Disappearing Four Patch

I belong to the Georgia Friendship Guild.  I love this group of ladies.  We have a business meeting the first Wednesday of the month and a workshop on the third Wednesday of the month.  I admire the ladies who have served in the Vice President slot as they are responsible for planning the programs and workshop.  It is a challenge to find interesting topics on a limited budget.  

One of our workshops this past year was a disappearing four patch.  I've seen the pattern many times but have not tried it.  This particular pattern used big blocks... 10 inch.  I used two layer cakes.  (Anyone who is familiar with my stash knows that I have an abundance of layer cakes thanks to Missouri Star Quilt Company's deal of the day.)  

I had a layer cake of beach prints designed by Paul Brent who is an artist from Panama City, FL.  We had several of his prints in our condo at the beach.  I combined it with a white layer cake.  Here's the result...

Isn't this a happy quilt?  I quilted it with a light blue thread.  I was so pleased with the end result.  Joe and I made a trip to the Outer Banks in October.  We spent some time with Joe's friends, Frank and Ann.  I gifted this quilt to them for their hospitality.  They have a home on the Pamlico River in NC and the quilt seemed to fit the decor of the home.  

I see another one of these in my future.  I have many layer cakes just waiting to be stitched, cut, and stitched again.  After all, isn't that what quilters do? 

Kiwanis Charity Quilt

My husband, Joe, belongs to a local chapter of the Kiwanis International.  His group is The Jonquil City Kiwanis Club.  (Smyrna, GA is the called Jonquil City.)  The motto of Kiwanis International is they are dedicated to improving the world, one child and one community at a time.  

Joe's group works with our local schools to support the children.  At the elementary school level, they read to children and donate books to the library.  In middle school, the sponsor Builder's Club which is an organization that teaches the children how to plan and run projects.  In high school, they support Key Leader which builds the skills our children need to become the next generation of leaders, and give four year scholarships to a graduating senior.  

The club funds their projects by selling Vidalia onions in the spring and pecans in the fall/winter (now).  Both projects are hard work for the members.  It requires many volunteer hours to source product, procure product, and sell product to raise funds.  

To help supplement their fund raising, I made a quilt for them to be raffled.  One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of the raffle tickets go to Kiwanis.  I purchased the materials to make the quilt and donated them, along with my labor, to the club.  Here's the quilt...

 

The pattern of the quilt is called a Hunter's Star.  My friend, Nelda, suggested that I made the quilt in blue and gold which are the colors of Kiwanis International.  All the fabrics in this quilt came from one of my favorite local quilt stores, Tiny Stitches.  

The quilt raffle will be held next Tuesday, December 9th.  I am anxious to find out who has the winning ticket!

Baby Quilts -- My Summer Work

It seems that my circle of friends includes a lot of young people who are having babies.  My niece and nephew are at the top of the list.  They welcomed their young son, Silas Alexander, last summer.  My niece's only request was for a colorful quilt.  

This pattern is called Sunburst from Pat Wys' book Spotlight on Neutrals.  Pat's book, of course, uses neutral colors, but I knew this happy, sunny quilt was the perfect choice for these colorful fabrics.  The background fabric has giraffes on it and I just fell in love.

The next quilt was made for a friend of my son's, Wes and Jamie.  

They named their daughter Novalee, which I just love.  It reminds me of the movie which starred Natalie Portman where she had her baby in a Walmart.  In the movie Novalee overcame her rough beginnings to become a successful young mother.  

Jamie sent me the sweetest thank you note for the quilt.  It means a lot to know that your work is appreciated.  I know Baby Novalee will be as sweet as her mother and this quilt. 

The final quilt was for our housekeeper and friend, Ester.  She had her second baby this past summer.  

Ester has a daughter who is about two years old.  She didn't find out the sex of this baby until she was born so the quilt had to be gender neutral.  This is a larger version of the pink quilt above.  It has eight patch squares where the pink quilt has four patches.  The eight patches have a lot of designs on them which will make this a great "I spy" quilt.  I love the brightness of the blue and the blue quilting just popped. 

As Al Roker says, what's happening in your neck of the woods?

Row By Row

There's a shop hop type event going on called Row by Row Experience.  If you want to read about it, check out the website www.rowbyrowexperience.com.  I have been shop hopping around Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.  

One of the "features" of the Row by Row shop hop is the ability to collect fabric licenses plates which resemble the state's plate with a quilty saying on it.  Here are some of my collection...

 Aren't they just so stinkin' cute?  I haven't figured out exactly how I will use them on my row-by-row quilt but I know they have a place.  

While at the shop in Martinsville, VA, my very talented, artistic granddaughter, Sarah, spotted some fabric ink.  She selected a variety of colors.  On the way to her Dad's house, we stopped by the mall and picked up a pair of white Vann shoes. Here is her result...

She is just so talented.  She painted the "tie dye" and blended the colors.  Then she overlaid the black ink using a toothpick.  I am so very proud of her.  She helps me pick my quilt fabrics and layout the quilt blocks.  Now that she's living in North Carolina with her Dad, we quilt by cell phone.  Better quilting with technology.    
 
  

Congratulations Jessie

My neighbor's niece graduated from Kennesaw Mountain High School this year.  The neighbor asked if I would make her a quilt from her t-shirts.  I'm not crazy about t-shirt quilts because they seem to lack the creativity that makes quilting such a passion of mine.  However, her shirts were so diverse and gave me a lot to work with.  

She had a combination of school shirts and church shirts.  The white shirts on the sides of the bottom three rows and the shirts on the bottom row were church shirts.  I created a "stair step" of the green shirts in the center.  I paired several fronts and backs side-by-side and top-bottom so they told her story.  I was one shirt short, so I put her graduation picture in the center.  

I used a new panto for the quilting...

It was a big panto... 14" high which I had to downsize a bit for my long arm throat width.  I loved it for the swirls and wasn't disappointed in how it quilted out.  I'll definitely use it again.  

My guild just had a program on t-shirt quilts.  One of our members shared that members of a neighboring guild to which she belongs charge $25 per t-shirt for t-shirt quilts.  So, dear readers, I'm interested in your thoughts on what to charge...
 

Charity Quilts

I belong to a couple quilt guilds.  Quilters are passionate contributors to charitable causes.  I have to admit that I have been slack in this area.  I seem to have so many projects coming at me that I cannot even finish my UFOs... let alone make the charity quilts that I should.  

However, my son asked me to make a quilt to benefit his step-nephew who has Autism.  The symbol for Autism is a puzzle and he requested a puzzle quilt to be raffled off.  Here's what I came up with...  (on the back porch)

(on the bed)

My oldest granddaughter, Sarah, helped me with the color layout of the squares.  She is quite the artist and has an eye for color.  Notice the offset rows of black and white mixed with the colors.  There are no accidents in her work... everything has a purpose.  I was pleased with the result and hope the raffle yields a lot of money to benefit Autism research.  

Colon Health Awareness Month

At the end of 2013, Joe went for his routine physical.  During the conversation with his primary care physician, the topic of Joe's last colonoscopy came up.  It had been 10 years which is the interval to have another.  

The first week of January, Joe did the dreaded prep and went for the colonoscopy.  A normal colonoscopy take 30 minutes.  After sitting in the waiting room for an hour and a half, I figured something was up.  After the procedure, the doctor told us Joe had a large polyp and he removed 70% of it.  The biopsy indicated that the polyp was pre-cancerous, so the doctor recommended that Joe have the right side of his colon removed.  

So, Joe had surgery on March 10.  The pathology report was negative with no signs on cancer.  And he is recovering nicely.

Here he is with his nurse tech and two student nurses.  

March is Colon Health Awareness Month.  Although none of us enjoy the prep for a colonoscopy, Joe is the perfect example of why it is important to have the routine check ups.  I am so thankful for perfect timing and that his results were negative. 

My Dad

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

  a time to be born and a time to die,    
  a time to plant and a time to uproot,
  a time to kill and a time to heal,
  a time to tear down and a time to build,
  a time to weep and a time to laugh,
  a time to mourn and a time to dance,

My Dad went to Heaven on February15.  He had aortic stenosis which weaken his heart.  I sat with him during his last week as the disease sapped his strength.  We watched it snow on Wednesday and then the sun came out by Saturday when he made his journey home.  

The verses from Ecclesiastes so describe my Dad.  He loved his garden.  He planted green beans, corn, October beans, onions, and tomatoes every year.  Just this past summer he was talking about planting strawberries and setting up a stand to sell them in his front yard.  He was a fisherman.  He loved catching fish and spent many hours on the local lakes.  He wouldn't ask my stepmother to cook them because she didn't like them, so he gave them to the neighbors.  He was a brick mason by trade.  At the visitation, so many people came up and said, "your dad bricked by house/chimney/porch."  His legacy will live on through his work for years to come.  He loved a good joke.  He spent many hours at the garage and I am sure the jokes rolled.  And, he loved to dance.  Not long ago, he said he wished he knew where there was a square dance.  I remember going to him to the American Legion when I was in my early 20s and dancing with him.  

As a child, I remember him to be a stern disciplinarian.  As an adult, I know that he instilled the work ethics I have today.  He was my rock when I got into trouble in my early 20s.  He was always there for me and I will miss him every day.  

Love you, Dad.  

Southern Snow

It started snowing here about 10:00 yesterday morning.  It started as a light snow and increased in size and intensity.  About Noon, I considered going out to the studio to work on my quilt from last weekend's retreat.  Out the back door, this is what I saw...

Nope... looks cold... and it was.  Decided to stay in.  The snow stopped about 5:00, so I went out and swept a path off the deck.  When I got down to the driveway, there was about 1/2 an inch of ice underneath the powdery snow.  Ahh... that explains the gridlocked traffic.  

On that note, the TV stations have been broadcasting nothing but traffic info for the past 24 hours.  Multiple factors contributed to the traffic gridlock, but it has been quite the mess in metro Atlanta.  My neighbors had stories of sitting in their cars for hours, and walking home.  And again, I am so glad that I don't have to go to work any longer.  I like my cozy, warm house. 

Red & White Magic -- End of Story

So, I finished the red and white quilt and I can tell the end of the story.  I worked at The Coca-Cola Company for 31 years.  After my retirement party in May of 2011, I walked to my car with a co-worker, Theresa Senter.  Theresa asked me if I would make her a red and white quilt.  

In early January, I got an invitation to Theresa's retirement celebration.  Theresa was celebrating 37 years at The Coca-Cola Company.  I figured my chances of getting together with Theresa after the party were probably few and far between as people tend to go their separate ways when major life events occur.  I thought I had to get busy if I was going to pull this one off... and I did... but I couldn't resist putting the red and white quilt on my bed before it left to its new home.  

It looks pretty at home there, doesn't it?  But Red & White Magic went to its new home last night.  (I might just have to make another.) 

Red & White Magic Continues

I went shopping last week for red and white fabric to complement the border of the quilt squares I posted a week ago Monday.  Of course, I look for the small red and white prints because that is what appeals to me.  My friend, Jackie, at Stitch 'n Quilts in Mableton, GA pulled out a red and white retro print that I never would have picked.  

I was thinking nine patch.  Then I started playing with EQ and played with this on point border.  I really like how it turned out.  

I mentioned that this is a gift, if I get it finished in time.  Until the gift is gifted, I'm holding off on the total reveal.  It goes on the frame in the morning, after I get through picking red strings off the back of it.  

Design Wall Monday -- January 6

This is what's on the design wall for today...

I just love red and white quilts.  This is going to be a gift... if I get it finished in time.  

Wouldn't it be nice to have something on the design wall every Monday...