The Joy of Paper Foundation Piecing ...

I'm afraid I'm not so joyful about picking the paper foundation off blocks! Its really time consuming. To answer a few questions I know you might have: Yes, I did use newspaper for the paper foundation. I haven't noticed any news print being left behind on the blocks but I did make sure to use older newspaper.

I'm back to working on the selvage spiderweb quilt. Since I took this picture, I've added more blocks and have decided to make it a twin size quilt. Hope to begin sewing it together next week and I may add borders if I can find the right fabric.

Here's another quilted wallhanging I really liked at our recent show. Donna Bradbury pieced it and calls it "Strips & Curves in the Bedroom". Kim Hull did a wonderful job machine quilting it.

Just a few from the show!

I wish I could just set up a slide show of the wallhangings at the "Once Upon a Wall ... " quilt show but instead I'll show just a few that really spoke to me!

"Storm at Sea" made by Jenny Hutson, measures approx. 22x22 - Wonderful piecing!

This cross-stitch and quilted wallhanging was made by Ann Boese. - I admit to having a thing about barns! In fact, I wish this wallhanging were mine.

"Apple Pie" by Fran Rogers - My favorite color is red/pink and love apples so this one can come live at my house anytime!

"Spring Storm" made by Colleen Westerman, 25x27 - She told me she spent months getting the applique colors just right and I believe her.

Janett Wiebe's "Midnight Stars" - I've got the perfect place for this one!

Blogger won't allow me to put in any more quilts so I'll post a few more next time but right now, a quilting project is calling my name!

Someone's been eating my oatmeal!

Today is the last day of the "Once Upon a Wall ... " quilted wallhanging show at the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas! If you're within driving distance, we hope you can come out this afternoon.

This is a photo of the Goldilocks & the Three Bears setting.
Baby Bear is stumped as to who could have eaten his oatmeal and broken his chair. Mama Bear is shocked that someone did it and Papa Bear is definitely unhappy. Goldilocks is no where to be seen and truthfully, I wouldn't like to be in her shoes with Papa Bear looking like that!

I'll share some of my favorite quilts from the show later this week. We begin tearing down at 5 this afternoon and I'll likely be a bit on the tired side for a few days. However, I'm already thinking of which quilt project to pick up and work on.

See you soon!

"Once upon a wall ..."

I've been busy making the fairy tale sets for the museum's quilted wallhanging show and very soon the show will begin. In fact, the "Once upon a Wall ..." quilted wallhanging show is just three days away, on Friday. We're in the middle of hanging wallhangings - everything from 8x11"-ish to 92x92" and even a 3-D butterfly!

Here's a scan of the counter card for our show.

If you are anywhere near us in Kansas, I hope you come see the show!

I've been realizing that even though I'm several years over 50, I can still do quite a bit but my body is sure telling me that setting up the show is taking a lot out of me this time! For the past several days, I've been setting up the fairy tale settings and hanging wallhangings. Every morning I wake up stiff and sore and when I get back on the ladder to hang another wallhanging, I can almost hear my body saying something like this. "What? Are you kidding me? Didn't you hurt enough yesterday?!?" Apparently not because tomorrow I'll be back at it and probably on Thursday too.

I'm thankful for a very patient understanding helper who, so far, hasn't run screaming from the museum when I've repinned a wallhanging for the umpteenth time because its "just a little crooked"! In fact, I heard her say something like, "I think its about 1/16th of an inch off. Can you move it?"

I'm thankful for the museum director who's been trying to get her own work done in the middle of creating a quilt show booklet and answering questions like "Where is the (fill in the blank)?" and "Can you call So and So and ask him where the watchamacallits are?"

By this time next week, the aches and pains and the frustrations will be in the past. Cleanup and quilt return will hopefully be done. I'll share photos of my favorite quilts with you on this blog.

At some point, I'm going to wake up and my legs aren't going to be aching from getting up and down ladders or standing on cement all day. At that point, I'm thinking of going into seclusion in my sewing room. Just me, my Pfaff, the ironing board/iron and fabric - I can hardly wait!

PS - a blogging question:

I haven't been able to read many blogs lately but when I have and tried to comment, I can't. Blogger keeps telling me I need to sign in but I already am. ??? Any ideas on how to fix that?

Window Peeker!

Its been too long since I was here last!

I've been busy trying to make Little Red Riding Hood stop peeking in windows, wondering how to make Jack's beanstalk look less like a cornstalk and more like a beanstalk and, I think I just figured this one out, how to make a bowl of fake oatmeal! This weekend my goal is to paint Cinderella's pumpkin coach. This will involve glitter which I'll probably find all over the house for years!

I've been enjoying the flowers blooming in my garden and spending some relaxing time out on our deck. Here's a picture of my helper, Charlie. For those of you who are owned by a cat(s), do you find they have favorite plants? Charlie ignores the mint (in the same family as catnip) but loves the butterfly bush but only a certain one!

We've finally been getting some rain so everything looks nice and green.

I'm especially happy with the poppies this year. They reseed themselves wherever they feel like growing and usually not where I would like them to grow. Every spring, I find them in the lawn and under shrubs, right next to the house foundation, etc. This year I was able to get some started and bloom in the actual flower bed!

Clamshell update: I'm working on stitching the second diamond together for this month. However, there aren't many days left in the month so I don't know if I'll make my goal of finishing it.

Do you have a tradition of taking flowers to loved ones' graves on Memorial Day? I always enjoy stopping at an old family cemetery in the country. I do have a relative buried there but I'm more interested in another grave which is literally covered with flowers someone planted there years ago - irises, roses and several I can't identify. Someone must have loved this person very much to have planted the flowers and cared for her grave in this way. To me, it seems a wonderful way to be remembered.

Have a very happy and safe Memorial Day!

Clamshell Diamond #11

This past week has been a hard one for me. I came down with a cold and although I'm doing better, its not gone yet. My husband now has it too so it will be quite awhile before life is back to normal around here.

I'd planned to work on the quilt show's fairy tale settings but was just too miserable. Instead I was able to do some hand work and finished clamshell diamond #11 which is in the middle of the photo. In the lower right corner, is #12 waiting to be glued together. I'm not sure about some of the fabric placements so that may change.

Since I've used up most of my favorite colors of clamshells, its getting more difficult to get a good color layout so I've begun cutting out more of the brighter colored clamshells. I think my favorites are the clamshells made from Kaffe Fasset fabrics probably because the colors are so intense. A few years ago, I never would have believed I'd write that!

Be back soon!

Wolfie!

You may have to use your imagination but here he is!

This is the wolf I made for the Little Red Riding Hood setting in the "Once Upon a Wall ... " Quilt Show coming up on June 17, 18 & 19 at the Mennonite Heritage & Agricultural Museum in Goessel, Kansas.

This year, the show will feature quilted wall hangings hung in fairy tale settings.

I have more work to do on Wolfie and the rest of the Little Red Riding Hood set but wanted to share him with you. If you can't guess where we are in the story, the big bad wolf has scared off Little Red Riding Hood's grannie and has donned her nightie and night cap to wait for Little Red Riding Hood. By the way, he does have two eyes but unfortunately the angle I took the photo at makes him look like he has only one eye.

How do you like his reading material?