Sweat Shop Sunday . . .

Well, sweat shop weekend really . . . 

So good to be home with nothing more to do than what 

I really want to!

I am almost done quilting the wedding quilt 

for my cousin and his bride. . .

And I started and almost finished a baby quilt for 

a friend that is going to visit his first grandson!

  

OWEN!

My friend has four girls!

And this is the first grandchild, a son! 

Hehe.  Love that.

I used Tonya Ricucci's book for guidance on the letters.

This is a GREAT book!

I also used clips for the first time for the binding.

No stabbing bleeding fingers.

Why did I resist?

Must be that redheaded thing . . . 

My two weekend projects one peeking out from underneath. 

on another note . . . 

How about this great gate I found?

I can say that many quilts will be photographed here 

in the future!

And the jean pillow has found a happy home

going off to college in a few weeks!

The perfect place to tuck a phone that is also an alarm.

Hope you got to do exactly what you wanted to do this weekend!

Quilting by the Lake . . .

Just home from Quilting by the Lake!

What a fun filled few days with Victoria, Earamichia and Helen.

I actually fit my sewing machine, fabric, rulers, 

mat and clothes into one bag.

We took Kathy's Fractured class.

This is the quilt we set out to make.

We were so cocky!, "This will be easy, we'll bang it out quick."

WRONG!

It is more challenging than it looks, 

which is actually fun because you have to use your noodle.

Here is Kathy showing us some cut pointers.

She is delightful.  SO much fun.

We are trying to finagle our way to Australia now!  Hehe.

The basis of this quilt is light and dark contrast.

I choose tones of brights and used a black, white and grey print for the lights.

Yes, I know, it's the coward's way out.  

I do love black and white with brights.

There are four different set ups for the blocks.

I decided to do mine scrappy, instead of the same fabric for each block.

I think it works really well.

But you have to keep an eye on the layout.

It's so easy to turn a block the wrong way and mess it up!

Some sewing shenanigans . . .

Helen did her blocks with browns, beiges and blues.

Stunning!

Victoria did oranges and blues.

She of course finished her top for the day.

We were competing, hehe.

Our corner were the trouble makers . . .

Did you have any doubt?

We were determined to sew as much as we could.

Sewing 8:30am to 9:30pm the first day.

There was plenty of room to spread out and work.

This was our first time at Quilting by the Lake for the four of us.

And as newbies, we were so lucky to run into Carol Boyle!

She makes these little guys from repurposed items and hands them out.

Our alter egos from left to right:

Me (with red hair!), Earamichia, Helen and Victoria.

So fun.

Me and Kathy.  We had a ball!

A new friend connection is always a joy to encounter.

I got three quarters of my top done. 

I'll be working on finishing that up in the next couple of weeks.

I believe Kathy gave us six months to finish.  Hehe.

Here is our class photo.  A great group of chicks!

Lots of giggling, sewing and general merriment.

There is nothing like hanging out with creative women.

Quilting by the Lake has a lot of great views and sculpture.

One of my faves . . .

Me being cheeky as usual!

Hey Victoria is teaching there next year!

Sign up and come play with us.  You will have a ball too.

And the winner is . . . . . .

So you know I'm not that tech savvy right?

Random number picker????

I used this method.

Me to the Kid:  Hey I need to pick a random winner for my blog giveaway.  

Could you ask your BF to pick a number between 1 & 89?

The Kid:  42.

So . . . 42!  And drumroll please . . .

The winner is Jennifer!

Who said:

Travel this summer? YES! I actually went to a Judy Niemeyer quilt retreat this summer in Kalispell, Montana. LIFE CHANGING! It's been about 4 years since I've been "outside" (of Alaska) and it was a bit of a culture shock but great!

I have sent Jennifer an email to get her address.

I loved hearing everyone's summer plans.  

I think about 50% are traveling and 50% are staying put.

Thanks for playing along.  I really hope you'll all make something for the challenge!

Good Luck.

DWR Challenge and Giveaway!

Yeah!  It's my turn to blog-hop today.

This is my first time participating in a blog hop,

and what a great one to cut my teeth on.

Our NYC Metro Mod Guild is hosting 

this Double Wedding Ring Challenge.

EVERYONE is invited to join in and enter this contest.

No matter where you live or how you quilt!

Your entries must be of three layers and bound.

Click here to see all the rules and fabulous prizes.

We have tremendous sponsors and prizes!!

And as the new President of our NYC Metro Modern Guild,

I am one of the judges! 

Here is a picture of the awe inspiring Victoria 

and her best in show quilt, "Double Edged Love," from QuiltCon.

Now I have had the privilege of seeing this beauty

up close and personal and I can tell you it is the most

amazing quilt I have ever seen.  If you ever get the chance to view it,

jump on it!  The chance, not the quilt.

Now I'll show you a bit of what I did for my Double Wedding Ring. . . .

I have never been afraid of curved piecing, 

and these templates make it so easy!

I started with a piece of made fabric from one of Victoria's swaps.

I was going to use the black and white fabrics for the center, but that went out the window.

I cut the arcs out of the made fabrics.

You could piece them with the templates or do a solid piece of fabric.

The sky's the limit here, and even then there are no limits!

I use lots of pins for the curves.

Here is my top.  

I haven't layered and quilted it yet, but I'll show you that when I do.

So here is the giveaway!

You get the templates for making the Double Wedding Ring pattern,

5 fat quarters of NYC fabric, 

and a pile of triangles leftover from my last quilt.

(I know, sneaky way to get rid of them!)

All you need to do is leave a comment and tell me 

if and where you are traveling this summer.

Please make sure I can contact you by email.

I will pick a winner on Saturday the 20th at 5pm,

because . . . . . 

I am leaving for Quilting By The Lake on Sunday!

I am taking Kathy's Class with Victoria, Earamichia and Helen!

A Thelma and Louise road trip with fabric instead of guns!

Hehe.

Here is a list of the bloggers to visit to see how they are approaching this challenge.

Good luck to everyone!

July 8th

​NYC MOD​

 http://nycmetromodquilters.blogspot.com/

Interweave

quiltingdaily.com

 July 9th

Emily Bailey

emsscrapbag.blogspot.com/

Shelly Pagliai -

http://prairiemoonquilts.com/?page_id=62

July 10th

Amy Ellis

amyscreativeside.com/

Faith Jones

www.freshlemonsquilts.com/

July 11th

Amy Smart

http://www.diaryofaquilter.com

Monica Solorio-Snow

http://thehappyzombie.com/blog/

July 12th

Dan Rouse

http://pieceandpress.blogspot.com

Elisa Albury

www.stitchoutsidetheditch.com/

July 13

Jenny Cameron

Fiberlosophy.blogspot.com

July 14th

Jane Davidson

http://quiltjane.blogspot.com

July 15th

Joanna Wilczynska

http://shape-moth.blogspot.com

Jackie Kunkel- 

http://cvquiltworks.blogspot.com

July 16th

Kathy Doughty

http://www.materialobsession.typepad.com/

Juki

http://jukihomesewing.wordpress.com/

 July 17th

Lisa Mason

http://theredheadedmermaid.blogspot.com

Flaun Cline

http://ipleadquilty.blogspot.com

 July 18

Pat Sloan

http://blog.patsloan.com

Jessica Alexandrakis- 

http://lifeunderquilts.blogspot.com

 July 19th

Jacquie Gering

http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com

Lee Heinrich

http://www.freshlypieced.com/

Sweat Shop Sunday . . .

It was a very hot and humid Sunday here,

so I decided to stay in and sew all day.

And I really did! I didn't get distracted at all. Hehe.

Yesterday I was at the thrift shop down the street and bought 

these cute kids jeans.  Three pairs, one dollar!  Love that!

Let the up-cycling begin!

I have wanted to make one of these wine bags after seeing 

it on Pinterest.  I added some trims for the bow.

So easy!

I was also going to make another jean purse, but I cut too short,

So a jean pillow . . .

This is my pinned photo, don't know what happened to my final photo.

I just whipped stitched the top in a matching double thread.

I think it needs a belt, or maybe some decorative pins  . . . 

Another easy peasy project.

After that little warm up, it was onto the wedding quilt!

I am doing it scrappy, so my sewing table has become 

a tornado of triangles!

I cranked up the tunes and sewed for hours.

Here is the squared top.

I did piece the back too, but something needs to be a surprise

for the bride and groom!

Layering this week and let the quilting begin!

on another note . . . 

You must have seen all the hoopla about 

the Double Wedding Ring Challenge that our

NYC Metro Modern Guild is hosting with a slew of sponsors.

My blog hop post is Wednesday and I have rulers and fabric to give away.

Make sure you stop back on Wednesday for a chance to win!

Hope you had a great weekend.

Luckett's Antique-Vintage Store

Last Weekend I was in Virginia visting some buddies and 

we stumbled upon this wonderful Shop!

Luckett's!

I legend we have come to find out.

A cross between an antique store, flea market and tag sale.

Lots of wonderful architectural pieces . . .

Vintage metals . . .

I loved all the metal letters they had lying around . . 

I didn't do this, but after I saw this, I wanted

to arrange words all over the place! Hehe.

Lots of great gardening ideas . . . 

More letters, and how about those vintage pink lockers?!

An old door becomes a table . . . 

More yummy doors . . .  

A snappy garden walk . . . 

A hutch with curved glass . . . 

A floor candelabra . . 

Where was this when I had a terrace??

And this cheeky lamp!

Who needs the party girl when you have this!

I loved this sign too . . . 

So true.

So there you have it.

I love a great vintage store as much as I love a fabric store.

Oh my!  Did I say that out loud??

Hehe.