Tacoma & Trip to MQX combined

Our Tacoma group made this Quilter's Block Case...designed by Jan Vaine from The Graham Cracker Collection GCCO18.
I did mine in strips of black/white and did fancy top stitching. The case is 13" square and will hold 12 1/2" block...also opens to a design board with flaps on the side.
Above: Front of Mine and Below the back.

Barb teaching the class.

Sue (below) finished her Morning Star quilt...a chapter challenge to be displayed at the Maine Quilt show in July...she renamed it. 'Morning Star - Kitchen Sink Style" because she used everthing from her stash. It is gorgeous....great job!!

And then of course there is Rayna who always has something in her hands to work on. She made this family of snowmen. Spring is here and she is getting ready for winter again!! Just adorable...does it make you want to get started early?

Travelling friends to MQX this week...Barb, Sandy, Koleen and Sherry

56 of us left from Lewiston to Providence, RI. at 6:00am and returned near midnight.

They offered a one hour apron 'make and go' class. Bernina and Janome sewing machines were set on long tables in the midst of all the show booths. The apron was pre-cut and placed in a neat little bag. In an hour the 3 of us had something we created to bring home.

Judy - on right (Instructor in black and we did not get her name). She was from the South and talked very fast and I had to keep slowing her down to understand her. We had a lot fun with her and laughed a lot.

Pauline's pretty creation.

and mine!!

They offered vendors, many long arm quilt machines to test. The quilts were very artistic...most of them heavily embellished and heavily stitched. I did not take many pictures and was awed by the time, skill and patience it took to make them. My mind could not conceive of many of them.

From the convention center there was a walkway to a food court next door where we went for lunch on the 4th or 5th floor...that was an experience for me!!...Judy who was leading the way assured me we were not lost....we did get into a service elevator and from there headed up the escalator's and by the time I reached the top was a little light headed. We ate and thankfully found an elevator for the descent. Lots of laughs...fun time with friends. It has been a very busy week but an enjoyable one.

Midnight Ecstasy + Mini

This is a challenge by Tacoma Lakes Quilters that I have finished. It was originally called 'Morning Star". Designer Linda Hohag. I changed the name to "Midnight Ecstasy" it is 64" x 64". It shows pink but is actually an orange red and I used different backgrounds for each center block.....the flowers/stems.leaves are done using needle turn applique. I fussy cut the setting stones. This will go along with 12-15 other quilts in the Maine Quilt Show in Augusta July 30-Aug. 1. Everyone is different and all so unique. BELOW is the mini quilt 12" x 12" that I made from the left over wings of the flying geese. I sewed them as I went and then re sized 1 1/2". The idea for the layout is taken from Miniature Quilt Magazine Fall '93 designer Jill Holmes of Cumberland, Wis. I named mine "Midnight Bloomer".


Don't forget to check out post below of the 'show and tell' of our meeting with Tacoma Quilters yesterday. Until.....

Tacoma "Show and Tell" for this month.

My husband teases my friends in quilting or anyone he can tell the story to. We did a shop hop visiting several in a day and then we gathered at someones home and had 'show and tell'. He laughs...he just does not get how excited we all feel when we look at what others have bought and the great bargains. This is our show and tell for yesterday when we met with Tacoma Quilters. ABOVE is the group of us, we were probably in the middle of a business meeting , getting side-tracked as we sometimes do. Barb our Pres. uses a gavel and you will hear it several times throughout the meeting to quiet us down. We just get so excited about everything. There were 19 of us today...



Below are the some of the quilts done by our members that belong to Casey Q group. These are charity QUILTS FOR KIDS. They send everything but the batting with a month's time limit. They have all been quilted ...several by Sue, Sherry and Pauline and probably others. Very colorful and the gals did a great job!!


Pam...Sue R....Pauline....Sandy...Sherry...Barb

Donna had finished 3 different projects. #1 a large quilt...stunning!!

#2 by Donna..do not remember the name...Love it!!

#3 Her delightful Mini

2 children's quilts that Janice (right) made. Barb helping her hold them. Cute!!

And Koleen who produces so many and they are always very big and expertly done. You can check out her website. She owns and operates the Quilters OASIS Workshop and Retreat Center in Wales, ME.

This was found in a box by Rayna who thought she had finished it about 16 years ago...unusual fabric. The front is paper dolls

The back looks like rooms that a little girl would have in a doll house....A great find

You will be hearing more about this candle mat. This will be a little workshop taught by Koleen in a few weeks. This one is wool but you could make it in other fabrics. Her sister is owner of Pickering Farm Quilt Shop that our group will be visiting. We are all excited about that trip.

This ends it for this time...did not get all the details but it takes a little time to resize and get this done trying to remember all the details is impossible. I do really enjoy it and the gals like having them on line so they can save them. I have a couple of my own but will post them above so I can have a separate listing so I can find them when I want. So until next time.....

This Week at Casey's

These are the 'show and tell' from Casey's Quilters this week...we meet at 10:00am-7:00pm.... have lunch and dinner together....it is such a fun day with many conversations going on at once.....you know how noisy ladies are when they get together.



I received 10 blocks in a drawing for January...members could participate or not and this was the last month and I was so glad I did not have more...all sizes and colors.....I call it 'Winter's Medley'. I take my pictures outdoors and the wind would not let up and the was the best I could do. Now to get it on the quilter and finish it..



Pam's is below...she won the Valentine blocks in '09 and had many more blocks to deal with...Sherry quilted it....both of them did an outstanding job.



This is Janice and she is doing monthly blocks from Cotton Weeds. Freeport...One for each month and they are adorable.

This is Laura's bibs for her great-grand babies that will be with her at Easter. One is for the little boy and two are for the twin girls.....cute!! cute!! cute!!!

This is Sue R and it is done in Calico's with a border to be added....really nice!!

Sherry used Mary Engelbright fabrics...she owns her own studio quilting business and does beautiful work.

Laura's finished quilt....the picture does not do it justice but it was a wonderful job...she did the buttonhole stitch around each animal and the borders had the same animal done in various colors..will make that little boy very happy.

This is it for today....of course there were other projects in various stages....the girls have been working on charity quilts and I will get a picture of some of them when finished being quilted. Until....

Tacoma Meeting - Mini & Reds/white fabric

Our group is doing a challenge and these are the ears off my flying geese. I sewed them as I went and are now resizing to make a mini wall hanging. The pattern was taken from Miniature Quilts Fall, 1993 created by Jill Holmes of Cumberland, Wisconsin, 'Green with Envy"(picture printed in black and white). The centers are fussy cut using the corner stones I used in my large quilt....will get it done in a week or so and will post. We are having what is called 'Tasty Treat's. Two names are drawn each month with 20 gals participating and we choose 'what' and 'color' we want. Mine are twenty fat quarters in beautiful reds/white. The other winner chose yellow fat quarters ...it is a fun thing and we are excited!!
Thank you Ladies...I love them!!!!

Four of the girls decided to do a quilt by Jinny Beyer called 'September Sun'. These will be displayed in the Maine State Quilt Show in July. (note #4 is still in the process)

#1 Sherry who is standing on the left. Sherry has her own quilting business and does outstanding work in everything she touches. Gorgeous touch of brilliant blue!!

#2 Koleen (Below)standing on the right. Her words, 'I came out of my box in the colors chosen.' She is an outstanding quilter, designer, owns and operates an overnight get-away for quilters with all the amenities. She offers many services so be sure to checkout her website. My only words are 'my oh my'...Wonderful!!

#3 Sue (below)on the left who used Jinny Beyer's palette. You will want to check out her blog and see all the information she offers. Quilting, knitting and any special technique that she has learned. Wonderful!! Wonderful!!!

All three of these ladies are outstanding quilters in their own right and I have never seen anything I have not liked. Always done with expertise and with wonderful color combinations.

You will have to agree they are all gorgeous. All I can say is Awesome!!!!

This month after 'show and tell' we had a workshop. Our project was ' Wrap it to go' demonstrated by Pauline. It holds a tablet of paper...pens etc.

This is the inside.

These are some of the ladies working on them. Pauline is at the right. Many made them at the meeting or got the instructions and will make them at home. It was a popular project.

These are more of the 'Star candle mat' we did a few weeks ago. Amazing how different they are.

We are a group of 'hares and tortoise'....some finish fast and some slow. (YOU ARE suppose to smile!!!). I love it that our group is made up with all levels of quilters..none of us know everything and that is the fun part of it.

Maggie, our treasurer with hers in blues/reds. She has been in the chapter a long time and she is loved and appreciated.

Janet with her design she thought was wrong...it is great when a person takes a pattern and turns it into theirs. Very nice!! She is one of our newer members.

Pauline our secretary. She was the instructor for the day and everyone agreed she did a great job...

Here are some more and I think the last. Not sure how many of us made them but a good number. Some made two and planned to do others. It was easy for everyone and came out so nice.

Our President Barb is on vacation so hopefully she will get to see what we did...The girls really enjoy having them posted and then they can save them to their pictures if they want to.

Until next time...Happy Quilting!!

Casey Quilt Group

Busy week with Quilt groups...today we met at Sherry's and these are some of the things we worked on....we meet at 10am and have dinner together leaving around 7pm. It is always a fun and relaxing time...

These are melted snowmen!!! How cute are they each with their own little personality as Sherry would say. She had made several at Christmas and taught us.

A work in Progress by Laura....one thing about a group you can bring something and get all kinds of opinions and their were many ideas tossed around on how to finish it off. The dark piece has all the little colorful figures in it...and she will accent with yellow....just adorable.

Laura's black/white/yellow quilt she got the binding on...again stunning!

This is Day & Night by Eleanor Burns. She includes an Acrylic template. Barb demonstrated the 'how to'. It can be done with 2 or 3 colors and looks like you put a lot of work into it but is really simple. Some of us are planning to do this soon.

2 color Day & Night. Sorry it is blurry but you get the idea.

Pam finishing one of her UFO's. And of course, it is delightful as I really like anything with trees.

More Star Candle Mats that were started in our Tacoma group on Weds. The blue was the original that Pam had made and demonstrated. Barb's is the red one.

Another of Laura's creations. Made for twin grand babies...all hand done...They are so sweet..a Grammie's touch and what a treasure they will be.

That is it for today.....And of course, there were other projects. Sherry has a wonderful design wall to display and work from. Until .....

Tacoma Meeting

Our meeting was cancelled because of a promise of snow....BUT 'No snow it's a go'....snow never came but we did with our President, Barb sharing a Chenille demo, 2 new rulers called 15" 'Trapezoid" and a 60 degree quilateral triangle and piping of different sizes and feet. We all agreed it was excellent. And of course we had show and tell. The gals like it online because those that are unable to get there are able to see the wonderful creations.

This is a Bargello by Janet...it is 8' x 10' with 64 different colors and 4,725 pieces. It was absolutely gorgeous. Quilted by Ann a local gal. Pictured are L to R....Donna, Janet and Carol.

This was adorable made with chalk board material by Sandy.
Sandy's 'Morning Star' 64" square. This will be part of a challenge by our group to be displayed in the Maine State show in July.

These were the finished 'Star Candle Mat' demonstrated by Pam last month. Amazing how different they are.

L to R. Bev, Carol, Rainey, Lori and Bea.

This is mine...if you notice above I forgot to put the finishing border on it..I wondered why it was so small when I put it together with the batting and backing. Well it is done and I will do some hand quilting on it.

That it is for this week. Enjoy!!