I just finished Shea's quilt.................................

Joy ( the green quilt in the right hand margin) lives again!  I think I have told you that I have used the leftovers from this quilt to make other quilts and this is the 5th quilt made from the fabric bought for that quilt.  I made the original Joy quilt, a quilt similar to Shea's quilt  for Garrett (as a baby quilt), two quilts for the IQA Auction (2009, 2010) and now Shea's quilt.  I felt a little guilty about having so many leftover pieces from Joy, but I don't now!  Believe it or not, there is still some of the motifs in a bag.  I also used a lot of the leftover batik material for 4Birds.  I bought so much fabric for Joy---it had over 114 different fabrics, many of them fat quarters, so there was a lot of fabric left over.  Don't be surprised if I make some more "Joy leftover quilts".

I love the scallops.  Thanks, Dawn for the workshop.  It was easier than I ever imagined and I know I will make scallops again.  Shea,   you made a beautiful quilt!!!!  I'll get it to you as soon as I can.

Wow! have I been busy!

It just  seems that I get busier and busier........................therefore, not much blogging.  Monday I went to my scalloped edge workshop and my guild meeting.  I didn't leave the meeting until about 3:30.  I didn't realize it was that late, because the presentation on Amish quilts was so interesting. 

Tuesday I cooked all day.  I decided that I wanted to help Mamie and Rachel more.  Mamie is home schooling their kids and  Rachel is teaching at a preschool five days a week..  I made 2 TexMex Chicken and Rice Cassaroles, 2 Beef Stuffed Pasta Shells dishes with my homemade Marinara Sauce, a large pot of vegetable beef soup, and cut up and buttered 2 loaves of French Bread for them to put in their freezers.  I kept a small dish of each to put in my freezer for me..................cooking for yourself is no fun.

 On Wednesday I went to Rachel's to give Jilli a day at home.  We had a great time.  She wanted to swing, so we went to the park and she played on all the great fun equipment.  I also washed all of Rachel's dishes, we   met Mom at Subway for dinner, made a batch of rolls and some Pigs In the Blanket.  I also made mashed potatoes and green beans to go with Pigs for supper.  I froze 2 pans of rolls for Rachel and cut up and fried a huge round steak so she could use it for fajitas.  Garrett helped me with the rolls when he got home.  He had a great time with his rolls. He told me  to take them home and leave them outside for the coyotes to eat.  Funny

 Today I sat down and registered for the AQS Show at Paducah.  Mom and I will be going to a trunk show on 30's quilts, a lecture on an easy method for making NY Beauty blocks, and will be learning to make mitered squares and corners.   I am taking a workshop on drawing feathers.  We will be going to the Awards Ceremony, the National Quilt Museum..........................and of course, the quilt show.  I can hardly wait.  It is always so much fun.   Yes, we will also make ourselves go to Hancocks to shop for fabric.  If you haven't registered for the show and all the the wonderful happenings of quilt week......................do so, and soon, before classes fill up.

Jason also came in and we figured out how much fertilizer we are going to need this spring.  At noon I went to our community club dinner.  It is always great to share a meal with my neighbors.  Mamie was hostess and she made her wonderful Lasagna..............it is to die for!  I had to get some prescriptions filled, so I ran to Columbia, went to the books store for some R and R and then to Aldis for a few groceries.  I am finally home.   Hopefully tomorrow will be a day at home.    Maybe I can do some serious blogging tomorrow.

Yesterday was BTQG meeting...............

and the scalloped edge workshop with Dawn Heese.  The workshop was great and I'm so glad I took it.  Dawn did a great job of teaching.  Shea's little quilt is really cute and I think she will like it.  To find out more about Dawn, her work, and the classes she teaches go to http://dawnheesequilts.blogspot.com/.

Here's a sneak peek of my scallops I started putting on Shea's quilt.  She chose the fabric for the binding and I think it is a good choice.  I was thinking of black and white, but the pink is really pretty.

Yesterday our speaker at Booneslick Trail Quilters Guild was our very own Bettina Havig.  Her presentation was on Amish Quilts and it was outstanding.  She has personal friendships with some of the Amish women near Clark, MO and she really put a personal face on Amish quilting and the community itself.  She showed slides of Amish quilts, dispelled some myths about Amish quilts, told stories of her relationship with the women at Clark, and showed some of her own Amish quilts.  I was so sad that I forgot my camera---usually I have it with me, but I guess I took it out of the car and didn't remember doing so.  To learn more about Bettina Havig, you may go to her website, http://bettinahavig.com/.  She is a quiltmaker, historian, lecturer, teacher and author. She is a wonderful resource person for the quilting community!

I just wanted to let you in on what my Mom gave me for Christmas.  Love it!!!

Such a Beautiful Day!

Even though it was cold today, the sun was shining brightly and the snow was melting off the roofs of the farm buildings.  We had frost on all the trees and I got this picture of a branch against one of our machine sheds.  Simply beautiful!

I hadn't turned on my sewing machine since I finished my little Amish Flying Geese quilt earlier this month, so when I sat down to do some sewing it was so nice..............I really miss sewing when I set it aside for awhile.  I put borders on this little quilt and made a backing for it.  Shea "made" this several years ago.  AGAIN...................I used some leftovers from my Joy quilt.  She took the leftover pieces that were already backed with wonder under and ironed them onto the pink background fabric.  She had a great time doing it....in fact, she worked on it numerous times to get it in it's present random pattern.  I'm ashamed I haven't finished it for her, but it has come in handy.  Dawn Heese will be giving a workshop at our Guild next Monday, teaching us how to make scalloped edges on quilts.  I think this would look nice with a scalloped edge.  I need to quilt it this week, so it will be ready for the workshop.  She will be excited to get it done. I am anxious to get started on it because I want to try a new machine quilting pattern.  I need to spread my wings and learn something new.

Shea's quilt

Closeup of Shea's design

Shea's First Quilt

Three years ago, Shea started her first quilt.  She went through some scraps that Mamaw Smith had sent to me and found some orphan blocks and other fabrics that interested her.  She also got 2 of my orphan blocks and some of my fabric and layered them onto a background.  She used some of the decorative stitches on my machine and made a beautiful quilt.  I put it all on a piece of fabric , sandwiched it, and quilted it.  It is really cute.  Everytime I see it I have to smile.  I entered it into our quilt guild show and she felt very special.  Even at 6 years of age, she could make a quilt.  Children just need the opportunity to create and the freedom to express themselves.  It's amazing what they can do.