Paducah Quilt Show

I got home from Paducah Sunday evening. It was a great show! This was my first time to see the show, and I was not disappointed. I think it is probably the most prestigious quilt show anywhere. And of course, there were lots of vendors, so I spent way too much money.

We stayed with the most delightful woman as well. Paducah doesn't have enough hotel rooms during the quilt show, so the visitors and convention bureau works with local people to offer bed and breakfast rooms for the show. This was what we did, and it worked out extremely well.

On another note, I finished the machine appliqué that I was doing for Darcy Ashton at the quilting retreat I attended the previous weekend. They were the cutest bunny blocks. You can see Darcy's website here. I explain why I'm doing these blocks for her in an earlier post (here).

And I got just a little bit of machine embroidery done today. We've been shopping for a new refrigerator the last 2 days. Yesterday morning when I took my soy milk out of the refrigerator, I noticed that it didn't feel as cold as it should. I put a thermometer in it, and it only registered about 45 degrees or so (it should be below 40). This happened a few months ago, and we turned the setting as cold as it would go. It's only 28 years old - time for a new one! We finally agreed on one today and ordered it - it should be in next week. This is what we ordered in black: Amana.

Scanner

I think my scanner just died! I've checked all the connections, even switched the plug in with the speakers, and it just won't turn on. The speakers come on in either plug in, so I think I'm going to have to go shopping for a new one after I get back from Paducah, Kentucky. Oh yeah, I'm headed to Paducah in the morning for the Annual American Quilters Society Quilt Show and Contest. I'll be back home Sunday night.

Hope

The friends we visit in Tennessee have the sweetest cat. Her name is Hope, and she loves brown paper bags. I took this picture of her last week.

EDM Weekly Challenge #29

#29 - Draw something architectural (the house of the friends we were visiting)

EDM Weekly Challenges #11, #137, #24, #91

I drew these in my journal last week while we were visiting friends. They were for the weekly challenges on the Everyday Matters group.

#11 - Draw your glasses or sunglasses (my first pen and ink sketch)
#137 - Draw something you can turn on or off - my MP3 player
#24 - Draw a piece of fruit (an orange)
#91 - Draw an apple

I've Been Tagged

I've been tagged by Quilting Diva and this is how it goes:

1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Here are my 7 random facts about me:

1. My wonderful marriage of over 30 years is my second marriage.
2. I was the first girl in my high school to take wood shop.
3. My ethnic heritage is Jewish, but I don't practice (that or any other religion).
4. My aunt taught me to knit at the age of 7 or so.
5. I was a CPA when I worked - but I only worked for 12 years.
6. I had a picture framing business in my home for 7 years.
7. I have one son, who is the only grandchild on my side of the family. And on my DH's side, there are only grandsons, no granddaughters.

Now, to tag 7 other bloggers:

1. Danielle
2. Shelina
3. Rian
4. Vicky
5. Margaret Ann
6. Zeborah
7. Carol

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

I really enjoyed this book, which I finished while we were in Tennessee. It is the story of Lily and Snow Flower, who at the age of 7, become laotong, or old sames, a relationship closer than any other, even marriage. They share so much of their lives together, beginning with foot binding. But a terrible misunderstanding drives them apart. The story is told by Lily as an old woman looking back on her life. It was very well written - I couldn't put it down. I rate it 4 out of 5.

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I finished this today. I liked parts of it, found other parts to be rather boring. It is the story of Fermina Daza and Florentino Ariza, who fall in love as youths. Fermina decides to marry a wealthy doctor instead. Florentino is devastated, but he waits over 51 years for Fermina's husband to die. He declares his love for Fermina again the day of her husband's funeral. The book starts right before Fermina's husband's death, proceeds through Florentino's declaration, then flashes back to their youth. Most of the book follows the 51 years of their separate lives.

I was disappointed because I was expecting the book to be better. I liked the beginning and the ending, but it often bogged down in the middle. I would rate it 2 out of 5.

Traveling again

I won't be able to post for a bit - we're headed off tomorrow to visit friends in Tennessee. We've been visiting them each spring for a few years now and always enjoy our visit. I hope to get some drawing done.

Today's Quilting

I worked on the Diamond in the Rough quilt today. I had to fix a mistake - I hate it when I do something stupid! If you look at the picture (a couple of posts down), you might notice that I had forgotten to add the black sashing strip on the lower left corner. Well, I didn't notice it until I had cut off the excess corners on the setting triangles and sewn on the corner triangle. So, this meant I had to "unsew" the corner triangle, sew on the black sashing strip, add patches where I'd cut off the corners of the setting triangles, and re-sew the corner triangle. But I did that today, and that part is done. Now all that's left is squaring it up and adding two more borders.

Quilt Every Day for April

I know that I won't be able to quilt every day this month, because we are going to be out of town visiting friends for a week or so (leaving either Sunday or Monday). And then later in the month I'm going to Paducah, Kentucky, with a friend to see the American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show & Contest. But I'm going to try to quilt on the days I'm home. And if I don't keep track of what I'm working on here, I won't remember at the end of the month.

Yesterday, all I did was make one block for our guild's president (the members always make a block for the president as a thank you). I forgot to take a picture of it before I turned it in at our meeting last night, but it was a Sawtooth Star block. Today I'm continuing to work on Diamond in the Rough.

This past weekend, I attended the Oklahoma Quilt State Organization's Spring Retreat at Western Hills State Lodge. It was a lot of fun! But that means I have a couple more unfinished projects to work on, although I did get one of the tops finished - I just need to quilt it. And one of the classes was actually making a basket - out of reed, not fabric! I really enjoyed that. And that is also finished, so I really only have one unfinished top! It's a table runner called Tulip Bells Table Runner by Southwind Designs. I finished one block in the class and also the centers for the other two blocks - so it shouldn't take too long to finish.

One of the teachers at the retreat, Darcy Ashton, does hand appliqué. I don't do hand appliqué - I do machine. Her patterns and books are really great - and can be done by machine just as well as by hand. I had taken a class with her about a year ago, and my friend and I were the only two in the class who brought our sewing machines! Anyway, Darcy is working on a new book, and she wants people who do machine appliqué to realize that they can use her books and patterns too. She asked me if I would do the machine work on about 20 blocks. I would get a signed copy of the book and my name would be listed in the book. Of course I said yes! I was quite flattered and pleased that she asked me. You can see her website here: Darcy Ashton.

March Quilting

I managed to quilt most days in March after joining the challenge to "quilt every day." I finished one project:



I also worked on another quilt that I had put aside for a couple of years - it's called Diamond in the Rough. I'm not finished with it yet, but I have all of the blocks completed and sewn into rows; I'm in the process of sewing the rows together. I needed some more fabric for the borders to make it bigger, which I was able to find recently. Here are the rows (the little white squares you see are my notes pinned on to keep the rows in order):



And here is a close up of one of the blocks:



The reason that I hadn't worked on this quilt in a long time was that I was unhappy with a couple of the fabrics in the star points; there wasn't enough contrast between them and the background, so they disappeared. I decided to use Fabrico ink on the couple of fabrics that were too light, and it made all the difference in the world. It's a reminder that value is often more important than color.

I also did some machine embroidery this month, but I don't have a finished product to show yet.

Finished Quilt

Finally, a new post! I've been trying hard to quilt every day, and I've managed to succeed almost every day. Today I finished this quilt that I've been working on. I wanted to get it finished before I leave for the State Retreat on Friday, because I want to show it there. One of the classes I'm taking at retreat is being taught by the woman I bought this pattern from at a previous retreat (she taught the class at that retreat, and I didn't take the class - but when I saw the quilts that were done in the class, I bought the pattern from her). All I have left to do is hand sew down the sleeve and the label. But even if I don't get that done, I can still show the quilt at retreat.

I've been having some trouble with my laptop's power button - sometimes it doesn't turn on when I press the button. So I took it in to have it looked at (while it's still under warranty). And as kind of an afterthought, I also asked them to look at the USB port where I plug in my mouse, because it's loose. Well, they didn't find anything wrong with the power button (I must not be pressing it in the center of the button), but they have to send it in to have the USB port replaced. I need the computer over the weekend and the first part of next week (I really MUST finish our taxes!), so I'll have to take it back to them to send in next week. I'm going to HATE being without it!! But we'll be traveling during part of the time, so that's really a good time to send it in (although I usually take it with me when we travel). I guess I'll just sketch and photograph while on vacation.

EDM Challenge #15

Challenge #15 is to draw a tree. Our Bradford Pear is blooming so wonderfully right now that I decided to draw it.

Merle's Door by Ted Kerasote

I finished this book today. It was pretty good. Not quite as good as I was expecting, but I mostly enjoyed it. Merle is a stray dog who is taken in by the author. There are stories about their life together and a lot of information about animal behavior research. Sometimes the research info got a little tedious, but a lot of it was interesting. And of course, since dogs live so much shorter lives than people do, it had a very sad ending. Merle was an exceptional dog, who reminded me of our previous lab (Ralph) in some ways. I would rate this book 3 out of 5.

Quilt Studio

I've just joined the Quilt Studio Web Ring - you can see the button for it over in the right hand column. It is a group of bloggers who are interested in sharing ideas about quilts with other quilters. Lots of good blogs in the ring - I haven't even seen them all yet because there are quite a few. But it's cool to be a part of it.

Mexican Stars Quilt

I've been working on a quilt pattern called Mexican Stars. You can see the pattern here (this isn't my quilt - it's a picture of the pattern). I've got the top finished, and I've been quilting it this week. I really enjoyed making the top. It has a very innovative way of making the curves; they are three dimensional and are not pieced (which is good, since I don't like piecing curves).

I've had a bit of trouble with my machine's stitch regulator, which has been an ongoing battle for me. Every time I take it in for service, the tech can't find anything wrong with it. I finally realized why today. There are two different ways to use the stitch regulator; the tech always tests it one way, and I stitch with it the other way. I guess I need to take it back in for her to look at again. It wouldn't be so bad, but the shop is about 60 miles from my house (sigh).

Our Quest for the Perfect Margarita

I did this page a couple of weeks ago and forgot to post it. I bought the glasses and the shaker for my DH for valentine's day. The writing says, "We both like the Perfect Margarita at Applebee's. I did a Google search for the recipe. I found several, but they weren't the same. Brian, the bartender, suggested this. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good."

Recipe is:
1 1/2 oz. tequila
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/4 oz. Grand Marnier
3/4 - 1 oz. lime juice (fresh squeezed is best)
2 1/2 - 3 oz. Margarita Mix

EDM Challenge #162

I finished the current challenge today, which is "Draw Your Breakfast." This was harder than I thought it would be, and there are some things I'm not really happy with, but I'm still learning, so that's ok.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I haven't read very many classics. After seeing two different movie versions of this, I decided I really should read it. I'm glad I did. It was very entertaining (even knowing the story in advance). The story is of Elizabeth Bennet and her four unmarried sisters. Because women can't own property and their father isn't well off financially, the daughters must "marry well." Whenever Mr. Bennet dies, his estate will transfer to the girls' cousin Mr. Collins.

Mr. Darcy is a very rich and very proud man who falls in love with Elizabeth. However, Elizabeth dislikes Mr. Darcy at first, and pretty much tells him so when he proposes to her. Eventually Elizabeth has a change of heart (and Mr. Darcy changes as well - he becomes less proud) and all ends well.

I rate it 4 out of 5.

By the way, if you want to see the movie, go for the one with Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy. It's great - and very complete.

Hideaway Pizza

I thought I'd uploaded this page already, but I see that I haven't. I carry a smaller journal in my purse now so that I can sketch wherever I am. This was my first sketch in that small journal. The writing says, "We don't go out to dinner very often. And because of my high cholesterol, we rarely eat pizza. So it was a real treat to go to The Hideaway for dinner tonight, my all time favorite pizza place. We ordered half and half like we always do; mushrooms, black olives, sun dried tomatoes for me; hamburger, mushrooms for Glen." This is from 2/29/08.

EDM Challenge #1

I've joined a drawing and sketching Yahoo group called Everyday Matters. I really like the name - I think it has dual meanings. To me, first it means that every day is important. And second, it's about noticing (and drawing) every day items.

They have weekly challenges, which just gives you ideas of things to draw. The challenges have been going on for over 3 years now, because they're up to number 162 or so. I'm going to do the challenges as I feel inclined. I'm not going to try to "catch up" since that would be very hard to do at this point, and I'm not going to do them in order. But it just so happened that the first one appealed to me. It was to draw a shoe. So on Saturday, when we were at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships, I sketched the shoe I had on. I really wish that I had worn my brown shoes instead of my black shoes that day - it's really hard to get definition in black. But I went with what I was wearing. I finished it up tonight. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.



For most of the art I've been doing in my journals, I've been using watercolor pencils. But I decided for the black shoe I needed to use regular colored pencils in order to get shades of black and gray.



I also drew this flag on Saturday.

Quilt Every Day

I am participating in a challenge called Quilt Every Day (you can read about it here). The idea is to spend at least 10 minutes every day quilting. The challenge is for the month of March, but I didn't learn about the challenge until March 5. We spent the entire day at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships yesterday, so I didn't have even 10 minutes to quilt yesterday (but I did do some sketching, so I don't feel quite as bad - I may adapt the challenge to be "spend at least 10 minutes doing something creative every day"). And for some reason that I don't remember, I don't think I quilted on Friday either. But I'm going to try really hard to do this every day - 10 minutes isn't very much time after all. Of course, most days that I quilt, I spend much more than 10 minutes at it.

Today, I've pieced a back for a top that I'm ready to quilt. Now I'm ready to layer and pin baste it. Then on to quilting.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago. I know I've said this a lot lately, but this really is one of the best books I've ever read. I don't even know where to begin to describe this book (in fact, I've had this post in draft form since I finished the book, not sure what else to add; I finally decided I better just post it). So I'll start with what's written on the back cover:

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

"By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hnidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, whereever there are books to be found.

"But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down."

I rate this book 5 out of 5.

Cyber Fyber Again

I'm doing another trade with Susan Lenz of Cyber Fyber; this time for a postcard. This is the postcard I'm sending. I did something totally new (to me) with this; I started with a white tone-on-tone fabric and used watercolor crayons to paint the rainbow, sky, and grass. Then I free motion stitched over the rainbow and the grass and added the flowers. I'd never used water color crayons on fabric before; I'm sure I'll be doing it again. You can see the postcard I'm trading for here.

Baskets of Love

I finished this quilt on Friday and hung it up yesterday before I remembered to take a picture of it. It is hanging in my bathroom, so I couldn't get far enough away from it to get the whole quilt in the picture. The only part that is cut off is the very bottom of the blocks and the bottom border, but since the bottom blocks are the same as the top blocks, and all the borders are the same, I figured I could use the picture anyway. It's much easier than taking it off the wall, getting my DH to hold it, and taking another picture. :) I really enjoyed making this quilt. The pattern is in the book Hearts Aplenty by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith. In the book, the name of the quilt is Circle of Friends, but I named mine Baskets of Love. My good friend Betty Gilliam taught the class at a recent state retreat. My goal was to finish it in time for our Spring Retreat the end of this month so that I could take it for Show and Share.

My Cyber Fyber ATC

I think I've decided to send this ATC to Susan Lenz for the Cyber Fyber exhibition.

Cyber Fyber

I am thrilled to be participating in the Cyber Fyber Exhibition. To explain what this is, it's easiest to quote from the website:

"CYBER FYBER is an exhibition of international fiber art scheduled for January 8th through 20th, 2009 at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, USA. The brainchild of Susan Lenz, this exhibit will focus on the supportive, global community of fiber artists with whom Susan regularly shares new techniques, contemporary approaches to textiles, and finished work by Internet websites and blogs."

To learn more about this, the website is here. I made several fabric ATC's (artist trading cards) back in 2006 when I was a member of a small group of artists who met twice a month to make and trade cards. I have some of them left, and I think I will use one of them for this trade (unless I decide to make something new, which I might). I'll decide in the next few days.

The ATC that I'm getting can be seen on Susan Lenz's blog here. I am really excited about this!

Hemming New Jeans

I journaled today about one of my less favorite sewing activities - hemming jeans. I think the journaling was more fun than hemming the jeans. Although to be honest, every time I do hem jeans, I decide it really isn't that bad. It doesn't really take all that long. These jeans had been in my sewing room for about a month now, waiting for me to get to them. I only finished two of them - hopefully tomorrow I'll do the last pair. I saved the off-white jeans until last, figuring I probably wouldn't be wanting to wear them as soon. But I do want to get them done. If you want to know what the journaling says, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Stained Glass Art Journal Page

My latest journal page. The writing states: "Last month, we went to the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa to see an exhibit of Frank Lloyd Wright. I was really impressed with his stained glass. This is my interpretation."