Moving right along

Getting ready to go again

It seems I just got back from visiting family in Ohio. Here is it time to leave again for the American Quilt Study Group seminar being held in San Jose, CA. starting the end of this week. I am really looking forward to it. I always learn so many new things about quilts and their makers. It is a great time to renew acquaintances of other like-minded folks. This year the endowment fund committee for AQSG asked if anyone would make some little 4" blocks for little quilts. I made three which you can see in the picture. I am dying to see how they use all the little blocks in the miniature quilts. After the AQSG seminar, I will be staying with my sister, Carol and DBIL, Barrie, and purse-puppy, Pepper. She and I will get lots of sister talk in, besides lots of laughter and maybe quilt fabric shopping! I know, I know, I don't need to do that! But you see, I have an excuse that I might find something cute for my Mexican sewing class!

While in Ohio, I stayed for a bit with my DD and her family. Casey, the 14 yo was confirmed in their church on Sept. 13. You see her in the dress which she picked out with her little heels. Her hair isn't fixed or anything, but you get the general idea. She wore a white robe over her black. There was a lovely buffet luncheon which her mother and I prepared for the host of family members, who came to the event. It was perfect weather so we could eat outside too. Her dress is getting double duty, as she was just asked for a date to Homecoming at Central High where she attends. She is so grown up! Where have the years gone? Sorry, I forgot to turn her image so you would see her properly! Duh!

My other grand-daughter Lauren 12, and I worked on a cute craft which is a Styrofoam ball covered in felt and then covered with flowers which were stick pinned all over the balls. They were hung from the ceiling with ribbon. The idea was an original from P0ttery Barn Kids. They really did turn out so cute.

My Mexican girls are turning out some wonderful string quilts! I am so proud of them. They will finish them while I am gone. The next quilts we are going to try are rag quilts since they are kind of fun to make. I am sure they will come up with some wonderful color combinations with just the leftover fabrics others have given us. Eloise and Elva, my wonderful helpers and I have donated lots from our stashes as well. They don't have the stash that I do, but not many people do! That is why I am so delighted to be able to share it with these enthusiastic quilters. They are so fun! Slowly I am learning Spanish too. I hope to get Rosetta Stone for Christmas so I can really learn. Elva is my wonderful translator now. This picture is one of the colorful tops a gal has made. Borders are on, the quilts are quilted so they can do the binding and sew on labels.

Almost Fall

Time has just flown by this summer. What with a little company, teaching the Mexican gals to quilt, keeping up with house and cooking, and squeezing in a little quilting for myself, the months has passed very quickly. In my first picture you will see the Christmas quilt that my friend and I each made recently. Mine is ready for the quilters. My friend, Karen and I have often made exact or almost exact quilts together. We have similar tastes obviously.
I can't believe I don't have a picture of the 5 and dime quilts that the girls made for their second quilts. I have one I will get a picture of as the gal isn't here to finish it. I am sure she would love to have it pictured.
The girls are on their third quilt now, which is a string quilt. Cathy, another friend gave us a bag of strings leftover from binding she had put on quilts for others. She is a long-armer and often applies the binding as part of her business. As you can see the string quilts are striking! The gals are going to finish them up soon and then learn to do their own quilting. They can either do ditch quilting or 1/4" straight line quilting. As clever as they are, I wouldn't be surprised that there is a good free motion quilter in the group. That will come in time. In the one picture Maria is deciding on placement of her blocks. Lupe is holding her quilt up as she was the first to get her borders on. Sister Saundra looks happy as she makes her blocks. Isn't Isiah the cutest? He is doing his homework from first day of first grade. He works quietly while his mom sews! I will post more pictures soon.

New Adventures

Looked at the date of my previous blog and couldn't believe how the time flys. Especially, when you are having fun, right? I just sort of fell into a wonderful adventure thanks to my friend Elva. She is bilingual and speaks fluent Spanish. She teaches English to Mexican folks who work and live in this area. She was telling me that she saw the Mexican nun, Sister Saundra, sewing costumes with some of the ladies of the church for a Passion Play that was presented at Easter. I asked if she felt there would be ladies who would want to learn to quilt. You guessed it, there were! So about 4 or 5 Mondays ago I met with Sister Saundra and the ladies from St. Cyprian's parish. With Elva's patience, we got the gals started on a simple 6 1/2" square comforter. They were 6x8 , so they weren't real big, but they understood how they could make larger sizes. I took pictures of the comforters and everyone was so proud! I am so delighted with the gals. They are all so dear. Many know English words. I am learning (slowly) a few Spanish words! What fun! Elva and Eloise another friend of ours, helped me to make kits for the gals second project. We are using an easy pattern and the quilts will end up being about 43"x60". Just to show you how wonderful the Internet is, I called upon my friends in Cyberspace to help me find a quilting book in Spanish. I thought no one would answer my request. But low and behold, a friend from North Dakota, posted an address almost immediately! Wow! The books were on sale for $1.99 each! What a bargain! So I got a bunch! The girls love them. They are by Alex Anderson and are soft back, with lots of how-to pictures and several easy projects in color. Their homework is to read that book and use it for reference. There is so much information that I am unable to give them in detail, so this book is a Godsend. In these pictures below, Elva is in the far left, then Betty, Maria, Lucy, then Sister Saundra. In the picture above right is Eloise, Angelica, Laura, Lucia, me, Luciero and Elva again.

Catching up

Spring is such a busy time! Trying to get plants in, getting the pool ready, a few short-term guests, and keeping up with everyday business, leaves little time to do lots of quilting. In early June, I am having the board of our ladies singing group here for an all day work session, which means I will provide lunch. Oh, what to serve? Well, I have a little time to worry about that.
I had to show you a picture of our funny dog, Duffy. He is a toffee colored Yellow Lab. He got so hot funny running after his tennis ball, he got overheated so he went to the pool and sat his body on the first step in order to cool down. He stayed there about 15 minutes until he was sufficiently cooled. I had to snap a picture of his pose in the pool. I also included a picture of my upside down tomato plant which my DH's cousin, Jay gave me for my birthday! I am so proud I have 3 tomatoes formed and more blossoms. I haven't grown tomatoes in years! My organic gardening mother is looking down and smiling upon me! Also my hydrangeas are starting to bloom in the yard. I love blue flowers so am so in love with these. During a rainstorm last evening, my DH, Brian, and I planted some plants around the pool area. We got drenched but the plants got watered in without being exposed to our usual scorching sun. Rained all night too.
I posted two pictures of a quilt called "Lady Fingers" by Cozy Quilt Designs. My friend, Vickie made one, so I thought I would try it. It called for a package of layer cake sqs. I had never bought one so I bought one online of the Kashmir group. I used some pale aqua and pale pink batiks for my two borders. I like it pretty well. I have to admit that it is a departure from all the brights I usually work with. Off to the quilters it goes!

Hello again

After a short spell I am returning to my blog. It seems I have had a few health issues and those came first. I am feeling better and was able to resume my pool exercises with Cathy, my trainer. She has been wonderful for me, keeping me mobile so I don't get all frozen with arthritis.


Got the binding on my one Kaffe quilt, that was shown several blogs ago. The back is so pretty, as I used an allover Kaffe print for it. I am finishing up my "Big Birds" quilt. I have misplaced my pattern in my messy sewing studio, so have to depend on Vickie to help me out in order to finish it. She is making one too along with me, except she is in Ohio and I am here in SC!


The charity quilt my quilt guild made is finished and I didn't get a picture of it after it was all finished. Maybe I can get a picture of it from one of the other guild members. The auction event is today, but we are getting a friend in from Ohio so I am staying home.


I had to insert a picture of my blooming snap dragons. I planted them last fall and they are blooming their little heads off! I loved the coral color when I purchased them and knew they would make the front of our house sparkle. Now is the time to plant lots more plants around the house. I love it when the garden centers are full of gorgeous plants to add color and texture to our yards. Times like this is when I wish my sister, Carol (a horticulturist) were here to tell me what to plant where. She really has the eye for plantings. She and her DH live in CA.

My big singing concerts are over for now. The last one was last Sunday when we gave a free concert of all patriotic songs to the public complete with apple pies(a gift from McD's) for everyone! It was so fun and the audience loved it. I will continue to sing in our church choir during the summer. We have no scheduled rehearsals though which is nice. We sing stuff we know well already.

The Oriental quilt I made a while ago and was a shop model. I didn't have a chance to get it quilted until recently. Cathy quilted it so neat with some kind of Chinese words or something in the center. You can see it in the one picture.

My friend Vickie "tagged" me. From what I have read I am suppose to reveal 7 random things about myself. Here goes: 1. I love dogs. Cats are nice too, but I really can "talk" to dogs. 2. I love to sing. I love sacred music but have been know to sing everything from "Jack and Jill went up the hill" to "California Dreamin". 3. I am always battling my weight. One of these days I will win! 4. I love to read, mostly fiction from Ken Follett to Nora Roberts 5. I love to cook and bake but with no big appetites around anymore, I dare not get carried away 6. I am still friends with MY FIRST TRUE Friend, Carolyn, who I met in kindergarten. What a dear person she is. She Lives in MN. and I love her like well, a dear old friend! 7. I married the first time too young. It took me more than 30 years to finally grow up, finish college, and make a major change in my life. So now I will tag my friend Karen Passionatequilter.blogspot.com


Below are the pictures of my Big Birdies Quilt all finished and ready for the quilter. The other photo shows the polka dot backing and the binding which is the diagonal print. Both of these fabrics are part of the collection. I think it will be pretty darn cute when completed. I promise I will do a better job keeping up my blog. Happy Spring!

Almost Easter

I hope it is getting to be spring everywhere now. We had a cold spell, rather unusual for this area. Hopefully, it will be warm from now one.
My friend Vickie and her family are here from Ohio visiting. We managed to grab some time and get our nails prettied for the sandal season. Looks so much better! We also got to a local shop and got some same fabric for a big birdie quilt. No, not Big Bird, a folk type bird. There is a picture of the fabrics we are doing it in. You will also see in several photos the "Dressed to the Nines" wall hanging I am doing. I got the check border fabric you see in the photo several years ago, knowing a perfect pattern would come along that I could use it for. I will post another picture when it is either almost completed or complete. It will be just a happy little quilt for me!
I also posted a picture of another quilt in my antique quilt collection. It is so spring-like in sunny yellow and green. It needs just a little TLC which I will do with wet cleaning. You guessed correctly if you think it is probably circa 1930s. It has PA origins. I still have to research it as it might be a kit quilt or one from a newspaper. Oh, also I included a picture of a package of fabric strips from Moda. I guess you would consider them odds and ends. They have some selvages on some. Some are from a specific collection too. They are a real nice bargain if your shop carries them. They come in a little brown bag. Great for scrappy and strip quilts. My printer which has my photo loading capacity is going in for servicing so who knows how long I will be without pictures on my blog. Perhaps I will learn another way to get pictures up? Have a wonderful Easter, dear friends.

Almost Easter

It is almost Easter and for almost everyone around the country that means "Spring is Here!"

SC is to have a cool weather snap tonight and then it should be warm, warm, warm. Some of my friends are going to Paducah this year. I went last year and took the appraisal classes from Gerald Roy and Bobbie Aug. Some from that class are ready to take the exam to become Cerfitied Appraisers, but I am not near ready. I need a bit more experience and will take the classes one more time in order to be sure I know my stuff.

My friend, Vickie is here from Ohio, visiting with her family for spring break. She and I managed to do some damage at a local quilt shop. We decided to each make a very cute big birdie quilt. No, not like Big Bird, but a cute folk art birdie. I will show some WIP pictures as we get going on it. I am including a picture of a pretty, springy quilt which I purchased last summer. It is a vintage 30s quilt coming from PA. A couple was selling it as they no longer wished to care for it and weren't planning on handing it down. Even though the quilt is not my colors, I still love these quilts because of the quality hand quilting, which I no longer can do. Isn't it perfect for spring?

Azaleas and Company

After a nice rain yesterday, it looks like it has brought out the azaleas in my yard. I love them so, I wish they bloomed a second or third time in the year.
My week has been busy in that I have had a 7 year old here along with my MIL. She and her DH are raising this girl. Rachel can be nice but also a real handful and I am not use to little kids day in and day out. Now, MY grand-daughters were much easier to deal with at that age! HA! Spoken like a true grandma, right? I did have Rachel make a cute cupcake pincushion, like I had my grand-daughters make when I was visiting them a month ago. Rachel loves my sewing studio and always has a million questions. "Aunt Marilyn, how does this machine go? Can we cut fabric? Can I have some of that fabric?" Well, you get the idea! I have been giving her scraps of fabric for a year or so. This way she thinks she has a stash too! I did make my MIL a cute big water cooler bottle cover. I made a plain one for our water cooler bottle which sits in our kitchen. We find that if we fill our own bottles with good water that it cuts down on plastic. I just wash the 12 or 16 oz bottles out and refill them from the water cooler. It really encourages us to drink more water.
My quilt gals came yesterday to work some more on the charity quilt to get it ready for the auction in May. It is coming along nicely. I really didn't get much quilting done for myself with the company here, but did get a Serendipity Singers newsletter published a passed out at practice Thursday. Serendipity Singers is a group of gals who love to sing. We are giving a free performance in April. It should be really good. We have practiced since January. We give 2 performances a year and keep trying to make them free although it does take over a $1000. per performance. Yes, we try to raise that much ourselves, with sponsors and donations.
My quilter friend, Cathy got my one Kaffe Fasset quilt quilted, but I haven't finished the edges yet. Hope to do that this weekend. The quilting looks so good.

Spring is here! I think?

Well, it is really a pretty day here in SC. The spring flowers are blooming, the pear trees are blooming too. I have even seen quite a few azaleas. Let's hope it sticks around and the cold fronts have gone somewhere else.

I am presenting an antique quilt top that I wet cleaned, conserved, and completed for a friend who is giving it to her daughter as a shower/wedding gift. I hope she will like what I have done with the top. I have a picture of the label on it. I made a custom pillow case/storage bag that you can see by the label. The front of the quilt was in my previous blog, basically a 9 patch made of all different kinds of fabrics, typical of the 30s era.

My guild gals are returning here tomorrow to finish up the quilt that we are giving to be auctioned off this spring. You can get an idea of it as it is in my previous blog too. Hopefully, I will sent a picture of it completely done tomorrow!

I think I take the prize (if there is such a thing) for not only the most UFOs but some of the oldest! I pulled out a half completed I Spy quilt that I started 10 years ago! Most of you have probably made 5 of these quilts by now! I will have to reveal some of my other "old timers" to you when I gather the courage!

You all will think I am totally daft for putting a picture of shoes on my blog. But this picture is for my sister, Carole, who lives in CA. She and I are always trying to find wonderfully comfortable shoes. Well, my daughter, Carolyn, who works in the fashion industry, has learned from her own experience that good shoes at any age are the way to go. I can't tell you how I abused my feet when I was younger with stiletto heels and dumb things like wearing flip flogs when I was pregnant out to huge. Consequently I have had lots of problems. When I was with my daughter recently in Ohio, we went to the Walking Store. I got a pair of Dansko shoes just like hers which were so cute! She got black patent and I got navy patent. Then we spotted quilted shoes!!WoW those must be good! She she and I got matching quilted shoes by (I think) Mephisto. Yes, both of these shoes are a bit pricey but they are heavenly and will get much wear. The Danskos are worn by lots of doctors and nurses as they are so comfy and have the closed back so they are permitted in the hospitals. So Sis, check out our new shoes!

Keeping Busy

After a long time, I am getting back to my blog. I took a little tumble down a flight of stairs and fortunately didn't break a thing. But I hurt my back where I bounced on the stair treads. My black eye is about gone and the rug burns are healing. I have learned my lesson to never walk anywhere in the dark!

On Tues. I hosted my little guild group here to work on a darling quilt for a charity auction being held in May. We will have it done well before that. I might send a picture of it on the design wall but it is just a rough layout of it. At least you will get a general idea of it. I will post when it is completed which should be next week.
My dear friend Karen and I worked on a quilt which we started several years ago. We often do the same thing as our tastes are so similar. She got one of her blocks completed and posted it on her blog. The reaction of some who saw it was that our color choices were too close in value, and the alternating large blocks weren't right. So who knows what we will do next.

I have finished wet cleaning, conserving, bordering and binding a quilt for a friend who is presenting it to her engaged daughter. The top is circa 1930 and is an example of how women then used whatever they had to create quilts for their families to use. So there are lots of different weights and types of fabrics in the top. A friend, Cathy has a long arm and I asked her to quilt it in Baptist fan pattern as that is the faith of the family! Another friend Velma, made a wonderful embroidered label for the back with the history of the quilt etc. I really love to see old quilts preserved for continued love and admiration.

This is a picture of a new acquisition of an older quilt from the circa 1920-30s. I really love it on my wall so I can view it often during the day. It is on an interior wall which never gets any direct light.

Super sewing with my friend

I have been sewing for 4 and 1/2 day with my friend Karen in Ohio. On Sat. we got to meet with 2 other friends ( quilters of course) for lunch and an after noon of quilt talk and sharing. How great to meet up with gals you love but don't get to see often enough. Needless to say, it is so stimulating to see and hear all they are making as well as catching up on their family news. So good to see you Vickie and Carol. Thanks so much for your hospitality, Vickie.
Vickie and Carol chose for me, some gorgeous Kaffe Fasset fabrics from a super shop in Wooster, Ohio. The sale was still going on at the shop and it was a REAL sale. Everything in the shop was 1/2 off! Karen and I decided to go over to Wooster and partake some more of the bargains! Woo HOO! Since then, Karen and I have made 2 quilt tops. The pictures are here for you to see. We first made little wall hangings which are so cute. We each put our favorite color of maverick petals on the large bloom. The pattern didn't show that, but we each did our own color just for something different. On Sat. while Karen was teaching some classes, I made a darling bucket bag in multi spring colors. Can't till I go back to SC where I live, and it is already spring.

I'm about old and new quilts

I am a newbie at this. My dear friend, Karen, helped me start this blog. I will be happy to share with you my adventures in quilting , both old and new quilts, which I love equally. Most of my time is spent now in creating new quilts, but studying all aspects of old quilts too. Recently, my friend, Karen, hooked me up with a few "new"old quilts for my collection. I don't have much provenance about them, but I have a great appreciation for them and the ladies who worked so tirelessly on them. I will try to show old quilts from my collection and share my new quilts and ideas with you.