Old Tobbaco Road

Old Tobacco Road is quilted. YEAH!!!!

I quilted it lengthwise using a pano called Feather Feather. I used gold thread and left over bobbins that kind of match. Now I need to figure out what fabric to use for the binding. I have a medium brown. Looked ulck. Thinking about one of the brick fabrics. Will have to see how much I have of what. I have plenty of the boarder fabric left, I could use that, if I have to.

Here are pictures of the front and a close up and the back. I found the backing a few years ago on a sale table. It makes me think of tobacco barns, so was perfect for this quilt. I still have 1 2/3 yrs left for the stash.

Two Quilts down and 3 to go for myself. I am getting there.

Vicki

4 Patch Swirl

I have been quilting my own quilts for the last few days. I just meander quilted with red thread. Was so busy a design would not have shown. So made it simple and easy. LOL The first picture is the quilt. The 2nd picture is the back and the last picture is a closeup of the front. I used a coordinated boarder print for the boarder. It looks wiggly, because it was printed that way. The fabric is from Jennifer Sampou from ?? years ago. The back was pieced using the left over boarder print and base fabric. If you look at the back on the bottom, you can see the base fabric I made the swirls from. I plan on purple binding.

Lynn Buske of Lexington SC is the author of this pattern. I took her class a while back.

Bannana Bread

It got COLD here last nite. 17F I know you northern folks and out west think that isnt much. But here in SC that is cold. We just had 70F last week. Typical for Dec.

I have a pot of Veggie soup on the stove for supper. DH has gone hunting and will be cold when he gets in. Soup is such a wonderful comfort food.

Speaking of comfort food. I had a few bananas about to go bad, so bread time. Here is my mid afternoon snack. Yes, it is as wonderful as it looks. I put it in the bread maker this morning and when DS and I got back from the grocery store, it was ready. Perfect.

Merry Christmas to all

Vicki

Christmas Out House

OK, Now you know I am crazy. I have to look at this outhouse everyday. It is next door, right in front. Cant miss it. So, I decorated it. How do you like the bow?? got it from the Dollar Store. I would have added lights, but my extension cord was not long enough. Well, I have had my fun for now. Maybe I can stay out of trouble for awhile. LOL

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Or what ever holiday you celebrate, may it be good.

Vicki

New House next door

We are getting a new neighbor. We have been in this house almost 16 years. And the lot next door has been empty. Wooded. Right no one there, except deer, raccons, birds, a red headed wood pecker, an owl and what ever else. We have enjoyed it. Well, someone is building a house there. They start at 7am every morning. Yesterday, Friday, they knocked of early, Yeah!!! Well, to make up for ti they were there this Morning, YES, Saturday. Air guns a going. Sounded like the firing range at an Army base. helpppppppppppppp. Well, they are gone for the day. Yeah.

The one thing that really bugs me about this building project is, the Porta-John right out front. That is correct! In the front yard close to the road, not behind the tree, but in front of it. Well I have been threatening to decorated it for Christmas. I have red bow from the dollar store, so, when no one is looking, I will strike. Now, I must remember to take a picture for you. This will be a hoot.

Ok, it wont be too bad having a new neighbor. I have met him, He is a captain on the police dept. Have not met his wife yet. The house on the other side of his is a highway patrolman. We should be safe out here. LOL



Merry Christmas, Vicki

Baskets

Tisket a Tasket, a green and yellow basket.

All colors here. I used 2 inch squares left from other projects and fabric from the stash to make 10 little baskets. OK, OK, I know you only count 9. One has already gone to its new home, in time for Christmas. These were fun to make and I can see Easter, Valentines, 4 of July, Halloween and on and on..............LOL

Thank you, Pink Penguin, for the wonderful pattern. You can find it on her blog at http://www.ayumills.blogspot.com/ Click on the bag under tutorials. Check out her other ideas also. They are great.

T-Shirt quilts

Merry Christmas to all.

I have been so buzy, I havent updated my blog in awhile. So, here is a little scoop and some pictures.

I have been asking questions on the longarm digest about t-shirt quilts. I had to do 2, from scratch, for a neighbor. Thanks for all of the helpful advice. The first one is Clemson fabric, because the young man graduated from Clemson. The 2nd on is for the daughter, she graduated from the College of Charleston. I couldnt find any C of C fabric, so her mom and I picked out a fun fabric. They are coming this weekend for their Christmas. Mom so pleased and said she would call me after they left to tell me how it went. I just quilted with an all over meander, using orange on the orange quilt and navy on the other one. I didnt not have any trouble going over the big plastic numbers. But I did notice that the needle picked up the color for 2 or 3 stitched after. Probably because the needle gets hot. I machine sewed the binding. After all they are t-shirts. LOL. Only way I would have had them done in time.

Christmas

Christmas is almost here. No, I am not ready. LOL DS put the tree the day after Thanksgiving. This is always his job. He kicks me out of the living room and goes to work. I used to get scared when he was much younger. About the mess he would make. But now at 20, I wonder what I will do when he leaves home. Will he come back to put up my tree????

The red bells were knitted by my mother. There are a few white ones she did. I found the pattern, but havent made any to add. The balls are Styrofoam balls that DS and I covered with 1/2 inch wide Christmas fabrics about 8 years ago.

We had a good time making these. All of his teachers got one that year.

This last picture is of Patch, the wonder dog. He is wondering what I am doing and when he will get a treat. LOL Patch is a Yorkie, a big Yorkie. He is 14 pounds of love and excitement. If he had been a tiny one he would have been smushed in this house.

Well, this is all for now. I think I have caught up for a while anyway.

Have a Very Merry Christmas.

Vicki

ARTFULL BRAS

If you have been reading, you will remember that I posted awhile back about Quilters of South Carolina making artfull bras, for breast cancer awareness. Well, the pictures are posted on the QSC website. http://www.quiltersofsc.org/ Please check them out, there are 2 pages, make sure you see them all. What a wonderful project this is. Mine is the Army one, because my husband has been in the SC National Guard almost 30 years.

Socks

Socks, Socks, Socks!! I love my knitted socks. They keep my feet warm and fuzzy. The red, blue and yellow are Lorane Laces. I won 1st place at the county fair back in October. The others are from Noro sock yarn. I havent washed or worn these yet. I have been told to soak and let the yarn full first. It has a little ruff feel to it. Currently on the needles are socks using Ragia, Kaffe Fassett. I love his colors. Also, just have to weave in the ends of a sweater I am making for a Christmas present. Cant say who for yet. Next will be a hat, maybe. Sock knitting is great for when I cant sit at the sewing machine.

Aiken Quilt Show

My quilt guild took a road trip the Thursday before Thanksgiving. We went to Aiken, SC, to their annual quilt show. They have a great museum in Aiken and the guild displaces quilts for most of the month of November. And it is free. The museum is great, too. Well worth the visit if you are ever in the area. Now the said part, I lost the pictures in my camera. DUMB DUMB, I hit the wrong button. I will try to do better next time. I doubt it. LOL.

Soap Making

I am so far behind on blogging. The quilting business has kept me very busy this past month. I am almost caught up, YEAH!! Then maybe I can do some of my own.

Here is a picture of the completed soap, from before Thanksgiving. We didnt add color, so it is rather plain. We are going to try some color soon. I forgot to take my camera when we were making the soap. This will make wonderful Christmas presents. I am making the little baskets to put the soap in. I am thinking this will be great.

Soap Making

Sandy and I made soap today. We started this back in March, making several batches. Then due to illness in her family we are just getting back into the soap. We need to get some made for Christmas presents. It will be wonderful for Christmas. We made a double batch of lavender and a single batch of orange. It will take about 2 weeks to cure. Then we are planning to make some cinnamom-orange and plain cinnamon. Very Christmasy.

Vicki

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Yesterday afternoon DH and I had a treat. We went to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It was wild. You have to like rock or you will not enjoy it. The Drummer did a solo that was out of this world. I felt like I had to hold my head on because of the vibrations. Sorry, no pictures. It was dark and lots of laser lite and strobe lites. This was a real treat for DH. When we were walking back to the car, he said Thank-you.

Snowman Class

Last time I told you about the snowman class that we had. Here are some pictures from class. The first one is my friends George Ann and Dottie. George Ann slipped over and took some of my fabric for her snowman. Just wait until I visit her next. HUMMM, what can I take. LOL

Then there I am, concentrating very hard, LOL. I was cutting out pieces of the snowman. Next are 2 pictured of the finished project. No, these are not mine. They belong to the teacher, Judy Heyward. I am doing the one with the green background. Now, I need to get to work or it will not be finished until next Christmas.

Snowman Class

Spent the day at a quilt class with great friends. We got a good start on a Snowman, by Judith Heyward. You can see her work at http://www.judithheyward.com/ Look under more classes to see the snowman. We made our back ground and I got as far as getting the Mom and Baby's heads and hats fused together. Once it is fused then appliqueing down will be the next step. This is a real nice wall hanging. Of course a picture will come when I get there. someday. LOL


I usually dont voice my political opinion, but I just have to today. I am soo glad the election is over. I think we should limit campaign time to 3 months before an election. That should be more than enough. I also think the candidates should have to clean up all their signs. What a mess they leave.


So much for that. Off to play with the dog. He has been along all day and needs to run in the yard.

Vicki

Quilt Car

Another treat a retreat was the QUILT CAR. There is a PT Cruiser under there somewhere. This was made by Jinny Grobusky, you can reach her at grobusky@yahoo.com, if you are interested in renting it. Please put quilt car in the subject line so she will not think you are spamming her. She was very gracious to give me permission to post her pictures on my blog. This is so cool.

Back from Retreat

Good morning. I am back from retreat. Really got back Sunday late. I was pooped. Rested up Monday and back to quilting yesterday. Had a wonderful time. Had a great class. Finished all but the borders on my quilt top. I used a jelly roll and a 5 inch charm pack, background and star fabric were separate. Here is a picture of mine. Every ones colors were different and beautiful. The pattern is called "This Could Be Your Grandma's Quilt". You can get the pattern from Anita Bowen at Beehive Quilting and Design, at ongrain@bellsouth.net. Just put the name of the quilt in the subject box.

We were issued a Challenge in March to create an Artful Bra, for breast cancer awareness. This is mine. My husband has been in the SC National Guard for almost 30 years. So, the name of my bra is, "For Those Who Serve", May they be Army Strong on the outside and Women on the inside. You cant really see the inside, but is is lined with red lace. I cant put picture of the others, but when they get the pictures on the QSC website I will post a link so you can see them. They were fun and funny. We had over 40. They are going to be available for display in SC to November 2009.

Vicki

Off to Quilt Retreat

Last nite Lynne Buske from Lexington SC came to the Starlight Quilters in Orangeburg. She presented a trunk show. It was wonderful. I have taken classes from her and seen alot of her quilts. But she has stuff I had not seen before. I was a quilt holder, so you know I got a close up view. Sooo much fun.


I am off to our annual quilt retreat, this weekend. "Our" is the Quilters of South Carolina, QSC. I am looking forward to seeing friend from all over the state. And of course sewing, sewing, and sewing. The food is always good. Thanks to WhiteOak Conference Center, run by the South Carolina Baptist Conv. Show and tell is fun. Pictures will follow when I get home, if my longarm doesnt die again. I hope I dont jinx it. LOL

sorry, no pictures this time.


Vicki

Trip to Brevard NC

On Oct. 11 & 12 DH and I went to visit our son at college in Brevard NC. He had been home the weekend before and need new tires on his truck, so he took my car back with and we went up to trade. I was glad to get my car back!! William, DS, works at the campus theater. He had to work Sat. and got us tickets to the show. East Villiage Opera Company, http://www.eastvillageoperacompany.com/ . They preformed different selections from opera's as Rock N Roll. I reconized some, which was good. The tennor was great. He sang in the original language of the opera. He was very expressive. Even DH enjoyed it. We got cultured. LOL

The next day William took us up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to see the follige. It was beautiful. Then we went to Dupont Forest to a waterfall. We had to walk a little, not much. This waterfall was in the movie "Last of the Mohicans". This was so cool. The pictures of Wayne at the signs is to prove he was there. He doesnt like driving in the mountains. Hates (not strong enough) the drop offs. Loves to walk thru them.

It was also our wedding anniversery. 23 years strong. Yes, he is a keeper.
So here are pictures.






Trip to Brevard NC 2008

Orangeburg County Fair

Our local quilt show is at our county fair each year. We take turns during the week sitting with the quilts to keep them safe. We also answer many questions. We usually take something to work on while we are there to show folks what we do. I have uploaded pictures to webshots and I am going to try to do a slideshow on here. We will see if I can do it. LOL


Orangebug County Fair 2008

I think I did it. Enjoy the pictures. I didnt get every quilt, battries ran out. Almost forgot. Wayne won a 1st place ribbon for a first time quilter at the fair. I am so proud of him. I won a 1st and 2nd place. Dont have pictures of those yet, because battries died.

Vicki

Old Tobbaco Road

My OTC is coming along. I am working on attaching the flying geese borders. Getting that small inter border has been hard, sence it didnt work out even like Bonnies. Here are pictures before I started the boarder.

Catching Up

Well, It has been a month sence I blogged. Life got away from me. I will TRY to do this in cronological order. I have been having trouble with my longarm. Just when I was trying to finish up customer quilts for our county fair. First was the brushes. I could not find the right size around here, so had to order. Took 4 days. Then finished that quilt. Started the next quilt and had skipped stitches only when I went left to right. Cleaned the tracks and wheels. Tried every thing I could think of. The called Gammill. The after discussing with Gerold, he decided that it was the cord for the stitch regulator. Order a new one, another 4 day wait. It worked!! Got the next quilt finished. Fair quits finished. Now had to catch up on others from longarm being down. Got several rows into the next pano and the machine DIED!! dead as a doornail. Checked all connections and found the fuse blow. At least I found fuses locally, at Advanced Auto, of all places. LOL. anyway, tried a new fuse, still blew fuse. Called Gammill back. Talked to Gerold and Kenny, the electrion, determind the mother board was bad. Another 4 day wait for the new (refurbished) one to come. Overnite shipping was $50.00, no way. Relpaced everything and had a wire that came loose. Had to wait until next day, called Kenny back, he told me where it hooked up and I was back in bussiness. Have done 3 large quilts with no problem. YEAH!! Anyway, when I took the old mother board off, it looked like oil had gotten on the back of it and this probably is what shorted it out. I am sending it back to Gammill for $25.00 credit. every little bit helps.

Old Tobbaco Road

I thought I had my OTC ready for the border. Layed it out on the floor Thursday nite after sewing for 3 hours. Stood back and found a 4 patch turned the wrong way. Then looked some more and found 5 of them turned the wrong way. So pinned each one, so I can find it. Had other stuff to do for a few days, then will have to fix this. I did get the goose part of my flying geese cut out. So it wasnt a total loss this weekend.


I had lunch with my Dad today. Tomorrow is his birthday. Happy birthday Dad. I love you. Had a good time today.

Then we were off to an Eagle Scout ceremony. DH is an assistant scout master and had to read a part. It was good to see the other parents there. Hadnt seen some in awhile.



No pictures to post tonite. Happy quilting


Vicki

Old Tobbaco Road

Time for an update. Here is a picture of my pinwheels. FINISHED!!! Yeah!! I sewed all afternoon Saturday and have half of step 4 finished. This is the 2nd picture. Boy those greens are brighter than I thought they would be. It is well known in my quilting circle that I can not make a pastel quilt. LOL. I think even if someone picked out the fabric for me, it would still end up with something brite. I just cant help myself. I think I will use the left overs to make the flying geese and maybe add some blue. I cant believe I havent put blue in here yet. This is very different for me, but I love the stretch.

Had to put this aside today so could work on customer quilts for out county fair in 3 weeks. I have 2 to go and need to finish the binding on mine. Sure would like to get another one of mine ready, but it is a king size and I cant see me getting the binding done that fast. I have to quilt it first. But I might try. Will post pictures after the judging, so wont tip anyone off.

Old Tobbaco Road

I have made my 4 patches for Old Tobbaco Road by Bonnie Hunter. Here is a picture of the fabric getting ready for strip piecing. Now they are cut and stacked at 2 patches, ready to sew again. Next are the finished 4 patches before ironing. DH is using the iron right now. Yes, he is making another quilt. Hush, I am not supposed to tell. I cant post any pictures or tell you about it until he is finished. SOOO, I have to hush.

The last picture of yellows will be my pinwheels for OTR. If you havent seen tobbaco growing, it starts bright green, gets a little darker and as it starts drying turns yellow, then to shades of browns or tobbaco color. My grandaddy smoked cigars, so I saw a lot of the tobbaco colors when I was growing up. I also had a chance, in the late 1970's, to see an auction house where tobbaco was sold. The bundles were beautiful golden bowns and the smell was wonderful. It is a shame it is so bad for our health.

Digging in my fabric had been fun. I am not going to buy any fabric for this quilt. The lites in the 4 patches were left over from the backs on some charity quilts I did. It worked out as just enough. The lights for the pinwheels will be a little more mixed up, which is more fun. But we work with what we have. There is not a quilt shop, fabric store, or Wal-mart that has fabric with in 45 miles of here. We make do. I do love scrap quilts.

Now what color am I going to make my bricks. Darker browns and maybe so mutted reds??? We will see.

Vicki

Mary Ethel's quilt

I found it. After posting about my friends quilt. I took a chair and sat in front of the book case. I have lots of books. LOL

I started my looking at only scrap quilt type of books. And on the 5th book, I found it. ON the cover no less. The book is "Scraps to You, Too" by Debbie Caffery. The book is all quilts using the birds in the air blocks. I forgot I had it, what fun. I called Mary Ethel and told her, she is so excited to be able to finish this quilt. I will post a picture when it is finished. I machine quilt for her, so I know I will see it again.

Thanks for all of your help.

Vicki

Mary Ethel's quilt

My Friend Mary Ethel found this quilt in a box in her sewing room. The blocks are put together, some of the block are put into rows. The pattern was not with the fabrics. The question is, Does anyone know what this pattern is?? She wants to finish it, but cant find the pattern to get the layout correct. If you know what is it please let me know. Thanks ahead of time.

Isnt this wonderful. What a great scrap quilt.

Rainy Day

After a very rainy day due to the edge of tropical storm Fay, I havent done any quilting. I have been very lazy. Should have sewed and sewed today. I stated that this would be a quilting and knitting blog. I havent posted any knitting yet. So here are pics of some socks I have made. I have 2 new pair, but havent taken pics yet. I am working on a Noro sockyarn pair now. And trying to knit a sweater for stepson for Christmas. Hopefully will get sweater done. Have the sleaves finished and working on the body now.

I hope all of our Fla and gulf coast friends stay dry. My niece and nephew are near Gainsville and are getting soaked.

Rachael's quilt

This is the quilt I made for Rachael. Let me tell you the story. Rachael just turned 8 in July. Back in April she asked me, "Ms Vicki, I understand you make things." I said yes, I do. Would you like me to make you something. She said yes, and I asked what. Rachael in a tiny voice said a blanket. I told her it would take a few months but I would work on it. Well I missed her birthday, because I didnt know when it was. We, DH,DS and myself too the quilt to her Wed. nite. She grinned from ear to ear. She is very shy, so no hugs, but a tiny thank you and she would not put it down. LOL. Her granddad wrapped it around her. It was sooo cute. And I left the camera home,booo. Made a pillow case from left overs, also.

I havent felt good all week. The dreaded sinus thing. Last nite I sewed crumb blocks. I made 30 blocks. WOW my crumb bag got smaller. YEAH. I really need to work on string now. I think I want to do the star Bonnie has on her web site. will be fun.

Grand Tetons

My son is a boy scout and will probably be one all his life. LOL. He loves it. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow. For you non scouters, this is where they get into the Indian lour and do larger service projects. This summer they had a very large service project. It was called Arrow Corp 5.

They had 5 locations around the country where they helped the forestry department. William went to Jackson Hole Wy. They made a new trail in the Grand Tetons. Their goal was 10 miles and they made 12 miles of trail. This was such a good trip for him.

Anyway, I know you are wonder what this has to do with quilting. While he was gone, my birthday came. He brought me a present back. FABRIC. 5 yards of the orange and 4 yards of the blue. I still cant believe it. He found a quilt store, Stitch 'n Time, and went in and bought me fabric all by him self. He did not ask for help, he said he just looked for something that was different from any he had seen at home. Good idea. By the way he is 20. What beautiful fabrics. I ask him what he wanted made from it. LOL. He wants and Indian Ribbon shirt from the blue. OK. not a problem. It only takes 3 yards for the shirt, so I get the left overs for my stash. Hope I get to use it on Bonnies next mystery quilt. I need suggestions on how to use the orange. I dont want to cut it up too much, it has such a beautiful scene on it.

What a wonderful birthday this year.

Vicki

Garret and Jacob get their quilts

Here are pictures of my nephews getting the quilts I made for them. They were sooooo excited.

The first 2 are Garret and the last 2 are Jacob. They both said, "How did you know what we liked." I told them quilters have ways of knowing. Kind of like Santa. What fun we had. The nieces were here also. Didnt get their picture this time. They already have quilts from me.