Quilt Camp

I am sitting in the library at Paul Smith's College while on lunch break from quilting class. What a beautiful view I have of the lower St. Regis Lake. I am having a wonderful time learning all kinds of things. I forgot to bring my camera so I won't be able to share the fantastic scenery with you. There is inspiration everywhere...water, trees, nature and especially quilts! I have had trouble sleeping at night because of all the ideas that are running around in my brain...oh no...I sense some new projects being started...stay tuned.

Photos on Fabric

Tonight I am teaching a class in transferring images to fabric. Here is one of my examples...I made 11 of these as gifts for my son's friends for graduation. They were a hit.

I am getting ready to go to "quilt camp". I will be taking a class on machine quilting and a class using EQ5 (the quilt designing software). I'll be back on Saturday with lots of new knowledge...stay tuned.

I really am crazy...

This past week our "region" had a quilt shop hop. For those of you who might not know what this is...there were 10 shops to visit. You received a "passport" at the first shop you visited and had the passport stamped at each shop. If you visited all 10 your passport went into a drawing for prizes. A few of my friends and I visited all 10 shops plus one extra that we knew was a good one. We did it in two days and it was lots of fun. Here's the crazy part...I bought something at almost all of the stops! I couldn't resist all of that beautiful fabric...here is my new philosophy paraphrased from a sign that I saw at one of the shops:

Would a stamp collector use one of his stamps to mail a letter? Would a coin collector use one of his coins to buy a can of soda? Then why do I have to use all of the fabric that I buy? I am not a fabricholic...I am a fabric collector!

Ain't that the truth...

Pink and Green Goodness...

My sweet daughter sent me this on Saturday...

I love the limes in the vase and the flowers are just beautiful.
I had to rip out a row and a half on my entrelac bag last night because I made a major mistake. Oh well, I am almost back to that point so I can start making progress again.

On the needles...

Here are my current knitting projects:

socks based on the six sox knitalong from last month

and another felted entrelac bag

Using What I Have...

I have joined the sew i knit sewalong and I have promised myself that I will only choose a pattern and fabric from what I already have in my stash. I know I have lots of choices, now I just have to decide what top I'm going to make.

I started knitting a new pair of socks last night...I had to keep my hands busy during the Sabres hockey game. We were all disappointed with the Sabres loss, but it sure was exciting!

I made a trip to my LYS on Wednesday and picked up some yarn for another entrelac bag, but now I can't locate my instructions. They have to be here somewhere...

New Socks

I have completed the socks for the Six Sox Knitalong at yahoo.com by the deadline. Phew! They are not blocked, but here they are...

They fit perfectly...I love the short row heel so much better than the heel flap that I have always done in the past. It's great to learn something new!

A Mother's Day Gift...

My Mother's Day gift from my daughter was a visit home to help me clean out the basement. She arrived late last night and this morning she gave me the details of her organizing plan. We went down to the basement and within an hour or so she was referring to "Phase Two" of the project! She even suggested that she was going to write to one of those organizing TV shows about me! It is a bit overwhelming, but I am determined to keep going. We did empty out alot and filled two large garbage bags with things to go to the thrift shop. It was a good beginning and it is great to have her home for the long weekend.

Another Graduate

We have another college graduate in the family!
#1 son graduated last week from St. Michael's College. Yesterday he was offered a job!!!! Yippee...another one out of our pockets. He will be joining his older sister in the great city of Boston. Right now he is enjoying his last days of freedom from the "real" world...sleeping late, staying up late and no responsibilities. It's only a matter of time now...

On The Needles...

I joined the Six Sox Knitalong on yahoo.com. Here is my progress.
I love this pattern...it was created by Susan Pierce Lawrence. I read her blog regularly...this is one very talented lady. She also has designs on knitty. Right now she has a baby hat that she designed on her blog...check it out.

More Goodies

Another of my favorite places in the northeast is the Wright's outlet in Sturbridge, MA. It is a very nice retail store with fabric, yarn, and florals, but my favorite part is the bargain basement. They have trims and laces by the yard or by the bolt. The price on the end of the bolt goes down each month until it gets to the lowest price (which is usually .15/yd.). Here are some of the bargain basement goodies I brought home.

As you can see I was drawn to the eyelet lace trims this time.
I bought this book and this pattern in the retail store.

I was very tempted by some of the Michael Miller fabrics, and some of the yarns, but I resisted!

More Of My "Stuff"

On my way home from Boston I stopped in Sturbridge and visited a new shop called Lake View Primitives. It is a lovely shop with lots of wool, some quilting and did I say lots of wool? They dye there own wool and everything is already felted and ready to use. I came home with these pieces. I just love this reversible one.


I don't have any definite plans for them yet, but I'm sure I will. I also stopped at the Wrights outlet. I will share my goodies from there tomorrow...stay tuned...

My Favorite Store

One of my all time favorite stores is the Paper Source. I have to visit everytime I'm in Boston. Here are a few of my purchases...some beautiful papers, notecards and a kit to make a journal. I am going to try my hand at covering the journal with some of the paper. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Tomorrow...more of the goodies I acquired on my journey...stay tuned.

A new beginning...

Spring has finally sprung here in Western NY. It is time for a new beginning...some spring cleaning, organizing and new projects...stay tuned.

I just spent the weekend in Boston with my daughter. For Christmas she bought me tickets to see Wicked. It was wonderful! Don't miss it if you get the chance to see it. We had a great time...we shopped and ate out and did a lot of walking. Tomorrow I will show you some of the things that I bought.

Ahhh...vacation

I love Easter vacation...tomorrow I leave for a week of sunshine (I hope) and sand. I promised myself many years ago that I would not stay at home during Easter vacation. The weather here is usually very dreary at this time of year. I am going to visit my parents in Florida and three of my four children will be able to join me. My senior in college has to stay behind to finish his Senior Thesis...don't feel too sorry for him, he spent his spring break in the Dominican Republic! He is graduating in May and is looking for a job...he already has at least one interview so mom and dad are very hopeful that we will have two children out of our pockets!
I have to go pack my clothes (my knitting is already packed!)...I may have to go shopping because I haven't tried on any of my shorts...yikes.
Happy Easter!

Life is too crazy

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted. I have just been lazy. That's all there is to it! I have been working on the mystery sampler by Amy Mitten and it is slow going. I have also been doing a lot of thinking about sewing and knitting, but that sure doesn't accomplish much. I am going to Florida next week for a little vacation so I will be getting a couple of knitting projects together to take with me.

I started stripping the wallpaper in my bedroom. Ugh...what a terrible job...but I am going to stick with it until it's done. I have been picking out fabric to redecorate and now I just have to make my final decisions...stay tuned.

Talented friends

I have such talented friends! Check out my friend Laurie's new website. She now selling her creations on the web. Congrats Laurie!

Last weekend I hosted Amy Mitten, a needlework designer and teacher from Calgary. She was a delight! We had a wonderful time in her class...speaking of talented...this girl does it all. I am stitching away on the sampler that she taught...it is called Not For Us Alone and it is a beauty. It looks like my knitting is being put aside again for needlework! She teaches it as a mystery so I won't be putting any photos up in case someone else is going to be stitching it. I didn't know what it looked like when I started the class and I certainly wasn't disappointed when I saw the finished sample!

I am also working on a Lone Star Quilt using the Quiltsmart interfacing. I am almost done with the piecing of the points. I will post a photo when I am done...stay tuned.

Another Box of Goodies

One of my college roommates is an artist. I had seen her work in the Yield House catalog and in a store in our town, but I didn't realize much she was working and how much "stuff" she was producing. She has an agent... and she designs notecards and pads and recipe cards and hanging pictures and now she is doing some linens...I think she said they were for Target. Her name is Karen Cruden and she does what I would call folk art. Here is what she sent:
I just love those "Peace, Hope and Love" angels!

A Fast, Fun Week

What a fun week I had! On Wednesday I went to a needle felting class with a friend. I bought a starter kit that has everything I need to start a new project!!! On the way home from the class we stopped at the thrift store to buy some wool sweaters to felt and embellish. I already had a few sweaters at home so I went for the wool clothing that I can felt. I purchased 3 wool blazers and a winter white wool suit at bargain prices. I haven't touched them since I got home but they are calling to me! When I arrived home that day there was a package waiting from Jenn. Jenn is making a double wedding ring quilt out of Halloween fabrics because she was married on Halloween. Doesn't that sound great? I sent her some of my "spooky" fabric stash and she sent me some buttons and old laces in return. Thanks Jenn! I love them.
I also received another special package this week...I'll tell you about that next time!

Another Finished Project

It was a very productive weekend here at the homestead...I finished my cable sweater. The color in the photo is very washed out...it is really a deep turquoise color. Beautiful. It is probably the best fitting sweater I have ever made...I think I finally understand that gauge thing! This is knit with Cascade 220 and the pattern is from Ann Budd's: The Knitters Handy Book of Sweater Designs.

Check out the cabled ribbing:
Isn't it sweet? I am now going to put some binding on a quilt that has been sitting around forever...I love this finishing stuff...I may never start another new project again! (Yeah...right!)