Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Out of the Box

The days just seem to fly by right now.  My gal pal and I headed out for a few days of sewing,  and I made some great headway on projects that had been hibernating in boxes for the past while.

First thing was to spread out over as many tables as possible, and then get busy.


JT2 was the first project on my list.  I had put it away while the patterns were still being published, so I truly had no idea what mess I had going on.

For some reason I made 2 feathered star blocks and I just happened to need a big block for the top right corner.  Done!  I did prep 4 appliqued blocks and got several other ones finished. They didn't make it into the photo.

After putting all my blocks up on the wall, I decided to tackle the 12 1/2" goose in the pond block that was foundation paper pieced.  2+ hours later (and a lot of cursing), I had it finished.  No, not the top, but that ONE block.  After a few more blocks I moved on to another project.  I spent some time the next day organizing and excluding the appliqued blocks, I have 12 or 13 more blocks to piece and I will have the top together.  After that, I got busy with some secret sewing, so no pictures.  I had all the parts ready to go and got that top completed.

M, on the other hand, got a lot more done than me.  Her JT2 is scrappy reds and whites, and she has many more blocks finished.


While she worked on the JT2, she also started putting together this top.


She still has a few blocks left over to go into another quilt.............

And a few strips pre cut for a few more blocks. I see a few more green quilts in her future!
She also got another top put together, but for reasons unknown to me, I have no pictures.  We truly just sewed all day and into the night.  It was 11:30 the first night when we called it quits.  Non quilter's must think we are crazy, but I'm sure you can all relate!

Hope you got in a few stitches on the weekend!
Sharon

Friday, February 13, 2015

Guild Presentation - Man Made

Wow, it's Valentines weekend and I just looked at the date of my last post.  Slacker?  Not really, I've just been very busy for the past few weeks.  Plus I'm having issues with my iPhone talking to my Surface.  I see pictures on the phone, but the Surface can't seem to find any after a specific date.
GRRRRRRRR.

So 45 minutes later, the simple task of finding photos on my phone and moving them over to my pc has been completed and I can share a few things with you.

As usual, click to enlarge the photos.  We had a fabulous guest speaker come to our guild this month, Geoff Hamada of Hamada Farms Quilts  (link to his FB page) in Seattle, WA


His presentation was a combination of slides and samples, and he spoke about men quilter's through the years.  It was SO interesting and some the slides had such amazing quilts.


Geoff does a lot of hand work and his beading and hand quilting is amazing.  His choice of fabrics on these pieces is so far removed from what I would use; I think this is what intrigued me the most about these pieces.


The "other" group of work that Geoff showed was his Hawaiian quilting.  He certainly has mastered those tiny tight curves and his hand quilting is terrific.  I dream about stitches that are that even!


Who doesn't love a red/cream  appliqued piece?  I wanted to sneak this one out of his pile, Oh well, I guess I'll add it to my bucket list of quilts that I want to make.


Oh so traditional, the red/yellow combination.



OK, my pictures aren't that great, but I had to show them. 

If your guild is looking for a guest speaker, I would highly recommend Geoff.  He lives in the Seattle area, is very knowledgeable as he spent several years on the Board of Directors at the La Conner Quilt Museum, and has had his work featured in exhibits across the nation.  His presentation was  well organized, informative and he has a very good sense of humor.  You will not be disappointed. 

Sharon...... who has been quilting up a storm for customers, charity quilts and a secret sewing project!