Our Quilt Show

Lake Norman Quilters' quilt show was this weekend. I am continually amazed at the talent in this group.  To see all of the quilts and winners, go to our site: http://lknquilters.wordpress.com/.  A big congratulations to Teresa for winning the Viewer's Choice.  This was my favorite quilt.  I also know that Teresa worked very hard on this one and am so glad for her - isn't it a beauty?!  I'm also very proud of young Diana.  This is the daughter of one of our members and she is a fine young lady.  She has come to our meets and shared some of her sewing projects.  Her quilt is the picture quilt just above her.  In a few years she is sure to walk away with many ribbons!

I was also both surprised and pleased to have won two second place ribbons.  One was for a quilt I gave my son last Christmas and the other for a pillow I gave him the year before.  I reminded him that he is now the owner of award winning work!

An awful lot of work goes into the quilt show and my hat's off to Michele and Liz who co-chaired the event and to the many who put so much of their time and effort into the planning and execution of the show.  Thanks also to the many husbands who not only worked tirelessly during set-up and take-down, but who supported us during the year while we sewed our little hearts away!

Lampshade Dress Up

For quite some time now I've wanted to dress up a lamp shade for our guest room.  My daughter did one from the Pretty Ditty blog (http://pretty-ditty.blogspot.com/2009/02/peek-boo-lamp-shade-makeovertutorial.html.)  Once my husband did the math, it wasn't hard at all! It was especially fun going through stash to pick out the 8 different print fabrics I used.  I decided to use a black and white for the top and bottom bias finished edge and liked the look.  What would I change? If I were to do another, I would add more sections.  This was not really specified in the tutorial.  I used 8 sections on a small lamp shade.  I wish I had used 10. Other than that, I love it and it really looks good with the light on - bright and fun!

99 Blocks off the Wall

Finally!  My scrappy quilt top is done. This is one I started several years ago with romantic notions of using up a bunch of scraps.  The scrap supply, however, has increased mightily since then.  There are 99 blocks, each containing 13 pieces not counting the black and white sashings.  I wish I had kep count of how many bobbins of thread I went through - many, many, many. I do plan on quilting this one myself sometime.  It's back on my project shelf, but I do feel quite a sense of accomplishment.  Will I ever do another scrappy quilt?  Oh, probably sew!

Cincinnati



A beautiful old bridge.



Went to Cincinnati last week for work for a couple of days.  There was no time to go to sites like the zoo or gardens, but we did enjoy some beautiful architecture on our early evening walks.  Rain had been predicted for our stay there, but the weather was perfect!  In the main hall of the convention center I was surprised to find this wonderful quilt hanging.  I cannot find where I wrote down the name of the artist, but did want to share this.  It was really glorious in person. There was so much detail and so many embellishments.



One of several old churches.



"Freedom" Quilt

 On the way home I treated myself to a quick visit to Batiks, Etc. in Wytheville, Virginia.  If you have never been here and like batiks, you will love this place. There is a whole room devoted to batiks and they are glorious! The sale room is filled with them as well.  Amazingly enough, I behaved - I was out in 30 minutes and spent very little. I'll have to remedy that my next trip in that direction!

Tower of Storage

This is it! My Tower of Storage! I got to pick this out as my birthday gift from Ikea.  It's about 72" tall and holds an amazing amount of supplies. And yes, all the drawers have something in them, but all are not full - YET. One of the features I love is that each bin can pull out completely.  Very handy to pull out the paint bin and take to the work area I will be painting in.  Or a bin with fabric fat quarters that I can bring to my cutting table and work at picking and choosing.  I am going to label each bin and am pretty sure I have it organized the way  I want it.  There's also a solid top so I can store a couple of items up there that I don't need to reach for very often.  This new storage allowed me to eliminate a couple of other pieces in my studio area  which made it look neater  and less cluttered.   I admit, I am a bit of an organizational junky. Now maybe I'll get more sewing done!

The Big 6 - 0 !



The moment of surprise.  Took me a moment to realize what in the world was going on!





I was just taking it all in and trying to not cry!



Me? Sixty?  How and when did that happen? My family made it the best day ever.It started out with Bob and I at Amelies, a really cool French bakery in Charlotte's arts' district.  We then hit a couple of furniture consignment shops and on to Ikea.  Now, that's a good husband! That's where I got my present, but I'll save that for another post.  The plan was to meet our kids at a nice restaurant in Mooresville.  I knew the hostess and we chatted all the way up the stairs to join the kids.  I turn the corner and there was a big "SURPRISE" shouted out by 8 of my favorite people. What a bunch of sneaks - I had absolutely no idea.  And what a great evening. Lots of laughter and fun.



And here we are my husband and I and our two great kids. They really pulled this one off. 
 I am so very blessed!



She's Published!

Okay, I'm going to be the impossible proud parent here.  My daugther was published in the April/May issue of Sew News! She made this amazing reversible raincoat from laminated cotton and wrote an article on how to work with the fabric and various tips and tricks. She really stretched herself with this project and executed it most expertly.  It really is a kick when your children surpass you with their talents.  Honestly, I would not have even attempted this project.  Way to go kid - can't wait to see what's next!