Quilting the middle of a king size quilt

The hardest part of quilting any quilt bigger than a throw is the middle and that is especially true of a king sized quilt. The middle is a bitch! However, once you get the very middle out of the way is does get a little easier. And after you've finished the middle part, and your forearms feel like Popeye's, and you lay it out on the bed to take a good look at it and it looks FREAKIN' GREAT, you can then jump up and down with glee cause you have just done something hard and you have done it well! Yipee! and Yehaw! Quilting makes my skirt fly up! Now I'm off to quilt some more. Happy Quilting!

What you do when it is 100 dgrees in Texas

What do you do when it is 100 degrees in Texas? Why go camping of course! And before you jump to the conclusion that I am nuts, there were bunches of folks with the same idea. We definitely had adventures. The first thing that happened is there was a mix-up with our state park reservation and they had no campsites with electricity. All booked up. (Did I mention that it is a hundred degrees here?) So we thought we would head to River Rd in New Braunfels and surely find a place to stay. Nope, not a thing. Meanwhile, my brother is on his computer at home getting us phone numbers of camping sites so we don't have to stay in a hotel. The good news is we found a place near Canyon Lake and it was great! (We got there last site available and manager stayed late until we could get there.) We had a fabulous time! We had a group of 15 and 5 of them were teenaged girls, and they were all on their periods and believe it or not there was minimal drama. The big deal for my 7yr old daughter was the makeover my 17yr old niece gave her. She was all dolled up for floating down the river, and 4 hours later she still had plenty of makeup on despite the fact she had her face in the water much of the time. My big drama was leaving my wallet in my mother's car and not realizing it until the day after she left with it. So I headed home yesterday with no drivers license and not cash and no credit card. We made it home just fine. (I met my mother for lunch today so I have it back.) Today was devoted to mountains of laundry (how do I have mountains of laundry when we spent 4 days wearing swimsuits?), but tomorrow I am quilting! Yipee!

Quilt received!

The mailman delivered Victoria's quilt yesterday so I can finally show the whole quilt without ruining the surprise. She sent me a bag of scraps and this is what I sent her back. I probably used too many of my own scraps in the construction but this quilt kept telling me it wanted to be green. So what could I do but make it green. When I went to quilt this little thing, I hadn't quilted anything in over a month and I was rusty. Imagine my surprise! Anyway, I have never quilted a quilt where I haven't ripped something out and this one wasn't any different. I hope she likes it. It sure was fun to do. So if you get a chance to sew with someone else's scraps, DO IT! You will be in for some surprises. Happy quilting!

Back in the Zone

I'm back in the zone, baby. That is not to say I haven't been sewing, I just haven't been in sewing nirvana. How did I get here? Funnily enough, I cleaned out my sewing space. Who new a little cleaning would make me open my eyes this morning at 6:30 this morning with one thing in mind. Quilting this quilt. It has been folded up in the corner for a while waiting. So here is a little sampling of want I have been doing. Yipee and Yehaw! The zone feels fabulous!! My skirt is flying up!!!!

Spike in Austin

Last night was the July meeting of the Austin Area Quilt Guild. Spike Gillespie was our guest speaker. She was witty and fabulous. She read from her book, "Quilty as Charged", told some funny stories, and showed some some quilts. You can't beat that combo with a stick. If you haven't read her book, she talks alot about the "counter-culture world" of quilters. Very well done. She has also quoted a lot a members of AAQG. My quote is on page 59. So if you are looking for some summer reading or are looking for a good speaker for your guild, give Spike a go. You won't be disappointed.
And in case you were wondering what I've been working on. The quilt in the background is a scrap swap that I owe Victoria@Bumblebeans. It will be off to her via the US mail tomorrow. Hope you like your sneek-peek V. Happy Quilting!

Happy Independence Day

It's the 4th of July and the peach cobbler is out of the oven, the beer and Koolaid are packed in the ice chest and everyone in our family is dressed in red, white, and blue. We are off to celebrate with friends. Brisket, beer, homemade ice cream and kids with Sparklers, is there a better way to celebrate? Happy Independence Day!