Shirt Quilt Number 2

If you are new to my site, I will repeat myself, and am posting my finished Shirt Quilt, finished several weeks ago, made mostly of leftover scraps from shirts I've made for DH #1 and DH #2. And being frugal, I've also used Mission Store shirts purchased for the amazing sum of 50 cents each! Some of these shirts are brand new -- what a bargain - so the quilt was practically FREE. And while I CAN afford NEW fabric (sorta), it seems appropriate for 'these times' to learn how to 'make do' as my Mom would say. Since the first quilt turned out even nicer than expected, I'm making a second one, an Ohio Star, using same type fabrics, with only small amounts of new fabric.

The original idea of using Mission Store shirts came from Bonnie at Quiltville. I want to be Bonnie in my next life.

My 'lost' flying geese border pieces have not materialized. I'm trying to come up with another type border, but somehow, I think it calls for yet another Flying Geese. Quarter Square Triangles are too wimpy, IMHO. I'll work on that.
And yes, I am including a few labels on the FRONT of the quilt, for added interest. And doesn't that orange perk it up? Oh my, NOW, (too late) I'm seeing two light stars too close together ... how did THAT happen? Rows are not yet sewn. I had to add new fabric for 5 of the side setting triangles. One is pieced from used fabric.

However, to carry the theme of 'thriftiness' over the top, I've included the pocket in the side triangle (below). It seemed a shame to waste that big piece of fabric just because it had a pocket sewn there! Whatever will end up in that pocket? LOL
The last photo (below) is one more shirt that needs to be washed and cut apart, but it has a unique collar. The label says "Expandable Collar" and there is a little tab with the button on it, that can be pulled out of the collar to give more room. Funny - it's not a dress shirt, and I don't ever remember that men wore collars buttoned to the neck.

Losing things, and more toys

Don't you just HATE it when you come home from a quilting event, all fired up and ready to tackle the current project, and horrors, you do NOT find all the pieces you went with? Somewhere, I LOST about 50-75 flying geese made up in scrappy shirtings! I even have a photo of those flying geese AT the retreat. I checked my table mates, called the YMCA, cleaned out my car, folded and refolded every piece of fabric I took with me. Dang it! And you KNOW, as soon as I remake all those units, the 'lost' ones will show up! In the mean time, I'm just hanging around waiting for a miracle - like maybe someone picked them up my mistake or ...? but even worse than that, is finding them in some really stupid place, making me feel like an imbecile.

I have turned into a PatsyThompsonDesigns.com junkie, or groupie. This is her newest set of 2 videos, and once again, I DO feel more accomplished and confident (and less like an imbecile!) after watching her demos using her DSM.

Here are the results of some of my play time. I've not practiced for more than a month, so results are not great, but not bad either. It's just fun to practice like this, using different threads, etc. I save the samples and add notes to them to help me remember what I used. The first photo is my effort at a type of McTavishing -- mmm should have practiced on paper first. My favorite is the third - a kind of shell. THe shell moves along quicky and the design handles traveling well.

Home from Quilt Retreat

I just returned from a wonderful 2-day Quilt Retreat. Per requests, I will post my recipe (from Margie, originally) that was so popular at our Quilt Retreat. My goodness we had a LOT to eat - thanks to everyone's contributions! You might note that in the above photo, a LOT of the food is GONE!

Cranberry Salad
1 bag frozen cranberries - (do not thaw)
1 C. sugar
1 sm. box cherry jello (do not dilute)
1/2 C. finely chopped walnuts
2 apples
1 can drained pineapple tidbits
Whipped topping
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Whiz cranberries in food processor with sugar & dry jello, pour into bowl. Whiz apples in food processor pour into bowl. Add drained pineapple and finely chopped walnuts to the bowl. Mix it up. It will be somewhat dry/mushy. Top with topping or whipped cream.
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This is the YMCA lodge where we stayed. It's a WONDERFUL place - clean, bright, designed well, large rooms, TVs, VCR, DVDs in rooms, living area between the double rooms, LARGE common area for our quilting activities, beautiful grounds, and all handicap accessible.

This is the view out of the common area, towards the 'Bluffs'. There is a large playground, much grass, and beyond the grass is the Platte River, flowing swiftly - (note to Marlene's Mom, "she did NOT fall in!")


Below, Machelle is working on her gorgeous Irish Chain - Sue is providing technical support if needed.

Vickie's Kaleidoscope - it's just gorgeous! She and I had the same class at our State Quilt Convention in July.

Carolyn's blocks she won at Quilt Guild. She decided to set them from light to dark.

Vickie is working hard on arranging those blocks

We had a LOT of good space. That's Anita's back and Alice, and Marcia kinda blending in with background. 8-)

mmm I see Marlene and Sharon in this photo and ???. Look at all that beautiful light we had. We also had pressing stations, and cutting table stations, and several table where quilts in process could be laid out.

Sue is concentrating, Sydney is working away, with her string blocks on the floor, Karen is working as is Laurie. I have several Ohio Star "Shirt Quilt" blocks laying on the floor - I sit on that pillow to sit a bit higher.

Wilma is an accomplished sewist AND can make her embroidery machine also dance!

A t-shirt quilt in process by Nancy.
Sharon, taking our photo after all is over! She set the camera up for a time-delay photo, but her head became stuck in that chair and she couldn't extricate herself in time, so the first photo did NOT include her! There were 29-30 of us attending.
I'm pooped, but happy.

Quilt Retreat - Here I Come!

"Bags are packed, I'm ready to go"

Friday morning through Saturday late afternoon. Bags include fabric and tools for 3 separate projects - am I crazy? However, I HAVE learned to KISS when working on a project at a Quilt Retreat! Too much food, too much laughing, not enough sleep, etc. Just in case I run out of projects, I have included that huge box of free fabric that was given to me several weeks ago - that stays in the trunk of my car unless I get desperate! LOL

If you have not been to a quilt retreat - this is my one suggestion. The entire set-up is always 'new' to you. Your space may be limited or on the 'wrong' side of you, or the table may be too high, too low, same with chairs, or the lighting may not be to your liking. This is why I've said KISS. I tend to get discombobulated with things in the 'wrong' place. So, stay flexible, and don't expect to complete a huge amount of what you planned. However, SOME of my amazing guild 'sisters' DO manage to complete HUGE amounts of sewing!

One really great thing about THIS retreat is that the Guild has arranged to have pressing and cutting areas set up, and most of us can leave our irons and large cutting mats behind. If your retreats have not included this nicety, it is worth extra fussing to prepare this part of the setup.


I'm outta here! 8-)))

Where in the world?

Today I added a World Map gadget to my sidebar that indicated where visitors to my site were from -- amazing!!!! It refreshed every 5 minutes. I saw someone in Florida (a blue dot) and sure enough, in a minute, I had an e-mail from a gal in Florida! Is this cool or is this cool??? Also, when clicking on the map gadget, it would show where EACH surfer was -- those who did not stay longer than 5 minutes, I presume -- and there were a bunch more! More cool!!! But, since I flunked (quit) HTML class, I cannot figure how to add that map back to my sidebar without crowding all the other stuff. Internet Explorer shot it all to the bottom of the page -- that map was too large - while Firefox was just exactly as it should look.

The Internet toys we have these days are incredible. Any suggestions on how to resize the map, or is there another similar gadget that tracks visitors and doesn't take up so much space in the sidebar?

Little Birdy, and Old-Timey Embroidery Transfer Method

(I am hearing a sweet, dear song, called "Little Birdy, Little Birdy" ... sung by Chet Atkins?... )

Some time ago, I sent a small piece of fabric to Nellie of Nellie's Needles. She was making Quilt Ribbons and saw the backing to one of my quilts and needed just a smidgeon more of that fabric. In the meantime I had been drooling over her fabric birds she had been whipping out like no body's business, and I was just wishing I had gotten in the spirit after she posted the directions, but no, I never got a 'round tuit!

As it turns out Nellie is a REAL artist who even happens to live in the very same town I used to live in, back in Tennessee. 8-)

Last week, my mailbox was overflowing with a huge box and when opened, this lovely little birdy was nestled carefully inside. His wings are made of the fabric that I had sent her -- is that a lovely gift, or is that a lovely gift? I had tears in my eyes, at the surprise and pleasure of looking at this little fellow. DH, on the other hand, was wondering ... "what on earth has gotten into her?" Poor man, just didn't understand. Thank you again, Nellie! I was doing a Happy Dance! Look how handsome he looks with my pothos.

This next photo is not clear, but at our last quilt meeting, a little lady, VERY senior, was Showing and Telling her embroidered quilts. She used a very ingenious method to transfer patterns from items that HER old aunties, and cousins had embroidered (no purchased patterns). Lay the embroidery down, stitches up. Lay one layer of muslin over the top of the embroidery, and with a silver spoon (large is good), rub that silver spoon through your hair a number of times, then rub the spoon over the muslin, and voila, the pattern is visible - pale gray, but very visible. Oh right, my photo is almost useless but, you get the idea! Hey, the method was FREE and didn't require a trip to the store!