Pillowcases for Sandy Hook Elementary

There is a quilt shop collecting pillowcases for the Sandy Hook Elementary kids that survived the shooting.  I was making some for Christmas presents, so I just made 5 more.  Mailed today, they want to distribute the on 12-27.  It is the least I could do, beside prayer.

Merry Christmas, Vicki

Found Puppy

Isnt he cute??  Wayne went to go hunting about 2 weeks ago.  He left the house about 3pm.  I didnt expect to see him until dark:30.  He was back in about 10 min. with a little black wiggly puppy.  Someone had dumped this puppy off at the entrance to our subdivision.  He was so cute and playful.  Probably about 6 or 7 weeks old.  Well our dogs Old Scruffy (Patch) and Ranger didnt like him at all.  They growled at him.  Ranger snapped at him several times and then other times he was scared of the puppy. We kept him on the back porch and yard most of the time.  We have a doggie door for our dogs. To beat all, our dogs would not go out the doggie door with the puppy out there.  So, I had to take them out the front. We tried to find out if he belonged to anyone around here and he didnt belong to anyone.  After 5 days of trying to find him a home, we finally did.  He is such a happy puppy, I wish we could have kept him.

Speaking of dog things, Patch fell asleep under the Christmas tree a few nites ago.  First time this has happened.  He will be 13 years old on Jan 2.  He has diabetes, cataracts and cant here very well.  He still gets around good as long as we dont move the furniture around.  He still loves to run outside, but it is hard for him to play because he cant see the ball anymore.

Now for me, I cut out a bunch of pillow cases today, now to sew them up.  Some are Christmas presants, and some are for the kids at Sandy Hook Elem. School.  I need to get those in the mail tomorrow, so I better get sewing.

Happy Quilting and a Merry Christmas, Vicki

Eye Candy

How about a few pictures of a few quilts I have quilted recently!  Wow that is too many fews, lol.  First is Mary Ethel's "Mexican Star", quilted with an all over design.

Next, above is Verity's black, white and green.  I really do like this quilt.  Very simple, but striking.  And to the left is Verity's Roll Roll Cotton Bole, pattern by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com.  All of these quilts were fun to quilt.  I have done more, but forgot to take pictures.  I have got to get back into the habit of taking pictures.

This is Robins quilt.  I quilted a leaf border in the outer border and a leaf pano that matched inside the quilt.  Looked great.  This was a group project.  Everyone in the guild made a block and we drew names for the blocks.  Robin won this one.  We do several a year and if you have won once you cant win again until everyone gets a chance.  I won one 2 years ago come this spring.  I really need to do something with it.  Maybe soon.  And yes, that bright orange on the bottom is really that bright!

Happy Quitling and Merry Christmas, Vicki

Been a While

It has been awhile.  JULY!!  wow, I didnt realize it had been that long.  I have been healing and quilting. Along with the healing, my heart is doing good.  But, I also have sleep apnea and have a cpap machine, PINK, no less, LOL.  Sleeping a little better now.

 I upgraded my longarm quilter to a computerized one, Statler.  Took me awhile to learn how to use it.  Now I am purring right along.  A friend emailed me because I havent been posting.  I really got lazy about it.  And I havent been taking pictures like I should.  I have got to get back to that.

 We moved the longarm upstairs to our son's room.  Took most of the furniture out and stacked in the spare room.  Well, he is back home for a short while, so he is living in the spare room, with his bed leaning against the wall.  He is looking for a place to live in the Columbia SC area, then all of his furniture goes with him.  And maybe our couch, probably.  This is a good thing.

Here is a picture for you.  This is the design wall,  my project from quilt retreat from Oct.  Now, I am trying to decide how to do the borders.  The pattern called for plain borders, but the teacher had added borders that carried the design into the border and came together.  Problem is, it is hard to get these to match up. So, when I get tired of fighting it, I will add the plain borders, I am sure.  I really like this quilt.


Happy quilting,
Vicki

Quilting

Back to quilting.  I had 6 quilt for one customer.  A lady I used to quilt for passed away and her husband sent me the rest of her quilts to quilt.  A friend is going to add the binding.  This was a pleasure to do for him.   I love the 2nd one, made of all the left over blocks.  Great quilt.

Watermelon Festival

Ok, I know the Watermelon Festival was 2 weeks ago.  I am just running behind posting pic.  The theme this year was honoring the Koren War Vets.  My Dad was in Korea.  He rode in a jeep at the front of the parade.  Dad is the one on the passenger side of the jeep.  The driver is a man from Charleston that has several restored jeeps.  Not sure who that is in the back.  So proud of my Dad.

Another truck from the parade.  It had a float caring other Koren Vets.  Wayne said this is a 5 ton.  He should know.

Here is the Watermelon Moble.  I think it is a dragster??  But was funny.  My brother said he would get it for his son's first car, NOT!!  LOL

My sister and her daughter came for the day and we had a good time with Dad.

Spring into Summer QSC retreat

Got back from the 1st Spring into Summer QSC retreat.  This was a bring your own project retreat.  We started after 3pm Sunday and finished up Wed. at lunch.  There were 30 of us at White Oak Conference Center near Winnsboro SC.  My project was to make a new quilt for William. It looks American Indian, as it is supposed to. William went to Jackson Hole, Wy on a Scout trip.  He was gone over my birthday.  He found a quilt shop and bought me fabric.  He bought 4 yrds of the blue and 5 yrds of the orange.  So, I am using them in his quilt.  What do you think???  Wonderful if I must say so myself. LOL  Others at retreat said I need to show this quilt before I give it away.  Still have to quilt it and then I will decide.  William may want it first, so will be up to him also.  This took most of my time to piece.

Next are pictures of others at retreat.

Me and Verity

Here is Harry Sue making rugs.  She made 3.  See the basket, it was full of strips sewn together.  Crazy lady, but had 3 wonderful rugs at the end.                                    

Monday nite we watched a video about Quilts of Valor.  It had Alex Anderson, Mark Lipinski, and Eleanor Burns coached 3 non-quilters making quilts.  Then at then end the now new quilters presented their quilts to vets.  What a great show.

Tuesday nite we had smores out by the fire pit.  Forgot to take my camera out, but fun was had by all. 

We all said we would like to do this again next year, so keep your fingers crossed.  If you are a QSC member, let your board members know you are interested.

Winding Ways

Winding Ways quilt for my brothers daughter.  Lexi graduated from high school last week.  This is her graduation present.  Her favorite color is teal, so I gathered teals for about 2 years.  This quilt has about 17 different teals in it.  The back has horses on it.  She used to have a horse and is going to vet school.  So, perfect quilt for her.  Look for the circles the pattern makes, that is the charm of this pattern.  You may have to squint a little.

Scraps to treasures

Remember all of the strips and scraps from the last post?  Well here is the results, yea!  The top picture is half square triangles that will finish 3 inches.  These will be pinwheel for a quilt I am working on .  I may have to cut more lights, but will wait to see.  There are hundreds of these things.  More than I will need for this project, I am sure.  The under picture is tumbling blocks.  Mostly small ones, but some big ones, too.  I am planning kids quilts for our QSC project.  We are making kids quilts for the Children's Miracle Hospitals here in SC,  there are 4.  What fun quilts these will make.

There are more scraps to cut up, but they are in the NEED to iron bag.  So, saved for another day.  I will probably make them different size HSTs.  We will see when I get there.

Tomorrow, back to longarming.

Happy Quilting,
Vicki

Jewel Box

This is Sarah's quilt.  She saw me making one 2 years ago and liked it so much she had to make one too.  She used scraps, like I did.  Finished and the binding is on.  It will go to a grandson getting married in June.  I am sure it will be a happy quilt for them.  Sorry it isnt very bright, all this rain keeps me from taking pictures outside and inside they come out looking a little yellow.  I think it is those new florescent light bulbs.  ULCK!!

10 Bags like this of scraps, yes that is alot!!  It has taken several years to collect.  There is also a bigger bag and I just found some more, OH  MY!!!

Anyway here is what most of them look like now.  The top picture is 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, 3 inch strips.  These have gone into their respective boxes.  There were some found squares, too.  These went into their baskets.  You know the strawberry baskets, they are great for the squares.

This second picture is the 4 inch strips. Half of   these are being cut into half square triangles for a scrappy quilt I am working on.  The other half will be cut into the small tumbling blocks.  I am using my Accucut to cut these.  It is really great and fast.  I be I have 300 half squares already cut.  That pile is almost gone.  Will post a picture when finished.

 Flowers for Mothers Day.  Yes, I am almost a week late, what is new. LOL at me.  The red roses are from my wonderful husband.  He takes such good care of me.  He doesnt like cut flowers because they dont last, but he got them anyway.  Only the 2nd time.  They are about gone now.

The second ones are from my dear step-son, Tyson. Such a treat.  He has done flowers before.  But this year he came home overnite for Mothers Day.  Then our son, William, got to come home Sunday nite for 2 days.  That was totally unexpected.  He had to work, but they got finished up early.  My Dad and Step-mom came for lunch, so we had a great day together.  Family is wonderful.

Last is me and the fur babies.  This is the morning scratch.  They have to have it.  Lovely PJ's , LOL. Ranger in on the left and Patch the right.  You just have to love them.

Well that is a lot to catch up on, so I am going to end for the nite.  Got to get some rest. Off to longarm group in Columbia in the morning.  Looking foward to seeing everyone.



Happy Quilting,

Vicki

Mothers Day

Happy mothers day to all" no pictures yet. But I did get flowers, yea.... Hope it is a good one foe you,too. Happy quilting, Vicki

I am Quilting again!

I am back to quilting.  The heart attack made me take a few weeks off.  The doctor said I can go back to my normal activities.  Yea!!!.  So, last week I made and quilted a T-shirt quilt for a customer.  It turned out good.  Notice on the 2nd row, 3rd spot is her cheerleader uniform.  She was a tiny girl.  I took the top apart and added blue fabric to the neck, arms and bottom.  Worked good.  Mom was very happy.

Now for some pictures from before HA (heart attack).  This is Fran's do your own thing quilt.  Actually it is from a book about making your own rules. Think the name is "Breaking the Rules".  She carried it even further than the book.  Fran has only been quilting for a short while and she said this is her favorite quilt.  She did a great job.  I loved quilting it.  The back is solid lime green.  It really is not as bright in person.  The camera really zapped it.  I do love the stripe she used.  Got to find some.

Next are a few kids quilts.  First one is a split 9 patch.  I used a bright allover cat design.  Left over from something else.  I just love this quilt.  It will go to my Orangeburg Quilters Guild charity.  We do quilts for kids for the Disabilities and Needs Board.  They are so loved.

This one is for QSC Kids Quilts.  It will go to a Children's Miracle Network hospitals here in SC,  there are four.  We collected over 80 quilts at our spring meeting in March.  We will be collecting more at our fall retreat.  The hope is to get every member to make just one.  That would be over 600.   Can you imagine. Some of the gals made several, one even made 10.  What a wonder treat for kids that are sick.

This next picture is from my class at QSC spring meeting with Gyleen Fitzgerald.  (click on her name for a link to her website) This is a pineapple block without paper piecing.  All of the blocks will have the green centers.  I have over 50 blocks almost finished.  only one more round for each block.  This has been a fun project to work on while resting from the heart attack.

Now, the other class I took from Gyleen.  This is called Seven Sisters.  This is the first block I made.  I used some hand died fabric, that I did dye, for the alternate color of each star.  The the print is in each star, with the black as the background.  Now, if you look at the next picture you will see that the print takes over and the stars become the black and alternate color.  What a shock that was for me.  Can wait to get more stars made.  But have to finish the pineapple first.  No new UFO's, LOL!!  This class taught how to make a Y seam with out inserting it.  Really easy, once you figure it out.  The hard part was putting the stars together.

Ok, one more picture.  My fur babies.  The one on the right is Patch.  He is 12 years old.  The one on the left is Ranger and he is 2 years old.  Patch is all Yorkie.  Ranger is supposed to be Yorkie, but there is something else in there.  He has very long legs and his ears dont stand up. Plus he has and underbight.  But we love him anyway.  Ranger likes to chase squirrels and he caught one about 2 weeks ago.  Yes, the poor squirrel is gone, but Ranger gave him up to DH when asked.  It was no fun when he couldnt chase it anymore.

Happy Quilting to everyone,

Vicki

  This quilt is made from 2 1/2 inch strips, like a 1600 jelly roll quilt.  I used up scraps and made a wonderful quilt.  Sorry it is a little fuzzy.

Heart Attack!!

Yes, I had a heart attack!!  this is my story:

I went to the emergency room Sunday nite around midnight with chest pain.

I was admitted. Monday after around 5 pm I had a mild heart attach (didnt
feel mild to me) while in the hospital, thank goodness. After that the Dr
here had me moved to Providence in Columbia, I arrived by ambulance around
10 pm. Tuesday around noon they did a heart cath and found 1 blockage, put
a stint in to repair it. It was 90 % blocked.

so, I am back at home. no driving for 2 days and light duty until I see the
cardiologist again. I am feeling find, thou a little tire. Some of the
quilts will have to wait an extra week, but that will be ok.

I knew my Dad and granddad had a heart history, but found out that my Dad's
mom did to. So, I should have been much more aware of my own health. Let
this be a warning to all of us. The symptoms were not like a mans. I
thought it was a strain.  Let this help you be aware of your health!!


I am overwhelm at the outreach from by quilting friends. Thanks so much for
thinking of me.

Happy Quilitng, Vicki

Wordless Wednesday

Or, what's on the design wall??  you know I had to get a word in....

Happy Quilting, Vicki

Big Suprise

Here I am with my award winning quilt.  Yes, I did say award winning.  I enter the "Omigosh" quilt in the Cobblestone Quilt show, in Charleston SC.  And I won a blue ribbon.  That is 1st place in the category of bed quilts.  Then I found out I was a very close 2nd in viewers choice.  Talk about surprises.... I really was.  If this quilt looks familiar, that is because it is my header picture.  And I have posted about making.  You know I have lost a lot of weight and you can really tell it in this picture.  I was surprised, again.

This is the quilt that beat me for viewers choice.  You cant see the quilting in the picture, but it was good. 

This is a baby quilt I made for one of DH former co-workers.  He has all girls and finially has a grandson.  He is so happy.  The wide fabric has buge and thing on it and the smaller fabric is camo.  Camo worked out good because he works for the SC National Guard.  The back has deer on it for the deer hunting I am sure they will do together.

I have caught up a little more.  I have more for you, but a little at a time is all I can do right not.

Happy Quilting, Vicki

PS: remember this Sat, March 17 is National Quilt Day

I Disappeared Again!

Well,  I disappeared again.  I am finished with Quilters of South Carolina Spring Meeting registration.  YEA!!  Just a few tiny things left to do.  Spring Meeting is on March 24.  Hope to see ya there.

Then, I got the cold from H**L!  DH had it while I was at Joyce Greer's quilt camp.  Well he started with it before I left.  Of course, I got it after I got home.  One week of misery.  At the end I sneezed for 2 days.  I mean hard multiple sneezes.  You know the kind that makes your ribs hurt. Benedrill was the only thing that saved me, but I slept for 2 days.  Well, I am over that and I feel better than I have in a long time.  All that sleep was great.

Now time for some pictures to catch up on posting.  This is Mary's star that she was working on.  It is made with half square triangles.  She was auditioning more fabrics.  I do like it.

Helen's project.  Her own design.  She ran out of purple fabric for the border, so it will be added at home.  This is really a neat quilt.  Made from Jelly Roll, too.

Mystery, Mystery.....  Beth Karr had a mystery quilt for every one at camp.  I didn't do it because I had something else that really needed done..tell you about that in a minute. This is a nice quilt.  You can make 6 blocks and have a lap or baby quilt. Or make all 12 and have a full size quilt.  It is on my to do list.

Mary and Rhoada,  I am not sure which Rhoda this is, so if I spelled the name wrong, please forgive me.  Rhoada and Rhoda are twins.  The love shop hops, FARTS (fabric acquisition trips) and a little wine.

Wow, that was a lot.  So, I am retiring for the evening.  I will post more later.  Oops, almost forgot.  I was going to show you what I worked on at quilt camp.  TAAA DAAA here it is with the proud new papa.  This is my nephew and it will be my snl and bnl's first grandchild.  This is their youngest son, age 37.  So, everyone is happy.  And they live around the corner from us.  Yea!!.  As you can tell this is Austins quilt.  I cut most of the using my Accuquilt cutting system.  Used the letter die to make the name.  Well worth it.  ( I did use a go die for the letters with and adapter for the big cutter.  worked great)

So, now it crash time.  Sleep well.

Happy Quilting,

Vicki