Chatbug Karen

It is a good idea to sort through one’s “stuff” once in a while to see what “stuff” one has! I saw a cute flag wall hanging and thought about buying the kit. I held off and it was a good thing I did. I had the kit in my stash of things to do. I put it together yesterday.

Holy cow! I happened upon a website of a quilter who was part of an amazing project! I don’t know how the organizers of this project pulled it off. I have trouble getting my card group to decide on a place and date to meet for dinner. You would think I asked them to buy term life insurance! LOL

The author of Suzy’s Artsy Craftsy blog was inspired to participate in a project she found advertised in the back of a quilting magazine. Suzy told how Teresa Drummond was trying to organize the assembly of a quilt that represented each of the fifty states. Her plan was to find one person who lived in each state to commit to designing, piecing and sewing together a 12″ quilt block that represented their state.

Now, this would be quite an undertaking in itself. It didn’t stop there however. Teresa wanted each quilter create a total of 50 blocks of their own design. Then the blocks would be swapped so that each participant would receive 50 blocks.

To read about this fantastic undertaking, click on the photo of her beautiful quilt. Find out how the quilters designed blocks, put them together and even got together to meet as many of the quilters as possible. This sounds like so much fun! I definitely would have been an Indian and not a chief on a project of this magnitude.

Many of you know that I like to sew. I make purses and quilts. Well, I tried my hand at making a pillow. I have made pillows before but I can’t remember when I have ever put a ruffle on a pillow. The pattern called for a loooong piece of fabric gathered to make a very “ruffely” ruffle. That was where my frustration began. It was like trying to stuff my body into a size 2 pair of jeans! I also had trouble getting the pillow to look full. Unlike memory foam mattresses, the corners were flat. I think the problem was that the top was too big for the size pillow form I bought. I was afraid that the pillow form wouldn’t fit so I added inches to the project. I had to tear the whole thing apart and cut it down. Now that the pillow fits the form like a memory foam mattress topper, I think it looks a whole lot better.

What do you think?

I still want to buy some beads and decorate the squiggly vines coming out of the pumpkin.

There is a momentum of sorts, going on in the quilt world. Some have made it their mission to put quilt blocks on barns. Have you seen them? Eleanor Burns, the quilter with her own television show, has a book on the market with pictures of the many barns around the country that have been adorned with quilt blocks.

I decided that I would make my mom a wooden quilt block that she could hang on the side of her shed, which happens to be shaped like a barn.

With a few paint brushes, a box cutter, marking tape and paint, I created this.

What a difference a day makes! It was so cold yesterday that I thought we missed fall and went right into winter. Thank goodness the sun came out today and it was much more like fall. We mowed the yard and cut down some of the flowers that had dried up for this year. I emptied the bird feeders and put them away for the winter. I hope the birds have flown south.

As I promised, here is a picture of the table runner I made.

Closeup of the topper so you can see the fishing flies.

I am also making one for our house. After laying the unfinished topper on our coffee table, I thought it looked small. I decided to add borders. Adding borders after quilting the topper is a bit like using acne treatment after eating a greasy hamburger. It is difficult but I think it will be worth the extra effort.

Mom and I are always on the look out for new quilt shops. This was the plan when we found ourselves in Warsaw, Indiana. Warsaw is located in Northern Indiana along the historic Lincoln Highway. We found a nice quilt shop, Lowery’s, where we shopped til we dropped. I should say we shopped until we needed a snack. Our trips usually involve Dairy Queen or a search for Macadamian nut cookies. After our visit to the quilt shop, we decided to turn left and see where the road would take us. After traveling through an industrial part of town, we came to a fork in the road and turned right. We were pleasantly surprised to find a lovely reclaimed area. The shops had been restored to be quaint and inviting. We found the nicest little bakery where we bought lemon bars and coffee.

The sitting area of the bakery was so inviting that we settled into leather sofas and read the paper. I visited the restroom and was so intrigued with the decor that I took a picture! I am an odd duck, I admit it. Vessel sinks are awesome! I am always amazed when businesses decorate a bit above the par.

I looked up the history of this village and discovered that all the buildings had been moved as a way to save them and keep their historical value. I am so glad that someone made the effort. We sure enjoyed our visit.

Today was the day I planned to join the ladies of our quilt guild in a day of quilting. We were to bring our UFO’s, (unfinished objects), and hopefully finish some projects. There were to be instructors attending who could help us if we needed guidance. Well, I am not driving on ice so I won’t be going.

My husband, Lynn, had planned on attending the fly fishing show, Indiana on the Fly, in Indianapolis. He sure as heck won’t be driving on icy streets to get there. It is not worth the risk of someone sliding into our car or us going into a ditch. Today will be spent watching fishing shows on tv and making quilt tops.

Yesterday was a very productive day. I worked until noon in our store, dropped a few entrecards and gathered my sewing project to head over to my mom’s. While I dropped cards, I saw on my sister’s blog, The Sewing Mom, that she had already cast her vote for the presidential election. Well, that inspired me to do the same. I went to our courthouse and cast my vote. There were only 3 people ahead of me so the waiting time was very short. So, now it is done.

I spent all day and into the evening working on a baby quilt. You can see it on my Winding Threads blog. I have to have it finished by next Thursday.

I finished the quilt top that I made for our bed. (I was able to get the fabric I needed to finish it, Jules!)
I have to put the backing and batting with it and decide whether to hand quilt it, machine quilt it myself or hire someone to machine quilt it. I want to have my friend Sue machine quilt it but it would cost around $240 for her to do it. I probably have $200 invested in it already. Handmade quilts are an investment!

photo from Mickey Depre’s website

Last night, I attended quilt guild for this month. I almost didn’t go because I was tired but hubby convinced me that I needed to get out and have some fun so off I went. I am so glad I went. My neighbor picked me up and we got caught up on what has been happening with all of our quilting projects. She is retired and I am so jealous of the time she can commit to quilting and other sewing projects.

Mickey Depre was the speaker at our guild meeting. She is not your ordinary quilter. She has an imagination the allows her to see every day things and turn them into beautiful quilts. She is known for her dancing olive designs. They are so cute. Her work is beautiful and looks very intricate. The truth is that her quilts are very easy to make. She uses a technique that makes machine applique very easy and fun to do. I cannot wait to try out her ideas. I bought a pattern and a book with instructions and patterns in it. I am ready to get started!