Road 2 CA goodies!

I picked up a few stencils I thought I might use.

 And some books (three came from Joanne's on the way to Road - on sale!)

Some "cheddar" fabric, ric rac, a pattern and fabric for a birthday present for one of my granddaughters.

I didn't buy any thread which is totally unusual for me.  I always buy thread but we are on a very strict budget right now.

And here is my birthday card from Debbie.  This really brightens my day!

Finished!

Here is the quilting I did on Karen's quilt.  I especially like the borders. This is all free motion because I hate marking.  I sure hope she likes it.  I also did another one for her that was 30's fabrics.  It is cute and sweet.  She was coming down this weekend but has injured her shoulder.  I hope she gets better soon and comes down to pick up her quilts and visit.

Orange Blossom quilters is this evening and here are the blocks of the month.  They have decided to do a pieced block and an applique block.  Of course, I had to machine applique!  I hope the fog isn't bad this evening because I am going to do all I can to get there tonight.

I did discover that I have almost no dark blues in my stash.  Time to collect more fabric. 

Hoochy Mama!

Here are my blocks from the class I took at Road 2 CA.  They are pretty busy!  I am going to use them as my border for my story quilt about Lexi.  Tomorrow I hope to show you my sketch for my quilt.  This is as far as I will get for awhile, till I have another block of time.

Here is some of the quilting I am doing on Karen's quilt.  This is all I have done so far (besides all the ditch work).  I am off to work on it some more. I hope to work the rest of the day on it while watching (really listening to) NCIS.  That's my favorite show to put on since I know most of the episodes.  It's relaxing.  Notice I didn't go with feathers.  Just couldn't make it happen.  Maybe in the border.  I'm just not that traditional.

Mary Lou and Cherries Too!

Here I am with Mary Lou Weidman (check out her blog - on the right side of this blog you will find sites of interest - click on Mary Lou Weidman) in her Hoochy Mama class.  These blocks were so liberating!  What fun we all had.  You can tell by the next picture that we got a lot done in one day.  There were 24 students in our class and they were all fun to be with and productive too.

It was hard to get them all in one picture.

Here is one of my blocks.  When I get the rest unpacked I will post another picture.  I am hoping to teach this technique, from her book and with her permission (which I already have), sometime next quarter.  I am not sure I like my backgrounds.  They are a little busy but these blocks will go on my story quilt that I am doing of my granddaughter Lexi.  I am going to make more for my class quilt in a different background.  I will probably use the color "cheddar" that Mary Lou has used in a lot of her quilts.  I just have to start collecting more fabric!

I hope to start quilting a second quilt for my friend Karen this afternoon.  I'll take some pictures of the quilting and post them because I am going to try feathers again.  It's all about the practice!

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to go

Today is my birthday and I was already to go to our Loose Threads Art group but the foggy was so bad we had to cancel.  So here I sit, now in sweats, watching boring TV and drinking diet hot chocolate.  What a drag! 
Had a good time at Road 2 Ca last week.  Hope to have some pictures to show you tomorrow.  Took classes from Mary Lou Wiedman.  Fantastic teacher but the story quilt I am making is going to take months.  Her quilts were amazing and so much work involved.  I hope to begin working on mine this week.   I'm excited about it and am already planning another one in my head.
I have also been thinking about developing some patterns to teach so that I am teaching my own stuff.  It is always hard coming up with that new idea.  I'll keep you posted.

A Great Surprise!

Remember my "The 60s - A Decade of Change"?  Well, it and "Reality"  were accepted into an exhibit to be held at Arts Visalia in March for Woman's History Month.  The exhibit is called "WomanFully".  I was not expecting to get accepted and was surprised when I received the email.  In fact, I almost deleted it.  I'm sure glad I opened it! What is even funnier is that "Reality" was donated to the Common Threads Little Quilt Sale and no one wanted it and it was returned.  How humiliating!  But now I know why.  It was meant for this show.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  We will be celebrating thru New Year's since Serena and Lexi arrive tomorrow.  It looks like the airport is now open in Norfolk so we are praying that all goes well.  Serena has never seen so much snow in Virgina Beach.  It just doesn't snow that much there. 

 I have been busy making things for Christmas, which I can't show you since we haven't celebrated our Christmas yet, but I can show you the baskets I have made.  They are made out of fabric wrapped cotton clothes line. They really are addicting.

I haven't done much quilting. Finished all my class samples and waiting to see when the classes will be. I will keep you posted. Thimble Towne's new website should be up soon. Check back.

Getting ready for classes

I worked on this quilt for 12 hours straight yesterday to finish the top so I could take it to Jeremy to quilt on Monday.  I am so excited about it.  This will be for my One Block Wonder class I am teaching sometime in the next few months.  I don't know what the schedule is yet but I will let you all know.  I go in to Thimble Town tomorrow to go over the class descriptions, class supply lists, two more projects that need to be made for classes and some skirts for store samples.  I am excited about all these new projects but as I sit here amongst the many boxes filled with Christmas decorations that need to be put up, I wonder where all the time will come from to finish everything.

The Common Threads Christmas party is now behind me and I have to say it was a great success.  I had a fantastic time and I think so did may others.  The Orange Blossom Christmas party is in less than two weeks and I just hope it goes as well.  I don't have many gift items for the silent auction yet but I have some people to call.

This Saturday is our Material Girls Christmas Party at Barbara Brown's house.  We always have a great time.  We were to how our friendship blocks put together and quilted.  Mine is together but not quilted.  I thought I had a picture but can't find it.  I'll take one this week and put it on the blog.