What can you do with a panel?

That is the challenge.  Pick a panel you like and do something with it.  The challenge was issued at the January guild meeting with your entry due at the October meeting.

So in February I go to a combined quilt show/shop hop and one of the vendors has a Valentine panel.  I know I already have a plenty of heart/Valentine fabric to go with it so I got two panels.  I got two because each panel has two different heart squares on it and I'm glad I did since I ended up using three of the squares from the panels.

I knew I didn't want to make a large quilt and I didn't want to do a wall hanging either.  I've seen lots of patterns and ideas for bed runners lately so I decided that's what I'd do.  I'll also make a pillow shams and a throw pillow to go with it later on.

The first pic is the bed runner after its been quilted but before the binding has been put on.  The second pic is one of the paper pieced hearts.  They were such a pain to do but oh so cool when they were done and they really make the quilt.  The last pic is a close up of some of the quilting.  I had it long arm quilted and told her to "fancy it up."

A new venture

I'm going to open a web fabric store!!  I have a room in my basement that I'm going to line with bookcases and fill with fabric.  I need to talk to the IRS on monday and make sure I can just use the same EIN number I already have and then I'll apply for my sales tax number from the state.  My mom is giving me seed money for my initial set up and inventory.  I should have the shop up and running in about a month and a half to two months. 

Tentative name is Cottonwood Creek Quilts.

I'm excited.

Those jelly roll quilts

I'm sure you've seen them.  You sew a whole jelly roll end to end and then grab the two ends and sew them lengthwise.  They're kinda boring.  Just a buncha strips sewn together.  The only variations are sewing the strips together with bias seams or straight seams and maybe adding a square between the strips when you use the straight seams.

But I had a black and white jelly roll.

So I jazzed it up.

I'll add a very narrow border of orange.  Then I'm going to have to hunt for border fabric.  The black and white I have is more off white and just doesn't work.

Sunflowers!

I'm really happy with the way the sunflower turned out.

The Meadowlark is pretty cool too.  The wheat has been fairly uncooperative so far though.  I was going to make it with beads and perle cotton but the beads were too big, the wrong shape and the wrong color.  They just flat wouldn't work.  I looked thru every bead website I could find and Hobby Lobby and I didn't find anything that would work.  So I'm fusing it too.  Talk about tedious!!

In other quilty news, I'm now the chairman of the quilt section at the county fair.  I knew that Baker Arts thing would just lead me into more trouble!!

I'm working on the Kansas, My Kansas challenge wall hanging.  It's not due until May so I have only been doing enough to show "participation."

Anyway, I have the main sections done for the background now.  I've figured out how I'm going to do the wheat so far.  I am still not sure about the sunflowers.

fabric bowls

So at the retreat in October we had a table of "white elephant" type stuff.  Basically books and notions somebody did want anymore.  Each table drew four cards and each table got to go the the white elephant table according to the cards they drew.  The pickings were starting to get a little low and I saw the book "Fast, Fun, & Easy Fabric Bowls."  I didn't take it the first time I saw it but it was still on the table the next time so I grabbed it.

When I went to Denver at the beginning of November to pick my BFF up to come visit for a month we did a fast shopping trip at JoAnn's and I bought a couple of yards of Peltex II.  It's fusible on both sides so you don't have to use up a bunch of Wonder Under too.

So this is the results.  Next time JoAnn's has a 50% off coupon and I have the money I'm buying a whole bolt of Peltex!!

All three of these bowls are on their way to their new homes now.

Silence descends!

Boy did it ever!!  My BFF was here all month.  We had a great time! 

Then Son 1 and his family and my mother came for a "pre-Thanksgiving" dinner since he had to work on T-D.  My youngest granddaughter will be 1 tomorrow and is just the cutest and goofiest thing ever!

Then the next week on Tuesday I went and picked up DGD #2 and her dad came on Wednesday.  Then for T-D my hubby's best friend, his wife and 3 kids plus my mom came for dinner.  I think I outdid my self this year and reached turkey gravy nirvana.

I took my BFF home yesterday and hubby is off at his second job and the house is totally silent again.  I mean like clock ticking, I hear the cat snoring silent.  LOL!

In quilty news, I am suddenly the chairman of a quilt show at our local arts center.  I volunteered to "help" and now I'm in charge.  The chairman's husband has several medical issues and she quit.  She gave me notice 2 whole hours before the board meeting.  Wasn't that sweet??  I still don't have any of her notes.  Hopefully I can get them before the guild meeting next tuesday.  If she had let me know right after the guild meeting at the first of November when she also didn't show up I could have had several things done and had more info for the board meeting.  I guess I'll spend the next few days playing catch up!