Late Again -- Not Surprising!

This morning was an early out-the-door morning here for me. It was time for our monthly TAS (The Applique Society) chapter meeting. I didn't make last month's meeting because I was at retreat so it was nice to see folks I don't see all the time. Our theme this time was Dresden plates, fans, circles, and sunbursts. We had a lot of show 'n' tell which is wonderful. I showed off my Dresden Stars, pattern by Laundry Basket Quilts. I also showed BOO, a pattern by Sewing With Susan. No picture of BOO, sorry.

As for my RSC quilting adventures, I did manage some progress. Here are two GemTones blocks in blue. The pattern was in the February issue of Am. Patchwork & Quilting.

Probably could've used a little more contrast.
Same story in the pink ones last month so it's OK with me.

 

I also decided to join Sherri Falls in her BOM on her blog The Quilting Life. I was going to do it last month in RSC colors but never got around to it. There was another RSC-er that did and it turned out beautifully!

Anyway, I did last month's block in RSC Pink.

Then, since I was on a roll, I made the February block in RSC Blue!

There will be twelve blocks total from The Quilting Life which she explained will make a table runner. I thought this might be a fun and yet practical project.

Block #2 of my Design Party Table Runner was also completed this week. This project is my take-along project to Mom's appointments. English Paper Piecing is good for that! I thought it turned out cute!

Needs a good pressing

I did start quilting my PINK AccuQuilt quilt last weekend. I stitched in the ditch the 12 blocks making up the quilt and just started ditch-quilting the borders. Looking forward to getting it stablized so the fun free-motion quilting can begin!

We are having a gloomy, gray day here in the St. Louis area and the forecast is very cold temps for next week. There are also no "bonus" appointments for Mom (other than the regular PT & hairdresser), so I hope to get some of that quilting done!

No sewing can get accomplished with the laptop at hand, so I'll sign off with the link to Angela's SoScrappy blog where there is more RSC sewing to view. Have a great weekend!

Not Much Orange ... Yet

The past week was a blur. Monday morning I had Quilt Club at my LQS and then hurried home to get Mom to P/T at 1pm. Somehow I managed to get 3.5 loads of laundry fully washed, dried, folded, and put away with the last load in the dryer as I went to bed. Tuesday I cleaned up all the floors in the house and finished up that last load of laundry. I also worked on getting prepared for Wednesday's expedition. My friend picked me up and away we went at 8am to knock out a few (six!) quilt shops on the All-Illinois Shop Hop. I was dropped off home at just past 5:30pm and I whipped up BLTs for dinner. Man, was I tired but in a VERY GOOD way. Thursday was up & at 'em for Tips at another LQS (aren't I lucky?). After rushing home to get Mom to P/T again at 1:00 and then home again for my sister's phone call at 3:00, it was on to Dairy Queen for dinner. What???? you ask? 20% of all proceeds that evening were being donated to the Troy Senior Center. We love our Senior Center so much that we decided that DQ Dinner was a win-win. Every Friday Mom & I leave at 11:30 for her standing hair appointment at noon, followed by a little grocery shopping. We usually get back home around 3:30.

That brings us to Saturday when I was signed up for a Zoom class through The Applique Society. Class was scheduled from 10am - 4:30pm and was all about broderie perse. Dena Rosenberg, our instructor, was wonderful! The class was informative, inspiring, and so much fun! She had given a lecture to our group earlier this year and I was so impressed with her knowledge and skill that I was excited for this class.

It doesn't look like much, but this was my progress on Saturday.

My Layout

A Close-up of my Appliqued
First Flower

As for my Red Threads project, I didn't get last week's block (the elk) finished. Rats!

Looking Good So Far

We got the very last embroidery block on Friday. After 50 months, it's a relief to be done getting them. Now to finish up the elk and get that last one done. Of course there's still all the paper-piecing of the flying geese sashings that run the length of the quilt -- 88" according to the pattern!!!

So that's been my week. Busy, busy. I'm looking forward to the upcoming calm week.

If you want to see orange blocks and orange creations, head on over to Angela's SoScrappy blog. There's lots there being shared.

FNSI, RSC, & Retreat

I've been off the grid this week due to the arrival of my best friend last Saturday. We left for retreat Sunday afternoon and spent some glorious girlfriend time. Sure wish I'd taken some pictures of my friend but I did get a picture of one of the three (?) wool applique projects Vickie completed while there.

Acorn pillow not quite finished here.
Buttermilk Basin design

Here's a picture of a sweet Christmas quilt sewn together by my friend, Amy. I'm not sure of the pattern name. Sorry about that.

Table buddy Sharon was in the Halloween mode. She finished this one:

And this one she had just about finished with the exception of two sides. She got it finished when she got home and sent me this picture.

F

For the first time ever, we had a married couple sewing with us. Mike hasn't been quilting all that long but is he ever into it and he's always thinking of better ways. Here's the quilt he put together at retreat.

Obviously (probably) it's being held sideways so it didn't hang on the floor. Wouldn't it be perfect for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge?? Sorry, but again I don't know the name of the pattern. I'm sure I could get it for you if you want it though.

So what did I do? I made this adorable table mat that was a kit from Timeless Traditions by Norma Whaley. It was strip-cut and fabrics were already pre-matched so that made it easier to put together. However, pieces still had to be cut and sewn. This little mat finishes at 15".

The striped fabric in the top of the picture is the binding and the fabric that it is laying on is the backing. They were also included in the kit.

We left retreat Thursday morning and headed into St. Louis to Batiks Plus. Besides being an authorized Bernina dealer, they also have all sorts of Hoffman batiks and I knew Vickie would love it. I was not wrong especially since I'd given her a gift certificate for her retirement. Batiks Plus does an incredible business online because of all their batiks which includes ALL THE HOFFMAN 1895 FABRICS! You can visit HERE. We spent a little over three hours. So.Many.Batiks!

On Friday we decided to go to Itch'n to be Stitch'n in Staunton IL. This is another quilt shop that you should visit if ever in the St. Louis metro area. We shopped some more and had loads of fun there too.

During the evening hours we settled in for some handwork and rest. Vickie was working on a crocheted tablecloth and she made great progress there. I worked some more on my knitted socks. The pattern is Caramel Sauce by Joji Designs, which you can find on Ravelry. Here's where I am right now. Just a couple more rows and I'll be turning the heel. All the while I was also sewing with Wendy & friends during Friday Night Sew-In. You can see what all got accomplished HERE.

Vickie left this morning. I have a Zoom TAS (The Applique Society) meeting this afternoon with Janice Vaine. I'm looking forward to her trunk show. If you like applique, you really should join TAS. We get a lot of 1st rate teachers lined up to speak to us & teach classes. You can learn more HERE. I've already started the laundry and will finish up during the meeting. Then we take Gracie to the kennel because we (meaning Fred, Mom, & me) leave tomorrow for almost two weeks. We will be in NC visiting my brother and on to MD/VA to visit my son and daughter. Of course we'll also be seeing BRODY!

I'm letting you in on this because I'll be hit-or-miss for a while longer. In the meantime, have yourself a wonderful rest of October!

Linking up with Angela at SoScrappy and all the other RSC quilters HERE. Happy stitching!

RSC Turquoise

I don't have a lot to post this week. I've been very busy quilting the Positivity quilt (almost done). My binding is just about set to be sewn on too. In the meantime, let me just say that it is has been a crazy week for me. 

Tuesday afternoon I had UFO Club at my local quilt shop (O'Sewpersonal in Collinsville, IL). I showed my completed Mini Wool Christmas wall hanging.

That was my #6 on the UFO Challenge list and #3 was chosen next. It is a Christmas pillow and will be due October 12th. It was a really cute & fun sew-along with Susan Marth on her blog. It will need to be quilted and then finished as a pillow. I'm hoping to put a zipper on the back. This is what it looks like today. You will notice the dresden plate in the center -- Susan's signature! Hahaha! See what I mean when you check out her website HERE.

Then Tuesday evening was guild meeting. We had Vicki Hodge present a trunk show and let me tell you her quilts are beautiful! She loves looking at antique quilts and then working on her own scrappy version of them. At one time she planned on hand quilting all her quilts but it became apparent that she had way too many tops. So what did she do? She put two tops back-to-back and had them quilted. Double-sided quilt! She said you only have to be careful when choosing your binding since it'll be on both quilts! Brilliant! She has a book with Quiltmania called Button Box Quilts. Check it out HERE.

Wednesday I took an all-day class with Vicki. It was scrappy and fun. I did mine Christmas-themed and will show later when I finish the project.

Thursday morning was Tips & Techniques at another local quilt shop (Rosemary's Quilts in Highland, IL). We had a good talk followed by LOTS of show 'n' tell. No pictures, sorry.

Thursday evening was the monthly TAS (The Applique Society) meeting. Our speaker was sitting in Australia -- let's hear it for Zoom meetings!!! Yay!!! Her name is Michelle Yeo and she shared her quilting journey. So many gorgeous quilts. I did remember to take a couple of pictures. You can see more from Michelle at her website HERE.

So what about yesterday? I started preparing for retreat. There was grocery shopping and lots of mulling around what projects to take. My friends, Millie & Karen, will be stopping by tomorrow morning to pick me up and away we'll go for 5 days, returning Thursday. I'm sure to have LOTS of pictures!

But my excitement has gotten away from me. This is my RSC post. I did manage to fit in a Lotus Blossom block using turquoise.

And look at the picture I got this week from my son ....

Brody wearing a turquoise shirt! Perfect timing! Hahaha! My son juices veggies and fruits every morning for the family. Brody just finished his and I'm going to bet that there were beets in the juice that morning! Good for him!

That's all I've got for now because I've got to keep getting ready for retreat. Laundry, of course, is at the top of the list! Have a great week and I'll catch you next week!

Linking up with So Scrappy to share and to see what the others have to share. So fun!