Beginnings and Endings

Happy New Year! 

I know it's still just New Year's Eve Day (Both an eve and a day!  It's a miracle...those of you who watch the TV show Bones should catch that....),  but Happy New Years anyway.  Good bye and good riddance to 2014 and hello 2015.

I don't make New Year resolutions.  I stopped doing that a long time ago.  I make New Year Suggestions.  Suggestions sounds a lot less stressful than resolutions.  Some of these are universal.  I want to eat more healthy.  I want to lose a few pounds.  I want to be kinder to people and less judgmental.

As a quilter, I want to clean out my sewing area and organize it.  And keep it that way.  

You may stop laughing at me now.  I really want to do this.  Really.  Especially if I ever get my new quilt studio finished. 

I absolutely don't need to find any additional new patterns that I just have to have. There is a two page spread sheet taped to my refrigerator  completely full of projects I want to do before my children put me in the home for old quilters.  So this year I have strongly suggested to myself that I will not add to that list.  I need to finish some tops and get some flimsies quilted. 

Seriously.

As 2014 is waning, the end of this year has also found be giving up a position that I have loved for the past three years:  President of the High Point Quilt Guild.

The guild held its first meeting the second Thursday of January 2012.  I knew there was interest out there for a guild in my area.  Greensboro had two guilds.  High Point had one during the 1980's but it disbanded years ago.  I told myself that I would be happy if we had 15 people show up.

We had 35 ladies present and were nearly sitting on each other's lap in the tiny community room we had rented.  They elected me president that night. 

Those women and men (we have two male members) have become some of the most awesome friends I've ever had.  Our guild grew from those 35 charter members to 60 in three years.  It has been an honor and a privilege to be their president.

At the December meeting, I inducted Angie Peele as the new president.  Angie is wonderful person, full of great ideas, and is so organized.  She's participated in the Guild's Round Robin with me and I can tell you from experience, she also quilts beautifully.  Her piecing is perfect. 

After that, I was going to sit down, but they weren't through with me yet.  The guild gave me this...

A little bit of background would help here.  Our guild's logo is the Friendship Star and its color is purple.  The purple thing is very convenient for me since one of my two favorite colors is purple (the other is pink).  So this purple Friendship Star quilt is just awesome. Lots of folks contributed to the construction of the quilt and Shelle Mancl and Linda Hudgins quilted it.

Judy Poteat did all the machine applique on the letters.

Another guild member, Liz Simmons, made me a wonderful bag to keep my quilt in until I can put a sleeve on it and hang it.

Linda then generously contributed more machine embroidery to the bag:

I was just so taken back at the moment, I couldn't talk.  I don't even remember what I said to thank all those wonderful guild members.  And I simply cannot believe that they did all of this right under my nose without me knowing a thing about it!  I can't believe that I never accidentally got an email, overheard a conversation, or saw "contraband" be passed right under my nose.  Nancy Blanchard said she handed off her block to Lisa Wagner when I was standing right beside of her.

I gotta be Captain Oblivious.

It wasn't until I got home and spread the quilt out that I realized something very important. 

The quilt was signed.

Every. Guild. Member. Signed. A. Block.

And that was when I cried.

These folks have no idea what they mean to me and how much I appreciate them. 

So next week when the guild meets, I have no agenda to write up, I don't have to be there early to set up, I don't have to make announcements. I don't even have to stay after to clean up if I don't want to.

I'm just a "regular" guild member.  No more Thursday evenings devoted to guild work.

It's going to be kind of nice.  I want to fully support our new president, who I know is going to do a fantastic job.  I will continue to handle the retreats and trips, but other than that, I've been given some space to find my new "niche" in the guild.

And that is kind of nice, too.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas Here....

So the tree arrived last Tuesday.  I am an avid fan and customer of Backyard Produce and I can pre-order my Christmas tree from them in November.  The first week of December it arrives at my door ready to drag in the house and set up in the stand.

This is a wonderful service to all married women who like me, has a husband that would rather go for his yearly physical than be dragged all over town looking for that perfect tree.  And yes, I've gone the route of purchasing an artificial tree and trying to get him to participate in putting the tree up.

Again, I will refer you to the yearly physical exam thing.

Wednesday we had the grand darlings over and they helped decorate the tree.  The oldest "E" is almost two which means the ornaments were on the tree, not past my knee level.  It took some persuading (because we all know how cooperative almost two year-olds are), to move some to the back and to the top of the tree.

But fun was had by all. Especially the adults who had hot chocolate and Baileys....

 The kids had cup cakes....

 This last Christmas ornament was made by a wonderful friend of mine, Joann Cloer.  She's in my Tuesday night Sit and Sew and in the High Point Guild.  It has a special place near the top of my tree. 

It's a busy time of year, and I am helping out quite a bit with my guild's 2015 Raffle Quilt.  We're using Sue Garmon's pattern, Ruffled Roses -- with her permission and blessing.  Between that and just the busy-ness that comes this time of year, not a whole lot of quilting is going my way.  I am getting woefully behind! 


But I have plans for 2015.  I will "pass the baton" of guild presidency to Angie Peele.  Being president was a job that I loved with all my heart and truly gave it everything I had, but it seriously eats into your quilting time!  Traditionally, Thursday nights were the evenings I gave to the bee that I lead and guild work.  And sometimes guild work took a little time everyday of the week if we had something big on the calendar.  I jokingly called it my "second full time job."  Some weeks it was, but I can honestly say it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  And the baton is being passed to one of the most capable and organized women I know.  Not to mention that Angie is wonderful quilter.  Her work is simply beautiful and positively perfect. 

With some more free time on my calendar, I hope to get some good pictures of my antique quilts and post those for discussion. 

I also hope to wrap up At Piece with Time.

I also am designing my own quilt for a future Quilt Along. This was on my bucket list.

So...until next week, don't get so busy in the holiday rush that you forget the Reason for the season.

Love and Stitches,

Sherri

It's All About the Journey...

I admire quilters that can piece and quilt quickly.  It's a state of quilt Nirvana I have yet to reach.  My sewing machine rarely makes it past medium speed.  And since I also have to  quilt on a domestic machine (if I'm doing it myself), that also takes more time than I would like to admit. 

Some quilters I know are just so...talented.  It all seems to go so quickly and effortlessly for them.  Others just have more time than I do. 

And others need very little sleep. 

I am not one of an of those quilters.  I need sleep.  I don't have a lot of time to spend at the machine -- at least not as much as I want to have.  That coupled with the fact that 99 percent of  what I makes generally has some kind of handwork involved...I just not as fast as I want to be.

Couple that with the fact that I tend to gravitate towards large projects....

But sometimes there are tiny, nuggets of jewels that find their way into those large projects...

And this brings me to Dear Jane.

I began my journey with Jane a several years ago.  This is a major effort for any quilter.  It's well over 100 tiny, 4.5 by 4.5 squares that are intricate.  Most of them are paper pieced.  Quite a few are traditionally pieced.  Some are appliqued. 

A few of these blocks are a pain in the neck.  You can generally tell which ones are going to be this type.  Last week, I honestly thought the block was going to drive me up a wall, not because it was complicated, but because there were so many steps.  You cut blocks out, cut them on the diagonal.  Sewed them back together.  Cut them out again and applique them into a circle. 

I'm talking about block L-13.  I am so close to getting the center square finished that I'm champing at the bit to complete it and anything right now that even looks like it's going to slow me down tends to set my teeth on edge.  And I was so afraid that this block would be "one of those blocks."

However, like a lot of things I've done in quilting,  I was pleasantly surprised.  It went together quickly.  It appliqued easily...and I love the way it looks.

Now I am on the last row of Jane.  Thankfully, most of these blocks are paper pieced.  One will have to be mirrored.  Two are definitely challenges.  Then I will move on to those wonderful "kites" that border this quilt.  When I'm through, I will have three years of my life invested in this sucker.

Have I learned a lot?

Heck, yes!  How to paper piece better, set in tiny pieces without breaking out in hives, and the graceful art of realizing that finished is better than perfect (most of time time). 

Would I do it again?

Yes.  And I plan to that very thing.  Most quilters that do one Jane generally will do another one.  It truly is all about the journey with this quilt and not the destination.  My next Jane will be done in Batiks and I will only do the blocks I love.  I will enlarge them to at least 8 inches (finished) and will not do the kites on the border, but design one of my own.

Every quilt I make teaches me something....flexibility, a new technique, how to push myself out of my comfort zone, how to muster the determination to finish a complex issue.  Quilting is all about the journey of getting to the finish line.  Don't get me wrong, I love to finish projects and need to finish more of them.  But in the rush to get things done, I would be horribly ignorant if I missed the lessons the journey is trying to teach me.

Enjoy the journey....while your eyes are on the finish line.

Love and Stitches...
Sherri

Always Something New....

I am probably one of the most focused individuals you will ever meet.  I keep "to do" lists for everyday of the week so I can make sure I get everything done.  I've always been that way -- ever since I was in high school. 

I am focused.

At times, I am intensely focused

Exxccceeeppptttt when it comes to quilting.  Then I have the attention span of a two-year old. And believe me, I know two year-olds...I have a granddaughter that age.

If it's a pretty fabric, I buy it.  At least four yards of it.  I don't care if I don't have a plan for it.  At some point I will have a plan for it.  For right now, it simply needs to go home with me.  And if I have a stressful day, I will go into my sewing room and "pet" it.  That relieves tension. 

Trust me.

If it's a gadget or a ruler I don't have and feel like I need, it's in my cart (on line or at a brick-and-mortar store) faster than a New York minute.  It. Is. Mine.  I want it.  Do I need it?  I didn't ask that question.

And patterns.  Despite the fact that I have a handy-dandy-knock-your-socks-off-it's-so-impressive spreadsheet on my projects, I will not hesitate (not for a second) to add to that list and buy another pattern.  I admit, at 53, my list is ambitious, but I figure now is the time to make the purchases...

Before I get too old and my children take my debit card away before they put me in the home for old quilters.

So this week, I did my part to spur on the economy and support my local quilt shop and small quilting businesses. 

First I purchased these through a good friend at the quilt retreat.

They're patterns and stamps by Cindy Blackberg.  She's a big hand-piecer.  I've hand quilted but never hand pieced.  The patterns come with stamps.

You use the stamps to mark your fabric instead of templates.  According to my friend, Karen, all this stamping and cutting and hand piecing is very relaxing. 

I'm willing to give it a try.  I'm making the Star Garden first.   It's the pattern on the right.

Then I bought this pattern from Dragonfly Quilt Shop.

 

Patty Grubb has two versions of this quilt at her shop.  One is with a dark background, similar to the pattern, and the other is with a light yellow background.  Both quilts are stunning and the applique can easily and accurately be done via machine.  It's 74" x 74".  I will add a solid inside order and then use the rail border on the outside to enlarge it just a bit to go on a queen-size bed.  And I think I will go with a lighter background than the darker one. 

 

 

The best purchase I made this week is from Barnett Hoops.  Please visit their website and their Facebook page.  Their hoops are for handquilters, but they make so much more than hoops.  They have a terrific applique stand that I will purchase in the future and then they have several versions of caddies.  I purchased their small handquilting caddie.  Each one is hand made, so it may take several weeks to receive it once you place your order

 

What I absolutely love about these caddies are the details...like the little knobs to hold your thimbles....

And the small magnet to hold your needles and the square space to nest your Thread Heaven.

It's so easy to slide your thread through the Thread Heaven before you thread your needle.

Again, it is so important to support your local quilt shops and small quilt businesses and designers.  We do not quilt in isolation.  It's in these small shops and on-line businesses that we can ask questions and get help and even more than that, find a fellowship of like-minded, obsessed folks.  Don't take them for granted.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I'm not sure if I will have a blog up or not.  We did my family's Thanksgiving last night.  On Thanksgiving Day, my children will go to their respective in-laws.  So it will be Bill and me and Sam with some turkey and dressing.  I may take the week off....I haven't decided yet.  So if I'm not here next week, have a wonderful thankful Thanksgiving!

Love and Stitches!

Sherri



At Piece with Time -- Diamond Star

What a block...

More set in seams and different cutting directions....

This is a challenging block, but the pieces are bigger in this one, so the set-in seams do go together a little easier.  Re-read my blog on Tulips and Ivy to go over the basics of these Y-seams if you're a little foggy on them. 

First of all, there are a lot of biased edges on this block, so handle carefully and starch liberally. 

Second, on section C under the Cutting Recipe, I found that cutting the blocks 4-inches worked better than 3 1/2-inches. 

Cutting the diamond strips are very similar to the to the way that we did in Tulips and Ivy.  But this time you cut one strip at a time and you don't fold them wrong sides together.  And this time you use the 45-degree line on your ruler rather than the 60-degree line.

Cut away the first section and discard.

Measure 2 1/2-inches from the new end and mark.  Line up your ruler again along the edge of the strip and use the 45-degree line as your base and cut the first diamond.

 

Continue in this manner until you have four diamonds of one color and four diamonds of an opposite color. As you're cutting, makes sure the two sets of diamonds are going opposite directions, as shown below. 

 The rest of the square goes together pretty easily.  Just follow the directions in the book At Piece with Time.  One of the things that may through you, is this step.  When you get to the point where you're working with the first set of Y-seams, that inserted triangle is going to stick out a little above the diamonds.  And that is fine.  It needs to  and you will see why as you construct the rest of the block.

This is the finished block.  You can see now why those insert triangles had to go a little above the diamonds.  If they had been even with them, the points would be cut off as the rest of the quilt is constructed.



Next week we will focus on the large setting triangle for the final time before beginning work on the center medallion.

 

Until then, love and stitches...

 

Sherri



Dear Jane Update

I've been working on my Dear Jane quilt for a couple of years now.  There are some weeks I can get a couple of blocks done and then there are other weeks that one block takes so long that I'm just lucky to get one done.

I got a little behind on her this summer.  There were weddings and reunions and just a lot of events going on and so some weeks Jane and I were not on speaking terms.  I did make up for it at the quilt retreat last month.  I got these done...

I'm showing these for a  couple of reason...first of all they're harder than they look.  I worked on a couple of more this weekend and the last block of At Piece at Time.  This must have been the week for pain-in-the-tookus blocks because they all were harder than I anticipated and took three times as long and I thought they would. 

I'll be posting the last block in At Piece with Time later this week. 

Love and Stitches...

Sherri

Quilt Retreat!

First of all, let's get business out of the way.  Here's my finished Broken Star block.

 

And here's a close up of the applique.  I really like the way I fussy cut the center of the flower.

Easy-peasy block.  It's hard to believe that we have one more regular block before we begin construction on the medallion center.  If you haven't started working on the applique in the setting triangles, now would be a really, really good time to start...

Just sayin'.

The 2014 "Drop Everything and Just Quilt" Retreat was fantastic!  Four days of quilting and fellowship and laughter with about 25 women from my guild.  No phone, no housework, and no cooking.  I could have spent two weeks there.  We have our annual retreat at Haw River State Park in Brown Summit, NC.  The park has lodging and prepares the meals.  The staff there is simply wonderful.  If you live close to the park and have never visited, do yourself a big favor and make a visit. They have great walking and hiking trails, cabins, a pretty lake, and it's just quiet and serene.

But let's get back to the real attraction...quilting.

I'm going to take it a picture at a time and describe what's going on.

This wasn't made at the retreat.  It's the center medallion for the 2015 High Point Quilt Guild Raffle Quilt.  Joanne Embry machine appliqued it.  I can't wait for you to see the completed quilt!  Janet Wells brought it so we all could have a look at it.

The park gives us The Grove Auditorium to sew in....Large room, lots of light

 One of these will be my next purchase...a collapsible wagon which is wonderful to transport all your quilting supplies, and I imagine would be pretty  good to transport grandkids in, too.

 Becki Bostick finished this quilt top....

 Shelle Mancl did this one....Most of our quilters have an issue about showing their faces in photos. 

 I absolutely love, love, love this little quilt by Linda Hudgins.  So funny...

 Judy Poteat made this cute Christmas tree wall hanging. 

 No one -- no one -- can beat Linda in turning out projects.  She works so quickly.  She's redoing her sunroom and this is the tablerunner she made.

 And this is the matching table topper.

 Shelle Mancle finished this top.  It came from a Round Robin.

 Karen Tooley made several baby quilts at the retreat. This in one of them

 I can't remember who did this -- no pun intended.

 Janet Wells did this table runner.  There were lots of Christmas project this year.

 I love this quilt that Linda made. Linda has a "to die for" embroidery machine. Each square or rectangle on this quilt is embroidered.  It is breath-taking.

 Frankie Drake and Marty Smith did two quilts out of some cross stitch pieces from a friend's mother and the father's shirts.  Such a wonderful way to remember someone!

 Okay, Lisa Wagner has got to be the coolest quilter around.  She did a Tardis quilt for her daughter.  If you don't know what Tardis is, go directly to the Dr. Who website and be informed.

 This is a charity quilt that Kelly Healy made.  She does such beautiful piecing.  So far our guild has made over 200 charity quilts for the Hayworth Cancer Center at High Point Regional Hospital.  Not too bad for a guild that has been existence since 2012.

 Another baby quilt from Karen.

 Another stunning embroidery quilt from Linda. 

 This is a baby quilt that I made.  I did make more than one project at the retreat, but this is the only one I have a picture of.  And no, I'm not up for grandmother-hood again.  A friend of mine is expecting a baby and this is for her.

 Stunning purple snowman table runner from Wanda Jantz.  The snowmen were done on her embroidery machine.  I gotta get me one of those....

Cindi Sullivan and Wanda Wellborn worked on these paper pieced Christmas trees.

 

Here's another one of Marti's and Frankie's memory quilts.

You know, our guild's members really need to get over hiding behind your quilt work.

Really.

Trust me on this.  I think this is Michelle Sower's Bertie's March Block.  Several of us are doing Bertie's Year.  It's wool on flannel and piecing.  And that is a whole 'nother blog with a whole 'nother set of issues.

I don't know who is hiding behind this quilt, but it's a quilt for the cancer center. 

Wanda made a cloth book for soon-to-arrive great grandson.

This is another one of Linda's quilts.  No embroidery on this one, but the pictures are from a panel and then she did the neat log cabin type of blocks to set them.

Judy Poteat made this intricate table runner out of snowman snowflakes.  How neat is that?

Another quilt from Linda!  She makes me feel so slow...this is the Umbrella Girls. They're kind of a precursor to Sunbonnet Sue.

And one more from Linda.  All the reindeer have her grandkids names on them.  And the little one has her great grandchild's name on it.  So very, very sweet.

This little project from Joy Cole is deceiving.  It's the absolutely neatest bag I've ever seen.  It's got tons of pockets and sheets that you can store tons of quilting and applique supplies.  It's quilted and piped and has zippers and vinyl sheeting and took about a day and a half to make. 

I want one so bad....

I have ordered the Craftsy Class.  Just gotta order the supplies and find the time.

Wanda made this cute Thanksgiving paper-pieced wall hanging...

And Linda made this sewing machine wall hanging.  I have the pattern....that's the first step.

Shelle made this baby quilt for her soon-to-arrive granddaughter.

And Joy made this table runner.

Kelly had this quilt top.  I love the colors!  I said it before and I'll say it again. Kelly does lovely pieced work.

Becki Bostic made this flag quilt.  Doesn't it look like it's waving in the wind?  She did such a wonderful job.

Wanda made this beautiful purple and green quilt.  I love the colors and that border fabric is so pretty!

Janet Wells made this table topper.  Love the curves.

Every year the powers that be choose what is called the Pantone Color of the Year.  This year the color was orchid -- the purple in this quilt.  Kelly challenged herself to make a quilt with this color. 

I think it's absolutely stunning.  The border fabric ties everything together so well and again...her piecing is gorgeous.

Wendy Clagg made this cute fall wall hanging.

And Lisa Angel made this miniature quilt out of teeny tiny tumblers.  I don't think I have that kind of patience.

And me?  Well, it's difficult to take pictures of your own work while your holding it up for everyone to see.  I finished eight Dear Jane Blocks, two quilt tops, some applique work on different projects and started my squares for the 2015 raffle quilt.

If you ever have a chance to take a quilting cruise, trip, or attend a retreat, do yourself a favor and do so.  It's refreshing and recharging to get away with a group of quilters.  I came back rested and my creativity was renewed. 

Aaannnnd I had a ton of fun.  Just always remember the rule of quilt retreat...

"What happens at quilt retreat....stays at quilt retreat....."

Love and Stitches,

Sherri