Thursday, October 28, 2021

No Tricks all Treats

I made two new Halloween quilts this month which I didn't need; not sorry.
Haunted Mansion Medallion - 28" x 31"
I came across the liberated house block in my sewing room and decided to make a little medallion quilt. 
This witch's laundry cracks me up.  I got some scraps of it from Norma my fellow Halloween enthusiast.
It was a good challenge to organize the strings with directional prints.  I did some fussy cutting for the corners.  I quilted it in a drop diamond pattern with alternating orange and purple thread.
The backing was also from Norma and I made a special label.
I used this book and these fabric markers.
I also made this little candle mat, which I suppose is my monthly mini for October.  It is a gift for Hanna and David for their apartment.
I used a little pack of 2" halloween fabrics to make light and dark half square triangles.  super simple 
The backing is made from weird scraps that were too good to throw out.  I quilted it and then did a pillow turn finish - no binding.
I received the nicest gift from Annie of Annie's Quilt Orts blog.   There was an unfortunate mailing delay that resulted in Annie's blocks coming after I did the swap so sent her all my blocks and returned hers. 
I know she felt a little bad, but it was no ones fault but my own.  If I had triple checked all the names and packages it could have been prevented.
A few weeks ago she sent me lovely doll quilt with six of the stars along with a sweet note.  What a clever setting!  Thank you so much Annie.  It was such a wonderful act of kindness.

Last weekend I made one of my quick pantry meals in my 30+ year old crockpot. 
There are several versions of these sweet and hot meatballs.   My moms original recipe called for chili sauce and currant jelly.  I can't seem to find that so I use strawberry jelly and it works great.
The longer you leave them, the more tender the meatballs will be.  It's great for game days, sew days, busy days and lazy days.

Happy early Halloween Everyone!
See you in November!
xo

Friday, October 22, 2021

Quilt Show in Review

 Yay! Finally a quilt show and it was my guild, the Ninigret Quilters Guilds' 40 year anniversary Ruby Jubilee Show.

The show is held at the Westerly Armory.  We had 205 quilts - all in one room! Here is a panoramic view from the balcony just as the show was opening on Sunday.
There were 14 Guild Mystery quilts on display.  I love to see how everyone makes them their own.
Here is Best in Show made my Pat Harrison.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the card. Pat is a professional Long Arm Quilter and won extra merit ribbons for this quilt.

Many quilters in our group do not have their quilts judged.  If your work is judged, there are two categories; artisan and master.

This was my favorite quilt in the whole show.   It is a quilt from the Shelburne Museum.
And here are some other beautiful quilts from this wonderful show.


Chrome Sweet Chrome received Best Appliuqe' and Best Hand Quilting.  What an honor!  It also received a Vendor Ribbon (not in photo) from Beyond the Bolt a great local quilt shop.  Thanks ladies!
Technicolor Dream Quilt received best Modern Quilt.  Who Me? a Modern Quilter?  
Chernobyl received a 3rd in pieced master.  I spoke to several visitors about this quilt who wanted to know more about it.
We all received these commemorative labels for our quilts.  What a special touch.
Here is the drawing for the Jubilee Raffle Quilt.  The tickets were SOLD OUT.  Tina's sister-in-law won, which was great because she designed and finished the quilt and was the Quilt Show Chairwoman.
I was lucky to win the Scratch Off Lottery raffle basket.  Wee!  I'm still working on them.  There are over $100 worth of tickets.
I hope you have enjoyed this visit to the show.  I celebrated by sipping this pretty sparkling rose' cava which came in a patchwork decorated bottle.
Hope have a happy weekend! If you have a chance, check out the harvest full moon.  Here are photos I took on Tuesday while driving home from NJ.
Until next time.
xo

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Fair Report - 2021

 Hooray!  The Durham Fair is back! What Fun

I love the agriculture displays
The Animals
Great Decorations for these cows!
Horse Pull
The demolition derby - oh yeah!
The food vendors - there are about 100
The pulled pork and mac 'n cheese in a waffle cone is as good as it sounds.

The personal achievements and displays
I loved this Girl Scouting display (and so did the judges).
Song of the Sparrow was awarded best Appliuqe' quilt.  So exciting! It will move on to the CT State Competition later this month.  The blue quilt next to mine is hand pieced and hand quilted.  

There were many lovely quilts and other needlework.
My Pineapple also won a Special Ribbon.
This was David's first time at the fair.  Needless to say he loved it.
I got my flu shot this week.  I figured since I'm teaching and lecturing at guilds in personal again it is a good idea.  I am not qualified for a covid booster so this helps keep me healthy I hope.

Happy Fall ya'll!  Soak up some homey feeling of autumn.
xo