In the Works

Technically, this is NOT a new project. The fabrics were purchased and the quilt pattern was decided on BEFORE my post last Monday. I blogged about the fabrics in this post here.

This is the first block for my son's graduation/going to college quilt. Graduation is this Friday and I have a very short 2 1/2 months before Nick leaves my nest, hopefully with a completed quilt packed in his belongings.

Hmmm...if I don't finish the quilt in time, will he stick around at home...?

Remember

As you spend time during this long holiday weekend enjoying activities with family and friends, please take a little time to remember those who never came home...

An Affair That Didn't Last

Forget what I said here.

I have contacted customer service and will let you know the outcome...

Carol Taylor -- Quilt Artist Extraodinaire!

My guild had a very special visitor last week -- Quilt artist Carol Taylor.

What a delightful evening filled with quilters' eye candy!

These are just some of the quilts that she brought with her to show us in person. Gorgeous, just absolutely gorgeous!

Carol was very gracious and gave us permission to take photos. Look for more in upcoming posts.

For The Moms Out There

I came across this on another blog....

If you grew up in the 70s like I did, you'll recognize the melody.

Repeat After Me

Perhaps if I write it another 90 times it will sink in...

Do The Wave

Continuing in my mission to make charity quilts for teenagers (see my blog post here), I've made this New Wave quilt from a free pattern found at Oh Fransson! I just made it a bit longer to fit the long legs of a teenage boy. I love the patterns that Elizabeth shares and hope to try a few more. You can see a previous quilt of mine from another one of her patterns here.

This one is made from fabrics that were donated to my quild and some that were in my own stash. Quilted with just a meander on my HQ16. I think the cars/surfboards/flames/Star Wars/ etc fabrics will put a smile on a hurting teenage boy's face somewhere. This one will be delivered to the local Project Linus coordinator at my guild meeting tonight.

Honored Guest

My guild, the Mountain Laurel Quilt Guild in Wellsboro, PA, will be welcoming quilt artist Carol Taylor for a lecture and workshop this upcoming weekend. Click here for details on the Saturday workshop -- a few openings remain, but you must sign up quickly. You can use the "contact us" link on the website or contact me here on my blog and I'll put you in touch with the workshop coordinator.

Carol's Friday evening lecture, "Sew Many Quilts", is free and open to the public. It will be held at 7PM at the First Presbyterian Church located at 130 Main Street in Wellsboro.

From Carol's website --

Sew Many Quilts --"A retrospective of Carol’s quilting career shows how she produced over 500 quilts (many award winning) since she began in 1993. You’ll see slides from her first traditional quilt through her gradual transition to art quilts….however, she promises NOT to show all 500! She will also bring a trunk show of her newest quilts! The presentation is interspersed with some humor from her son who shows Mom that he is 'never without his blankie'!"

I'm Honored

I want to thank Karen Griska (we all know her from her Selvage Blog) for including this quilt of mine in her new Online Quilt Museum. It's a quilt I call "Cabin in Bali". I'm particularly proud of this one because it is made entirely of scraps and fabric pieces that I had in my stash. The front and binding are all leftover batiks from at least three other quilts and the back is two pieces of fabrics that had been in my possession since at least the 1990s. Even the batting is pieced from four leftover pieces.

This quilt is on the "Exhibits" page in the exhibit labeled "Cabin Fever" . If you haven't visited the museum, you're missing a lot of quilters' eye candy. Take a look around and think about possibly submitting one of your quilts to the open exhibits or even setting up your own gallery.

Road Trip Chance

Those of you who live near Corning, NY still have today and tomorrow to see this show. See yesterday's post on the group blog for details.

Pining for Jane

I had been making triangles in the bottom row and had hoped to finish all thirteen before moving on to another row, but the last two that I have left on the bottom will require a bit of time for me to draft them into paper-piecing patterns (the software isn't of much help with them). I also want one of them to look more like Jane's triangle than Brenda's pattern does. (Have I mentioned that I am really disappointed in the software, particularly when it comes to the triangle patterns?)

Anyway, in order to keep going with the triangles, I decided to move on to some easy ones in the other rows. This is the second one in the top row that I've now made.

This is "TR2, Australian Pines", a beginner-level triangle that I paper pieced. Easy peasy -- took me less than an hour.

Jane's Oak -- Take Two

I've been told that those of you who wanted to see a larger version of this photo in my previous post couldn't do it. I have no clue why my photo editing software saved it in such a small size, so I did a do-over...Thankfully, not a do-over triangle, just a do-over photo. This time you should be able to click on it and see a larger version. Let me know if it doesn't work and I'll try a third time...

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

OK, now it's back to the main topic of this blog -- Quilting!

This is "TR12, Jane's Oak", an intermediate-level triangle in which I used the raw-edge machine buttonhole-stitch applique method for the leaf and the bottom curved piece.

Something To Be Proud Of

Thanks to everyone who wished Nick and his teammates luck in the PA Academic Competition in Harrisburg last week. Here's a shot of them and their advisor sitting on the PA House floor in the Capitol building. Nick is the one in the center with the glasses and blue shirt.

And here's a shot from the gallery...

The first round was held on the Senate floor...we were fortunate that one of the Wellsboro parents knew somebody who knew somebody who got us seats right down where the action was...

The team just missed getting into the semi-finals, but they made a very respectable showing, finishing basically in the middle of the pack. That's not too shabby considering that they come from a small school in a rural area where the academic opportunities are not as broad as they are in a big city or suburban school. The team was cheered on by their parents and the principal and superintendent (who drove them down). It's nice to see support from administrators for teams that use brain muscle, not just for those who use body muscle.

During a break, my husband and I took a walk around town a bit. The first shot was taken from a balcony outside of Lieutenant Governor Scarnati's office.

The next picture is of the street leading up to the Capitol (my back is to the Susquehanna River). There are a lot of lovely churches all along this one street.

And here's a shot of the river...

My photos of the interior of the Capitol were not very good...someday I'll go down there and spend more time taking decent photos inside the building. It's absolutely gorgeous...If you live in Pennsylvania and love beautiful buildings, you must make a trip there and see the inside. Click here to learn more about it.

Anyway, thanks again to all my blog readers who stuck with me as I blogged about this competition and not about quilting...I promise I'll get back to quilting now...

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe

Arise, then, women of this day!

Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!

Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Giving Thanks

Many of you may know that Kelly of I Have a Notion had a month of giveaways recently (and perhaps some of you entered and won). I entered a few of them myself and was thrilled when Kelly contacted me and told me that I had won one of the prizes -- a DVD on quilting feathers from Patsy Thompson! Whoohoo --- now I can be Patsy Thompson when I grow up! (well, maybe not quite).

Anyway, in order to thank the two of those lovely ladies, I made up a couple of selvage postcards and sent them on their way.

I told Kelly that she is a "Timeless Treasure", so I sent her some flowers (in selvages, that is).

Thank you again, ladies!

Wish Them Luck!

Nick and his teammates will be down in Harrisburg today competing at the Pennsylvania Academic Competition. For those who are interested, you can watch the competition live starting at 9AM on PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network) -- channel 55 on Blue Ridge Cable in Wellsboro -- or watch the live stream on the PCN website . Let's hope they bring home a trophy to the Northern Tier!

Shout It From the Rooftops!

Although we've known about this for several weeks and have already told several family members and friends, we can now let the whole world know...

My son Nick has been named a National Merit Scholar! Whoohoo! His dad and I couldn't be prouder!
P.S. Keep your fingers crossed for later this week when Nick and his teammates represent a four-county area in the Pennsylvania Academic Competition that will be held in the Capitol Building in Harrisburg!

Old, Yet Modern-Looking

On a recent trip that a couple of my quilting friends and I took, we stopped by the Middletown Historical Society in Addison, New York to see a small display of antique quilts. I found this quilt to be quite striking because of the modern-looking design layout. Even the colors were brighter than I would have expected for a quilt made in 1868. Sorry for the lousy photo, but the two white labels describing the quilt made for awful contrast.

You can see the lovely crocheted-lace edging in this closeup.

I certainly hope that the family that owns this treasure keeps it and that it doesn't wind up in a thrift store someday...

Wonderful New Quilt Blog

Karen Griska (of Selvage Blog fame) is starting up a new online Quilt Museum. Click here to see how you can participate.