Graduation 2011

On Sunday two of my granddaughters graduated from the local high school. My daughter-in-law graduated from the University of Mary with a Masters in Nursing and a Masters in Business Administration on Friday. So we have been attending ceremonies, luncheons, dinners, and parties for everyone this week. It has been a joyous time for family get-togethers.

Mousepad

This is my version of the mousepad for the May Software Sampler. The lesson is about making a crazy quilt-type of block. I love the Floralicious fabric by Bernartex and have made a couple of small items from it. This block was completely stitched in the jumbo hoop. The block can also be make in the large hoop but the corner motifs must be hooped a second time. I could not find the mousepad kit so I just used iron-on vinyl for the top covering.

Graduation Wall Quilt

One of my granddaughters brought her chenille high school letter to me last year to put into a quilt. She graduated yesterday and this was one of her gifts. (Thanks for the idea from my quilting friend Diane.) It is a wall quilt of about 21" x 21". I used a pattern by Double Diamond called Diamond Wine. The diamonds are made with a special double diamond ruler. The area has a second piece of fabric fused to the back and so the diamonds show that color when tucked back and stitched. She did love her little wall quilt. It was a grand graduation day for two of my granddaughters!

Red and White Quilts

This is the most amazing exhibit of quilts that I have seen. I just wish I could have been there in person. Take a look at the quilts and the format of this amazing exhibition.

More photos from The Selvage Blog.

Paducah Quilt Show

We got home about 5 last evening from the Paducah Quilt Show. I went with Roxane, owner of Overbrook Quilt Connection, and Dee, a quilting friend. Dee and I helped Roxane with her booth. This was the 25th anniversary of the show and it was eventful. On Sunday they received word that the main exhibition hall had to be abandoned because they were shutting the flood gates in the flood wall. Because of all the rain the Ohio River was near flood stage and could possibly flood the city. So many of the vendors were moved to other buildings in the city. We were very lucky to be in the Finkel Building which was in the downtown area. So we got to town last Monday and set up the booth.

We opened the booth on Tuesday morning. Dee demonstrated the 3-pocket purse, the Bohin chalk pencil, Clearly Perfect Angle, cell phone bag, and the Quilter's boot for binding. We had many customers on Tuesday but our best days were Thursday and Friday. We met quilters from all across the United States, Australia, and Canada. I had great fun and love going to Paducah.

New Billfold

This is the billfold or checkbook holder that I made with the Texture Magic fabric. I used temtex for the stiffener and that was just not perfect. It makes the wallet too thick in the area of the credit card holders. The pattern designer suggested a product called decor bond 809 that I will use for the next one. If you look carefully, you can see a place for your checkbook on the bottom half and a place for money on the top half. There is plenty of space for credit cards and even a pen holder. This is fairly easy to make and goes together quickly. The Overbrook Quilt Connection is going to have a class for this--watch for the class schedule.

Saturday I was a co-hostess on the Crusin' Kansas bus trip that went to four great quilt shops. Thirty-two of us had breakfast, loaded the bus at 8:30, and headed out to Needle in a Haystack at Severy. We shopped for an hour in this great shop that had lots of help and lovely fabrics. Then we picked up our lunch and headed to Charlotte's Sew Natural in Newton. Charlotte has a great variety of batiks and new florals. Then it was on the Prairie Pieces in Emporia. Another hour of shopping with lots of variety and fun. On to Quilting Bits & Pieces in Eudora for supper with homemade pie and more shopping. Back to Overbrook Quilt Connection by 8:15 for our last chance at buying fabric. Dee and I shared some fun techniques with the bus along the way. The textured billfold or checkbook holder was a hit. All the Texture Magic along the route was purchased. Everyone had a great time making new stitching friends and finding treasures along the way.

New Project

This is the first step of my project. The first photo is the fabric with Texture Magic on the back and I have stitched a grid on the fabric. I used my embroidery machine to stitch the grid and could have completed the task much faster by using a decorative stitch on the machine. But that did include digitizing the grid which I now have. The I thoroughly steamed the texture magic to complete the shinking process. The fabric shirks approximately 30% in all direction. If you make the photos larger, you can see the details much better. I used a metallic teal thread in the bobbin to give the glitz. I am going to make a lovely wallet from this beginning. I hope to get it finished tomorrow.