Kaw Valley Quilt Show

Today we took a trip to Lawrence Kansas to see the quilt show put on by the Kaw Valley Quilt Guild. Instead of sharing pictures I took, I'm going to share pictures that Grace took. My husband loves to take pictures and thought it would be fun to give Grace her own camera to see what she could do. It's funny to see things from her perspective.

First Quilt she saw when we walked in the door.Announced this quilt had an H in it like her friend Haly's name.

Little baby from a quilt peeking down at her.

Realized this was a quilt with a Jayhawk on it and announced to all within range that her dad needed this quilt.

One last picture - my tired pup on the way home from a full day of looking and shopping. We stopped at Stitch On and Sarah's.

To Guild or Not???

I broke down and did it last night - joined Starlight Quilter's Guild. Excellent choice on the night to join because Kim Diehl was the guest speaker. What a treat. Kim did a trunk show of her quilts from her Simple Blessings & Simple Traditions books.

Kim is an expert at invisible machine applique. Makes me want to try it again. Instead of using the blind hem stitch, she just uses a very tiny zig zag. Her quilts were absolutely amazing to look at.

Joining the guild for me was a big decision. I belonged to a local guild before Grace was born 4 years ago and left with a bad taste in my mouth. Too many politics. I think my problem at the time was that I was getting way too much of it at work and didn't want to have to deal with the exact same thing in the hobby that I LOVE most. Hopefully this guild won't be the same. Then again, maybe I just need to change my mindset and just let it roll off me and not get involved in the politics. The one thing I did miss by not belonging to a guild was all the show and tell. Unfortunately last night I didn't get to stay for that, but now that I know the time frame these ladies work on I will adjust accordingly.

I'm working from home today. Grace has an eye doctor appoint, which should be an interesting event. She doesn't like going to the doctor, so I have not wanted to tell her what was going on. Last night my husband decided it was time to come clean and let her know. Thank goodness for the Internet because he was able to show her some pictures and she seems good with this whole thing. Seeing pictures and experiencing are 2 different things. We'll see how this works out.

I really hope to do a little bit of sewing this week. It's rough not being able to get down to my "cave" to touch fabric or rev up the machine for a little bit.

That's all for now.

Spring...Has it Sprung?

Spring might have actually decided to come to the midwest. Yesterday we had temps in the low 70s which was wonderful. The flowering trees and leaves are starting to pop. We spent the day outside yesterday flying a kite, roaming the nursery looking at plants, riding bikes and generally enjoying the sun and warmth.



Call it a hunch, my quilting is going to start dwindling in the next month or so. I hope it doesn't get put on the back burner completely, but spending time outside always takes a higher priority.

Have a good week!!

Just a Whole Lot of Sleeping

Earthquake, what earthquake. Slept through the whole thing. Got up and turned on the news before work to hear some woman not quite hysterical but close talking about the earthquake. I guess I sleep sounder than I thought. Probably couldn't feel anything because there were 3 people, 2 cats and bunch of stuffed animals in our bed.

I'm feeling kind of "jipped" though. When I was in college, I went to San Diego for a weekend with my roommate. There was an earthquake that weekend, which didn't measure very high on the shaking scale. I managed to sleep through that too.

Oh well. Thankfully no damage.

Gee's Bend Quilters

What a treat. Last night I went to The Rep with my friend Karen to see some of the Gee's Bend quilters, specifically Mary Lee Bendolph, Revil Mosely, China Pettway, Mary Ann Pettway and Florine Smith. The history behind those ladies is amazing. I really didn't know much if anything about them or Gee's Bend. I've seen some of the quilts in magazines or on postage stamps. It was incredible to hear them talk, sing and share their stories. When they broke into song, I had goose bumps the entire time. I'm so glad that I carry my camera with me everywhere I go.

Here is my attempt at using the video and capturing the ladies singing.

Quiltathon

I was so excited to see that Judy L picked a weekend for the next Quiltathon. Somehow I felt like I would jinx myself if I said out loud that I wanted to participate. Seems like that's how it always goes. Well, I was productive yesterday. I finished up 16 additional blocks for the RWB top that I posted last weekend. This morning I managed to get it all together. I think it looks pretty darn cool.

Yesterday Grace had a birthday party to attend at Monkey Business. What a cool place to go and have a birthday party. The parents even got to get in and play. I was having a good old time in the bouncey ball area with Grace and then all of sudden RIP and shooting pain in my knee. I don't know what the heck I did, but it still feels horrible today. All I could hear was my doctor in the back of my head telling me that I'm not all that young anymore. 42 is not OLD. 42 is certainly out of shape, but not OLD. I hope I don't have to make an appointment this week.

The very fun 20' slide that you could catch some serious speed with.

My little ham posing for me in a tube she climbed through.

If the knee wasn't bad enough, I decided to do some embroidery last night. I just got my machine back from being serviced. It sounds HORRIBLE. There is something going on in the bobbin. After one pass through the first color, I turned the machine off. I will take it back to the shop tomorrow. I'm sure I will get grief from them about not trying it when I got it home. Give me a break.

Well, I'm off to Strip Club at Harpers. This month was batiks. Can't wait to see what the actual quilt will look like.

Hopefully I will have another picture to post before the day is over.

Monday...Already!

I'm not sure where the weekend went. I'm not even sure I even got much done. I do know that I had a horrible migraine yesterday, so pretty much anything after 1 PM is a blur to me.

On Saturday, Grace and I managed to deliver some completed bags to the photographer. I need to make some more handles, so we will have another small load to deliver next Saturday too.

Since Photography by Brandi is out in the "country" we also managed to hit Needle Nest quilt shop in Louisburg. I love those ladies. I love that shop as well and managed to leave some money with them. Grace grabbed 4 fat quarters that she couldn't live without. One of them has already been deemed bag material. Maybe this week we can create something together.

The big fun for the weekend was having the family over to watch the big basketball game Saturday night - KU vs. UNC. Rock Chalk Jayhawk. After the game was over, we promptly invited everyone back to watch with us on Monday. Unfortunately no one accepted our invitation. My husband is convinced we had some good juju going on and that's why the team won. It was fun to see him not be able to wipe that HUGE smile off his face.

April, How'd It Get to Be April????

I just looked at the calendar and it's April 3rd. How did it get to be April?

This year is flying already. I was going to reflect on what I got done in March, but I don't think I got all that much done. I can say that I have done more quilting in the first 3 months of this year than I did all last year and probably the year before. That's a good thing. Just wish I could push more stuff out the door. I keep trying to remind myself that I'm a working wife and mom and there are other things that need my time too.

This week I have been very busy. I'm working on bags for the photographer and hope to have about 15 handed off on Saturday. I started 2 new projects (instead of finishing 2 old projects). The stash of Batiks was pulled out, ironed and even cut up. The other huge stash of fabric in my collection is Red, White & Blue (Patriotic theme). I pulled out all of the scraps from 2 stack & whack quilts and cut them into strips and started making string blocks. I started out using paper as my foundation and that turned into a big mess so I switched to muslin. That is working MUCH better.
I will be sure to post some pictures this weekend. Or maybe even tonight, who knows.

Today is the start of Quilt Shop Hop here in the KC area. I have been telling myself no all along, but I think I might have to sneak out this afternoon. Just know that there is a fabric shopping frenzy going on and I'm not part of it, is KILLING me.

Blogger is doing crazy stuff this morning. So sorry for spelling mistakes and no links.

EDIT:
Pictures of my 2 projects from above. I still want to make 12 more red, white & blue blocks before deciding on the placement. I'm not so sure about the IN & OUT pattern. I like the pattern, but my colors are very WILD. Sorry reminds of my college days and someone blowing technicolor chunks.