Liz's Ramblings

Fog......Fog......go away

2008-12-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

I took this picture yesterday morning on my way to work.......yes, I was driving at the time but its easy with a digital camera. This is what the fog looked like yesterday morning. For my readers who do not live in California....the sun does not shine every day. I live in a valley.....where in the winter we get lots of fog......if the weather is set up for it, and it has been perfect conditions for fog the last couple of weeks. The fog gets old real fast......plus its cold......well cold for California.Here is the view from my office.......that's Raley's Supermarket across the street. This fog really is not too bad......its bad when you can't see 50 feet in front of your car and then you see someone in a car without their lights on.

Now that I'm getting older I really don't like to drive at night in the fog......I've driven in fog so thick that I couldn't find my own driveway ( I live way out in the country where the fog is worse) and believe me that is scary.....when you don't know where you are and can't see any landmarks. Rain is in the forecast for this weekend.........and we need lots of rain and snow in the mountains because we are in a drought. Not too much sewing going on......I've been busy with Christmas stuff.....its two weeks from Thursday.....wow.....where does time go?

For Dianah......

2008-12-06T09:09:00.000-08:00

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. Let me know if you participated by leaving a comment!

Happy discoveries!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a preying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisioning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served in a Soup Kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Time Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in Person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Show and Tell from the Christmas Party

2008-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

This beautiful quilt was made by Doris.......this is a very large quilt and made for her bed. A close up picture of the middle of the quilt and you can even see the quilting.
Joan made this wall hanging of a cat sleeping on a quilt for her great grand daughter.
A baby quilt made by Anita.
A anniversary quilt made by Doris......with her wedding date on it.
Another baby quilt made by Anita...out of flannel.....with bears embroidered on it.
Close up of the bears.......this is a very warm cuddly quilt.
Jan been working on this quilt for a long time......if you remember back to my first retreat I went on in August I took pictures of Jan working on these blocks.....the center blocks are paper pieced......well its done and quilted......... a king sized quilt. This quilt was designed by Jan and is for her daughters cabin.
Pegi loves felt.....so she made this and embroidered it.....good job.
Judy found this minkie fabric at PIQ...... that looks like mink and made her jacket pattern out of it.......cool....I hope the people against animal fur don't think its real!
I know I've taken a few pictures of Liz W's BOM blocks that she won as she's pieced and then quilted this quilt.....well it's finally all done and she showed it off at the party.

Manteca Quilters Christmas Party 2008

2008-12-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

One of the fun things we did last night was that we held a table centerpiece contest and a few of us signed up to use our creative ideas and come up with a Christmas decoration for our party.

This Santa was made by Sue.....good job! Sue's good at making bears but she can make Santa's too.This gourd Santa was made by Sandra and she had a raffle to raise money for toys for tots. I didn't get lucky but President Janet did and won this Santa.
Sandra also made this cool snowman.....I think its made out of quilting batting.
Pegi made this centerpiece.......very nice so much to see.
Judy brought this beautiful centerpiece she even made the coasters for the glasses.
This centerpiece is a basket full of ornaments......beautiful.
Here's Janet's centerpiece....love the pine trees with the snow people.
Bob made this snowman out of pots you use for plants......and then painted it........it's so cute.
I took pictures of most of the night's centerpieces and last here is my table runner with my decorations on it. We gave away each centerpiece and people at the party that held the lucky ticket h each won one.....I was not lucky.....but Dottie got to take my centerpiece home.
Here part of the room......the tables are full of people.
We had a pot luck last night and here are people lined up to get their food.....look at all those crock pots full of soup and other stuff.
Here is part of the desert table.....yum.
More pictures tomorrow.......there was show and tell.

Busy quilting with my walking foot

2008-11-30T19:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday December 2 is Manteca Quilters annual Christmas party. I am one of 12 people making a table decoration for a table that members will set at during dinner. Then at the end of the dinner they will draw tickets and lucky quilters will win the table decoration. I just took this picture of my sewing machine and I've been busy quilting this part of my decoration.I'm using my walking foot.....after using it to quilt a baby quilt a the free sew I really like the way it works and how nice the machine quiling turns out. I will take pictures of the finished project at the Christmas party so you can all see it.
I need to get back to quilting......I have to put binding on it when I have finished with the quilting.

Happy Thanksgiving............

2008-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Today is Thanksgiving here in the US. A day for being with family and eating a turkey dinner with all the fixings. Giving thanks for all of God's blessings and praying and hoping that the economy here gets better and people who are out of work can find jobs.
I wish all my readers here at my blog a Happy Thanksgiving. I'll be at my Mom's tomorrow with my sister and part of her family and my daughter and son in law. We will miss you Bryan, Heather and Lauren but look forward to seeing you at Christmas.

Enjoy today and don't eat too much.

Crockpot blog

2008-11-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

There is a blog that started on January 1, 2008 and every day the gal there is using her crock pot....so almost 350 days of recipes. You can go back through the months and read all the good recipes she's posted. She even cooked a whole (small) turkey in her crock pot. Amazing.....check it out http://crockpot365.blogspot.com.

Free Sew....more pictures

2008-11-23T12:53:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken from the back of the large room we use.....I've been to quite a few free sews and we had the most people attending yesterday.I spent most of my time yesterday quilting this baby quilt......I used my walking foot and the attachment that comes with it......this is the posh tot quilt that I made months ago.....I'm quilting straight lines from one side to the other.....about 2 1/2 inches apart......it worked good using he walking foot.
Pat was working on a nine patch quilt.....beautiful fabric.
Here is the room early in the day.....people come and go.....work for awhile and then leave. We enjoyed a tasty lunch and snacked all day.
Dianah pined up her outfit for Laney after she sewed on the ruffle on the pants.
Rosemarie was working on a quilt for her 5 year old grand daughter......a very nicely done quilt.
A close up of the central panel.
Liz W worked on several projects......she sewed together this cup cake pin cushion. Looks good enough to eat.
Cathy came in later in the afternoon and layered this quilt so it would be ready to quilt. Its a kit from Lady Bug quilt store. Makes a nice fall throw.

Saturday Free Sew

2008-11-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

Setting up to start the free sew today....we started early and sewed all day. Barbara made a pot of coffee and we set up the irons and gathered all our UFO's and began sewing.Barbara worked on her quilt from the class she took from Dianah at Lady Bug quilt store. I really like the fabric she used and the way she used a few bright colored in with the black and white.
Sandy used today to machine two quilts......this is the first one....it's so much easier to machine quilt down at the library because you can put two tables together and have lots of room that's hard to come by at home.
Shirley worked on this black and white quilt.......I have this pattern and can't wait to make it.....I have collected lots and lots of black and white fabric.
Teresa laid out her newly found chicken fabric......looks nice.
Dotti is working on this flannel quilt for her college aged son......very manly fabric.
Dianah is working on this Christmas outfit for Delaney......love the fabric and the way she's used it in this cute outfit.
Cheryl is working on finishing this batik leaf quilt. Love all the beautiful colors.
Close up of one of the leaves.
More pictures tomorrow.

Free Sew Saturday!

2008-11-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is a free sew down at the library for Manteca Quilters.....yea!! We all bring our projects to the room at the library and sew all day. You got so much more done there then when you are at home...... away from all the distractions of home. And if you are having problems with a quilt there will be plenty of fellow quilter to help you out. We will all be bringing food to eat so we don't even have to leave.

Now which unfinished projects to bring??? There are so many to pick from. I will gather them all tonight and I know I won't be able to finish them all. But I'm going to try!

Now this is for all the Manteca Quilters that read my blog......The free sew on NOVEMBER 29th is canceled!! At the last minute the library decided to shut down all the library's in the county for Thanksgiving week and since the library won't be open we can't use the room. So please don't come down to the library on November 29.....because no one will be there.

Tuesday night at the library

2008-11-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

We all love batik's......and how about a batik made out of flannel......soft and beautiful. Sandy made this quilt and layered it on the floor......when she was done I took this picture.Dianah made this quilt as a sample for a class she's going to teach at Lady Bug Quilts in Manteca. The pattern is from the Threaded Pear Studio...web site here. She said it sews up fast and makes a quick and easy baby quilt.
Liz is finishing up her fall table topper.....she's working on the quilting.
Lue-Anne is working on a fall table runner......here you see her laying it out on one of the large tables at the library.
She's using raw edge applique.....and fusing the leaves on the block.
I have never seen this baby fabric......it's so cute. What a cute baby quilt!
Close up of one of the blocks on the quilt.....love the look on the baby's face.....I need to find some of this fabric!

A Fun Sunday Outing......

2008-11-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Look where I went this Sunday afternoon......the new Bass Pro in Manteca......wow.....what a wonderful store to just wonder about on a Sunday. This is the front doors......look at all the antlers they used over the entrance. On the outside in front of the large building is a stream.....built with lots of rocks and look at these cool deer.
Over the door that you go through is the quote.....welcome fisherman, hunters and other liars....look at the deer heads and whole stuffed deer. All the stuffed animals inside and outside the store are donated to Bass Pro by families who don't want them hanging around anymore....and they have lots and lots of different stuffed animals.
Looking down from the second floor to the main floor.
Here is the waterfall and fish tank with native California fish inside. When have you ever seen a waterfall inside of a store?
I will go back and shop here again.....wow....you could wonder around here for hours and hours and not see everything. When ever you are in or around Manteca check out this store.

Thursday night's show and tell

2008-11-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

It was a small show and tell last Thursday night at my Oakdale guild. Inez made this 2 1/2 inch quilt with a bali pop. Love the dark rich colors in this quilt. Bridget made this Christmas table runner and taught it in a class up at Standard.....said you could make the top in about three hours.
Bridget has been very busy.....she made nine take five quilts to give to her family for Christmas. She showed us three of them. I sat next to her and she spent Thursday night sewing on the binding on the quilt below. Love these colors.
A close up of the quilt above.
Another take five.....beautiful colors.
Close up of the quilt above.
Flowers on this quilt.
Close up of the quilt.
Bridget plans on making the family pick numbers and then go into a bedroom and pick the quilt they want. I think that is a smart way to give away quilts and no one will be mad if they get a quilt they don't like.

Taste of Home.....good food.

2008-11-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

This was the view from my seat last night at the Taste of Home at the Modesto Center. What fun....I've never gone before so I was a newbe last night.This was the line to go into another room and get samples of food......we did not do this as we had dinner before we came in.
After they took your ticket you received a bag of grocery's....and coupons all kinds of good stuff in this bag.
This issue of Taste of Home Fall 2008 was used and some of the recipes were demoed last night.
During the night they gave away lots of good stuff......Taste of Home cookbooks and I didn't win till the end when they gave away the food that was fixed last night. I won Chocolate Chex Caramel Crunch and the bowl......very cool. I took it to work today and everyone was on a sugar high all day. I will share the recipe below.

Chocolate Chex Caramel Crunch

8 cups Chocolate Chex cereal
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup vanilla or white chips

Place cereal in a large microwave safe bowl, set aside. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. In a 2 cup microwave safe measuring cup, microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup on high 1 minute, stir. Microwave 30 to 60 seconds longer. Stir until blended. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring every minute. Spread on baking sheet. Cool for 10 minutes. Break into bite size pieces. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt vanilla chips, stir until smooth. Drizzle over cereal mixture. Refrigerate until set. Store in an airtight container. Yield 16 1/2 cup servings.
Enjoy.....

Pictures from October.....

2008-11-09T18:42:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot about these pictures.....taken at the October membership meeting at Manteca Quilters. Here's a picture of the group taken from the front table.....where I set because I am a VP.I didn't get to take pictures of the program because I was holding up lots of quilts but I did take pictures of the show and tell. Someone went to Hawaii and bought fabric squares and made this quilt.
Bright flowers.....I remember this fabric from a few years ago.
Pegi finished this small wall hanging just in time......
Beautiful flower fabric used to make this watercolor quilt.
Red, white and blue stars.......very cool.
Sandra took a class at PIQ and made this sample from the class.

PIQ.....a few I missed

2008-11-08T08:35:00.000-08:00

This is a ruler I bought at PIQ.......a strip tube ruler.....you use 2 1/2 inch strips....sew four strips together and then sew it shut and make a tube and use the ruler to cut blocks out of the strip tube.....I love new rulers so I bought one.Here is a quilt that is made using the strip tube ruler.
I went through all my pictures and I don't think I've shown this picture to you yet.
Beautiful winter scene......with snow and trees.
Close up of the trees.
The quilter used lots of thread on this quilt.
Flowers and wine on this quilt.
We have finally come to the end of my pictures from Pacific International....I hope you have all enjoyed these pictures.

Oh Happy Day....

2008-11-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

Vote !!!

2008-11-04T07:52:00.000-08:00

Will You Come and Stand With Me

An Election Day shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered--
We voters, we happy voters, we band of brothers;
For he today that stands with me
Shall be my brother . . .
And those who remain this day a-bed
Shall think themselves the worst they were not here,
And hold their freedoms cheap who did not rise
And stand with me in California on Election Day.

Jean Carnahan

It's Fall and Hole In The Roll quilts

2008-11-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Look at this beautiful tree located in Escalon......it's turning red and yellow at the same time. We do have colorful trees and fall colors here in central California.I used the library floor last Tuesday night to lay out my blocks for my Hole in the Roll quilt class that I took the Friday night before. I made extra blocks and used all of them except for one. I started sewing the blocks together and about half of the way done......I need to unsew one block as I sewed it the wrong way.
This is teacher Dianah's blocks from the class.....she finished hers after class was done as did we all. Love her colors.....it looks so different from the colors in my quilt.
Lu-Anne brought her blocks down on her design wall......the back of a plastic table cloth. It works very well and she hung it up on the library wall.
This is Sandy H's quilt......she made her quilt larger too.
Liz W. had her blocks all sewn together.......beautiful.
Pegi S. visited us Tuesday night......with her dog.....he's cute........and very fury.

PIQ.......not done yet

2008-11-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

I still have more pictures to show you. I love California poppies and would like to grow them in my garden. If I had this quilt I could look at them every day.I'd like to be sitting in this spot and enjoying the forest.
Harvesting grapes....we have lots of grapes here in the central valley.....they do some picking by machine but most is still done by hand.....beautiful quilt. It should be hanging in a winery.
Look at the detail and quilting in this quilt.
Big leaves showing the four seasons.
Another beautiful landscape quilt.
Love the different quilting in the sky.
Beautiful fall quilt.....love the colored leaves.
Love the different fabrics that are used in this leaf......we all love to collect fabric for projects like this.
A different way to do a landscape quilt of Africa.
Close up of the middle.
Brown bear with the bear paw block on the side of the quilt.
This looks like the road home through the trees.
I have to go through my pictures and see if I missed any and then post them for you to see. I'm planning on sewing today as it is a rainy day here......it finally feels like fall.

PIQ.......yes there are more

2008-10-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

If I remember right this is the angel telling the Virgin Mary that she will have Jesus. It look like a old painting from long, long ago.Close up of the quilting on Mary.
Beautiful crazy quilt.
Close up of the lace and stitching.
A row of houses in the middle of a white background.....wonderful quilting.
A old woody.....sitting on the beach.
Here is another quilt that looks like an old master.......unbelievable.
Using fabric like you would paint.
Simple black lines on a off white background.
The quilting shows movement.
Scrappy squares......what an allusion.
The quilter must have used up lot of her scraps in this quilt.

Back to pictures of PIQ

2008-10-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Here is a quilt of a lady with her quilt on her lap. Very nice quilt and the quilt is 3D.This has to be the longest quilt I've ever seen.......you'd have to have a very long blank wall to hang this on. I couldn't get the whole quilt in my picture.....there is more on the right side.
Koi fish in a pond......beautiful.
A close up of one of the fish and the quilting.
Children playing on the beach in the sand.
Look how the quilter made the faces and the beautiful quilting.
Colorful dogs......very cool.
A nice place to sit and have a cup of tea.
A close up of the table and chair and the cups and goodies on the table.
Enjoy.....enjoy.....I still have more pictures.

One Week To Go To A New President.....VOTE !!!!!

2008-10-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

I was in Old Tyme Pastries over a week ago and what did I see but cookies with Obama's face on them and cookies with McCain's face on them. So I bought a couple to show the guys at work. I really like this cookie.......good likeness......good cookie. Hopefully the next President of the United States.Here is McCain's cookie.......looks OK.....it tasted good.
I really don't care who you vote for.....just make sure you vote......I have voted in every election since I was old enought to vote.....and as I say....if you don't vote you can't complain about who's in office.....and heavens knows I've been doing a lot of complaining the last eight years. I voted a couple of weeks ago after I received my mail in ballott.......so I can't wait till November 4th to see who's going to be voted into office.

PIQ.....not done yet

2008-10-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Yes can you believe it......I still have more pictures from Pacific International. The picture below is a beautiful wine country scene. Looks like the old country to me.Close up of the grapes.....look at that detail.
Fireworks......done in fabric.
I don't know what that is at the bottom of this qult.....but the dragonflys are cool.
The volcano is about to go off in this quilt.....look at that quilting.
Two cranes in this quilt......beautiful.
I didn't get a picture of whole quilt on this one.....but I did get two pictures of the detail. Look at the little guy with the horns on his hat on the left.
Look at the quilting on the left side.
Big beautiful flowers.....look at all those buds.
The quilting and detail here.
The reminds me of a almond tree in full bloom.....or could be a peach.
Close up of the tree.
There are still more pictures you have not seen.......

Sensational Seminole and Brilliant Borders by Nancy Tiffany

2008-10-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's workshop was so much fun. Nancy Tiffany came and taught us about Seminole piecing. I didn't know too much about Seminole piecing but now that I do and know how to sew it....I will try and use it in my quilts.

Here is Nancy sitting in front of the teachers table with her sample quilts draped across the table.One of Nancy's sample boards showing different Seminole piecing.
The second board with even more samples......beautiful.
Nancy showing us how to cut our strips and how to sew them.
How to position the ruler....lots of good demoing going on.
Close up of one of Nancy's sample quilts....love the black background...this quilt really pops.
Another one of Nancy's quilts.
Everyone in the class worked hard and got lots of sewing done.
This is called flip flop......this is my fabric and strip.
Medallion strip it is also called Letter I......do you see the letter I?
Love this one.....it's called Tumbling Fish.
These were made by Ginny and pined to the wall........she used batiks.
Here are Rosemary's samples......she sued fall colors......really bright.....love the orange.
Wonderful class.....I'm so glad Nancy came to teach us about Seminole piecing.....I learned so much.

Hole In The Roll Class

2008-10-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I took a class at Lady Bug Quilts in Manteca taught by Dianah.......it was a very fun class and I got lots done on my quilt. Here is Dianah talking to us as class began. This quilt is made using a Bali pop or Jelly roll.Dianah is demoing how to cut our 2 1/2 strips.
Here is my Bali pop strips all stacked and ready to be cut.
It is very important how and in what order you sew your sub cuts together.
My stack of fabric.
Sewing my stacks of fabric together.
Chain piecing lots and lots of pieces of fabric.

These blocks are all sewn together before I went home.
Finished blocks aranged so you can see how the quilt is going to look.
I really liked this class......in four hours I cut out the strips, then sewed most of the blocks together. I really like making quilts with 2 1/2 inch strips because of the cool quilts you can make.

PIQ.....even more pictures

2008-10-25T06:49:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful appliqed quilt......the background is purple and the flowers really pop.Close up of the flowers.......look at all the satin stiching.....again hours and hours of stitching.
This quilt is made of strips of fabric.....very narrow and then sewing down the middle of the strip and then overlapping the strips.......seems too easy. Lots of raw edges.
Cone flower.
I love red.......this is a very different quilt......love it.
A school of red fish.
Look at this scary guy.
I love black and red quilts........so I took a picture of this very unusual one.
Another quilt with flowers on it.......cool
Close up of the flowers....
Huge butterflys........a very different quilt.
Beautiful butterfly and look at that quilting.
Blue stars.......very nice.
This is a close up of another star quilt........love the way it looks.
I had a class last night at Lady Bug Quilters in Manteca with my good friend Dianah and didn't get home till late. Today I have a workshop with the Manteca quilters group....I took pictures last night and will take pictures today.....more to come.

Are You Getting Tired of These Pictures of PIQ ?

2008-10-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe how many pictures I took at Pacific International last Friday.......I keep editing them and it seems there is no end. Don't you just love this cat quilt.......love those blue eyes.
An elephant......looking straight at you. Look at the texture in this quilt......unbelievable. I do believe this elephant is painted on the background.
Detail of the tusk.
Look at the eye......there is wisdom in that eye..
A different cat quilt......not a lot of color but it works.
This is a very different quilt......check out the detail picture below.
Looks like lace.......beautiful.
I really love this rich looking quilt......you have to look very close to see the seams that make this design.
It glows with rich color.
Mushrooms, love to eat mushrooms....but look at the little mouse......he's so cute. Oh...there are two in this picture.....look at the yellow leaves.
Close up of the mouse......I don't like these small rodents in real life....one ran up my leg once and I did a wild dance trying to get my pants off......but this make believe mouse is cute.
I think this bird was also in the quilt with the mouse but I'm not sure......but it is cool.
Another bright flower quilt......love bright quilts.
Close up of the bright flowers.....beautiful.

PIQ......even more pictures

2008-10-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

A fairy sitting in a tree.......on a beautiful moon lit night........beautiful.
Close up of the fairy.....look at that quilting.
Deer's in a high mountain meadow with the trees turning in the fall.
This is the most unusual quilt I think I've ever seen at Pacific International.
Fabric turned into art.
A mountain scene.....look a that pile of leaves.
Close up of the leaves.....they are 3D.
A zebra......I like the way its done.
Close up of the zebra.
And here is the tiger in the jungle.
Pink and black and white......very interesting combination.
I'll bet this was paper pieced.
White birch trees.....with red and orange leaves.
I love pictures of old barns.
This fence is so cool......it looks so real.
Another close up of the barn.
An ABC quilt......beautiful.

More pictures....PIQ

2008-10-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

A beautiful crazy quilt flag.......wow......this is the most beautiful new crazy quilt I've seen in a long time.
I shot a few close up's of this quilt......the pledge of allegiance in along the blue star part of the quilt.....wonderful stitching.
I couldn't stop looking at this quilt.
Look at that snake.....don't tread on me......wow.
We don't get to see too many southwest quilts......here is a beautiful one.
Close up of the middle of the quilt.
Close up of the landscape quilt of a sea side villege......wonderful detail.
Here is the whole quilt.
Look at the stitching the quilter used on the hills......all those stitches on your sewing machine that you don't know what to do with.......I love the way she used them in this quilt.

PIQ........more pictures

2008-10-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

We did spend time looking at the quilts at PIQ.....that is why I took so many pictures. Stayed at the show till six when it closes and then went and had dinner and let the traffic clear out. My feet were very tired at the end of the day.....cement floors and not good to be walking on all day.
Can you believe this quilt.......a normal looking older lady.
A smiling monkey......very cool.

I love blue and yellow together in a quilt......this one is a real beauty.

Close up of the quilting.
Beautiful tropical birds........beautiful.
A close up of the birds and the quilting.
A different black and white quilt of penguins........
Look at the quilting and close up of this baby.
Lots of beautiful leaves on this quilt.
Wonderful detail of the leaves in this quilt.......and look at the beading.
Purple trees........very cool quilt.

PIQ......second post of the day

2008-10-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

My second post of the day........this picture shows crowded walk ways between the vendors. Rows and rows of vendors.......depending on how much time you spend at each vendor it takes almost the whole day to visit them all. We leave looking at the quilts till we are done with the vendors.....and hopefully not out of money!
Look at the detail in this quilt.........set in the early days of cars and someone is running for office.
Windmills with cows.....what's not to like.....these look like the windmills that we passed on our way to Santa Clara.......the hills are lined with them.
Close up of the quilting and some of the cows.
Here you can see the cows on the hills......cool quilt.
Pots......beautiful pots......what a wonderful wall hanging.
Many hours spent sewing on all these beads but well worth it.
A Salmon painted on black fabric........a very different idea and it works so well.
Look at this close up....amazing.
This is a famous hotel in Hawaii.......with rainbows in the sky.
Look at the way the quilter used yarn and thread to embellish this quilt.
Love these colors in this Hawaiian quilt......the quilting is just as it should be.
Purple and green together......ferns appliqued on it. Beautiful.

Pacific International Quilt Festival XVII

2008-10-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

Six brave quilters set out from Manteca yesterday (Friday) for the largest quilt festival on the west coast.....or so they say. It was our yearly trip to PIQ in at the Santa Clara Convention Center. It was a beautiful day.....really too nice to be inside, but there were vendors to visit and spend money with and wonderful quilts to see and and take pictures of. I took the most pictures ever at a quilt show....so everyone who reads my blog is in for many days of pictures from the show.

I think attendence was down from last year....maybe the economy....but it seemed less crowded then last year. See the picture below. Rows and rows of vendors. How did I get a picture with no people in it.

I really want to get my bella bella quilt done......look at this one......outstanding.

Close up of the middle.....you can see the quilting......love this quilt.
A very different quilt.....shoes and purses.......I don't know if I like the big poofie purse on it....but I guess it works.
A very different old brick building in this quilt.......beautiful.
A close up of the fabric used in the bricks and in the shadows.....wonderful fabric.
Here's my kind of quilt.....bright leaves....this quilt has lots and lots of satin stiching on it.
Look at the quilting......I don't know how anyone could do all this close quilting and all the satin stiching it took....many hours sitting at the sewing machine.....I don't even want to think of how many hours this quilt took.
Look at this quilt.....I like the way the black is used.....works well.
This quilt has beautiful flowers mixed in with the panels of Japanise ladies. Very nice.
That's all for now......its going to take me a lot of time to edit all the pictures I took yesterday. I only take pictures of quilts that I'm interested in and like......leave me a comment if you like the pictures I took and look forward to a week full of beautiful pictures.

Projects From Tuesday Night

2008-10-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Carol's been working on this wall hanging wanting to get it done.......those three black kitties are so cute.....love them.....Carol has been working on hand blanket stitching and all she has to do now is sew some borders on and it will soon be on her wall.
We don't all sew on Tuesday night........some work on other projects.....this is a baby blanket almost done.
Look at this red hat wall hanging Sandy is making for her mother in law......very cool.
Here is a close up of the hat....with feathers in it.
Lots of sparkles on this quilt......beautiful.
Off to PIQ tomorrow......can't wait.....its the biggest quilt show in this area and always fun to see the quilts and visit the vendors and help out the economy. I'll be taking lots of pictures and posting here in the up coming days.

Fabric Shopping

2008-10-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Don't we as quilters just love it when we have to go looking for new fabric for a new project. I know I do.....so on Monday I shopped for fabric for the next workshop at Manteca Quilters......below is my focal fabric. I really love all these different colors and the design in the fabric.
I bought lots of fabric to go with my focal fabric.......I really like the way it all looks together.
I am also taking a class at Lady Bug Quilts on the 24th at night made with 2 1/2 inch strips.....I also bought four 1/4 yard cuts to add more strips so I can make a bigger quilt. Dianah P is teaching the class and if you want to see the quilt......go over to her blog and check it out....there is still room in the class and it should be lots of fun.

I'm Back......with chickens and cats

2008-10-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a whole week since I posted......it's been hard with my ear problems and then surgery for a melanoma on my back.......it all seemed to happen at once.....I'm tired of going to Kaiser but after I go back to the Dr. this week....I should be all done. I really need to get back to sewing and have begun to sew a binding on a quilt I need to finish.....its a birthday present and now the the weather is getting cold I need to get it back to the person I gave it too.

Below is a picture of a rooster that lives on the ranch that I live on. He's beautiful and very hard to get a picture of.....he kept moving and didn't want me to get too close. I don't hear him crow too often....just when he decides to look for bugs in my back yard. I rather enjoy it when he does crow.....it's usually in the morning when I'm already awake.
This was taken on a warm day and I took it to show you all the cats that live by me.....all mostly wild and on warm days they lay on my back grass in the shade because it is cool. The cat on the left side of the photo is my tame outside cat.

Fabric Lovers Garage Sale

2008-10-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

I visited Judy's garage sale yesterday......I didn't go first thing in the morning.....I went after lunch. There was lots of fabric and other stuff to see. She's really been busy going through her stash and getting rid of stuff she's not going to use any more. It rained on Friday night and was a cool and windy day but it was warm in Judys garage.
Fabric was rolled up with the amount of yardage on it and the price.
Tables were full of stuff......baskets and look at these stuffed cats......cool.
She even had scraps......stuff a bag for $2.00......I really didn't need any more scraps.
I found a couple of rolls of fabric I couldn't live without.......and I bought a purse. A cool purse made with quilting fabric. I'll have to take a picture of it and show you all.

Projects by Liz and Liz

2008-10-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday night sew Liz W brought her fall table topper so she could cut borders for it.

I really like the fabric she used.....some of it is hand dyed. Can't wait to see the finished project.

Below is my circle project....so far I have half of it sewn together. I really like to take a picture of my project and then look at it and see if I like it or not. I can see that I will be un-sewing a couple of blocks and changing it around. I know some quilters use a design wall but I find taking a picture works for me and I can look at it when ever I want on my lap top.

Workshop....with Marie Strait #2

2008-10-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Chickens......I see chickens......Teresa had collected all these cool chicken fabrics and this is the lay out of her squares....can't wait to see this quilt finished.
Marie demo's how to sew our circles......her way.
Marie's way uses a thumb tack and tape.
You can see the tape....blue and it holds the thumb tack.....you had to be there to understand how it works.
Barbara's lay out......its all about coffee.
Dotti used this bright fabric to make her quilt.....and it'[s Christmas fabric.
If I remember right these are Donna's blocks.....flowers.
As you see we all used way different fabric to make our quilts. I can't wait to see them all done and quilted. Maybe some will be in the next quilt show.

Workshop with Marie Strait

2008-10-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

We had a full class last Saturday for our workshop with Marie. You can see in this picture all the tables set up and people ready to sew.
Close up of Marie's quilt made with African fabric......some very cool fabric in this quilt.
Love this fabric......here you can see one of the circles on the quilt.
Me sewing my squares and making half square trangles.
These blocks belong to Judy M and she's going to make her circles out of dogs......will be cool.
It was a lot of fun to lay out my blocks.........I really like the way this quilt is turning out.....my circles will be in red......
More pictures tomorrow......I took lots of pictures.

Judy's Fabric Sale

2008-10-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Don't forget about July's Fabric sale on Saturday October 4 from 10 to 2 at her house in Manteca. E-mail me if you don't have her address as I don't want to post it here.

More Scraps and Show and Tell

2008-09-30T15:30:00.000-07:00

I have a couple more scrap quilts to show you from the program from Marie Strait. Beautiful quilts.
Love the different blues in this quilt.
There are more blue fabrics in this quilt......very cool.
Now show and tell from the September meeting......this is a beautiful X block ruler quilt.
Love this quilt.....but it looks hard to piece and figure out how to get all the fabrics in the right place.
Barbara's jacket is finished from Judy's class.......I still need to work on mine.
Ginny and a beautiful flowered lap quilt.
Lily made this wonderful mountain themed quilt.
Lily also made this boo wall handing......she has both quilts as kits in her shop Lily Pad in Oakdale.
This is a cool BQ.
Della finished her vest from Judy's class......I love the way it turned out.
Pegi who loves to do needle felting.....made this jack o lantern......love his smile.
A beautiful green quilt.
I visited my ear Dr. today and I am released and healing well......yea!

The Old and the New......

2008-09-28T08:19:00.001-07:00

Manteca Quilters first president with our 30th president.....Marie Strait on the left and Janet Dyk on the right. This year we will be holding our 30th quilt show on the first full weekend of March 2009.
At our last meeting Modesto guild brought their 2009 Opportunity quilt......its very striking.

Look at the detail of the quilting and applique.
They will be selling lots of tickets for this wonderful quilt.

September Program with Marie Strait

2008-09-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

On last Thursday night at the Manteca membership meeting Marie Strait who was the very first president of our guild came and gave us a program on scrap quilting. It was a beautiful trunk show.
Marie has made lots of scrap quilts.
She gave us lots of tips on how she stores her fabric and how she goes about making her quilts.
Marie makes her quilts big and small.
Here is the detail on a scrapie star.
This quilt was a challenge in her guild......she lives in Los Gatos and for this challenge received a bag with fabric in it that has to be used in the challenge.
Beautiful baskets.
Love this log cabin.
Christmas scrap quilt.
I really like a quilt with black in it and really like this one made with half square triangles.
Black, red and white.......beautiful.
My kind of quilt......bright colors with black.
My ear is doing better.....the Dr. took the packing out and now I can hear again.

My Left Ear....

2008-09-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

I've been fighting a ear infection all month......the Dr. said I had swimmers ear and gave me drops to put in my ear and medicine to take.....then it did not get better and I got to go see the ear, nose Dr. He cleaned it out and told me I had to have surgery!! So Monday night I had surgery and he went in and took out some tissue that was infected......I did not stay at the hospital and got to go home. So now my ear is packed and I have to put two different ear drops in twice a day and take cipro for ten days. I get the packing out of my ear on Friday.....I should be able to hear again. So I've been resting and doing no sewing.

Tonight is the membership meeting for Manteca Quilters and on Saturday I will be attending a workshop.....so more pictures will be coming. Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday......

2008-09-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

I made another embroidered bag for a special girl who turns 21 today!! Happy Birthday Steph. Stephanie works part time for the company that I work for and is in her last year at Stanislaus State College studying to be a teacher. I took her to lunch on Friday and gave her this bag.

She told me that black and red where her favorite colors and I just happen to have a large stash of red and black fabrics. I should have taken a picture of the back as I used some left over blocks from a red and black quilt I made and they worked perfect in this bag. I have more bags to make.....one for Dawn and one for Makayle......pictures to follow when I get them done.

Look What I Won !!!!

2008-09-20T09:01:00.000-07:00

A box arrived at my house the other day and look at what was inside.....four patterns and lots and lots of fabric. Why you may ask did I receive this wonderful package? Because I commented on a blog and in doing so entered a contest.........about what I did this summer and I talked about the first quilt retreat that I attended this summer. The blog is QuiltersBuzz and I've been reading this blog for a long time. If you want to check out QuiltersBuzz the link is here.

Gina Halladay runs the QuiltersBuzz blog and she owns a quilt shop and designs patterns and the blog talks about new fabric, patterns and what's going on in the quilting world. The latest entry on the blog today is about new Moda products that will be out this January and she is having a new contest to win Moda stuff....be sure and check it out.

These patterns are quilt and can be made in an afternoon or two.....can't waite to try them.

Look at all the wonderful fabric that was inside the box......I love bright fabric and all these pieces of fabric are just what I like to sew with.
Lots of FQ's and one piece is at least two yards!
I am one lucky quilter........you can be too.....go check out QuiltersBuzz.

My New Tee Shirt

2008-09-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

I also embroidered this tee shirt while I was on the retreat. I found the image of Obama on line on a blog that said it was for use as red work......but I thought it would make a cool statement on a tee shirt and I wanted a tee shirt that told everyone about my support for Obama.
I used a stabilizer that is used for machine embroidery that washes away.....I usually use tissue paper for embroidery on a fabric where I can't trace it because the fabric is too dark. It worked very well and I will use it again. It washed right out in cold water. I then used a white pencil to wright Obama's name and then embroidered it below his picture.....just in case people can't recognize his picture......I plan on wearing this shirt quite a few time's before the election.
So now I have a one of a kind shirt to show people who I support for President. You can too....weather you support Obama or McSame.

Joan's Beautiful Quilt

2008-09-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

While at the retreat Joan finished the quilt below......she and Bill picked it up at a garage sale......where all the fabric and pattern for the quilt was in a package. A man was selling all of his dead wife's quilting stuff.....and Joan got boxes of fabric and batting and other stuff for not too much money. What a beautiful spring and summer quilt....with the 3d flowers and pastel colors. I didn't get any pictures at the retreat because of the size of the quilt.....so Joan brought it last night to the library and she spread it out on the floor.
Here is a close up of Joan's quilt......beautiful.

Retreat.....final pictures

2008-09-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

At our retreat we help each other......give advise......and are happy to see one of us finish a project. This picture is of Pat helping Diana.
The view from my sewing machine......everyone looks very busy.
I worked on my scrambled eggs quilt after I finished all I wanted to do on bellla bella......here is the first block all put together.
This is my sewing space...working on the scrambled egg blocks.
We made many trips to the pharmacy and down to Sonora to Bearly Quilting.....on the last trip Diana bought this fabric to make another nine path pizzazz ........it's really going to be another beautiful quilt.......can't wait to see it all done.

Well that's all the pictures from the 2008 retreat.....our last year at the house we've been using for three years. The lady who owns it.....and yes she is a quilter......has put the house up for sale........and is not renting it out next year so she can show it to buyers.......boo hoo. But we have found another house to go to and it should work out well.

Retreat....more pictures

2008-09-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Julie spent the whole time at the retreat working on these angles......they are beautiful. She has a dinner party for her bible study group at Christmas and these angles will be holding the persons name so they know where they are going to sit. She's been doing angles for name tags for many, many years and her guests can't wait to see what she comes up with every year.
Julie used bias strips and made tubes and then used a fast turn to made the strips that wind around the body of the angles. They all have different hair and different looks on their faces.
Julie still has more angles to make but she got most of them done on the retreat.
Here is my bella bella......all the wedges sewn together to make four parts of the circle. I am so glad I got all this sewn on this quilt......I still have lots more.....the corners to sew together..... before I sew it all together/

Betsy worked on this quilt that is sewn together then cut and sewn back together to make it come out on point.
Here it is after she cut and layed it back down the way it will be sewn......beautiful.
Pat made this X block baby quilt......I love making these quilts.....they are so easy to make and look like it is difficult.
The last of the pictures taken at the retreat will be posted tomorrow.......

****** Fields of Fabric Grand Opening *******

I stopped at Fields of Fabric to check out their grand opening sale. They are having a 10% off sale...every day a different fabric...today it was batiks, Tuesday it will be blank and Maywood, Wednesday.....Clothworks and Classic Cottons, Thursday....Gladwick and Wilmington, Friday.....Michael Miller and Moda and Saturday....Red Rooster and Shannon and Andover and Makover. AllFQ's are on sale for $2.25. They are giving away a large basket filled with cool quilting stuff and just for coming in you can enter. I helped the slow ecomony and spent some money there.

More on the Retreat

2008-09-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

I worked for two day sewing on the rest of the wedges for my bella bella quilt. Here are all the wedges done and trimmed up.
Lunch served outside.......on the front deck....good food.
Last year two member of our group bought this kit from Bearly Quilting in Sonora.....a nine patch pazzaz.....they both worked on their quilts at this retreat. Beautiful
Pat worked on this chop stick quilt.....and she got it all put together....she was smart and cut all her fabric at home so all she had to do was sew.
Here is Jan....busy working on one of her projects. A couple of us did hand work too.

Besty is busy sewing.....she sewed at least two or more backs for quilts and finished a couple more.
Carol and Diana busy working on the pool table.....we used a hard top for the pool table and it was our big cutting board.
We always stop at Fishers fruit stand and bring lots of fresh fruit to our retreat.....and some wine and other hard liquor. But we don't drink and sew.

On Retreat Up In Twain Hart

2008-09-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

I'm on my second quilting retreat in three weeks.......what fun! Back at Brown Bear Lodge where we've been renting a house for the last 3 years. We stopped at every quilt store on the way up today and really helped the slow ecomony. We quilters know how to spend money.
Here is the full room.....with the pool table covered with a special top and we use it for a large cutting table. We brought up tables and rearrange the room.
See my machine below....with my bella bella project all ready to sew.
The table that we use for ironing.
Here is Julie reading magazines and resting on the deck out front.
Pat working in the kitchen.....we won't go hungry....lots of goodies to eat and keep us fueled to sew.
The first person sewing.......Pat hard at work.
We had a wonderful dinner and some people have gone to bed. Only a few people sewing right now at 9:30 at night. I'm done for the night and will be going to bed soon.

Where Did The Week Go?

2008-09-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

Is it Saturday already? Having Monday off for Labor day makes for a short week....and it was a busy week....a board meeting at work in Merced Wednesday night....didn't get home till 9:30 and then on Thursday night I had a Manteca quilters board meeting. Then yesterday I got in to see the Dr. because my left ear has been bothering me and its all plugged up.....figured I had too much ear wax inside and then the Dr. tells my I have swimmers ear!! Now I have not been in a swimming pool...in a long time....so I guess I got too much water in my ear from taking showers.....who knew? So I have ear drops and meds to take and it will get better soon. I will be leaving for my second quilting retreat on Wednesday.....this is the retreat that I go on every year.....the one last month was an extra one. I will be working on my bella bella wall hanging.

Which brings me to the quilt below.....Sandy's bella bella all done. She sewed the larger size for this quilt. Mine is the smaller size. I just love the way it turned out.....love the colors.

These pictures are from the Tuesday night sew......Joan wanted to see the class sample for the workshop at Manteca Qilters this month. I took a couple of pictures for the Manteca web site...and I am posting it here. Cool quilt. Love those circles.....its so modern looking.
Here is a close up.....I haven't decided what fabric to use for this quilt......you all know I love batiks...but Asian would be nice and there are other possibilies. I'll have to make up my mind soon.
Well off to sew while it's still cool......I hope we get some cooler weather soon. I don't like to sew when it is so hot!

August Show and Tell

2008-09-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ginny finished her bella bella top and showed us all how beautiful it turned out. I really like the fabric and colors she used in this quilt.

Lue-Anne made this quilt for Amber.....a yellow brick road pattern....Amber picked the fabric...good job.....a mother and daughter designed quilt.
Sue made this beautiful quilt.....she collected the fabric....all paisley's and then decided to use this design to high light the fabric.
Here is a close up of the quilt.
Look at this truck quilt........with different people in the windows......the wheels are attached with velcro.
Look who is peeking out of the window of this turck......it's Elvis!!!!
I like the colors used in this quilt.
What a simple design.......very easy to do and sews up fast. Lots of room for wonderful quilting.
Wow.....this is my kind of quilt.....love the bright colors.
Beautiful fabric in this top.....my picture does not do it justice.
Another blue and yellow quilt with flames......cool.

Workshop.....More Than A Vest

2008-09-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

Judy Mullen taught her More Then A Vest workshop last Saturday.....it was so much fun. Here are the samples for the class and it shows the different ways to make the vest.
After deciding on the size of the vest we were making and what changes to make to each vest we all got busy cutting out our vests.

The front of my vest....made with two different fabrics. I used two different batik fabrics that went together. I then quilted the batik fabric to flannel with the inside fabric on the other side.
I love the new tiny bright light that I have installed on my 301a.....I don't turn on the light that came with the machine anymore.....this tiny light really works. I am sewing the binding on myvest in this picture.
Judy demoed how to make covered snaps.......yes covered large snaps.
Here is my covered snap......if you use the covered snaps then you don't have to make button holes for your buttons on the front of your vest......you use the snaps and sew a button on front.
Barbara's black and white fabric that she used for her vest......I love the way she pieced the left side and used solid on the right.
This is the back of her vest.......love the red and black together.
Look at what Char used for her vest.....she took left over blocks and parts of blocks from projects and joined it together for this back of her vest.
Here is the front of her vest.......it matches!! Can't wait to see all the finished vests next month at the membership meeting!

Balloon's Over Ripon

2008-08-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning at the very early hour of 4:00 am to see the balloon's over Ripon at the Mistlin park. It was very dark and cold with a wind blowing. We ate at the pancake breakfast and draped blankets around us to keep warm. This is the water tower at the park after the sun came up.
It was too windy to launch the balloons into the air.....but they finally filled them on the ground and let them set on the ground all filled up.
It was so cool as you could get very close to the balloons......here they are filling one up with hot air.
The balloon is starting to come up.
Here is my son in law Scott......watching the balloons.
The first balloon all filled up.
Other balloons......
Four balloons all in a row.
The two on the end are some kind of monster and a frog.......very strange.
I just took a short nap but still feel tired........I'm off to a BBQ soon....it will be early to bed for me tonight.....I'm getting too old to be getting up so early.

Judy's Trunk Show part 2

2008-08-30T21:08:00.000-07:00

More pictures from Judy's Trunk Show......I took a lot of pictures last Thursday night. There were so many beautiful quilts and garmets.....I couldn't get pictures of them all as I was helping hold and show the items.
Here is a close up of the quilt above.
A jacket made of wool........simple and beautiful.
Black and white quilt.......love black and white quilts.....when some of the fabric used in this quilt was not the right color.....Judy used coffee to dye it so it wasn't so bright.
Bouillabaisse......with chickens appliqued on top.....see the baby chicken on the bottom right.
Here is Momma chicken.
A jacket made with bark cloth and embelished with buttons and old lace.
Another red and white quilt......wow!
Close up of red and white quilt.
A black, red and white coat....love it!
Back of coat.
The Road to California jacket......made for a challenge at the Road To California quilt show.
Judy made this cross stitched map of California for the jacket......attention to detail.
I am up before the sun this morning because I am going to the Balloons Over Ripon this morning and watch hot air ballons rise up as soon as the sun comes up. It should be fun.

Judy Mullen's Trunk Show

2008-08-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

At Thursday night's Manteca Quilters membership meeting our own Judy Mullen gave us a trunk show of her work. Judy is a designer and maker of clothes and a quilt maker. Judy is very creative and talented and it shows in her work which is still evolving.

This is a poster of her prize winning out fit that won first place for Judy and a brand new sewing machine...its still traveling all around the country being displayed at major quilt shows.

Here is a picture of Judy's garments and quilts waiting to be shown in the trunk show.

Judy is talking about one of her many challenge quilts that she has made.

Detail of flowers that were sewn raw edge on a jacket that Judy made....beautiful.

Don't you just love this house quilt.......love the colors Judy used.
This jacket is made out of a old linen table cloth.....she then added the old lace and vintage embroidery.
Another beautiful jacket.....hand painted by Judy and then she appliqued the flowers over the painting.
Isn't this a beautiful star quilt....love it.
You all know that red is my favorite color.....and I love this quilt....lots of different reds were used.

A close up of the red and white basket quilt.
I have more pictures from the trunk show and will post more soon. I also took Judy's workshop today....More Than A Vest and took even more pictures at the workshop. So say tuned.

Gordian Knot Book

2008-08-29T09:36:00.000-07:00

If any of my readers were wondering how to buy the Gordian Knot book.....I finally have the answer. A reader of my blog, who is looking for the book emailed me with the following information. The book is by Mary Whitehead, who has died and who's husband is self publishing the book, a teacher is using her book to teach classes on the Gordian Knot. If you call Eddie's Quilting Bee ( a quilt shop) in Sunnyvale, California at 408-830-9505 or 888 QUILTER you can get a copy of the book.

Thank you Kathy from Milpitas for the information....you are going to make lots of people who are looking for the book happy. Who knew.... when I started this blog that I'd be helping quilters find the Gordian Knot book!!

More Pictures From Meet The Teachers

2008-08-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

This BQ quilt is made using a under the sea print.....very cool and love the colors. This class teaches you how to take a directional print and make it work for a BQ quilt.
This quilt is a good beginning applique project. Love the pink cherries.
Close up of the applique.....looks easy to me....love the dots going down the stem.
Hope you all enjoyed looks at some of the teachers samples from meet the teachers. I did not take pictures of all the classes. If you are interested take a drive to Turlock and Cloth and Quilt and see the samples for yourself.

Meet The Teachers

2008-08-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Monday night was meet the teachers at Cloth and Quilt in Turlock. I love to attend as it gives you a chance to see what classes are being held the next four months and talk to the teachers. I took some pictures.....of course. The quilt below is a strip quilt as they have a strip club.

Here is another quilt from the strip club. I really like the way the colored strips weave in and out and make a neat pattern.
I love the color red......so this strip quilt is right up my alley......love red and black together.
Here is two samples from Rose's paper piecing class. She comes up with new patterns every time I see her at meet the teachers....she teaches one paper piecing class a month and makes her patterns fit the time of year.
More pictures tomorrow.....I could not get them all downloaded last night....the internet was running slow.

The Final Pictures From The Retreat

2008-08-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

More pictures that I took at the retreat......below is Gerry busy sewing....she was the oldest quilter at the retreat and during the week pieced a whole quilt. Look at her sew!

Marie made this apron.....and some of the ladies then went down to the pharmacy to buy fabric and make this apron. Very cute design.....apron's are big right now. Lots of patterns to buy to make them and an apron makes a good present.
Jan was busy quilting on her top from the class on the bella bella quilts. She spent hours machine quilting.....and she finished it.
The finished quilt is beautiful......I can't wait to get mine all sewn and put together.....Jan inspires me.
The center of the quilt......love the colors and batiks that she used.
Well that's all from the retreat.....my next retreat starts September 10th....with my very best of friends...my annual September retreat.

More From the Retreat

2008-08-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

The final pictures from the retreat......below is Jan....busy sewing on a cabin quilt she's making for her daughter. She was busy all retreat either sewing on the quilt or quilting her Bella Bella quilt.

This is a picture of Marie busy sewing and Delores taking to her.
This picture is for Rena and Debi.......I did work on my scrambled eggs quilt and now that I look at this picture......the four patch on the top block below is sewn wrong.....more unsewing to do!!!!!
I finished the two wedges on my Bella Bella that I started on and managed to sew two more.....I have to work on this project.....lots more to get done.
Close up of two of the wedges sewn together......I matched the points.......wow.
This is my last project on the retreat.......a second Posh Tot.......cut out and finished this morning...this is the lap size and is made from batiks.....love the colors and the way it went together.
Close up of the Posh Tot lap quilt. It didn't take more then two hours to make this quilt.
Now I need to unpack and get everything out of my car.....I hate the unpacking part of going away. At least I have two days before I have to go back to work.

Mystery Quilt Is DONE !!!!!

2008-08-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

I worked for two days up at the retreat and finished this quilt on Wednesday night. What alot of sewing......I have never made this completed of sashing on a quilt.....ever! Here it is hanging up at the cabin up on the second floor railing.

Here you can see the whole quilt.......I'm glad it's done and I think I'm tired of looking at this fabric and the colors. On the way home today I dropped it off at Quilters Cabin where it will be hanging with all the other mystery quilts......people can go in and vote on their favorite quilt.
This is a quilt that Marie was sewing on during the retreat......made with one of the xmas Moda fabric lines. Love the colors and the way it really doesn't look like most xmas fabric.
Deloras made this beautiful circle quilt......love the bright colors!

I've got more pictures to post and more to tell about our wonderful week in the mountains.....sewing and eating way too much. I've got to go unpack.

At The Quilting Retreat

2008-08-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Twain Hart !!!! The weather is beautiful and we are getting lots of sewing done up here at the retreat. I am sitting at The Rock....a restaurant in Twain Hart that has internet.....eating garlic fries and posting to my blog. We are also doing lots of eating.....see picture below. This is the back deck where all the meals are bing taken. I've seen a couple of deer that wondered by last night during dinner.

Here is the sewing room.....the wirling of machines being heard........quilters sharing projects and getting quilts done.
I finished this quilt.....Posh Tot the first night.....in the first hour of sewing......love this pattern and quilt.....so easy to do.
Delores finished this quilt yesterday.....see had most of the blocks done but had to cut the setting blocks......it a beautiful xmas quilt.
Close up of the quilt.
Pat is working on this chicken table topper......here it is all layed out ready to be sewn together.
This is my space at the retreat......working on the mystery quilt and today I'm busy sewing the rows together......when I go back I will finish it. YEA!!!!!
The garlic fry's are almost gone......so good. Lots more sewing to be done when I go back to the cabin. I'll post again when I get home on Friday....I'm taking pictures everyday.

I'm Off and Away !

2008-08-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

I'm busy packing and getting ready to go on a quilting retreat. If you've never been on a retreat....it is so much fun. Going away...up in the mountains with quilting friends to sew ! What could be better!

My trunk is not full yet.....but it will be soon. Do you see the zip lock bags I use to store my quilting projects in? They are the best.....you can see whats in them when looking for a certain project.....and they even have a handle on the top. I must get back to packing.....don't want to forget anything. I'm taking my lap top so if I can find internet........I'll be posting from the retreat....keep your fingers crossed!!!

Sunset and Moon Rise

2008-08-16T17:46:00.001-07:00

The corn next to my house is growing as corn will grow in the summer time. Its going into tassel....making the corn. See the sun going down last night.On the other side the moon was rising......a little cloudy.....this is looking toward the dairy on the other side of the road.
Here is another of my bags.....made for Kelsey who turned 3 last month. I love the pink in this bag.....my favorite color.
Its hot again today.....I hope it gets cooler next week as I am going to Twain Hart on a quilting retreat. Going up on Monday and sewing all week. Yea! I need to start getting all my stuff (UFO's) together.....its hard to decide what you want to work on. Of course my mystery quilt will go as I need to get it done by the 23rd.

Beautiful Quilts To See

2008-08-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here is show and tell from the Oakdale Quilters membership meeting last night. Isn't this a beautiful and very different table runner.......love it......too bad its only going to be used at Christmas....too beautiful to only show off one month a year!

This is a large quilt.....as you all know anything over a lap or twin quilt is a large quilt to me.....love the colors....the movement you see in this quilt.
These quilters are all really on it......making Christmas quilts in July......this is a square table topper. Look at that quilting.....done by Mary of Freedom Fabrics. My pictures don't do it justice.....quilted in a gold thread and quilted alot.
Here is a close up of the middle of the quilt......beautiful.
That's all the eye candy for tonight......I'm off to watch the Olympics.

Beautiful Fish Under The Sea

2008-08-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last night was the first quilt show meeting for the 2009 quilt show.....you have to start early and the next quilt show will be our 30th year. Nadine came and she was doing hand work on this beautiful quilt. Nadine is making this quilt as a donation for the Sutter Breast Cancer Quilt Auction that is being held on November 1, 2008 at the Sutter Cancer Center in midtown Sacramento. Web site here

Love the way she thread painted this under water scene.
Look she even has a sea horse....swimming around.
I hope all the details shows up for all of you to see......if you click on the pictures you can see them in a larger format. Thanks to Teresa for taking the pictures and sharing them with me so I could use them on my blog.

The Floor Was Covered In Quilts

2008-08-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night when we meet at the library to sew.......... in the library park in back of the library the city of Manteca holds it Farmers Market. Sometimes we wonder out to buy produce and other stuff. I like the flavored almonds....yum.

Betsy brought her mystery quilt from last months workshop.....I love the way she used scraps in the border. Betsy used two rolls of jelly rolls to make this quilt.
Lue-Anne is busy cutting out strips to make another quilt......she using lots of purple and told me that she picked up a jelly roll on ebay for $1.50......good buy.
Liz is busy working on a back for her bright quilt that I've shown before on this blog. I really love this fabric......very nice.
Look at what Sandy has been sewing on.....her Bella Bella......wow!! I really need to get sewing on mine and will take it next week when I will be attending a quilting retreat.
Here is a close up of Sandy's quilt.
I finally finished sewing the borders on my quilt from last month's workshop that Inez gave us at my Oakdale guild. All done and I even have purchased the backing.....it will be going to get quilted soon.
I really like the yellow big border......I bought the jelly roll at Cloth and Quilt and went back to see if they had any more fabric on the bolt. They only had a white color and this yellow......I chose yellow. Really like the way it makes the black pop.

Posh Tot

2008-08-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Teresa sent me a picture of her finished Posh Tot......she made it out of 30's fabrics. Isn't is beautiful and so easy to sew.......I do believe you can sew it in under a hour. This is the crib size....what a simple design and you can get it done in no time. Teresa quilted it her self. Love it....now to get my Posh Tot sewn.

She's using it as a sample in her booth at quilt shows. Quilts and Kits her quilting business will be at the quilt show in Paradise this weekend and at the Sonora show next month. Be sure and check out her booth at either show.

Fields Of Fabric

2008-08-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't that the coolest name for a new quilt store in the valley? It opened on Friday in Ceres....yea! Located on 4th street the main street in Ceres......right off of 99...very easy to get to. I stopped tonight on my way home from work.

Fields of Fabric has....fabric, notions, supplies and soon classes. They do....quilting, custom embroidery, long arm quilting and rentals. Grand opening September 15th, enter their contests, prizes will be awarded at the grand opening. Store hours, Monday to Friday 10 to 6, Saturday 10 to 5 and Sunday 12 to 4. Address, 2930 4th street, Ceres, phone 209-541-1655.

The shop is light and bright inside and here is one wall of fabric........as you can see lots of room for more fabric...........they still have 1,500 due to come in.
Here is a pile of batiks that came in today and still have to put out on the shelf's.
Big class room....the tables are set lower then regular tables......easier to sew that way.
Lots of fat quarters........on top of the bolts of fabric you will find FQ's of that fabric so if you want a FQ of a certain fabric it is easy to find.
The notion wall.......looking toward the front of the store.
Look at all that embroidery thread......lots of beautiful colors.
Yes......I did come home with a few pieces of fabric.....couldn't help myself. So take a trip to Ceres.....and check out the new quilt store.

Other Tops Finished.....

2008-08-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Dianah finished this quilt top......a workshop that we both took over three years ago.....I finished mine and now Dianah has her top done and another UFO off of her list. Love this pattern from the book Square Dance.

Joan finished this cat quilt top....used up lots of scraps....this is a cool cat pattern.
Joan also made this Hawaii print quilt top. She bought the fabric when she was in Hawaii and this is the third or fourth quilt made with these beautiful squares.
I sewed all my blocks together from the mystery class and now I just have to sew on the borders.

More Tops Finished

2008-08-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Last night at the tuesday sew more members brought their finished tops from the mystery class. Below is Carol's top......it's smaller then the rest....square because she's going to use it as a table topper. Love the controlled scrappy in the blue and yellow colors.

New member Jennifer made this purple and green controlled scrappy top. Love purple and green together a beautiful top.
Dianah used a moda xmas line to make her mystery quilt......this is one of those xmas prints that does not scream xmas. Love the soft colors and the way its turning out.
Last but not least.....my blocks....I arranged them on the library floor so I could see if I liked this arrangement......I plan on sewing the blocks together tonight and I stopped and got the fabric for the stopper border and final border tonight.
Love...love....love making these 2 1/2 inch strip quilts....the sew together so fast. Off to sew these blocks together and maybe add the borders.

Quilting In The Garden

2008-08-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again.....Alex Anderson's Quilting in the Garden will be held at Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore on September 27th and 28th. On Alden Lane's web site they are looking for quilts....as they are accepting quilts for display. You may enter a maximum of 4 quilts for the show. Go to Alden Lane quilt show for rules and restrictions. All photos and forms must be delivered to Alden Lane Nursery by August 11th to be considered for showing.

I'd love to see some of my friends quilts hanging in those beautiful oaks at Alden Lane. There is still time to get your quilt entered.

Mystery Revealed

2008-08-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

I have one block all sewn together......YEA!!!!! 19 more to go.....I have until the 24th to get the whole top done so I can take it to Quilters Cabin and the quilter coming to the shop can vote for their favorite quilt. So do you like it?? Leave a comment below and let me know. It's a very different quilt for me to make.

I picked different colors....all batiks.....one note...love using batik because there is no wrong side to the fabric.....so no un-sewing because you sewed the wrong side to the right side.
Please let me know if you like the way this quilt has turned out so far......leave a comment below. Just click on the word comment and tell me what you think.

Quilting Break.....Lets Talk Cows

2008-08-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

On Fridays I water my lawn.....front and back and while out there moving the sprinkler.....I noticed the three cows in the pasture across from my house.....legs in the water....watching me. So I went inside and fetched my camera. The red cow didn't like me getting too close and backed up. There is water on the pasture because we have the irrigation water and they are watering the corn and the pasture.

This is the white cow and she as all cows believe that the grass is better under the fence......all cow do this.....there is plenty of feed to eat in the pasture....but they will reach way under the fence and eat.
This is the Jersey cow....she's smaller then the other two cows and has big beautiful eyes......she doesn't give as much milk as the other cows but her milk is rich in cream and is used to make cheese.
That is your quilting break of the day......I need to get back to sewing.....I picked up the last set of instructions on my mystery quilt and now must finish it.

Another UFO Finished !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-31T20:06:00.001-07:00

Picked up my Rectangle Pizaaz On Point....... from Shirley H. who machine quilted it for me....I wanted leaves quilted on it and my did Shirley do a beautiful job of quilting leaves. The quilting is kind of hard to see on this picture......the quilt is kind of bright and busy.

You can see the quilting much better in this picture.
Here's the green corner.....the quilting is done in green thread but you can kind of see it on this picture.
Now to find the green fabric....its somewhere here in a bag with the leftover fabric. Then I can sew on the binding and really have this quilt finished.....YEA!!! I made this top in a workshop in April.....I think and now its done....except for the binding.....and how many UFO have I started since then???? Way too many to think about......off to sew.

Tops Done From Saturdays Workshop

2008-07-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

Wow......quilters in Saturdays workshop really worked hard and have sewn their tops together. Last night at the Tuesday night sew we got to see three finished tops. The top below belongs to Joan.

Joan's also sewing together her latest applique quilt. It's beautiful !!!!! She going to add a appliqued border.....can't wait to see it all finished.
Here's Lue-Anne's scrap top from Saturday.....red, white and blue......beautiful.
Last but not least is Barbara W's top......another winner. I really have to finish sewing and get my blocks sewn together.
Betsy picked up a top that had been machine quilted. She's really been busy finishing up some UFO's this year.
Here is a close up of the quilting.......beautiful.

A Mystery Saturday

2008-07-27T07:32:00.001-07:00

We were stripping down at the library yesterday.......sewing up a storm....making our mystery quilts. The room was very silent as every one sewed and sewed our strips together.......see Dianah below who even sewed while she talked on her cell phone.

The table was loaded with snacks.......ready to fuel our bodies.....as we sewed and sewed.
Here is Joan and Carol......putting sewing pedal to the medal.......the puring sound of sewing machines the only sound to be heard.
My machine with the "new" light attached.......I really like it......I love my machine but the light on it is not the best in the world.......this little light improves and centre's the light on my sewing.....I love it.
The strips were falling on the floor as we had to sew two strips together and do it 50 times.
Ginny did a great job giving us or instructions a step at a time and here she is showing us how to cut our strip sets.
You cut two strip sets at a time.
Cut a 8 1/2 square.....cut it in half.....sew two different sides together and you have a block.
Here is my first big block......4 of the smaller blocks all sewn together.....mine is very scrappy.....I used up lots of left over fabric and even found some all ready cut 2 1/2 inch strips to make mine.
Ginny's finished quilt......she made a controlled scrappy......red, white and blue. Don't you just love it?
Most of the quilters at class went home with all their small blocks sewn......I love these 2 1/2 inch quilts.....they really sew up fast and look fabulous.....this quilt looks like its set on point, but its just a big square block.

June Is Done and July Started

2008-07-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here are my parts completed from my mystery quilt......lots and lots of sewing little pieces to other little pieces. What is it going to be??? I have no idea!!!! I've started sewing on the July instructions and hope to have it done before Aug 1.

On Aug 1 I get to pick up the last instructions and then finish the top before the end of Aug and turn it in to Quilters Cabin with all the other quilters who have finished their mystery quilt.

I am off to the July workshop......fellow VP Ginny is giving us a mystery scrap quilt workshop. I can't wait.....have lots of 2 1/2 inch strips cut and am ready to sew. Stay tuned as there will be pictures.....

More Than Quilts part 2

2008-07-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Sue's been working with wool and making lighthouses......this one she copied from a potato chip bag.

Here's the second lighthouse Sue made....has lots of buttons on it.
Pegi made this flower basket using needle punch.....cool.
Pat made this beautiful red.....I love red.....quilt......Christmas quilt.
Pat also made this quilt from a kit she bought on vacation.
Our President Janet made this quilt for her husband.....she's made quilts for many people in her family this is the first for her husband,
Judy Q made this quilt rectangle pazzaz on point....turned out beautiful.
She used up all her fabric on the back and pieced it into a beautiful back.
Barbara Edwards bought a top at the last quilt show.......... she added the two borders and now has a wonderful quilt.

More Than Quilts

2008-07-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

After we played Quilto last night at our membership meeting we all enjoyed seeing what our fellow quilters were making. Look at the cute rabbet that Sue made....so tiny and so cute.

Sue also made this tablerunner that has felted wool on it. She will be teaching this as a class at Lady Bug Quilt shop...this will be a fun class.
Liz W finished the BOM blocks that she won........she really did a good job adding the pieced border.
This is a close up of Liz's quilt.
Dianah finished up making this doll.
Char made this quilt as a sample for Lady Bug Quilt store......go in there and you can see it close up.
Bob finished sewing on the binding on this quilt that will be a birthday present for his mother.
I took lots of pictures last night and will post more later.

Large Crowd

2008-07-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a large crowd at the Tuesday night sew. At least four people were sewing on their machines.......two of us were cutting out 2 1/2 strips for the workshop on Saturday....the rest of the people were hand sewing.

Can you believe that one quilter is making Christmas presents ???? Wow.....I never even think about Christmas this time of year. Love this apron pattern.....and she's using scraps....not having to buy fabric.....I'm impressed!!
This is a kit from California Quilt Makers to made a baby quilt.....the pattern is call Posh Tot.....love the fabric and I don't think it will take long to sew up. I plan of quilting it myself on my home sewing machine. Next time you are in Turlock make sure and go into California Quilt Makers and check out their cool kits for beautiful quilts.
I bought these batiks at Quilters Cabin big sale last week......I plan on making a lap sized Posh Tot out of these fabrics.
I'm still working on my Mystery quilt and just need to sew up way too many four patches to half square triangle pieces on each side of the four patch......a whole lot of sewing.....when I finish sewing the four patches I will be done with June.....I have all the cutting done for July so I should get everything done before the August and last instructions come out.

South Pacific Saturday

2008-07-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Look what I finished piecing last night......started it last Saturday in Inez's workshop and finished sewing it together last night.......in less than a week!!!! Now I have to sew on a black stopper border and get some fabric for a final border. I love these quilts made of 2 1/2 inch strips....they go together fast and look harder to make then they are.

Attended the play South Pacific today at the Sierra Rep's Historic Fallon House Theatre in Columbia State Historic Park. This is a picture of the quilt store up there.....you know I'd visit a quilt store if I can. I bought a 1/2 yard and FQ of fabric.
You can't go to Columbia without visiting the Candy Kitchen.
I took this picture before the play began......it was a very good play....lots of good music and we had really good seats.

Meet The Teachers.......NCQC

2008-07-17T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Wednesday trip to NCQC Meet The Teachers was fun. Ginny and I visited with different teachers and picked up papers on what programs they offer and of course info on workshops. They have a large room with a stage and each teacher gets THREE minutes to talk about themselves.

After three minutes they will come and get the teacher off the stage if they have not finished their talk. Most of them get it done in the three minutes. Guess who's behind this quilt?? Our own Judy Mullen who is on the board of NCQC and was helping hold quilts.
There was a second room where tables were set up and the teachers could spread out their samples and talk to guild reps one on one.
Lots of people attended and I know we all have lots of ideas on who we want to come to our guilds and give programs and workshops. Ginny and I are working on this right now. Figuring out what dates we need to book and then checking with teachers on what days they have open.
Don't forget today and Satuday are the BIG sale at Oakdale's Quilters Cabin.......I'm heading there after work.