com/quilt_shows_2012.html. The show is still running today until 3:30pm, so if you live nearby you can stop reading my blog and head over there.

Marion and I try to go to this show every year. First, it is on the Cape in the summer, which is a wonderful time of year. If we're lucky, we get to borrow her daughter's house in Hyannis and we can sleep over. Second, it's a guild show, so while there are always some "wow" quilts that we'd never be able to make in a million years, even if they locked us in a room with the fabric and the directions, there are also a lot of wonderful quilts to look at that we know we can make. This year's theme is Red and White quilts, but I didn't take any pictures of them, even though they were all quite lovely.

*Marion is retired and has every day off.

Here are some of my favorites. My taste runs more to modern with lots of bright colors.

I love the wonky circles!

Mitered Stripes!

Fabulous Dresden Plate with Kaffe Fasset fabrics

Reminds me of a sunset.

Here are four quilts made from the same pattern but in different colorways. Isn't it fun to see how different they look? Which one is your favorite? I'm partial to the one with the red background.

I think the red background is exuberant!

The blue background really sparkles!

The black gives it an Amish feel.

 

Looks completely different with a white
background.

Here are some quilts showcasing some of my favorite patterns and techniques.

This was a lovely Stack n Whack. I've made
a couple of these.

A lovely Jewel Box. On my quilting bucket list!
I've even got a kit hanging around from Quilted or Not.

Joan S. made one of these. It's a great way
to use up your scraps.

I've seen this pattern made up before in
baby prints, but really like the Aborigine prints.

I've got a really old Boston Commons quilt in
progress in my quilting closet (somewhere)...

I LOVE Bargello quilts. This one was a beauty!

And here are a few more photos.

I love this jacket. Unfortunately no
pattern was listed.

I love the colors in this Strips 'n Curves quilt.

An easy quilt, but a great way to
showcase a favorite fabric!

The colors in this quilt are so bright and happy!

Of course, there were also a lot of great vendors at the show. We saw our friend Kate Mitchell and her husband David. Kate Mitchell and Karen Pratt own Berkshire Quilts http://www.berkshirequilts.com/. They are vending at the show. They have great patterns, sewing notions, awesome dragonfly spinners for your garden and they hold quilting retreats! Check them out!

Honestly, I tried to be good, but how could I not buy the fabric kit to make this amazing Spiral Burst Bargello http://www.clotilde.com/detail.html?prod_id=16515? Although, if I saw the pattern without the sample, I would have passed it by. Because I'm down with brown...

A few more beauties to feast your eyes...

Love the colors!

Check out the fish! All threadwork.

Contemporary and fabulous!

Little tiny Tumbling Blocks!

All hand-pieced!

A close-up!

A wonderful Pineapple quilt!

The show is not air-conditioned, so I urge you to go early if the day is going to be hot. It is semi air-conditioned in part of the vendor hallways. There are large fans inside the room where the quilts are displayed.































































After we left the show we had lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant in Hyannis, then we went over to Heartbeat Quilts  http://www.heartbeatquilts.com/ and Tumbleweed Quilts http://www.tumbleweedquilts.com/page/page/8051178.htm.

Sadly, Heartbeat Quilts is closing. Right now all fabric (except Helen's exclusive designs) are 30% off (1 yard minimum) or 40% off (2 yard minimum). Books, notions and thread are also on sale. I bought some lovely purple fabric for the back of Anna's wedding quilt (top still in progress).

If you go to the show, be sure and save your program. Tumbleweeds had a discount coupon on the inside back page. There is also a coupon for Heart n Hands Quilt Shop in Weymouth http://www.heartinhandsquilts.com/. Marion and I bought some new Kaffe fabrics (they have a HUGE selection) and Joannie found some bargains in the back room.

I love this sample quilt at Tumbleweeds! All batik!

Every time I see this quilt, I swear I'm going to make it.

At the end of a long day of quilting fun!

In closing, I leave you with this funny little off-kilter quilt.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

She Flew Through the Air...

"Man plans, God laughs,"  is a Yiddish proverb that describes my day today.

It was Sunday. I didn't have anything exciting planned. I was hoping to do some cleaning and organizing in my bedroom (not exciting, but necessary); some laundry (again, not exciting, but necessary) and possibly some work in the garden (see previous two items). On a happier note, Mike and I were planning to eat breakfast at the 50s Diner http://www.50sdiner.com/ (they make really good chocolate chip pancakes), which was definitely something to look forward too! Perhaps if I finished all my Sunday chores, I might head over to the Studio and work on Baby Angie's animal quilt.

As always, I begin my day with walking the pugs. I got a late start today because for some reason Mike and I stayed up late on Saturday night and watched the movie Jerry Maguire with Tom Cruise, even though we had both seen it before and it didn't end until 1 am. As I left my house, I ran into my neighbor's niece, Helena, and her daughter, Sophie, who are visiting for the summer from Ireland (they come every year) and we chatted with them for a few minutes before heading to the park. The sky was grey and threatening to rain. As we rounded the corner, we spied a whole flock of birds in the park, and I told Larry Pug how much fun he would have helping Romeo and Elvis chase them.

And then it happened. One minute I was walking along on my own two feet, side by side with the pugs' collective 12 feet, the next minute I tripped over the curb and I was airborne! I desperately tried to grab hold of the chain link fence to break my fall, but it was too far away, so instead I fell hard and landed on my right side, mainly on my shoulder and my knee. I never let go of the pugs' leashes, and fortunately I didn't land on one of them!

This is my right knee. Luckily, it still works!

My first thought as I lay there on the sidewalk, was "now I know why people carry cellphones when they walk their dogs," since Mike was home sleeping. My second thought was, "I wonder how long I would lie there before one of my neighbors would come by and help me up." Fortunately, my neighbor Sandy was driving home from Dunkin' Donuts and saw the whole episode, including my 3-point, non-Olympic-qualifying landing on the cement. She immediately pulled her car over and came to my assistance. My neighbors, Patty and Jack, who live about one house down from where I fell, also came over to help. Romeo, Elvis, and Larry, stayed right by my side and comforted me. Sandy put me and the three pugs in her car, and drove us home. As soon as I got in the house, I burst into tears and Mike came running downstairs.

We decided to go to the Emergency Room and get everything checked out. My arm and shoulder were throbbing, and I was just praying that I hadn't broken anything. We packed a bag with several books and some bottles of water in case we were stuck there for a while. Unbelievably, we were the only people in the Emergency Room, so I got seen by the triage nurse right away. Next I saw the Resident, and finally the attending physician. Fortunately nothing was broken, and I escaped within a one-hour time period with only a tetnus shot and a $100 co-pay.

We made it to the 50s Diner in time for lunch and ran a few errands afterwards. So no sewing today.

Earlier this week, I made a baby blanket for Michael's new little cousin, Elizabeth. It is just a simple fleece blanket, reversing to flannel, but it will be nice and cuddly. I embroidered her name and birthday on it. Elizabeth is a "second baby", so I thought she should get something special with her name on it.

Red flannel blanket reversing to LadyBug fleece.

I really like this font!

 I also finished a couple of adult-size bibs that Marion and I are making for one of my friends at work, whose sister is handicapped and lives in a group home.

Hopefully, I will sew with Joannie tomorrow night and perhaps finish the top of Baby Angie's quilt. I got the center assembled at my Thursday night quilt group this week, and just need to add a couple rounds of borders. I purchased some lovely pink fabric at Sewfisticated Discount Fabrics http://sewfisticated.com/ on Monday at lunch time, which I will use for the backing.

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

P.S. Blogger's note to Mom--I am FINE! I am a little stiff from my misadventure, but Advil and ice are helping!

When bad fabric happens to good people

I am making a baby quilt for my cousin Joel's new baby, Angie, who was just born last month. My cousin Joel only got married a few years ago (to the lovely Anelia), and he is 52, so it is quite exciting that he finally has a baby! I wish my Aunt Ros was still alive to see her baby granddaughter, she would be so excited.

Anyway, I am using two fabrics, one for the applique background, and the other for sashing, both from quilt shops, not large discount fabric stores, and they are both shredding as I  sew them together. This is so annoying. I always try to support my local quilt store, rather than the big box chain, but at $10 a yard (or more!), can't the fabric manufacturers make something that doesn't shred? Whatever happened to quality control? This is one of the reasons that I love batik--it is so tightly woven.

Stay tuned, you'll see the finished top soon!

Pugs and kisses,
Nancy

Vermont Quilt Festival, Part 3

I took two classes at the Vermont Quilt Festival this year. The first class was an all-day machine applique class with Pat Sloan. I must confess that I had never heard of Pat Sloan before I took the class, but apparently she is quite famous in the quilting world. http://patsloan.com/ Here is a link to her website. She designs quilt patterns and writes quilt books, has a quilting radio show and teaches all over the world. When I went to get her web link, she had posted that she just left for a quilt show in South Africa. Oh my!

This is one of Pat's new patterns.

She has designed the blocks in the quilt, at left, so they work individually and together.

I took the class with Joannie and Marion. I bought Pat's book and she autographed it.

I also confess that I wasn't too excited about taking the class, but Bonnie Hunter's class was sold out on Saturday. I've done machine applique and I do like it, but I thought that the sample quilt that we would be making was kind of ugly. Fortunately, the class was great. Pat was a wonderful instructor, full of tips and tricks to make your machine applique even better. She brought a trunk show's worth of samples and made sure that every person in the class room got individual attention. We spent the morning doing sample techniques. In the afternoon, we got to work on the actual class project. I decided that I wasn't going to start it because I probably wouldn't finish it in class, and I didn't like it to begin with. So I had plenty of time to oogle Pat's samples and look through her books.

This quilt is in the book that I bought from Pat.

And it's one of the reasons that I bought the book. Love the Nancy colors! See the zebra print and the hot pink?

I also admired Pat's fashion sense and openly coveted her hand-made sweater vest and very large silver hoop earrings.















After Pat's class, we went back to the quilt show and admired a few more quilts!

Pat M., I took this photo especially for you!

Here's a close-up. It is all Amy Butler fabrics.

Marion was thrilled to find one of the elusive Kate Spain fabrics that she had been searching for! All shopping totals remain a secret. What happens in Vermont, stays in Vermont!

I'm bummed that this photo didn't come out. This poor vendor actually is wearing a sign that says, "Line forms behind me." It was too funny! He had a lot of good fabrics in his booth!

Saturday night we went into Burlington for dinner and ate crepes at the Skinny Pancake. We walked around Church Street afterwards, which is a pedestrian mall.

Marion spotted a long lost relative on Church Street!

On Sunday morning, I finally got to take my class with Bonnie Hunter! This was one of my main reasons for going to the VQF this year! She is one of my quilting idols! A very, very talented quilter, Bonnie writes for quilt magazines, has an amazing website http://quiltville.com/ and blogs daily (even multiple times). Her class was even better than I could have imagined. She was sweet and gracious and made sure that everyone had a good time and understood her techniques. Her new book had just come out and I got to buy it on the spot and have Bonnie autograph it. We even did a Facebook shout out to my friend Janet who is also a major Bonnie groupie.

Joannie, Sue and I with my idol, Bonnie Hunter. I am clutching Bonnie's new book!

Here we are with some of the blocks that we made in class! Joannie is working in all purple and I am using all batiks. Sue is modelling one of my blocks.

This is just a random selection of some of the students' finished blocks put up on the wall.
Don't they all look wonderful together?

This was a Show and Tell from one of the other women in our class.

This is a Four-Patch Posy pattern. Marion and I took a class from Terri on this same quilt. Marion's quilt, of course, is finished. I have 65 blocks in a box. But I do like this wide sashing, so maybe it was a good idea that I waited!

The same student also made this lovely Scrappy Bargello quilt (a Bonnie Hunter free pattern on her website). Both Marion and I have made this quilt before. Mine is in pastels, and Marion has made hers in Reproduction Fabrics (I think that Marion has made at least 3 of them) We also made one for my friend Linda who designed our first 2Pugs Design website. I love this one in shades of blue, teal, green and purple. Looks kind of like a Monet painting.

 

 

Alas, after Bonnie Hunter's class, it was time to pack up the car again and start the journey home. I wish I had taken a photo of us on the way back. We had the car piled up high with purchases in the back seat and the front seat!

But we had to stop at just one more quilt store...

This is Mad River Quilting!

This store used to be located in an old church, but moved about a mile down the street to a bigger location. They had a very nice selection and were having a 20% off sale on batik! Did I mention that batik is one of my favorites?

We also had a wonderful brunch, complete with jazz trio, at the nearby Big Picture cafe, which is adjacent to the local movie theater.

Nancy and Ginny had eaten here a few days ago at the recommendation of the Quilt Shop owner. They, in turn, recommended it to us! It was DELICIOUS! Mad River Quilts is near the Mad River ski area, so if Mike wants to go skiing, I'd have a place to shop!

We had a great time in Vermont! In August, hopefully we will visit the Bayberry Quilt Show in Cape Cod http://www.bayberryquiltersofcapecod.com/ as well as the Mancuso Quilt Show in Manchester, New Hampshire http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=18. By that time, perhaps we will have all paid off our VISA bills!

Pugs and kisses,

Nancy