A CyberBee Christmas

It was a busy weekend. Friday night, another Christmas party given by my husband and his partners for the operations staff. We had a great time at Casa Carbone in Raleigh.

Saturday was another quilty day with the CyberBee. This group started with a few members that were using e-mail back in the nineties. We grew to fifty members. All live in the area, but we only meet in person quarterly. We had our first-ever Christmas get-together after revising our calendar of meeting dates. It was an all-day sew-in, but I did not go until time for the lunch.

After lunch, there was a Christmas gift exchange. Each participant knew who they were making a gift for, and knew their likes/dislikes. Each lovely gift was unwrapped one at a time so we could all enjoy the creations. As I have said before, this group has some of the most talented quilt artists in our area, and a bunch of overachievers to boot. The gifts were creative, beautiful, personal, useful, ingenious! Sadly, I did not participate in the gift exchange since I did not think I would be able to attend this meeting.

Here is one of my favorites: a chicken bag given to Jenny. It unzips in the front.

Here is a lovely table runner from a simple pattern, made by Ann for Martha. Table runners were a popular item at our Show-and-Tell this year.

Our regular Show-and-Tell is always like going to a quilt show, but you get to hear the stories behind the projects and quilts. Here is a quilt that Ann brought in. She had inherited a quantity of old calico prints from a deceased friend, and used them to make this quilt. Those old fabrics can still make charming quilts!

Here is an old UFO finished by my friend Michelle. It was a Row-by-Row project from this group, probably started back in the 90's. She used a variegated thread in a spiral meander. The little squares on the border contain signatures of the RBR participants.

And here is another project from an old CyberBee swap: an angel quilt by Doris. She did a great job getting all those different-sized blocks together. It's great to see some of these group projects getting finished. I still have my CyberBee row-by-row in Ziploc baggies.

You may recognize this one made by Jean. I quilted it back in October with freehand leaves of all kinds.

Five members of CyberBee worked on "fractured" or "slice" quilts. They each chose a picture or poster and divided it up for each member to create a part. Then they are put together. Diverse methods are used, but they all seem to go together beautifully!

JoAnn's is finished.

Dorothy has constructed the top and is ready to quilt.

Jean's top is also complete. Some of those oranges are dimensional. I love the pitcher!

This week I am getting ready to have all the Turners (my side of the family) over for dinner on Saturday. We usually have about forty people. I hope my grandchildren will get over their colds so they can come up. I am trying to at least have the house all ready in case I need to run down to South Carolina and do some emergency babysitting this week. It is so hard to work when your children are sick.

Project Reveal: "Think Freddie" purse

Today I can show you one of my "secret projects" of the last month. I decided it would be a birthday present rather than a Christmas gift. My daughter-in-law has a December birthday, so I mailed it this week and she received it yesterday. (And was very appreciative!) So here is the "Think Freddie" purse.

It is from a pattern that went together very easily UNTIL I tried to put in a zippered top and turn the thing right-side out. GRRR- after the quilting and seaming of this bag, the recommended zipper size was too large. And I guess the vinyl pockets I made were from vinyl that was a little too stiff. So, this is the part where I taught it a lesson by whacking off the whole top of the purse that included the zipper.



Since I couldn't quite manage resewing the side seam of the lining with that vinyl, I glued a piece of fabric over the opening, then zig-zagged it in place.



And since there was no longer a zipper closing, I made a button and loop closure. I love the button for this purse. I bought it at MQX last year from We Got the Buttons. It is fused glass. I also added some buttons for embellishment on the straps and houses. I added some decorative machine stitching to the patchwork.

My daughter-in-law is very petite, and I have seen how cute she looks with other small handbags like this, so it had to be for her!



The reason it is called "Think Freddie" is because the bright colors against black and white prints are often used by quilter Freddy Moran. The pattern also shows the bag made in other types of fabrics- all cute.



People that do not have a directionality problem can probably follow the pattern directions for the zipper and lining better than I did.



Back to the Tacky Christmas Sweaters post from yesterday: at least one reader has taken up the challenge to show her Christmas sweaters. Barb has revealed her lovely Christmas sweaters and also her collection of Christmas socks.




How about the rest of you???

Tacky Christmas Sweaters?

Got a call from Dear Son Dave yesterday.

DSD: Hey, Mom, you still got any of those tacky Christmas sweaters?

Moi: Huh?

DSD: You know those old Christmas sweaters you used to wear to school? Emily and I are going to a Tacky Christmas Sweater party, and I don't want to pay $40 for a new tacky sweater. You still got any?

Moi: My sweaters were tacky?

DSD: Well, I promise that if I wear one of your sweaters, it will look tacky.

(Note to readers: DSD is approximately 6'5" and I am approximately 5'7".

Moi: Well, I know I have at least one Christmas sweater, because I just wore it to the Christmas brunch last Saturday. But it's not tacky.

DSD: Okay, see what you can find and we can meet for lunch tomorrow.

So, dear readers, I will reveal the only remaining Christmas sweaters/apparel I could find. I must have unloaded the many sweatshirts that I used to wear to school when I taught elementary.

#1, inherited from mother-in-law, sporting 80's shoulder pads, ribbons, and a stain on the sleeve: The Saggy Stained Sweater with Christmas Tree.

#2, featuring glittery beads, sequins and intarsia knitting, The Snowy Christmas Chapel.

(Rarely worn because very heavy sweater acquired at approximately same point in time as menopause hot flashes)

#3, the truly tacky home-made Christmas vest. Not a sweater at all. Lined with coarse scratchy cheapo Wal-mart Christmas print. Very popular with elementary students back in my teaching days. Also actually worn as hostess of annual family Christmas potluck one year, probably also due to hot flashes.

Off to meet DSD and deliver the goods.

Challenge: What tacky Christmas sweaters do you have lurking in your closet?

Touches of Color

Yesterday I finished up another gift project. Great feeling to get this one done. I had put it aside when I got to a difficult part of the project that was not working out. But, with persistence, (and a severe session with a rotary cutter to eliminate the problem area,) it is done and looks good!

We have been having cold mornings lately. Yesterday on our walk, I noticed the little lake at the end of the street was partially frozen. That does not happen here too often.

When everything is wintry gray, I like to look for little spots of color here and there. Here is one colorful little tree or shrub next to the orange plastic fencing that marks the "tree protection zone" in the new neighborhood being built.

And across the street in the woods, another little touch or orange!

I used to see this Persian in the wooded lot almost every day last winter, but he must stay inside to enjoy air conditioning in the summer.

Speaking of kitties, here was a little domestic excitement last Friday. I was talking to my son on the phone in the kitchen about 8:30 AM when I noticed an animal on the branch of a tall pine tree in the back yard at the edge of the woods. I thought it must be a raccoon, but closer inspection proved it to be a big fluffy kittycat. I thought it might come down when I left with the dog for our walk and then to take her to the vet for her shots. No, cat was still there. I mentioned to my husband when he called from work that we had a cat about thirty feet up a tree. He said just to keep the dog in the house or in the front yard, and it would come down when it got hungry enough. Sure enough, he was gone by 5:00 PM. I thought I might capture the descent in video when he started moving around on his limb, but he was just changing position. Sorry for the jumpy zoom video. My husband must spend a lot of time "networking" at work. Everyone at the office party that night wanted to know if the cat got down!

Confessions of an Inadequate Quilter

Just received an announcement from the Capital Quilters Guild of Raleigh that it is time to sign up for the spring workshops, including the first one with South Carolina quilter Jennifer Amor.

Wow, that brought back some memories for me! When I first joined the guild back in the late eighties, I was a traditional quilter, self-taught from the one library book I could find about quilting. I did my piecing by machine, but mostly used templates and scissors to cut out my patchwork.

So, I decided to try some new techniques, and signed up for a Bargello class with Jennifer Amor.

Our guild meets on Thursday nights, and if we have a guest lecturer, they usually teach all-day workshops on Friday and Saturday.

I have to say that I nearly did not make it to the workshop, because I almost died laughing during the guild meeting! At the time, Jennifer was into that black-and-white cow phase, and showed us all the cow decor she had collected and made. At the end, she lifted her skirt to show us cow bloomers with udders. The whole room was screaming with hilarious laughter.

And then came the workshop. I think I must have attended the Saturday class since I was teaching full time back then. I had gotten my list of supplies and fabrics. We were to purchase a light, medium, and dark shade of two different colors. So, I took myself to the Remnant Shop and bought blues and browns. The only reason I can explain that choice is that I had not yet discovered color. And I had a navy and brown plaid couch that needed something to hang on the wall above it!

My sewing machine was a Singer zig-zag that I purchased as a newlywed in 1971 along with its fold-up wooden cabinet. My husband got it out of the cabinet for me so I could bring it to the workshop. No carry case, so I think I wrapped a towel around it and schlepped it along with me. This bad boy cost about $150 back then, but I think I probably paid double that because I paid on credit at about $7.00 per month!

As for notions, we were to bring a rotary cutter and ruler. If we knew how to cut strips, we were to cut strips ahead of time in the varied widths instructed. I did not know how to fold the fabric or use these hot new tools, so I arrived with just my yardage of fabric. And watched everyone else get out their pre-cut fabric strips and start sewing away on their strip sets.

So, thankfully, in comes our past president, the one and only Jane Hall, co-author of the foundation pieced quilting books and quilter extraordinaire. I think she and Jennifer were buddies on the quilting circuit. Jane saw me not knowing what to do and personally taught me to use the rotary cutter. BUT- first she had to borrow someone else's ruler for me. I had bought some little plastic ruler deal that was not intended for rotary cutting.

So I get my strips cut out, finally, and get ready to start piecing them together. And in its first move ever out of its sewing cabinet, my little cheapo Singer lost its tension setting. My strip sets were falling apart! By this time I was getting pretty flustered, or should I say tense! But I adjusted machine tension for about twenty minutes and finally got going.

So as I am sewing together my ugly brown and blue solid fabric, I look around the room at all the lush combinations of fuchsia and teal, coral and turquoise, rose and purple, and wondering why I didn't pick something a little less mundane.

But, although I still recall these events after twenty years, I remember that workshop fondly because 1. I met Jane Hall; 2. Jennifer was still making me laugh throughout the workshop, and 3. I actually finished this project. No, not in time to hang it over said navy and brown couch.

When it came time to machine quilt, my little clunker was having a very hard time making it over all the many seams on this quilt. I was using invisible thread, but I think it was the old kind that is like fishing line, and it broke constantly.

In making this quilt, you end up with four identical blocks of offset strip sets. You can turn them different ways to see which setting is the most pleasing to the eye. I thought mine ended up looking like flowers. Now, I had not done any machine quilting before, but I thought it would be nice to machine quilt some flowers in the borders and spaces. So, I made up a flower design. Now, how to draw it on the quilt top? Pencil just did not show up. I ended up marking my design with blond eyebrow pencil! Went on easily, showed up great!

I did not get this finished until years later when I bought a better sewing machine. It never made it over the old couch, but right now it is hanging in my pale blue dining room.

When I think back on this early experience, I realize what a long path I have traveled since not owning a quilt book, proper ruler, a decent sewing machine, or having a stash of beautiful fabric. I guess we all had to start somewhere!

And I can't wait to see Jennifer Amor again. She is still teaching a four-block Bargello workshop, but I believe she uses a foundation piecing method now. And I no longer see any Holsteins on her web site, but could it be that she is now flaunting flamingoes?

Christmas Brunch

It is only December 6, and I have already attended two Christmas parties! Last night was my husband's company dinner at North Ridge Country Club in Raleigh. Very nice with great food, a DJ and a large dance floor in the ballroom.

This morning my bee, The Whacky Ladies, got together for our annual Christmas brunch. We went to a restaurant in Wake Forest named Brig's, and had a large table in the party room. They let us linger as long as we wanted. It is always fun when we start showing the quilts, and all the waitresses and other customers start oohing and aahing.

So, I have given away one of my secret projects I have been working on this week. We have one of those gift exchanges where you pick a number, and then either select a wrapped gift or "steal" someone else's unwrapped gift. Lots of fun! Mary ended up with my quilted totebag.

I used the basic instructions from Great Big Tote Bag posted on Selvage Blog. But, I just made up some patchwork instead of using selvages. And on this one, I did not bind the whole quilt before folding in half. I finished the edges with zigzag and stitched the sides on my sewing machine, and added a binding just to the top and to the handles. This is how it looks inside.

You can see the quilting on the inside. I attached the bottom with velcro to the bottom of the bag. It is two pieces of Timtex covered with batting and fabric. This gives the bag a little bit of support.

I actually made two of these at the same time, but with slightly different patchwork and a different finishing technique. I will post pics of the other one in the near future after it finds a new home.

Here is a great double-nine-patch Christmas quilt that Paulette brought to the brunch for show-and-tell. What a great idea to use border prints on the backing!

Here is a lovely little purse made by Mary that I received in the gift swap, along with a silvery bookmark from Carolyn and an adorable snowman made by Marilyn.

DH has declared this as the day to finish decorating the house for Christmas. He is stringing lights outside, so I better get busy and bring down the rest of the Christmas stuff. We hope to get the tree up today too.

Sneak Peeks

Yesterday I was back at work on my Gammill. Well, not really working. I was finishing a project that I can't show yet, as it is to be a surprise. But, it was fun. Here are some sneak previews.

This is the backing, a marble-looking fabric that I love and have used for many projects. It has a silky hand and gorgeous coral/salmon/peach colors.

I was putting a serious dent in my stash of black and white fabrics for this and a couple other projects recently. As I rummaged around looking for suitable pieces, I came across this piece and decided to use it. A long time ago, I tried out some methods of discharging color from black fabrics. I think it was in American Quilter. This is a piece of twill with some star-shaped areas and some blobby areas. I did some freehand flowers. Hopefully these pictures will enlarge when clicked. I used a variegated cotton thread called Tie-Dye.

If you remember my little experiment with my Neocolor 2 crayons, I had done a gradient on dry fabric using every one of the 84 colors.

My original idea was to label each color so I would have a sample of each. Well, that was way too scientific for me, and since I did not record the colors at the time, it would have been difficult to do so later. So, yesterday I grabbed a fan-shaped paint brush and swished over the whole thing with some water. I had only used half of a piece of muslin, so I folded the other half over it to absorb colors. I love the mottled look of the "absorbent" half!