Megan's Blog

Spring Cover

There is not a whole lot of "fru-fru" in this house full of men and animals, but I decided to take a stab and adding a little "fru" to the chair that I use at the sewing machine, partially because the spring is always a time for sprucing up the homefront and also  a certain little kitty likes to sit on my chair whenever I get up (to which I say to her---"you gonna jump in my coffin that fast?")and leaves alot of hair.  So I figured I'd make something that will come off and can be washed.

I called in the engineering staff (DH and #1Son) and we discussed the moving parts and then I threw them out of the room because the blathering on was getting in the way of progress.  A couple of hours later here we are....

it's made with the pretty little Moda that I got at Purl Patchwork on our trip to the big city.

But I didn't have enough for the whole chair so I made the back out of another black and white.

I contemplated adding a double ruffle, buttons down the back, etc.  but for now I'm leaving it as is or as my DH has been known to say when I am not within earshot----"good enough for the girls we go out with".

It's nice to try a little something new once in a while....what have you tried lately?

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

A Day at the Beach

don't you just love the shore during the off-season??  is everything open yet?

but you can play on the beach til the sun sets

and when asked, on returning from fishing on a charter boat,  "did you catch anything?"  the answer was ....

a nap!

I had one of those very few weekends, without baseball, video games, computers or to do lists and smiled the days thru, thankful that our little ones still enjoy digging holes in the sand, finding shells, and hanging out with their parents.

Hope your weekend was wonderful too!

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Lollipop Envy

We are heading to the beach for a few days and I needed a little handwork to do.  I just loved Patty's (aka Little Miss Sneak Ahead) red and more red on Block #4 of the Lollipop Quilt, so I had to make one of my own...yikes, it's bright!!!

there may be a little re-arranging of the block once they are all done, but for now, I'm winging it color-wise and hoping for the best.

And I have gotten 2 calls in the last 2 days of people who are catching the CWDQ fever.  These projects are absolutely contagious!!  Join in, or find some friends and start your own project, it's a little like Weight Watchers for quilters---support, friendship, very few calories and if you stick with it, you'll be really happy with the results. 

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Earth Day to Jane

I was playing a little catch-up yesterday, (seems to be a game I play each day!) and worked on a few Dear Janes....what do you know, green in every block.   

Guess I caught a little Earth Day fever.....and thankfully, it seems my kids are getting the message thru the media and school, 'cause one of the junior members of the household reprimanded me today for throwing out a small empty bottle of vanilla.  "Shouldn't that be recycled" he says...so maybe there's hope for the planet.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Lollipop Happy

Today I finished the applique on Lollipops Block #3, no small task considering the spring break that seems to be going on for the junior members of the household.  In this house that means, pajamas til noon, grazing all day and often 3-4 extra 10 year old boys in the house/yard.....yikes, it makes me a little frantic thinking about summer around the corner and 3 months of this.

this is going to be one WILD quilt!  I better get going on block #4, cause Miss Sneak Ahead already has her's prepped.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Civil War Blocks

It's a quiet morning, so while the fisherman is out pretending to fish (I suspect there's a certain amount of sitting drinking coffee and enjoying nature) and the kids are still asleep, I worked on a few CWD blocks. 

I have been crazy with class samples, magazine quilts, teaching, baseball, life, so taking a little time to do these blocks was a nice break.....but I just heard footsteps down the stairs, so 3 is all I will get done for now.

Hope you find a little time for yourself today...

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Don't you love a challenge?

My challenge (as a favor at the LQS)was to do a fast and easy quilt that could be kitted with just fat quarters and just one of each of 10 fabrics to show off (translation: sell) a new line of fabrics on the shelf.

So I let it sit for a day and then made quick work of putting in together (deadline being Wednesday to have quilt done and pattern written)  and gee I'm happy with the results....

don't you just love this Prairie Paisley line??

I still have 2-1/2" strips of most of the fabrics left, so I'm going to finish it off with extra wide scrappy binding.....and on time??? no one is more surprised than me!

Hugs and stitches!

Megan

Most Delicious Day

Oooo, we had the most delicious day in "the city" and yes, I admit, the trip was a celebration of the Feast of the Most Precious. 

The Feast became the Feast because someone (my father used to say "I won't say who, I'll just look at  them and whistle") forgot my birthday a few times in our early married days.  So I wrote  "14 more shopping days til the Feast of the Most Precious" on the calendar two weeks before my birthday.  It started out as a gentle joking reminder that he should not forget the day and just kinda stuck.  So the proclamation went out "from this day forward.....The Feast of the Most Precious will be celebrated with gifts and merriment and Lemon Meriginue pie" and yesterday was definitely merriment.

We visited City Quilter and ran into a fellow guild member.  It was so nice to be in a bustling store, people buying, chatting, getting inspired.  I picked up these adorable pinks and a few additions to the Lollipop pile.

In our travels we saw this church

Clearly a quilter had her hand in the windows

And I was so inspired by Tracey
that I bought these to use for a sewing room slipcover at Purl Patchwork.

and then we went in search of cupcakes and found our way to Billy's

And while we sat outside eating our goodies we spotted a celeb with his kids. 

New fabric, friends on a bench, lemonade and moonpies made with oatmeal raisin cookies and Ethan Hawke.....a most delicious day.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Channelling Sinatra

I love to take classes with interesting instructors, even if I know I will never do that project again, cause I know I will learn something from each of them. And I'm lucky to be in a guild that is able to bring in teachers from all over the country.

So Tuesday, I did the Judi Gunter class.   I had loads of fun with the Sisters of Disorderly Conduct, lots of laughing, kind-hearted jesting and some sewing too.  Judi's technique for doing the feathered star is to use interfacing for the foundation instead of paper.  I totally understand the desire to do a foundation that doesn't require you to spend hours ripping paper off the back of the blocks.  But for me, the interfacing had too much "give".  Maybe my tension was too tight, stitches too small, I just don't know. 

But I hate to have another Not Quite Finished project, so I finished it "My Way". 

Judi's beautiful design had more little tiny pieced stars in the center block, but yikes, I just want to get this done and I tried the method enough to understand the basics, so I finished it up yesterday without the little stars.  Hey, finished is better than perfect, right?

And today the Sisters are off to the big city.....let's just see what trouble we get into

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan

Guild Fun

Last nite, we had Judi Gunter as our speaker at the monthly guild meeting. She did her Quilt Patterns and Pop Culture lecture/trunk show.  It was a great history lesson and she brings quilts from each decade starting with the 1830's.  She has a wonderful collection of antique doll quilts as well.  I really love when the speaker brings quilts and not just a slide show.  I understand the limitations and risks for someone flying to a lecture, but it's always nice to see the actual quilt.

And today,the bags are packed, I'm ready to go.... I get to spend the day with friends at Judi's workshop on the dreaded Feathered Star. My problem is that I can't decide what colorway I want to make it in.....so I better bring all of them.

 
Let's hope I have more luck with this method than my previous attempts!

Then really, I need to get back to the Civil War blocks, I hear them calling me all the way across the house.....guess I'll take the call tomorrow.

Hugs and Stitches!

Megan