Happy Thanksgiving

Well, today is usually a very busy day in our house and this year is no different.  Before the flour starts flying and the oven is warmed up, I thought I'd wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Also, here is some Christmas inspiration with a simple but cute advent calendar. Mary from the Tulip Patch has a great tutorial for Moda Bakeshop and also here is her blog.  Check out her Favorite quilts tab and also her tips and tutorials.  There is a lot to see and make.
Quilt Story has a tutorial for a sweet Winter Tree Table Runner, it's different and I like it.  I also popped over to Flamingo Toes for a look at all these tutorials.  If you're looking for some nice and fast Christmas gifts, this just might do it.  Have a great time with family and friends.  Diana

Contemplating the Stash (Fabric)

We all have tops waiting to be finished.  Melissa from Happy Quilting has some great videos to help you finish up those tops, runners, etc.  She has tips for getting the quilt ready to put under the machine, some applique and then some techniques for you to try.  Can 2014 be the year to finish up UFOs?  Can you believe we are facing a New Year?  Melissa also has a whole bunch of tutorials here .  Everything from ornaments to quilts to blocks.  I love the paper pieced tree, wouldn't it be great for Christmas and make them into pillows.
My list of "wanna makes" continues to grow.  I have started to make my "kits" again in an attempt to use up some fabric in my stash.  The kit is really a pattern or pattern from a magazine that I like, I round up the fabric from my stash and Zip lock it into the bag for future sewing.  When I get a chance to sew, I pull these kits out and start to cut, I might put it away for a while but keep it organized.  Then sew again when I get a chance.  It's helped in the past to get some tops done in this manner.
What are your tips to help get your UFO's done or to make use of our stashes?  Post them in the comments area please!  We could all use some help with our stashes.  Diana

International Quilt Study Center & Museum

I had not heard of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum, located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, until Rhoda sent me a package of information about this wonderful place.  Thank you for your contribution Rhoda.
Sometimes when we are traveling we pass right by amazing places like this, not realizing they are there, so store it in your memory banks, if you are passing through Lincoln, Nebraska, I think this would be a must see for a quilter!  I think it could also be wonderful as your planned destination, so put it on your "Bucket List".  They house the largest public collection of quilts in the world, an amazing 3,500 quilts from 25 countries! 
However, if you are not able to make it in person you can make it your ONLINE DESTINATION.  You can learn about care of your old fragile textiles, from cleaning, storage and quilt conservation.  You can also search their collection of quilts.  The thing I found most amazing was their Online Exhibitions!  The boasted 26 different Online Exhibitions, everything from Chintz applique, art quilts, log cabin quilts, quilts in old time photographs....I only touched the tip of the ice berg!  You should definitely check it out, and save this site as a favorite, as you will want to revisit it often! When you get to the site, just click on the EXHIBITION bar at the top of the page, then on the left side you will see ONLINE EXHIBITIONS....check it out, you will no doubt enjoy!
Laurie

Great Times and Let's Sew

Our November meeting sure was a great time with all those wonderful raffle baskets, show and tell and then the Christmas demos.  Sure a super group of women.  Thanks to all who made items or make baskets for the raffle.
Just in case you weren't able to get October's BOM you can still access  them.  Axe and Churn is from Quilter's Cache as are all the remaining patterns.  World's Fair Puzzle is also from October.  November's blocks are Fall Fancy and Carrie Nation.
Quilt in a Day has a lovely Turkey tablerunner or Maple Leaf runner.  This can go both ways and isn't it pretty.  I think this is one of the nicest Thanksgiving quilt items I've seen.  Needle'n Thread has a great turkey embroidery to do. Here at Badbird is another turkey embroidery and he looks a little more surprised that he's so popular.
Michael Miller fabrics has an interesting quilt called This Way and That Way. It's amazing what you can do with a very different fabric.  To get the pattern, just go way down to the bottom of the page.  Have a great Wednesday and take time to sew at least a little bit.  Diana

October Show and Tell

Here is some show and tell from our October meeting. 

Above Judy shows her Oakfield Challenge Quilt, and below her Snowman  quilt fresh from the quilter.

Carol D. above shows a dragonfly quilt, which is a donation for an orphanage in Honduras.

 

 

Kris shows a Star quilt that she assembled.

Sheila shows a Tiger Lily wall hanging.

A double wedding ring quilt that Peg obtained. 

Above and below Sue shows some little UFO projects that she has finished up.

Sue and her Chickadee Quilt.

 

 

Above  Terri shows a Zebra quilt, and below Terri has been busy making "critter blankies" and sweatshirts for all of her grand babies!

Above Malea shows a tote with a lot of neat pockets.  Below a Halloween wall hanging for her husbands "Man Cave."

As usual you have all been busy with your projects!  Can't wait to see the November Show and Tell!

Laurie



Weekend Looks

Gina Martin has a cute quilt designed with her new fabric line and it is called Wrens and Friends .  I think  a lot of girls would like this quilt, big girls too.  There is an article about her in the Fat Quarter Shop blog.

I am crazy about Crazy Quilting and Linda Steele has some nice Christmas blocks done in crazy quilting.  Her ideas were really great and such a fun way to use these stitches. I also love the reindeer and sleigh.  Her details are incredible.

Here at Bubblestitch quilts are some  patterns for paper piecing.  Also, that winter scarf is very pretty. Here is a tutorial on paper piecing along with some tips so hopefully it will help brush up our pp skills.  She also has an Etsy and Craftsy shop with beautiful pp patterns available; the fox and the owls are really really sweet.  Have a great weekend.  Diana

Cold Weather Quilts

Are you always looking for that perfect needle?  I love straw needles but they won't do everything!  Here is a great article about hand sewing needles by Pretty by Hand. She has some great basic information about needles.
Take one of those embroidery needles and get after this sweet snowman embroidery from Lecien.  It's called Sparkling Snow and it's a cutie.  Lecien also has a nice Christmas pattern called Wish Upon a Star . Depending upon the fabric you use, this pattern could be used for more than just the holidays.

The Fat Quarter Shop has a blog called the Jolly Jabber.  They have some great posts and you should add it to your favorites.  Right now they are running a series on vintage blocks and will be featuring them with updated looks and great fabrics.  The first one featured is Sister's Choice and they have the free pattern plus a video for you to see how to make this block.  Also, go down the blog a bit past the Sister's Choice and look at the Christmas quilt called Decade the Halls.  It's to celebrate a decade in business with ten blocks and ten fabrics.  It's a great holiday quilt.
Had to add an extra quilt on the bed in this very cold weather that has come our way.  I have a Job's Tears as the top quilt and a log cabin on the bottom.  What's on your bed?   Diana

"The Art Quilter III"

WOW....  Walls of Wittenberg.  Not so long ago, at one of our regular meetings, Blanche encouraged everyone to consider submitting a art quilt entry to "The Art Quilter III" exhibit at WOW.
You may find information about this exhibit here.  There is still some time to whip up a wonderful work of art for this exhibit, as it runs January 25 through February 16.  Best to check the schedule, if you plan to attend though, as I believe it only runs on Saturdays and Sundays.
The show also features talks by Sharon V. Rotz of Mosinee.  Some of you may remember that some years ago we had Sharon as a teacher, lecturer.  Also speaking will be Louise Schotz. 
So, consider entering the exhibit!  If you are looking for something to do in the midst of the winter, (who isn't?) you might like to go listen to these inspiring ladies speak!
Laurie

Two Lovely Quilts

The blog, Ann & Will, has a tutorial for a simple but very striking Braided Stripe Braid Quilt.  I love this one, can you see it in red, white and blue?

Fabrics and Flowers has an incredible tutorial for a fan block.  This is just too pretty. This is a two part tutorial.  This just has too many possibilities.  Happy Monday.  diana

Advent Calendars

Christmas is fast approaching...I don't need to tell you that.  With the beginning of the Advent Season, the count down to Christmas Day will soon begin.
If you are thinking about making an Advent Calendar, there is still time to get that done, but best hurry!
I found a very sweet Scrappy Christmas Tree advent calendar at Ellison Lane.  A fun way to use up some of your scraps, and as you can see, they don't necessisarily need to be Christmas fabrics.  Also there is fun Advent Calendar at Skip to my Lou, where the calendar pockets are made to look like gift tags that are fastened to rick rack with bright red clothespins!  What's not to love about that!  Sew Mama Sew offers a Advent Calendar.  Go to the site and you will see an Advent Calendar PDF Tutorial, as well as number templates that you will use on your calendars pockets. 
Such fun and creative ways to begin the count down to Christmas!
Laurie

Lucky Member Wins Raffle Quilt!

I think there is something in the water around this part of the world, but some of our members sure do have some good luck with winning raffle quilts!
Carol R. won the raffle quilt a couple weekends ago from the Treasure's of Tomorrow Quilt Show at Marshfield.  Do you also remember that Evie won that same shows raffle quilt last year?!  What are the odds of that I wonder?  Also, one year Deb won our guilds raffle quilt!  Has anybody else ever won a quilt?

Carol is pictured above with her lovely prize.  She brought it in to our Monday Sewing Session for a little "Show and Tell".  Congratulations Carol!

Laurie

Houston Quilt Festival

The Quilt Show has a wonderful slideshow of the winners at this year's Houston Quilt Festival.  Get a cuppa something and sit back for pictures of the beautiful quilts, it's kinda like being there.  I saw a lot of hand quilting and some traditional techniques to make some not so traditional quilts, like the kangaroo quilt.  I found that pretty amazing.

Ok, we all have an ironing board.  What does yours look like?  Are you proud of it?  Cotton Way had an ironing board makeover project and posted the winner.  I certainly love the organizer for the ironing board too.

Me and My Sister Designs has a whole lot of free patterns.  They have a lot of ideas. Take a look at all their patterns, there's a lot to love. Have a great weekend.  Diana

Bunny Hill and a BOM from Mad About Patchwork

I really love Bunny Hill Designs.  When she was doing free BOM's, I did one of them and loved it.  She still has some sweet free patterns and check out her regular patterns too.  The cute snowman ornaments are simple and nice.  I also loved the Kitty Corner quilt. She does a lot of embroidery and this applique for Christmas is very beautiful.  The colonial houses are very different in the Christmas scenes.  If you like embroidery, you will like I Believe in Snowmen.  Also, Christmas Wheels is most charming.

Mad About Patchwork is an online quilting store.  They are starting a very striking BOM in October so we're not too far behind if you want to do it.  It's called Cathy's Carousel.  Here is the link to the October block which is the big French braid in the middle.  This is a picture of the whole quilt, I told you it was sweet.

I attended the "mini" fabric sale that our members held on Monday.  There were some great deals there and I hope many took advantage of this.  It was nice to see so many busy ladies happily sewing.  I always get cheered  and inspired when I'm around our group! Also, I got to see Carol R.'s quilt that she won at the Marshfield Quilt Show.  Carol was lucky enough to purchase the winning ticket for their raffle quilt and it was a lovely version of the Farmer's Daughter blocks I believe.  diana

Yo-Yo

Who doesn't like those fluffy little circles of fabric we call yo-yos?  They inspire us to make entire quilts of them or to just add a few(or many) to embellish a quilt or a jacket.

Sew Take A Hike has a nice two part tutorial on the yo-yo. She shows how to use the Clover yo-yo maker.  Part Two show how to sew them together with a sewing machine.  I liked that idea as it can become tedious to sew them all together by hand.

Wild Flowers has a photo of a lovely white quilt with yo-yos  attached to the top.  This is such a sweet and clean look. Isn't this bedwarmer sweet?  It is from Annie's E Patterns. And you don't have to make thousands of them to make something nice.  I think everyone has seen this photo of Amy Butler's Bloom Quilt but I had to put it in this post.  It is just too yo-yo like to leave out.

Angry Chicken posted an over the top quilt from a Japanese magazine.  What a combination this is.  This pillow from MadMin is so pretty too.  Just scroll down a bit and look for that pillow.  Hope you enjoyed these creative uses of yo-yos and have a nice sewing day.  Diana

Trees

As we look through the woods, most of the trees are becoming very bare.  Some trees hold tight a little longer but for the most part, the tree skeletons are showing and so is the lay of the land.  This is one of my favorite times to be in the woods.   All the trunks and branches are exposed and they are certainly lovely and inspiring.  I wanted to scoot around the web and find some tree blocks and quilts as inspiration also.

Hyacinth Quilt Designs has a very pretty scrappy tree that she made.  I love the fact that all the leaves are different.  Here is a photo of a lovely tree with a dark background.  Trees don't have to be tree colors!

This is a picture of a quilt of many trees and look closely, some gnomes.  This is a sweet idea, love the circles.  I'm not sure who to give credit to for this one.  After looking at it closer, I think it's watercolor but couldn't some of these ideas be put into fabric.

Ellison Lane has a cute tree block tutorials.  I think trying out some new colors with this simple pattern would be fun.  I think I might have posted this one before but I come back to Comfort Stitching girl in the tree swing. Craft Passion has this cute little fella singing in a tree branch and it's a tutorial too on this one.

Cynthia Shaffer has a sweet family tree, with tree branch hanger. Here is a picture of Silver Light, a truly lovely tree quilt , just scroll down Juicy Bit's blog and you will find it. The Sketch Book Challenge has a picture of a lovely Tree of Life.  As a final link, here is a page of Denise Miller's lovely bare trees.  The sun is out for a while today, maybe, take a walk and look at some trees.  diana

Sheila's "No Measure" Binding Tutorial

There are many different types of quilters aren't there?  And, with that said, I am sure that there are many different techniques that we use to join our binding ends.  At our October meeting Sheila showed us her no measure way to join binding ends.  This method will work no matter what width you cut your binding strips.  To help refresh your memory, we have put together a photo tutorial. 

First when you are making your binding press your beginning binding (shown in red) on a 45degree angle as shown above.  When you begin sewing on your binding, leave a 10 inch (or so) tail.  This will allow some slack to be able to join your ends later.  Stitch your binding down around your quilt, stopping a foot or so from your beginning binding.

Next, take your ending binding (which is shown in the cream floral print), and insert it into the beginning binding.  Fold your end binding over even with the edge of the beginning binding as shown.  Crease the fold.

 Okay....don't be afraid when you see the scissors.  Just go ahead and cut the end binding where you creased it!

Now put your binding ends right sides together as shown.  Be careful not to twist them. Line up nicely and pin together.  You will see where you ironed the crease in your beginning binding.  How convenient, this has now become your stitching line!  Just stitch on the line.

Finish stitching your binding down.  You have successfully joined your binding ends with no measuring!

Thumbs up!  You did it!

Sheila & Laurie