Small Quilt Retreat

The quilting weekend was perfect. The weather was just beautiful (almost a little too warm!) and lovely fall colors surrounded us. Except for the centipedes, things went well (I didn't actually see any but I heard stories . . .). Everyone seemed to have a good time and I was happy to see that many got their quilt tops completed. Here are the photos: (turn on your speakers for the full effect)

Thanks for looking! I hope you'll join us someday . . .

Inspired By

I'm really inspired by Inspired by Antique Quilts today. Kathie has been talking about quilting small quilts on her blog lately and I love how hers have turned out. I am going to take the time to relax at the retreat this weekend as soon as I have everything ready and planned for those who are attending. I decided not to bring my sewing machine, just my needle and thread, and get some of my quilt tops hand quilted. Who am I kidding?? SOME of them? I'll be lucky if I get one finished; I am that slow. But that's the beauty of hand quilting - you HAVE to slow down. No rushing allowed. And boy, does it feel good.

I bought this antique doll quilt a little while ago and think the simple hand quilting adds something really special to the simple quilt. (The primitive little bed helps too, don't you agree??)

I almost didn't buy the quilt because it was so simple and plain. Unexceptional for the price. And then, as I  looked closely, I spotted one block in the corner that was different. The quilt is a simple four-patch design and the quilter used light shirtings in the background squares. Except for one. In ONE block she used pink for the background . . .  Just a little quirky and not noticeable at first. Did she run out of shirtings? Or did she insert a tiny bit of creative play into the quilt? Did she say: What the Heck, I'm doing this one in pink. It's probably the thing I love most about this doll quilt. I don't like perfect quilts and I sure don't make them.

So simple and unassuming. But clearly loved to death by some little girl I'll bet.

I was so inspired by this quilt that I made THIS quilt that's in The Civil War Sewing Circle.

Again, just a  simple four-patch design with mostly light shirtings for background.  Pink in the setting squares. All of the darker squares in the blocks align except in one block.  I turned ONE of the blocks in the right hand corner the other way deliberately. Did anyone notice? Many of you probably thought I just made a mistake, LOL. No, I tried to do the same thing as the maker of that little doll quilt did.

I had so much fun hand quilting this little quilt with an orange peel or pumpkin seed design as some call it. I think hand quilting really makes little quilts special, even if the quilting is rather simple and  not spectacular. Click on the link above to see how this one was done. Very easy.

Last year, when I was recovering from my surgery, I hand pieced a copy of the antique doll quilt using some of my favorite prints and shirtings. This morning I layered and pinned it to bring to the retreat this weekend to work on. I'll let you know how it goes. Wouldn't it be nice if I finished?

Quilting Frenzy

I'm getting ready for my 1st Annual Small Quilt Retreat this coming weekend and scrambling to get everything done in time. I say 1st annual with a grin. Who knows how it will go? It's my first time hosting a retreat, so wish me luck. I have lists all over the place so I don't forget anything. If it turns out to be a success, we'll definitely do another one next year. I'm looking forward to relaxing and sewing in a woodsy place in Wisconsin in October with a group of ladies who like to make small quilts too. What am I saying - of course it will be fun!!

The colors have just barely begun to change here. Wisconsin is farther north - I hope it looks like this.

I'm almost finished with the quilt I'll be teaching on Saturday and hope to get it done today or tomorrow. I left it ito the last minute, of course. Instead of using a quilt from one of my books, I wanted to design a new small quilt just for the retreat. As usual, the quilt took on a life of it's own. When I began, I had an idea of what I wanted to make, using Ohio Star blocks. After I designed it, I kind of knew it was just a draft. I took my time picking out the fabrics. This part takes me so long but is probably the most fun. I always make a few sample blocks when I begin a quilt.

 

 

As I go along, if the colors are not quite right, I'll  make a few more blocks. I always make extra blocks just so I have the option of choosing different ones and playing around with them. While I play with the blocks (This is actually my Yahoo Small Quilt group motto - "We Play with Blocks"), I get ideas and the quilt evolves and changes. Fabrics are swiped out and others substituted until I get the look I like.

The table sure gets messy. Fabric flies!

The quilt has changed a quite a bit from its original design. Hardly the same quilt at all! I decided to make it more scrappy and colorful and added more blue in the blocks. I'm getting ready to quilt it today and will show you the finished quilt next week.

Karen, who is coming to the retreat, made this darling wool pincushion for me and promised to bring a few nore to show everyone, along with her doll beds. I think some others are bringing their antique doll beds and everyone is supposed to bring some of their small quilts for Show & Tell.  Don't forget, ladies.

This retreat will be so much fun and I cannot wait to meet everyone  (I've already met a few of you) and have a great time together, sewing and chatting! Now, back to work. Friday will be here before I know it.

A Quiet Lazy Day

Good morning! Isn't this the cutest cup? It goes so nicely with my quilt too.

I just love cups that have a design printed on the bottom.

It's raining a bit here and I think it's going to be a quiet, lazy day. My son came over last night and is going to spend the day with me. My guess is his laundry needs to get done and he wants a free lunch. He has to work on a paper for school. I may get some reading done. Oh, and I have to work on the Retreat quilt - only 8 more days! Will she get it finished in time? Stay tuned!

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Today is our 27th anniversary. My wonderful husband was grumping at me about something this morning as he was rushing around getting ready for work and so I waited until he was finished and then smiled sweetly at him and said "Happy Anniversary, Hon!" He stopped grumping for a minute and then said "Oh." Guess I won't be any getting diamonds or jewels or flowers unless they have them in the cafeteria at work since I don't think he will be shopping much today, LOL.

The happy couple.  (Mustaches were very popular back then.) What a beautiful dress! Now sealed and packed away in a big box on a shelf in my daughter's closet, waiting . . .

Look - twenty-seven years ago I had a waist! Not a tiny waist, but still a waist.

Well, I don't really remember this moment when it appeared the honeymoon was over before it actually began but I'm guessing he probably just said something to really annoy me, LOL . . . Happy Anniversary, Hon!

Birthday Blues

Just kidding - I'm not really blue about it; it made a good title. But it sure is hard to admit to being older than I used to be sometimes. Every year, it's the same darn thing, LOL. Mostly, I become frustrated because I am not quite back to feeling the way I used to feel before all of my health issues from the past year unfolded. The going is slow now that I'm older. But I keep plugging away, trying to be optimistic as I deal with my stresses, counting my many blessings, focusing on my family and pets as well as all of the wonderful things and people I have in my life instead of the stupid health things which do not seem to end.

My old dog and I both had cancer scares recently - he had another tumor which required surgery last week. It turned out to be benign AGAIN. He is recovering nicely but I did not sleep for a week, worrying about the biopsy results. On top of that, my recent mammogram showed a "suspicious" shadow, which of course required further investigation. That also turned out to be nothing to worry about. TMI, perhaps, some of you will say. But it was another week where I did not get much sleep or quilting done. Hopefully, things have calmed down a bit now and I will be able to get back into better shape again before my next birthday. Attitude is all, don't you think?

You saw the doll bed, mattress and pillow I gave to Julia for her birthday.  We actually share a birthday and it was a good day for me too. Someone commented that I was a good friend. It's actually the other way around - I am surrounded by a few incredibly wonderful, caring friends and for that I am so grateful.

Julia gave me a bunch of BLUE presents, LOL, to go along with my BLUES I guess. OMG, she found a beautiful vintage blue and white doll quilt too! How lucky am I?? The vintage bracelet is a heart locket. So sweet, I love it. She also knitted this adorable blue headband to wear when I walk the dogs when it gets cold . . . . I think I definitely came out ahead this year in the gift department, LOL. She's very understanding and I'll make it up to her.

I thought you'd also enjoy seeing a few of the gifts from my daughter and my husband. They spoil me too. A couple of books, a polka-dotted basket to hold my scraps, a sweater and a necklace. Bless his heart, the sweater is in a smaller size than I wear. I must look thinner than I really am, huh? Or those bifocals he just got are  not working very well . . . . My son is going to take me on an architectural tour of Chicago for my birthday when my knee gets better (a whole other depressing story for later). I've been on a Fossil kick lately. Look - Julia's Fossil earrings perfectly match the Fossil necklace my husband bought! How did they know? In cahoots, I'll bet!

To celebrate last week, my husband and son took me out to dinner (daughter is away at college) at a small seafood restaurant in Chicago and then my son found me a gelato place for dessert. Gelato is hard to find where I live but it is becoming popular in the city and I suspect more shops will spread to the suburbs soon.

If you haven't jumped on the Gelato bandwagon yet, it's a sort of dense ice cream. Like ice cream, but distinctly NOT ice cream. It's churned at a slower speed than ice cream, and so not as much air is whipped into the mixture. Regular ice cream contains about 50% air - gelato contains about 25 to 30 percent air. And it's not completely frozen, but stored and served at a slightly warmer temperature and has an amazing, rich flavor. Not as much fat either, I hear.

I got the single scoop of chocolate that you see sitting up on the counter above. So rich that a small scoop was even too much for me, believe it or not. Me, the woman who can eat a whole pint of ice cream in one sitting could not finish that small cup. Sad. See what advanced age does to you??

The gelato place was in a trendy neighborhood and, as we were leaving, I couldn't resist taking this photo of the Pedal Pub passing by. Everyone was pedalling, laughing and looking so happy and obviously having a great time. I had no idea what it was (or that they were drinking beer! No wonder they looked so cheerful)  but I looked it up when we got home. Maybe you have seen these in your area?? I believe they were first introduced in the Netherlands and have slowly spread to a few cities in the U.S.

They are pedalling about 5 mph.

It seems that it's like a large bar on a bike - you can get a group together and rent these with a driver and pedal your way to different bars in the city for a genuine bar-hopping experience.

I wonder if we quilters can get a hold of one of these to work off a few pounds as we go from quilt shop to quilt shop, wouldn't that be fun?? Without the beer of course. I say we even try a Gelato Shop Hop someday. Then I wouldn't feel so guilty about eating it.

Primitive Doll Bed

It was my friend Julia's birthday a few days ago and I knew for awhile that she has wanted an antique doll bed to display some of her little quilts. I've looked at the online auctions and antique malls but could never find anything that wasn't out of my price range. Then I saw a doll bed at a quilt shop that Karen and her husband had made and I knew it was perfect. So I contacted Karen and ordered it and Julia graciously accepted it as her present LOL! That means she LOVED it. Wouldn't you??

I made a mattress and pillow to go along with it. Originally, I was going to use ticking fabric but decided against it and thought Julia might like this better. I think it turned out quite cute and here it is with a couple of my quilts. I'm so sorry, Julia, this year I did not have time or enough energy to make you a quilt to go along with the bed, but maybe next year.

Luckily, she has a stack of her own that will work just fine. She's made just about every small quilt I have ever designed so that's more than a few LOL.

One of Julia's antique doll quilts.

More than a few of her own . . .

I LOVE this bed so much, don't you? Karen's husband makes them in black or red, large or small. This is the large one, about 12"  x  20". The small bed has a rope mattress. Karen is coming to my retreat in 2 weeks and is bringing some of the doll beds to show everyone. She promised she'd have 2 set aside for me by then - I think I will buy a large black one and a smaller red one. I can't wait to take them home for myself! Karen does not have a website but here's her e-mail address so you can contact her if you'd like a bed for your little quilts too!

Here are a few more of Julia's small quilts that didn't fit on the stack on the bed. She's been a busy lady!

Shopping for Inspiration

Three of my close friends are having birthdays this month and so I needed to do a little shopping for gifts this past weekend. I'm still feeling a little creatively blocked and just cannot get going on that quilt I need to make for the Retreat in a couple of weeks. It would be nice if I had something to show when I teach it LOL. 

A trip to some stores was in order to accomplish the buying of gifts and also to feed my soul a little I think. Author Julia Cameron calls it Filling the Well. When you seem to have no inspiration left inside yourself to create, she suggests going out and filling yourself up with images that nourish the process. When the creative pond is empty because it has just been drained by a large creative project, it needs to be filled again and restocked. My husband laughs but sometimes a simple shopping trip fills me up enough so that I become inspired without breaking the bank so to speak. And I've found that it doesn't always need to be quilting-related. Sometimes it's almost better if it's not. I often get sidetracked by what other quilters are making and need a break from it all to create something that's my own.

Look at those colors! Fall is almost here.

I so need to make a quilt using these colors.

Ahhh, dishes! Keep moving, Kathy.

Last year we bought a new sofa and loveseat in a sort of tan/taupe fabric. After years of living with busy blue prints or florals on our sofas, we needed a change from that  - so we bought something completely different and bland. Something I could accessorize with color. We could never go with white because of the dogs and my husband wanted something a little darker. He's accommodated my choices and lived with blue all these years so we compromised and bought a very neutral sofa with no real color I like to say. 

I was so thrilled to be able to buy a colorful area rug (with little touches of blue and applique-looking patterns) that didn't clash with the sofa for a change but the problem is that lots of things now clash with the rug LOL. I still have not found time to make a nice colorful quilted throw but that is on my list. It will have to be simple to go with the rug, don't you think? The one you see here is store-bought and striped and usually is in my son's room. But he's gone now and doesn't miss it. It's fine for now but doesn't really match. I'd like to make pillows too because the ones I bought clash a bit since I bought them before I fell in love with the rug. I wish I could just buy some colorful ones like these - but no, they wouldn't work at all.

So pretty though!

Love the blue floral! If only I didn't have that rug . . .

But, oh, the colors in the pillows at the store were so inspiring.

Not my style at all but they sure looked cute and fresh here  . . . Why does it all have to be so darn hard? Wonder what I'll eventually come up with for a sofa throw? And -  will I finish it?

So What Are You Waiting For??

You know those fabrics you're saving, hoarding for the perfect quilt? Maybe it's a big project and you don't have the energy to make it yet, but still, you have ALL this fabric you just had to have. I often buy fabric just because I love it, with no particular project in mind. What then? It gets stacked in a closet, bin or drawer, waiting for the opportunity to come alive in a quilt. I look at it occasionally. What am I waiting for??

Doll quilts have always been a perfect way for me to use up my scraps. Well, awhile ago, I decided to stop just using my scraps to make some of my small quilts. I made a vow to use up some of those special fabrics I've been saving. Not be afraid to cut into the pretty yardage. Small quilts don't really use up too much fabric so I still have enough left if I need it later. No point in just letting it sit there though. Occasionally, what I'll do is cut a few chunks off and then cut those into different sized squares to make scrappy patches until I come up with a design. Then I fold it up and put it  back. This takes a bit of courage I discovered if all you're used to doing is looking at it all folded up nicely. But boy, let me tell you, does it start the creative flow. Do you do this too?

Sometimes, when I finally cut into it, it's actually easier to make that second or third cut and then OMG  - all of a sudden I'm using it instead of hoarding it! And then when I look at that quilt I've made, I smile and think, oh, I love that print so much - I'm so glad it's not sitting in a drawer or bin, but someplace where I can see it and appreciate it, dancing around in a little quilt. Sitting on a table or hanging on a wall, smiling at me. Maybe I'll try to use that same fabric in a bigger quilt too.

I think it actually inpsires me to be more creative because it's so much easier for me to play around with some squares or small pieces and come up with a design than it is to visualize an entire quilt from fat quarters. Does that make sense?

I'll also use small pieces of my favorites in a larger scrappy quilt sometimes. And if it's a really special favorite print, my eye always goes right to that one and then I smile to myself. You all know I'm not a fan of ugly prints. Oh, I have a few that came with kits or bundles but I won't buy yardage of fabric I don't like. I know I wouldn't use it. I suspect the ugly prints work great in a scrappy quilt when you look at it from a distance but I know myself and I know my eye would always go to that print that I hate and then it would taint the quilt for me just a little. I'm working on it and maybe someday it's something I'll overcome. For now, I love almost all of the fabric I buy and thanks anyway for the advice, but I like it that way.

I used a lot of small pieces of my favorite prints to make hexagons awhile ago and the finished quilt lights me up on the inside whenever I look at it.

I didn't know what I was going to do with these - not my typical fabric purchase. But I just had to have them.

The polka dot ones eventually got worked into my daughter's quilt after I saw her eyes light up when she looked at them. Hope they still do when she wraps the quilt around herself and remembers that spark they gave her.

So, tell me - do you actually use your fabric or just hoard it for  .  .  .  Someday?