Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Just 3 days.......

......and I'll be in Lancaster!!!  WOOHOO!

I'm so excited, I can't stand it!

And I'm nearly all packed already, which is unheard of in our house!  We usually are packing at midnight the night before we leave for anything.....racing around, trying to find the shoes, or pants, or necklace that we MUST have!  LOL  This is totally groundbreaking for us!  Truly!  It must be that over-50 thing, working it's older/wiser magic on me!  Ha!  I'm liking it!  A LOT!

Let me just say right now a HUGE THANK YOU!!!!! to all of you who sent me more suggestions for our trip!  You are awesome in every way!   Eegads!  I can't wait!!!!!  This is going to be so much fun!!!!

Since it's been so dang long since my last post......I thought I'd share the latest quilt top with you!  I just finished it up 2 days ago!  (With all the travel clothes laid out on the spare bed, I had no where to take pics of it, until now!)



OMG!!!!!  I'm totally loving this quilt!!!!  LOL

Here are some close ups of some of the fun blocks!  It's completely made from recycled shirts, and I had the MOST fun making the blocks where 'anything goes'.......stripes heading off in different directions, random colors, reversed piece placement!  So much fun!!





And I'm so glad I have a hubby who shares his opinions with me!  He was such a huge help when it came to the alternate blocks.  I originally had a mix of the plaids and the stripes for the alternates, but when I got it all laid out, it was awful!  It was such a jumble, and chaotic; what a mess!  Then hubby said that the stripes were sending your eyes off in too many directions, and he was TOTALLY RIGHT!!!  So I removed all the stripes, and replaced them with all plaids, and now when you look at it, the alternates fall back and allow your eyes to see the pieced blocks.  Even though the plaids are busy, so many of them read as solids, that they give your eyes a chance to rest.  Yay!  I'm so happy with it!  :o)

And I've been working like crazy on the log cabins blocks, too!  I have 257 now......I just need 203 more!  Woot!  Past the half way mark!  Haha!

And while I've been making these churndashes and log cabins, I just couldn't stop myself from putting the littlest scraps together for 'made fabric'......and this is what I've come up with for that!......



I auditioned a bunch of fabrics for the background, and of course, cheddar won!  (Duh!)  I had thought maybe to alternate cheddar and red, but then it became stripes of alternate blocks, and I just don't know about that.  Still in the playing stage, so who knows what the end will be!  But then I thought it could use something more, so.......


I just might have to add a little wedge on the corner of each block, so they create a spinning star!  Yes!!  Because we all know that when it comes to piecing......more is better!  LOL

This is planned to be a wall hanging, about 30x40ish.  The blocks will finish at about 5", and I already have all 48 pieced strips done!  Woot!  Maybe it will get a red border......we'll see!

I think one of the best things about quilting to me is the 'playing, and see where it goes' part.  I rarely use a pattern, and when I do, it usually gets played with, too!  I love sketching an idea out, working it out on graph paper, and figuring as I go.  (I don't have the computer programs for designing......I'm totally happy with graph paper.)  Sometimes I don't even figure it out, but use what I have and let it determine what I'm doing.  For this scrappy quilt, I had a stack of 3x8 pieces of phone book pages, that were the trimmed off part from another project.  I just grabbed those, with no idea in mind, and started piecing the bits on them until they were covered.  I've seen some antique quilts on the net in this pattern (don't know the name....sorry!), and thought it would be fun in the shirt scraps!  :o)  I'm so glad I put those littlest of scraps to use!  (A lot of them were less than 1" square.)

It's so funny, when my friends give me little baggies of scraps, they roll their eyes, and I'm sure they're thinking, "What the hell is she going to do with those!?!  What a nut!"  :o)

Yep.....I'm a nut!  :o)

And since I have not really played with my new phone much, I don't think I'll be posting from Lancaster, but you can be sure I'll have plenty to post when I return!  :o)

Oh, and I almost forgot!  On Saturday, we were at a historical quilt lecture given by Kathy Kenny!  It was awesome!!!  From her brochure, it looks like she travels the New England area, with lectures on The Mill Girls of 1830's (that's the one we just heard!), Crazy Quilts 1880-1900, Feedsack and Fancy Work 1920's-1940's, and more.  Each lecture includes over 20 vintage quilts!  If you're in this region, and your guild is looking for a speaker, she would be an excellent choice!  Here's her site:  www.kathykennyquilts.net

Ok......I'm heading back to the machine, to get more log cabins made.....yay!  I hope you're getting some stitching done, too!

regan

24 comments:

  1. Now you know I love, love, love this post!! What a gorgeous plaid wonderful churn dash!! And those found fabric pieces...yum!!

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  2. oh I just love this quilt beautiful all those plaids!
    and of course love your quilt your working on now, just plain fun! beautiful bright happy background fabric I love that with the plaids.
    enjoy your trip and can't wait to hear about the shopping trips!
    Kathie

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  3. I'm next in line to say that this is a marvelous post, Regan! Love the plaids (of course) and what you are doing with the scraps, too.
    Enjoy Lancaster. I'll look forward to your photos afterward.

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  4. It's National Quilting Month, so of course, I'm stitching! ;-)

    So glad the cheddar won - it looks FABULOUS!

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  5. All the plaid projects pics are great but I LOVE(!!!) your "made" fabric and pairing with the cheddar is a true winner in my book.

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  6. I love the quilt! I was afraid it would be too busy with all the shirt fabrics, but your husband really came through and it looks fabulous!!! You are going to have lots of fun at Lancaster. Many of the vendors that were here are going there so pack lots of cash or plastic and/or a list. And a big bag to carry your loot in. I haven't blogged about my class with Pat Delaney yet, but she was awesome! I really liked it and she is talented and has some remarkable pieces. I'm sure you will like her lecture. Have fun!

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  7. Honestly, Regan, this is one of the most beautiful quilts I´ve ever seen. Have a great time at Lancaster - I wish I could go there, too.

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  8. Well done on your finish - looks beautiful! Love the cheddar with the crazy patchwork too - perfect background. Have fun in Lancaster.
    Hidla

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  9. Have so much fun - can't wait to hear all about it. And your eye candy was wonderful!!

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  10. Your plaid quilt is fabulous! I can tell that you had a ball making it.

    Enjoy your trip.

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  11. Love, love, love your plaid quilt! Enjoy your time away it will be refreshing and inspiring, I'm sure!

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  12. Your plaid churn dashes are so warm and wonderful! I love it too!
    your LC blocks are great and the cheddar is fabulous!
    have fun in Lancaster

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  13. Love what you've done with your scraps! So has all of this made a dent in your plaid shirt stash? Your churndash is awesome and I can't wait to see the logcabin again. Will you take projects to work on when you are in Lancaster?
    I have an old version of one of the design programs and never used it. I like to just wing it, too!

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  14. You'll want to make time to get to Sylvia Petersheim's quilt shop in Bird-In-Hand. The phone # is 717-392-6404. They fill up tables in their work shop with half yard cuts at very reasonable prices. And if I remember correctly, The Old Country Store has a midnight madness sale, but you'll want to call and find out what day. Have a wonderful time!

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  15. You are going to have the best trip!! I love your latest top, its so wonderful with all those yummy plaids!! And your new project is gorgeous too, love the cheddar! Have fun in Lancaster!!

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  16. I am so TOTALLY in luv with that plaid Churn Dash---what a fun, fantastic quilt. :D And just look at your 'made' fabric---just awesome. :D Hope you have a blast on your trip.

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  17. I am so waiting to hear about your trip!!! Sounds so wonderful!!! And I love,love, love the plaid churn dash! You ARE NOT HELPING AT ALL!!!! I'm just going to have to make one of those!!!

    Always love seeing your stuff!!

    Blessings

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  18. The plaid Churn Dash is fabulous. I love plaids in quilts, they really add that special something that makes a quilt dance! Love Lancaster, too. Have a great time.

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  19. Have a blast in Lancaster! SO much to see and do.
    Love your projects - the plaids are stirking all in mass!

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  20. Love your plaid quilt. I've never been to Lancaster; have a good time and take lots of photos.

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  21. Well, I am commenting again...I just can't get over how much I love your plaid string pieces!! Would you mind if I made one too??

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  22. Love the plaids, what a fabulous quilt, and the strings will make a very cool Liberated Wedding ring laid out like that, Cheddar is always a good choice!

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  23. Great post so much to share. Found you on Pinterest with that bold quilt top. Would love to see how it looks finished with quilting.

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