Cooking up a Crumb Quilt

Things were kind of hectic with my people last week and it put me  in the mood for some mindless sewing. The bag of crumbs was getting full, so I thought I'd play with those to relax me. This is just a few of the 30 or so crumb blocks that are almost done. For this quilt I chose not to use any pieces with angles other than a square corner.

Normally I wouldn't keep individual pieces as small as those shown below.  I've asked the girls to keep the extra pieces left over from their comfort quilts or the ends of the strip sets that are too narrow for the pattern  as long as they are over 1 1/2" wide. Sometimes I can make an entirely different block with the leftover pieces and it goes in the orphan block pile. Otherwise, I save them for Crumb Quilts. They sure are fun and fast to make. I started the 30 blocks yesterday morning.

Other quilters call these Mile a Minute Quilts. A true Crazy Quilt would be similar, except they would have fancy embroidery. That is so NOT me. 

The ladies surprised me at church last week. We got the raffle quilt top together but not without a few glitches. I brought it home to put on the border and quilt. I will get a picture of it before it goes on the frame. I still have to prep the backing.

Cheddar in my quilt

I made two more blocks and had to spread it out to see how many more blocks I need in what colors.  There are one or two that I don't like and might remake. Otherwise I am loving it. I think it's the cheddar color that I like. Or maybe that there aren't any stars. I was planning to put the blocks on point, but changed my mind. It is always so much easier to set them straight and I don't think these blocks would benefit from being turned diagonally. 

I finally found the muslin I used in the border.Glad for that because I need to make two sides longer. It was hiding in the living room! It was in a basket  holding my grandmothers flower garden. I'm using the same muslin in that quilt.  I have been looking for it all year. Tells you how much I have been working on the GFG. But now I think I know how I want to finish that, so  maybe I will get back to that soon.

 I promised a picture of my birthday gift from my sister. Here he is. Ain't he a beaut? He looks so proud.  His body is covered with dried peppers. I guess if I don't want the real thing, he'll have to do.


Occasionally when I finally get a chance to do a little sewing,  I can feel the tension leaving.  Life has been a bit hectic for the Bongs lately cause the people we take care of haven't been well. I am so glad that they waited till I would be here to help Mark. I just might have to start worrying silly about him handling things alone when I am gone. This morning Lucrecia came over and I offered her a brandy. Get the picture???  Making those two blocks helped and now I will go for a walk. Who needs brandy anyway?

Seeing Star Points Again

I'm back from a great trip to Indianapolis. I drove it -  SW to Beloit first, then east past Bloomington, IL. The route had very little traffic, especially compared to around Chicago (the alternate route). The guild meets at a beautiful old church on the North side of the city. Shoulda taken a picture. As it was I had only my cell phone to take pictures with and they weren't very good. See?
 

These are the only photos from the Thirtysomething workshop that were worth showing. The gals in class were lots of fun and I was so glad that they were all willing to play with their Thirtysomething pieces to see what designs they could come up with. It will be interesting if they finish their assignments and send me a picture someday of their finished top. Some say the class should be advertised as a mystery class cause they don't even know what they will end up making. However, I do give them one detailed pattern they could follow. I am sure some have a hard time deciding in the end. I did need to remind them they could always make another one.

 
 This trip was a bit unusual because not only was I there for a guild lecture and workshop, but also a visit with my sister. She joined me from Pennsylvania. She attended the guild program Thursday and the next day while I was in class she went to the Indy Speedway track and museum. Sat. morning we went to the Garfield park conservatory. Now I know what kind of vegetation Lucrecia gets to enjoy in Panama. Very unusual flowers.
I also brought her a few of mom's things and she brought me a few things, too. You'll see.

Tomorrow is church quilting. We are planning to work till the next raffle quilt top is done. HA. If I quilt at all this week, I will be surprised. Lots of catching up to do.

Smoky Mountain Getaway

My trip to the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina for the Quilt Symposium was uneventful. Thank goodness the grief began on the way home with a storm in Atlanta that delayed my trip 6 hours. Good thing I really like Airports. I think I get it from having grown up near one. We would often walk up to the park to watch the planes land.

  The symposium itself was wonderful. Over 300 beautiful quilts, 20 vendors and a few hundred quilters.  I was lucky to get these three pictures from my Thirtysomething class.  My camera has been acting up for a few weeks, so I will be getting a new camera in the near future.  I hope I have these projects identified correctly. The one above was by Kathi Culler.

The next one is by Judy  Slater. And the bottom one by Diane Berdis. I really liked that the gals chose some of the options I presented. I like to think of my designs as suggestions. There was alot of talk in both classes about "the next one I make like this" So with any luck they'll send me jpegs.
Students promised to send me pictures from the Infinite Stars workshop, too. Some of the gals stayed up till midnight finishing their stars.
After 5 days, it was good to get home. I have been watering the gardens all day today, it's been so dry. Otherwise things are the same as always. Love it.
 

Smoky Mountain inspiration

Going through my contracts for lectures and workshops, I was suddenly struck by the logo for the 2012 North Carolina Quilt Symposium. It was designed like one of my Infinite Stars and it was in orange and yellow. Imagine that. Better yet, check it out here. So I couldn't think of a better way to use SOME of my yellows and oranges. This is the start. I plan to add a Thirtysomething border. And to think I will be there teaching both my Infinite Stars class and a Thirtysomething class. Wish you could be there. And if you are, be sure to say "hi".

Perfect spring days

Little time at home leaves little time to quilt. But I did get these blocks made for Sue H.

I'm not complaining because it was a glorious weekend in west-central Wisconsin. We attended a beautiful outdoor wedding in Tomah on Saturday and spent Sunday in the middle of the woods. I don't have time to post now, but watch for a new page added to the blog telling or showing what we notice in the great out of doors. I live in a rural area somewhat like a nature preserve and we also own a chunk of land in the forest up North. I love it as much as some probably love their fancy cars. I call it my Mercedes.

I'll be back. Till then, happy quilting or whatever.

What can the future be?

My Rolling Stone quilt is progressing slowly. I made 3 more blocks. I am pretty sure I know what setting I'll use, but not sure how many more blocks I need. I'll leave that project out till the top is done. It'll be interesting to see what else gets in the way of me finishing it.

We finally got some rain, so I am pulling weeds and not up to cutting or quilting too much.  I pulled out the orange prints again. It'd be nice if they told me what to do with them.  I feel a need to work with some bright colors after the last several projects. Orange and yellow sounds yummy. My yellow flowers haven't started to open yet this year.

Blogger's Spring Quilt Festival (button at right) had over 500 entries. It was impossible for me to visit every blog, but I found a few I'd like to visit again and the links will be good for (ever?) Then Amy will start up another one next fall. I found that Blogging has replaced my  magazine subscriptions. I haven't been happy with those for years. I was surprised how many "modern" quilts there were. Equally surprised how much I liked them. Yikes! What is happening to me. Yellow and Orange??? Modern style quilts??? What could be next???