Bar Harbor Gets a New Home

Last Monday Night, I attended the Pensacola Quilt Guild meeting for the first time in maybe 6 months.  I have missed meetings first because I was busy with wedding preparations, and then because I was out of town and then because I forgot, and then because I was just plain lazy.  But this month, even though it was waaaay early in the month, I actually remembered and went.  The Guild has new digs, and they are much nicer than their previous ones.

I suppose most Guilds have a Show and Share time, when members can show off their recent creations.  Some of the things these ladies create just blow me away.  I am not nearly so awe-inspiring, but since I was looking for a suitable home for this joint effort Bar Harbor quilt, I decided to share.  A super talented lady, Ingrid, was in line in front of me with maybe 10 quilts to show.  Frankly, I felt slightly intimidated. 

 But when Ingrid's turn came, she thanked everyone for coming to work parties at her home and helping her create 27 quilts for kids in Shoal Creek, Alabama who lost everything in the floods this year.

Perfect?  Oh yeah.  And since I'd been looking for a new home for Bar Harbor, I gave it to her on the spot.

Now, 28 children will get a lovely new quilt for Christmas.

I may need to go make another quilt.

I'll Never Do That Again

Next weekend, we have company coming.  This may not be a startling fact until you realize that WH has been remodeling the guest bathroom since Thanksgiving.  He actually is a wonderful craftsman, but quick? - not so much!

Anyway, I started out the weekend with the thought that I really needed to clean house.  Having the bathroom "under construction" for so long has provided all the justification I needed to neglect the cleaning and spend more time sewing.  I did, in fact, get some cleaning done.  But in the process of trying to tidy up my sewing room (it is just too small to call it a "studio"), I decided that since Monday is quilt guild night, if I got these two MIAGIA quilts finished, quilts that were already sandwiched and pin-basted, it would get them out of the basket and make the room tidier.  Makes sense, right?

Last quilt guild night, one of the ladies mentioned that MIAGIA quilts are a great project to use to practice new techniques.   "What  a great idea!" I thought.  I had already tried (definitely not mastered, you understand, but tried) the FMQ meandering stipple, so I decided to try the stippled pebbles.  BIG MISTAKE!!  I used up an entire 850 meter spool of Guitermann thread, about half a spool of serger thread, at least 25 bobbins, and about 6 hours.  NOT what I had in mind.  And worst of all, I really don't like the way it looks.  It could be my technique, but nevertheless, i won't be doing that again.

The good news is that both MIAGIA quilts are now quilted.  The bad news is that I'm too tired tonight to bind them, so the chances of them being done in time for the quilt guild meeting tomorrow night are slim.  Ah well, maybe next month.

Where Did The Weekend Go?

I'm not sure how this happens, but one minute it was Friday, and the next it was Monday morning.  I think weekends exist in some kind of time warp.  It's kind of scary, how fast this past weekend went by.

The weekend was fairly productive.  I made some more of those fun little hexie needlebooks, and gave them all away.  Time to make one for me, I think.  And next month, the Guild is having a Jumble sale.  I might make a few to try to sell there.  I also have some projects to finish up that I might finish to sell.  And there is a ton of stuff in the garage that I will never use in my lifetime.  I think I'll take some of that and see how it does.  Meanwhile...

My Mini QT quiltie is well on its way to being complete.  Just a few more little details, and another trip to JoAnn's to pick up a package of buttons that somehow didn't make it into my bag when I was there last night.  That's kind of frustrating.  I think my little quiltie is going to turn out cute.  I hope my partner, Valery Anne likes it.  I can't show the details here until she receives it, so stay tuned....

Last Monday, I came home with this bag of random fabrics from MIAGIA night for the Pensacola Quilter's Guild.  In it was a random selection of fabrics sorted mostly by color.  There was one large piece and a few fat quarters, some leftover borders and a couple of random half yards.  I have to say that there was maybe one fabric I would actually have purchased if I had been choosing fabrics.  And the colors weren't anything I would have chosen either.  I almost asked for a different bag of fabrics, but I decided that part of the challenge of the thing would be to create a quilt outside my comfort zone.

Here is what the bag contained:

So, since I had reached an impasse with my Mini QT, after working on it for most of a day, I pulled out the bag to see what was there, and the fabric started to speak to me.  It was interesting because what it ended up being was not at all what I thought I was going to do when I picked up the rotary cutter.  I was actually thinking I was going to attempt a shoo fly quilt with these.

Apparently, the fabric had other ideas, because this is what it became:

I only added a couple of pieces from my stash to round it out.  The Guild will provide the batting, and I have some leftover sheet pieces for the backing, so I'll finish it next month.  I thought this turned out to be a pretty attractive quilt.  Kind of masculine, which is sometimes hard to achieve.  It was actually a great exercise, and proves that even the most uninspiring fabrics can become an attractive quilt.

By the time the next MIAGIA night comes around, I'll probably have the second quilt top done.  I have the pieces cut for the blocks.  I wanted to try Elizabeth Hartmann's wonky 9-patch with a selection of fabrics, rather than the monochromatic palette I have seen used in the past, so this is my chance.  In fact, I've decided that these MIAGIA kits are going to be my "test kitchen" to try new things.  More to follow.

So, the weekend is OVER and it's back to the old grind.   I have several projects I hope to finish and mail this week in addition to my mini quilt - the Make Mine Modern fabric swap and sewing item (oh, I have the funnest idea for this - I hope it turns out like I think it will!), and several sets of Bee blocks.  Time to get cracking!

Make-It-And-Give-It-Away

I recently joined the Pensacola Quilter's Guild.  I have mostly been a lurker - I haven't done any show and tell at all - but last night on the way home from work my alarm on my phone went off.  It was to remind me that the 3rd Monday is MIAGIA Monday.  What's that,you ask?  MIAGIA stands for Make It And Give It Away.  It is one of the charity efforts of the Guild.  I didn't bring my machine, and I wasn't feeling all that well, but I was feeling a little guilty that I haven't participated in any of the charity efforts so far, so I stopped in and asked if they had any kits.  Well, they didn't have any kits, but they did have a couple of bags full of fabric that had been loosely sorted by color, such as the one above.

This is what was in it...

Some of it would actually go pretty well with the fabric for the ugly quilt fabric in my previous post - in fact, I may combine them.  Some of it has real possibilities.  I really like the paisley (3rd from left, top row) and the argyle/jester fabric on the end of the top row.  I haven't opened the roll yet to see what's inside, but the outside has spiders on it.  (My favorite!)  

Intriguing, no?

This morning I was blog hopping, and I saw this post.

This may be just the thing for this bunch of fabric.  What do you think.  Easy and beautiful.  Just my style.