Retreat and Angels!!!

Retreat this weekend was SO VERY RELAXING!!! I was able to get the binding done on the quilt for my friend and give it to her! Here she is, the NEW her, 30 lbs lighter than last year, and the quilt I made for her! SHE LOVED IT!!! There are also 2 closeups of the quilting! The last pic is of a few of those angel blocks and the angel fabric. Laying on top of the angel fabric is a scissor holder that we made at retreat. The spiral is the reverse applique technique we were taught. It's hard to tell, but the spiral is beaded as well! It's the first time I have ever beaded and it was FUN! I think my friend and I are hooked!!!

We chose to try to finish up last year's retreat project rather than start this year's project. We were sort of rebels and it was GREAT!!!

The angel blocks will be picked up this afternoon. I hope they like them! I am not sure when I'll get them back but it'll go together quickly. I am not going to zig-zag or buttonhole 28 blocks because I don't think I have the time. Instead I think I will just do a funky stitch with the longarm to anchor them. They are fused down...any opinions?

Have a great day!
Hugs
Laurie
PS(click on the pics to get a closer up view)

Do you believe God puts you somewhere for a reason?

Today I spent the morning cleaning the main floor of the house. It took me longer than I had anticipated and I got in the shower around 12:30. My tummy was growling so I decided to get lunch and go to Joann's and look for an applique pressing sheet. While at Joann's I notice an older couple sitting at a sewing machine and looking at a book. I didn't think anything of it except that I thought they were a cute couple and how often do you see a man in Joann's?? Anyway, after not finding what I wanted I decided to look at the books because I had a couple of 40% off coupons. While looking the older man started looking at books. I asked him if he'd like a 40% coupon if he was going to buy a book. He took it, thanked me and I asked if he was a quilter. He said no, but a dear friend from church was dying of cancer (his voice was cracking and tears were welling in his eyes and I asked him if I could give him a hug which I did) and a group wanted to make a quilt for her. I said, "Oh, a comfort quilt!" His eyes lit up and he said YES! (There was an 85 year old gal at church who used to quilt and she was going to help them.
) The dying friends favorite things are angels and he was looking for an angel pattern. I said, "What about angel fabric?" He told me his wife was looking for that!

I told him if they didn't find any that I had an AWESOME angel fabric at home, not sure how much but I would gladly give it to them. He was thrilled...I gave him my business card and we talked. His wife eventually joined us and she started crying so I gave her a hug as well! I also explained that I had a longarm and would be honored to quilt the top when it was finished. I almost had to tie the 2 down! I proceeded to give them my business card and directions to my house. His wife asked him if he wanted to get something to eat first. I said that would be great as it would give me time to get the fabric together and an angel pattern that I had.

I arrived home and told Sarah the story and she said OMG Mom, you'll probably end up making the quilt for them. I said, "Well, I will if that is what needs to be done!"

They arrived at my home about 45 mins later, Linda and Bill! I showed them the fabric and they were THRILLED with it! (as soon as they came into the house Bill took his coat off and made himself comfortable at my dining room table!!!) We talked, I sketched ideas, ideas bounced back and forth and we settled on a design. There will be 28-8" blocks with WOW angels appliqued on backgrounds that pick up the colors in the fabric below.

I asked Bill and Linda if anyone in the group is a quilter. They told me no. I offered to make the top and they both welled up with tears AGAIN! I told them that I had a quilt retreat this weekend and I would work on the blocks over the weekend and they would be ready for them to pick up on Monday.

Linda told me that during lunch they were talking about me and they both started crying. Bill said he told his wife that when I asked if I could give him a hug he thought, OMG, my wife is in this store SOMEWHERE!!! Linda said if she had caught him hugging a strange woman in Joann's she would've said, "Bill, I just can't leave you anywhere can I?" LOL too cute!

I said, "You know, I wanted to be at Joann's before noon today but the house cleaning had me running late. I believe God wanted me to be there to meet the 2 of you!" They both agreed with Bill saying that he truly believes in God putting people in the right place at the right time!

SO...there you have it! Do you believe?????

Hugs
Laurie

Tshirt Quilt Designing and other Ramblings!

Someone, I don't remember who, asked how I design my tshirt quilts. It is really pretty simple. I have the tshirts out and my 12" and 15" square rulers out. I measure the design on the front and put down a measurement that looks pleasing...making sure that I have about 2" all around the design. That way I know that the measurement is good for that tshirt. I write a small description of the tshirt down and then put the measurement next to it...making sure to mark an H for height of design and W for width of design above the colums...I learned from experience that I can easily mix up those measurements and have to redo the design!! That can be a fatal mistake if I cut tshirts and then find a mistake and have to redesign!

As I'm working my design on graph paper (second photo down) I try to find tshirt measurements that are the same height or width and put them together in rows or columns Once I get the design down on graph paper I rewrite the tshirt measurement page into the rows and the correct measurements making sure to INCLUDE THE SEAM ALLOWANCE!!! That is the right side of this pic...the left is the part where I had to adjust measurements to make them fit! (Usually I do a first row so I know the width of the quilt...In this case I took all the 6" squares and put them across the top...including 2" sashing (I always use 2" sashings)

Is everyone still with me? I sure hope so! LOL

This is a picture of my 2 drawings on graph paper. The first being my first draft and the second being the one where I adjusted it by moving the 3rd row down to the 4th row. Each square on the graph paper is 2" finished. I write a description of the tshirt in each square so I know what I am working with. This includes tshirt color if I have a lot of the same type of tshirts. For example: in this quilt there are several cheerleading tshirts so I had to write the design AND the color as well if it's front/back if I used both sides. I do this because the front and back might not be the same size cut. It helps keep me organized.! As you can see, this quilt is going to be done in neat rows but the tshirts are different in widths, adding variety to the quilt!
The next step is to take my electric scissors and cut the tshirts up the seams and saving what I need. I have to be careful here if it's a large design because I have to have it the right size for the quilt!!! (this step used to be scarey...but it's not anymore!) Here are the tshirts for the design above! The next step will be pressing very lightweight fusible interfacing to the backs and then trimming to size using my papers above. Then I sew each row together and VOILA...a tshirt quilt top! Ready for quilting! I hope this helps those of you who asked for the directions.
NOW...I really should get off this computer because I have a friend coming from CA tomorrow and I need to get the house cleaned! I also have to get the binding done on her quilt! YIKES...I forgot about that! We are going to a retreat and learning reverse applique. We are being rebels though because we don't like the project (it's too folk arty for us) but we do want to learn the technique. We will just take scraps and learn how to do it. We also want to finish last year's project! LOLOLOL...yeah...you read that right! FINISH LAST YEAR'S PROJECT! It's nice to go to this one though because we don't have to schlep our machines!

I AM SO EXCITED to see her! We met on Alex Anderson's message board and are SOOOOOO much alike! It's been a year and we can hardly wait! GIRL WEEKEND!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

Have a great weekend everyone! I've kept in touch with the blogs and sometimes it gets overwhelming! ;0)

Hugs,
Laurie
PS(My daughter is doing very well! She's had a SUPER attitude! Thanks for the prayers!)

30 LASHES WITH A WET NOODLE FOR ME!!!

OH...I was BAD...VERY VERY BAD!!! I met up with my sister Wed/Th of this past week and we did some damage at the local quilt stores! YES SIREE...I said to hell with stash reduction...I NEED S.E.X.!!! The first pic is of fabric for 2 quilts. The fabs on the left are for a basic HST lap for our family room...the stripe is YUMMY (golds/reds/purples/creams/browns/greens)!!!!!!!! And that shop had AMAZING amounts of moda marbles...couldn't resist it! ;o) The fabrics on the right are for our king bed. I could NOT resist the paisley...it is such a rich fabric! I am going to make 16" Ohio Stars using the paisley as the center, the cream as the background and the green as the star points. Then I will sash it with 4" sashing strips using the red and the cream as cornerstones. The paisley will be the border and binding.




















This picture is of firemen fabrics that I found! My youngest wants to be a fireman when he grows up (he's almost 17) and when I find cool fabrics like this I just CANNOT resist them! I told him I probably have enough fireman fabrics for a king size quilt! LOL















And lastly, these fabrics literally JUMPED into my arms...I AM NOT KIDDING...THEY LEAPED INTO MY ARMS!!!!!!! There is a very simple pattern using the focus fabric (top left) in 12" squares and the half yard cuts as squares/rail fence units to make a very quick quilt. The floral panel and floral fabric at the bottom are going to be the backing! AWESOME HUH?????!!!!!!!!! ;o)




















SO...I know I BLEW my stash reduction theory out of the water...but I have been SO good for SO long! I was DUE for a great S.E.X. time!!!

I'm off to finish quilting the quilt in my previous post! It's freezing here and I am staying HOME...a quilty day for me!
Hugs
Laurie

Quilting felt GOOD!!!

I was able to finish a UFO this weekend...well, the top anyway! I hope to quilt it by Tuesday or Wednesday morning. The focus fabric is the pink with the mulit-color splotches on it! My very dear friend and I bought the same fabric so we could make each other a top...this was 2 years ago last November! I have NO CLUE where she is in the process of making mine, although I do know she's started it! She will HATE me when she finds out her top is done! She is visiting me to go on a quilty weekend in 2 weeks and I decided this weekend that I wanted to surprise her with it. (NO...she doesn't read this blog so I'm not worried about her seeing this!) The pattern was from the magazine Quiltmaker, March/April '01.

The small, dark, inner border is a very deep purple. The 4 squares in the quilt top that look almost white on here are a mint green. The colors didn't show up very well.

Anyway, quilting was great therapy! Thanks again for all the warm wishes and hugs! I love this internet family...always so supportive of each other!!! ;o)

Have a great rest of the day!
Hugs
Laurie

A new day always dawns!!

Thank you everyone for your kind words...they mean a lot to me! I'm FINALLY in my sewing room...had to take DD to the drs...she has a sinus infection. Drugs are a good thing! LOL

The emotional rollercoaster has been pretty calm today. That's a good thing!

It's cold here so I think it's leftovers and jammies along with a DVD tonight. And early to bed for me!! I NEED sleep!

Have a great day everyone!
Hugs
Laurie

Life has been stressful...

No quilting has been done because life has been stressful. The past 48 hours have turned our lives upside down. We'll survive...cuz we are strong...but it still sucks.

In a nutshell, our daughter was evicted from the house she lived in at college and we had to rent a truck and move her back home. She had nowhere to live and no job. She made a major mistake and paid a hefty price. Kids at school are taking the truth and making a HUGE LIE out of it. Basically, they are trashing her. She is a great person with a huge heart and she made a mistake. Unfortunately, people are taking it and making it WORSE than it was.

DH and I have been handling her ups and downs emotionally and telling her that her real friends will come out. And it's happening. We've also told her to ignore all the CRAP...it'll go away. All I can do is hug her while she cries.

And this morning I cried in dh's arms and said "I just want someone to take care of me...I'm tired of taking care of everyone." It felt good to cry!

Tomorrow I hope to get some quilty things done...we'll see if that happens!
Hugs,
Laurie

I barely survived!!!

Well, THANK GOD FOR HILLARY...we ent on a wait list for lunch today...that is UNHEARD of on a M-W...I would've been a basket case and in tears if I would've been alone! I asked for help tomorrow as well. I might also work Friday to get more training...it takes me FOREVER to do "to go" orders cuz I don't know the "Aloha" (the machine that has all the food in there and tells the kitchen what to make).

I will survive...but I need more training! Now to put my tired dogs up and watch my DVR of Dr. Phil!

Hugs,
Laurie

I work by myself today...no more training...YIKES!

Today is my first day of working by myself. Well, actually not REALLY by myself...Hillary is scheduled from 10:30-2 but Paul is going to have her doing other stuff and be available if I get swamped and can't handle it! My tummy has butterflies in it and I have the typical "first day on my own" jitters. As I told dh and EB last night, I'll get thru this and tomorrow will be easier, next week will be easier yet and eventually I'll wonder why I was nervous at all! ;o) I am feeling a bit like I needed more training. 2 of my 4 days were with someone who isn't very good at being a host. And the 3rd day was OK, and the 4th day I was put in charge while Mara trained another new host. Baptism by fire!!! Think of me though!

I am officially the oldest employee at our Restaurant! We make our own name tags by using puffy paints over boring baseball looking tags. (I hope that made sense!) I know a lot of the employees because DD works there and they are all asking me what should they call me. I am thinking "Laurie" but they look uncomfortable with that. SO...here is a pic of my nametag! LOL...we'll see how it goes over today!
Have a great day and I'll check in when I get back!
Hugs
Laurie

Super Bowl Sunday...what will be on your plate? ;o)

Today is the big game! I am not rooting for any team in particular. I basically ask for an entertaining game every year and rarely is it delivered! I do LOVE those commercials though!

Today I have to pick up some lettuce and tomatoes that I forgot for one of our appetizers. I make the world's FATTIEST foods for today and we only have this stuff on Super Bowl Sunday! So I do indulge myself! YES I DO!!! I will probably consume 3-4 days worth of calories in one meal today! Well, maybe not THAT many...but it's a TON!!! It is guilt free eating for me too!!!

If I have time I will work on my pineapple blossom. I have the inside done...I'm debating adding more blocks. When I planned it I forgot how many blocks I was going to do in the center...I have enough 3.5" squares cut out yet for I believe about 10 more blocks...it would require more strip cutting though...thus the debate! LOL

I thought I'd share pics with you of Kevin's graduation gift from last May. I don't like the plain, same size block t-shirt quilts so I design each one individually. So they are all unique!!! The back just HAD to have his shorts he made in 7th grade home ec, and his dirty, STINKY, lucky soccer socks that were thread bare!!! I had to soak those socks in Murphy's Oil soap for a week before I would put them on the back!!! The longarm did NOT like those areas either! Too much bulk!!





Here is another t-shirt quilt that I made for Kevin's ex-girlfriend for her graduation gift. You see how each is unique!!

Have a great day!

Joe's Quilt is Delivered!!

Here is Joe's finished quilt! I delivered it to him and put it on his bed before letting him see it. HE LOVES IT...but it's WAY too big for a twin bed...he needs a double bed and it'd be perfect!















Here are closeups of each panel. I'm not sure if you can see the quilting or not. I didn't do anything special on them at all...the panels speak for themselves.






Here is a picture of the backing fabrics. The white fabric is full of music notes. And this is a closeup of the main fabric on the background. Neat fabric huh?
















And FINALLY...a picture of the quilt on his bed...see what I mean?? He needs a double bed for this to look GREAT...but he likes it and at this point can't afford a new bed. OH...his bedroom...it's not as clean as it looks! LOL...the mess is to the right! He hasn't gotten his bedroom settled yet. I hope you enjoyed the picture show! :o)
Hugs, Laurie