PRODUCTIVE WEEK

Greetings.
Don't you just love it when you can look back on the week and feel like you have accomplished something worthwhile. I sure do. For starters, we got the quilt shop back in shape. We had quilts packed from our trip to Sister's and a quilt show last week. They are home now in their appropriate places for all to see. We did a lot of house cleaning and rearranged things. We do have a variety of styles and it's nice to have them displayed.

We moved our notions wall to the front of the store and it seems to be paying off. I've had a few customers tell me that they weren't aware that we had all those little treasures.

Friday was slow and we didn't have any scheduled classes so I took one of my projects in to sew the boarders on. This quilt is a gift and I need to get it quilted. I always hang my quilts up and take a picture of them. I study the picture to determine what kind of quilting I want to do on it. This quilt pictured below spent half the day on the design wall being admired by me and others and nobody noticed the mistake I made, not even me. When I was sewing my strips together I had the quilt on my design wall at home and I didn't see it. It wasn't until I downloaded the picture and looked at it on my monitor that I noticed. Do you see it?

If not, you might see it now. I hate it when I mess up like this. That's right, it's not the first time. I am thankful that I do catch it before the quilting is started. I must admit, if I had started quilting this quilt it would not be fixed.

This quilt was made from a Hoffman's Bali Pops. You need to add two other fabric's for the borders and that's it. It's for a young man and I thought this quilt looked masculine.

The week ended with a mini-retreat at church, which has turned into a new beginning for me. The focus was on restoring our souls with a day of rest. It was written by Zona Wilson. We learned that work and rest are both part of God's plan for us. We learned the importance of reflection and spending time meditating on His word. Relaxation is important and you can lay your head down and rest because you can trust the Lord.

This really hit home with me, Refreshment, the Beauty of God's creation refreshes our souls. I am in constant amazement of the beauty that I am surrounded by. The hill sides and flowers blooming everywhere. The rivers that flow all around us. The sky and beautiful birds flying overhead. It seems like every day is a little different. I am truly surrounded by his beauty.

We also talked about the importance of balance in our life and keeping focused on the Lord. To accomplish this we must look to God for the power. All of this was supported with scripture. We got a great workbook so we can go back and reflect on these lessons when needed or share them with others that might have a need. I was also blessed with two new friends.

I hope your week went as planned. It's our anniversary today and I'm getting ready to celebrate 35 years. I don't want to keep him waiting so I better close for now.

God's peace to you and yours.

Sister's 2011

Sister's was fabulous. The weather was great and we had such a wonderful time shopping, eating out, and taking classes. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted. This is an old favorite.

I wouldn't be interested in making a quilt like this but I really admire the talent it takes to do it. Most of this quilt is all about the thread painting.

The highlight of the week was the class I took from Barbara Shapel. I learned so much and we got to see some of her work. This quilt is the sun setting behind the bird. The detail is all about the threads and her quilting.

This is the other side of the quilt when the sun is coming up. I wish my photo show the detail.

This is an example of some of the quilting stitches she was teaching.

This quilt is one of my favorites. That is Barbara explaining how she quilted this beauty.

This is a the head of one of her birds and it show the quilting.

This is a better close up of her crane quilt.

This is a wall hanging class I took and the piece is called Quail Family. Since I live in Quail Run I thought I would hang this in my entry hall. It was fun to do and a totally different method of applique.

This was a painted wall in Sister's. I wish we could paint something like this on the front of the quilt shop.

We had a great time and I saw a couple of friends from California. I'm looking forward to Sister's 2012.
The quilt shop looks like we're going out of business because we were so successful at the show. We are getting ready for Kids Camp at the shop and some new quilt classes. So much to do and so little time. I will keep you posted on what's new.

Have a great weekend.

THE AMERICAN BEAUTY

I have finally finished piecing this quilt, now to get it quilted. It is too big for me to attempt although I do have some ideas on what I would like quilted on it. I was on a time schedule so it wasn't as much fun. I needed this quilt completed for the Sister's quilt show. We will be selling kits in the dark fabric and white. These blocks have a lot of pieces and you have to pay attention when you are sewing them into the block.

This is an example of what you get when you aren't paying attention. I'm just thankful that I caught it before I pieced the quit together.

So now I'm starting a quilt from the Strip Therapy 5 Bali Pop Mania book. I'm making this quilt for my grandson Ben. I will post a picture when it's done.

Happy quilting.

Nine Days

Greetings on this Labor Day Weekend. I hope you all have some wonderful family events planned. The weather is going to be cooling down a bit here and for that, I'm so thankful. I still have a lot of work to do around here. In nine days I will be headed for Oregon with a car full of treasures. I'll be back again in a few days with helpers and then the big move begins. I don't usually feel a lot of stress. I manage thing with God's help and just get over it. I feel like I didn't have all my trust in him because I have been really stressed. What does a quilter do when they are stressed? QUILT!! I prayed a lot too. On numerous occasions I have had conversations with the Lord while I quilted. I love it because he listens and doesn't interrupt like people do. He is getting my through this.

This block is part of my 19th Century Red's quilt. The block is 15" finished. I love red and the little black corner blocks are a cute little accent.
Here are the blocks pieced into the quilt top. My head is spinning with design ideas to quilt it with. The piecing went fast the the cutting took some time, now deciding on how to quilt it. Sorry about the obstacle in the corner or the picture.

I must get back to packing. I feel like I'm headed for the finish line. Wishing you a blessed holiday weekend and God's peace.