Addition to the family

It's here and set up! Fusion aka Fred! Joyce and her husband Joe, from Big Sky Quilts in Montana, did a wonderful job of putting everything together and getting it all setup in a day. What a job that was! So grateful I didn't have to do it! The next day a had my first lesson. Woohoo!! Talk about exciting!!

And then, I badly hurt both hands so Fred has been relaxing and getting acquainted with his new home. Only this past week have I been able to piece. 

What happened to the office that was where Fred is now? Everything has been moved upstairs and combined with a living room office into the long forgotten den that was used as a storage for trucking and quilt store paraphernalia after closing and selling the businesses respectively.

Yes, that is a pink elephant in the chair. But, that is another story. Time for another reorganization. Yes, this is one of the other rooms that was mentioned in the first reorganization that needed to be redone. Anyone out there starting a business that requires office paraphernalia?

Renewed WIP

Hi everyone! Jo here; Kat's cohort.

Isn't it great when you can throw a WIP in the box because you're sick of the fabric, let alone the quilt, and 10 months later, when you find it in a pile, it is the best looking WIP again!

Mystery Final Chapter

Here we are at the final chapter of the Mystery. I hope you enjoyed the journey. There are pictures of other color variations that you can try. Mystery is no longer available. Stay tuned for another mystery in the spring.

It's finally a hot summer here even though it is September. I guess technically it really is still summer because the first day of Fall is in October. Even the poplar trees are still green.

I always feel like saying Happy New Year September 1. Don't you think this is the beginning of the year? Everyone gets back into a routine and most groups/institutes start their programs at this time.

You may have noticed that the previous post was by Jo. She is a great friend and cohort. Jo enjoys quilting period. She is one of those that actually pieces every day. She tests my patterns, sews my samples and gives me a kick when I need one to move forward. Jo recently purchased one of APQS' first midarm, longarm at that time, quilting machine. It's like working on a Featherweight. Hums along beautifully!

Jo will be periodically blogging at Next Step Quilt Designs. Her enthusiasm for quilting is contagious so stay tuned!

Summer Daze

Summer is over, boo hoo, and the city is back to normal. Because of all the construction projects, the one hour drive across the city is back to two hours. 

The design wall is getting fuller by the hour. Kat is experimenting with 'modern quilt' fabric in her traditional “block of the month” blocks. It works for those who like blended quilts, which we do. Well I do; Kat is experimenting. Here is a portion of her Summer Daze block of the month.

Many modern quilts look somewhat simplistic but in studying many of the websites with Modern quilts, I came to notice that the only restriction is my own fear in using whatever fabric you want. Kat noticed that many Modern quilts use plain white for a background giving the quilts a clean look. The impression that many modern quilts are just large pieces of modern fabric sewn together doesn’t hold true for us either. Anyway, a new door is now open for us to try and we have found another reason to add more fabric to our stash.

Slow posting and slow sewing. All though I did quilt the Summer Daze quilt myself on an old (l988) “midarm” longarm quilting machine (that doesn’t sound right), the fact is that the last time I quilted on any type of longarm machine was back in the early nineties. A pretty fair job if I do say so myself.

The next modern quilt is also done is ready to go on the Midarm quilting machine. I love how the colors worked in the unusual setting. The simple border really showcases the blocks.