"Little Daisy" Makes Her Debut (and a Give-Away)

Last night, I attended the Capital Quilters' Guild meeting in Raleigh...where we all got to meet "Little Daisy!"  Our next Heritage Day quilt auction (on Oct. 6, 2012) will help to raise money not just for the guild, but for the local Girl Scout council.  There will be two raffle quilts.  This one is "Little Daisy,"  a smaller version of "Daisy of Savannah."  Both quilts will feature the same fabrics and quilting, but the larger one will have five rows of five blocks each.  That one will probably be ready by the February meeting.

Here is a close-up of the beautiful quilting by The Quilting Cowgirl, Cathy Kirk.  Look at those splendid feathers!

If you look at the back side, you see that this could serve as a wholecloth quilt.

This is the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts.  The founder, Juliette Gordon Lowe, was nicknamed Daisy.  Everyone knows that the Girl Scouts are expert at sales- we have already had several knocking on our door for the fabulous annual cookie sale!  They will be helping to sell tickets for the raffle, so we should have record-breaking sales!

Also at last night's meeting, there was the annual Silent Auction.  Quilters bring in books, fabric, patterns, and other miscellaneous items that they no longer need.  Bids start at only twenty-five cents!  You would not believe the stuff that was available.  Since I need to start purging my personal "stuff" prior to putting our house on the market, I brought twenty books to donate to the auction.  Fortunately for me, they all sold except one.

The orphan from the auction is Lap Quilting With Georgia Bonesteel.   Georgia is an icon of the quilting world, at least in North Carolina, where her TV show on PBS has been airing every year since 1979.  I took a sun-printing class with Georgia at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium a few years ago.  What a generous, classy lady!  I was so impressed.  She told us that this first book was, ironically, also her best-selling EVER.

So, if you would like to have this book, leave a comment or drop me an e-mail by Sunday night.  If more than one person is interested, I will have a drawing to see who will be the winner.  Make sure I have your e-mail address.

One more Heritage Day quilt

Today I finished the last of the three tops that I agreed to quilt for the Heritage Day auction by Capital Quilters Guild.  This one was much larger, about 88" x 82".   It is made of strips of pastel calico fabrics arranged in blocks resembling asymmetrical log cabins.  Looks like it would be a great stash-buster!

Most of the calicoes were small floral or botanical prints, so I did a leafy free-hand meander over the whole thing.  I have learned to do that one pretty quickly.

The back is plain natural-colored muslin.  I used a pear green cotton thread from Signature.

No batting or binding material was provided, so I went to my own supplies.  I had a big hunk of a solid pink fabric which I used for the binding.  What I did not have was time to hand-stitch the binding to the back.  I tried something new...stitching the binding to the back first, and then machine stitching from the back with a sort-of blanket stitch.

The straight part of the stitch is in the ditch on the back, with the perpendicular stitches biting into the binding.  It actually looks better on the back than on the front.  But- it is done!

A helpful guild member is going to pick the quilts up for me tomorrow at Quilts Like Crazy in Wake Forest and take them to guild.  I will be leaving for the mountains where we are having a party for my father's 88th birthday!  I have been cooking the tomato sauce for the last few hours.  You can even smell the savory sauce from the driveway.  Yum!

(Note:  I wrote this post last week, but somehow it remained in draft form and was never published.  Thought you might like to see the quilt, though.)

Charity Quilts and Quilt Bee

Yesterday, I was able to finish the two donated quilt tops that I picked up on Wednesday, and pass them along to volunteers from my bee to bind in time for the guild meeting next Thursday.

The first is a small 24 square inch walhanging with calico butterfly appliques on a cloud background fabric.  I chose to quilt flowers for the butterflies to visit with loop-to-loops to represent their flight paths.

I went inside each butterfly  and added some quilting.

This quilt was done quickly due to its small size.  The backing is the same cloud fabric.  That white streak is afternoon sunlight peeking between the curtains!

Next up is a lap-quilt size Stack and Slash quilt done in muted dusty shades of calico so popular in the the eighties.  I did not like all the contrasting angles and the dated fabrics when I first saw this.  However, after adding some curvy all-over freehand feathers, I think it looks pretty darn nice!

This one has a muslin backing.  The feathers make a very nice textural pattern on the back.

Thanks to Jean and Irene for agreeing to bind these for the guild in time for the Heritage Days auction on October 1.

When I picked up the two tops from Cathy Kirk, I saw that she had another quilt top in the back of her car, (which is so cute...an off-white Mini-Cooper with the license plate "Mini Pearl")  and I agreed to quilt that one, too.  It is much larger, 88" x 82".  I will quilt that one when we get back from the mountains next week.  I'll probably bind that one entirely by machine due to lack of time.

Last night, The Whacky Ladies met at Carolyn's house.  We had a great turnout and lots of interesting Show-and-Tell.

This is another quilt top Carolyn made from the Warm Wishes pattern. 

And this is Carolyn's Lhasa apso, Pepper, who entertained us throughout the meeting. I believe he was smiling for his portrait!

Janice showed us lots of interesting works-in-progress.  She participated in an online jelly-roll quilt contest, and made this original top.

We all loved the fabrics that she chose in different colorways.

She showed a little quilt she is making for her son.  I am so excited that she is starting to play with Shiva paint sticks and other art quilt materials!  You can read about this quilt and see a better photo on her blog.

Irene showed us the table runner she made using an instruction book for place mats with this braid pattern.

Jean has finished making the Cowboy Boots quilt top that she is making for a niece who is graduating from high school.  She had a lot of fun choosing the fabrics for the boots.  The niece also asked for sunsets, so she got this beauty right in the center.

You might be seeing that one again on my blog...she is giving it to me next week to quilt it for her.

Off to our cabin again in a few hours for a weekend of beautiful weather and family fun.

Cyberbee Show-and-Tell

I just realized that I never posted any pics from the Cyberbee meeting last Thursday evening.  Cyberbee is a sub-group of Capital Quilters Guild in Raleigh.  We formed back in the mid-nineties when we were the only ones in the guild actively using e-mail...can you remember how different things were technology-wise just a short time ago?  We meet occasionally during the year, and always have an interesting show-and-tell.This time we met at the Cameron Village Library.  Several of us met for dinner ahead of time at Moe's Southwest Grill. 

Here are a few of our Show-and-Tell photos.

We all wanted to grab Margaret's Bali Basket and go!  She made it using directions from the book Bali Bowls.  I absolutely love her color scheme.

Here is a purse made by Jean from the Two-Hour Tulip Purse pattern by our own Janice Pope of the Capital Quilters Guild. 

Carolyn made a very cute Flip-Flop quilt, using silk flowers to embellish the sandals.

She also made a cute child's quilt with lavender log cabin heats.

Joyce is working on an applique quilt featuring squirrels from the Bunny Hill pattern Pumpkin Hill. Only one block to go!

Joyce also showed us her Crayon Farm quilt.  She used regular crayons to make these adorable farm scenes.

Here is a closer look at some of the blocks.  She did a big-stitch stipple by hand for the quilting.

I was particularly fond of the the turkey!

Joyce also is one of the guild leaders for our Heritage Day Quilt Auction on October 1.  She has been working hard to make American Girl doll clothes for the guild's boutique sale of hand-made items.  She had three bridal gowns complete with veils and bouquets.

Susan shared a bright and cheerful baby quilt.

June showed two very large pieced blocks from the Cabin on the Shore pattern by Minick and Simpson.

We are heading to our mountain cabin for the long holiday weekend tonight.  We will be taking both our dog, Kasey, and our son's dog, Roo. 

Dave and Emily are off on a dream vacation to Spain and France.  Bon Voyage, kids, and have a safe, memorable trip!

Heritage Star is a Winner!

Thanks to my friend Janice who picked me up at home and delivered me right to the door of the guild meeting, I was able to attend the Capital Quilters meeting tonight.  I took lots of pictures of the Heritage Day auction quilts.  The Whacky Ladies quilt, Heritage Star, had a prominent spot on the front side of the display.

I was pleased to see that it was hanging pretty straight, especially since it was just pinned to the backdrop.

I will show you some of the other quilts in a future post.  There were some outstanding quilts in the collection.  Quilters are generous people to give such beautiful creations away!

Our guest speaker was from Interact of Wake County, the organization that will be the beneficiary of the auction.  She explained all about the services that Interact provides for victims of spousal abuse/domestic violence.  A worthy cause indeed!

Then, she announced the winner of the Interact special prize for her favorite quilt in the collection.  She said it was traditional but with a modern twist- full of texture and beautiful fabrics.

And the winner is...Heritage Star!  That is Kate George (thanks, Katy!) on the left and Cathy Kirk on the right, holding our winning quilt up on the stage.

We won this cute basket of chocolates and cooking goodies and cookbook for winning the special prize.

And then they announced the Viewer's Choice Awards, and we won Third Place in the Group Category!  We got a check for twenty-five dollars, and another ribbon!

These beautiful hand-made ribbons include a tiny ribbon replica that can be pinned on your nametag.

It was a good night!

The actual auction will take place on October 1 at the Wake County Office Park on Carya Drive.

Heritage Star is Quilted

Here is another project I have checked off my Pre-Vacation To-Do List:  the quilting of The Whacky Ladies Bee blue and white auction quilt for Heritage days.

 

I used the a technique similar to the  "Flurry of Angels" by Jamie Wallen and Nichole Webb (No Boundaries) for the quilting in the patchwork block and striped borders.

I put a curly motif in the white narrow border.

For the center medallion star, I put big swirls in the blue areas.  I wanted to do some close quilting in the white areas so they would recede to the background.  I decided to do pebble stippling, a decision later to be classified in the "What Was I Thinking?" category.

The pebbling looks great, but is more or less a form of longarm torture!

The backing is a light blue fabric.  There is not actually a bulge in the quilt!

This is a group effort by the Whacky Ladies Bee.  I am handing it off to Marilyn and Kathy for the binding and hanging sleeve, and Lori has offered to make an embroidered label.

Today I am off to visit my father at my sister's house near Greensboro before we leave for vacation on Saturday.  I am hoping that Dad will be strong enough for them to join us at the beach for a few days.

Whacky Ladies Auction Quilt

Yesterday was another sew-in day for the Whacky Ladies quilt bee.  Mission:  assemble the sampler quilt for the Heritage Days auction.  Once again, Betsy at Quilts Like Crazy right here in Wake Forest allowed us the use of their space to work on the quilt.

Here is Carolyn with one of the outer borders of 12-inch blocks.

That bear paw block on the right was left over from a quilt that I started back in 1987 or thereabouts and finished in 1998!

The ladies finished making the scrappy blue stripe border.  Here is Irene hard at work on the machine while Donna does some trimming.

Here is Sharon after trimming a last strip to fit.

Donna figured out how to sew the striped borders so that the stripes march around the center medallion.

It was fun to work together in such a colorful place with inspiring quilts everywhere you look.

By the time we "ran out of gas" at about 4:00, the white sashing was cut to size, and we decided to add a narrow flange of dark blue between the white border and the outer blocks.  I took it home to complete the final seams and then quilt it on my longarm.

Last night was the May meeting of the Capital Quilters Guild.  We are all abuzz because we are hosting the North Carolina Quilt Symposium in just two more weeks.  Last night we turned in our quilts for the show.  I am entering two quilts from last year.

Maggy Trees a Coon is entered in the Pictorial Quilt category.

Japanese Garden is entered in Wall Quilts, Small.

Last night I turned in three charity quilts for the Quilts on Wheels program.  I won a door prize- a green "honeybun" roll of fabric.

Our guild has a large stash of donated fabric.  Carolyn Ruby from Cyberbee, my group that has been in charged of Quilts on Wheels for the past two years, made lots of honeybuns and jellyrolls from the stash to serve as door prizes for those who make quilts for the charity.

We had a very entertaining and informative program about organizing your quilting space.  The speakers were two ladies from Kernersville, NC, who are now professional organizers.  I could relate to the "Before" pictures of the wreck of a sewing room. 

I did not take any photos at the meeting, but would like to direct your attention to My Sandbox to see the beautiful mystery quilt that Katie Greenwood finished just in time to turn in for the Symposium show.  So many pieces!  She did a fantastic job, and quilted this on a domestic sewing machine.

Leaving for the mountains today.  Some R&R at our mountain place, and a trip to Boone to check up on my dad, who is still in the nursing home trying to recover his strength after his hospitalization for pneumonia.