may end up lengthy

Might want to grab a cup / glass and sit a bit… I could get long winded today.

Back in April I showed a quilt here.  The same lady brought me this quilt.  She told me she’d had it for about 30 years and had taken it from a ‘recycle’ bin at a thrift store she used to volunteer at.  She had tried to quilt it on her domestic machine and it bunched up on her so her husband told her to bring it to me.  There were a few issues in the quilting of this.  The first was she was using a very thin polyester blanket for the batting that barely reached side to side.  Some of the blocks were sewn by hand, some by machine.  The fabrics were different types of material and she had washed and dried this quilt and for the most part it did stay together.  There were a few seams I had to restitch as I quilted using a ladder stitch.  I used a simple meander on this and was able to ease in the excess.  This quilt was in no way going to lay flat and I was not going to try and stretch it as fragile as it is!  She had used a sheet as the backing and asked me to bind it, so I just trimmed after quilting and brought the backing to front for a binding.  The lady was happy so I’m happy…

These are just some blocks I’ve been working on for Sew Fest.  The bottom blocks are small measuring at just 6” finished – all made from scrap HST’s I had.  But there are 31 of them so they will stretch to use as fillers.  The Drunkard’s Path blocks are small, too.  They should have measured at 8” finished but because I’m not perfect and it is a curved seam, they measure 7½” finished…  I personally love the simplicity of the Ohio Star block.  I think it’s one of my favorites for putting in Patriotic quilts.  I like the crispness of the Spider Web block, but I hate the center where all the seams come together.  I’ve yet to figure out a way to reduce that center bulk.  If you know a way, I’d love to hear about it!

I have a special quilt for a special lady on the frame, but can’t show it until after Sew Fest.  Speaking of Sew Fest, which is just a little over 3 weeks away, I’m really looking forward to that this year.  There is only one lady attending that will be my first time meeting her.  We’ve communicated through email, but there’s nothing like meeting someone face to face.  Mickey M., whose quilts you’ve seen here countless times, will be stopping in for a few hours to visit.  Someday, Mickey, we’ll get you to come for the whole week!  I would like more than a couple hours……

I love to get together with my friends.  This year was my second annual 4th of July BBQ.  I’ve declared that as ‘my holiday’ to spend with friend and have told them to keep their calendars open.  This year I supplied all the meat and drinks and everyone else supplied side dishes.  We had quite a spread and a great time!

		Annual BBQ VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

And lastly, “Instagram” … I’ve read that blogs are a thing of the past and people are going to Instagram… well, I don’t have an account there and don’t know if I will ever open one.  I don’t always remember to take pictures and obviously I’m not great at even keeping up my blog.  I’m just curious as to other’s opinions.  Oh and I also don’t “Twitter”.  I do have a Facebook account but it’s another thing that I post to occasionally but use more for keeping up with other.  So, anyway, what are your thoughts on Social Media sites?  Which ones do you feel more drawn to?

So until next time (which will probably after Sew Fest…)

Katie