Awesome MQ Quilts, 2

the background is cross-stitched




the quilter used a picture of her grandson.. adorable, n'est-ce pas?





I loved this simple concept yet awesome garden quilt



made by a 12 year-old! I'd be pleased with this one myself!

made by a 9 year-old! She "found" this girl while working with strips.. do we have an accomplished designer in our future?

made by one of the show teachers

a beautifully embroidered all-wool quilt.





I like the free piecing in this.. notice the lace along the bottom of the middle part



made by a member of my local guild.. either Doris K. or Sandi I. .. I can't remember which.

This is going to be a raffle quilt, but I can't remember by which group.

Awesome MQ Quilts, 1

Recently I attended the annual Minnesota Quilters quilt show. It is always a fabulous show. The quilts are breath-taking! I took a bunch of pictures before my camera battery died. I will share some of them with you in the next couple of days.

After my battery died I kept finding more and more quilts that were even more impressive; I was so disappointed I could not photograph them all. I wanted to figure out names of these quilts, but was not able to without a show program, which I failed to purchase. So I know very little about these quilts. What I do know I will list here for you. Otherwise, just sit back and enjoy the show. I'll post more tomorrow.









Best Machine Quilting, large quilts







Best of Show, large quilts

An L Book

an exhibit at the museum in Pierre, South Dakota

I read another great book. This one is The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living by Joseph M. Marshall III.

As the title says, it is stories and lessons.. and it is full of wisdom, compassion, humility, and generosity. The author tells stories from the past and uses important cultural attributes that exemplify the strength of his Lakota culture. He applies it to modern times and shows ways these lessons of old are still relevant.

I as a white western-style thinker need those modern examples to make it more understandable. I wish my brain would work in the way that could use stories such as fables to learn life's lessons... it's hard for me to think that way, so I really appreciate this book which makes the ethical lessons clear.

I highly recommend this gentle and uplifting book!

A Flattened Farm: A Quilt

tornado damage in Iowa, found via Google images

A woman I "sort of know" is going through a very rough time. Her name is Kandee. About a week ago Kandee's entire farm was flattened by a huge tornado. And in the recent past, Kandee's husband died. She was already struggling with that adjustment. Now she has nothing.

Kandee is a quilter. She and I were both members of a Yahoo Block Lotto group for a short time(wich is how I "sort of know" her). The group folded about a year before the tornado disaster. I didn't know Kandee was its victim until I saw her on TV news. I knew she had to be the same person.

Kandee and I have a mutual friend, KT. Through KT I offered to make a quilt for Kandee. According to KT, Kandee is too overwhelmed with how to pick up the pieces of her life to be able to make any decisions about what sort of quilt she wants. So I made a decision, and I have a pdf file showing the block we can make, and the color specifications.

If you are interested in helping, please let me know. I will email you a copy of the pdf file so you can get the block stats. If you can't make a quilt block, can you lift up Kandee in your prayers?

Thanks for caring! [P.S. I'll have sporadic internet access starting Sunday, June 27 for about a week. If I don't respond to your request right away, please be patient.]

My Lazy, Lumpy Day

I've been doing a good job of keeping pretty regular sleeping hours since I retired. I don't want to throw off my rhythms by letting myself stay up too late at night. I'm glad for that small success.

Today I had my first lazy, sit-on-my-butt, do-nothing day. It hasn't been fun! I don't want to make a habit out of days like this. Uffda!

I got up, thought for a while about what to do... told myself "you should go to the Y right away." But first I wanted to eat breakfast. Once I ate breakfast, I wanted to wait a little while so I wouldn't be working out on a full tummy. A while came and went... I made a couple of quilt blocks. And for the rest of the day I have been vegetating in front of the computer screen!!!!!!! Ickypoo.

I made a list of errands I need to run and a small grocery list. I was about to go out the door when I thought that first I should change my clothes and maybe check my email. So I sat down at the computer.

From that moment on, I was a goner. I had some stuff to organize, some stuff to photograph, write, and send. Some blogs and Facebook to read, some time to waste. It just spiraled into a big ol' waste of time and lazy, lumpy, dumpy day. I didn't go to the Y (yet.. and if I'm being honest, I probably won't today). I didn't run any of my errands. I made and ate lunch and that's about all I did that was productive.

This is a good Lesson Day.. Don't Let My Retirement Turn Into Lazy, Lumpy Days!

An I Book and a P Book

Summer Reading - Photo by me in summer, 2007

You can tell that it's summer: I'm reading more! Recently I've read two "just for fun" books. One was an I book.. which I thought I needed on my A-Z challenge list, but discovered I had already recorded an I book. Oh, well. I read them both, so I'm going to list them both!

This I book was The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman. It was an interesting book; I liked how it started. I wasn't as fond of how it developed in the last half, so it didn't make my "favorites" list. While I visited my mom recently, we both did a lot of reading. I was sick, so couldn't do much else. I spent my time on her sofa, reading. She read The Inn at Lake Devine in a day, and when she finished said in a pleased voice, "interesting!" I think she liked it better than I did.

Today I finished a P book for my list: The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber. This book actually is not published yet! My sister, a bookstore owner, gets advanced copies which she shares with our mom.. and Mom recommended this one to me. This one I liked better than The Inn...

The Personal History... (now I'm quoting the back cover): "tells the little-known story of African American pioneers and gives voice to an extraordinary heroine who embodies the strength and spirit that built America." It was a well-told story, and it takes place in South Dakota near the Rosebud Reservation which I have been to, so I can perfectly picture the terrain and some of the weather patterns. I do recommend this book. The publication date is listed as August 2010. It's worth a read if you can purchase one or get one from a library.

I love reading in the summer! Now... which book will be next?

Thanks for Visiting?

photo by bertyuanlim.blog.friendster

Went to visit my mom and spent most of the time on the couch. I wasn't as sick as this picture implies, but I wasn't of much use, either. I felt better in time to come back home! Sorry, Mom. (I think it was something I ate, so hopefully I wasn't contagious.)
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no work outs for a couple of days because I felt lousy

Patches and Scraps

I am on a roll! I got my quilting mojo on, and it has been FUN! Zoom, zoom.. I just kept going all weekend long.

I have been playing with blue scraps. At least they're supposed to be blue; some other colors sneaked in there. And I'm playing "Copy Tammy's Borders" with the border I have in progress.



I'm also playing the "9-Patch Project" game. Make one 9-patch every day during the summer. I have finished all 30 for the month of June. Here they are - ta-da!



It was a lovely Father's Day- beautiful weather, a laid-back day. Hubby and I did our thing, individually.. sounds crazy, but we are within shouting distance of each other, especially when I'm standing at the iron, so we still get to talk, even though we're operating in different rooms.

He does computer stuff, and I sew. We're both happy.

He went to visit his dad this afternoon. I waved at mine who is up in Heaven.

So far it has been a sew-sew summer (translation: GREAT)!
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Today I walked 2 miles.

Blocks, a Bag, and a Book

I spent today making blocks for Sunshine's Block Lotto. I do enjoy making blocks, because then I have a hand in creating a quilt, but I don't have to do every step. When I need to do the whole process it goes pretty slowly. I like the creative process that comes at the beginning (the blocks), but am not as fond of the finishing steps that are at the end. So making blocks is a lot of fun. The woman we send these to (hi, Tammy) is sooo creative and makes them into gorgeous, cuddly quilts! I'm one of her many fans.

June blocks: pink and green

July blocks: novelties (Can you see the construction trucks and hard hats?)

For those of you who may have contributed to my retirement gift certificate, I want you to see what I bought: this rolling bag. I love it! It is designed to fit a Featherweight (FW) sewing machine, plus a little extra room for fabrics. It has lots of pockets and is easy to roll around. I don't own a FW, but occasionally I borrow my mom's. And this will come in handy for all those quilt retreats I intend to frequent now in my free time (retirement). If I'm not hauling a FW, I can still fill it up with my projects and get them to and fro very easily.



The front pocket opens all the way so one can easily slide a FW in. That stretchy holder in the back will hold a small cutting mat.

What a pretty day we had today! Not much sun, but it was comfortably cool, and I sat on our deck in a nice little breeze, reading a good book. It was cool enough for no bugs, and I was not hot and uncomfortable sitting outside. Heavenly!
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Today's workout? So far, nothing! Yike-a-doodles!

Sneak Peek at Quilts

I spent the day at the Minnesota Quilters' annual quilt show. It was great!! I took a bunch of pictures, but my battery died. Too bad, because there were still a zillion more fab.u.lous quilts to see. What talent!

I'm not going to post my quilt pictures yet. I want to find a program book and see if I can identify who made them.. give credit where credit is due. I foolishly neglected to get a program book when I was there. But you do get a sneak peek at some of them in these photos of people.

My job today (self-imposed) was to photograph any members of my local quilt guild that I ran across. My gosh, we were everywhere! And again, I missed some, because my battery died. Apologies to J., S., L., who I missed photographing, and possibly even more than that!

J. and R., mother and daughter, with ?? (a cousin, I think?)

C.. I caught her in a rare serious moment

B., sorry I wobbled terribly on this one!

M. and K.

J... walking around on her new hip!

Back: me, P. Front: R., JL, M., K., JR

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Unofficial work-outs today included some housework that got me huffing and puffing and walking all around the quilt show, plus 4 blocks from my car to the show and back. I should have worn my pedometer!