Utah trip

Well, in my last blog, I'd said I was on the road again... In Utah to be precise. Since I didn't have much new to write about, I thought I'd talk about our trip into Salt Lake City on Sunday the 27th. My husband and I decided to go in and see the Church History Museum there across from Temple Square in SLC. The Church keeps these types of places open on Sunday's... They consider it to be a type of missionary work. In the museum there was a quilt exhibit.

(I did have permission to take some photo's)

Silly things didn't load up here in the order I'd intended.

They're actually backwards. But oh well.

I'll describe the quilts in the order they are now.

I thought I'd share two of the quilts I found very interesting.

The first one here and the close up

was actually made in an insane assylum.

The doctor thought it would give the patients something to occupy their minds and their time.

The little diamond shapes are only about two inches long and about 1 inch wide. Very small.

The second one and the close up,

is a single large piece of fabric, with clothing labels arranged and sewn down on it.

I thought it was very cool.

An interesting recycling project.

Not only labels from the clothing lines, but also labels including the sizes like Med.

and I think also the care and content of the fabric used in construction.

I don't know where they got the long roll of labeling stuff, but one of the borders is uncut

labels from a clothing line also.

I thought they were both interesting quilts.

I thought the ideas behind them were inovative and fun.

The one from the assylum,

(where I think I belong sometimes)

and the ultimate recycling quilt.

There were many others,

but I thought these were the most unusual.

This coming week,

when I have time...

I plan to finish the calandar wall hanging,

and hopefully I can share that next time.

I have the wall hanging part done.

I need to finish the decorative panel,

and figure out how I'm going to attach it.

I'm thinking buttons on the wall hanging part

with ribons along the top of the decorative block

to fasten it to the buttons.

I also need to finish the quilt from the

mystery quilt day I was able to attend a few weeks ago.

We'll see what the week brings.

this and that

Well,

as I'm out on the road again...
I may seem a bit flittery.

(I think I made up that word.)

I just hope it's not too odd.

I'm over in Utah,

and I did stop in at Broadbent's again.

Over in Lehi,

It's right between the place we stay

(Eagle Mountain- br0-in-laws house)

and my husbands place of employment

located in Lehi -over next door to Alpine.

I'll not name his employer

as I don't want to seem like I'm advertising for them.

I brought my travel project,

I'd pictured it before...

it's the applique project

using the pattern "my whimsical quilt garden"

by Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins

I'm pleased to say that I'm a lot further along now.

I had stopped in at Broadbent's to pick up some fabric for the sashing,

and a few fat quarters to use for the applique's.

It's supposed to be scrappy looking.

Meaning that there are different combinations in each of the applique squares.

That was all I bought.

I am trying to not over buy right now.

I have a new photo of the square I'm working on,

and as the applique spills over into the sashing

I have also added the sashing piece to the one side.

(The photo has been added to the text part of the Blog -at the top of the page)

So you can see the fabric I purchased at Broadbent's.

I am laughing now,

I didn't want to mention my husbands employer...

But I've named the quilt shop several times.

They are not paying me.

I promise.

Anyhow,
The bird (which will be blue) is the part that will spill into the border.
Haven't quite gotten to that yet.

Another thing I thought of this week that I wanted to mention.
Is a quilt I made for a Christmas gift.
The one just past (Dec 2010).
I don't know why I'd forgotten to post a photo of it.

Last summer when I gave my grandson a quilt for his 2nd birthday...
My middle son, asked sort of jokingly
Why he never got a quilt from me.
I'd actually set aside some fabrics to make him one.
His favorite colors are red and black...
I'd purchased a few fabrics...
I'd raided my stash for other fabrics.
I had even started it before he'd asked me that question.
Any how,
Some of the fabrics had Canadian motif's on it.
Fabric's I'd purchased up north.
(We have a home in British Columbia as well as Idaho)
I'm afraid that his brothers-and his dad,
were a bit envious of the final product.
I had not intended the quilt to have a Canadian flair.
It just happened.

My husband is Canadian,
he's here with a permanent residency card.
Our kids are all blessed with dual citizenship.
I am an American with a Canadian residency card.

Anyhow,
his quilt has been added to the left hand photo column.
I will try to keep the works in progress within the text,
and the finished projects in the left hand margins.

Mystery Quilt

Saturday morning, 9am.
March 12
I went to my local quilt shop...
Bluebird Quilt Studio
in Nampa, Idaho.
Packed along my sewing machine,
and a few accessories I thought I might need.
Scissors, thread, that kind of stuff.

I had signed up the week before,
and chosen a colorway for the day...
I picked one that looked bright and cheerful,
one that I would have probably not chosen on my own.
I thought -why not be bold and go for something different.

I set up my machine and got my first clue.
I have to say it was pretty exciting...
I had never done a mystery quilt before.
I enjoyed the company of other excited quilters
also working their way through the clues.

It was arranged for us to have lunch next door
at a Viet Namese restaurant. Ummm, good food.
A chair massuese came
and offered massages at 10$ for 10 minutes.
Some of the women took advantage,
others didn't.

There were 9 clues in all,
and there were 4 different colorways that I could see.
It was pretty neat seeing everyone's projects coming together.
There were quilt fairies to help with pressing,
and unpicking mistakes.

I made the first mistake of the day that needed unpicking.
I somehow managed to get 2 greens stuck together and sewn to the white.
I think my making the first mistake eased the tension in the room.
I even made the anouncement that everyone could relax now that
I had made the first mistake. Ha ha ha ha ha.

At one point some one made the statement that we were not in a race,
we were supposed to be having fun...
I think I said I was pretty sure there must be some sort of race going on.
By the way, I was the first one done with all the clues.
Then we were given the diagram of the quilt top,
and how to put the borders on.
I have the first border on,
but I do have to admit there are two more to put on.
And...
I haven't got them on yet.

The pattern is called "Hopscotch"
by Rita Fishel *Mystery Quilts.

There was a drawing for some door prizes,
and I got the first one,
it was a tote bag.
I think I heard one woman say something
about it not being fair because I had been the first one done.
I think I said something like...
see, I told you it was a race.
It was all in fun of course.
We were all laughing.

And,
the shop owner told us if we signed up for the next one...
which I think it will be in September,
that we could choose our own colorway
out of any fabric in the shop.
I think everyone there (including myself)
signed up for the next Mystery Quilt challenge.

I stopped on the way out to buy 2/3 yard of the green
used in my mystery quilt, the amount called for -for binding it.
so I would have it when I got that far.
The quilt is twin sized and
I am quite pleased with it.
Not sure exactly what I will do with the finished product.
But I have some ideas I can't really share right now.
(I have a few quilts promised to a few people,
and it might work as one of those.)

Fun day, I would definately do a mystery quilt again.

Hummingbird Haven quilt block

Several weeks ago,
I can't tell you the exact date...
I purchased the magazine;
"Quilter's 100 Blocks from Today's top designers" collector's edition vol. 2

On page 8,
there is a show and tell section...
from blocks in the vol. 1 edition of the same magazine.
I really liked the Calendar holder,
and want to make one.
My plan is to make the decorative block part interchangeable
for the seasons... maybe eventually include the holidays/ monthly?

Meanwhile,
I decided to do the challenge from the podcast
"Quilting for the Rest of Us" by Sandra Hasenauer...
It was to use things from our stash,
and be inspired by springtime.
So I chose to do the block on page 30.
Block #117 "Hummingbird Haven"
by Cathy Van Bruggen -Cathy Van Bruggen Designs.
Which I plan to use as my first decorative block on my calendar holder.
I love little touches of whimsy,
and the spiderweb and spider made me smile
when I first saw the block.
When I am doing things for myself,
they need to make me smile -or why do them.

I still need to get it quilted and the binding done.
I still need to make the calendar holder.
But I did finish the applique block-
I changed a few things on mine from the original.
Didn't do as many details in the embroidery work...
and I chose to go with a blue hummingbird rather than a green one.
Overall, I'm pleased with the finished block...
(Picture included to the left...)
The background was leftover from the "Mouse House" background,
The appligue pieces all came from my scrap box...
I have left over batting from another quilt project,
that I'd saved for these type of smaller projects.
Now,
I need to go through my stash
and find a piece for the backing...
and something to make the calendar holder.
(My goal for this coming week.)

This week,
I've also heard from my daughter
who is serving a mission for the LDS Church
in St. Louis, Missouri.
She's decided she needs to make quilts
for a couple of the people she's become friends with there.
Which means a bunch of my time in assistance,
and... I'm happy to help her out.
She knows how to sew,
she has her own machine...
But she always gets discouraged when things get difficult
and wants me to finish off what she started.
I don't mind helping her out...
I don't know when she'll quit asking me
so I'll help out as long as she'll let me.
She's always had a giving heart,
and loves to do things for others.
I am pleased to encourage this nature.

Till later.