Tuesday, April 16, 2013

We leave tomorrow!!!

I can't believe how fast these last 4 weeks have gone by!  It seems I just got back from Lancaster, and now we are leaving for the west coast tomorrow!  How did that happen????  And I haven't been posting at all!  Sheesh!

But I have managed to make a few things in these last few weeks!  And first and foremost......while in Lancaster, I finished making the 8 pointed stars!!!  Woohoo!  And now here's the tricky part!!!  To finish the star and make it a square, I need 4 triangles and 4 squares of the background (cream) fabric for each square.....that means I needed 1,452 squares and 1,452 triangles (because there are 363 of these blocks!).  Yikes!

There was no way I was going to template these!  I had fun drawing out the star points with templates, because I was only doing 8 or 12 of the same fabric.  But the background is all just plain old cream!  Cripes!  I think I would go nuts trying to draw these out.  So instead, I did a faux-Inklingo production with my computer and printer!  And I say faux, because I've downloaded the tutorials for Inklingo before, and have never had the time to really play with it, much less get anything printed.  But the concept of printing these out is great!  So I got busy in CorelDraw and drafted the perfect sized squares and triangles on a sheet, and then printed them on my fabric ironed to freezer paper!  Awesome!!!!!  And in no time I had the gazillion printed off!  Woohoo!  I definitely am going to invest some time into learning Inklingo when I get back from vacation.  It saved me so much time and effort.  And her pieces are already drafted and figured!!  Yay!

So here's a pic of the first star with it's surrounding background.  It finishes at 3" square.


So I have 60 of these and their parts packed for my trip.  We are gone for a little over 3 weeks, so I think I can make a dent in that bunch!  :o)

Our trip is to fly out to San Diego and visit with John's Mom (she's 83).  She was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, but she is feeling really good right now, and they are not doing any treatment until she starts to show symptoms (which could be ages from now!), so we're glad we get to visit with her while she's feeling so good.

We'll spend a week there, staying with our son and DIL, and they are so wonderful to us......they are giving us one of their cars!  Sweet!  In CA, there is a CA Emission 'system' with the cars, and last fall, my son's went bad and needed repairs/replacement.  Well, that was going to cost a small fortune, so they were going to just donate the car.....then thought......'maybe Mom and Dad would like it!?!'   Uh......YEAH!!!!  So they are giving us this car, cuz Maine doesn't care (ha!) about emissions, so it's not an issue here!  :o)

We'll drive our 'new' car (an Audi S4, by the way!  Nice!) up to Washington State to visit my folks, who both have recently been admitted to nursing homes.  My mom (93) has been in and out of emergency rooms in the last couple of weeks, but is now back in the nursing facility.  My father (87) decided about a month ago to go to the Veteran's home.  My parents have been divorced for over 25 years, and have lived with my sister and brother in nearby towns in WA.

It's a bittersweet trip in that John and I have realized this will probably be the last time we see our parents.  For mine, definitely, but John's mom may have years ahead of her!  We hope!  They are very close, and talk several times a week on the phone.  I, on the other hand, am not close to any of my family, parents or siblings, but not for lack of trying!  I've spent the last 30 years coming to terms with this, but it still bothers me sometimes.  Every trip (about every 2-3 years) I've ever made back home was in trying to be a 'good daughter' and visit.  But it's always been an extremely strained and superficial meeting, and the quicker the better.  Nuff said!

So we'll just spend a few days in WA, and then start driving our way back to Maine.  I've got tons of notes about quilt shops, antique shops, museums and the like along the route, and, of course, our plan is to spend a couple (or several!) days in Shipshewana, IN!!!!  Woohoo!  More Amish!  (Like I didn't get enough of that in 10 days in Lancaster last month!  Ha!)

Now, in the last month, I have been quite busy in the sewing room.  In fact, in the 6 days after returning from PA, I made this!


I'd seen this pattern in a pic from a quilt shop that Bonnie Hunter went to ages ago, and loved it!  But couldn't find the pic when I wanted it, so I drafted it up a little differently.  Those are 49-patch blocks in repros of 1" squares finished.  The alternate block is a fabric called Alsace, and the minute I saw it, I knew it needed to be a featured fabric in a quilt.  This finishes at 46" square.  I just love it!

And then I started working on the leftover shirt scraps wall hanging.  It went together very fast, but the quilting is taking forever!  Remind me next time NOT to do pebbles everywhere!!!!  Sheesh!  Each block takes about an hour!  Cripes!  But I am loving the look!


Of course, I didn't get it done before I needed to pack up my sewing machine and take it in for a tune-up while I'm gone.  I figured that's the best time for tune-ups, because just having it gone for these last 2 days has just about killed me!!!!  LOL

Ok......so that's all the quilting I've been doing.  But I managed to get down to Boston to visit my two quilty friends, Jean and Rita, and we had lovely visits!

And my friend Pat and I went to the MQX show in Manchester, NH last Friday, and it was awesome!!!

Here are just a few of the pics (I took a gazillion but these came out the best).....enjoy!

 "Under the Southern Stars" by Pat Cunningham



"Chocolates and Cherries" by Dawn Larsen

Isn't that fancy border quilting just gorgeous!?!



 "Outta the Loop" by Karen Marchetti



 "Standiford Star at the Quilt Museum" by Herbert Menzel Jr.



"Mistaken Identity" by Gail Stepanek          (Black just doesn't photograph well in those lights!)

 Just look at those tiny tiny star points!  Yikes!



"Sunset" by Kathie Beltz

 I LOVE that orange on blue!  Perfect piping, too!



"My Cottage Garden" by Deborah Ferguson

 I just loved these fanciful baskets and the wild flowers!  :o)



 "Cozy Comfort" by Linda Gilmartin-Hancock          (I think this was the only repro quilt there!)



"A Picket Full of Paisleys" by Lorilynn King





"Fanciful Flora" by Lois Podolny



 "Red Feathers" by Claudia Clark Myers



"Red Velvet" by Lisa Calle

 This wall hanging was stunning!  The stitching is beyond tiny!



"Whetstone and Stars" by Carolyn Rider





"A Letter Bit of Baaltimore" by Janet Stone      (There are sheep and letters, hence the name!  Sweet!)

 We loved everything about it!

 We fell in love with the topper section!  So gorgeous!



 "Serendipity" by Darlene Cordero



"Pennsylvania Hearts & Hands" by Kelley Cunningham

 We just love those PA Dutch colors!



 "Enchanting Roses" by Mary Rossi


 And I'll leave you with the BEST OF SHOW.........Totally stunning!
"Big Bertha" by Margaret Solomon Gunn

 Everything about this quilt was gorgeous!

Just look at that beautifully executed binding!  Perfect!



We're taking a laptop with us, but I'm not sure I'll be posting on the trip.  We'll see what happens!

regan

23 comments:

  1. stunning quilting on these quilts.
    Have a good safe trip, sorry to hear it's so bitter sweet
    xx

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  2. I hope your trip is fulfilling in some way for you both. Families are difficult and like they say you can choose your friends but not your family.
    Wonderful quilts and loved the PA hearts and hands . I photographed it at the VT festival last year and showed that exact block on my blog. 2 minds think alike.
    Bon journey.

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  3. Oh, my goodness - those quilts are SO stunning! I love the tiny points on black!
    Inklingo really doesn't take any time to get used to using. It is much easier than you'll believe! If I can help when you get back and want to start using it, just holler,

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  4. Inspirational quilts...... I love your scrappy one with all the pebbling.....
    Have a wonderful trip...
    Hugz

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  5. Regan have a wonderful and safe trip!!
    I understand the family issue....been there. (sigh)

    If you are driving anywhere near here - you've got my number.
    Rick and I won't let you get out of here this time without having you and hubby over for laughs and wine. (or whatever you prefer)

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  6. Have a great trip! I hope things go well with your family. If you go by Mount Rushmore, there is an awesome quilt shop in Rapid City, SD. (SD is my home state!) I've been to Ship quite often, too. It is a great place to shop. I loved the photos of the quilts. That Baaaltimore one was incredible. Thanks.

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  7. oh such gorgeous quilts in there. Thanks so much for sharing. Have a great trip. I just know you will have tons of pictures to share when you get back. Take care.

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  8. Glad to hear from you! You have been busy! I forgot how little those stars are. Is it hard working with such little pieces? Enjoy your trip. I hope the visits with your parents aren't too difficult. It sounds like you've found other "family" to be close to and that's what counts. Love how you used the Alsace fabric. The scrap quilt is awesome! Worth the time, I think. All those fancy quilts and I like "Cozy Comfort" the best! Safe travels to you!

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  9. I so enjoyed this post! What an amazing quilt show. And there is that amazing plaid and cheddEr quilt. Love it!

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  10. Love both of your little quilts!~ It is hard to decide, but I think the first one is my favorite. Thanks for the warning on pebbling. I'll try to learn from your experience. : )
    Hope you have a safe journey. That is tough that your family has resisted efforts to be close.
    Wonderful quilt show--thanks for the close-ups of the quilting!

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  11. Have a great trip (while the rest of us survive the cold Maine so-called spring!). Thanks for posting the wonderful pictures.
    Margaret

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  12. Have a safe and wonderful trip. Thanks for the quilt show. Fantastic.

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  13. Thank you so much for posting the pics from MQX! I didn't get to go this year and it's so nice to see some of the quilts. Have a good trip...and happy piecing on the way!

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  14. Love both your quilts! You do such wonderful work!
    Hope you have a great trip! Be careful!

    Thanks for sharing the quilt show! I really enjoyed it! Someday I'm going to go to one!

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  15. Wowza on the whole post!! Your quilts are fabulous!!! The quilt show quilts - amazing!!! and I just thought I was getting good at FMQ! LOL!!!! Definitely works of art!! Aren't families the pits!! Blessings on your visit!! Safe travels!!

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  16. Make the most of your visits with your parents and take LOTS of photos - those times are precious and photos are a way to capture them.

    If your trip home brings you through Wyoming, give me a shout. I'd love to meet you.

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  17. Please don´t get me wrong, Regan, your quilts are great. Especially the "shirt-quilt". But it really took my breath away when I scrolled down your post and saw the pics from the quiltshow. These pieces are really incredible, one more spectacular than the other. Thanks for sharing this.

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  18. Oh my golly Thank you for that quilt show!! Such amazing quilts!! Have a wonderful trip in your new car, I hope your visits are good ones this time. Your latest quilts are wonderful too! I love all the crazy cut mens shirts with the cheddar , it doesn't get much better than that!

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  19. wow, great post, amazing quilts. Looks like a great vacation is planned. I hope you get some sunshine while up in WA We've finally broke into a few sunny days in a row, just enough time to mow the lawn and we'll be back into the rain this weekend. Travel safe

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  20. Thank you for posting all the great pictures from the quilt show. "The Quilt Show" had a slide show with many of the same quilts you took pictures of, but you had even more quilts to show. It is thanks to them that I found your blog though, because I was looking for more pictures of the Chocolates and Cherries quilt.
    Have a wonderful trip. :o)

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  21. The cheddar/shirt scraps quilt is wonderful. Saw it mentioned on JulieK's blog and had to come take a look :)

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  22. What a stunning collection of quilts! Each one is amazing, a totally different realm to my own quilting.

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  23. Thank you, that was a lovely quilt show to see on a Sunday morning.

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