My advice, never leave your vehicle unattended while you shop at Walmart.  Paint, tail light and bumper damage this time.  Last time they put a crease down the whole side.  And to add insult to injury, they didn't have the guts to stop, just drove off. 

 Went on a retreat over the weekend to my friend's house with two other ladies.  This retreat seemed to be more productive than the last one I went on where I just visited with everyone and didn't do much, five nine-patches.

I mostly finished these two table runners.  The only part I didn't finish was the big quilted flower images in the center because I hadn't taken my wider table for my machine.  I also finished a hand towel kit I had purchased in Branson at the Quilted Cow Shop.   Feeling god about getting something accomplished.

These two tablerunners were going to be patterns but never made it that far.  So now that they are finished, I put them on my website for sale.

Getting ready for market in Houston right now.  I have three new patterns.  Two are printed and stuffed in plastic and the third one is printed.  I just need to put them in plastic.  With printing color, I'm having them done is much smaller quantities as it is so expensive.  So I watched Survivor last night and stuffed.

   I think I missed the trash bin a couple of time when I was trimming the paper piecing project I was working on. 

   Nothing seems to keep Rex from his nap time.

After a couple of months of intense work and sewing on new pattern samples I needed some time off. So four crazy women went to Branson, Mo. for a little R&R.

Donna Swisher, Nancy Durbin, LaVon Harris and me at the Landing at Smith's Moonshine Store.  The sparkle in our eyes are from the camera flash, not the moonshine. 

It's time to get in gear to do a few patterns for quilt market.  This is the first block for the first pattern quilt.  There's a lot of pieces in the block but at least there are only eight blocks to be made. 

I asked friends for suggestions for the name.  A few good ones and one that is naughty.  I won't be asking Kevin to name my quilts in the near future.  haha.

Next step is to correct the center column and then have Jeanette test the pattern.

The next pattern quilt is drawn out and I'm writing  the instructions for the quilt.  Also, haven't decided on the color combination to use.  I want it to NOT clash with the first pattern.  I would like my booth at market to be kind of coordinated or at the least not jarring to the eye. 

I finally finished all the blocks I need for the Karen K. Stone workshop.  This picture is actually kind of faded but will give you an idea of the process.  I have one more border to paint and add to the outer edge.  I thought the Thursday sewing group would be there tomorrow but it's the off week.  I was going to paint the outer border while they were there and I couldn't quilt.  But I'll put it off for a while.

I signed up for a Karen K Stone workshop put on by the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild. 

She is famous for her New York Beauties.  All paper pieced.  So the workshop was on the technique of paper piecing.  The pattern for this workshop was one of hers.  I had collected fabric for a pickle dish of the orange and lime green but after making two blocks, I decided that wasn't for me.  I thought this pattern would be much easier with fewer pieces.  While it is a little quicker, it still is  slow process. 

I finished one block in class and then finished a second block this afternoon.  I think I want to embroider or stencil something in the square centers.  Just haven't decided on what would look best. 

I usually keep a project in a box ready to take to retreats and such.  So it's not a quickly finished project.  I made one pattern up in February to take to a retreat I didn't get to attend because Dennis was in the hospital.  Now I can have another one to put into a box for such occasions.  The only problem with this theory is the guild wants to have a follow up class to view the finished projects. 

Worked the last few days on the borders for the Quilt of Valor quilt.   I finally finished it.  Yea!!!!   I'll need to find a backing that looks good with it. 

Been getting a lot of things sewed on this week.  If I kept it up, I might get some UFO's out of the way.  But I know that this flurry of work won't last, it never has.

The row by row shop hop is Sew Musical.  Amy ordered guitar fabric and we worked on making a LeMoyne Star with the fabric today.  First mistake is we wanted a 14" star and cut diamonds for a 12" star.  After that hurdle, The rest was pretty easy.

Here is the next quilt I'm working on for the Quilts of Valor.  It has been a trial and error quilt.  First I had to figure out how to make the swirl by cutting the center diamonds to different heights.  Then I cut the diamonds to 4 1/2".  After completing all the strip units, I made two diamond sections and realized that it was going to be too big.  The Quilts of Valor have a maximum size of 72" X 90".  And just the star was coming out to 96" without any borders. 

I then became the perpetual ripper.  Ugh!!!  Then cut it all down to 3" diamonds.  Now it will turn out a tiny bit smaller than I wanted, but at least I can add borders. 

I'll certainly be glad when it is finished and I can go on to something else...hopefully that doesn't need to be ripped out.

 My sister-in -law, Diane has a silk painting accepted to the Symphony in the Flint Hills art show.  I went out to Cottonwood Falls with her and David to see the preview. 

 This is Diane with her silk painting and the rest are some of the ones I liked.

 

The Embroidery Group made postcards.  The ones with Berninas learned how to change it.  But I have a Brother and my computer program doesn't work like theirs.  So I just made the postcard as is. 

 Our sewing group decided to do a challenge this year.  We are to alter a fabric panel.  Reveal will be in December.  This is my practice piece.

I cut 2 7/8" strips vertically and staggered each by 1 1/2" and sewed them together  Then cut horizontally, staggered them 1" and sewed them back together.

I think my real one will be a Christmas panel.


                                           

Went to the Kaw Valley Quilt Show on Sunday after the Shop Hop was over on Saturday.

It was at Crown Toyota in Lawrence and what a great large space for the show, lots of room for hanging quilts and setting up vendors.  Fortunately, the snow didn't amount to enough to keep viewers away on Sunday.

Front right is Jane Anderson's quilt from my pattern.  I designed it, Anna Aldman digitized it, Jan Hutchison quilted it and Jane Anderson embroidered and made it. I guess you could say it takes a community.   Vernice Flotman's quilt based in my light house pattern, was there too.  She's giving it to her grandson, who is graduating from school in California to become a ship captain.

New posts will be a little slowe in coming.  Dennis has pneumonia and it's taking a lot of time away from sewing.  I worked on some placemats tonight after dark but ran out of dark brown thread.  When they are finished I'll post their picture.

   The WSG or Wednesday Sewing Group met today and made caps for kids undergoing surgery.  They will get to take their pick of the cap they will wear when they have surgery. And then the cap will be theirs afterwards.   About dozen of us sewed on them and at the last count, we had 117 caps with more being added still. 

Sandy called and Stormont Vale in Topeka and it has about 47 kids surgery a month.  So we have covered a little over two months worth.  Woohoo!!!

Doesn't it sound like a good project for your group to help in your area.  Check with your hospital to get it OK'd and then cut circles and sew a casing in the edge and insert elastic.  We made several sizes and even a few little ones for their dolls.

This is a quilt I've worked on for several years.  I had it cut out and in a box.   Every retreat I went to, all I had to do was get my sewing machine and the box.  Didn't even have to take a rotary cutter or mat. 

Now I have another quilt partially cut out to do the same.  But I'll have to include the cutter and mat since it's supposed to be done in strips and I'm making it scrappy.  I'll have to cut some of the pre-cut strips into pieces. 

 Dennis gave me my Valentine's Day gift early.  He drove us out to west of Emporia to take pictures of some old buildings that I find fascinating and would some day like to paint some pictures of or use them as inspiration for a quilt.  For a day in February the weather was pretty OK.  Windy but clear and semi warm.

This Old Stone School House say District 34 1896 and just north of 50 highway.

 This double arch stone bridge is at Clements and was built in 1886.

The stone mill is at Cedar Point.  I couldn't read the date at the top in the front of the building.  But my bet is that it's about the same vintage as the other two buildings. 

Ooops.  As I quilted on my quilt ( pictured below), I found three of the squares in the center portion were put in backwards.  I looked at it a long time thinking that it wouldn't bother me.  Ha!  So finally ripped out some of the quilting, ripped the squares out, turned them around and hand appliqued them back into the quilt.  It shows up in the picture below.  The mistake is in the upper left hand  of the inner part of the quilt.  Where it shows up, there is a light square in the dark row and a dark square in the light row. 

Oh, well, it's fixed and I've requilted the part I had to rip out.  Certainly not getting it off the machine quickly.   

I'd like to say another unfinished project done.  But the top is all that's finished. 

The center is a buddy quilt made ????? year.  So long ago I don't remember.  But Deanna Anderson and I took the class.  It made two quilts, one with a dark center and one with a light center.  Of course, Deanna finished hers years ago.  I found mine when I was looking for another project and decided it had "aged" long enough for me to finish it. 

Next time I have a break in customer quilts to be quilted, I'll put mine on.  I still need to find a Hoffman Batik 1894 Midnight for the binding.  But I could use the medium blue color if worse comes to worse. 

Woohoo!!!! Another UFO bites the dust! 

I made this  small wall hanging in a Hollis Chatelain painting class ???? years ago in Houston.  So long ago I don't remember what we used, or how to do it.  Lots of good that class did me.

Don't know why it didn't photograph as vivid as it is, but it's out of my to-do pile.  All that is left is putting the sleeve on it.  The sleeve is made, just need to hand work. 

Guess we know what Rex's New Year's resolution might be.  He just can't figure out how to get his paws on the pedals and handles to make it work.