Little Baltimore Album

Burr - it is sure cold and damp out today. It was only 48 degrees by 11 am. and it doesn't feel any warmer now yet at 1:30 pm. We had a real thunder boomer of a storm during the middle of the night. It has been quite a while since we have had thunder that loud or last as long as it did last night. We ended up with about 1 1/2" of rain so everything is muddy around the farm this morning. Enough of the weather report....

Yesterday 3 quilting friends and I traveled to Grand Island for the China Luncheon and Bed Turning the guild up there did. They patterned it after the one we did last spring and it was as great as ours was. They had 21 tables all decorated in a different theme for us to look at then the luncheon was served. The bed was piled high with quilts at the front of the room and each quilt lifted and the narration read then the quilts were walked around the room. The quilts they showed were all so beautiful. I was lucky enough to sit at a table at the front so had a good view of the quilts as they showed them. It was a fun afternoon and great inspiration for ideas.

No sewing done lately so am showing a quilt I made several years ago. In fact I started it the day after my youngest daughter graduated from high school. You know how some dates just stick in your mind. Usually I don't remember those kind of things but remember I was so busy getting my house ready and the food ready for the graduation party and all I wanted to do was start on this quilt. The next day I did get started and it was like taking a vacation - I remember it was wonderful to sew. Finished quilting it a year later in 1996 - got delayed finishing it with other projects.

The blocks are machine appliqued to the background with the invisible stitch and I hand quilted the quilt. I quilted around the motifs then quilted a 1/2" grid in the background being very careful to have it come out exactly at the corners and at the binding and kept the lines evenly spaced. I call it "Little Baltimore Album" but used the pattern Baltimore Album by Diane Lane to make this quilt. I made a few small changes to her block patterns and changed the swag border a little too. It measures 26 1/2" x 33". This is one of my favorite quilts and it hangs in my dining room. I entered it in the State Fair that year and it got a 1st in applique wallhangings hand quilted and 1st overall wallhanging so I am very proud of it too.

We are having a great time with Peter, our German cousin. It is so much fun to show him the farm, etc. After I got home from the China Luncheon/Bed Turning yesterday we all took a 4-wheeler ride by way of the back roads to the river to see how the new bridge on the Little Blue River is coming along. It was about a 6 mile ride and got a little chilly but I did have on a heavy coat and a band around my ears to help keep the wind out. Some people call the machines quads or ATVs - if that helps to understand. Peter had never driven one before but really did great and is anxious to ride again. Think horseback riding is on tap for this afternoon though.

Lynn

Bed Turning - China Luncheon

The China Luncheon-Bed Turning is now history for another year. The weather cooperated that day and it was beautiful outside. The guild members outdid themselves with their tables. They were all so beautiful.

This is what my table looked like all set up. I made 3 smaller stars that I hung from the branches of a white tree (wired on clear beads to the ends of the branches). The tree is sitting inside shallow bowl stacked on another bowl that is upside down on the table. The larger stars I made as hostess gifts are scattered around the center of the table. I used those flat marbles in my bowl and on the table plus a few sparkly stars and some ribbon woven through and around the larger stars. I used the original fabric I had purchased and scanned for the designs on my stars as napkins. The table was set with the Fostoria Crystal that my mother in law gave us. All in all it was rather pretty. The name of my table was "Catch a Falling Star."

The second photo is the table with my guests sitting around it before the luncheon started.
These next photos are of some other tables. We had various themes from Christmas, Valentines Day, Angels, Circus, to name a few.



This last photo shows the bed on the stage and the members lifting the quilt and showing it to the audience as the narrator tells about it. The quilts that were shown were stacked on top of the bed and lifted off in order, the narration paper unpinned and handed to the reader. The bed was kind of a fake. We used an old iron headboard that my husband made feet for so it would stand up by itself. We then used two long tables as the "bed". It had a dust ruffle taped to the bottom edge and a quilt that would stay on it after the last show quilt was lifted off. Pretty ingenious don't you think? The first year we had the bed turning we decided we didn't want to haul a mattress and box springs so figured out that the tables would substitute nicely.

Happy Quilting - Lynn

Bed Turning - Baby Quilt

This has sure been a busy week but I think I am almost ready for the China Luncheon/Bed turning our guild is having on Saturday. Am still working on getting my centerpiece to look the way I want it though.

My original paper stars were too big to hang in the middle of the table so I made a few smaller ones to hang on a smaller branched tree and will use the big ones scattered around the outside. If I would have used the big ones hanging on the long branches no one would have been able to see and visit across the table. Will take a photo of my table on Saturday after I get it all set up. Now I need to get my chocolate stars made for the nut cups this afternoon if possible.

It is a good thing we have a quilt guild meeting on Thursday night to refresh all our memories so we don't forget something for Saturday. My husband John is going down to help set up the stage and tables on Friday as will a couple of other husbands. That really helps a lot as some of those things get a little heavy.

Both of my daughters will come this weekend for the bed turning and will bring the grandchildren along. John will get to baby sit all 4 while we are at the event which could be a challenge so he will have to watch them close, especially the 2 yr. old. The girls are 6 & 7 and the boys are 2 1/2 and 5. They have a great time playing together and don't get to see each other too often so it is a treat for them to be together.

Love having them come and visit but I will not get to spend as much time with them as I like with setting up and tear down of the bed turning and both girls have to leave early Sunday to go home.

I may need that time on Sunday to get organized for the next week since I will be going to Paducah, KY for the AQS show. Yay, Yay!!! I am really excited about the trip as I have never been to the show before. I am meeting one of my sisters in Lincoln and driving to Kansas City to stay with a friend on Tuesday then the 3 of us will drive to Columbia, Mo to pick up my other sister then on to Paducah. I already have a list of things I want to look for at the merchants booths plus am excited to see all the quilts on display.

Didn't have any new photos to show so pulled this from my archives. This is the baby quilt I made for my youngest grandson. Actually, I started calling it a toddler quilt as I didn't get it finished until August of 07 and he was born in November of 05. It is mock hand applique done on the machine and is hand quilted. I didn't use a pattern but drew the designs myself for this quilt. It was fun to pick out all the bright colors as most of the time I choose dulled down colors for my quilts but my daughter wanted brights for this quilt and I admit it is cheery and was fun to work on.

Back to work finishing up those last minute things plus getting ready to conduct the business meeting tomorrow night. Only one more month and I will no longer be the president of the guild.

Lynn

Rain and Quilting...They do mix

Yesterday was so wet and rainy most of the day. Had to go out in the afternoon for a while but made a dash from the car to the places I was going to keep from getting wet and managed pretty well. It is on days like this that I really like living on a paved road. It has been only 3 years since we moved here and already I am loosing my skills driving on muddy roads. Another advantage to living where we do is I don't get the car plastered with mud every time it rains. Remember sometimes the how the wheel wells on the car would get so much mud in them that I would hear a scraping noise when I turned corners after it dried some. Washed the car when the roads dried out but sometimes that could be a while. I am so glad we didn't get any snow like they did in western Nebraska yesterday. It is supposed to be spring and I think Mother Nature forgot to flip her calender over the last two months.

I did get more of my leaves prepared to applique on the mystery quilt yesterday but may have to stop doing that for a while. The China Luncheon/Bed Turning our guild is having is next Saturday and I am having trouble getting a center piece figured out for my table.

My original idea was to hang the stars I made from branches stuck in a vase but the more I thought about it I decided that would block people's vision across the table so back to square one. I guess it is back to square two as I do have my large stars all made and am going to use them no matter what as it took me so long to make them!!!

I went to our local antique/flea market store and bought a couple of glass pieces that I am fiddling with now. I stuck one on top of the other and may hang some smaller stars from a branchy thing I found in the basement that I once had hung small Easter ornaments from. Thinking about having the large ones scattered on the table around it. So last night I started making smaller stars using the same patterns as the big ones but about half the size. Am getting faster at making them now so have one done and another ready to cut out. I score all the lines before cutting them out so the folds will be sharper, plus they fold easier. Takes a little time but is well worth it.

Today I will include photos of a lap quilt I made my mother for Christmas. I took a photo of a quilt that intrigued me at the State Fair this year and figured out the divisions and drafted it in EQ6. I used all blue fabrics from my stash to make it and then machine quilted it.

I am really making an effort to learn to machine quilt well as it irritates me that my stitches are sometimes wobbly and not consistent in length. I tend to get tense and forget to move the quilt and get a bunch of stitches in one place. It is getting easier with each thing I finish but you will notice a lot of wobbles in the close up photos.

With rectangle pieces of paper I figured out how to quick piece the blocks and saved the left over triangle squares to use around the border. The back is also pieced since I rarely buy more than fat quarters and used most of the light blue on the front that was a larger piece to start with. Each rectangle is 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and the finished quilt measures about 45" square.

Lynn