nope, still lost....

well, really, I'm not lost today - but my blogger reading list is gone...  for over a week the list links were not working.  now the list is completely gone.  I'm a little upset, since I got up early this morning to read the latest blog news and it now tells me that I do not follow ANY blogs!!!!  of all the nerve.

now I did have the good sense to copy the whole list, so I do have a record of the blogs I was following, but now will need to find them all again and 're-follow' to create another reading list.

this is not the result I was hoping for when I sent the feedback about the error code I was getting on the links.... sigh...

sorry, Madame Samm, SewCalGal, PatSloan, and about a hundred others... I'll find you all again soon, I hope!

lost in space again... but finally found my way

Hello there,

in case you had not heard, yes, I was ill way back in March, then I adopted a new dog, Domino... say hello...

She's a Papillon - a type of miniature Spaniel, very energetic and intelligent!  She already has me well trained, and likes to keep me company in the upstairs sewing room!

She does not like to sit on my lap if I'm doing handwork, or I should say she does not like me doing handwork when she is in my lap... so progress on my hexie project is a little slower than I had hoped, but she is very good at removing the hexie papers for me when I'm not looking!

I don't have a more recent picture, but it now has two points added, and the 3rd and 4th are ready to add.  As I am now out of the gray/pink on the first four triangles, the last two will be a different pink.  Very tempting to take it all out and start over, but that would be several month's work... sorry, just can't go there!

I've also been making monthly tags for swapping... there is a different theme or technique each month - some have been easier than others. 

These are my favorites so far.. Gelli printing and stencils - sweet!

Summer is just around the corner - time to take the dyes and paints outside for some messy, colorful fun...

I'll try to find my way back to Blogger sooner next time.

Hugs,
GGS

Retreated and then some!

Hi all,

yes, I know you thought I had dropped off the earth or something...  lots of quilting and travel going on - just not much posting about it!

Yesterday I returned home from the Quilt Company East Quilt Guild's annual retreat held at Gilmary retreat center out near the airport...  where I worked on my Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt - a several year's old mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter (I think it's in her latest book).  These blocks (and borders) were pieced, pressed, and resting comfortably waiting for me to make time for them - but I needed a lot of space to lay out this large a quilt - so I took my blocks to the retreat and used the much appreciated floor space to arrange my blocks....

which Barbara M. was kind enough to photograph for me (I forgot to pack my camera) and also post it to FaceBook so I could have it for my blog!

The 'spacing' border is on and ready for the pieced borders...

now, I wonder how long it will take to get these borders on...???

I have accomplished a little more than this project since I started it in NOVEMBER of 2010... but I won't go into all that right now.  Hope you also had a fun, productive weekend - now, if you'll excuse me - I'm going to play with my stencils today!  I'll try to post pics of that soon, too.

Dare to Dresden Blog Hopping Progressiveness

Hello there!  thanks for dancing along on the Dare to Dresden Blog Hop!

Sponsored by the perpetually inspiring Madame Samm and Cheerleader Extraordinaire Christine L of Quilt Monster in my Closet

This blog hop is a feast for the eyes!  Who knew a design like 'Dresden Plate' could have so much variety?  ...be so modern and fresh?  ...and be sew popular among quilters of all ages?

I have to confess, a friend of mine has an antique Dresden quilt that I have always admired made during the 30's - with those wonderful, cheerful colors we quilters know so well... unfortunately, I don't have a photo of it to share with you, but I did draw out a similar design in EQ7...

  the thing is... that classic Dresden quilt I crave also has a pieced border that involves lots of those little wedges in a scalloped effect.... and I still don't know enough about EQ7 to draw custom scalloped borders - so try to imagine this with a couple hundred little red segments going all around the edges!  Yup, some day I'll make that quilt.  Really I will... it's on my bucket list!

In the meantime, however, I can share this with you - although this quilt has had an interesting journey from my sewing room to many places and back again!

It all started with Flickr... a splinter group from Old Red Barn quilt-along called Around the Bend and Across the Pond joined forces to create progressive quilts - the kind where you make a block or a row and pass it along each month - each person adds to it and sends it along to the next person on the 'tour' until the 'finished' top comes home to the originator.

I joined the sub-splinter group - the "Free Form Robin: Be Free Bees"  yes there were so many who participated - we had to become TWO groups - the A's and the B's - who decided to proceed with very few 'rooles' (if any) and sent this off to the first unsuspecting victim er participant:  

I had made the Dresden block from a few sample strips just to 'test the waters' of a new template.  I liked it a lot, but had no idea what to do with it after it had lurked around my sewing room, on and off the design wall for almost a decade.  Sew, last January - a whole year ago - I packed it up with a siggie block, a journal and a few of the fabrics that I had intended to use with it...

...and kept my fingers crossed for about eight months!

I didn't have any rooles for my starter - just a few fabrics to inspire and a plea that no one would use ALL of these fabrics and not leave any for the next participating quilter!

My quilt top underwent many mysterious and marvelous journeys (with progress pics posted to Flickr, of course!) and returned to me in August 2012.  After debating with myself for several months about how to quilt it, this is what I did:

it is very closely quilted...

... with bright "orange glow" OMNI thread... by Superior - seriously, that's the name of the color!  ORANGE GLOW --- LOVE IT!!!!

And - I'm thrilled that another participant decided to add two MORE Dresden plates to the corners - still leaving me enough of my original fabrics to use for the binding!  All of the little siggie blocks are pieced into the back.  I feel sew fortunate -I love how this quilt turned out - I hope you do too!

Now, if you haven't already been there, be sure to visit the other bloggers today. 

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

Clothes and Crafts (moved to 31st)

It Seams to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff (you are here!)

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

 

 

 

and the pics are all on Pinterest, too!

Dare to Dresdent blog hop

Thanks to Madame Samm and the loverly Christine at Quilt Monster in My Closet for hosting and assisting with this exciting blog hop!  Here is the schedule - you don't want to miss any of this Daring Dresden fun!  My day will be January 30th - I'll be sharing my latest and greatest then - meanwhile, enjoy what the others are showing....

January 24^th, 2013

Thimble Mouse & Spouse

Debby Kratovil Quilts

Apple Avenue Quilts

The TreeHouse

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much

Quilts My Way

Buzzing and Bumbling

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Selina Quilts

Quiltscapes

Hill Valley Quilter

Sew Incredibly Crazy

The Raspberry Rabbits

I Like to Quilt Blog

Cherry's Prairie Primitives

Spoilt Dog Quilts

January 25^th, 2013

Gingersnap Quilts

Busy Bee Quilts

She Sews the Blues

Traveling Quilter

Grand Mama's Stories

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Sew at Home Mummy

The Slow Quilter

Pig Tales and Quilts

Annie Oak Design

Jane's Fabrics & Quilts

Tea Time Creations

Mo Broker My Creative Side

Just Let Me Quilt

Words and Stitches

Just Keep Swimming

Sew Many Yarns

Sowing Stitches

Jane's Quilting My Patchwork Life 2muchfun

Pumpkin Patch Quilter Quilt Monster in my Closet

January 28^th, 2013

A Reformed Heath'n

Meadowbrook

Rosemary B @ “that Other Blog”

Stitch Duchess' Crazy & Sane Quilting World

Grammie Q’s

Bumbleberry Stitches

Sunshine Girl

Spiral

Butjenter Quilter

Blooming Where I am Planted

Quilting Lodge

The Tilted Quilt

Life in the Scrapatch

Pretty Bobbins In The Boon Docks

Sew Much and More

Threading My Way Pink Ribbon Quilts
January 29^th, 2013

A Peach in Stitches

Nancy W @ “that Other Blog”

L3 Designs

Bungalow Bay Quilts

Quilted Delights

Quilt Crossing

Lixie Makes it

A Quilting Sheep

Charlotte's Creations

Quilt-n-Queen Domesticity and Other Ponderous Things

Sew Much 2 Luv

A Quilt and a Prayer

Amanda Murphy Design

Little Mushroom Cap Kathy's Quilts

Sandra Kaye Design

January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

Clothes and Crafts

It Seems to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff   (you are here!)

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary Kwilty Pleasures Espritpatch Nutz4Redwork

January 31^th, 2013

Quilting Prolifically

Patchouli Moon Studio

Mountain Quiltworks

In Ga

Dachsies with Moxie

Color My World

Shepody Mountain Crafter

Christa Quilts

Moosestash Quilting

Lavender Quilts

Never 2 Many Quilts

Cathy's Chatter

Madame Samm

a little FOCUS, a lot of progress

My word of the year for last year was FOCUS - and it worked well!  I had my long dreaded cataract surgery, can now drive without glasses, and can do most things sans glasses, except thread a needle!  I  also have been trying to FOCUS on ONE THING at a TIME!  I'm easily distracted, see, so, ummm....

Yesterday I f-i-n-a-l-ly finished quilting my "Golden Gate" quilt.  It is a Full Bed size - and is now ready for binding - and last night we slept under it!  so, today I'll bind it, but I love it more than I thought I would now that it's on the bed!  Somehow, once a quilt is on a bed, the little mistakes that upset me so much while I was quilting it just don't show up.  The overall effect puts the whole project into perspective.  Yes, Finished is much better than Perfect!

On Thursday, I spent most of the afternoon playing with paint - and my Gelli Plate - and whatever paper, card stock, or ______ I could find that I could smack some paint on!  I have been saving a couple of 'obsolete' spiral bound books full of maps - the paper is a little thin, but I love the way these came out with just a hint of the map showing through on most of the pages.  I also grabbed a drab brown photo storage box that needed a little interest and put a bit of paint on the lid & sides of that.  It needs much more paint... so maybe I'll get to smear some more paint around later today - after I get that binding on - painting is too much fun.  I'm thinking of painting cigar boxes next...

Oh, I almost forgot - I'll be a participant in the "Dare to Dresden" blog hop - see the link button on the right... my day is January 30th!  I have a quilt to share (at the moment it's a flimsy) and at least one other Dresden block is already finished - more to come!  Mark your calendar!

If I remember, I'll edit this and insert some pictures of the Gelli Plate results....  given time - and focus!

Gelli Plate fun... and planning

I have a Gelli Plate, and this week there is a Gelli Plate Party going on - it's a linky party... you should check it out... HERE

I'm having fun - hope you are too!

...and... I'm trying to sort out whether some of my really ancient, old UFO's are worth the time it will take to finish them, or whether they would be just as useful as landfill... since some are already 20 years old or more... and I won't live forever!