Red & White All Over

I was lucky enough to get a seat on a bus trip to New York for THE show of the year.

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts


I was sitting next to someone who was on her cell phone, trying to describe the exhibit. She said, "I can't find the right adjectives to describe it!"

I don't think you can appreciate the scope of this exhibit unless you were there in person.

The sheer volume of red and white quilts takes your breath away.
651 quilts and no two are exactly alike.

The display and lighting were spectacular!

Here are a few of my favorites.

Daisies!

Hoping I can find a way to paper-piece this one.

Tiny reverse applique.
Stunning!

I love this pattern. It is perfect as a 2-color quilt and especially nice in solids.

I've always wanted to make a T quilt for myself. I had lunch at the show with a women I met almost 20 years ago while she was quilting a red and white T quilt for her husband.

I'm hoping the book of this collection will include the story of this quilt.
Handprints, names and ages of children under 5 years old.
A fundraiser to build a school, perhaps?

This was Pete's favorite even before I told him it was called Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.

Thank you Mrs. Rose for your generous gift to the city of NY and quilters everywhere!

Sew Modern Monday

I could have shown you this table runner a couple of weeks ago, but you know...
Cookies!


My quilt guild used to meet at the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center. They recently had a fundraising event and asked for items for a basket raffle. Our guild donated a basket full of table runners and table toppers for each month of the year. One member is an expert basket maker, and she donated a gorgeous basket. Other members made and donated the runners and toppers.

This is the runner I made from leftovers of Meadowsweet. It is a knockoff of the Lil' Twister pattern. I don't own the acrylic template (yet) so I made do and cut out the squares with scissors.

I wish there was more contrast between the different prints, but I used what I had and this is what I got. It's fun and springy and I hope our basket earned lots of money for the PNC.

Please click on the button to visit more modern quilty goodness!

Wonderful Wedding!

My amazing nephew Christopher married his incredibly gorgeous Jamie on Friday night.

Jamie carefully orchestrated every detail of a perfect day.

Julia was the cantor for Mass, with the voice of an angel!

So happy!

A facebook friend called this Pete's suave face!

My brothers are both grandfathers now, so they were showing off photos of their granddaughters.

My sister looked so beautiful!
We did well to not cry all day.

Pete was a dancing fool and even got Grandma onto the dance floor!
OK, so she was a prop in a dance show down, but look at the smiles!

Jamie bought this custom cake topper from Etsy seller, Milk Tea.


A perfect ending to a perfect day!


Check these out:
Sneak Peek of Wedding Video
Gorgeous Wedding Photos

Happy Quilting Day!

Today is National Quilting Day!

Hoorah for Quilters!


My Girl Scouts were here last night to work on their troop sampler quilt, so both machines were going. After hearing a lecture last week with a sewing machine repair man, I think the timing is off on Julia's machine. Even after cleaning and oiling, it still sounds clunky.

The girls are making progress. They have all selected their fabrics from the stash. Some of them are including their Kool-Aid dyed fabrics. Three blocks are done and a few are in progress. It is certainly going to be an eclectic sampler!

I'm working on the wedding ring quilt! Sorry, Jamie and Christopher. It won't be done next week. But I'm hoping to have many more blocks so you can see how the pattern develops.

I just love looking at the stacks of fabric! About 1300 pieces were cut this week!

The pattern is Judy Niemeyer's Wedding Ring Star.

I hope you are all celebrating National Quilting Day with a delicious zeppole!
After all, it is Saint Joseph's Day, too!

A Fresh Blade

I'm still here! I finally carved some time away from Girl Scout cookies to play with fabric.

I cut out everything I need for the wedding ring quilt except the background.


A fresh rotary blade is a wonderful thing!
This is more than a thousand pieces!

We're on our way to a brand new Macy's store. The whole mall was flooded last spring and this is the last anchor store to reopen. Our local TV stations have shown a Macy's ad during every commercial break.

Great Escape - Part 1

This past weekend was our annual quilting getaway, also known as Quilt Camp.

I was so excited that Karen was able to come!

On Friday night, we showed our entries in the Flora Challenge. Our challenge themes are pretty broad. Last year was Animals (at camp, you'd like to see at camp, you wouldn't want to see at camp...).

Quite an impressive array of quilts! It was very difficult to choose winners. Everyone was given a ballot to choose their favorite in 5 different categories.

The overall favorite was Betty Tucker's spectacular 3-dimensional flowers.


Since we've now covered Flora and Fauna, next year's challenge theme is Merryweather!

The witch hazel is blooming! Hooray!

Friday night, we have a midnight madness, quick craft project.

My friend and long-time Girl Scout volunteer taught us how to make felt donut pincushions.
She even went to Dunkin Donuts to ask for an empty box to put them in!

More pix later!

Busy Busy Busy!

I'm getting ready for our annual guild retreat this weekend! I can't wait to see all my quilty friends. Karen from Sew Many Ways is joining us this year! We're sad that Jackie can't make it, and we're hoping that Shellie can come down for dinner and show & tell.

Today, I packed up some primroses for the challenge prizes and a few Thank You gifts.


The rest of my week has been spent with Girl Scout cookies!


I'm off to clean and oil my machine to get her humming before the retreat!

And the Fabric Goes To...

Sara @ Sew Sweetness! Congratulations, Sara!
Go visit Sara's super-cute blog. She uses a lot of fun modern prints and I think she'll have fun with this Meadowsweet pack.

Could you put yourself on a fabric allowance? Sara's plan is to spend only $25 a month on fabric and sewing supplies. Winning giveaways will help!

Last week, I told Bill I would not be buying any fabric so I could save some money for our big summer trip. Within a couple of days, I was in Joann's buying 7 yards of solid for quilt backs. Backs don't count, right?