Wouldn't know I'm a quilter, would you?

Well, despite having a weekend retreat, I didn't manage to get anything done. I spent a lot of time gabbing, which I know comes as a surprise when you put 25 women in a giant log cabin filled with sewing machines and irons. Unfortunately my project luck (or perhaps ability to pay attention to a pattern) was pretty bad. I worked on an Olivia the Piglet quilt, which I ruined half of the blocks beyond repair (sadly it's not as easy to untrim things as it is to unsew). So, very close to the finish line I had to cease that project.
The next project was a jelly roll quilt, which due to an inexplicable paranoia about doing things wrong, took me forever because I reread and remeasured everything multiple times. It's four lonestars from the book Jelly Roll Quilts, which I love. I got all the diamonds put together, so all that remains is to put the setting triangles (it's a no Y-seams method) on and finish the stars. So, pictures soon, perhaps.
All in all though, it was great fun, good for the mental health, and very inspirational. I'll post picturs on the web soon.
Happy quilting!

Sorry

I just haven't had time to quilt the past few days. I should have lots to report next week post-quilt-retreat (we still have spots :) I probably won't be able to post Friday, but you never know how ambitious I might be on any given day. Otherwise, as always:
Happy quilting!

Teen Day

I was down at the high school in town tie-dying t-shirts today with teenagers (say that five times fast)...It was fun to see the kids and I'm hoping they'll all come down and show off their tie-dye shirts so I can see how they turn out.
So, now I'm just having fun with shop-hoppers and fundraising this weekend at the Mother of All Garage Sales over in Livingston. Come check it out at the Livingston fairgrounds.
Happy quilting!

Like a quilt top factory.

I finished another top this weekend, and it was kind of a challenge for me because it was flannel, and I so rarely sew with flannel. I was inspired by Valori Wells' Urban Flannel because the critters are so stinkin' cute.
I should've taken a picture before I put up my window display, but I didn't, so here you go. The pattern I used was actually, amusingly, from a book called Batik Gems, but it was perfect for a larger print with lots of coordinates.
Anyway, I'm going to put the tie-dyed pink minkee in the window on the back and fussy cut an elephant for a label...Someday...when it gets quilted. Which, at the rate I'm going, could be when I'm 75.
Happy quilting!

A quilted quilt!

Woohoo, I finally finished the quilt that I was using for practice before moving on to my ever increasing queue. I like how it turned out a lot. I must have had a mini-math-seizure on one border though, as I had about four extra inches even though the other three were fine. Oh well, it did quilt out. I think I used about 4000 yds of thread total on this bad boy. This type of top is great for me to practice on because there are discrete sections, but not just blocks, so thread changes are easier and planning ornate quilting is more interesting.
Here's the whole top, but you can't see the quilting very well.
But here's the center from above where you can see the feathery business I did in that center medallion in a happy variegated thread of lime, pink, blue, teal, and purple. It's a Signature Pixelles, but I don't remember which color number.
And a close up fo the center. I've found that bright thred just looks so awesome on black fabric.
I've also found that McTavishing looks fabulous on metallic fabrics like Rock Candy or Fairy Frost. Anyway, I had a lot of fun, but that quilt was a doozy to power through being as QADD as I am. So back to my queue now, but it's one more quilt I can check off my list. Also, Vicky cut binding for me, know that I'm binding challenged, she has given me one less excuse. So I may actually bind this one ;)
Happy quilting and Easter!

Fencing...

Erik had a big fencing tournament (big for MT, anyway) in Bozeman all day Saturday, the annual Stab-a-Fool Tournie. Anyway, he got 1st in foil, his main weapon, 2nd in saber, and 5th in epee, which he's never fenced at a tournament level. Anyway, it was fun to watch him. Here's a couple good pics of him doing foil. He's the one in the black socks, with the weapon all a blur.

It was the first time I got to meet his fencing buddies, so that was fun too.
So, not much quilting, but happy quilting anyway!

New sewing table!

Hooray, my dad and I finally finished my new sewing table. I won't lie, some legs are wonky, it's not even close to kilter, and it ain't the prettiest thing I ever laid eyes on, but oooohlala, look at all that space, AND my sewing machine bed is finally flush with my table, making machine quilting so much easier. Not that I've had a chance to use it since I just got my sewing room put back together this morning. Anyway, we did everything for about $200 dollars, which is WAY cheaper than most prefab and didn't require me moving my 8000 pound desk out of the room.
I'm hoping to find some drawers that will fit underneath a little better to maximize my storage space, but this works.
Now all I have left to do is put this iron-on edging (apparently even carpenters like stuff you can iron on) to the raw edges of the particle board. Woohoo! I'm so excited to use it, but dear husband and I are off to his fencing tournament all day tomorrow, so I won't get to use it until Sunday :( .
Happy, and oh so spacious, quilting!