New Toy

New quilting toy that is... it is a ruler that makes doing this sort of thing easy, if not totally instant.  You sew squares together, border them, then recut them with the Twister ruler by Country Schoolhouse, sew them back together, and presto, you get a fabulous quilt! Unfortunately I had to photograph it in the window, from the outside, but hopefully you can get a decent looksee at it.  You can find the Twister Ruler here and see several videos of it in action on Youtube.  Great stuff!  The fabric is the Tradewinds Collection, by Moda, plus a couple pieces from P & B's Toomuchery and Clothwork's Floral Folio.  Love them all. 

Heroes

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

Memorial Day

Thank you to all the fallen heroes.  The warriors who, knowing the cost, still gave their all for their country, and for their fellow warriors.  The true 1% who heard Christ say "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for a friend"  and chose to call every American "friend".  

To Chris Hayes, who is "uncomfortable" calling them heroes in case that justifies more war...
you matter less than a pimple on my cat's chin.  And that is the clean version. 

Quilt Club

I am a little late posting on this, but oh well.  I really really love Quilt Club Thursdays!  It is a long day, I am at work from 1000 til 2100, but I get so energized by those ladies!  I work pretty hard to get together projects they will like and work with Becky to make the stuff right and good, and it is worth every second of it.  The show and tell is probably my favorite part, there is always something I want to do.  This time it was the idea of stenciling Hawaiian quilting patterns on fabric instead of appliqueing them on.... I have stenciled on fabric a lot... but never thought to do the Hawaiian style designs.  I love them, but don't have the patience for the needleturned applique.  Presto!  Here is my answer!  Anyway, I learn a lot, I hope the ladies learn some, we seem to have a lot of fun.... a good time, all in all. (That is my partner in crime in the first pic, Becky.  She is fabulous!)

One of my Projects

One of the things I have been working on so hard these last two weeks is this.  It is a quilt on the front, a towel on the back, and will certainly go to Pennsic with me in July.  Not a bit medieval, but I really like it.  I used a Bali Pop for the batik pieces, which had it's own issues.  Bali Pops are handcut, and so not exactly straight, but I worked around it.  I love the colors!  The collection is called Blue Hawaii, by Hoffman.  The white was strips of quilt backing, so I didn't have to cut them at all.  Love that.  I used terrycloth yardage for the back, but a towel would have worked just as well.  I saw the project in Simple Quilts magazine and loved it, and only changed a couple little things to suit me better.  My friends at Quilt Club loved it too, and at work.  Already there are four people I know who are making one of their own.  They really are neat.  This one will go on the deck chair tonight after work while I lounge around looking motherly!