Three Cheers for the LAQ ! ! !

 

She is a miracle worker and worth every penny you ( I ) pay her (him)!

When I started quilting (10 years ago?) I didn't think I'd ever want to pay someone to actually QUILT the tops I pieced. 
I thought it was too expensive.  But, honestly, the quilting is what makes the quilt.  Even tops I literally hated when they were finally finished turned out to be be quite lovely when the quilting was added (I can think of more than a few.)

Then there is the ever-so-quick, cheater quilt that starts from a panel.  Now, don't B-B-Q me yet, I like panels and some of the quilts created from panels are WONDERFUL.  But, I do feel somewhat like a fraud when I resort to a panel.  

Back in September (which feels like AGES ago, now) Miss Kate was tidying-up her studio and gifted me a baby quilt panel with assorted fabrics.  What luck!  Because I needed to make a baby quilt for an extended family member expecting her 2nd daughter this month, November.

TA-DAH!  I must admit it turned out better than I expected.

 

When I'm using panels, I'll often jazz it up a bit by adding something to the back, or piecing the border.
After all, it does need to look like I put some effort into the thing, right?

 A close-up of the quilting. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 But Wait!  There's More!

I also needed lap quilts for the upcoming birthdays of two young boys, one my youngest g-son.  Again, I resorted to cheating.  Again the LAQ saved my butt!  Bless you, Faith!  I owe you, big time.

 

 

This baseball quilt does not have any piecing at all! And, yet after the quilting was added, it's passable. Of course you can see the Minions started with a panel.   This was something my youngest g-son and I were going to do together, but I decided it needed to get done and out of my studio.  (West and I will need to decide on another project.)

All the quilts I needed before the end of the year are now complete. The remainder of the year I can focus on fun, little Christmas projects.   Happy things I can create to give away, cheering up others' lives, too.

 2021 will be a new year, a fresh start.  A better year with new quilts to make and hopefully no masks!

Update:  12/12/20  Even simple quilts are a BIG hit!

Labels Revisited

Was it just last month (or the month before?) that we discussed labels?  Click Here

The days are flying by, but in some ways it feels like 2020 has been around FOREVER, am I right?

After I wrote the September post on labels, my good friend and quilting buddy, Dawn White wrote this post on labels.   

Click HERE to read this post.

Dawn's method  WORKS!  I must say I'm very pleased with the final result.   Some modification was required as I had two labels to print and I wanted different backgrounds.  Using a piece of cellophane tape to join the two pieces worked like a charm.  There was some concern that cellophane tape would gum up the printer....but, it did not.

This quilt is headed off to a Northern destination where they really do have winter weather.

 

Destination, off to a state where they never get winter weather, per se,
but my young, great-grand niece can still cuddle up.

There are a lot of benefits to this method:  The label fabric can match or compliment the quilt fabric.
No special printer label fabric is needed, so we're saving money.
It's attractive.  It looks festive.  Win, Win, Win.

A great method for all future quilt labels.

Thank you, Dawn White.

Update:  December 13, 2020

I think she likes it....feels good, doesn't it?

And Just Like That, It's November

 

Marching on to Thanksgiving....... Then, Christmas......and FINALLY a brand new year!

 

I continue to work my Blue-No-More plan Click HERE and HERE. And, I think it is working.  I'm drinking less and sewing more;  actually put the binding on two lap quilts and am getting the labels ready and attached as-we-speak.  (More on the labels in the next post.)  Just finishing that much made me feel good and like something was accomplished!  Isn't that a nice feeling?

So, WELCOME NOVEMBER!  We CAN do this!!

Leaving you with this cheery picture of my littlest little burglar. 

Seesaw Through Life

It occurred to me that when I'm DOWN I don't believe I'll ever be happy again....
and when I'm UP I don't believe I'll ever be down again....

The truth is, life is cyclical.  Up and down, and all around.

Following my own rules:

Get Physical:  Yep, did my walking and my zoom class this week.  Forget for the moment there is "something magical" about walking, walking also gives your partner a time to vent.  Good for their soul and spirit, too.

Finish Something:  Did I actually finish anything this past week?  Yes.... sort-of.  I did get the binding for one lap quilt prepared but then other things took precedence, namely Miss Wanda needed some new masks so I did stop and make her a couple.  And while I was doing that, I thought "I love my sewing room....."

I DO love my sewing room, but I don't always want to work on one of my many UFO projects.  That reminded me of this video by Missouri Star Quilt Company I watched a while back....Crumb Quilting!  It's the perfect answer! 

I want to add to this list of things-to-do-to-lift-your-spirits:  LAUGH!  

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know the Needlers get together on Tuesday nights.  

 

The three of us who live on property are the only ones meeting right now, but this past Tuesday we did a FaceTime with Miss Wanda.

 

 

And I played my ukulele for them!  (The only other breathing person I've ever played for is my dad.)  I played a Gershwin tune, SummerTime.  We laughed and laughed....but it was a good laugh.  Here is one of my favorite ukulele teachers playing with her friends.  How these friends laugh together, doesn't it make you want to join in?!

 

 

 If you are sick-to-death of all this talk of the pandemic, politics and the craziness of 2020, do something nice for yourself this week.... start a crumb quilt, play the ukulele ... or the Kazoo. 
Do something to for a laugh.  

At the very least, pamper yourself in your favorite way.  

 

 

I realize there are REAL issues and worries that even a Kazoo can't fix...in that case, PM me.  We can talk.
(and I am serious about that.)

*If you do want to start playing the ukulele, call my friend Shirley at Island Bazaar, she will fix you right up.

Am I Blue ?

In these last days of 2020 I have found myself under a gray cloud.  I'm not sure why, but I'm just so down-in-the-dumps!  

Does this happen to you?  

Might I suggest

.....do something.....ANYTHING...

Get Physical:  A shout out to my quilting buddy, Miss Kate, who is also my walking buddy.  No one person can fix you or your blue-ness, but just being around other people is therapeutic, all by itself.  The good Lord made us this way.... we need each other.

And, then walking:  as my nutritionist said "there is something magical about walking..."  You might participate in other physical activity like Zoom exercise classes but there is something about walking, there really is.  Even if you don't have a walking buddy,  just being outside and walking is beneficial.

If you don't have a friend.....be a friend. Ask someone to walk with you.

Finish Something:  What is on your to-do list that you look at but just don't want to finish?  Even if it's as small as dusting that table top....just do  it.  

I finished two things yesterday;  the backing for the baby quilt I have been working on (which did not come together as I had envisioned in my head....I had to piece it all over the place because I did not have enough fabric) and I finally got a label on my g-sons birthday quilt. (My least-favorite thing to do.) I took it to him last night and his little face just lit up!  Medicine for the soul!

 

Finally, make a plan.  Here it is Sunday and tomorrow is MONDAY....again! 
Today is the day to plan for tomorrow and next week.

Today I am going to church, pick up a few morsels of food for the week, drop off the baby quilt at the LAQ  and practice my ukulele.   

My planned accomplishment for next week, binding and labeling two finished lap quilts. 
AND dust that table top!

Remember, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.

Getting Back in the Groove

 Returned home from my Kentucky trip a week ago and I'm still struggling with getting back in the groove.

Working on The Horse while I was in Kentucky didn't work out very well.  Got a small start...not much.

When I returned home I thought "I'll finish Krystal's baby quilt and get it to the quilter by Sunday."  Wrong again....I didn't work on it much the entire week and then when I finally did go to the studio Saturday afternoon I decided to do something different with the back, but I needed more fabric.  

"OK, off to the fabric store"  only to discover when I arrived they close at 3:00 pm and it was now 3:20 pm. 

AND, they are closed on Sunday!!!!  ARRRRRRGGGGG

I'm feeling frustrated.

Today is Sunday....the first day of the week....time to refocus.....

I'll go to church...go to lunch with the gang...go visit my Babes.  After all "Tomorrow is another day..."

 

Girls Day Out

Still visiting family in Kentucky...I DO like it here.  (Of course, it isn't summer so there is no humidity. Under those circumstances, what's not to like, right?  It's A Southern Thing - Humidity.)

Sissy returned from her travels and we decided on a Girls Day out taking a trip out to Mayfield to Backyard Fabric.  It truly is in someone's backyard.  Very beautiful countryside and grounds with a duck pond and everything! 

 

Much bigger and much nicer than one would have expected out in the middle of nowhere. They have a good selection of fabrics, kits and pre-cuts.  The prices were very good!  The most expensive yardage was $7.00 per yard.  If this were my home, this would be my go-to shop, even though it's not in MY backyard.  Trip Advisor had a lot of compliments and as far as I could tell, all true.

They even have a barn quilt!

 I want a barn quilt!

The lady tending the shop was very nice and helpful during the audition process. Especially appreciated was the fact that, although the sign said "Half Yard Cuts Minimum" she cut most of mine 1/4 yards. She explained when they first re-opened and they were very busy it saved time. (I still don't understand that logic.... but, oh well....)

I came away with an impressive array of Grunge fabrics for The Horse.  The pattern calls for "3 to 5 for each color hue"  that would be about 18 different fabrics.  But with the variation in Grunge fabric I believe this will be sufficient.

I did purchase a few other fun things I absolutely could not live without.

Not the sewing machine.  It does look like one of mine.  One named MaMoo after my Great Grandmother.

No Girls Day Out would be complete without lunch!  We stopped for Southern Bar-B-Q. 

A & B BBQ in Mayfield was quite impressive and delicious.  Even my sister, who is a card-carrying Southerner, commented on how delicious it was and how nice the people serving were.  On that note, can I just say one more time how friendly and polite people in the South are?!  I haven't met a rude person yet.