Xmas Stockings

My quilt guild, The Nite Owls in Upland, CA, does a Christmas item auction at their annual Christmas party in December. They ask that members make a Xmas Quilty item for it. I am making a couple of Xmas Stockings for it.

I started with my Husbands over sized wool socks as a pattern and increased the size.

I have crazy quilt pieced them and will do some stitching on the seams. I will post pictures later after I finish them.

I have purchased some new gadgets in the last couple of months. This first one is my Friend Jeanne's fault because she talked about how cool this item was and she sucked me in. I bought it too. Why didn't I just borrow hers? It is a cord maker. As you can see, I have done nothing with it so far and totally have buyers remorse but I will try it out and it will probably be very cool but what the heck am I going to use it for????

This second one is my own fault and it is because Sandy Turner came to our guild and I thought her quilt using these templates was pretty cool so I bought them. Again, I have buyers remorse but I will try them out. Checkout her web site. http://www.sandyturner.com/ I will use this with Batiks which I love.

The Linen's Quilt (aka Retreat Quilt)

This is the "Linen's Quilt". This is just the working title but it is also known as (aka) the Retreat Quilt. It is the quilt I drag to every retreat with the intention that maybe I will finally get it done. I usually take it out, look at it, and put it away. Well, I thought if I hung it on my design wall, maybe I would finally get it done. It has been there for a week now.

The blocks are basically done, it just needs to be put together. All the blocks are different sizes so it takes some effort to figure it out. I took this class from Jo Crabb in Liberty, MO at the Liberty Quilt Shop. Unfortunately they are no longer in business. It was a great shop. Julie Kiffen was the owner and what a nice person she is. Jo Crabb is the best too. I miss them.

This block with the embroidered Belle was on a very worn out pillow case. The embroidery thread had rotted and the fabric was very thin. The crochet was in great shape so I carefully removed the old embroidery thread and fused some very fine inner facing to the back of the fabric. You could still see the holes where the embroidery thread was so I re-embroidered it and now it is as good as new!

There are dresser scarves, doilies, pillowcases and a table cloth in it. I have 2 Friends that did finish theirs and put them in 2 different quilt shows and both of them won "Best of Show". It is a great way to show off your old Linens that otherwise would be sitting in some drawer somewhere and then when you are gone from this world, a relative will give them to Good Will or use them as rags!

Wildlife - Inside and Out

October in California means we still have Hummingbirds. Not as many. Some of them have left like the Black Chins and Allen's but we still have plenty. I think we are going to take one of the three feeders down for the winter. We may even go down to one if more quit coming. I am not sure if some stay around all year or not. When we moved here in February, we had Anna's at the apartment we stayed at. Each of these feeders has 10 feeding ports.

We have a lot of Finches too. We so seldom see them taking a bath but this day must have been bath day! It's funny, the Hummingbirds will take a bath on the leaves of our plants after the sprinklers have been on in the morning. They flit from one leaf to another for about 15 minutes.

This Dove decided the water on the patio was better.

This is our Flicker that comes to visit for a drink every day. He is quite loud when he arrives. He always does a little dance on the fence.

Speaking of Wildlife. This is our indoor variety. This is Fergie. She is the Queen of the house and keeps the boy cats in line. She has been known to growl and slap them. She is the smallest but she is not to be messed with. She is a horrible beggar for food and she was probably doing that in this picture.

This is Buster. One of two male black cats we have. He is the lover of the household. He follows me everywhere and wants to be touched all the time. He is quite a pest! We shaved him about a month ago because he is a beast with very long hair and he is like velvet when shaved.

My First Earthquake

I felt my first Earthquake this morning. At first, I thought my fat cat had jumped off the bed. Then my jewelry box started rattling. It lasted only a second. The epicenter was literally right under my home. It was a 3.4 magnitude which is not that big but I felt it. I am no longer a quake virgin! There was a 1.9 afterwards at 5 AM in the same spot. This is looking from in front of my house to the South.
This is looking to the North which is where the San Andres fault is. It is very close to my home.

Birthday Quilts for Friends

Two of my Friends have Birthdays this week. I made each of them a small wall hanging quilt. This first one is for my pal Marci. She loves these colors and is always trying to get me to steal quilts at shows that are these colors. I always tell her to do her own dirty work! Hopefully giving her this quilt will stop her from trying to start me in a life of crime.

This quilt is for my Friend Gretchen. She works with my Husband. She is a pal. She comes over and sits on the patio with me and has a glass of wine and she makes the best artichoke dip that she brings too! Yum!

Today we had some rain. It is the first time I have seen the ground that wet since we moved here. It is supposed to rain more tomorrow. I love the view off our front porch. It is still a little overcast. It reminds me that Fall is here in Brown Land.

Xmas quilt blocks and Nite Owls Retreat

I went to the retreat for the Nite Owls quilt guild and I finished piecing the blocks for my Noel Village Christmas quilt. It is fused with Steam a Seam 2. I think I am going to stitch around the pieces with mono filament, invisible thread. Isn't it the cutest thing? Now the challenge will be to get it done before Christmas so I can hang it in my new home for the Holiday!

This is the sewing area at our retreat. It was a packed room with a lot of Great New Friends.

Xmas Quilt and Visit From Marci

My Friend Marci, from Kansas City, came to visit me for 10 days. We shopped and shopped. We attended the San Diego quilt show, too. It was a nice show but not that big. It had some really nice vendors.

This is a picture of Marci as she is packing up her stuff to leave. She gave me that fat quarter that is in her hand. I am going to do a pink and green quilt some day.

Before she came here, she called and said we needed to make a quilt while she was here. We decided on an applique Christmas quilt by Piece of Cake Designs called the North Pole Village.

Hand applique was out of the question because of time, and we don't do the "A" word. We decided to use Steam a Seam 2 and fuse them. This is my quilt at this point. I have 3 blocks left to do. There will be a block that goes the width of the top that has Santa flying by in his sled and reindeer.

Marci's quilt is more like a Dr Seuss village. I should have taken a picture but didn't before she left. I am getting ready to go on a retreat with some friends so I am going to try and finish mine up then.