Bambi Shapiro

I spent the day sewing with Bambi Shapiro,

(obviously not her real name!)

My good buddy trucked it up from the city to learn all things

half square triangley.

The kid let us use her machine,

I just had to promise to reload all the bobbins.

Hehehe.  She forgets how to do that sometimes.

 Bambi was intrigued with my new reading glasses.

She said they look like ET.

I'm just grateful to be able to thread a needle with them!

We dumped out our little sewing bags to compare our goodies.

Look at all the scissors.  I guess we both love to collect little cutters!

 Bambi had these very cute bobbin cozies.  

Well, she called them something else, 

but I like to keep if G rated here if possible.

We did actually do some sewing.  

After lots of catching up and giggling!

I dumped my scrap bin on the floor, 

and proceeded to trip over it

more that once.  

I think it's time to get this mess under control.

On to the HST.  Bambi had some little thangles, but I advised

that the 3" would be better because it grows the quilt faster.

Luckily, I had a ton of them, so off she set on her

quest for all things triangely.

 There was lots of cutting, and cutting up!

I must say, there was quite a bit of hilarity in the Penthouse today!

(She made me take this picture.)  

I am working on flying geese, trying to use up those scraps.

I didn't even make any kind of a dent.

But I will keep pushing on!

 Here is one of the layouts I'm contemplating.

I really love this! I just need to make about 100 more blocks.

That won't put a dent in my scraps either.

They seem to reproduce while I'm at work.

Here is Bambi's layout so far.  

She brought the most beautiful fabric with her for this quilt!

And she insisted on giving me some of each of it.

Who am I to say no?!

We had a throughly fabulous day together!

Thanks Bambi for making the trek to my little "city"

from your big city!

The first of many I'm sure.

Let the quilting begin!

We finally got some snow this weekend.

I was happy to see it until I totally wiped out

and did a face plant right on the side of the road.

For the whole world to see!

Haha.  Luckily for me,  I was pretty fast getting up.

Damm curb was hiding.

So after a bruised knee and ego, I retreated to the coziness

of my apartment for the rest of the weekend!

Much safer for my klutzier side.

On to the sewing!

I started quilting my Kaffe sqaures quilt.

 I am quilting on either side of the seams,

about 3/8" allowance.  

Pretty basic, but the front is so busy, it needed something simple.

You can see it alttle better on the back.  

My lines aren't wicked straight, but they are "organic!"

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This backing is mostly from a very vintage sheet.

I spied it at my friend Barbarita's house.

Me:  "Where did that come from?"

Her:  "It used to be on my bed growing up.

Now I use it to put over the couch so the cats don't wreck it."

Me: "Really?  Can I have it?"

Her:  "You can have whatever you want my friend."

Talk about a a great friend!!

Did you have a relatively quiet weekend?

Hope you did something fun!

Bonus Sewing Day!

I had the day off today for Martin Luther King's Birthday.

I am grateful to Dr. King for all the wonderful things he did to open people's

hearts and minds as to what is right and what is wrong.

I hope that people took a moment today to understand why 

they had a "holiday" today.  I hope they understand what this day means.

I feel it's too easy to just say, "Oh I have a day off today,"

Do you know why you had a holiday today???

I gathered with the kid and Gidget to have a day of sewing today.

I converted my living room into a tiny sewing retreat room.

 It was such a great day to stay inside!

Way too cold for all of us spoiled northeast yahoos

who have had 40-50 degree weather so far!

Here are my two cohorts getting geared up for the day.

The kid's log cabin laid out on my bed.

She was not happy to learn she needs four more blocks.

Kids . . . they always want an easy finish!

I love you Kid!

So back to the grind she goes . . . 

I have to say, there was so much laughter,

kidding and giggling.  I love these girls!

Yes, I did crack the whip on this one.

Gidget has ADD and just wanted to chat

and entertain the crowd, but I knew she would feel so much better if she finished a top!

Hahaha. (She doesn't have a black eye, I didn't do that,

My red-eye auto correct did that.)

We decided we are going to have a sewing day once a month now.

Gidget will piece the back and start quilting this baby at our next "meeting."

This is what I accomplished. 

Three more strips blocks.

Well . . . . I had to keep these broads in line you know!

Do you like to sew with buddies or by yourself?

I know we can't always sew with a group,

but I have to say I really prefer it,

even thought I don't get as much done!  

hehehehe.

I'm just saying, give me a giggle fest any day of the week!

Sunday Sewing

It finally got cold here in my neck of the woods . . .

12* this morning.  So no walking for me,

straight to the sewing machine!

I finished putting together the Kaffe blocks

I made while on vacation in NH.

 I love this because it's simple but there are unexpected

little touches.  You can see where it looks like I shook the

etch a sketch and the pattern dissolves.

The blocks were either very planned or just throw together.

 I love the way this top came out.

I thought I had a picture of the pieced back, but you'll get to

see that on the finish now.

Taking that baby to work tomorrow to layer.

Hope there is no real business going on in the 

conference room!  hehehehe.

I also worked on Maureen's Bee Block for the Metro Mod.

 Maureen wanted a signature block and then we could do what we wanted

as long as it was scrappy.  Hope she likes it!

I have been working on my strips quilt too.

It's very therapeutic!  Some of these blocks need alittle

more chopping.  Not really sure where this is going,

just letting it unfold.

Isn't this cool?  I saw this on Saturday at a Holistic Healing Seminar.

I thought it was a quilt at first, but it's really a painting

with lots of surface things attached and glitter!!

On another note . . . 

I bought a juicer.  It is really quite easy to use.

And the concoction I made was all veggies and very good.

Oh, I threw in an apple for some sweetness.

Now to find more recipes for healthy living!

Hahaha.  Any suggestions?

Hope you are enjoying your sunny Sunday!

CT Modern Quilt Guild

Today was the first meeting of the CT Modern Quilt Guild 

in Westport, CT.

I was very excited to attend, and also very nervous.

I'm not particularly great in a new group of people

where I don't really know anyone.

BUT, everyone was so wonderful and so welcoming.

Deirdre, our prez, showed this quilt she made which

is our internet stamp for the website.  I actually scanned it with my phone and it worked!

We had a fabric swap that we will use as our challenges for the next few 

meetings.  Everyone brought 8 fat eighths and traded them up.

 Here we are grabbing for fabric!  Yes that is Chris right there, 

the only face in the crowd that I knew before getting there.

 Now for the show, feast your eyes on the goods . . . 

 Pam, my new best friend!

She admitted she reads my blog!

Hi Pam!  You are too sweet!

Thought only my mom and sisters read this thing!

:)

 How about this little lovely by Susie!

She is making little 3 inch squares for pin cushions.

That little spider is two seed beads and some stitching!

I almost fell off my chair!

Each one different and each one fabulous.

 All in all a great maiden voyage!

A wonderful group of women I am eager to get to know.

I have encouraged them to come to the 

NYC Metro Mod meetings, and I will encourage 

my NYC crew to venture into the country too.

You can never have too many quilty friends!

On another note . . . 

Today was 62* in CT!  I went for a nice long walk

when I got home.  The beach had at least ten families with

little kids running around and playing in the sand.

I'll take it!  Last winter was brutal.

What did you do today on this blustery spring like day?

Aussie Hero Quilts

My friend Jan-Maree is involved in a wonderful project called Aussie Hero Quilts.  She and her group are making laundry bags, quilts and care packages for Aussie soldiers stationed in Afghanistan.   They sent off a huge shipment before Christmas and all waited with baited breathe to get the news that their boxes had arrived.  Jan-Maree can't share any of the names of the soldiers, or any of the photos of them receiving the care packages, but you can tell from the way she describes them that all are very happy!

There is a detailed accounting of their efforts here.    These loving ladies have been working very hard, (and having quite a bit of fun),  they even made a quilt in a couple of hours, start to finish when they realized they had an extra box to fill!  Wahoo!!

If you would like to help out this wonderful cause, Jan-Maree has many different ideas on her website,

Aussie Hero Quilts, to join this wonderful effort.  It doesn't matter what countries we are from, or the  politics we believe in, these soldiers are all far from home with very little to comfort them.  I know if my brother or sister were over there, I would want to help ease their service.   I will be working on a few goodies in the next weeks to send along to Jan-Maree . . . . I hope you will consider it too.  

Home again, home again, jiggety-jig

After spending ten days away for the holidays, 

I can say that I am well rested, completely giggled out,

and happy to be home.

I spent the holidays with my family in New Hampshire,

and while I don't ski . . .

I did bring my sewing machine and set up my sweat shop there.

There were snickers from the peanut gallery, until I got started

and they could see what was going on.

Everyday there was interest in what was happening in the sweat shop!

I had cut millions of 3.5 inch squares over the last few months,

so I thought that would be a perfect project to bring.

No cutting board or rulers needed.

I made 46 sixteen patch squares,

all with Kaffe! (Big surprise!)

Some with just two fabrics, some all random,

and some with a diagonal pattern.

Can't wait to throw those on the floor and start playing with them/

I also worked on my hexies while we watched movies

and hung out. 

We went for a nice hike on Christmas Day to Diana's Bath.

The falls were beautiful and it was snowing so the

ambiance was very Christmasy.

The Montana bride won my 15 mins play BOM in the swap.

She was determined!  And I'm so glad she won it!

 The Littles, my niece and nephew, were SO much fun to play with!

We played Apples to Apples, Scrabble and spoons.

 My niece is my new protegee!

She wanted to learn how to use my sewing machine.

She is a quick learner and jumped right in.

She even grabbed the seam ripper when necessary,

without complaint!

 I had some leftover squares from my Gypsy quilt,

and she dug right in and made a pillow and then started on a baby quilt.

I mean really!  What could make an auntie more happy

than recruiting a new sewist to the team!!?

All in all it was a week filled with laughter, hilarity and love.

Hope you all had a great holiday week and Happy New Year!

2012, bring it on!