Quilt Show!

I talked my cousins, Pam and Susie, into going to the Rooster Creek Quilt Show in Holt's Summit last week.   I didn't have to talk too hard to get them to go.  I'd never been to this show before, but was hungry to see some quilts and get some inspiration.

There were many quilts, some well done, some not so much.  But it was definitely fun to see.

Here are some that I took photos of..........

I had never seen a Monopoly board as a quilt before........Fun! 

And someone has been "canning" this summer!

And this was a cute row by row, or row along quilt.

This one appealed to my traditional side.

And the quilting was especially nice on this one.

I liked the quilting on this one too.

This was a Dream Big panel..........actually, more than one panel put together.  I have watched videos of people quilting these, so it was fun to see one in person.

This Halloween quilt was very fun as well.

The Duke was popular as he showed up in more than one quilt.  This was the one I liked best.

And a one block wonder quilt done with the same butterfly panel I quilted for my mom a couple of years ago.

Some brightly pieced butterflies.  I liked how this was set with some plants as part of the blocks.

And this quilt was all thread painting and coloring.  

This was my choice for favorite pieced quilt as you will see from all the photos I have of it.  There were just so many little details in it.

The cat sleeping in the tree and the barn quilt with quilts hanging out on the line......

The cats roasting their "fish"mallows.............

And the cats in the pumpkin were adorable as well.  

It was such a fun day.  We went to the local quilt shop, one I hadn't been to before and then had a late lunch that was delicious.  I was tired when I got home, but still managed to come up with something creative for supper (see, all the quilt inspiration paid off)..........pulled pork nachos with grilled corn and red onion, bbq sauce for salsa, cheese, and sour cream.............delicious!

My cohorts have already asked when the next quilt show is and I know of one in Columbia in September, so we'll probably check it out.  It's also Pam's birthday, so I'll be buying her lunch that day!

Christi

Racing to the Finish Line

 I am getting so close to having all my UFO's and even recent starts completed.  I was able to get 2 quilts to the flimsy stage this week even though I had lots of extra "help".  I wasn't sure Esme was going to relinquish this last border.

I finally managed to get her off of it so that it could be added to this quilt called Stars for Carter.  All of the fabrics were part of my $6 bag from an estate sale in St. Charles.  This wasn't even all of the fabric.  Much of it has been gifted to my mom including the scraps from this quilt.  

I even got the backing and binding made for it.  It's hanging in the TBQ closet.  The sewing room seemed to be the "safe place" for everyone this week.  Even Willow sought refuge from the heat outside and from all the noise David was making in the basement installing new flooring.  Cici and Esme were not amused to have her invasion into the sewing room.  I had to be careful where I stepped as she tends to blend into the floor.

Esme was finally able to relax even though Willow was present.

Cici hid in her spot close to the longarm.  Willow doesn't like the longarm because it can make a lot of noise.

And this rainbow scrap quilt is finally a finished flimsy.  It's pressed and hanging in the TBQ closet.  I still need to get the binding and backing together for it.  It's the last of the items on my UFO list to get to the flimsy stage.  I only have 2 left to quilt.

I have to say there are quite a lot of empty project boxes going back into the closet.  I'm going to need to start some things soon!

Christi

Butterflies!

More butterflies have joined the rabble!  Did you know that a group of butterflies are known as a rabble, or a flutter, or a flight, or a kaleidoscope?  So I am now up to 5.  The colors were all chosen from my batik scrap bin.  I'm not sure if there will be more or not.  I have moved on to other things....

like bird houses!  I made this quilt from parts of a panel I picked up at a garage sale (the remainder of the panel has been gifted to my Aunt Judy).  The rest is entirely from my scrap bin.  

And remember that snowman block that was trimmed a quarter inch too small?  Well, I now have a cute snowman pillow.

I was planning to enter both of these items in the state fair (birdhouse category and snowman category).  Entries are due next week, and I spent some time today going through the list of categories and the items I have completed this year - or have almost completed - I got 16 items listed correctly on the online entry form, but could never get it to accept my credit card entry payment.  I even called the state fair entry office.  The girl was less than helpful and finally told me I was the only person experiencing this difficulty.  So, I decided to punt the project all together.  Upon conferring with my DH about the amount of time I had already spent just trying to enter, and then the waiting in line to enter items and waiting in line to pick things up, and his comment about how poorly everything is displayed each year, I decided time could be better spent just enjoying working on my projects.  Once the decision was made, it sort of lifted the pressure of trying to finish some things quickly.  Cici thought it was an excellent idea as well and showed her support by lounging in the window seat.

We should all be so relaxed!

Christi

 

Flutterby!

 Our new block lotto block to be working on is a butterfly!  We are hoping to have a kaleidoscope of butterflies at the next guild meeting.  I have 3 more completed to add to these.  I just picked through my batik scrap bin and the black background came from a strip of leftover black binding that was still lying on the cutting table (see, it pays to not put things away!).

And I managed another finish before the meeting on Tuesday............Cats in Space #2 is complete (note the black binding, ergo the scrap above!).  Yes, it was still smoking as I finished binding just after 5 pm.

And I have decided that maybe my wardrobe needs some updating.............

I stopped by my friend, Tiffany's to order some new shirts.  The Harry Potter ones are going to be for Sarah for her birthday but I got them for myself as well.  Do you think she will mind matching with her mom?

We picked blackberries in the rain Tuesday morning.  I could not have been wetter if I had jumped in the lake!  At least the moisture dripping from us wasn't sweat.  It did put a chill in me (imagine, in July!) so sitting in the recliner under a quilt to bind all afternoon was kinda nice!

Tried a new recipe from pinterest last night.  Mini mashed potato puffs.  Yes, I made mashed potatoes in the afternoon for the sole purpose of having them to make these.  I thought if I made these cute little minis we wouldn't eat so many at a time and the recipe said they freeze well.  

Well, freezing won't work.  It made 2 pans, but David went through almost one pan last night.  They were that good.  We had them with steak and sweet corn.  The rest will probably be consumed tonight with some pineapple brauts and more sweet corn.

Have an awesome day!

Christi

Finishes!!!!!

Woo Hoo!!! Get ready for some Ta-Dahs!!!  I spent a good portion of the afternoon and evening (after my nap) yesterday hand binding.  

The three lady bugs are all finished just in time to really enjoy the summer.

And remember this?  That lovely space-themed quilted keyboard cover???  Well, we couldn't waste those cutoff corners...........

Slap some leftover binding strips from lady bugs on them and you have coasters!  

And there were a couple of UFO finishes..............

Last year's Criss Cross Kisses quilt 

yielded the scraps for this.  The blocks finish at 2.25" and the little squares in the nine patch blocks finish at .75".  

And the Mr. Snow SAL is finished!  So happy to have this one completed and that the embroidery didn't take me 10 years to do like the barn quilts did.

 So for those who are counting, that leaves just 3 UFO's out of my original list of 22 for 2024 to finish!  One of those is ready for binding, one is ready for quilting, and one has all the blocks made but still needs to be put together.  Not bad for the first half of the year.

There is a quilt guild meeting tomorrow evening, so I will definitely have something for show and tell.

Christi

More Quilting

I put away the patriotic table runner and decorations and put out this summer runner and a couple of the sunflowers I made from canning jar lids and rings.  

Cats in Space made it to the longarm and got quilted.  It's still hanging out there but will get removed tomorrow.  I still need to shop for something for binding for this one.

I also laid out the pieces for my birdhouse quilt.  

That was when I realized that I was missing a few pieces so Esme supervised the cutting of 4 more pieces.  I got a little of it together.

I need to spend quite a lot of time binding things now.  

Christi



 

Kitty Hangover

I don't know what Esme did all night last night, but she wasn't sleeping on the foot of the bed.  Whatever it was, she was incredibly tired this morning!  

It took awhile for her to get up and face the day.  It was all I could do to coax her into the sewing room.  Normally she's trying to herd me there.  I did finish the snowman quilt but not before I discovered the bobbin thread was all tangled on one of the blocks and needed to be ripped out and redone.  And since there was still room left on the backing fabric, I threw the last lady bug on there for quilting.  

I even got them all trimmed and the bindings machine sewn on before we left for a cookout and fireworks celebration this evening.  Now there will be lots of hand binding to do. 

Maybe more sewing will happen tomorrow!  I think there are enough leftovers that I won't need to do much cooking, but there is a little cleaning that needs to happen.  We'll see what the day brings.

TTFN,

Christi