Houston Quilt Festival

Sister Trish made it to the Houston International Quilt Festival again this year....our 3rd trip.  This time we again planned classes, but not as intensely as last year.  We actually gave ourselves an opportunity to shop the vendors and see the quilts on display without having to run through it. 

We attended two classes together and each had one separately.  It was a great experience, as always; and we made a few purchases...as always! 

On the way home, we talked about how we each have piles of UFOs, as well as projects we want to do someday...so I took paper and pen and started writing it all down; and we challenged each other to get busy on our "bucket lists". 

So watch for lots of progress in the coming year!

Braniff Quilts Delivered....

Jim and I attended the Braniff Luncheon at the Frontiers of Flight Aviation Museum at Love Field in early October.  Both Braniff Quilts were delivered.....one to Don Maynard, Jim's personal friend and fellow pilot; the other to the Braniff International Silver Eagles (BISE) for a future raffle to benefit the organization.  Below is a photo of Don accepting his quilt.

and here's the raffle quilt as it was displayed during the luncheon.......

Show and Tell.......

I get so wrapped up in the quilting process that I forget to catch up this blog!   Several projects are done...some of which I've described in process.....labels just added and ready for Show and Tell.

#1..Another alternate Block of the Month from Denton.  Every year I participate in a BOM with my friend, Linda Gleason, in Denton.  I always make a 2nd block using fabric on hand.  This is a collection of blocks from a previous year finally put together.

#2...two completed quilt tops and some assorted pieces were found when I and other family members cleaned out Grandpa's house for a needed renovation.  These were my grandmother's UFOs.   She once worked at the local sewing factory in the 50s/60s era and I know these contain scraps obtained from that facility.  The completed ones were simply bordered from current fabrics, but the other two were too small for a full quilt, so I added strips of fabric to make them an appropriate size.   They will be going to family members this Christmas.

2a....had holes, stains, and broken seams.   After repairs were made and attempts at removing the stains (unsuccessfully), I added a blue/brown print border and quilted with King Tut Sahara Sand.

2b...Bowties did not have as many needed repairs....a few broken seems, but overall this top was in good shape.    I had a 30s reproduction print on hand for the border.  It is backed with a pink cotton fabric and quilted with a cream Omni Pro polyester thread.

2c.   Two pieces of assored blocks had already been sewn together ......one was long and one was short.  I took a portion off the long piece and added it to the shorter piece to make them equal and then added strips of fabric on hand to get it to a reasonable size.

 

 

 

2d.  This too was a mini top......added strips of fabric to make it suitable for a lap throw or small quilt.

Braniff Tribute

Every year, Jimmy and I attend the annual Memorial Day Braniff Reunion Fly-In in May and the Business Luncheon in October.  I've been thinking for a couple of years about making a T-Shirt Quilt from Jimmy's accumulated Braniff T-Shirts,, but he wears them all the time, so .... have not done that yet.  However, it occurred to me that I should make one for the Braniff section of the Aviation Museum at Dallas Love Field.  I approached the woman who always comes to the Memorial Day function with Braniff memoriabilia about purchasing enough T-shirts at a discounted priced in exchange for mention of her business in the labeling on the finished quilt.  She was very gracious and accommodating.  So, I purchased one of every type of T-shirt she had available; that was a month ago.   Today was a most productive day on that project.  I managed to cut away all the logos, add stabilizer and then square them up.  The first layout is currently on the design wall.........

 

followed by color inserts and sashing.......

 

and the finished product:

 

added a label.......

 

 

 

 

and with the "leftovers", I made a second.........

 

 

Where Does the Time Go????

I manage to stay busy in my sewing room.....there's always a new project on the horizon and several UFOs waiting for attention.  Every Tuesday my BFF, Teresa, and I sew together and most Thursdays, my Sister Tricial comes to work on a Block of the Month Quilt....a project we each bought into about 3 yrs ago.  This is going to be the year we complete them (more on that later). 

Since my last post, I completed a 9-Patch Pizzazz using a peacock motif fabric.  The 9-patch examples are inspiring, but my fabric choice was the wrong choice. After much study and re-working, here is the finished product:

Off To A Great Start!

Holidays behind us, and lots of  unfinished projects to complete................

First on my agenda was a Mystery Quilt started in 2009 with the Coleman Quilt Guild.  It was a "fussy cut" placed on-point.  The finished product called for large over-sized triangles in each corner, but I opted to place the squares in line for the purposes of a quick completion.  However, this top was placed on the back burner and finally got some attention this month.  It was hand-pieced and machine quilted.

A second project was also started a few years ago as a 2010 Block of the Month in Brownwood.  The original BOM was done in primary colors on black background.  As I completed each month's block, I did a second block in the blues and purples on black. The blocks are hand-pieced.  The sashing and borders were added this year, as well as the machine quilting.