Design Wall and the End of October

I have been busy, busy working on quilts.  Most of them have been entered in the quilt show at Beaumont, TX.  The show will be held in February 2012.  And then there are the quilts that I just make to make.  I have lots of fabric that I am trying to use up.  I am trying to be wiser about what I purchase.  I no longer buy fabric just to put in my stash, actually that statement depends on how you look at stash.  I do buy fabric that I have no idea what I am going to do with it but I really don't consider that my stash.  When I buy for stash, I buy one piece usually at a time.  If I buy fabric for a project, even when I don't have one in mind,  I will buy fabrics that coordinate with each other and probably several.  Then I will go to my stash and fill in (if I can) for any added fabrics that I might need for that project.  This quilt (above)started with a line (Wrapped in Paisley).  The line just doesn't have enough of the colors that I need so thus I have dug around and found several pieces that will go with it.

It is the end of October.  We went from hot at the beginning of the month to chilly on the last day of the month.  I love October.  It is probably the best month of the year.  The leaves are turning.  The big maple in the front yard is very pretty with its shades of red.  For the most part the changing of the colors this far south just are not very attractive.  Most of the trees are an ugly brown. 

When October comes, I always give my little speech.  And that is, all of you ladies that have not made your appointment or had your mammogram this year, need to do that.  One in 7 women will get breast cancer.  For those of you who are in guild, how many women are in the guild and then do the math.  I belong to a bee.  There are 21 of us in the bee.  Three of us have had breast cancer and we have been lucky we are all long term survivors.  Notice, I said long term.  Breast cancer needs to be found early, so don't put off that mammogram.  And for the men in everyone's life, I have known three men with breast cancer.  It does happen.  Men do need to do a breast exam and if they find something, don't think it will go away, get it checked.

Hope all is well on your end.

Design Wall Oct 10 and etc.

I have lots on my design wall but the quilts are not far enough along for me to show since I have showed them before.  Possibly next week I will have a top finished and I will show that.  It is peeking through in the attached picture.   In the meantime, I do have a hand project that I had started some time ago and am now working on it.  It is a hexie quilt with stars.  This is the third hexie that I have made.  A picture of one is in the right column.  The second one, the top is finished and I am going to hand quilt it.  That will take awhile.  I have a long way to go on the third as you can see, although I do have a lot of pieces made. 

This past weekend I went to retreat.  It was held at Stone Creek Lodge between Silsbee and Kountz, TX.  We had 22 attendees.  Great fun and great food was enjoyed by all.  The following is pictures from the retreat.  I am going to put the pictures in smaller, you can click on the pictures to make them larger. 

Judy went to sleep, Lynn painted her face....

                     







In the kitchen



Hope all is well on your end......

My Design Wall and Etc...........

The group that I quilt with decided to make this tote bag to carry to the Houston Show in November.  They are all different in choice of fabric and all wonderful.  It goes together rather quickly.  The pattern is from a "McCall's Quilting" 2009 magazine.  It is made from a charm pak.  The pattern calls for this size but we cut the squares to 4 1/2 inches unfinished.  The fabric I used was from the Aviary line by Moda.  The button is from my button box.  I have been collecting buttons for roughly 40 years or more.  I made the straps a bit wider than the pattern called for and I think I would narrow them by about 1/2 inch, they would still be larger in width than the pattern calls for.  I also made them a couple of inches longer.  It depends on if you want to wear it over a shoulder.  I also added a strap holder (for the top of the shoulder).  I hate two strap anything.  Usually one strap is on the shoulder and the other is drooping.  The strap holder keeps them together. 



Beaumont, TX 2010

I entered a quilt in the Des Moines, Iowa AQS show.  It was accepted and hung at this past weekends show.  I did not win a ribbon but I was excited that it had been chosen for the show.  They had 270 quilts from 41 states and 7 countries. 

The picture was taken at the Beaumont show in 2010 where it did win ribbons. 

The weather is super.  Don't move here.  I like it here because we are not over populated.  Of course if you are a quilter, I will make an exception and you can move here.  You can be my neighbor.  There is a lovely house for sale next door.  Fall is the best time of the year.  The leaves are turning and the night time temps are in the low 50's.  I stepped outside yesterday and wondered why I was inside.  It was about as perfect as perfect can get. 

Hope all is well on your end.