Friday finish -- another table topper for Mom!

With the wonders of technology, you might not have noticed that I was on vacation this week. In the Bahamas! Yes, please feel bad for me. It was cold there (60*F to 70*F), but nothing like New York (18*F last night when we landed).

What did I do in the Bahamas? Not much. Isn't that what vacation is all about?

I took some hand sewing to do in between meals and naps and managed to finish everything I brought with me! I've never heard of such a thing. We quilters are such over-packers, aren't we?
One of the projects I finished is a table topper for Mom. Remember how much she loves them?

It's approximately 11-inches square. I bought the kit last year when I taught at the Lancaster show from The Christmas Shoppe. They are one of my favorite vendors at all of the shows I attend. Their booth is super-cute, the people are friendly, and the patterns and kits are such a treat! This kit included the all of the felt, buttons, thread and even a tiny pair of scissors! While I was packing for my trip, I remembered this kit and thought it was perfect for vacation sewing.

I'll probably give this topper to Mom for her birthday in the spring. I feel quite safe posting it here since the only thing Mom does with Dad's computer is dust it! So, as long as none of you tell her about it, this will remain our secret.

The Care and Feeding of a Sewing Machine

It's probably best to clean out your bobbin area before it looks like this:



I had to inventory my cats, just to make sure that this wasn't the remains of one of them, stuck under the plate of my sewing machine.

Argyle -- it's not just for socks anymore!

I believe that I may have mentioned that I may be somewhat fond of thread. I have actually bought thread and then had to go find fabric that matched it! Has anyone else ever done this?

I have decided to make a quilted Argyle bag because, hey, why not? Follow along and make one of your own!

I started with a piece of black fabric for the front of the bag, approximately 10 x 12 inches. I chalked an 8 x 10-inch rectangle on the fabric with marks every one-inch on the top and bottom and every two-inches on each side:



Top thread: InvisiFil thread
Bobbin thread: InvisiFil thread
Needle: size 14 (since InvisiFil is a 100 weight polyester thread, I chose a small needle)
Stitches per inch: between 10 and 12

I layered backing, batting and velvet on my longarm machine and basted around the edges. I put my ruler base on my machine (safety first!) and stitched a few loops on the side of the fabric to make sure my top tension was correct.

Using my ruler, I stitched between the marks:



Remember that your hopping foot is 1/4" away from your needle. To compensate for this, I positioned my ruler 1/4" away from the mark. When I stitched, the line hit the point perfectly!

Stitch from point to point, following the diagrams below:


Diagram 1:

Diagram 2:


Diagram 3:



Diagram 4:











(All of the marked points will not be used during this step.)



Once I stitched all of the lines, a series of diamonds emerged:


A different way to stitch diamonds is detailed in my book, Beyond the Lines.

Next Wednesday, I'll add some color (think Tiffany's!) to this Argyle bag.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll, clue 3

For this week's installment of Roll Roll Cotton Boll, Bonnie has us making 60 string blocks. Since I'm not particularly fond of string blocks and don't actually have any strings to speak of (I give them all to Pokeytown Kim), I decided to make log cabin blocks instead. I used the same value fabrics that Bonnie suggested and I made them the same size; I hope they will work:



Truth be told, I made three of them. I don't have much time to sew this week, so it might take a while for the other 57 to be completed.

How is your Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery quilt coming along?

Design Wall Monday

Every time I looked at my design wall this week, I was shocked to find a new quilt on it. The last quilt was on the wall for at least three months! Here's my new view:

The top block is from Meadow Breeze by Pat Sloan and the rest of the blocks are from an old Pinwheels block of the month.

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Sunday Stash Report

Last week I took some friends to The Patchwork Co. in Windham, New York:

My friend, John Kubiniec, is a McCall's Design Star finalist. He needed fabric to make his quilt for the final round. He worked hard that day, picking fabric and calculating how much of each one he would need:

Pokeytown Kim gave some good advice:

While I was there, I saw the Eighth Wonder of the World, a man who can iron:

This iron man is Murray, one of the owners of the store.

John posted a video about our trip.

To follow the rest of John's quilting challenge adventure, check out his blog.

Even though I was at the shop so John could purchase his fabric, I did manage to stimulate the local economy.

Fabric Purchased This Week: 20 yards (It was on sale! Does that excuse me?)
Fabric Used This Week: 2 yards (for my Wendy top)

Head on over to Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Friday finish -- a Wendy top

The photo doesn't come close to showing how absolutely LIME this green top is:



Yes, it still needs a good pressing. It's from a Built by Wendy pattern.

Check out some other great finishes at

More love for my Fusion

Because there are never enough (uncluttered) flat surfaces in my sewing room, imagine my joy when I realized that the table for the Fusion is wide enough to lay out a full width of fabric:



True joy!

It's official...

... I'm addicted to thread.

I've already spoken of the joy that is Accent thread from WonderFil. I have a doily to prove my everlasting devotion. But as a mother can love more than one child, I can love more than one thread.

I recently finished an applique project, so it was time to pull out a new (old) project. I chose this block of the month from Pinwheels :

Maria, the designer, did a fabulous job with this quilt. The fan/plate is hand-stitched together using English paper-piecing techniques and then hand-applique it to the background.

For the applique, I pulled out my new collection of InvisiFil thread:

Isn't that just the most lovely sight ever?

It is 100 weight polyester and is absolutely fantastic for hand-applique (and many other types of sewing, too!). The thread disappears between the applique and the background making the applique look flawless. I almost want to un-stitch the first 15 blocks and re-do them with InvisiFil, but I'm holding myself back.

Watch the progress of this quilt on my design wall on Mondays.

Roll Roll Cotton Boll

I'm a little behind on Roll Roll Cotton Boll part 2.




So they are all cut, all sewn, and just have to be ironed and trimmed. On to Step 3!

Design Wall Monday

What a difference a week has made in my Lucky Charms quilt.

The applique is done. The (orange!) border is on and a little wider than the pattern. The bricks are added. Another orange border was added. A white border was added using every. single. inch. of that white fabric. I finished the quilt with a green border. The fabric is too lovely to only be seen in tiny little triangles.

So, here she is:



Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- holiday quilt

You can look at this week's finished quilt one of two ways: as being a month late, or being eleven months early. I prefer to think of myself as being early.

I recently published a new pattern, Too Hip to Be Square. I designed it as a teaching tool; it's the quilt I use to teach my home machine quilters. We do stitch-in-the-ditch and lots of free-motion quilting. When I taught the class this fall, I made a new sample using Halloween Fabric.



Since I finished the binding on Thanksgiving, I'm eleven months early and well-prepared for next Halloween. Thankfully, I had a spare pumpkin and some candy around today for the photo!
Check out some other great finishes at

I Knew I Could!

I've been crocheting my fingers to the bones trying to finish my doily made with Accent thread from WonderFil.

Four medallions completed and joined:

I crocheted a medallion to fill the center and then it was time to block the doily. I got the doily wet, gave it a light coating of starch, and then pinned it to a board to dry in place:

Does this remind anyone else of Hellraiser?.

The finished project:

When I made Mom's tablecloth out of crochet cotton, it was very sturdy and stiff. This is rayon and while it is sturdy, it isn't stiff at all! It has an amazing drape to it. I would really love to see how this would hang as a tablecloth, but I don't want it enough to spend a few years crocheting these medallions. I'm just not that curious!

So, what did I learn from this? I learned that I can still make lace. I learned that Accent makes a wonderful crochet thread. And I learned that I prefer the feel of rayon lace!

Because I have so much spare time...

... I started the new Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, Roll Roll Cotton Boll.



I finished approximately 175 of these little segments and cannot wait for the next clue!

Design Wall Monday

I have some great news about my Lucky Charms quilt:

1. I finished the hand applique
2. I'm closer to picking my inner border
3. I finished the hand applique!



So, do you like red, orange, yellow, or blue?

Or maybe lime green?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

It was my honor...

... to spend a day with Cathy Sprague. Read more about this amazing woman here.

Checking out that "Brotherly Love"

I am on my way to Philadelphia to teach at Byrne Sewing Connection. The classes are tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am-11am and noon-4pm. Maybe I will see some of you there?

Guess Where I'm Going Tonight?

I Think I Can...

When I started blogging about crocheting my doily with Accent thread from WonderFil, I knew that I wanted to share a photo of Mom's tablecloth with you. My problem was that Mom lives over 400 miles away and I have no plans to visit her before Christmas. I asked Dad if he could take a photo of the tablecloth and e-mail it to me. Suffice it to say that explaining to my father over the telephone how to upload a photo from his digital camera and attach it to an e-mail was a bit of an adventure. He took a beautiful photo and, with perseverance and great determination, sent it to me.

I'm very grateful to my mom for staging her dining room for this photo and to my dad for conquering technology.


(photo courtesy of Edwin Ritenbaugh, my dad!)

Since we now know how hard Mom and Dad worked for this blog post, I have to prove that I've been working hard as well.

This week, I finished two medallions and joined them:



I had so much fun that I kept crocheting and finished the third medallion and joined it to the first two:



I've received some fun comments from bloggy friends. Comments like, "You are crocheting? With thread? Are you absolutely mad?" My answer to that is, "Yes. Yes. and Yes." But truly, what good is putting off important projects if you cannot work on something entirely frivolous and lovely while you are procrastinating?

Will I keep procrastinating on my big projects? Will my eyes and hands hold out to finish this doily? Check back next Wednesday!

(To read part one of this project, click here.)

Longarm Tuesday

I think it's time to spill the beans. I bought a new longarm machine, the Handi Quilter Fusion. It was delivered in August:

I assembled it and have been on the road ever since.

After I got home from Houston last week, I finally had time to play with my new baby. I am so in love with this machine! It loves threads!

Threads like Glitter:

And threads like Rainbows:

It also has a stitch regulator (actually two!) and is so easy to control.

I just finished sample fora The Quilt Basket. They gave me permission to post it here:

Cathy is such a precise piecer. Look at all of those points!!!

Feathers:

Inner borders:

Hard to see, but detailed quilting of the border fabric:

Please check out the Quilt Basket and their blog.

Design Wall Monday

Oh, the places I've been! And my applique has been with me. It has been safe in a zippered pouch and didn't see the light of day even once. Not in Pennsylvania, nor in Ohio, nor in Georgia, nor in Maryland, nor in New Hampshire, nor in Nebraska, nor in Utah, nor in Texas.

I opened the pouch when I got home from Houston last week and I actually made some progress!



Most of the progress, unfortunately, was during the disastrous Steeler loss last night.

Since the applique is almost done, I really need help picking the color of the inner border. Any thoughts?

Head on over to Judy's blog to see what everyone else is doing.

Friday Finish -- Quilt of Valor

Now that I'm back home and have reliable internet service, it's time to resume my Friday Finishes.

Today's quilt is from a tutorial on Jaybird Quilts. I made this quilt as a Quilt of Valor. Now the quilt is done, the pillowcase is done, the label is done, the journal is done, and I am going to deliver this quilt to a Quilts of Valor chapter soon.

I had fun making the quilt, but I think I learned the most from writing the journal. Every day I worked on this quilt, I wrote about what I was doing and how I was thinking about my soldier. The quilt is so personal to me now, and I hope it is to him/her as well.

I have made many quilts for this wonderful group and I've had the pleasure of meeting many of the group organizers. I've been blessed to meet a mother of a soldier who received one of my quilts. Many tears were shed by both of us! I've also received some wonderful thank you notes. I cherish them and revisit them occasionally.

Please check out Quilts of Valor and see what you can do to help them!

Check out some other great finishes at

Did you ever...

... play a childhood game where you dug through a pile of sawdust to find pennies? That's kind of what I'm doing today, but I'm digging through piles of mail instead of sawdust. After about two months of travel, I have three piles of mail, each over a foot tall, and that doesn't include the boxes!

I started with the top of one pile and found treasure about half way down:

Also in the package were CDs of quilt photos and harp music by the famous Ray Pool!

This treasure was sent to me by my friend John Kubiniec. Do you know John? He's a McCall's Design Star finalist. Check out his quilts and vote for him!

A Tale of Two Tales

Story #1:

My great-grandmother made a lace tablecloth for my mother's hope chest. I remember playing on the floor under the dining room table as a child and weaving my fingers through the lacy strings. My mother didn't inherit the crocheting genes, so when I learned to crochet I was responsible for mending the holes in the tablecloth (likely made by yours truly years earlier).

When I was in secretarial school, I crocheted on the long bus rides into town. I made a lot of lace since it was extremely portable. In September 1987 (the date inside of the magazine), I bought this magazine:



I was so excited because it contained a doily pattern that was the same as Mom's tablecloth!



I started making Mom a new tablecloth. Hers was well over forty years old, and even careful mending couldn't make it last forever. I crocheted while I commuted to school and then work. I crocheted while I was caring for one baby and I think I finished that tablecloth while pregnant with my daughter in 1990. It took miles and miles of crochet cotton. It is the only one I have ever made, and Mom loves it.

Story #2:

I spent the last week and a half working at Quilt Market and then Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. I didn't get out of the HandiQuilter booth or classroom often, but my free time was spent at the WonderFil booth. Have you heard of WonderFil? They are a thread company out of Canada. I first met them at Machine Quilters Showcase in Kansas in May and have been fondling my thread cards from them ever since.

Since I don't check luggage, I had very little room to carry purchases home. Fortunately thread doesn't take up much space! I brought home a gorgeous spool of green and blue Accent thread called Avocadoes.



Since I apparently have too much time on my hands, I decided to see how this thread would look when crocheted into lace. I got home from the airport around 5pm Monday. By 11pm, I had this little piece made:



It's the same pattern as Mom's tablecloth. I only plan to make a small doily. Even if I had plans to make it larger, I learned a few things last night:

1. I haven't made lace in over 20 years
2. My eyes are 20 years older
3. My hands are 20 years older
4. I still have a full-time job
5. I have well over 100 unfinished quilting/knitting projects in my studio

The Cliff-Hanger:

Stay tuned to see how this doily turns out!


For part two of the doily story, click here

I've been blogged!

Check out Victoria's post from Houston.

I'm finally home after about two months of travel. I think I'll take a few days to recharge, then I'll be back to blogging!

Friday finish -- Christine's quilt

I have been friends with Christine for about ten years. When I was born, God decided I needed a friend like her, so nine months later she was born.

Christine is having a kidney transplant. I can do little to help the situation, but I can make her this:

Be well, Christine!

(and the fabric is Pampered Pooches from 2007)

I have a preposition for you

Over the next 28 days, I will be:

• in my studio, quilting a designer sample for a magazine
• in my studio, quilting two designer samples for Quilt Market
• in Fremont, Nebraska
• in Salt Lake City, Utah
• in Nashua, New Hampshire
• in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• in Houston, Texas
• in-volved in an undisclosed writing project
• in the doctor's office (routine maintenance)
• in the dentist's chair (not routine maintenance)
• in the final stages of publish two patterns
• in the local quilt shop, teaching one of the above patterns
• in five hotels
• in nine airplanes
• in my car ... a lot!
• in-sane
• in serious need of a rest

For more prepositions, check out this video: