Reports of various kinds

Let's see . . . what should I report on first? How about my weight loss report - seeing it should have been on Wednesday. This last week was good, though I'm not sure how LOL! I lost two pounds, for a total loss of 25.8 pounds. I received my "Circle of Success" at Weight Watchers - which actually looks like a washer - to put on my 10% loss key chain. This is my first significant loss in the last few weeks - hopefully I'm moving off that plateau I've been on.

Seeing as it's Sunday, I guess the stashbusting report should come next. As usual it's pretty sketchy as I don't take the time to do any measuring of what I've used. I did purchase 26 fat quarters - I just couldn't resist the new Sturbridge Village line. I ordered it last week but didn't count it then as it hadn't arrived yet. As to how much I've used - I'm guessing a bunch of yards - certainly more than I bought. So I'm calling it a net loss and leaving it at that.

So what did I do to use up yardage? Well, I decided I felt more like doing more applique prep than actual applique. So I prepared an additional 38 blocks for my Civil War applique quilt. This includes every applique block we've received. I also cut out squares for the rest of the blocks as well as setting triangles for the entire quilt. I'm sure I used at least three or four yards of background fabric, as well as at least a couple yards of reproduction prints. While I was working with the background I decided I might as well cut more blocks for the mid-century Album quilt - that used at least another couple yards of background. I certainly won't lack for applique projects for some time to come.

Friday I felt like doing some quilting, so I loaded the blog block exchange top onto Gandalf and had it quilted by noon. Next I loaded the Civil War sampler top I pieced some time ago when I participated in a $5 monthly block program at Cottons in Battle Ground before it closed. Hopefully I'll get them bound this week so I can mark two more off my list.

By the time I finished picking up around the house today and doing five loads of laundry I decided I was too tired to put away the Thanksgiving and fall decorations. That is now on the list for tomorrow after I get home from watching Joseph. Fred put up our outside lights today - hopefully I will get the rest of the house ready for Christmas by next weekend. I hate putting away the fall things because I love how the house looks all decked out - thank goodness I'm even more eager to get out the Christmas stuff!

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Gratitudes:

1. A great Thanksgiving dinner with friends

2. A wonderful visit with our granddaughters and their parents

3. Neighborhoods full of twinkling colored lights

4. Clean, sweet smelling laundry

At least I've started

Tuesday night was our sixth session of the Civil War and Centennial quilt class. If I were keeping up I would have at least 24 blocks made. Instead I have three prepared and one finished. That's OK - it isn't a race. Last night I prepared freezer paper templates for the rest of the blocks we've received in our kits, so I'm all ready to prep more blocks.

Here is the block I've finished. This one makes me smile ever time I see it. Before I did the reverse appliqué in the center it looked to me like a fat, very moldy cauliflower. Now it looks like an alien. It's a toss up as to whether it's a space alien from Close Encounters of the Third Kind or an underwater alien from The Abyss. No matter - it still makes me smile. Some of the ladies in the class found it very creepy and are making it without it's "eyes". Eileen put this pattern in the chapter with leaves, and called it an oak leaf. Really makes me wonder if that was the intention of the maker 150 years ago - or did she have a "close encounter" of her own? If so, the alien must have been suffering from a lazy right eyelid!

Quite a few of you asked how you could get the pattern for this quilt. Unfortunately it isn't available - at least at this time. We are just so incredibly lucky to have Eileen living here in Vancouver so we can take advantage of her classes. Each class is either 11 or 12 sessions long, and are taught on a monthly basis throughout the year. As part of our class fee, we receive a packet each month, wrapped in brown paper and string, that contains both the monthly historical information about the time period as well as the patterns for each month. It also contains a letter from an "ancestor", a post card depicting something from the time period, and a selection of reproduction fabrics appropriate to the era we are studying. One of the goals of each class is that we learn to identify fabrics from the period. With this in mind, we can each bring a stack of fabrics to each class, and then watch and listen to Eileen as she identifies the appropriate era for each fabric in the class. The patterns we receive are drawn and/or drafted from antiques in Eileen's collections, which we get to examine during the class. By the end of each class we have one or two huge notebooks of information and patterns. I've already filled one 4" ring binder with the first six lessons, so I need to get another before the next class.

Eileen hopes to have the classes available by mail order eventually, but must wait on her husband who does their still-under-construction website. You might be interested in her book on dating fabrics, which continues to be one of the best selling books AQS has ever published. (No, I'm not her publicity person - just a very happy student of hers LOL!) Here is a link: Dating Fabrics.

I am so blessed!

Wishing all Americans a wonderful Thanksgiving day! I have so many thing to be thankful for - a loving family, a comfortable home, enough food to eat and clothes to wear, good friends, hobbies that I love, and so many other things. I'm also thankful that I live in a democracy - it's not the most perfect governmental system by any means, but it's better than anything else the world has ever seen. Today is a beautiful late fall day and we will share a meal with friends.

No matter what your beliefs or your nationality, I hope you regularly take the time to remember all you have to be thankful for, and find it in your heart to share with others who are less fortunate.

Civil War quilt

Tonight I prepped four appliqué blocks for the civil war quilt. All the blocks in this quilt are very funky - very childlike folk art drawings. We couldn't even tell what some of the designs in the blocks are supposed to represent. This is the first antique quilt Eileen showed us in the first class of the series, and we all went nuts over it. We must have spent at least 10-15 minutes examining all the blocks.

Believe it or not these are all supposed to be oak leaves. If I do four blocks each month it's going to take a couple years to get them all finished, but that's OK. No reason to rush - I want to enjoy the process.

A hint for all you appliqué enthusiasts

I use freezer paper to make my appliqué templates - I think many, many quilters do also. I've spent hours and hours tracing templates onto the freezer paper. I've struggled to keep a book open and relatively flat so I could trace the page accurately. Many people I know have had their books spiral bound so they would lay flat. I kept meaning to do that, but never got around to it. Then I saw what my friend Sandra in North Star Quilters had done, which I thought was even better yet. So I followed Sandra's lead, and couldn't be happier.

Instead of having the pages spiral bound I punched them with a three-hole punch and put them in a view binder. When I took the books to the print shop to have the edges sliced off I asked them to save me the spine. I peeled out all page stubs and inserted the spine into the binder. I also inserted the front and back covers into the pocket in the notebook. This way I can pull a page of templates, scan it into the computer, and print it on freezer paper. No more tracing of templates - hooray! (At least templates that are printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper). One could also put the pages into page protectors, but I decided I wouldn't be turning the pages enough that the holes will wear out. If I do I can always put them into protectors later.

Thanks for the great idea Sandra!

A change in direction

I was going to prep the first block for Celebration of American Life after I finished posting last night. I spread out the background squares that I cut several years ago - right after the book came out - and realized I just didn't like them anymore. In fact, I didn't like the entire color scheme I was going to use any more. All the background fabrics were old fabrics - one a blue stripe from the 1980's! It was similar to the twill Barb Adams used in her quilt in the book - the quilt I really liked when the book came out. I didn't realize my tastes have changed so much. I'll still make the quilt - eventually - just not the way I originally planned. The nice thing is I can make a great quilt back by sewing together the 12 background squares I cut out.

So - I should do the smart thing and have only 3 BOM's going at once. But in for a penny, in for a pound - I'll just start working on the Civil War sampler from my current Eileen Trestain class. I've really been wanting to start this quilt, and the applique will be easy and quick.

Block of the Month Projects - Patti Style

The more I thought about treating my long term appliqué projects as block of the month programs the more I liked the idea. It gives me good, doable monthly goals, resulting in the steady forward progress of multiple projects. I decided to prep only one or two blocks at a time - after all - when one is getting a BOM in the mail one receives only one or two blocks each month.

To the left you see the next 16" block for the mid-century album quilt. As there are two sizes of blocks in this quilt I'm going to shoot for one of each size each month. Tomorrow I'll prep an 8" block to go along with this one. This one isn't finished being prepped - there are still a few leaves and 17 grapes to go - however stitching of fruits below those need to be completed before they can be added. If you'd like to see the other blocks in this quilt, click here.

I've already prepped two identical blocks for the 2003-2004 Girl Gang quilt - they can be seen here. The next block for Times Remembered is in the previous post. I've decided that I will also prep a block for Celebration of American Life. The backgrounds for those blocks have been prepared for several years, so I decided it's time to really get started on that project.

I've listed these four Block of the Month Projects - Patti Style on my blog sidebar. I'm hoping I'm not taking on too much - I figure that's one BOM to focus on each week of the month. I'm calling the blocks I'm prepping now "December blocks", so I'm getting a head start. Hopefully that will leave me time for other quilty things - playing with scraps, quilting at least one of my own tops per month, and progressing forward on my other long term projects. I guess time will tell. I've decided the only yearly goal I'm going to set is the stashbusting goal - the rest will be monthly goals. Lots more to cross off that way - resulting in lots of satisfaction - and a clean slate at the beginning of each new month.

How does that sound? Anybody else like this idea? Do you think it will work? I sure hope so!

Now I need to head to bed. Another Joseph day tomorrow - a nasty bug sure has bitten his other grandparents, aunt and cousin so he's staying away until they are all well. That's OK - I have so much fun watching him!

Stash report and more

Well, my no buy resolve certainly didn't last very long this time. Here is my report:

In - 10.5 yards plus one quilt kit

Out - Binding for Spring Trio and one applique block - maybe 1/2 yard total

So what was I thinking?

Well, first of all there are all the Dear Jane fat quarters. I resisted this line for quite a few weeks. And then I saw some Dear Jane blocks made from fabric reproduced from Jane's quilt. My resolve went out the window - my Dear Jane blocks had to include some authentic reproduction fabric! Of course none of my usual online stores had it - they'd sold out weeks ago. Quilt Shops.com to the rescue! 30 Dear Jane fat quarters arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

Then Wednesday I attended my monthly Eileen Trestain class at Primitive Thimble. I've been very proud of myself - I'd attended class for months without buying anything. But this time class was starting late due to a mix up, so I had lots of time to walk through the shop. When I spotted the cheddar I new I had to have yardage - good cheddars are just too hard to find. And then this Cheri Saffiote Payne kit grabbed my attention. The price was good for a kit containing so much hand dyed wool - so I grabbed it.

And thus I fell off the wagon - big time!

So of course I had to do something to bust some stash. The five 1 1/8 inch strips I'd cut for the Spring Trio binding sure didn't amount to much. So I prepped another Times Remembered block. Now that I look at it I think my estimate was over generous. I imagine this block took closer to 1/4 yard total. OK - change that used number at the top of the post to 3/8 yard maximum.

And this doesn't even count the Judy Rothermel collection I ordered in a weak moment that hasn't yet arrived in my mailbox! And it's a good thing I've not pledged to stop buying books, as 5 more arrived in my Checkers business order!

Slip of the tongue -

Or I guess that should be slip of the fingers on the keys - or slip of the aging forgetful brain!

Did I say UFO in my last post? Oh dear - I did, didn't I. And here I had just pledged to change my thinking. I didn't mean UFO's! In spite of what my labels say, I don't have any UFO's! I meant to say my remaining older ongoing projects.

(OK Patti - let's get with the program here!)

Another UFO finish - and it's an oldie!

I'm happy to report that the Spring Trio is quilted, bound, and labeled - ready to hang in the entryway next spring. Don't they look great on the blue wall? Not sure why the one on the left has such a crooked left edge in the picture - it really is straight! Nothing like finishing a 16 year old UFO to give one a real feeling of satisfaction!

I also finished a couple of the little projects from my quilt history classes with Eileen Trestain. The first is a "make-do" done in the Turn of the Century Random Sampler class. At some point I may get a new base for this one - the candle holder Eileen furnished in class really isn't big enough for this one. The second picture shows two "pocket pincushions" that I made in the Civil War class. Love these, as the pins can't poke clear through and catch on something. These were so easy to make - just two circles of thin cardboard, two of batting, and two of silk taffeta. Gather the edges of the circles, then insert the batting and cardboard, then pull the gathering stitches and tie off. Tack in your ribbon hanging loop, then whip stitch or ladder stitch the two circles together. Easy, quick, and very useful!

Last night I moved on to my next UFO - "Times Remembered" by Pat Sloan. I made the first two blocks in 2003, as well as the pieced backgrounds for the rest of the blocks. Then I must have started something new as this project was put aside. I figure the best way to handle these remaining UFOs - three appliqué quilts - is to treat them like block of the month programs. If I finish one block each month in each quilt then they should be finished tops by the end of next year. I'll start by prepping all of them, so I can pick up a new one as soon as the old one is finished. Works for me I think! I'd hoped to have the first blocks prepped by now, but instead I watched Joseph all week. A joy to be sure - I'm a lucky grandma! And today I have two small customer tops that must be quilted. So these blocks must wait for another day at least.

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Gratitudes:
1. Beautiful fresh fall vegetables for roasting
2. Fragrant fresh herbs from a friend
3. Good times with great friends

A different way of looking at the same situation

Sharon Craig was our guest speaker at guild last Thursday. Her topic was "Sets Education" (needs to be said outloud to be most effective LOL!) This was the second time she's done that lecture at guild, but it was just as enjoyable as the first time as she had lots of new quilts to share. She has always been one of my quilting heros - I especially love her books about setting odd-sized blocks.

One of her "stop us in our tracks" statements at the beginning of her talk is this - "I have NO ufo's!" After all the gasps of disbelief fade away, she adds "but I have many ongoing projects". She further explains that some of them have been ongoing for years. She doesn't believe one can rush creativity, and that eventually every project will talk to you and tell you what it wants to become (my words there at the end of this sentence). One quilt she showed us - and it was stunning! - was made from a set of very large sampler blocks pieced in the 1970's! Her solution was so creative, and the blocks were hardly recognizable.

I really like this positive way of looking at things. It's definitely a "glass half full" outlook. And recently I've experienced the truth of this - look how long it took those 1992 Halloween blocks to speak to me! So, I've changed the labeling on my sidebar. I, too, have no more UFO's. Not a single one! I do have quite a few ongoing projects, and some are quite a few years old. That's OK - each will be finished in it's turn. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop my focus on finishing them - it just means I'm thinking of each one as an opportunity instead of a liability!

A week of Joseph and handwork

It's been a Joseph week so far. Cousin Katelin and Aunt Debbi are sick with the flu so he can't go to his other grandma's. Joseph time is always so much fun - he is such a happy, lively little guy who also entertains himself very well.

This is also a handwork week. I've been concentrating on hand quilting. I've finished two of the Spring Trio wall hangings - now they just need binding. I hope to finish the third one at Tangled Threads tonight. Since I have no bits left of the fat quarter I used for the border I had to find something else. Would you believe almost every blue I have is either way too dark or has a gray cast? I finally found this VERY old Jinny Beyer by RJR. I think I'll cut the binding strips lengthwise so I can control the placement of the lighter shades. I hope to be report this project finished by the end of this week. All those pillows I made last month didn't count for the Stashbuster UFO challenge as they included no quilting. My name has now crept much too close to the top of the Queen's list for my comfort!

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Gratitudes:

1. Eating breakfast with a handsome young man in lime green and overalls

2. Several days of beautiful fall sunshine

3. The end of UFO's is in sight!

Monday's shopping trip

OK - here is my first stash report. We'll see how this goes . . . .

28 yards added to my stash. This is the fabric I bought last Monday at my favorite quilt shop Momma Made It. I just couldn't pass it up as these are perfect for backgrounds, borders, sashings, backings, etc. All were on sale for at least 50% to 75% off. How could I resist. The average price of these? $3.75 per yard Can't beat that! Even though I had these fabrics when I wrote my stash busting post, they weren't washed or ironed - I don't include them in the stash until they are actually on the shelves. Hopefully I can get that done in the next day or two.

1/3 yard subtracted from my stash - I finally had a chance to finish Lily Abigail's quilt. Bad Grandma - she is now 7 weeks old! She is being dedicated at church tomorrow, so I figured that was a great time to give her the quilt. I loved how it turned out - and I love crossing another project off my list. Finn - this makes five finished toward my end-of-the-year goal! I hope her parents like it as much as I do - and that she likes it too once she is old enough to care.

Weekly weight loss report

When I weighed in at Weight Watchers Wednesday morning I weighed exactly what I did last week. I was OK with that, as I knew I'd not stuck to program the entire time I was at Quilt Camp. I was just thankful I'd not gained anything.

Today after I got my hair cut and colored I stopped by Dress Barn. I decided I was done with the jeans that were almost falling off my body. I still can't get into the skinny ones hanging in my closet so I needed a interim size pair. I am thrilled to report that I've gone from a size 18 women's to a size 14 misses. These make me feel so good when I look in the mirror. I have exactly 18 pounds to go to goal. When I started at the beginning of July I'd hoped to reach goal by the end of the year. I don't think that's possible now, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. I'll get to goal - it just might not be until spring. That's OK - lots of baby steps add up to a long, successful hike!

The top picture was taken the second Saturday in July during our aborted camping trip with the kids. I couldn't stand to look at this picture then, and didn't figure I'd ever post it. But it's a good comparison with the one Fred took this evening of me in my new jeans. Hooray Weight Watchers! (In case you are wondering what my shirt says - the quilter in the picture is holding a read sign that says "Will Work for Fabric!"

Stashbusting goals - one more time!

I am addicted to fabric - I truly am. I love to gaze at it, stroke and pet it, play with it, iron it, smell it, use it - you get the idea. I know many of you share the same addiction and can relate completely to what I'm saying.

I'm also addicted to buying fabric. I love nothing better than going into a quilt shop and choosing new pieces for my stash, or getting online and ordering complete fat quarter or half yard collections of new lines as they are available. I get such a rush from getting boxes of fabric in the mail - it's like Christmas every time a new one arrives.

Since I've been quilting 30 years - give or take a year - this has become a real problem. I have a small but well organized sewing room with lots of stash storage. It is full. I've gone through the stash several times in the last ten to twelve years, culling completely outdated fabric (tiny multicolored calicoes - ugh!) and giving it all to charity. In no time the shelves are full again. Last month I made backings for a couple dozen quilts. I immediately filled up the space with newly washed and ironed fabric that had been laying under my big board waiting it's turn to join the rest on the shelves. I didn't show you a picture of the fabrics stacked up on my cutting table because I was just too horrified at the quantity - probably an additional 30 to 40 yards! And I can't even say that is the end of it, as I brought a bunch more home last Monday when I went to Momma Made It in Longview. Sharon has started her moving sale. I ask you - how can I resist backgrounds, plaids and remnants marked down 50 to 75%? They are now sitting on the closet floor waiting to be washed, ironed and added to the stash.

Ever since I started setting quilting goals I've promised I'll control my shopping and start depleting my stash. It doesn't happen. I've once again grown the stash this year. When one starts buying fabric by the bolt one goes backwards very quickly. Three 15 yard bolts of Kona Cotton later - a parchment, turkey red and a cheddar - and a 50 yard bolt of applique background for my historical quilts - so much for busting stash.

However, I'm still pledging to try. Judy has already started talking about busting stash in 2009 - she didn't do any better than I did this year. I've printed her pledge and signed it - I've pinned it to my design wall right over my big board where I'll have to see it every day. And I'm going to start keeping track of my efforts again. I stopped fairly early this year because as a scrap quilter it seemed too difficult to keep track of yardage used. Yesterday I read this post by Judy. My report doesn't have to be in yards! I can report emptied drawers, totes, baskets, plastic shoe boxes, etc. I can report a fabric stash decreasing in height by an inch or two. I can report any way that makes sense for the way I use my fabric. Hooray! That will work for me!

So - I'm committing right now - for the rest of 2008 and all of 2009. My goal by the end of 2009 is to have less fabric than I have right now.(Where have I heard that before!) This doesn't mean I'll stop buying - I think that's impossible - but I will - I WILL!!!! - use more fabric than I buy. And I'll do a weekly report along with the rest of Judy's stashbusters.

So with those things in mind I'll show you what the majority of the stash looks like right now (I just did a clean-up a couple weeks ago so I could put those 30-40 yards on the shelves). From top to bottom the pictures show:

Shelves on the south side of the room

Shelves on the west side of the room

Bolts of fabric on top of the shelves (there is also one in the closet)

One partial shelf holding the latest two kits I've purchased - they don't fit into the kit bins

Two kit bins under the longarm - you can tell by the list of "HSY's" (Haven't Started Yets) on my sidebar that I'm also addicted to kits.

Two more kit bins plus a cardboard box of kits under the other end of the longarm

I've not shown you any of my scrap storage - if you are interested in seeing that you can click on the "Organization" subject in the sidebar that will take you to pictures on past posts. Wish me luck with this - maybe the fifth or sixth try will be the charm!

Clean-up

It's not the end of the year - nevertheless I've decided to clean up my sidebar list of UFO's, deleting all those that are completed. It's starting to look jumbled and messy to me which means it's time for action. I'll also delete the one goal that I won't possibly reach, plus the other goals that I've already accomplished. I'm not sure why, but I feel the need for a fresh start/look to the list. I imagine most everyone who reads my blog is using some type of reader like Bloglines so they don't even see my sidebar anyway LOL!

UFO Progress

What a difference retirement makes! I've been trying to get a handle on my UFO's since I started keeping them on a spreadsheet in 2003. For quite a few years I wasn't all that successful at reducing the number on the list because I started as many new projects as I finished - or even more that I finished. I gave a bunch away over the years which helped a bit, but every year the oldest ones never were touched much less finished.

I'm so happy with the progress I've made this year. Keeping the list on my sidebar and crossing them off as I finished has been a great way to motivate myself. All of the oldest UFO's are now finished tops. Other than the Autumn Around the Block the only UFO's left are applique quilts that I knew represented a long term commitment when I started them. I'm determined complete the Autumn Around the Block top by the end of the year, but the others will run into 2009. That's OK - I've met my goal of less than 10 on January 1.

Since so much of my quilting was packed into the car on Thursday night for Quilt Camp, I had to find something else to work on Friday morning. I dug out this old Girl Gang quilt from 2004. I kept up with the monthly installments just fine when the shop was open and I was attending meetings, but my progress came to a screeching halt when the shop closed. I'd cut out part of the Carolina Lily applique and then put everything away. Friday I pinned the finished blocks onto my design wall and finished prepping the Lily block. I should be able to make good progress now - I'm close to having all the center blocks done. It feels so good to be working on this quilt again!

Here is a UFO I should be able to finish quickly - and it's about time as its from the late 1970's! I made this friendship doll and her doll in a class, but she never got a dress. Don't you think it's about time I dressed her?

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Gratitudes:

1. A great check-up for Joseph, who is ahead of the average developmentally.

2. Clean laundry still warm from the dryer

3. No weight gain from Quilt Camp!

Quilt Camp

North Star Quilters - the little guild that I belong to - has held Quilt Camp early in November for four years now. The location isn't far away - about half an hour from our house - but it might as well be in another world. It's on the east fork of the Lewis River, and we can hear the river every time we step outside. There are wonderful woods all around the buildings that are filled with color this time of year. The camp was built in the 1950's and is similar to every other church camp I've ever been to - cabins, a lodge, a large dining hall, etc. We stay in the lodge in bunk beds which always takes me back to my childhood. This year and last we sewed in the dining hall so we had plenty of table space, a cosy area by the fireplace to do handwork, and meals on small tables at the opposite end of the room. This year's caterer prepared meals that were perfect for women - attractive, tasty, not too heavy with fats and sauces, and just the right amounts. She even made a traditional Mardi Gras King Cake for Saturday night's dessert. I can't think of a single thing that would have made for a better retreat.

This year's theme was Mardi Gras, and the committee went all out. Decorations were marvelous, goodie bags were full of delightful things, door prizes were great, and the company was fabulous. Time went all too quickly, in spite of the fact that I got WAY less sleep than usual because I stayed up so late each night sewing. We drew another string of Mardi Gras beads out of a jester's hat before every meal, which told us which table to sit at for that meal. I love the fact that they always do something similar at every retreat - that way we get to eat at least once with every other attendee. They also had a "fortune teller" - Madame Pascal (one of the guild member's daughters) tell our fortunes with Tarot cards, as well as a massage therapist giving chair massages for $1 a minute. That $20 was the best money I've spent in some time LOL!

My goal was to combine the two sets of PINS exchange blocks into a finished quilt top. It took until Friday midnight to accomplish that goal. I had cut WAY too many 1 1/2" strips but that was OK - I didn't want to run short. I just put the rest into the 1 1/2" strip drawer. Saturday I worked with a whole stack of 4 1/2" squares of reproductions that I found in a drawer when I was cleaning my island. I have no idea where they came from - they weren't pinked so it wasn't a fabric club. I can't remember anyone sending me a bunch of squares. I knew I'd not cut them because there were many I'd never seen before. I added the small number of 4 1/2" squares in my scrap box, and brought along all the shirtings left over from cutting the setting triangles for my president's quilt. I turned them into double four patches, which resulted in 108 seven inch blocks - enough for a twin size charity quilt. This used a bunch of scraps and stash as well as cleared out a plastic shoe box and island drawer. I couldn't be happier! I'll post a picture once the top is finished. That took most of Saturday. Saturday evening and Sunday morning I sat by the fire hand quilting - a perfect way to finish the weekend. I didn't win any door prizes - but a quilty weekend spent with great friends is priceless and makes everything worthwhile!

I'm constantly amazed at the creativity of each year's Quilt Camp committee. They work hard all year to make sure we have a wonderful time and received lots of neat little gifts - many handmade. This year a big thank you goes to Connie, Mary, Alana, and Gail. Well done ladies!

Bring on Thanksgiving!

It's a good thing it takes only a short time to put away the ghosts and their friends and bring out the pilgrims! Looks like I'd better get busy making a Thanksgiving quilt for over the piano!