Last year, I don’t remember when, I had an idea to use up some of my scraps by making scrappy 6 1/2 inch pineapple blocks. The idea is to eventually make enough of them for a queen size quilt. Only problem is I am slow at paper piecing which is the method I am using. I actually worked off and on all day on one block!! Of course the rest of the day I was blowing my nose so maybe it is possible I could have finished two blocks instead if I wasn’t grabbing Kleenex? I am estimating right now that I need about 256 blocks to make a quilt that is about 100 x 100 inches large. I have 5 finished – 4 of them from last year LOL.
my 5 blocks. Some of the color choices weren't perfect as I had several dark colors too close to the same shade next to each other, but I will be more careful in the future - none of these are getting tossed out!! and I'm not picking them apart either 
With so many blocks in a quilt I really don't think anyone will notice a few bad color choices here and there.
I will continue to work on this quilt for several years I bet. I had sore fingers from quilting and just didn’t feel like working on any of my other projects today so went back to this one. I used the Singer Featherweight. I thought I needed some practice with the machine as I had not used it since Bea had worked on it. The machine worked great although at first I thought I was going back to the same old problems with tension but then realized when I put it in the storage bag that I had bumped the upper tension dial. Got that back to where it should be and practiced threading and putting the bobbin in and then got started sewing.
Learning how to use my new phone has been interesting. There are aps for everything it seems but I do not want to spend money on buying them. We found one ap for the weather channel that is free and you select gps and it finds the location wherever you are and tells you what the weather will be and shows you a weather map too. That sure will come in handy when we are traveling.
I will select the winner for the give away tomorrow and then mail it out on Monday – good luck and thank you to those who participated. You still have time this evening if you want to get in on it.
Moving right along – yeah right, 2 blocks in the last 2 weeks after a 4 week break – not moving very fast I’m I! Here is a block that I did today – twice I messed up the first block – little inaccuracy’s do not bother me – but cutting a hole in it does!! That’s right. This block is reverse applique. I was trimming the back of the red fabric off and went and cut a hole in the white. Luckily it was one of the easiest blocks to do and I made a replacement this evening. I would have done it earlier but I was working on it my friend Julie’s house and hadn’t brought extra fabric with me. I forgot to take a photo of Julie’s 12 rows so I will try to run back over there in a couple weeks and get one. She is one of the neatest precise piecers. She really has that paper piecing down.
Row 11 Block 7
My new phone is now working although I have not figured it all out. In order to do e mail on this phone I needed to switch from Microsoft Outlook to gmail. Mike set it up for me that all of my outlook mail will automatically be forwarded to the gmail account. I really do not know how this works but so far I think all my mail today has arrived. If for some reason you think I did not reply to a message send it again and I’m sure it will come through. It is not necessary for me to give anyone a new e mail address as it is automatically forwarded — also when you get a reply from me it will still state my address from the Microsoft Outlook address as always.
I have not had time to play with my feather book that I bought at the show and I hope when I feel better to get to it and practice – this spring time cold is bothering me a lot late today and I just don’t have the energy for it! So this is it for today -
Give away continues – winner chosen on Saturday.
I am technically challenged and I really do not like getting new things (I think I have had my current phone for 6 years now) — but in order to have internet on the road when we are traveling we decided to get new phones and today picked up a Palm Pre Plus for both of us. Mike had been researching this for awhile now and decided these phones were it. Now to learn how to use it!! I have a feeling this is going to take awhile. I’ll let you all know if I ever learn it and feel comfortable with it!! This phone has mobile WI-FI hot spot so we can use our computers for internet access as long as we have a phone signal — I think I understood this right Mike will have to have patience and answer all questions when I ask LOL – he will get tired of me asking questions I’m sure. Of course he has to learn it first!
I hate spring/summer colds and I have one, hopefully it will not get bad. Mike got one in the middle of last week so it is not surprising that I got one too.
Today I took a break from quilting as I have a sore finger – hazards of the trade you know. Instead I did a little applique on the Little Brown Bird block that I started last week. It is coming along nicely. Last week while we were traveling I managed to do one Dear Jane block for the “Insanity Revisited” quilt.
Row 11 block 6, coming along only how many more to go?
Tomorrow I’m going to be checking out my friend Julie’s Dear Jane quilt she is just about done with row 12 and maybe will have it attached to the body of the quilt and I will get a photo tomorrow – one more row for her to go and then the triangle border. She has been working on it for 2 years now. She started hand piecing it but at the end of the first year she decided if she was ever going to finish it she would need to machine piece instead and so she has been busy with it all year and moving along quickly. As we all know it takes a lot of us over 4 or 5 years to make a Dear Jane quilt – most of us are working on 10 other projects at the same time!! LOL Julie on the other hand is not and has mainly only been working on this quilt with just a couple other small projects here and there. Such dedication, I get tired of it if it is the only thing I am working on.
Give away continues – winner announced on Saturday.
Before I left for the Paducah Quilt Show I said that I would go through my basket when I got home for another give away. I have gone through the basket – decided there were a few things in there that I still might use and put them back on the shelf and tossed in a few other things – such is the life of a quilter LOL
The give away items plus I will toss in some fabric from the stash - it will be a surprise.
I am giving away two quilt patterns for Christmas. This might be a good time of the year to start working on those projects. I had bought these patterns some years ago that went in a Christmas Wall hanging that had about 12 patterns in it. I never collected all of the patterns and have no interest in doing two small wall hangings or making pillows or table toppers out of them. The quilt title was “Father Christmas” one of the blocks finishes at 18″ x 6″ and the other is 18″ x 12″. These can be done with fusible or needle turn applique. The apron pattern was given to me by a secret pal one year but I am not interested in aprons so someone else can enjoy it.
The Rules: leave me a comment and make sure I have a way to get in touch with you – either e mail address or blog address — something! The winner will be announced on May 1st – Saturday. You might be surprised at how many blogs I have read that have give aways where they can not contact the winner. This give away is open internationally.
I had wanted to open my windows today for fresh air but CJ (lives nearby) from “From My Studio – Created by CJ” has warned me she did and now has pollen all over her house so I will heed the warning and keep my windows closed – yuk pollen –when will it go away? I am getting caught up on laundry and feeling kind of crappy today. Mike got a cold half way through the week and I do believe he has given it to me as I feel really “off” and have since yesterday afternoon.
A few more photos from Paducah on Saturday in between rain storms. We spent the afternoon in the town so we wouldn’t be in the camper in case of tornadoes – luckily it was just rain and no branches down in the campground.
The skies near Paducah on Saturday. We had rain off and on but the really bad storms missed the area.
the big white temporary "tent" like building in the storm. It kind of blends right in with the sky. I heard that there are people interested in building two hotels on either end of the convention center so maybe in a couple years something will be here to replace this.
A historical museum in the historic area of the town, we spent time here passing off one storm in the dry inside. A very interesting array of items here.
the baby quilt in progress - I did not get as much done as I had planned to - it will get done though in the next couple weeks I hope. About 3/4's finished? The top 1/4 has to be quilted still besides the little bits on the side where the hoop is. My backing fabric wasn't quite wide enough and I didn't feel like sewing another strip onto one edge what I plan to do is I am quilting to about 2 inches of the long sides and then I will trim the edges, add the binding and then if any little bits need some quilting on the end of the lines I will add it then.
A new block for the Little Brown Bird quilt. Flowers will be scattered over this block like they were on the first block for this quilt that I had made some months back. I have some uneven places here and there - how did that happen? I didn't cut carefully enough I guess - no matter the flowers will conveniently take care of the bad spots. I need to do a bit of needle turn still on this one and will get back to it next week maybe - I want to get the baby quilt finished first.
I got one Dear Jane block finished also but forgot to take a photo so I will do that tomorrow.
Oh my am I tired!! It is so nice to be home again and to have a decent internet connection!! I will go through photo’s tomorrow and see what I can post as they said no photos of the quilts to be put on the internet. Today was a long drive home after two busy, busy days. I got pizza tonight so I didn’t have to cook and the camper is unpacked (only a weeks worth in it so that wasn’t bad). The windows are open to air out the house as the rain we had while we were gone washed the pollen out of the air and the fresh air smells great!! The house got a little stuffy musty smell while we were gone.
Tomorrow I will go through all of my goodies that I bought and figure out where to store them. I started to listen to the beginning applique dvd that I bought and already have a new helpful hint from it. Most of what I have listened to already though is stuff I knew and do but I’m sure I will pick up other hints from her.
I looked at the feather book this morning on the drive and it is so great – I do not know why I hadn’t gotten this book before.
I of course did not get done with near the quilting and sewing that I thought I would do – I never do – I did get one Dear Jane block finished and about 1/3 of a Little Brown Bird block. The baby quilt is about 2/3′s finished so at least some progress was made.
More tomorrow!
by Karen on April 25, 2010
in quilts
I found that when I went to the show in 2004 that it worked well for me to see the show in the morning, then have lunch, see the vendors at the convention center and this year next door in the temporary building, head to the museum and see that and then call it quits for the day. Today we did the second day the same as I did before when my oldest daughter went with me. Hancocks of Paducah first, then the mall to see the vendors there.
At Hancocks I did find just a little bit of fabric that I wanted for background – I got 2 one yard cuts of a very light pink batik. I mentioned previously that I did not come here with the intention of buying a lot of fabric – I have plenty at home. I wanted to see demonstrations on the vendor floor, and find and see notions and gizmo’s that I had heard about but wanted to see in person.
At Hancocks I did buy two king size quilters dream batting so I would not have to order it for a little bit – I cut these sizes down for smaller quilts and will save one of the batting’s for the big quilt that I made several months ago and will go on the quilting frame later in the year. Over at the mall I found a few more things – “In my opinion” the vendors at the mall were not as good as they had been when I came here in 2004 – this is only my second time here though so maybe that is normal. I think the better companies and stores get the better locations at the convention center (my opinion).
My purchases from today! Almost everything was on my list - I'm pleased that I stuck very close to my list. One thing that wasn't on it was the book "Infinite Feathers" with he template for making feathers for quilting. It is on a list at home for future purchases so it is OK that I saved on the shipping and handling - right! Also not on my list was a package of Mylar circles that I use in my applique - these circles are much larger and many sizes. The thread is silk for applique, the square rulers are 16 1/2 inches and 12 1/2 inches.
I’m pleased that I did so well sticking to my list. The main reason for this list was that when I went in 2004 I was so overwhelmed with all of the vendors that I went a little crazy and bought things that I still have actually not used!! I did not want to do that again.
I will post more when I get home.
by Karen on April 24, 2010
in quilts
Finally the computer stayed connected while I was trying to upload photos last night. I did not take many photos of the vendor area as I got so busy looking at things that I forgot I had my camera with me!! LOL I took a few at the very beginning and then got busy. When we get home I will look through the photo’s Mike took and maybe post some more.
I did take one photo last night of the items I bought besides the thimble and here they are:
The two DVD's that I mentioned. A 3 way Sandpaper board. (I have one at home but I like to leave it with the Dear Jane box as I almost always have a block in progress and do not like to move it) a second will come in very handy. A couple small stencils for small blocks when quilting, I got one free also for the purchase. A little ruler called a "The Gizmo" it is for making half square triangles. A 3-in-1 Color Tool, new and improved it says. I hope this will teach me more about color selections. One container of 50 applique needles by Roxanne - I have not used their applique needles before I use them for quilting all the time though so thought I would give these a try. Last is a "corner mark-it" ruler for making perfect miters on quilting bindings and corners.
one area of the beginning area of the vendors
another area in the front of the vendors
And one more section
these photos were all taken in the new “temporary” building that was made for some of the vendors. Having gone to the show before in the past I can say that “in my opinion” I did not like the set up for this year. In the big main building it was still set up a lot like it use to be and that was ok, but the temporary building did not have good cooling – it was very cool in one section but it didn’t get all over the building. I saw no drinking fountains or bathrooms in it – you had to walk over to the next building for that. The building will work as a temporary structure until they get something else in place though.
Overall the vendors were so scattered that I over heard several groups of people saying that they felt like they had missed a lot of stuff – and some did. While standing in line at one of the bathrooms I overheard a group talking and realized they had totally missed everything on the second floor and told them and they were like “what – I didn’t know there was things upstairs” . With your ticket you are giving a quilt show book that has maps of the layout of all the buildings and where things were – in 2004 I missed those pages!! Not this time, I made sure I looked at book right after we got our tickets.
Today will be a test as to how that building stands up to bad weather. From about 1 this afternoon to 6 this evening we are in severe weather the news last night said that city officials were going over plans on what to do if the weather gets really bad – like tornado warnings? I plan on heading to a strong building I do not plan to be out in the campground this afternoon!! I would rather ride out a storm in the town.
We are heading home tomorrow. I have gotten a lot of e mail from y’all and have had such a poor internet connection here that I have not answered many e mails. Just want you all to know that I got them and thanks for writing and I will get back to answering e mail and comments when I get home. Thanks for staying in touch.
by Karen on April 23, 2010
in quilts
I am having a horrible time having internet connection at this campground and have not been able to upload my photos. I managed to get one photo uploaded and then it disconnected again. I think I might have to wait until I get home although knowing me I will keep trying off and on while we are here.
The quilts were fantastic!! Such good work on both the hand quilting and the machine quilting – I’m amazed at the talent of the quilters. I think I must have been on my feet for 7 hours 
we did the show this morning then sat and rested while we ate lunch then we moved on to the vendors. I told myself I was not going to buy any books, patterns or fabric no matter what the price (the fabric I am saving for Hancock’s of Paducah if I see background fabric of the kind I want to go with scraps). I have plenty of books – plenty of patterns and plenty of scraps at home. I really want to use up some of my stash before getting more fabric. The only kind of fabric that I want to get this year is for backgrounds and backing.
I had a list of notions that I wanted to look at. I wanted to feel thread to see what the different kinds felt like – some are too thin for hand quilting and with ordering on line most of the time I really wanted to be able to feel. The main thing on my list that I wanted to find was a decorative useful thimble from TJ Lane – I knew they had a booth and I found them. The lady was so helpful and fitted my finger to the right size and I got it.
Isn't this pretty!! I use an open nail thimble when I applique but the one I use is adjustable and the thread gets caught up on it easily. This will be used. It is a little longer than some thimbles. I have a Roxanne thimble which is very nice but it is heavy and short and falls off my finger easily. This one I believe will stay on much better and I love it!
I did not have books on my list but I did want to find two instructional DVD’s and I found them!! They are both by Elly Sienkiewicz – one is “Teaches you Beginning Baltimore Applique” and the other is “Teaches you Advanced Baltimore Applique”. I know I am past beginner for most applique but I was told that the Beginners dvd has instructions on Papercuts which is a special kind of applique that I will be using in several quilts and I wanted more detail on how to do it. These DVD’s count as “classes” for me! I’m not even going to try to link these as I normally do as I am afraid I will get kicked off line again!! In fact I am going to post this right now and go back to trying to upload photos. If I have luck I will do another post and schedule it for tomorrow if I am lucky.
by Karen on April 23, 2010
in quilts
Part of Tuesday was spent at Jacksonport State Park - and no bugs!! we so enjoyed walking the grounds by the big old courthouse that is now a museum. The park was hit by a tornado in 1992 that did a lot of damage. You can see in the photos that there are no big shade trees around the building — I bet there were at one time. Money was raised and the damage was fixed to the building - one of the main attractions to the park is the old courthouse. This park continues to have its problems caused by weather. This past winter the old riverboat sank! Now they need to raise the boat out of the water and restore it. They need to raise some more money for that.
Here are photos:
The old courthouse - circa 1870's
the sidewalk outside leading to the building and goes all the way across the grounds
a close up - now I don't know about you but I can see a quilt pattern from this!!
the big old courtroom
the chandelier
Because this is a port town there are of course oysters in the bed of the river. In this photo on the wall you can see a photo of a necklace - some pretty big nice oyster pearls were taken out of here over the years. One pearl is supposed to be in a royal crown in England.
talk about recycling! oyster shell buttons. Look at the photo of the lady she is holding some shells after they had been put through the button cutter - they used a lot of the shell for buttons
the button cutter machine
