Wishing It Was Spring

If you're like me and have a lot of fat quarters then why not join this little swap hosted by Darci. This would be a great way to meet new people and get some great fabric.

I was cleaning up my fat quarters yesterday and found some I forget I had.

See you at the swap.

Charlie

P.S. Get this e-mail for Pat Sloan:

Just had to share this... I like a LOT of things.. and many things that are 'art' are done for the pure joy of making... like the 'creations' at this site... where.. yes.. I SEE ORANGE!
http://www.quiltersofsc.org/artfullbras/artfullbras.htm

Check it out it a hoot!

Pinks, Yellows, Limes, Oranges and Aquas

What do you get when you place pinks, yellows, limes, oranges and aquas together? You get the next quilt that I'm working on! Here it is all cut out and ready to sew. I've had this fabric for awhile now. I know I still have the Whirlygiggles quilt to finish, but I have to be in the mood to quilt it. This quilt called for the use of templates, I have always shied away from using them. Maybe it is because they looked harder to cut out. I still like to use acrylic over paper. If I had them to cut over again I would have used thin cardboard. I found that I cut a hair off the paper templates. We will see how well they go together. The fabrics are from Amy Butler. The fabric and pattern is Midwest Modern.

Charlie

How Sweet it is...

Here is my Whirlygiggles without the sashing and all clamped down, ready for basting. I hope to have it basted in the next couple of days. I can not wait to start quilting it, as it looks to be a lot of fun.





Look what my BH surprised me with on Saturday for our four year anniversary. How sweet is he?


Charlie

All Quilters Are Not Created From the Same Thread

WOW!!!! We go for months not hearing a word from Mark Lipinski and today we got a blog post from him and this is the title:

MARCH ISSUE OF QUILTER’S HOME WILL NOT BE FOUND AT JO-ANN FABRIC AND CRAFTS

The full story can be found here. Please read Mark's blog post before reading on. It might not make sense other wise.

It is a little upsetting for me to here this. Yes, I know Jo-Ann has the right to carry what they want. I just think it's a bit upsetting that they would not carry the March Issue because of one article. To me this is like radio stations not playing the Dixie Chicks because of what they said about Bush (turns out they were right).

The magazine is even in a plastic wrapper. I have read this article and I have to agree with Mark at best it is only PG-13.

This kind of hit home to me for a few reasons. I have been thinking over the past few days that I wanted to do a post about acceptance, but was not sure how I would go about it. This is a great lead-in and it just goes to show you that not everyone is as open-minded as we would like or think.

I was a member of a quilt guild and would go every month. It was a lot of fun. I would learn neat new things and get to talk with friends that I only get to see at guild. The Kansas City Star even did an article about me being the only male quilter out of 160 some members. Each February is their Quilt Guild retreat and I thought I might like to go. With money in hand I went to sign up as it was first come, first serve. They took my check, but I was told they would hold on to it and see what they had left as I was the only male. They thought the place had a room available in the boiler room. I was o.k. with that because really, how much sleeping would I being doing that weekend anyways? It's all about making new friends, quilting and food. Well, to my shock, they called me to let me know they were sorry, but they were unable to find room for me and my check was being returned to me. I took this at face value, but after talking with the guild president who was one of my quilting instructors at the place I worked. She told me that they were wrong in what they had done and I should have been able to go. She told me to sign up as soon as the next person is appointed leader of the retreat. Well, long story short, I left the guild because of this. Here I thought the guild really wanted me around, but as it turns out, they did not. Only a select few wanted me around. I was the topic of the board meeting I later found out. They did make up a rule that people were not allowed to tell about up coming quilting class, because I would share the up coming quilting class for the place I worked. I was the Education coordinator and it was my job to promote all the classes. I did not feel welcome anymore so I left the guild.

I laid low for a while, not wanting to join another quilt guild for fear of the same thing happening again. I was talking to another instructor/friend of mine and she really wanted me to join her quilt guild. She told me I could be the guest speaker one night and share all my quilts for them by putting on a trunk show. I thought I would give it a try. Went to a meeting and thought afterwards that it was not too bad and maybe I would be welcomed there. As it turned out I knew more than a few of the guild member because of my job. This guild was also having a weekend retreat and I thought I would give it a try and not wanting a repeat from the last guild, I went ahead and just paid for a room of my own. I put my name on the list. A few days later I got a phone call telling me that I would have to pay extra for the room because only one person would be staying in it and they had based everything on double rooms. I was fine with this because I told them I would be bringing a friend and we would be sharing the room. She told me it was only open to guild members. I said that is fine, he would not be doing anything with the guild, just sharing the room with me. He could go sight-seeing when I with the guild and I would meet up with him at night. Well, a few days later the guild president called me to make sure that I knew how to "act in public spaces". I was confused as to why she would say that. She does know me after all. I knew her before joining the guild. I listened to what she had to say and told her that it was fine. So in her mind, she thought everything was handled and there would be no problem. Later after much consideration I decided that it was not their place to dictate what I could do while I was away from the guild. I woke up early one morning and wrote a full page letter stating how disappointed I was with their automatic belief that I would be doing something inappropriate. There was no question of anyone else being inappropriate, only me. Long story short, I quit the guild and asked for my membership dues back. I did ask a dear friend of mine to read the letter at the next guild meting and later found out people were sorry that the board of the guild would act that way.

I do not know if I can ever trust a guild again. I have been burned by two different guilds because I am a male quilter and it did not have anything to do with my sexuality.

Charlie

Circles, Circles, Circles Everywhere

I have been looking over posts on my blog and I see it has been since the first of the month that I have posted anything of any real substance. Thanks to all that commented about my whirlygiggles quilt. I will be showing you all my choice and update on it once I'm done and then again after it's quilted.

I was out on the web looking around and come across this quilt. It is called Daisy Chain and is from Amy Butler. It's one of her free patterns for her line Daisy Chain. I am drawn to the hip fresh greenish/blue color of this quilt. I was reading the pattern on this quilt and it sounds easy. No seams to match because each strip is a random size. The blocks are foundation pieced and squared up once done. One interesting note; the pattern called for seams to be pressed open to reduce bulk and each block was backstretched at each end. I am thinking this pattern was not written by a quilter or I've been doing something wrong all these years. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it is the first. I may not ever make this quilt, but it does look neat.

Anyone seen the new book Adventures in Circles by Leigh E. McDonald? I did a post from it here. When I did that post I hadn't seen the book, just a picture from it. This last week I got a copy from my library to see if I wanted to buy this book. Oh yes, it is going to be added to my bookshelf. Who would have thought you could do so much with a circle. One quilt that stand out in my mind from the book is called Really, Really, Broken Dishes by Kimberly Montagnese. She does have a blog for anyone wanting to check it out. This quilt was inspired by a broken piece of Kim's wedding china. The silver cord was couched on the block. Click here for more info on couching. What a great effect this adds to the quilt. It really looks like the pattern is broken.

I am sure you have seen or at least heard of Tula Pink's new fabric line from Moda called Neptune. This will be one I am going to rush out and buy when it comes in. I can not wait. There is a free pattern for this fabric line and guess what? It's made using circles. I was drawn to this pattern for two reasons, one the color, two the circles. This pattern does remind me a lot of the above quilt. So I might have to combine some of the techniques and maybe make only one quilt.

The above two circle quilts kind of remind me of the Bull's Eye in the book Quilts from Aunt Amy by country threads.

As you can clearly see I have an itching for some circles, but before I get started on all these great quilts I have to get some much need supplies. Anyone own or have used the Olfa circle cutter? It looks easy to use and can cut up to 8 1/2" circles. I think I will use my 50 off coupon from Jo-Ann's and get one. Plus, I need a couching foot and guide for my sewing machine. Don't you just love buying new play toys? I will not get to start this project 'till after Tula's new fabrics come out, as I want to use her new line, but I have plenty of other projects to keep me busy.

Charlie

Need Your Help!

Here is my Whirlygiggle quilt. I need your help deciding if I should go with or without the sashing. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think. Tomorrow afternoon I plan on sewing it together.

Charlie

Whirlygiggles

All these fabrics came from my stash, except the background. It seems I never have backgrounds in my stash and have to buy it. I have blogged about this fabric before, but now I am really using it in a project. This idea comes from Jacquie of Tall Grass Prairie Studio. Here is A link to the tutorial by GreetingArts so you too can make this fun quirky twist on the pinwheel called Whirlygiggles.
I, like Jacquie thought the template was easy to make. The tutorial was great and easy to follow. Even gave you pictures. Who could ask for more? I wanted my blocks to finish 9" and learning from Jacquie I made up a mock block to see if I had everything right. Well, three mock blocks later I had my blocks just right. I kept putting in the wrong amount for the seam allowance. It's not that I forgot it. These are all cut at an angle and I couldn't get my brain to wrap around that idea. My ends were off as well. Not much more than 1/4 inch. Nothing that squaring up could not fix.

My BH and I laid out my blocks and found a placement that we like, but as we were viewing this quilt we only saw a sea of cream color. I had to do something about it so back to my stash and we found a dark green strip that set this quilt off and at the same time broke up the cream. You can see bits of the green fabric in the above picture. I hope to get this quilt pieced today so I might get started quilting this one. I plan on doing an all over serpentine pattern with some nice variegated orange and red thread.

As most of you know by now I love to listen to books. I sometimes do this while I quilt, but most of the time I do it in the car driving to work. If it was not for audio books I would never read. From time to time I love to share with you books that I think you might like or that i feel is a must read.

I've found one such book. Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. In 2008 this book was the winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award and John Newbery Honor Medal Winner.


In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.

Elijah of Buxton might be my new favorite book, but I am going to think on that for a while before I move To Kill A Mockingbird from that spot. I would say this is in my top five of must read books of all times. I was reading some reviews of this book online and while most of them were good, a few said they had problems with the slang in the book. To that I say get it on audio and there will be no problem. This is not slang that Christopher made up it is how people talked 1859. This is no different than the way kids talk nowadays. Truth be told I understood the slang in this book more than slang of today. The powerful ending is violent and unsettling, yet also manages to be uplifting. I might of felt a tear welling up in my eye.

Charlie

P.S. Not sure how my BH does it, but he has an eye for color. I wish I had this gene.

Quilting is it for Me?

Hope that everyone is having a very merry Christmas. It's been a very busy past few weeks for me. I will be glad when it is all over. One would think it would have been a bleak retail season, but not in the sewing machine industry. People are crafting and making more of their own gifts. In this time of a downturn, families are becoming closer by working on projects together. There were people doing last minute make-it-yourself gifts at 4pm today. It was hard to believe, but I think they get a rush off of it. Not to disrespect the procrastinators. Yes, even I have waited till the last minute before getting some quilting done.

With all hustle and bustle of the Christmas season I have managed to get some quilting done. I had thought I blogged on this quilt before now, but could not find an entry for it. I was working on a Quilt called Little Bits and it's from the book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I just love this book. I am thinking I might need to own a copy of this for myself. Neat idea's in this one. Anyways, I have done my quilt in red and black as you can see in the picture of it. (I may need to clean my camera lens!) This is the first big size quilt that I have quilted myself on my sewing machine. I have learned a few things from this.

Things I have learned from quilting my own quit!

1. Make sure you have lots of room where you can freely move the quilt. (I had to move my sewing machine to the dining room table to get the needed space.)
2. Make sure your tension is set correctly before you start quilting your quilt. (The seam ripper and I are becoming close friends)
3. Try to use the same color thread for the top and bottom. (Even when the tension was correct I could see little spots of the bobbin thread peeking through.
   
4. When they say use a walking foot there is a reason for this. (I had to buy one)
5. They say start quilting in the middle of the quilt and work your way out. They really mean start quilting across the middle to lock it down and work your way out. (You can now tell where I started and stopped on this quilt.)
   
6. One should pull the bobbin thread to the top of the quilt. (I have a few birds nests on the back of the quilt)
7. Your seam allowance for one type of foot may not be the same for a different foot. (I was trying to put the binding on with one foot and was getting too much drag so I had to put the walking foot back on, but did not change the needle position so my seam allowance was off)
8. Make sure you're using the correct seam allowance for your width of binding. (As in number 7, I had made 2" binding and needed a 1/4" seam allowance, but with the walking foot on I ended up with 3/8" and it was too big. So the binding would not fit around the quilt.)
9. Whacking off is a quilting term and not an adult term. (Because the binding was too small and did not fit right on the quilt, I now have to whack it off (cut) and put on new. I am sure none of you out there have ever done this.)
   
10. 2 1/4" binding is easier to work with than 2" binding.
    
11. I am a better piecer than a quilter. (I just need more practice at it)
12. I am not as good at binding as I once thought.

Hope you have a very Merry

Charlie

P.S. As of this post I am one year older. I took my birthday money and bought myself a new Dell computer. I got it on clearance and saved over two hundred dollars. Ya me!

Stars By Magic

The nights are cold and it really is starting to feel more like Christmas with each passing day. I just wish spring would hurry and get here. I hate having to scrape the frost off my car windows each morning.

I love to come home from work when it is dark out because I know when I get home this time of the year I can turn on the Christmas tree and see it's full beauty. I am finding there is something peaceful and serene about this. I would not have thought this possible in years past.

I found an awesome book from my local library. It's called Stars by Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro. It looks to be super easy. You can do diamond free stars from squares and rectangles. Perfect point and no Y-seams! That is the best part. I have always wanted to make eight point stars, but with the Y-seams I'd avoid them. Has anyone played with this technique? What are your thoughts on this book?

The BH and I were coming home from dinner one night when I asked if he would like to watch one of our record TV shows with me and he said sure. I thought it would be nice if we would turn on the Christmas tree and watch it, but he said this program was better watched with out all the bright lights of the tree. I said but, I want to turn on the tree. We do not have it up much and this year I am really getting into Christmas and here you are being a scrooge. We are turning on the tree and watching it. YES, I put my foot down on this matter. I was sort of pissed off about it. I think our roles are being reversed this year. I found Christmas and he has lost it. He is getting better about having the tree on. Just last night when I came home from work the tree was already on. It made me smile and I thought how sweet my BH was for having it on.

Charlie

Christmas Is Here Everywhere

YES, Christmas has found me this year. It was a busy Sunday for me. Right after I did my post I got the Christmas tree up. Good things the lights were already on the tree or I might not have wanted to put it up. Placing on the ornaments brought back years of memories. Once the tree was all together the BH and I stepped back and took a look and felt it needed something else so we ran out and got some ribbon and that did the trick. The silver of the ribbon brought out the beauty of the tree.

Here is a little wall hanging I did two Christmases ago. I am just now getting it hung on the wall. I tried lots of colors for the outside border of this quilt and the blue worked best. I would have never thought this quilt would call for blue. The blue is of oriental flowers with some gold mixed in.

"If there is love in your heart and your mind
You will feel like Christmas all the time"

Charlie

P.S. For those reading this with a reader or something of the like I have updated the background to something a little more fitting for this time of the year. The old one was getting dusty and needed a change. I think we need to do a little cleaning from time to time.