Very Rainy Week

After a rainy weekend we've had rain off and on all week. The snow is falling in the mountains and we are catching up on our total rain for the year totals. So it looks like we'll have plenty of water this summer. Below is a picture taken at my house looking toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. I love the dark low clouds. Below is a baby quilt made by Diana. This picture was taken last night on the floor in a room we use to sew in at the library. She's getting ready to machine quilt it. I love the colors she used and the way she put the prints together. This would be a very easy quilt to make. I'm sure the baby will have fun looking at it.
The fabric's below are for a workshop I'm taking later in March. The batik in the middle will be the background. The blue and yellow flowered print will be the points.....see the picture on the right of what the quilt will look like. I need to buy lots of blue, yellow and green for the center of each block. The Manteca Quilt show is this weekend and I'll have lots of vendors to shop at and buy the fabric I need.

Done, done and finished

I took a picture of the finished quilt from Debi's class last night at the library. It is the biggest quilt I've made and the fastest time to finish.......one month. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and the fabric I used. Now to buy fabric for the back and get it machine quilted.The quilt below is the first quilt made by Bob, Manteca's quilt show chairman this year. I really think he did a good job. He had just picked it up yesterday from being machine quilted and now has to put the binding on so it can be in the show. The quilt is queen sized and will go on his and Judy's bed. He's already collecting fabric for his next quilt and is going to make a quilt shop run around the valley to visit lots of quilt shops....sounds like fun. Of course all us quild members are saving money to spend on the venders at the quilt show.

The Trees Are Blooming

It was a beautiful weekend here with Saturday being the warmest day so far this year. The almond trees are beginning to bloom and soon the sweet smell of the blossoms will fill the air. I took the picture below on Saturday with this tree just beginning to bloom.I spent the whole long weekend sewing and finished my quilt from my class with Debi. I will take a picture of it tonight at the library because it is the largest quilt I've ever made (finished) and I do not have the room to lay it out at home. I really like the finished quilt and I do believe it is the fastest I've ever finished a quilt top. Now I just have to have it machine quilted. I also worked on the President's Challenge from my Manteca guild. Months ago our President Lynn gave (to those quilters interested) a fat 1/8 of a orange fabric and said make a small quilt or wearable or doll using this fabric. The finished project is due Thursday night and I'd been thinking of what I wanted to do with the fabric......so I worked on it this weekend and its almost done. A picture will follow soon of the leftover fabric and what I did with it.
The picture above is taken from the window in my office.....I've been throwing out bird seed in the area between the two bushes in front of my office. I watch all the birds come and eat the bird seed. It's very hard to take a picture....when I walk with my camera to the window the birds all leave. So I have to stand there and wait till they return. I took this picture of a blue jay last week.

Valentines Day

Today is Valentines day and I took a picture of this fabric my friend Sandy gave me last night. This is the only chocolate I will have this Valentines day. Makes my mouth water just to look at it. Don't know what I'm going to do with it.....but I'll come up with something. Have a good day.

It's Looking Good !!

After working on my quilt from my class with Debi I finished the center section on Saturday. Below you will see the finished center. I think it is looking good and I am very happy with it.

So last night at my Tuesday stichers group I sewed on the stopper boarder....its green and then I added the four patch blocks to the bottom of the center section. Next time I sew on it I will add the four patch blocks to the top. This will give me a longer quilt. If you follow the pattern you come out with a square quilt. But I like a quilt to be longer then it is wide and I have plenty of left over four patches. Can't wait to finish this quilt.

Almost Done !!

Here is a close up of a quilt that I'm going to enter in the quilt show. It is called Tessellating Pinwheels and was a lot of fun to make. I made it in a workshop put on by Manteca Quilters.... a couple of years ago and am very glad to have finished it. Well almost finished it.....still have to put the binding on.

I am still looking for the rest of the fabric that I have left over from making the quilt. I finished putting the final boarder on at my quilting retreat in September and just had it machine quilted in January. So I'm going through stuff and cleaning up and finding treasures while I look for the rest of the fabric. Way too much UFO's and other quilting stuff, so its been fun (kind of) looking. I also have to put a four inch sleeve on the back but I will sew the top of it on when I sew the binding on.....if I find the fabric I'm looking for. Wish me luck.

It's Raining

The above picture is of my hand holding a antique button earring that I've been busy making. What fun to go through all my jar's full of old buttons. You see I have this problem...if I'm at a antique mall or garage sale and see jars of buttons.......I must buy them. I own a pair of earrings like the one's I'm making and wear them to quilting events that I attend, people are always telling me how much they like my earrings, and being the crafty person I am I decided to make some. I will be selling my earrings at the Manteca Quilt Show the first weekend in March. At the quilt show we have a large members boutique where we sell cool items made by our members.
Here is a Camellia from a bush that is growing at work. The bush is huge....taller than me and has been growing for a long time. It is now covered with these beautiful pink flowers.

It is now raining here which is good as we are way behind on our amount of rain for the year. The weather man says that it will rain through the weekend......good weather for sewing and staying inside.....or going out and shopping for fabric. Have a good weekend.

Class Last Sunday

After showing all the pictures from the quilt show ......now I can talk about my class last Sunday. It was so much fun.....lots of good food and fun quilters to spend the day sewing with. The class was not real full so we had lots of room to spread out and we need it. I sewed and sewed four patches and by the time I went home had 5 sections done. Here are the top 3 sections all sewn together. Looking good.Here is my work space with my special black 301a all set up and you can see my fabric all spread out and all the sewing I've been doing.
Below is a finished quilt that a friend of Debi's had made. She added a row of 4 patches on after the stopper boarder. It makes the quilt longer and you have the 4 patch blocks anyway so why not. Otherwise the quilt comes out square......I'd rather it be longer so that is what I plan on doing. Don't you just love this fall looking quilt.
On Tuesday night I sewed two more sections so I only have two more to sew and then my whole center section will be done......yea. More pictures next week after I finish the center section. Have a good weekend.

Modesto Quilt Show part 2

Here are the final pictures from the quilt show on Saturday. The guild had a challenge with the local garden club and made quilts using pictures from the garden club. The picture below is a close up of one wall hanging that I really liked. The center of the flowers is a yo-yo that has a large amber button or bead in the center......very cool. This quilt is heavily quilted.The wall hanging lots like a photo. I really like the way the quilter made this quilt. The picture that it was taken from was shown right next to it.....so you got to see where the quilter got her inspiration.
The last picture is of a jungle cat sitting in a tree. Love the color's used for the cat. I really like this quilt.
As you can see from all my pictures I love all kinds of quilts. But I really like different quilts, quilts that are more like art. My taste is changing.