Friday, August 26, 2011

Divesting . . . and a little hope


Last night I invited a bunch of my girlfriends over for wine and books.
I know you are thinking, "Oh another book club."

But, NOOOOOOOOOO!
I invited these darlings over to empty my bookcases and take whatever they wanted.
I have read most of them and well, in my new place, these bookcases will be for FABRIC!!
Everyone was very cooperative!
We drank some wine, we laughed, they teased me about some of my books.
We laughed some more . . .
The kid and I made them each take one of our hand knit scarves.
We have so many, we went through a "stage" of knitting scarves all the time,
How many can you have??
I didn't want to sell them at a tag sale, I wanted them to go with people I love.
There was a table full of the kid's jewelry too, and that got a lot of action!

Here is the after picture, they cleared out more than half my books!
Yeah! And we had a really hilarious night too.
So onto the hope . . .
I am in the line of the lovely Irene this weekend.
I have spent the last couple of hours moving all the lawn furniture
into the garage and trying to start this little baby . . .
After a little prayer, it finally started.
It is so loud, but really when you have no power it's the best sound in the world!

Here's hoping that everyone who has to make it through Miss Irene
does so with very little discomfort and fear, and that you are all safe and sound
on the other end of it. Fingers crossed!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Bee Blocks

July was my month to be the Queen
in our NYC Metro Mod Bee
I have received all my blocks now,
except of course for my block!
It's still in pieces on my cutting board.

I sent everyone a red triangle they had to use,
and then they could do whatever they wanted.
Look at all these great blocks!
I am playing around with sashing and corner stones.
Jess sent two! So maybe I don't have to finish mine ;)

Other than a very little bit of sewing time,
my weekend has been filled with cleaning out closets,
dressers and bookcases.
Really all I want to do is sew, but I guess that's
what I'll be doing in November!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Start, A Finish and Some News . . .

I am taking a class at the City Quilter in NYC this month.
I am mostly taking the class because there are two other
ladies taking it with me, so it's more of a social event.

I need no excuse to sew and giggle with GF's!
I really have no right to start ANOTHER quilt,
but well . . . . you know.
The class is a variation on Court House Steps.
Mine, (above) is not really following along with what we are supposed to do,
such a surprise!

This one below is what we are supposed to be doing,
but my mind is shot these days, (more later)
and I knew I would be ripping out more than sewing
if I tried to follow Judy's sample.
It is pretty though and in another time frame,
I will probably try it.


Here is my finish!
I finished my Modern Quilt for the Show!

I did a grid design for the quilting to follow along
with the Mondrian look.
I love the back and I have to say this is only the second
sleeve I have ever done and it was pretty easy.
My quilts don't really hang on a wall,
They are snuggled and loved.
And now for the news . . . .
Funny how things change so quickly.
I will be moving to an apartment in a couple of months.
That means pairing down 30 years of "stuff," from a house,
to a much smaller space.
The funny thing is, I am really loving parting with most of the "stuff!"
I am looking forward to a simpler life.
I will have a much smaller sewing space, but that's okay too.
Fresh start! It's time.
What have you been up to?

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Metro Mod Sewing Day

Today was our NYC Metro Mod sewing day
at the City Quilter. There was only room for 14 of us,
but we had a great time anyway!
There are rumblings about trying to put together
a sewing retreat! I can only hope . . .

Since I treck in from the burbs, I just grabbed a box of kaffe
squares I had already pre-cut and without any idea what I would do,
I started making some blocks.

Not sure where they are going, but it was fun to sew something I didn't
have to think about too much, so I could chat and laugh and
giggle with everyone around me.


There was lots of sewing, cutting, ironing . . .
Here is a busy crowd.
Victoria and Kim having fun . . .
And the lovely Earamichia showing off her Winter Quilt.


A great day had by all!
Thanks to Victoria for putting it all together.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Top Done!

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the first event
at Victoria's Loft.
Victoria was interviewed about her process and how she came to be a quilter.
There was also a diverse panel of creative pips talking about
the modern quilt movement.

It was a great evening with lots of friends and quilty talk!

Just what I needed to inspire me to come home and finish
the top for my Modern Quilt for our show.
You can read about the start here.

Now I just have to figure out how I am going to quilt it.
BUT . . . amazingly enough, my grid method for planning this quilt
worked and it came out the right size.
It's quite a miracle for me! hehehe.


I also received my solids swap from Shelly!

I think I know the perfect place to hang this little wonder.
The quilting is amazing, and I just love it!
Thanks Shelly!! So fun to swap with you.