Quilt Show

In September I went to a quilt show at a local expo center.   Here's some of the beautiful works on display.  All photos are clickable for larger views.

 These individual hexagons were the size of a dime!

This was my favorite although it is very hard to pick just one.

 Here's a close up.

 Nothing but stitches created this design and texture.

Whimsy

 This one gave the appearance of painting or silk screening.   Not so.   See detail of jacket below.

Beautiful applique.

Variation on the log cabin

I want to someday do a quilt in blacks and whites with a splash of color.   Here they used gold in the inner border.   I think mine with have turquoise or red or lime green.

Tee-shirt quilt

Loved it

Loved it more.....my favorite colors

Yo-yo's

More applique - gorgeous  

 Love this color combo

Photos don't do these works justice.

Same quilt, different color combinations with batiks.

Some people are crazy talented (an must be retired!)

Another traditional applique quilt

Pieced quilt

I jump for joy at the feast for the eyes and senses.   

 This was the weekend trip earlier this fall that I used to get my mojo back when I had 

seemed to have lost it.  These were taken by my cell phone and I finally downloaded 

them to my downloaded them to my laptop.  Nothing like surrounding yourself with 

creativity to get your own creative spirit back in line.

Retreat

I am home from my semi-annual stitching retreat at the shore.   We all so look forward to this long weekend of friends, stash enhancement, stitching and relaxing.   There is always a bunch of laughter, good food and good times.  

We left on Thursday morning and I got back yesterday afternoon but I took today off to do a little work in the yard.   I put away the deck furniture and generally picked up things around the yard.   I also managed to spiff up the flowerbeds, deadhead some flowers and pull out some annuals to get ready for fall before the rain started.   I also worked on the two websites I maintain and updated both blogs and wrote out some cards to friends and did manage to stitch a bit.   In general it was just a good day of catching up on a lot of things I had outstanding......and you know how that pressure feels when you know you have those nagging little tasks to do.

I didn't get as much completed on Grace Mason this weekend as I had hoped and there may or may not have been a bottle of wine involved.   But what happens in OCMD STAYS in OCMD.

I had hoped to finished the numbers all the way across but since I did manage a bit of the border down both sides, I think it is a fair trade off.  I am anxious to start the next band so I'd better get to work on those numbers!

Here's my stash from my retreat.    First up, the goodie bag we received at check-in.

This was a last minute purchase.   Seriously - I had already checked out TWICE!  But I saw this and have been wanting to do a Sam Sarah design so this was it.   Grabbed the fabric out of the remnant bin and scooped up the fibers for the final sale of the trip.  I hope to start this Feb. 1st to have it finished and finished by Easter.   

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I fell in love with the vibrate colors of this one.   And it comes with the completed pillow!   Win win....just a little big to stitch and it will be done.   This is going to be my take along project for lunch time.

 I kind of was shamed into starting this one.   Four of us picked it up during the spring retreat and silly old me put the challenge out there to start it this weekend.   Diane was stitching away and kind of egged me to start it.    It is going to be awesome when done but it will have to go into the WIP bin for now.  Diane got almost all the coat from the boots to the beard done.

I picked up the Snow Belle that was missing from my collection and some fabric to stitch up all six as one.

This one seemed to just jump in my bag since it was only $4.

 I put this one in the bag and out of the bag and then back it.   Chessie and Me did this design for the hotel we stay at.   It is beachie without being all seashells and sand.

This is truly a case of it looked so much better completed then it does on the leaflet and of course I had to get some of the fibers since I would so regret doing it with DMC and losing that color variation.










Oops!  Another thing that literally jumped into my bag while in the check out line.

 Last but not least, I always pick up one of these!

For more about the Retreat, check out the other blog I maintain for our guild.

The Good Old Switcheroo!

In more ways then one.      I am like a child that will do anything to get out of doing what I have on my list to do.   Take today.... I should have typed up minutes and financial reports, I should have started work on the final report on my non-profit grant, I should have done some yard work.....but what did I  do,  I played around in my crafting room.

Before we got started, Heather gave Buddy a little one-on-one time.  Buddy really was much happier than he appears as he let Heather give him some loving this morning before we headed upstairs.   We are really enjoying him.   He is very social and friendly.   He just loves having a fuss made over him.







So this is the end result of one room.  Not only did I rearrange, I switched the furniture from one room to the other.   What was I thinking?

This was my craft room just this morning.   I am happy with the way it turned out.   Hopefully Mr. W. and I will be getting a new bed soon and our old bed will come up here  and mean no more air mattress for holiday and weekend visitors.

Now the other and much bigger room.    This is my view when I come up the stairs to the hall.    Just one look in here and I can already feel the creativity starting.  You can't distinguish what is on the Expedit but I know what awaits me.

Everything I need to be creative, all sorted and labeled.  (which it already was,  we just slid it into place and dusted it.)

(New lampshade on my list!)

New fabbies waiting to be used.

Random spools waiting to be put away.

It was no small feat to get my island from one bedroom to the other.   We took off the top and the caps on the legs.  At one point, had this puppy wedged in the hallway and door in mid-air.  A little pushing and a bit of woodwork scraped and Heather and I got it in there.   She thought it was quite funny that I was 'trapped' in the bedroom and felt no need to be quick about helping me remedy the situation.  This resulted in her need to post yet another dingbat thing I have done to all her twitter friends.   Apparently my escapades and my fracturing of the English language with my non-words have made me an urban legend with her friends.

My rulers and scissors all within reach.

It was so great this afternoon to lay out some fabrics and trims for some smalls and a wall hanging I am working on.  

 Moved my shelf from one room to the other.  My trims and 

ribbons are all handy when I need them.

 It's amazing what a girl with tools can do when she puts her mind to it.

 I did manage to get a few fall decorations up between last weekend and this.   Three tubs of more pumpkins and Halloween stuff sit waiting for me spend the evening with them.  This is a new smaller tree I picked up on a trip to Lancaster.  

 I like little 'pops' of decorations like this mesh leave hanging on the top of the ladder back chair.

 I filled the scale with orange Christmas balls.    

I like the sparkle!

And finally, some stitching to share.    I am pleased with the progress I have make on Grace Mason.   I've turned the corner.    I feel I should take this on retreat with me next weekend but it is on such a large scroll frame I can't decide. 

 I think when I complete this section all the way to the right, I will be 1/4 of the way done!  

There are seven of us doing this.   Barb brought her completed and framed piece

 to stitching group this week and I am really motivated to kept stitching on this.  

I should try to get a photo of all of us with our finished and framed samplers when we 

are all done.   I think that would be pretty cool.   But at my speed and tendency to go 

astray, that could be awhile!

Pumpkins for Cathey

This post goes out to wish Cathey a HaPPy BloGoVErSaRy!

Hop on over to Cathey's blog, Pumpkin Patch & Co.,  and wish her a Happy Blogoversary!   http://pumpkinpatchandco.blogspot.com/   In addition to be a great stitcher, great wife and mom, she has drive, determination and unbelievable spirit.   See Daffycat's post for more information about Cathey.  These pumpkins are for you Cathey along with congrats on your blogoversary.

We bloggers are there for each other.   And we crafters just get each other.   Put that together and we are just awesome.

Let's our sent prayers to Cathey for her fight against cancer.  

Mojo is on it's way back.....I can feel it

This is my stitching tote that I use to carry all my tools and necessities to stitching night or to a guild meeting.  I like the way it stands up, it is compact, doesn't take up a ton of table space and it fits nicely inside my larger tote.

At the quilt show I bought some fat quarters that I plan to use to make some accessories.   Now I am not a girlie girl with nails done at all times and who never puts her hands in the dirt but I am a matchie-matchie type girl so I need to change out the needlebook and accessories I have inside the tote.

I want to use some new fat quarters to make a needle book and a strawberry pin cushion and an ort container.  Hopefully I can zip these up lickity split and get that mojo back in the right place.

It all started with our most recent class at EGA.   Caryl put a floss tag challenge out there.    I decided to do my first name initial and hang it on my bag since several of us have the same stitching tote.  

I first got these fabs but they weren't quite doing it for me

.....then as I was heading out of the show, I remember one last aisle that I meant to make sure I visited on the way out.    That's were I found these beauties and I can feel my creative ideas  swirling about in my head.

 My initial I stitched for the floss tag, I think now, it will be incorporated into my needlebook.

Here's some of my other purchases.   Oh I do have a S.T.A.B.L.E stash for sure. Stash Totaling Above and  Beyond Life Expectancy ;-)   I even managed a couple of Christmas present purchases which I can't show here but I know are perfect for the recipients.  I  picked up these gems.   I have a Halloween stitch that needs finishing and I think these will do the trick.  Those are little spiders on the purple piece on the bottom.

And this.....love this table runner and am quite ready to confess it won't be ready for THIS Thanksgiving.

 Debated but decided to get the kit with all the sumptuous wool selections.

The best part of the show was I was only about 15 vendors in of the over 200 vendors but who do I find?   My daughter.   We each had driven an hour from different directions and neither knew the other was going.   How cool is that?   I am so luck to have daughters who love crafting just me!  Of course, we laughed and shopped and shared a table and refreshments together.   I am so glad I decided to go and now I know the reason for the wrong turn I made along the way that added 15 minutes to my arrival time.....it put me in that booth at just the same time Heather was there.  Things happen for a reason.

Now I am off to change out summer and fall flowers, stow the furniture on the deck, box and bag up more Goodwill stuff, and just in general get some household stuff done so I can stitch and craft the evening away....I feel it.....the mojo is back!

Retail Therapy Jumpstart

My retail therapy at the quilt show this weekend might have helped me get my mojo back.   It was an hour drive to the convention center with the sun roof open,  the radio up and blue sky above me. As I drove  I ran threw what could be causing my mental block with crafting......I came up with I am just working on the wrong project!  Simple as that.   We all know that you've got to feel that project or it just isn't happening.  I do have Grace Mason but it is my BAP and I was trying to decide on a smaller take along project isn't cutting it.

I do have a little big more done but this is my latest picture.   With the way I have the pattern folded for view, it is in 16 sections.  This is two sections of the  pattern.   Two down and 14 to go.   This is going to be my mainstay over the winter.

I always start a new project as a reward when I go on retreat.   Since retreat is in two weeks, I didn't want to start something new and have yet another UFO.  And after my 'sorting' and the ever so harsh reality of sooo many UFO's I thought I would tackle completing a few of my UFO's.  But alas, there is a reason they are UFO's.....I lost interest, tastes change, mistakes have been made so I just am not feeling it with any of them.   I was looking for some instant gratification type work by trying to complete a little Christmas in July ornie that I have frogged more times than I care to count.  

It looked so cute at the meeting but looking at this black and white rendition of the pattern has been frustrating.   It took me about a week of being frustrated and then I had my Ah-Ha moment and looked and found  a color pix on the internet.  Still not feeling it so that's what happened to my mojo.

Just some of my cheaters!

The other deterring factor in my stitching is my glasses.   I have been to the eye doctors three times in three weeks for new glasses.   I decided to again try contacts but we are having a problem finding just the right ones for me.  Hard to do when you need bi-focals.
I think I will just go back this week and order new frames with updated progressive lenses.

So for now, I will work on Grace Mason and just not have a project for lunchtime at work....

Has anyone seen

My missing mojo?  Kind of in a slump here.  No stitching or crafting or creating to report.  Worse yet, no motivation.  Hmmmm,  maybe it is due to not much sleep because Buddy likes to sleep on my head!   Think I will head out to Philly and a quilt show today to get those creative juices flowing and the crafting back in motion.  Hopefully I will have some stitching or sewing to report soon.