I'm not competitive at all..............

There are two more days of sheer craziness and then things will calm down. Oh god - why do I even think that'll happen. It's sheer chaos at my house and this crazy schedule I set for myself this week - well, I'll be having some planning moments next week to prevent this from happening again.

I've got a lot to cover today so I'd better get started.

Here are those pictures from my studio as I promised. Loads of room for three people to sew.

Tables for three people to sew

 And there's loads of room for four people to sew here.

The other set of work tables

 I must confess that it doesn't look like that at the moment. Hey - I NEED space to work!

But this is my corner of the studio. Seriously?  We have a major problem here!!!  There are two sewing machines set up there if you can believe it. While I did a bit of sewing on the machine on the Sit n Sew day, I did take the one empty spot (yes - someone did NOT come so I had a big empty table to myself) and I did some hand sewing.

My space to sew in the studio

 Makes me feel right at home in that huge mess. Why or why do we do this to ourselves? I've been trying for years to tame this mess and it just won't go away. I'm doomed to sew in this mess for the rest of my life. I'm used to it so I guess it won't be so bad. However - I'm much better than I used to be and normally this mess on the tables is a bit more spread out so it's not that bad to sew.

However, there's going to be THREE people sewing at that station tomorrow. I think a bit of tidying up is going to have to happen. Later tonight!

By contrast, look at my sewing station at Monday sewing.

Monday sewing

 Normally there are three of us that get there early in the morning and we sew by ourselves until the other arrive hours later. My two cohorts were off shop hoping this past Monday so I was there by myself for a bit.

I got a lot accomplished on Monday - probably because the other two were not there to bother me. This is what my scrappy quilt (the third one) looked like at the end of the day. I forgot that I have to fix the second one before I start putting the borders on. But it's going to take a while to get these three done. Everything takes longer than you think it will.

Third scrappy top

I'm almost finished the ender/leader project I was working on. There are only these few pieces left. Do I have enough red????  Well, there's more in the bag that I carry with me so if I need more, it's there.

The last of that huge stack of enders and leaders

Here's the bag with the sewn bits. Now they need to be pressed and it's almost time to move onto the next step.

Bag of sewn bits that need to be pressed

 I did work on Farmer's Wife, but I haven't had time to take a picture. NO - I'm not done. Maybe I can work on those blocks tomorrow at the next Sit n Sew.

Here are some projects that some of the others were working on at the Sunday Sit n Sew. Pam got this quilt top together. It's a beautiful quilt and a LOT of work, but she made great progress on it. I remember when she started it a couple of months ago. Great job Pam!

Pam's quilt top

 The pattern is called My Checkered Past by Whirligig Designs.

Ronda wanted to learn how to put the binding on her table runner by machine. So we had a quick lesson - you see - it's not always about sewing your own thing. You may get an impromptu lesson as well.

Ronda's finished table runner

She did an amazing job on the binding and you'd never know that it was her first attempt. I see more machine bindings in her future!

The binding is sewn down by machine

Diane and I have a friendly rivalry going on. I'm keeping track of the number of items that I finish and so is she. Diane wasn't here on Sunday, but Lynn delivered a message from her. It was simple - 58. Hmm - that means that Diane has finished 58 items for the year. Well, we can't have Diane ahead of me. I was at 55. I had a few things that needed to get finished so I decided to spend the day doing those.

I started off by sewing the binding to this set of placemats by sewing machine. The first step was already done. We have agreed that a set of four placemats counts as ONE item. So now I'm at 56.

Set of four placemats DONE

These placemats will be donated to a local community group this coming Christmas.

Next up was to remove the sleeve from our QuiltCon Charity quilt. It's being donated as a quilt for a bed so no need to have that sleeve and that bright orange sleeve can be used on another quilt.

I had to remove the previous label and make and sew a new one on. I managed to get all that done. I sent Diane a text - 57!  No response. I did check in my list of finished projects that I wasn't double dipping with this one. I quilted and bound it earlier this year. NOPE - it's not in the book meaning that I was waiting for the day when I switched the label and took the sleeve off.

The other thing I needed to do with this quilt was to wash it. It was very heavily quilted and was a bit stiff. I threw it in the washing machine with NO regard for the fact that it had oranges, reds, and purples in it. Never even thought about the colors running. And they did NOT! The fabrics are solids from Northcott Colorworks collection. Hurrah for GOOD quality fabrics.

The quilt before it was washed

 I wish I could share with you the texture of the quilt now. It's GORGEOUS. It's still heavily quilted, but surprisingly it softened up very nicely. I'm ecstatic. I should take a picture of the quilt right now as it's in a heap on the chair waiting to be included in a trunk show tomorrow.

Here are several shots of the quilt AFTER it was washed. Like I said, you just want to touch this one - the texture is gorgeous and that means I can do heavy quilting and still have a soft bed quilt. Granted, it's not as soft as if it were more loosely quilted, but it's not bad.

The back of the quilt

Look at that texture!

Gorgeous texture after washing

 You can tell that the quilt has been washed, but that in no way detracts from its beauty.

More texture shots

 Don't you want to run your hand over that quilt???  I do every time I pass by it.

More quilting detail from the back

An experiment with colored threads on the front

More texture

Here's a link to the story of how that Charity quilt came into being. It's an incredible story and a great group effort on the part of the West End Modern Quilt Guild. A HUGE THANK YOU to Northcott for helping out with the fabrics in this quilt.

The West End Modern Quilt Guild Quilt Con Charity Quilt

Next up was to hand stitch the sleeve onto this quilt. This was the quilt that was on QUILTsocial on Monday. The one I put the flange into the binding. I love this quilt and it was made with Northcott Banyan Batiks. Lots of very yummy colors. The background fabric is from the basic Ketan collection. The others were from various collections and chosen because of their color. I like BRIGHT. This now hangs on my wall in the family room. It's a happy quilt.

One Fish, Two Fish

I pinned the sleeve onto the quilt and hung it up for photos. So it came down on Sunday and the sleeve was properly sewn on and because it wasn't my pattern, I decided to add a label to this one. Then I sent Diane a message - 58!!!  With a smiley face or two!

Oh - there's no competitive streak in the two of us at all. I'm sure by now that she's made several more quilts. No, wait - she was on the Charming Shop Hop (20 stores in three days and MANY MANY KMs) She didn't have time to sew.

The One Fish, Two Fish pattern is by JB Quilt Designs. That's Janet Barker if you know her that way. I tested the pattern for her a while back and it took this long to get the binding on.

Loads of fun and I've got some leftovers that I want to do something with.

Anyway - that's it for me today. I've got a ton of stuff to get done. Not just stuff, but a few deadlines that won't go away. No one's fault but my own.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!

Farm Girl Vintage Show n Tell

Yikes - I'm not sure what I was thinking when I set up my calendar several months ago. But the month of September has been a nightmare. OK, not a huge nightmare, but this week, I'm out every night and last week was the same. That's just crazy! I see some weeks in October are just as bad. Note to self - DO NOT book so many nights out during the week. That cuts into my reading time!

Today I have the last of the show n tell from the weekend classes. This one is for the Farm Girl Vintage quilt by Lori Holt. There are 45 blocks in the book and after this month's homework, we're down to the last 4 blocks. The blocks come in two sizes - 6" and 12". Some people are making both, some people are making a combination and some people are sticking to just one size. The final show n tell is going to be loads of fun - I can hardly wait, but there's a LOT of work to be done before then.

For now, let's just enjoy the show n tell. There're a LOT of pictures and I'm not going to remember whose blocks are whose. I'll try to insert the names where I can remember but don't be upset if I screw it up! You should all be used to that by now!

Love the pumpkin with all those oranges!

A big star block and a little chicken!

Here's someone who is making big and small blocks. They have the same block in both sizes.

Big and small blocks

The big sheep - this is so darn cute!!!!

 The cow block is one of the extras that you can purchase on the internet. It's NOT in the book. Susan added a bit of glitz to this block with crystals.

An embellished cow with glitz on the tail

The silo barn block is included in the book, but it's not one of the 45. The barn block is big enough that you can fit one of the 6" blocks in the door. How cute to have the cat block in the barn.

Cat block in the barn door

The tractor block is also in the book, but not one of the 45. It's actually quite a large block, but Lynne had someone help her downsize the block. I'm not sure how big her block ended up - I didn't measure it, but it's at least half the size of the original block and it looks awesome. Looks just like the original but smaller! The tree block is in the book, but not part of the 45 blocks.

Tractor block has been downsized 

 The house block is part of the 45 blocks, but the tree is not.

House and tree block

I believe the homework for the summer was 10 blocks - anyway - it was a lot of blocks. Here's a grouping of 6 of the blocks. I love the color palette on this - bright, but not too bright.

Six of the small blocks

We have a few ambitious people in the class. I should mention that the class is also a design class. Everyone was encouraged to do their own thing with their blocks. It was as open as to make ONE block and make a project from that. Marlene made some of the six-inch blocks (very bright) and then made a lot of the houses and trees. This is the end result. Well, not quite as she still has borders to add. Nicely done Marlene!!!

Marlene's quilt top so far

A 12" house block

The silo barn block with a 6" block in the door

 This block was done scrappy in the book, but (shoot - I can't remember if this was Kathy or Valerie) they have made it monochromatic. It would look awesome in a quilt - just this block in blues. Nice!

A 12" block in blues

Monochromatic purples in a 12" block

Spools in 12" block

 You may not be able to see, but she used a grey fabric with a stocking knit stitch as the pattern. It was perfect for the jar lids!

The canning block in 12"

The cream can in 12" 

One of the star blocks in 12"

Mixing bowls in 12"

 I'm surprised, but there are a LOT of people making the big blocks. The big blocks are awesome and you have to make fewer of them to get a quilt! But still, a LOT of 12" blocks.

Here's the strawberry which was super cute!!!

Strawberry block in 12"

Another star block in 12"

 Oh yes - now I remember, these were Kathy's blocks. All those big ones. Do you notice anything? We're seeing all this bright fabric in her blocks and then this one with the old-fashioned print comes up! We all had a good chuckle over that!!!  Good job Kathy!!!

Basket in 12" 

 Now I think these next ones are Valorie but don't hold me to that!

Cream can in 12"

Basket in 12"

Strawberry in 12" 

This is the SAME block as that monochromatic blue above. Totally different look. 

12" block

The canning jars in 12"

 I must say that I really like that yellow print with the little circles on it. It's not my style, but very cute!!!

Bowls in 12"

 And then we were back to the small blocks again. Another grouping of 6 blocks. That was as many as my mini design board could hold at one time. My mini design board which still has NO binding on it!

Six more small blocks

Two small blocks

I know these are Nancy's blocks. She's been doing a number of blocks from Lori Holt's other book called Spelling Bee and she's purchased some additional patterns from the internet. See that corn and tomato block in the bottom left corner? Guess how many pieces are in that block?  Over 90!!!! And it's a six-inch block!  Great job Nancy!!!

Some fun blocks

More small blocks - I think these might be Nancy's as well. I don't remember.

More small blocks

 These blocks belong to Pam and she was also using blocks from the Spelling Bee book. Love the globe!!!

Small blocks

 Another grouping of small blocks. I love how (Mary I think) used that fabric for the fussy cutting in the barn windows, but my favorite is the fussy cut motif that she centered in the cream can. It says Farm Fresh. How cute is that!!!!

Small blocks

More small blocks

These three blocks were extra blocks that could be purchased from the website. Very cute!!!!

Extra small blocks

I think these blocks belonged to Rose as I recognize the Bonnie and Camille fabric collection.

More small blocks

 I think that means that the last set of blocks belong to Jane. Check out the fabric she used for the milk can. It says MOOOOO  all over. I love it and look at the fabrics in her canning jars!!

More small blocks

 And how about that strawberry made with strawberry fabric!!!

More small blocks

 I'm sorry that I didn't get a better picture of this. There were a lot of people and not enough room to take pictures of quilt tops.  This is Karen's quilt. She's used leftovers from another project. All the fabrics have farm animals in it. Some of them are extremely cute!  I should have taken close-ups. I forgot to ask if she was finished?

Karen's quilt

 I should also mention that in all the years that Karen has been in my class, she's never followed the pattern - any pattern! I love it!!!

Raili is in the process of quilting her quilt. I must say we were all a wee bit shocked when we saw the top. She had been bringing in blocks but the color palette didn't really register when you saw the blocks by themselves. But when you see it all together - the colors are GORGEOUS. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the colors pop!!!  She made up the blocks in the middle, but otherwise, the rest of the blocks are from the book.

Raili's quilt - in the process of being quilted

There you have it - a pretty spectacular show n tell. I didn't take a picture of my blocks, but I'm mostly up to date. Although I do want to make some of the extra blocks so I'd better get myself together.

On that note, I'm out of here. A super busy day today - as usual.

Don't forget to check out QUILTsocial today to see what I'm up to. Actually, I'm working on my Farmer's Wife quilt. See what I'm doing with the sashings. Hmm - might be something you want to do with this quilt. Just saying!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!