No lack of things to do

Another retreat project has appeared! A friend of mine at work has had this quilt for 30+ years and has recently noticed that all of the squares of this fabric are wearing away and she has asked me to repair her quilt. It should be fairly straight forward, replace the squares and reconnect the straight furrow quilting. Now i need to find some really funky fabric so my repaired squares wont stand out as a definite repair. It may not be as dramatic as repairing a masterpiece from the 1840's but to me, its a neat challenge :-)

Retreat Prep, etc.

I am busy preparing for the retreat next week. I have all the components cut for several different projects as well as some swaps I am participating in. My buddy Pam really showed me the light regarding pre-cutting. She amazed me with the amount she accomplished when we first met at retreat several years ago. Everything was organized into plastic bags and she just sewed her little heart out. No waiting in lines at the cutting mats, the irons and boards were used to press block components and not pre-pressing yardage, always something available to work on even if just for a couple minutes here and there. So my to-do tote is filling up, we'll just see how much I actually get accomplished!

Jennifer's fabrics and prototype woven table runner (previous post) are still hanging on the design wall mocking me :-)

The purple and green charity quilt for Relay for Life is still on the frame 25% quilted.

With so much to do, what am I doing here? I had better get to sewing!

I am normally not a chicken!

I love participating in quilting challenges of all kinds. I have used fabric belonging to other people, I have used UFOs belonging to other people, I have used a challenging fabric, and I have designed quilts based on a concept, however this challenge has me really nervous.

The challenge is Fat Quarter Frenzy from Quilting in Indiana. We have exchanged 4 coordinating FQs and we're to make something from those FQs alone without any additional fabric.

I have always wanted to try weaving fabric, so I thought this would be an awesome way to try the technique out by making table runner. But before I slashed through Jennifer's fabric, I wanted to make a sample from my own FQs.

In progress:

Finished with Jennifer's fabrics intended for the "real" one:

Now I am faced with a few problems/questions.

#1 The finished size shown is 35"x12" and I used every bit of the FQs to accomplish this. Unless I wanted to cut the length down to around 20" I will still need most of the fabric supplied which leaves me next to none for binding unless I wanted to piece it. My solution is to buy prepackaged binding and call it embellishment :-)

#2 The large floral print is frightening to me, will it remain cohesive looking if only 1¼" square blocks are showing?

#3 The fabric strips are fused to a fusible webbing, because I am not allowed to use any extra fabric, I will not be able to back it, will the non fusible side provide enough strength to make the table runner usable?

#4 How long will the fusible hold? I really do not want to use batting and quilt it because I will lose the braided effect if I stitch it down. Also, stitching off every strip is a bit of a pain, I am considering using a Heat and Bond tape, but once again, how long will it hold?

If you have an answer or comment to anything, please post, I'd like all the help I can get! Thank you!

a meme

From Floribunda

1. If you were to attend a costume party tonight, as what or whom would you go?
Ghost...I think I have a clean sheet! :-)

2. What are your choice of toppings on a hamburger? And do you prefer gas or charcoal grilling? The standard is lettuce, tomato, Mayo and pickles. I prefer gas for convenience, but charcoal for flavor.

3. You are chosen to have lunch with the President. The condition is you only get to ask one question. What do you ask?
Are you proud of what will be written in the history books about you?

4. It’s your first day of vacation, what are you doing?
Napping.

5. What is your concession stand must-have at the movies?
Have not been to the movies in years, I'm a rent them months later kind of person. So I'd say nothing.

6. How long was it from ‘the first date’ until the proposal of marriage? How long until the wedding?
Hehe, first date Sunday, moved in together Tuesday, pregnant with twins 2 months later, six years until his divorce, proposal as we left the lawyers office, wedding a month later when we both could get off work at the same time.

7. What is one quality that you really appreciate in a person?
Honesty.

8. Everyone hears discussions that they consider boring. What topic can put you to sleep quicker than any other?
Religion.

9. If you had to have the same topping on your vanilla ice cream for the rest of your life, what topping would you choose? Strawberry topping.

10. What food item would need to be removed from the market altogether in order for you to live a healthier, longer life?
All white flour products.

...Feel free to tag yourself for this meme if you need something to write about today. If you do, leave a comment and let me know.

Knock on wood, I'm actually ahead

Here we have step 1 of the Orange Crush Mystery at Quiltville. Now I'm anxiously awaiting on step 2. Naturally I went shopping in the stash for coordinating fabrics, no sense in making a scrap quilt from assorted scraps and then buying coordinating fabric. I have been thinking that I'd like to try something a little brighter than normal which is why I decided to use the fabrics shown.

Also, this is a RxR from Mailblocks....sure doesn't look like a RxR does it? Well Mindi has decided to use some blocks from a previous blue, black and white swap as a starter and wants to add more to it to make a full size quilt for her son. So I pulled out all of my non girly looking blues and just had some fun making different blocks. (please forgive the crappy photo)

Cursing Myself

"Oh My, not another mystery!" I say to Myself. Myself says back, "Hush, dont worry, its not another mystery quilt I am loading upon you, its two!"

Bonnie at Quiltville's Orange Crush Mystery

and

Gayle at Sentimental Stitches Shipshewana Amish