Happy Halloween!

This Halloween, I've been working on a crocheted blanket. It's not even half way finished and already weighs a ton. I want to have it ready to take to my Yukon cabin next summer.

Throwback Thursday; Snake Boogie

I didn't put the date on the label, so I don't remember when I made it, could be around 2000 or 2001. "Snake Boogie" was made from a free pattern on the internet. I can't think of the source to credit the designer. Thank you to whoever it was that created the pattern. This was a fun quilt to make, I kept it for myself because I didn't think anybody else would want it. :) It wouldn't be a good one to give to a small child because each snake has buttons sewn on for eyes. Now that I have new curtain rings, I don't have to use a series of different clamps tied on with twill tape to hold the quilts onto the pole when I photograph them. The rings look ok, so I don't have to crop them out of the picture.

Throwback Thursday; Scrapbag Bargello

I made "Scrapbag Bargello" in 2002 as an attempt to reduce my odds and ends of fabric. I was able to use some really ugly fabric in some of the strips. It's made from Bonnie Hunter's pattern "Scrappy Bargello", there are lots of free patterns on her Quiltville blog.

Trying Out Some "Scrappy Trips" Blocks

I wanted to try the "Scrappy Trips" pattern by Bonnie Hunter, so I made four blocks and laid them together to see what they looked like. It's a good way to use up 2 1/2" strips. Now I better set that aside for awhile so I can finish machine quilting something that I started a long time ago. I have a terrible time to discipline myself to only work on one project until it's completed.

Throwback Thursday; When Pigs Fly

This was a challenge hosted in 2002 by the local fabric store, the theme was "World Unity". We had to use a common fabric, which was the one with the flags. My quilt was "World Unity Will be Achieved When Pigs Fly". I figured that world unity is a nice idea, but will not likely happen. There are lots of embellishments, hand applique and embroidery. The bottom row is made up from leftover blocks from an ugly fabric/block exchange with Susan Getchell. The top row are leftover nine patch blocks from an internet swap.

Throwback Thursday; Finger Lick'n Good

I made this crazy quilt in 1998. At the time I had been collecting fabrics with chicken and rooster designs. I made several chicken themed quilts, but still have a Rubbermaid bin full of those kind of fabrics. Now I'm gradually using them up in scrap quilts and some aprons. One can only make so many chicken themed quilts. The reason I named this quilt "Finger Lick'n Good" is because there are chicken "parts" scattered here and there on the blocks. I was being silly and was imagining a torn apart chicken, maybe from road kill or a cat. Now this whole idea horrifies me because I've been a vegetarian for the past several years!

October Quilting Retreat, Day Three

For the last day of the quilting retreat I was working on a scrap quilt. The picture shows a vertical row, there will be sashing between each row. I haven't decided what colour of fabric to use for the sashing, I'll keep putting different fabrics along the pieced row and see what looks best.

Day Two of October Quilting Retreat

Today I got quite a bit of free motion quilting done on my "Corny Stars" quilt. This picture shows the reason why the quilt has that name.

October Quilting Retreat

This weekend our guild is having a quilting retreat. I got all ready to go this morning, hauled stuff out to my Jeep and drove to town. When I got to the hall where we're having the retreat, I realized I left my project at home. I went in, set up my machine and sewing area, then had to drive home to get the quilt- grrr! When I returned with the quilt, the power was out in the building. We had to wait more than two hours for it to come back on, we couldn't sew or use irons. Some people hand stitched bindings. When the power came back on, I started quilting my "Corny Stars" quilt. I hope to get most of it done this weekend. I'll also have to take a different project along so I'm not doing free motion quilting the entire time, my arms, shoulders and neck get too sore.

Throwback Thursday; The Poid (Toilet Monster)

In 1998 we had a challenge in our guild, the theme was "Memories of Childhood". A common fabric was picked and we had to use that fabric somewhere in the quilt. My memory of childhood was "The Poid", my name for the toilet monster. I thought a horrible creature would come out of the toilet when it was flushed, so I would wash my hands, then flush and run out the door as fast as I could. The words were hand appliquéd, using the required challenge fabric. The figures were made with crayons and paint. The border is pieced. I posted a photo of this one about five years ago, but the picture was not very clear, it looks a little better this time. When I put the quilt away, I'll have to fold it a different way, I noticed there are some fold lines on it. Maybe I should roll it instead.