Memorial Day Weekend

 I can't believe that I am actually up to date on this BOM. This was the block for this month. Done.












After I finished the block, I started to work on the applique for my Lone Star. I still haven't heard from the designer of the original flowers. I have adapted some of the flowers from the pattern Vintage Dreams by Colette Belt to be used in the corners and other areas of my star.
I am going to continue on with the design work and hope that I hear from her soon.

So, after most of the day, this is what I have so far. The triangles are not sewn on, however, the applique has been fused to the triangle.

I am still having a problem with 'wrapping' my brain around raw edge applique. I am soooooooooo a needle turn applique person. I just don't want this project to take 10 years to complete, so, I am designing it for raw edge application. I am fusing the applique pieces down and will then go back and use a small zig-zag to tie down the edges. I think that I am going to use Superiors mono-poly to do that, not sure yet.

Due to the fact that tomorrow is actually a holiday, I think that I will continue to work on the Lone Star. After all, what will the boss do.................fire me?

I have a customer top that needs to go on the frame soon. It is an antique double wedding ring. Not sure if I will start on that tomorrow or something isn't quite as labor intensive. You'll find out later...about the time that I do.

Registration is on going for Sewin' in the Summer for August. Print off a registration form and get your deposit in soon.

Have a great week.

Busy Weekend

We had another great meeting of South Carolina Girls with Longarms. We have outgrown our homes so Pat scheduled us to meet at her church. We had lots of room to spread out. Everyone could see and hear better. Plenty of space for lunch and show and ponder.

 One thing that we talked about was loading a top. I mentioned that I used this method of measurement since I discovered that the longarm tape measure stretched and got in my way. I measure from the end of the belly bar to the edge of the top, however, one thing that was suggested is that I measure to the inside border not the edge of the top. Makes more sense as this would be a more stable line.

 You can see the magnets that I use to stabilize the quilt top that I have floated. These won't work if your frame is aluminum or anyother non ferrous metal. This will work with the heavy gammill frames and I love, love, love them. You can purchase these at Harbor Freight. They are called Magnetic Holders and are 18" long.

 Vicki also talked about her new clamps and how much she liked them. These are my answer to wider clamps. You can get these paint sticks from Lowes or Home Depot for free.Use a little glue, like E 6000 or something that will bond to both surfaces.

Glue one stick to each side of the clamp and what do you know you have a wide clamp that will support the side of your quilt top nicely.






Karen gave a wonderful power point presentation of loading our quilts. We also discussed stabilization and I think we will talk more about that in the future as it seems to be a murky subject.

We had 4 new longarmers to join us yesterday. So, we are growing and that is a good thing. More ideas and a lot more experience to share. That's the name of the game-----sharing. As long as we can maintain the great 'sisterhood' that we have started then, this is a good thing.

I am already working on topics for our meeting in July. Pat is going to check with the Church and see if we can meet there again. Everyone really likes the space. Hopefully we will have even more longarmers from South Carolina visit on that day.

Also, had a great lunch with my Dental Hygiene group. We ate at Hampton Street Vinyard, which is a long time resident of Hampton Street, but, many people have forgotten it's there. The food is amazing, the parking is the pits.

New top on the frame tomorrow. Pictures later. That reminds me. Blogger had decided that I needed to buy some photo space for my blog from Picasa. Well, in order to keep from doing that, I have deleted some of the old customer quilts. If yours was one of them, I am sorry, but, I do have copies of those pictures and can send them to you at anytime.

Remember, it's time to register for Sewin' in the Summer Quilt Camp. Do it now, while it is fresh in your mind.

Have a good week,

Confessions of a Fabric Hoarder

Yes, I think that I can officially be called a 'Fabric Hoarder'. I have spent the day folding fabric that I have purchased over the past month or so.

 There was this stack on the ironing board.



Then

There was another stack that was on top of my sewing cabinet. Couldn't piece anything since this was in the way.


So, I have wasted most of this day folding all of this so that I can put it on it's respective color shelf.

See the shelves? After I put up what I could according to color, all of the fabric that you see on the longarm table was still left. I just had to stuff it in where I could get it.

Hoarding fabric? Yep, I really believe that is what I am doing. See the shelving unit on the left of this picture? The two shelves in the middle with the cream/brown/orange/blacks and grays have fabric stacked 2 deep. I haven't seen what is on the back row for at least 6 months. I have also started doing a lot of scrap quilts and for those I use chopped up fat quarters from here:

These are my 'fat quarter' boxes. Started them years ago and sorted by color, holiday, etc. They are packed. No more room there, that is why so many are stacked on the top.

Then there are the bolts of regular fabric and a few of the wide backs that I keep for customer quilts:

Then there are the other bolts of college fabrics and wide backs that I keep under the dining room table in the red wagon:

There is also fabric in all of these project boxes that are 'neatly' stacked on this shelving unit.

One box contains my Baltimore blocks that I have not touched in 5 years. Then there are the Dear Jane blocks that have not seen daylight in 2 years. Of course there are the Block of the Months that I have not even opened. MERCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Then, just when I thought I had confessed to all............................. I spotted this stack on a chair in the corner of the dining room:

Woe is Me. I will NEVER use all of this fabric, but, I just have such a hard time giving it away. I have given bolts and large numbers of yardage to the various guilds that I belong to, but, I still have more that I should have. I am not saying that I feel guilty about my stash, but, if I were to die tomorrow, what a mess this would be. What can I say, I just LOVE fabric!!

Soooooooooooo if all of this makes me a 'Fabric Hoarder', so be it.

Do you hoard fabric? Fun isn't it?

Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild

Lake and Mountain Quilters Guild
2012 Festival of Quilts--Celebrating Silver

September 21 - 22, 2012

Shaver Recreation Center
698 W South 4th St.
Seneca, SC 29678

www.LMQG.org.

Great show, if you are in the area go check it out.

BEACH RETREAT !!!!!!!!!!! 2013

You asked and we now have reservations at St. Christopher Conference Center for :

October 31 - November 3, 2013

We are set to arrive on Thursday afternoon and depart on Sunday after lunch. Small details will be worked out later, but, I did talk to Betsy about having some assistance with the 'unloading' for everyone. I told her that we can reload on Sunday, just need a little help on Thursday.

So, mark your calendars!!!! I have reserved 14 rooms and we need to fill all of them. Registration information will not be available until sometime next year and I will get it out as soon as possible.

More on this later.


Let's go SEW !!!!