Santa's Elf Made me a Big Board!

Yep that's right, my very own special Elf made me a Big Board for Christmas!! I guess he took the bait .....

.... this summer when my son ironed a shirt it came complete with all my loose threads, (I had just finished some un-sewing). After picking them all off he said... 'Hey Mom you really need your own iron board.. so we can keep this one upstairs and it isn't always covered with your quilting stuff.' So I very simply replied... 'You know that's a good idea and they even have large boards specifically for quilters.... sounds like a great Christmas present!'

Well he stored that bit of information in his head and while combing the internet for a large ironing board he found instructions to make one! I should have known it.... he has always had a love of making things, so that is exactly what he did!!! He also gave me an IOU for the cover. He ordered the material, but it didn't come in before Christmas.

As soon as I get the cover I will post a picture.... but for now, I am happy that my son who is studying Structural Engineering in college, used some of his talent for ME... woohooo!

Thank you baby!

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, but the 4th quarter of the year is really busy in corporate sales, so I have been heads down... I have managed to find some time late at night to quilt. I need to get some XMas presents done... so much to do, so little time. But, I am making progress.

I have been working on a lap quilt for one of my nieces. I have two that requested a purple quilt to cuddle with. One is almost done, the other... well, let's just say.. I might have to give an IOU :-).

Here are some pics of the one that is almost done. As you can see, I am in the process of quilting the piece. Here are a few close ups of the front, showing the quilting. I am using purple Masterpiece by Superior in both top and bobbin.
I have been playing with different types of feathers. I'm playing with "molar" feathers that have loop-di-do's along the spine.
Here is a view of the back. As you can see, I am using my doodling method on this quilt. I just quilt one design until I am tired of it, then start something else. I know, I know... but as you can see from the front other than the sashing the blocks are kind of busy, so it is a good place to practice :-). The back is actually pieced in all the leftover fabrics from the front... although you can't really tell from the picture.

I've got pics!

So I posted a little earlier that our guild's round robin is really getting exciting. When I kicked it off at the beginning of the year, I asked the participants to step out of their comfort zones and do something they had always wanted to try and might have felt a little intimated by. Hey.. in a round robin, you never know what direction a piece will end up in... and you will probably not own the piece in the end... so why not go for it... right?

Well Donna Chambers just sent me the pics of our first center and how it is progressing, so I wanted to share them with you.

The center 'square' made by Cheryl Hoist

As you can see it is not a square so, when it came in last month, we all said... 'oooh I wonder how the next person is going to build on this. Look at all the curved piecing.....'

Well, tonight we found out! Here is the center with the next round added by Donna Chambers.

Donna took a class recently on 'Quilting out of the square'. Well I say she mastered the lesson perfectly. She made the background. Appliqued, they ladies on the background, and then appliqued Cheryl's center on top of the ladies. WOW!

And here is a close up of one of the ladies.
Notice the jewelry... both the earring and necklace is done with thread work... silver metallic thread. And no two ladies or their jewelry are the same. Isn't that clever!

Oh, I can't wait to see what Jeannie does with this piece and how our other 2 centers are being expanded. Such fun!

WOW... I am so excited!!

Just came from my local guild meeting and oh my!!! We are doing 3 round robin quilts and tonight one of the quilters brought in her progress for show and tell. She was a month early and a new quilter to our small guild, so we had no idea what to expect.

Well she blew our socks off! Yes, I will post a picture as soon as I get it, BUT... it was exquisite. She is an artist by trade and just quilting for a year, but she has gone way out of the block with her work. I just can't wait to see what the next quilter adds on. Feeling a little pressure Jeannie :-).

Donna, you have really raised the bar for the 8 quilters left to work on our pieces :-) !@!!