Freeze Frame

This quilt has been constructed from Judy Laquidara's Quilt for an Hour Project on her Patchwork Times blog. She designs a quilt and then allows her readers to make that quilt. Her directions are given to readers each day and can usually be made with an hour of work. This project has 12 hours of directions.

My quilt is made entirely from batiks. The quilt is meant to be feminine and is made for cozy cuddling in the evening. I left off the final border so it would not be too big.

I have fabrics for a masculine version that will be made with light and dark browns as the background with woodsy colors for the squares.

The Overbrook Quilt Connection Booth

The is the Overbrook Quilt Connection booth on Thursday morning before the arena opened. Roxane was hiding from me so I did not get her picture. I sit at the table with the red and black covering and demonstrate several items in the booth. Roxane sits to the far right, writes tickets, and takes money. Thursday seemed like a long day with less energy from the customers than Wednesday. I met people from Kansas including quilters from Meriden, Topeka, and Manhattan. I hope Friday is busy and fun.

Des Moines AQS Quilt Show

This is what the quilt show booth looks like before it is set up. We arrived in Des Moines about 3 pm on Monday and sat in the marshaling line for over two hours before we could move to the unloading docks. It did not take very long to unload the trailer and move the boxes and set-up material to our booth. Tuesday we took about four hours to have the booth completely ready for business.

Today was our first day of business and the quilters were busy buying. I am the demonstrator for the booth. I show quilters the Bohin mechanical chalk pencil, a three-pocket purse, a cell phone bag, a table runner, and quilt-a-cards. Sometimes I show them several items and sometimes just one or two. Tomorrow I will show you a picture of the booth during our vending day.

Angel Tree Topper

This Angel tree topper is from the OESD Christmas Collection #1 in 2008. The fabric parts of the angel are satin with the rest made by machine embroidery. There are five parts to the angel and it takes about five hours to embroider all of them. The satin stitches are then embellished with silver metallic thread.

This angel along with other free standing lace angels will be given to the Stormont Vail Cancer Center chemo unit. I am hoping it will brighten the days of those patients who have to spend time in the unit during the holidays.

More Wild!flowers

I will try to get a picture of the entire quilt when it comes back home from Houston. Right now it is in the pack of quilts that are headed to the Quilt Festival for the booth of the Overbrook Quilt Connection from Kansas. My job this year is to mind the store while others are enjoying the festival!!

Last Sunday the quilt was on display at The Charles Curtis House in Topeka. Charles Curtis was the vice president for Herbert Hoover. He is the only vp who had a native American mother. The display was a quilt show and tour of the house to benefit two local charities.

I did show the quilt to my local quilt guild and to my Bernina sewing group earlier this week. It really is a beautiful quilt and much more colorful than in this picture.

Locker Hooked Rug

This rug is a pattern called "Garden Steps" in a

book by Cindy Murray entitled You Can Be A Happy Rug Hooker 2. During the Paducah Quilt Show I demonstrated locker hooking. Then the local quilt shop asked me to teach a class covering toothbrush rag rugs and locker hooking. One of the ladies who works in the shop on Saturday brought this rug for the class to see. It was so beautiful and soft that I decided I needed to make one for the entrance to our fifth wheel trailer. So it is completed and I really like it.

You can find a video to show you the basics of locker hooking. It is done with a locker hook, strips of fabric, rug canvas mesh, and cotton yarn or string. The locker hook has a crochet hook on one end and a needle eye on the other end. The strips of fabric are hooked to the top of the mesh and then the string is drawn through the loops to keep them on top of the canvas. It is really very easy and uses yards of fabric. My rug is 26" X 32" and took about eight yards of fabric.

Design Wall

This is a picture of the quilt that is currently on my design wall. I am working on the "Quilt for an Hour Project" by Judy Laquidara. Her blog is Patchwork Times. Several times each year, Judy develops a quilt pattern and shares it with her readers. She publishes the directions each day on her blog. The directions can usually be completed in a hour or so each day. Each quilter can choose their own fabric and decide when to complete the project. It is great fun to be part of a quilt project that is being completed across the nation. My quilt is made entirely of batiks. I will probably make another one in a darker colorway.

Besides being a quilter, designer, teacher, and author, Judy is a great cook. Her blog also has some great recipes.

I am also working on two other projects during the day. Tonight I finished a latchhook rug and will have a picture for you soon. The More Wild!flowers quilt is slowly being quilted. I really like piecing but find quilting less to my liking. I should have it finished in a few days.