Sunday, January 31, 2010

Great Weekend


District 4 of the Quilters of South Carolina met this weekend. We had absolutely horrible weather and still at least 100 quilters from 4 or 5 counties met for fellowship and lunch. Our speaker for the day was the talented Kathy Gainey. If you are really 'into' hand dyed wool, you need to talk to Kathy. She had some of the most beautiful hand dyed wool that she had done. If you are interested you can reach her through her blog Shakerwood Primitives.

Do you know what I consider to be the most BORING activity in quilting? Stitching down fusible applique'. Yes, I can actually go to sleep while doing this particular technique. So, why, may you ask, am I doing the Be Attitude blocks? Well, Pat (sister quilter) and I have been trying to come up with something for her church, as a thankyou , for sponsoring Girl Scout Troops------years ago. What we have decided is to do these blocks from Nancy Halvorsen's Be Attitudes book and then hang them as panels on a very high wall in a stairway of their church. This is my first one. We split them up and will be doing them as a block of the month (we hope). The Eyes and nose of the dog will be added later. Can you guess why I chose this block? Remember that big Black Lab? Rocky? He did manage to eat 2 of my husband's shoes and recently has chewed a hole in a knitted throw. Soooooo, in order to keep from 'killing' him, we are learning to "Be Forgiving".

I also finished the binding and the label for the Spring Fling mystery. I just love this quilt. I just might have to keep it for myself. I look forward to posting a picture after Quilt Camp.

Have a great week. Try to stay warm.
LET'S GO SEW !!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

MYSTERY SOLVED !!!!

I have been working very hard to complete my mystery sample for Spring Fling Quilt Camp. This is it!!!! I am putting the binding on, then the label and it will be ready to go!!!

What? You can't see the pattern? Well, guess that you will just have to wait until the end of February. I can't spoil the surprise for everyone at camp. I will post it while we are at camp. Beth had done a fantastic job and I just love my quilt. The pattern is so different from some of her previous mysteries. Still very well written, but, pattern is unique.


I took it off of the frame yesterday. I used a pantograph by Patricia Ritter-'Plumbago' to quilt it and I am very pleased with the results. I did not use a heavy thread and I did use a golden yellow on the front and a navy blue in the bobbin and it worked very well. I am having lot's of fun with my machine.

Planning for "Spring Fling" Quilt Camp is just about complete. If you haven't registered, then you need to contact me for information. Space is limited, so contact me before you try to register. You can reach me through this blog.

Other things have happened since we talked. Alexis had her 5th Birthday party and Piper lost her first tooth. I'll post some pictures of all of this next week.

We are expecting severe weather in South Carolina today, so I am going to go ahead and post this now. Will be back later.

Have a great week.
Joyce(just in case my signature line does not appear)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Mystery Quilt?















I spent this weekend "testing" the mystery instructions for SPRING FLING QUILT CAMP. Beth Karr has done a wonderful job of putting this mystery together.

These are my chosen fabrics. Aren't they delish?

My quilt top is Beautiful and I can't wait to show it to you, but, it will just have to wait until the weekend of our retreat. I will post a picture of the finished product to 'air' while we are at camp. Hopefully I will have quilted it by then too.

I spent the day in the studio while I was also working on a big pot of soup. We had it tonight for supper and it was sooooooooo good. I used the ham bone from the 'New Years' ham for the base of my soup. We will have enough soup to last us quite a while once it is frozen.

It appears that the cold weather will take a break later this week and we will have highs in the 60's. So, we will be having a 'heat wave'. Sure will feel good.

Have a safe week and:
LET'S GO SEW !!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Quilt Retreat----Think Spring

One Loose Thread Quilting says



“Think Spring!”


February 25-28, 2010-Quilt Camp


The Tradition Continues


Come Join Me (Joyce Greer) for a weekend of fun, food, and fellowship. All campers are invited, but not required, to participate in the weekend mystery. There will be NO STRUCTURED SCHEDULE with the exception of meals. What a great time to try a new technique or ask for opinions on a design problem. With all level of quilters, problems can be solved, and many opinions will be available. Each Quilter has her own full 6 foot table as her work space.

Vendor: The Quilted Pearl - Columbia

Where: The Bishop Gravatt Conference Center, Camp Gravatt, Aiken, S.C.

When: February 25 – 28, 2010 Check-in time is 2:00 PM or later on Thursday with Check-out on Sunday, February 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM.

Cabins have 2 adjoining rooms that sleep 2 per room with shared bathroom.

Motel rooms sleep 2. This room has its own bathroom

What I have planned:
• Nightly Show and Tell with an on-going quilt show
• Weekend Mystery with “Master Sleuth” Beth Karr
• An opportunity to “play” with EQ products
• Request that certain techniques be shown in the evening
• GOOD SURPRISES

If you are interested, then email me through this blog and I will send you all the information.

P. S. Mark your calendars for
SUMMER FUN QUILT CAMP: August 20-22, 2010
This may be extended to include Thursday if the interest is high enough.

Friday, January 1, 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!!!!

I have spent this day working on a mystery quilt with Longarm University.
What have I discovered?
#1-I can't stitch a smooth curve,
#2-I get lost in the very simple patterns,
#3- This being the first time I have worked from the front of my longarm, I have a lot to learn.

The learning curve on this machine is huge!!!! The machine (Gammill Classic Plus) performs beautifully. The problem is the operator. I might spend the rest of my life at the back of this machine with pantographs.

Here is a smile box of some of the 'mess' that I made today. When it is bound and washed, I'll post another picture.


Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: New Years Day 2010
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The moral to this story is this: Longarm quilters make it look soooooooo easy. The truth of the matter is, They have practiced THOUSANDS of hours to make it look that way. I really have a long way to go to be able to freehand from the front of my wonderful machine---she still needs a name. However, I can really do a wonderful edge to edge pantograph from the back.

With that said: One Loose Thread Quilting has begun. Many announcement in the coming days. Stay tuned.