WIP Wednesday

I thought I would miss out on WIP Wednesday, and then I realized it is still Wednesday. I'm typing this as we watch the Red Sox leading in game 6 of the World Series. I need to do something with all this nervous energy!

Finished (for now): Pete's quilt has been delivered to my machine quilter, Pat Harrison. We chose a nifty stars and stripes pantograph. 

In Progress: I had a package of queen sized batting that I trimmed down for Pete's quilt. I looked around to see what I could use the leftover batting for and immediately saw the T quilt top. I dug out the backing, and it was layered and pin basted in no time. Now to decide how to quilt it.

That's about it for now. I'm heading to the Gathering on Friday with a shopping list. Then I can start working on the mini quilt for the schnitzel and boo swap.

Pete's Album Quilt Top

Pete's quilt top is done! It looks a little funny in this pic with some light shining through from behind, but you get the idea. Bill is standing on the piano bench and it is almost hanging floor to ceiling. It will fit a twin bed nicely. I think that's all he'll need for a while as single Marine, hopping from one training to another. He'll be in barracks or dorm-style quarters for some time.

 

I paper-pieced the borders on my new Featherweight. The pile of trimmings is proof!

I tried adding the borders to the top by Featherweight, but had a little problem. Skipped stitches after the bulk of the seams, or maybe because it didn't like running over pins. I had to go back and repair a bunch of these holes. I'll have to me more careful.

An additional 2" of navy made for a nice, finished edge.

 

The back is pieced from a Quilts of Valor text print down the middle, a strip of white on each side, and the star print on the edge. Can you read the text? 

Thank You, Home Safe, Miss You, Proud of You

 I managed to not cry as I pieced the back, which was a major accomplishment. 

I cried all day yesterday for no apparent reason. Pete is recovering from the pneumonia, but lost his squad leader billet since he was missing training for 4 days before the initial drill inspection. He missed the actual inspection as well because he went for a medical follow up. Still waiting to hear if he is back to a full training schedule. I'm sure he'll regain some leadership role soon.

Game 3 of the World Series tonight. Go Sox!

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday is my favorite quilty day of the week. I enjoy taking stock each week and re-prioritizing the to-do list. 

Finished: The Ninigret Quilters show has come and gone. I'm happy that it was a fun and successful show. See you all in 2015!

At the top of the list: Pete's album quilt. He is half way through boot camp, so I'd better get moving on getting his quilt done! I was prepared to take it to my machine quilter with no borders. But when I took it out to piece the backing, I wasn't happy with the borderless look.

Now, I'm planning a dark blue border and striped bias binding. But Bill likes a pieced triangle border. I don't have a lot of time, so a decision must be made. It looks like I'm heading to the LQS after lunch.

Next on the list: Mini Quilt Swap using these fabrics, plus a few more from stash. My partner has a Forest of Geese in her inspiration mosaic, so I shrunk the patterns down to mini size. One and a half inch geese blocks? That's right up my alley!

Head on over to Freshly Pieced and check out the adorable blocks Lee is working on!

Quilt Show Wrap Up

 I forgot to show you the Ninnie Nines. I was really happy to have five completed quilts from our nine patch swap to display. Mine is the one hanging in the middle. Don't you love the Sister's Choice with black points on the bed?

Julia and I had some fun in the Westerly Armory museum. I pasted a picture of Pete's head onto this uniform and sent it to him with the note, "This will be us on December 13!"

 (Please say a quick prayer for Pete. He was diagnosed with pneumonia on Thursday, which is not uncommon in boot camp. He was on one day bed rest and 3 days light duty. He should be back to a full training schedule by now. It looks like he will be able to stay with his platoon and graduate as scheduled.)

Bob Harrison, Featherweight dealer/repairman and my machine quilter's husband, presented me with a Featherweight skeleton as my reward for winning best of show! It was part gag gift/part real gift. I was told I could trade it in for a working machine. I've wanted a FW since I met Bob at least 15 years ago. I told him this was the year, so he sweetened the deal!

 

Ellie Coffey, my friend and president of the guild, gave me this enormous, gorgeous bouquet!

It was great to have Bill and Julia there, but we missed Pete. When my kids were little, they used to come to the show wearing their Halloween costumes.

What goes up must come down. In just over an hour, the Armory was just an empty drill hall once again.

 

No, I did not trade in the gutless machine.  She is my major award!

I did finally buy a Featherweight! She was born in 1938 and she is so pretty!

It's time to start stitching and planning for the 2015 show!

Quilt Show Day 1

 The show is set up and we had an amazing opening day. I love this view from the balcony.

 Julia is home for the weekend. She was happy to pose in front of Fred's quilt.

Genevieve came to the show with her today, and they were happy to see our Girl Scout troop quilt. It has traveled to five college girls in five different states.

Come on down and see us this weekend! We'll be here at the Westerly Armory on Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm.

 

Inspiration

Ninigret Quilters spent the day setting up our quilt show.  One of my friends commented that she really liked the setting I used for the 9-patch swap blocks. I told her it was from a book, and I rarely do anything original. With that in mind, I'd like to share my inspirations for the following quilts.

Chris and Jamie's Wedding Ring won a few ribbons...

1st Place Exemplary Piecing

1st Place Exemplary Applique

1st Place Exemplary Use of Color

1st Place Exemplary Machine Quilting (by Pat Harrison)

Exemplary Edge Finish

and

Best of Show !!!

 All the credit and many thanks go to: 

Judy Niemeyer for her spectacular paper piecing pattern,

Erin Russek for her lovely applique patterns,

Kate Spain for her glorious fabric,

Pat Harrison for her amazing machine quilting,

Sharon Schamber for her youtube videos on how to stitch a scalloped binding,

and my friend, Maria Lage, for suggesting insisting on the scalloped binding!

Oh, and I should thank my nephew Christopher and his wife Jamie for patiently waiting for this quilt to be completed, 9 months after they were married!

If that were not enough ribbons for one person, a few other quilts were recognized.

Mod Bento earned a ribbon for 3rd Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt. Many thanks to all who participated in the Mod Bento Swap including my RI friend Jodi.

 Sugar Wave earned 2nd Place Exemplary Machine Quilting, Domestic. Thanks to Melissa Averinos for her awesome fabric line, Sugar Snap, and to Elizabeth Hartman for her New Wave Pattern.

Emerald Selvedge Spiderweb earned 1st Place Exemplary Scrap Quilt and Exemplary Innovative. Thank you to Karen Griska for creating my obsession for saving selvedges, and to Chris Bagley for teaching this workshop at our weekend retreat in March.

 

As quilt show chair, I'd like to invite beg you to visit us this weekend.

A woman with a plan! (to scale)

Ninigret Quilters present Stitching Stars

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm each day

Westerly Armory, Westerly, RI

If you live within a 90 minute radius (and beyond) of Westerly, it is worth the trip!

WIP Wednesday

Today is Wednesday, right? Monday holidays always throw me off, and this is just a crazy week. No time to dilly-dally. Let's get to the projects.

Finishes:

Eleven mug mats/thank you gifts were finished yesterday. Assembly line stitching works for me!

 

I realize this is just a top that could use an outside border, but I'm calling it finished. It will be raffled off to quilt show volunteers this weekend, and the president of the guild gave me permission to not quilt it. Thank you, Ellie!

 In progress:
After seeing this article and photo in my newsfeed this morning, I realized I have 2 Quilts of Valor projects to finish. I'm moving them to the top of the list.

I just need to piece the backing of Pete's quilt and it will be off to Pat, my award-winning machine quilter.

I signed up for Schnitzel and Boo's mini quilt swap that will ship in November. I think my partner will like this stack of fabric. A lotta Tula Pink and a little Lotta Jansdotter.

And because I was ordering from Pink Chalk Fabrics, I threw in some extra goodies. The green Tula Pink print is a yummy voile that will become a scarf for me.

Gotta run!

Stitching Stars Prep

 We're in the final stages of preparation for Ninigret Quilters' Stitching Stars quilt show. To take a break from paperwork, I spent the long weekend stitching stars.

 I pieced together some block parts and fabric leftover from the raffle quilt to make this little top. I'm planning to raffle it off to the quilt show volunteers. Surprise, Ninnies!

 I had a few more stars and scraps to play with, so I made eleven mug mats. Most of the stars were rejected from the raffle quilt because they were too big. They were perfect for improv piecing.

Simple straight line quilting is effective on these small pieces. They are roughly 7X10".

The guild is planning to teach a beginner quilting class starting in January. We thought the show would be a great place to publicize it. A few of us are making samples, and here's mine.

I've had these music prints for years, and it was time for them to be used!

OK. My break is over. Back to quilt show prep!

Cranberries!

 Bill and I are thoroughly enjoying our new status as empty-nesters. Today we drove up to Massacusetts to attend the Cranberry Harvest Festival. If you are in the area, the festival continues on Sunday.

I've always been curious about cranberry harvesting, so it was fun to watch it happen.

In full speed, it would only take them about 20 minutes to fill this truck!

 

 Yummy rubies!

There is fun for the whole family. Check out this little cutie.

 

There is a lot of sand involved in cranberry farming, and they let the kids climb this giant sand pile. We passed on the helicopter rides. No SPIE rigging!

 

We had a great time, and we're looking forward to our next adventure.

 

P.S. We got our second letter from Pete this week. He's doing really well in Marine Corps boot camp. He has a few leadership billets already. He really likes his senior drill instructor. It's amazing that Pete can see the humor in almost any situation. I'm so proud of him!

WIP Wednesday Finishes

 For me, there's no better motivation for finishing a project than a firm deadline! I've had a very productive week.

Finishes: This baby quilt was made in less than 2 days and was finished a full 24 hours before the baby shower!

Ninnie Nines was actually finished on Thursday before I started the baby quilt, but there was no time to take pics until today. It had to be done for quilt judging on Saturday. If you remember, our guild had a nine patch swap last Spring/Summer. I used a layout from Camille Roskelley's book Simply Retro.

I took an Angela Walters Craftsy class called Dot to Dot Quilting and tried some of the ideas in this quilt. The judge wasn't crazy about my choices (I agree with her), but it's good to have some new quilting designs in my toolbox.

I wasn't sure what to do in the outer border, so I used it as a label and I stitched in the names of all the members who participated in the swap. It's hard to see now that it's washed and crinkly.

Can you read "Ninnie Nines?"  I should have used a heavier thread.

The baking fabric is a cute print that I picked up at JoAnn's on sale.

Being home alone all day, I had to find a way to get a full body shot. Clip hangers on the curtain rod worked pretty well, but it's not taught across the top. (Edited 10/24/18: This quilt was sent to Wilmington, NC to be given to a victim of Hurricane Florence.)

Up next on the to-do list: I need to make a sample quilt for a guild project so we can publicize it at our quilt show next week. I've had the music prints for years. All I bought was the yellow/gold.  I'll add scraps of red and blue leftover from Pete's quilt. It's a simple nine patch design, so it should only take a few days to get it done.

Pete's quilt will be next. I bought this awesome backing fabric. Isn't it perfect?

Speaking of Pete, we have received one letter from boot camp and he sounds great! He told a couple of funny stories, and he was made a squad leader on day 1 with the drill instructors.

My super sweet husband brought home some gorgeous roses. The colors are so lovely!

Oh, how I love WIP Wednesday!