Is this a Church or a School? Wyoming, Utah and Idaho...

I love imagining what went on in really old buildings, particularly when you are tooling around Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho and you have been driving for 30 minutes and have seen absolutely nothing other than mountains, fencing, cattle, and a lone ranch house.  Those buildings become so exciting, don't they?

So what do you think?  Is this an old school?  This building is in Ovid, Idaho, (population maybe 20) and is in the heart of Mormon pioneer country, so one would think it would be an old Mormon church, right?

 But maybe it is an old school house.  Do you think so?

 The next time I go, I am going to try to sneak into the inside, or at least get a peak through an open hole!

So then, as you drive around the area a bit more, and you dip into Wyoming, you can't help but see antelope, can you?  These antelope were much closer, but as I approached the fence, they took off!  Can you spot them?  They are the little tiny light spots in the center of the frame.  

So different from the deer that live in my area.  These antelope were fast!  

A Perfect Vacation for a Machine Quilter

We started our vacation by stopping in to the Let's Quilt Shop in St. George, Utah so that I could try out a 22" Innova with Lightening Stitch. 

The next day we drove back down Logan Canyon to the Handiquilter Headquarters! where I met with the CEO and had a private tour of their factory.  I felt like a true celebrity.  I don't know why I didn't take pictures!!  Everyone was so nice.  How did I get this treatment?  Well, I have been trying to decide between the HQ Fusion and the Innova 22" and could not find a Fusion anywhere near my home, or along our travel route, for that matter.  So their customer service rep was kind enough to arrange a test drive at their headquarters and then a tour.  Fabulous!

What a nice break from all the driving - we skied at Beaver Mountain Ski Area - wow!  I love this resort.  The snow was fantastic, and absolutely no crowds, in fact, there must have been only 100 people on the mountain.  We skied our fannies off, and after five hours, we had to surrender.  We were pooped!

Once we got to our place in Northern Utah, I took out my little featherweight and set up my little piecing work station.  I have had these jelly rolls for three-four years, and once I decided on a different pattern, it has been really fun putting it together.  I love these fabrics.

We are going back through St. George tomorrow and will be going to the Dixie Quilt Guild's show so that I can test drive the Innova again.  I haven't yet made up my mind.  Shopping for a longarm is really hard, and I am so confused. 

I should have my quilt top put together tonight.  Later this week I'll post some pictures of the scenery in Wyoming and Utah.  I know they say Montana is Big Sky Country, but there are some awfully BIG skies in Northern Utah and Western Wyoming!!

Do You Machine Quilt in an Apron?

Let me start off by saying that for some reason I am not an apron gal.  I never cook in one, although, I made so many aprons this Christmas that I will make myself one soon, and I will wear it.  And, it will be cute!

I started wearing an apron when I am at the longarm so that I have my scissors, pins, needles, seam ripper, and tweezers with me at all times.

I had been wearing a hideously ugly muslin one that was (hear me gasp) disgustingly dirty.  I even washed it from time to time!  Anyway, I had this neat piece of Ricky Tims' wanna be hand-dye fabric, so I loaded it last night and played.  I just had fun, didn't have one stop and start, no plans and no rulers.

Here it is before finishing the edges - back side.closeup of back side

 doodling

Oh, oh, oh!!!!!  I remember when I was early in my longarming life, and I HATED Superior's Lava.  Well, I tried it last night, just because I rarely use variegated thread, and thought, what the heck!  Well, it was beautiful, and bonded well with So Fine! in the bobbin.  It is much thicker than I am used to, but it went great - tension wise.  :)

 front side...

 proud grandma!

 Me, modeling my handy-dandy apron!
The little triangle at the top is detachable with a handy-dandy safety pin, and it holds my needles and pins.  It looks so much prettier than that ugly muslin one.  I even modeled this, which is shocking, because I never like my pictures.  I don't like this one either, but what the heck.  I even figured out how to set the timer on my  Canon.  Love it!!

Repurposing a Baby Sling Into a Quilt

Christina made this super cute quilt from fabric that was once her baby daughter's sling.  I think this is Amy Butler fabric.  If I remember correctly, she didn't use the sling all too often, and I suggested that she repurpose the fabric to make a quilt.   

I had tons of thread tension issues.  I tried out a spool of Decobob thread by Wonderfil, and after hours of struggling and frogging, I gave up and went back to Glide.  I do love Glide, but it is so much thicker than the 80 weight Wonderfil thread.  I love the way you can just see the texture with Decobob or Invisifil, but not the  thread.  I won't give up - I will keep trying.  

I would consider this medium custom as I did SID around the pink strips.  

 My granddaughter and grandson had been laying on the quilt - can you spot his 'drill' in the picture?  He spent most of this weekend drilling everything in sight - I am surprised that the batteries are still good.

Here is my granddaughter - it was her sling that was repurposed, and I believe she will be the recipient of this quilt.The green looks really washed out in the picture below, but it is a lime green - closer to what you see with my granddaughter in the picture.

  

Perfect for a 10-year old Girl!

Christina made this quilt for her niece, Tatum, in Minnesota.  She asked for hot pink and zebra.  Whew!  Christina bought the fleece minky to go on the back which gave this a lot of loft.  I used a quick panto, Fire Flower, which is a favorite of my customers.  It was easy and fun to do.

Christina's piecing is perfect!  She irons all her seams open, too, which really helps to make the quilt lie flat.

French Gourmet Dinner and Displaying Your Quilts

We used to belong to an active gourmet dinner group - I think we started over 20 years ago, but haven't done anything in about six years.  There were eight of us to begin with, and then we added another couple to make ten.  Dean and I decided to host a reunion (I planned ahead - can't believe it, because we are usually best at spontaneous entertaining) and we had it last night.  I think it turned out great.

Since we were the hosts, we got to decide what the theme would be and we chose French.  Maybe because we went to France in June, and maybe because I haven't cooked much French food.  I can't believe it.  I have been known to make lots of ethnic foods - Sushi, Thai, Chinese, Mexican, Italian, German, Polish, Greek, etc.  I used to make crepes years ago, but I think that's it.   Dean and I made Boeuf Bourgiginon and Potatoes Au Gratin.  Tons of cream and bacon and butter and oooh, la, la, it was really, really good.  Probably my best effort with our gourmet group.

Dean couldn't find any sunflowers at the store yesterday, but he did find these yellow flowers, and I pulled every piece of blue glass from my house and put it on the table.  We used my blue and yellow dishes, and I even whipped up six new napkins - couldn't make all ten because I just didn't have any more blue/white fabric.  I tell you, I have really been on a stashbusting roll lately!!

 Of course, I have tons of quilts all around my living room.  At one point, I had only one, but have really been using more lately - why not?  I love them, and I love fabric, and they really warm up our house - with all that tile it can get a bit austere looking.

My tablecloth wasn't big enough so I took a couple pieces of fabric and tucked it under the tablecloth and it worked.  

View from the front door entryway.  Maybe the best thing about entertaining (which we rarely do anymore) is that our house is clean, and will be for a day or two.... at least until my quilting crap gets scattered from here to the other end of the house!!

How about you?  Do you entertain anymore?  Do you have your quilts displayed around your home?

Watermarking Photos from IPad

I have been following a discussion on MQR about watermarking photos of your personal quilts.  One of the members found that her original design was reproduced by another quilter and posted on the web.  It was mentioned by several quilters that we watermark our photos.  I think it is a good idea, too.  I don't know that I will take the time to do that with each photo I post, but I will try today.  I am also testing this process from my iPad 1. I found a free watermarking app, SignatureOne Lite.  On my first attempt I found it very easy to use.  Then I uploaded the watermarked photo using a Picasa app.

Posting from an iPad can be a frustrating experience at times.  For instance, right now the cursor isn't visible so I just have to guess it is at the right spot and then start typing.  

  

I don't know how I feel about posting photos of my quilts and having them pinned on Pinterest.  It is flattering to find your work admired by others.  On the other hand, I have made a few original designs, and if I saw that someone had copied, let's just say, my wholecloth, for instance, and then entered it into shows and didn't note that it was a copy of a quilt made by myself,  I might be a little unhappy.  I have seen that a couple people pinned pictures of my quilts, but the pinners have all referred back to my blog and commented nice things, like "love Mary's border" or something to that effect.  I do really appreciate that.  

I think that almost all quilt patterns and designs are copied from something, be it a quilt in a store, a design in a carpet or on a blouse, etc.   I would be very unproductive if I couldn't see what others were creating, so I hope that people continue to post pictures of their work, and I plan n doing the same.  How about you?  Are you worried about someone copying your work?

Back to the test...my iPad is acting so strange right now that I better get this posted before I lost it altogether.  I hope it works and the watermarked picture shows up.  Have a good day!

Feather Practice and Decision Making

Just thought I would post this for new quilters...  When I have a particular shape that I will be filling with feathers, I may take some practice fabric and draw that shape with pen on the fabric, and then audition feathers in those areas.  I have taken a couple "whimsical feather" or "alternative to feathers" classes, one from Dawn Cavanaugh, and the other from Sue Patten.  I usually stitch out the same type of hump/bump or heirloom feathers or I will do a regular feather....but when I have time, I like to pull out my class notes, and practice those unique or different feathers.  

If you have followed my blog, you will know that decision making is one of my weaknesses.  I have been known to stitch things out, then remove the stitching, several times if necessary, if I don't like it.  I will also draw on plexiglass to help me decide how I will quilt something.  I have also taken pictures of the quilt, and drawn on it with my ipad and a stylus.  Sometimes, though, I just miss quilting feathers, and I have to play!  

Here is the border area of the next quilt I am doing.

A little bit of whimsy here.

Oh, something else I do when I practice:  I grab all the small bobbins and try to use them up so I have some empty ones for my next big quilt.  I used three partials on this practice piece.

 Sloppy, but fast and fun!

 Really sloppy, but super fun!

What type of feather will I end up doing?  I don't know!  I am going to load this one, and hopefully be inspired to do something new and different!

Quilting a Comforter

Well, this was interesting.  My five year old grandson is sleeping in a queen bed and was using a small full size quilt I made him a couple years ago.  I pondered making a new quilt for him, but queen?  Oh my goodness, I thought about the time and expense, and honestly, it didn't make sense to create a true quilt.  I went to our town's version of a mall...  a KMart...  the only store we have in town other than a Home Depot and two grocery stores...but hey, I am not complaining... when we moved here we had none of the above!  They had the perfect comforter, navy blue, at a perfect price, $30!

I wish now I had planned this better, and might have skipped the flame borders.  Now, I do love them, I am just not 100% happy with the way they blend with the super huge meander in the center.  I toyed with the idea of no quilting in the center, just a few more stars, but that didn't seem the perfect fit either.

So, here it is, all done, and I am sure my little guy will LOVE this rocket and the flames and his name on it!  He is going to get the same flame fabric on his pillow cases.

Angi's Buzzsaw

This is Angi's buzzsaw quilt.  Angi told me I could quilt it any way I wanted, so I chose the square spirals panto.  I used a variegated King Tut on it.  I love the way it turned out!