Super Talented Quilters

Last Saturday 4 of my Chicken friends joined me at the Oakland County Quilt Guild's bi-annual show in Lake Orion.  Amazing quilts awaited us as well as some great vendors.  Can't go wrong with that combination.

Here are a few of the quilts I admired most.  Make sure you click on the photos so you can see the detail.

First up is a quilt made by Judy Kleeves of Holly, MI ~~

And a close up of the corner block ~~

Next up is one that Diane liked, made by Lucy Kohler of Commerce Twp, using Gwen Marston's techniques ~~

And a close up of the wonky stars ~~

Here's one that Sue liked that was a painted whole cloth quilt made by Carol Tamasiunas of White Lake ~~

I found myself mesmerized by this beauty made by Darlene Garstecki of Hot Springs Village, AR ~~

Her techniques were amazing -- the threadwork was stellar.  The tree was made from chenille fabric.  I could have stared at this piece all day.

Here's another applique quilt (I seemed to be drawn to them), made by Jan Jump of Maryville, TN ~~

It was her first attempt at machine applique -- nice job, eh?

And finally for tonight, one last applique quilt, this one made by Emmy Helland of Rochester Hills ~~

I loved her work!

Now, I have so many more quilt show photos to share but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  I need to get to bed -- too darned tired lately.  Hope you had a great day -- it was a beautiful one around here.

Knitting Guild Night

Tonight was our next-to-last meeting of the year for the Black Sheep Knitting Guild.  The big reveal -- our Sneaky Sheep Swap exchange.  37 members participated in the swap -- phew!!

Without further ado -- here is the item I made for my friend Harriet ~~

Even the side looks nice ~~

Pay no attention to my leg steadying the pillow.  I love the mattress stitch for seaming.

I used a little over 2 skeins of Berroco Vintage Wool, which is machine washable, 5 brass buttons, and an 8 x 16 down pillow for the squishy-ness.  I really enjoyed the cabling and once I got going it wasn't hard to keep track of the stitches.

I would definitely make another pillow using this pattern.  In fact, I think I'll be cranking out some hats using this pattern, maybe skipping the 8 stitch cable though.

Harriet seemed to be pleased with her pillow and I hope she will get many years of use from it.

I received a fabulous sewn bag, travel mug and box of Assam tea from Sarah, who had drawn my name and given me the perfect gift in the super cute frog bag.  I'd had been thinking of getting a new travel mug last Saturday but resisted -- intuition again?

There were so many wonderful things made and exchanged tonight.  Here are a few:

from Dawn to Linda:

Sam the Ram from Harriet to Tanya:

a tablerunner for Sue from Kelley:

a cat bed for Barb from ??? (more help needed):

And a bag with Margarita mix for Rita from Adina:

Tonight's meeting was so much fun!  I can't believe how many people said they stressed over what to make their swap participant.  Maybe it was because I know Harriet so well, I don't know, but I loved every minute of my process.  I love how we knit together every week and she never knew I had her name.

I brought home more charity yarn (ewwwww -- acrylic) and will knit on that over the summer.  It will become a hat and/or scarf for the South Oakland Shelter and I'm sure when it gets really cold, someone will appreciate having it.

Knitting with acrylic yarn makes me love wool that much more........

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!!

Can you see the grin on my face??  I finished my taxes today and e-filed them too.  Now I just have to sit back and wait for my refunds.  Nothing substantial but should help pay for a new hot water heater.  I know, I'm always saying I'm buying a hot water heater but this time I AM.  Something tells me the one I have won't last much longer.  Intuition?  Maybe.

Being a Grownup

Sometimes being a grown up is a good thing.  Spending the money you earn the way you want to.  Eating the food you like to eat.  Drinking adult beverages like Limoncello -- yummo.

But sometimes being a grown up is not so much fun.  Like when you have to pay respects at a funeral home, like I did today.  Or preparing a Treasurer's report, like I did today.  Or getting your taxes filed, which I did not get done today.

Sometimes I focus on the things I did not accomplish in a day instead of adding up all the things I did get done during the day. 

1. I vacuumed the floors 
2. Got the laundry done, including the kitchen table linens (ewwww from weeks of Kevin studying there -- is it me or have you noticed that men cannot see dirt??)
3. Cleaned the bathroom 
4. Tidied my bedroom
5. Nearly finished knitting another hat 
6. Inspected the five coats I bought Friday night at the Salvation Army.  Can you say 'bargain'??? -- five wool coats for $22.53!!! 

Doing my taxes is a major task -- only 4 more days until the filing deadline -- it's looking more and more like Wednesday is the day to work on them.  Having my own business complicates my taxes and takes what should be an hour-long task and turns it into sweating, cussing, more sweating, more cussing, exasperation, followed by satisfaction when they are finally done.  Kind of like birthing a child every year at the same time of the year.  Isn't that a terrible thought?!

I've got a busy week ahead -- Monday Quilt Guild Board Meeting, Tuesday Knitting Guild Meeting (including the much anticipated Sneaky Sheep Swap exchange -- photos available on Tuesday, and not a second before then!), shopping at Costco for Torch Lake getaway items, Friday -- leave for Torch Lake -- woohoo!

I'm so ready to get away.  I would be happy going any where but Torch Lake is especially fun because it's with my quilting friends.  Even if I get chastised for knitting more than quilting - I love them any way.

So tonight I'm being a grown up and tossing back a glass of Limoncello in honor of John Bush -- brain cancer took someone way too young and vibrant to leave this earth.  May his soul rest in peace and may his family's sorrow be eased as they recall all the good times their family has had.

Guild Photos 2.0

There were so many wonderful quilts displayed at Thursday's meeting by guild member during Show n Tell.  I hope you enjoy seeing a few of them.

First up was Joyce's Minky quilt for her granddaughter's first birthday ~~

Feels great but not an easy fabric to work with according to Joyce.  Next is her Thimbleberries quilt made for her daughter ~~

This Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt was started by Diane several years ago.  Many of her friends contributed blocks (even me!) and she hand quilted it, mostly while she was up north at Torch Lake during the summers. 

Here are a couple of the blocks close up ~~

This quilt was made by one of our newer members and she talked about using the Cricut machine to cut many of the pieces ~~

Another great piece was crafted by a guild member who had taken a workshop at a quilting retreat ~~

Cathy made this beautiful quilt from fabrics she had purchased while in Paris one summer ~~

The next quilt was brought to the meeting by Patty.  Her neighbor had her come over to see this 'interesting old quilt' that he had in his possession.  It weighed about 20 pounds!  It was made around 1920 or so but the fabrics were older than that.  I wouldn't even want to count all of the prairie points in this one.  Here's one block from that quilt ~~

Isn't it amazing???!!!

I showed this Paper Doll Quilt in progress back on Mystery Quilt Day in February.  Ann was making it for her 3 1/2 year old granddaughter, who has declared that she needs more hats and shoes for her dolls ~~

Well that's it for this month's quilt guild meeting photos.  I told you there are a lot of talented women in our group.

Today five of the Chickens went to the Oakland County Quilt Guild show and I took a ton of pictures there, too.  That will have to wait for another day.

Tonight I got the sewing machine out and went to town.  I repaired an old black sweater that's been in the mending pile for years.  Yep, years.  I also made a quilt block that I'd been putting off, and made a new window curtain for my bathroom.  Phew.  No wonder I'm whipped.  Time for bed for me!

Guild Photos 1.0

Ok, back to last night.  Guild was a lot of fun, as usual.  The speaker, Kat Campau,

was from Ann Arbor and very amusing.  Her quilts of late have been done in series form and she has one-woman exhibits in different galleries and coffee houses.  She brought a lot of quilts and I took many pictures but I'll try to limit them to a dozen.  Or so.

These were part of a series of quilts she made for her mother when she moved to Texas ~~

Kat uses a lot of different techniques and materials in her art quilts.  You might have noticed the beaded bracelet she's wearing in the first photo -- created while she waited for planes in airports.

I don't remember which 'series' this one was part of but I liked it ~~

You know how sometimes things don't go according to plan?  Do you trash the misbehaving quilt or do you make lemonade out of lemons?  Kat had a quilt that didn't turn out the way she hoped so she cut it into pieces and made 6 purses ~~

These are all part of a floral series ~~

In the picture above I thought the quilt on the right was especially interesting since it is off-center.  I don't see that too often.

She also shared her series of sunflower quilts which were made to lift her spirits, coming out of a particularly long, drab winter.

I loved her use of color in these floral wallhangings ~~

Here's a close up of one of my favorite quilts ~~

And lastly, one that told the story of her being pushed as an infant in her buggy by her sister.  It began to rain so hard she nearly floated away ~~

There, that's an even dozen pictures -- enough for tonight.  Tomorrow I'll post the Show n Tell pictures.  Plenty more to come.

Saturday is the last day of the Oakland County Quilt Guild's quilt show out in Lake Orion.  I'm heading out there with several Chicken friends and I expect to take some more pictures.  I'm really using my new camera, aren't I??

Quilt Guild Meeting Tonight

I just got in from the guild meeting and it's too late for me sort through the ton of pictures I took and get them posted tonight.  Let me just tell you that there were many, many wonderful quilts shown tonight, both from our speaker Kat Campau and our guild members. 

So hang tight until tomorrow and I know you'll enjoy the array of quilts from tonight's meeting.

One of the best things about tonight's meeting for me is that I took a giant bag of various fabrics to the 'giveaway' table and most of it was snatched up.  Leftovers went with a teaching friend who can always use them in her classroom.  I also handed over two charity quilts to the charity committee -- whew!!!  Out of my house, finally.  I feel so much better.  At least I've started my Spring cleaning......