Quilts on Barns in Kentucky

While on our recent vacation, we drove through Kentucky. We awoke to 2 inches of snow on the ground, which was not too exciting, since the main purpose of the trip was to get away from snow and find some warmer weather! We did see several barns with quilts painted on them. I took some pictures from the car as we drove by...sorry the first one is not clear--we were on the I-75!



The above picture was taken in Berea, KY.


We soon drove out of the snow and cold, and into warmer, but often rainy weather. The rain did not stop us from doing anything that we had planned and we even had a couple of days of shorts weather!

Back from vacation...

Our family went away for the March break to Georgia and South Carolina. We drove down and stopped at several quilting stores along the way. Most of my "souvenirs" from the trip are from quilt stores. I have lots of new projects to do now.

We stopped in Columbus, GA to deliver the table runner I made for a Spring/Easter table runner swap for the Quilted Table Yahoo group. I called the recipient (I had never met her before) when we were about 30 minutes from Columbus and she agreed to meet us at the quilt store "Sew Much Fun" where she works. She liked the runner and let me know by e-mail that it goes well with the colours in her house. Here is a picture of the completed runner:
After giving us a tour of the store where I did a little shopping, of course, Linda gave us a fabric basket of Easter chocolates for the rest of the car trip. It was fun to hand deliver the table runner and meet the person I made it for! I will add a picture of the basket later.

My Grandmother's Sewing Machine

When cleaning out my Dad's house in preparation for selling the house so he could move closer to my family, we found my grandmother's old Singer sewing machine. I have always wanted to have one of these old black machines and was thrilled when my Dad said I should take it home with me. I showed it to my friend, Jacqui, who collects antique sewing machines. Her husband fixes up old machines and makes them work again. Jacqui said it was in beautiful condition. I told her I would love to have a treadle cabinet for it. Last week, she e-mailed me to let me know that she had a cabinet I might like for my machine. My husband and I went over to look at it on Friday night and it was exactly what I wanted for my Grandmother's machine. Jacqui's husband showed my husband how it fits into the cabinet. He removed the motor and demonstrated how the belt goes on the machine from the wheel below the table top. We brought the cabinet home today and my husband put the machine into it for me. The machine sits proudly in my dining room where someday, I hope to use it for some quilting projects. I will have Jacqui's husband overhaul it before I do any sewing. My grandmother died in 1985 and I do not remember ever seeing her sew with this machine so it has probably not been used for a long time.

Spring Table Runner Exchange

Here are a couple of previews of the Spring table runner that I am making for an exchange with the "Quilted Table" yahoo group. I hope to finish it off this weekend so it can be on its way to the recipient shortly.

Charity Comfort Quilt

I belong to two quilt guilds. The Elgin Piecemakers are a small group that meets in someone's home each month. We share our projects with each other and enjoy a social time. This year, we decided to pair up with another member of the guild and make comfort quilts for chemo patients at our local hospital. My partner and I have gotten together four times--once to pick a pattern and fabrics, once to cut out the pieces we needed for our Bento Box quilt, and twice to sew. We were able to find fabric in our stashes to make the quilt top but will have to buy some flannel and batting. our quilt has a scrappy look and we are quite excited by how it looks. We have the top completely together now and will be getting together to go out and pick some backing shortly. Another member of the guild has a husband who has taken to machine quilting like a duck to water so he has offered to machine quilt all of the comfort quilts for a very low price. The quilts are all to be done by our June meeting so that we can do "show and tell". The plan is to pair up with a second partner and make a second comfort quilt. This is a great way to get to know each other better, use up our stash fabrics and help make someone going through cancer treatments more comfortable. It will be fun to see what everyone has made. Here are some pictures of our quilt in progress. I don't have a picture of the finished top yet but will post one later.