Wisconsin Quilt Expo and WIPS

On September 6th and 7th, I took two days to myself and headed to the Wisconsin Quilt Expo in Madison. My schedule was jam packed with lectures, viewing the exhibit quilts and doing a little shopping :)

If you ever get a opportunity to hear Bob from Superior Threads speak, please jump at the chance. His one hour lecture was so informative on thread and needles (and also very funny). He has a newsletter you can sign up for if you are interested. (http://www.superiorthreads.com/) Since I bought my Janome 6300 I have always had an issue when free motion quilting with the thread breaking. He suggested a different way to thread my machine and different needles. I spent last week quilting my Dr Who quilt and did not have any problems! (I bought their Superior Needles Titanium Coated).

Another highlight was hearing about and seeing the work of Viola Colombe. She resides on an Indian Reservation in South Dakota and makes the most beautiful Lone Star quilts.

Photos of the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts - Quilted Yurt.

 

On Friday night I had the pleasure of hearing Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side (http://amyscreativeside.com/) talk. She discussed how she juggled raising her children and starting her quilting/book career.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the goodies that I bought - the Superior Threads needles, a pair of cute and very sharp embroidery scissors, 2 Moda Candy packs of Simply Style and some gray fat quarters.

I also got this beautiful aqua and red fabric with the Sassy Squares pattern to make. I fell in love with this fabric because it reminded me of a art project my oldest did in 1st grade.

 

 See - such wonderful red birds!!

 

I have been doing some sewing also. I just finished a Dr Who Tardis quilt for my niece who underwent surgery yesterday for scoliosis. The back brace was not helping her so the only option was to put a rod in her back to straighten it. She has been a trooper through the two years of the back brace and now the surgery. The surgery went very well - you would not believe the before and after xrays of her spine! She will have a long recovery in front of her but she is so strong. We are all so proud of her. My parents gave her the quilt right before going into surgery and she was very excited to receive it.

 

I did straightline quilting on the actual tardis and in the black I did stars and loops.

 

I also got most of the top together for the Ruby Pearl and Opal scrap quilt. I just need to get the large white border put on.

Love it when the sun shines through.

I also finished the top for a quilt kit I bought about 3 years ago. It was one that I loved when I bought but as I started putting it together I now hate it. I decided to have it as large tabletopper instead of a lap quilt.

With the leftover jelly roll strips I decided to create this scrappy jelly roll quilt that I saw on www.homesweethideaway.blogspot.com. I am about halfway done and am liking the material again!

 

I am still trying to use up my scraps from Mama Said Sew. I have two patterns in mind that I started. The below pattern is a tumbler Dresden mini.

Blogs I am Linking up to:

Fabric Tuesday

http://www.quiltstory.blogspot.com/2013/09/fabric-tuesday.html

 

WIP Wednesday

http://www.freshlypieced.com/2013/09/wip-wednesday-quick-one.html

 

Made By Me Tuesday

http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2013/09/made-by-me-96-linky-party-and-features.html

 

Really Random Thursdays

http://www.liveacolorfullife.net/2013/09/really-random-thursday-91913.html

 

Needle and Thread Thursday

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/2013/09/needle-and-thread-thursday_18.html

WIPS February Update

I have given up the idea that I will blog regularly. Life is not going to allow that.

Since the beginning of January I have finished some of my WIPS that carried over from 2012.

King Swoon - done and on my bed.
Puzzle Boxes Twin Quilt - done and on my eldest sons ned.
Flea Market Fancy Sweet Starlet - done and on  my kitchen table
Lone Starburst - done and hanging on my living room wall.

I keep waiting for a somewhat warm winter day in Iowa to take photos of them all outside. But so far no luck :(

WIPS
Granny Squares - I have two blocks hand quilted - no additional progress in months

Mama Said Sew Triangles - I am straight line quilting this right now. I had hoped to finish it this past weekend but was under the weather so still working on it. My faithful cat is constantly sitting on the quilt as I work and is very annoyed with me when I push him off.

I finally got around to making my Summer Sampler from Freshly Pieced. I dug through my stash for some Sweetwater, DS Quilts and others. This is waiting to be quilted.

A few weeks ago I received my copy of American Patchwork and Quilting in the mail and saw this quilt.

 

I started collecting owls this fall and was so excited to find a pattern for quilt. This one used 2.5 inch stripes. I want to downsize the pattern to create a smaller version maybe for a table topper. I used more fabric scraps and stash.

 

 

As you can see from some of the photos I had to put cutting mats and rulers across the quilt. This was to prevent my cat (see above triangle quilt photo) from jumping on all the fabric strips and tossing them in the air. grrr.