Guild Party

Here are pictures of our quilt guild Christmas blocks. Everyone makes one and we draw names for it. Barbara S. won this year. There is also a picture of my block. The white was supposed to be the background. I goofed. LOL. We decided that since there were 17 blocks, mine could be on the back as the label. No, I really did offer to remake it with the correct colors.

This next group are our President's blocks. Our president serves 2 years and we make blocks for her at the end of her term. Heather requested star blocks and provided the background. I got this on right. Mine is the 2nd row from the left and the 2nd block. A star in a star. Kind of hard to see it. They were all beautiful.

Vicki

Tree

The tree is up and the stockings are hung. Yeah!!! Here is a close up of some of my decorations. The knitted bells were made by my mother, years ago. I rescued these when she passed away. The balls are Styrofoam covered with strips of fabric. My son and I made these about 7 years ago. It was fun to do together. The Tree is a little fuzzy, sorry, I cant keep my hands steady. Never have been able to. The tree skirt is a giant Dahlia from Marty Mitchell's pattern.

Vicki

Carolina Christmas Mystery

I have been working on Bonnie Hunters Thanksgiving mystery. She used greens, reds, gold and tans. I didnt have many greens, and was not going to buy any, so I changed it to blues. I love it. At first I thought it was going to be too busy, but it is just right. Leave it to Bonnie, she gets it right. I still have to do the border. Bonnie made a pieced border, but I might do a plain border. I will think about it. Maybe a narrow of gold and then red?? I sure dont know tonite. LOL.

MERRY CHRISTMAS,

Vicki

Two Weeks

Wow!! I havent blogged in 2 weeks. I finished all my customer quilts last Wed. and have been busy finishing up Christmas presents. Made 6 placemats today. Cut out more pillowcases. Paid bills, ulck!. Just about finished. Moved stereo around. Washed clothes.

I started Bonnie Hunters Holiday mystery, Carolina Christmas. Been plugging along with it when I need a break. Not sure how I am going to put it together.

Wayne got me a wonderful Christmas present. An Accuquilt Studio cutter. Like the Go, but bigger. Cuts 10 layers. We played with it with some scraps. Fun, Fun. made some flying geese and hour glass blocks and they went together perfect. I am going to really like this tool. I think Wayne will, too. After Christmas I am going make up some kits for myself. Use up that fabric. LOL.

Going to get my new glasses tomorrow. I really need them. It has been 3 years sence the last eye exam. They couldnt do the hour thing because the machine was broked, so I have to make another trip to Columbia, but I can add some shopping time to that. LOL

Let me tell you what happened last Sat. I went to People, Placed and Quilts, in Summerville, SC, with friends. It was their Christmas sale. Got some good deals. Anyway, this voice said, " I know that voice'" I turned around and there was my college roommate. She lives in Colorado now. The last time I saw her had to be 6 or 7 years ago at the same shop. She and her family were home visiting for a week. It was great to see Pam and catch up a little. I was riding with others or it would have been a longer catchup time.

I am tired tonite so will say goodnite, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Vicki

Give Away

Drum Roll. Time for the drawing for the 100th blog post. The winner is........... Kim from New York. Yeah for Kim.

thank you all for participating I had several folk contact me privately to add their names and I did.

happy quilting

Vicki

ARTFULL BRAS

The Bras are up for bid on EBAY. All proceeds go to "The Best Chance Network", to help women that cant afford to get mammograms and other female cancer help. Please bid and by your favorite. They will be up for 9 days. Go to:



http://www.quiltersofsc.org/

There is a link taking you to the EBay auction.Also you can order a book of the bras.Thanks so much, tell all your friends.

Vicki

100th Blog Give Away

This is it. Blog 100. Hard to believe. Sorry it has taken me a few weeks to get here. Been real busy getting customer quilts ready for Christmas. 2 t-shirt quilt to do from scratch and I will be finished. YEAH!!! Then to my projects for Christmas presents for the family. Journal covers, pillow cases and more pillowcases. What can I say. Then after Christmas I get to quilt on my own quilts. YEAH!! I know I have 5 or 6 tops to finish.

Anyway I bet you are wondering what I am going to give away. I have been wondering the same thing. LOL. Ok, here it is a fabric basket with a bakers dozen of fat quarters. Here are the rules. Leave a commit on this message, make sure it has your e-mail, so I can contact you when you win. I will wait 1 week, that means next Friday, I will draw the winning name.

Happy Quilting,

Vicki

GO TIGERS, CLEMSON

Give Away

This is post 99, so keep watching for the post 100 give away.

Happy Quilting,

Vicki

Dolls Dolls Dolls

My friend Kathy Houser makes Dolls, not dolls, but Dolls. She was published in a Doll magazine, cant remember the name, last year. Kathy has been teaching Doll making at our Quilters of SC retreat for a few years. I havent taken the class yet, but plan to in the future. I have her permission to post some pictures of her Dolls, so I can share with you. You can find out more about Kathy's Dolls on her blog, http://uniquepersonalities.blogspot.com/

Happy Quilting Vicki

Sissors pouch

My scissor pouch wore out. I had holes in it. I use this to hold small scissors for trimming threads while quilting on the longarm. I also keep tape measure and marker in it. It has lasted me at least 4 years. Finally a hole too big to keep everything in. So, tonite I made a new one. This is and Eleanor Burns pattern from long time ago. I updated the fabric and WOW look what I have. Maybe I wont loose my scissors tomorrow. LOL I love the wacky little grimlins on the new fabric.

You know, I am getting close to 100 posts. Hummm. What can I do??? I am thinking give away. Maybe a pouch??? We will see. Watch and see what I can come up with. Sometimes I am slow posting, so dont give up on me.

Happy Quilting

Vicki

Retreat Class

I previously told you about Pieceable Retreat. I finished my quilt top. YEAH!! Here is a picture. I added an extra row and and extra boarder. It looks good. Now to quilt it. Will have to wait until I get customers quilts caught up. Probably after Christmas. I may have to make this again. Thanks to Nancy Miller for the wonder Mystery Quilt class.

happy quilting

Vicki

SC State Fair

This past Wednesday I worked at the SC State Fair. Well, kind of. A group of us from Quilters of South Carolina took sewing with us and did a demo day at the fair. We had lots of folks stopping to visit. Everyone, esp. men were entranced with my feather weight machine. I love it too. I made to children's tops for our local guilds charity. I used Bonnie Hunters Streak of Sunshine. I didnt get too many pictures of the quilts. They were hung folded over, as you can see in this picture. The middle quilt is my husbands first quilt. He is quite proud of him self. It is king size and he came up with a pattern from his head and pieced it and quilted it on my longarm, all by himself. Except for a little coaching from me. But, I did no sewing or cutting on it, Just instructions.

The other excitement was watching the elephant get a bath. She looked like she was enjoying it soooo much.

Happy Quilting

Vicki

Heart Quilts, new challenge

At our QSC spring meeting, Sandra, issued a new challenge. make a Heart Quilt. The idea is women's heart health. A charity is being considered to benefit this challenge. Several booking for displaying the quilts have already been made. 63 quilts were turned in at retreat last Friday. And more are coming in. Here is a picture of mine. I it is titled "fractured heart" . One is a little fuzzy. For some reason I got 2 pictures on here and cant get one off, so you get a double delight. LOL When our web diva gets caught up she will post pictures on the QSC website.

I got the idea from some of the Loopy Ladies quilt bee in Brampton, Ont, Canada. I met these ladies in July on our trip to Canada. They were wonderful and welcoming to this southern gal.

Happy Quilting, Vicki

ARTFULL BRAS

Last year at retreat, our President, Sandra Baker, challenged everyone to decorate a bra for breast cancer awareness. WELL, little did she know what would happen. This has exploded all over the world, thanks to the Internet. Other groups have made bras as fun raiser. Sandra was contacted by Kansas City Star Books about making a book out of these. Well, it came about. The name of the book is, "Artful Bras, Hooters, Melons and Boobs, Oh My! "

My bra is on page 28.

These will be available thru Quilters of South Carolina at

http://www.quiltersofsc.org/ Or from Pickledish.com

The QSC website will have a button to order and pay thru pay pal. As soon as our web diva cant get this going. We would like for you to order from us, more goes to our charity. No middle man.

All profit are going to the BEST CHANCE NETWORK. This is to help women who cant afford to have yearly mammograms or female checkups.

Vicki

Pieceable Retreat

Just had to show a picture from retreat that had nothing to do with sewing. Quilters of SC have our annual retreat at White Oak conference center in Winnsboro SC. This is a Baptist conference center. It is real nice there. They had done some remodeling and up dating. I didnt get pictures of everything, but they added a nice TV area with theater style chairs, a cafe for stacks and several sitting areas. These space age chairs make me think of Star Trek. They were fun. they just hang by a chain and swing.

Happy quilting, Vicki

Strip Stars

Remember the strip pieces star I started back in Sept. ? I have all the star blocks finished. Just have to add sashing and boarders. I got side tracked with retreat and quilting for others. I did get one unusual block. Can you guess what I did wrong?? yes, I make mistakes!!!

I will tell you later what I did.

Happy quilting, Vicki

Pieceable Retreat

This year at retreat I took a Mystery Quilt class. Had no idea what I was getting into. LOL. I had lots of fun and we all tried to guess what the mystery was and we were all wrong. The teacher, Nancy Miller, had fun laughing with us as we tried to figure this out. Every one's fabrics were so different and fun. It was amazing how all the quilts turned out. Everyone had great fabric choices. I chose to do the lap quilt size, but I think I will add another row or two to make this a twin size. Dont ya just love it. LOL

happy qulting, Vicki

Anniversary

Today is our anniversary!!!! 24 years!!!! yeah!!! doenst sound like much, but it is for us. We are just being lazy today.

It is raining, another Yeah!! We need the rain very much here.

I am pooped from quilt retreat this past weekend. So will post pictures later.

happy quilting, Vicki

Not Much

Not much going on here. I finished piecing the string star blocks. Still need to square up and put the sashing on , then a braided boarder. I am going to love this quilt. Need to take a picture for ya'll.

Have customer quilts to work on, so My stuff gets put to the back of the line. I know my customers love to here that.

It finally feels like Fall in the air, YEAH. We have pine straw every where. Want any?? come and get it. LOL

happy quilting
Vicki

Strip Stars

Just to let you all know. I went with the yellow background on the stip stars. It is looking great. Six of the 12 are put together. I think I will sash with the yellow, to float the stars, and a braided boarder. what a great quilt this will be.

happy quilting,

Vicki

Strip Stars

I have been working on strip piecing diamonds to make stars. I have enough for 12 stars. Now, to pick a background. I have tried navy, dusty blue, dark green. Then I thought it needs to be light. At my quilt group today I was telling them about it and as I said maybe yellow one of the other ladies said yellow at the same time. She also told me I had no choice, but to listen to her. LOL it was fun. So, here is a lay out on yellow. I think I like it. What do you think???

Happy quilting,

Vicki

Vacation

It has been fun sharing our vacation with you. We had a great time. Saw sights we had never seen before. We had never been that far north. We went to Canada, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. One day I would like to go back to Maine in the off season.

I have to tell you. We got searched going into Canada. We had nothing to hide, so it was interesting. We had to empty our pockets, they went thru my purse, and all of the luggage. A dog was walked by the car. I think they profiled Wayne. What do you think??? He does look kind of ruff.

New Hampshire

Driving thru New Hampshire we stopped at a rest area on the interstate. The suprise was, right next to the STATE SAFETY REST AREA was the STATE LIQUOR STORE!!!! What a shock for this good ol' southern gal. How do they handle drinking and driving????

Thousand Islands

Did you ever wonder where Thousand Island salad dressing came from. Well the Thousand Islands of course. We took a boat tour on Lake Onterio, thru the Thousand Islands. The tour guide told the story of the area about the houses and islands. Wish I could remember all of them.

Here are pictures of 2 of them.

The shorted bridge between two countries. The US on the right and Canada on the left.

Drum and Fife

Driving along the St Laurence River we saw what we thought was a reenactment at an old fort. It turned out to be a drum and fife corp. We stop and sat in the grass with others and enjoyed the music and marching.

Canada War Museum

We visited the Canada War Museum. It was very well done. I didnt realize that the US invaded Canada during the War of 1812. Remember they were still British. Well, another one of those places where you cant take pictures. They did have a cardboard tank where children could paint a small piece and have it placed on the tank. This was for an exhibit about camouflage. This was a great idea. If all tanks looked like this maybe we would have peace instead of war.

Canada

After leaving Niagara, we went to Camilla's home in Brampton. This is just above Toronto. We spent 2 nites with her and Norm. This was a great, relaxed visit. We visited Camilla's new warehouse. She runs a warehousing business called G'Day. They warehouse truck parts to places in Canada. Being as DH just retired from the national guard as a wheeled vehicle mechanic, He new what the parts were and had fun walking through the warehouse.



Monday nite Camilla's small group met at her house. They are called the Loopy Ladies. They were wonderful women and made me feel very welcome. Two of the ladies had just gotten back from quilt camp. Their teacher was John Willard. He teaches Spontaneous Geometrics. A kind of fractured quilt. You start with a square and slash it into 2 uneven pieces, sew a strip in, not evening up anything. then square it up, add a boarder and do it again. And keep going. You can read about him here.



http://bqguild.wordpress.com/2009/03/05/john-willard/



After that we went to Heather and Bill's cottage on the lake at Havelock, On.

Niagara Falls

Next stop was Niagara Falls, Canada. First we had to cross the boarder into Canada. We had our passports. They asked lots of questions and then asked us to pull over for an inspection. WOW!! We had to empty our pockets. They searched my pocketbook, our luggage, dirty clothes bag and the car. Also a dog was walked by very slyly. We think DH was profiled. Sense he retired from the SCNG he as let his hair and beard grow out. I mean, no cutting at all. He has dark skin and looked ????? Anyway, we weren't hiding anything so it was ok with us.



Niagara was great. We did the Maid of the Mist, Behind the Falls, and the walk down by the rapids. We walked through the botanical gardens. The weather was wonderful. Cool.



There were all kinds of people there. A very international look.

Click here to see pictures
http://travel.webshots.com/slideshow/574262694hafPbY

Nashville AQS

We have been on vacation. We started with a visit to our son in Brevard, NC, where he is in college. He is a senior this year. YEAH!!! Next we went to Nashville to the AQS quilt show. I am not supposed to post pictures, according to AQS, so sorry no picts here. Had a good time and ran into lots of friends. Several had quilts in the show, Anitia Bowen, Vicki Perry, Pat Kerko. Congratulations to all that had quilts entered.

Funky Flowers

I just love these flowers. The are made from the fans from automobiles. What a cool idea. There are several in front of Cootie Browns in Johnson City Tenn. Cootie Browns is a restaurant. My favorite place to eat when we got quilt shopping in Johnson City. I have to see if DH will make me some. I might could keep these alive. I dont garden or do yard work. I kill plants, even ivy. LOL

Pat's Quilt

GA's mountain quilt group is always fun to visit. They are such an inspiration to me. Here are some pictures of my last visit. These are from an Antique quilt Pat, a member of the group, found that one of her family members had made on solid black satin, with solid black sashing and boarders. The small group decided to reproduce the quilt. Jo's top is the light background and GA's is the black blocks. Others are working on theirs. They are turning out wonderfully. All hand appliqued. I think the blocks or 8 or 9 inches. It is a very striking quilt.

Quilt blocks on Barns

In

NC and Tennessee folks are putting quilt blocks on their barns. Business are getting into it also. So on my latest trip to the mountains, I started taking pictures of the blocks. It will be fun to see how many I can collect.

The top picture is from my friend Dot's Barn.

The underneath is Needle Me This quilt shop in Burnsville, NC. with GA poising.

The last one we saw on the way to town and I got a picture.

There were lots more that I didnt get pictures of. So, if you are traveling, look for the quilt blocks on the barns.

Lightning

Got my computer back from the lightning strike. Had to replace the Ethernet connection. Here is a picture of the tree that got hit. The tree is too tall to get the whole thing, but this is a good section. It is like this from top to bottom. It is about 20 yards from my front door. It threw bark and tree wood at least 50 yards. I found some in my neighbors yard across the street.

We had another bad thunderstorm late this afternoon and it was very close and scary.

LIGHTNING

Last Friday we had lighting strike a pine tree in the front yard. I am sure the tree is dead. It has streak marks from the top to the bottom and out into the ground about 4 feet. Scared me and Patch near to death. I just had the ac fixed that morning after the repairman had been out for 3 days. The ac is ok as is most every thing else. I lost one cordless phone, the ans machine and the modem for the computer. Replaced the roadrunner modem and cord, but apparently the problem is the internal modem. Computer works, just cant get on the Internet with it. SOO, I am using a 2001 laptop that has been sitting for 3 years. It works, but slow. The cd part doesnt work, so I cant add pictures or programs to it. but I can talk to the outside world a little. I will post a picture when I get the desk top back from the computer shop.

In the mean time I went to the Mountains for 4 days. It was wonderful. COOL the high was 78. We slept with the windows open. Wonderful trip. Monday,We went to Johnsonville Tn shopping to Somewhere Sewing. They have about 8000 bolts, I think. A great shop. Then to Jonesboro to shop at Tennesee Quilts. also a great shop. And we found a Wal-Mart with fabric in Elizabethton. Found lots for $2/yard. If you live there check it out.

Tuesday we visited my friends mountain quilt group it Erwin Tn. Had a wonderful time with show and tell and visiting with everyone. They always refresh me and I want to start new projects. LOL

Wed. We met another friend in Burnsville NC and shopped at Needle me This. It was Just in the McCalls 10 favorite quilt shops. A nice shop. FUN day. We had to detour around work on the train tracks several times, so was quite an adventure.

Back home to clean up my sewing room so I can get back to work quilting.

Have a happy 4th of July

Vicki

HOT!!!!

It is hot here. My AC is acting up. This is the 2nd day the repairmen have been here and they cant find out what is wrong. It runs but doesnt cool below 75%, which isnt bad, but it runs 24/7.
My power bill was doubled last month and the doubled again this month. Almost $400.... ouch!!!! HELP!!!!!!!

Stay cool, Vicki

Confetti Log Cabin

Here is another board try for the CLC. I like this one better. I have tried about 4 different ones. Cleaning out my closet as I go. LOL

What to do you think??

Quilt on

Vicki

Confetti Log Cabin

Finally a quilt. This is from Quiltmaker, March/April 07. It has been sitting on my sewing table that long waiting for me. I have finished the top and now need to add borders. All of these 2 1/2 inch squares came from an army shoe box I have had for a while. It is like rabbits, it just multiplies like mad. It is a mock log cabin. I the original pattern the background fabric was all the same. But in mine I made the background scrappy. Much more fun for me. I want to quilt feathers in the light spaces.

Now for the big question..... What to border it with? I have been searching my closet for the right border. It has to come from the closet, as all the rest did. Anyway, I found this stripe I like, maybe. Here are two pictures, what do you think?? So you like this fabric? Should the stripe go up and down or sideways?? It needs and inter border, what color?? Lots of questions. Thanks for your ideas.

While looking for boarder fabrics I worked on cleaning out my closet. Anything less than a half yard got cut up into Bonnie Hunter strips and some squares for a project. I only got the blues and reds done, so there maybe something else in there that will work also. But the weekend is over and I have quilting for others to do. I dont have many 2 inch squares or strips, so this is a good start. I need some for Bonnie's Christmas mystery and another quilt pattern on the table waiting for fabrics.

thank goodness for spell check, You dont have to see my horrible spelling.

Happy quilting,

Vicki

Turtle and Fox

This is the back of a t-shirt that I appliqued for a scout friend. Kristie does volunteer work at our local council and this summer at camp. Kristie has a damaged leg and walks very slow. So the scouts have nicknamed her turtle. Our Order of the Arrow lodge mascot is the fox. And Kristie's OA name means fox, so we have a fox being sly in a turtle shell. LOL

She told me what she wanted and I went home and came up with this. She loved it. And I am sooo glad. The fabrics came out of my closed and were perfect. Gosh, I got more talent than I thought. LOL

Rag Rug

I have wanted to make a rag rug for a long time. I finally took a class at People, Places and Quilts in Summerville, SC. I found out how to prepare my scrap fabric and was re introduced to crochet. Which I havent dont in years. Here is my 1st ball of scraps. It is bigger that a softball but not as big as a soccer ball. I dont know how much fabric it is because it is scraps. A great way to use up those long sides from the backing of quilt. Nice and long.

And here is my 1st rug. It is not finished. It is 23 in by 13 inches. I have another ball about the same size to add to it. That should make a nice size by the back sliding glass door. Where no one wipes their feet, including Patch the Wonder Dog.

Boy Scout Camp

I just spent 5 days at Camp Barstow, the Boy Scout Camp for the Midlands of SC. The Indian Waters Council for you scouters out there. My DEAR husband volunteered me to embroidery the staff's names on their staff t-shirts. ( He is working up there teaching rifle shooting. ) Then called me and told me, you said you would sew for scouts for free. I said yes, for our troop! I sew patches and hem pants. Even repaired tents one time. But this was a MAJOR under taking. 45 staff members with 5 shirts apiece and one had 7 shirts, so that was 227 shirts!! WOW. I took my Viking D1 with me to camp, set up on a table and sewed for 4 days. I had prepared the names on a floppy before I went, so I didnt need the computer. I am pooped. I have nightmares of bright yellow t-shirts floating around the room.

A picture with be forth coming. They are going to take the staff picture in these shirts and give me a copy.

Anyway, I am home. Pooped, but home. It is quite, yeah!!! I will get tired of that in a few days. LOL. I have quilting to catch up on from being gone, so will be busy this week.

Take care and have fun quilting,

Vicki

Patch the Wonder Dog

Update on Patch. He is doing good with his diabetes. He had a little problem over the weekend. I think he chased the basketball too much and over worked himself. We will have to limit ball time to help him out. He pushes around a ball with his nose like a soccer ball. We did have a soccer ball, but he got his teeth into it and you know the rest. I bought the cheapest basketball and he loves it. The is the 2nd one. DH ran over one with the lawn mower. It was a sad day. The first picture is on the way home from the summer hair cut. COOLING IT MAN!!