Spool

Yesterday morning I left home with two friends, headed to Chattanooga to meet up with another friend for the AQS Quilt Show. Our first stop just HAD to be Spool-home of the BadAss Quilter's Society. Maddie was in the house and we had a blast shopping and laughing. If you've never been to Spool and you are near Chattanooga, you really need to go. Of course, we had to take a picture with Maddie to earmark the  occasion. Here we are.....

Anne, Pam, me, Judy and Maddie

2015 Swap Blocks-August

Here are our August swap blocks. Anne did three with dark centers this month, Karen did an extra light block, and Pam did two extra blocks. My four are the bottom row. 

Only three more months. I guess I better hurry up and get last year's blocks sewn up!! 

Happy Birthday, Annie!

Today is Anne's birthday. Pam and I can't be with our BFF, so we have mailed her a "small gift" this year.

Last year Pam suggested that for our birthdays we send each other quilt blocks. I agreed and so for Anne's birthday we each sent her 12 green and cream quilt blocks in "Annie's Choice" pattern. For Pam's birthday, Anne mailed Pam blocks made of Japanese Diawabo fabrics. (My arm was in a cast and I wasn't doing any sewing or quilting at the time.) I don't think either of them has put those fabrics into a quilt top yet. I told the two of them that if they gave me another UFO for my birthday I might scream!! So, they blessed me with this beautiful old quilt.

I think we have now decided that the gift of quilt blocks may not be the best idea for us! We all have so many projects going on already that we don't need another one thrown in the batch.

Pam and I are both "into" mini quilts right now. So we thought it would be fun to make Anne a few for her birthday. We bought a wire frame that holds three mini quilts and we decided to make her the quilts to hang on it.

Pam came for a quick visit in early May and we went to work on these. We giggled like school girls as we designed and stitched.

It's really fun to see what you can shrink down and make in 6 X 10". It's addictive!

We paper-pieced these 15 little 2" log cabins--there are 255 pieces in this tiny quilt! It was SO fun to see it come together!

Happy Birthday, Annie!! We hope you enjoy your little gift. Love and quilty hugs from Pam and Marcia. 

2015 Swap Blocks-May Blocks

All of my May blocks have arrived from our swap. I am loving them more each month and can't wait until we have them all together, ready for assembly! 

This month Pam made three lights and one dark, so she is right back on track! I have to really watch myself, because I will be the next one to do this! I know these things, because I have already cut the strips that surround the center block 1/2" too short on, not ONE, but FOUR, blocks already!! Thank goodness I was able to still use them, because I could hide my mistake under the corner triangle. Shhh.....don't tell anyone!!

May all your mistakes be happy ones :)

2015 Block Swap-April Blocks

I got out my fabrics the other day to start making my May swap blocks to mail in June and realized that I never posted my April blocks. Bad Grammy :(

Anne, Karen and Pam are wonderful swap partners. Their blocks are always beautiful and arrive on time--or early! Pam realized after she put these in the mail that she had made three blocks with dark centers and one with a light center (bottom row). She is rectifying that next month by making three with light centers. I have to admit that I am more attracted to the blocks with dark centers, too and have caught myself wanting to make all four that way!!

I mailed mine out to everyone else on time, but left my own sitting for a couple weeks before I finished stitching them. Probably another reason I forgot to post a picture. :) Here is a picture with all of our April blocks. 

Half Square Triangle Mini Quilt

While cutting and trimming on my 2015 swap blocks I have been saving ALL my scraps. My imagination has been working overtime thinking about what I am going to make with all my leftover pieces. I love the mini bowtie quilt I made recently and I want to make more to hang on my wire display with it. Small bits of fabric left over after you  cut for blocks or little triangle tidbits you cut off of corners are perfect scraps for mini quilts. 

As I was trimming the corner triangles on my swap blocks, this little pile on my cutting table got bigger and bigger. And tiny little bits can add up to cute quilts!

I sewed  several  triangles together and trimmed them to 1 1/2" squares. They were so adorable!! I'm not used to working with such tiny pieces of fabric, but this is fun and very addictive!

When I got four of them made I just HAD to sew them into a four-patch! It's official--I am "hooked on minis!"

I sent a picture to Pam (since it's all her "fault" I made the bowtie quilt) and asked if she happened to be saving her triangles from our swap blocks too. Seconds later this photo was texted back to me! I was not surprised in the least. :)

Pam and I have decided to trade triangles since we are using different fabrics for our blocks. It will give us more variety when we sew them all together. This will be my mini project I work on along side the block swap this year. 

Happy quilting! 

Grammy

2015 Block Swap-March Blocks

I was way past due getting my swap blocks finished and in the mail this month. (BAD GIRL!!) I didn't even have a good excuse, like- "I broke my arm" or "I was out of town". Nope, I just didn't get them done. I had them cut out weeks ahead of time....but life happens and I don't always get to my quilt room to sew as often as I would like. 

Anyway....they are done and everyone should have gotten them in their mailbox by now. Everyone's blocks were beautiful again this month.

These are mine. I went with a two color theme to each of them this month. I didn't mix it up much. I have decided to use lighter lights for the next few months. I think my blocks are a little too "muddy". 

Here are Anne's, Karen's and Pam's blocks. Karen made five this month. We each need to make two extra blocks for our swap, in addition to the four we are making each month, so she decided that this was the month she was going to make an extra block with a dark center. Karen is always ahead of the game. Way to go, Karen!!

We now have 33 blocks for our quilts. We're getting there!! This is another fun swap.

Happy quilting!

Grammy

2015 Block Swap

My friends and I have a wonderful time doing block swaps and since we don't live near each other it is a fun way for us to stay in touch every month. We decided to start this swap in February and mailed our first blocks on March first. 

Anne picked our block swap quilt for this year. She spied the pattern at the Charlotte Quilt Show last July. It's called Reminisce and was designed by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. You can order the pattern here. 

We are going to be making 4 blocks for each person each month because this 72X84" quilt has 168 6" blocks! We will be swapping blocks until December. We keep thinking if we make enough scrap quilts with our Civil War fabric that we will use up our stashes.....but it doesn't seem to be working! That's okay-we love them all! 

These are my blocks for our first month swap. 

These are the blocks that I received from Pam, Anne, and Karen. I think we are off to a great start! 

Happy quilting,

Grammy

Guest Speakers

Last Fall my friend Pam asked Anne and me to come visit her in January and join her at her quilt guild meeting. She wanted the three of us to give the program on Round Robin quilts. Since the we have participated in five round robins together, we had plenty of quilts to show and ideas to share with Pam's guild. This was going to be fun!

I got out all my round robins. Only one was finished! A second one was 75% quilted and the other three were tops. I had to finish up as many of my Round Robins as possible in the time allowed. But I had a cast on my arm at the time and the holidays ahead of me. This was going to be a challenge. 

We had a great time at Pam's quilt guild. They seemed to really enjoy our presentation, had lots of questions, and even took pictures of us. We had a great time too. Maybe we should take our show on the road. ;)

Pam is showing her Amish Stars quilt. It was our first Round Robin.

We also talked about the difference in a Round Robin and a block swap. We showed Anne's chicken quilt at the end of our talk. It's a block swap the three of us did years ago using chicken patterns and dozens of chicken fabrics. It's always a hit! 

Happy Quilting!

Grammy

The Cat's Meow

In 2003 I participated in another Round Robin. We decided to "go small" that year and make 4" blocks. Our theme blocks could be any size or theme that we wanted, but everyone would be adding four 4" blocks for the quilt.

I had been collecting indigo fabrics for several years. In case you are not familiar with them, they are absolutely yummy fabrics, but are difficult to find. Whenever I have attended a quilt show where there was a vendor selling them, I have just had to buy a few. By now my collection was growing and it was time to use them.

My collection of Indigos

True indigo fabrics (called Shweshwe in Africa) are acid discharged prints on cotton fabric using copper plates. The fabrics are manufactured by the DaGama Textile Company of South Africa and their most popular export lines are Three Leopards and Three Cats.  When you buy indigo fabric is VERY stiff and the color will actually rub off on your hands. Before you can use it in your quilt, you must first zig-zag or serge the edges to keep it from fraying, then wash the fabrics in cold water with Orvus Soap (or other non-phosphate free detergent). After a cold water rinse, test your fabric by rubbing it on a white cloth to see if it is still fading. Repeat the rinsing if it is. Using Retayne in the rinse cycle will help set the color. Be sure to shake out your fabrics before placing them in the dryer. When they come out, they are going to be soft and wonderful!!

The Three Cats logo

The Three Leopards logo

Though they do not make as many prints, 

you can also buy them in red

I decided on a sampler style quilt, with each block different. It was going to be perfect made from my indigos and paired with shirtings!! 

My four blocks were a Star, Flying Dutchman, 

Bowtie and Snail's Trail.

I made my blocks, wrote about my vision for my quilt in my journal and put it in the mail. For this round robin I included my indigos since they are a special fabric not available at your local quilt shop. I was so excited-I couldn't wait to get my quilt blocks back!!

My friends did not disappoint! The blocks were beautiful-just as intricate and detailed as any Dear Jane block. Most were paper pieced and they had each put their name on the paper so I knew who made each one. I laid them out and sewed them together with a narrow sashing. I then added a small border. 

Then I put it away.......for a REALLY.....LONG.....TIME..........

And out of sight was out of mind. Every now and then I got it out and looked at it, but just wasn't in the mood to quilt it. I couldn't think of anyway to quilt it except in the ditch.

Fast forward to Fall, 2014 when Pam told me that her quilt guild wanted Anne and me to come speak with her at their January meeting about Round Robins. Well, now the pressure was on! How many of these Round Robins that I had laying around could I get finished before I went to Pam's?

The time had come to bite the bullet and quilt this bad boy. Still no inspiration came to me, so I quilted it in the ditch. Though the quilting doesn't show I think it's all it needs right now. It's finally finished and I'm so happy to finally have it done!

Happy Quilting! 

Grammy

Folk Art Friends

Long, long ago in a town far, far away.........

I feel like that is how this blog post should start because my oldest UFO is now officially FINISHED!!!

In the Fall of 2000 I started a Round Robin with eight quilting friends that I met at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Six of us had done round robins the year before and had a great time. Now nine of us were going to participate. Our biggest challenge this time around was going to be the fact that we had all moved and were spread all over the US and one was even now living in Korea! So these round robins were going to be mailed every month and they were going to be doing some extensive traveling.

After much discussion, we decided that we wanted to do a wallhanging size quilt with a planned "puzzle" layout. One of the ladies in our group drew a diagram with dimensions for each block and assigned each block a month. Before we began, we each got the rules for our round robin and this drawing in the mail. 

You have to forgive my picture because I wrote on my paper to make it easier for me to remember whose quilt I was going to be working on each month. Our theme blocks were the 12X12 that are marked "Sept". We were to mail our blocks the end of that month.

The theme for my quilt was Folk Art Friends. I had never done any applique and it shows! This is VERY primitive-my blanket stitch is every size imaginable! The flower head was originally appliqued down too, but when I was quilting it in 2008 or so and I sprayed the top with water to remove my blue marking lines, the red floss that I used bled on my quilt! I removed the offending floss and after many attempts to get the red all out, I was so distraught that I put the quilt aside and didn't finish quilting it. When I went back recently to finish the quilting I decided to leave the flower unstitched as a reminder of what had happened. There is still a hint of pink in this block, but I finally decided that finished is better than perfect and I got over it.

I wrote in a journal to pass with my quilt and made a label for everyone to sign. 

So, month by month, as my quilt was passed from one person to another and each added a block to my quilt, I was busy working on blocks for theirs. 

In October we were supposed to use 3 3X9" rectangles as our background. I loved Pam's birdhouse hanging on the branch and her cat in front of a harvest moon. 

In November, the block was only 5X9" and Sue added a really cute log cabin. 

For December the block was a horizontal 4X12. Jan made this adorable angel-look at the stars at the tips of her hair! So much attention to detail!

January had our blocks turned on point and 14" square. I loved this Amish-inspired man and woman Judy made. 

For February, Pam D. used a flannel for a row of flowers in her 5X14" space. 

Beth made baskets in the 4 6" blocks for March. Look at the cute jute handles she appliqued on! 

April was a TALL skinny block 4X28 and Bev put a potted flower there. Just perfect for that space!

The last month was May and it was the biggest challenge for everyone. There was so much measuring and figuring-and curved piecing! Anne did a beautiful job with my flannel crow!! This crowning piece is 30X7!

We got together for a fun reunion and were all thrilled to get our quilts back!! The themes were so much fun and I had enjoyed working on everyone else's quilts all year too. Snowmen, Halloween, Primitive, Chickens, "Seedtime and Harvest", Flowers, Alaska, and "Home is Where the Army Sends You" were the other quilts. They are turned out fantastic and I wish I had pictures of them to share with you, too. 

I picked a fun backing fabric that I thought went well with my theme and I love the label on the back of my quilt. 

I'm so happy to finally have this quilt in the finished column so I can check that block!

Happy Quilting!

Grammy

Carson's Courtyard

In January, 2013 I posted about a block swap I was doing with five friends. The pattern is from the Summer 2012 issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and is called Carson's Courtyard. 

This is the picture from the magazine. It's made in much darker colors. We made our blocks in 1930s reproductions fabrics and I love the way they came out. 

I had so many blocks that I decided to make two throw quilts out of my blocks. Since each block is 11" square and I have 60 of them, 30 per quilt in a 5X6 setting is already a 55X66" quilt. Add borders and its a great size throw. 

I divided my blocks into pastel and primary colors. I finished the pastel one first. I decided to do something new and different for the borders on these two quilts. I have never done prairie points before, so on the first quilt I have added them between two white borders. They are not perfect, but I think it came out pretty cute.

Now I am working on the border for the second quilt. I'll show pics of it when I get the border on it. I am enjoying finishing these tops-but I know the quilting awaits me! 

Happy sewing! 

Grammy

2014 Block Swap Update

This year my friends and I have been swapping nine patch blocks. I first posted about it in April. We have been sewing and swapping since January-five blocks per person per month for a total of 25 blocks each month. 

I have been putting my blocks up on my design wall in random order as I receive them. They are all gorgeous and I can't wait for our final blocks in October! I have now run out of space. I guess the rest of my blocks will just have to go into a stack until I am ready to lay them all out and sew them together.

In case you are counting and I seem to be short blocks~one of the ladies in our swap lives in England and because the postage is so high, she has opted to mail us all of our blocks from her at one time in October. 

Happy quilting!

Grammy

2014 Block Swap

For the last few years I have done block swaps with several quilting friends far away. We love staying in touch with each other this way and always enjoy the resulting quilts. This year we are doing a simple nine patch. 

Last Fall some of us attended a quilt show and all really liked this quilt. It's our inspiration for this year's swap.

The black line across the quilt near the bottom is the "barrier" to keep us from getting too close to the quilt-it's not part of the design of the quilt. :)

There are five of us swapping this year. We are making five 9-patch blocks for each person in the swap each month. It really goes quickly because we are not cutting up 225 individual squares-but rather cutting strips, sewing them together and then cutting them into sections. It makes the piecing go really quickly and who wants to spend all day cutting 225  2 1/2" squares when they could be sewing, right?

We started our swap in January and I was tickled to get my first five blocks finished and in the mail.

Now we have been swapping for three months and I have 60 blocks, so far. One friend lives overseas and only mails to us a couple times during the swaps to save on postage, so I haven't received any from her yet. 

I am loving this quilt so far! I think it's going to be another success story.

Happy Quilting!       

Grammy 

Quiltin' With My Ya-Ya's

You are a very fortunate person if you have a best friend. You know who I'm talking about-that one person who you share everything with. A soul sister. A confidant. She may be related to you by blood, or she may be your "sister from another mother". But as soon as something great happens to you, she is the one you run to the phone to call and share it with. She will delight in your joy-smiling and laughing-genuinely pleased that great things have come your way. And if something goes wrong in your life, you know that you can call her then too. She will be ready with just the right words, a hand to hold, and a shoulder to cry on. 

I must be the luckiest woman ever-because I have the two best girl friends in the whole wide world! We are Ya-Ya's. And it is good.

This is Anne and Pam. They are my BFF's and they are the sweetest, kindest, most generous and loving women I have ever known. The only bad thing about our friendship is that we don't live near each other. Pam and Anne live 100 miles apart and I am about 200 miles from each of them. But we make every effort to see each other as often as possible. We also call, text and email-usually more than once a day. :)

In early January the three of us made a date to get together at my house January 28-31. It was the first time we would have been together in months. Nothing was going to keep us apart-not even mother nature! When the forecast for central Georgia said ice and snow for that week, it did not deter these two. They packed their cars and left home very early, beating the storm by about an hour.

Oh, what a fun time we had! We had pajama-sew days! We each had projects to work on and we kept the sewing machines humming. And while we sewed, we talked, we laughed, we drank (so we laughed some more), we shared, we cried. Our spirits were renewed and we were better off for having been together. That's what best friends are for.

Pam and Anne got a lot accomplished. Pam started with this red and white quilt she had been working on.  Anne jumped right in to help and in no time at all they had this top finished.

Pam had almost all the blocks made when she arrived. It was a sew along that the Temecula Quilt Company did on their blog in December and she had been working right along with them. Here is the link where they put it all together. Those little stars are 2" squares and this quilt is adorable!

Pam also sewed on these blocks that she is swapping with another friend. I have always wanted to make an Irish Chain and I love this one. I guess it's another quilt to add to my bucket list. 

Anne spent a lot of her time sewing on a tumbler quilt. Last summer we got together at Pam's and cut out about 1600 tumbler blocks to divide between the three of us. Mine are still stacked awaiting my attention, but Anne got hers all sewed together in rows. Now I'm anxious to sew mine too!!

Pam's last project was one that is near and dear to my heart. We have both been appliqueing blocks for this Love Letters quilt. She works much quicker than I do and finished her blocks before me. She squared them all up and got them sewn together while she was visiting. I love the way it looks and am excited about finishing mine too!!

My project(s) were to finish the snowman tablerunners I had been working on. And I did!

A forecast of bad weather can be a perfect opportunity for a quilt-in with friends. I can't wait until we get together again-I miss them already.