On to a New Year of Quilting

Looking forward to a new year of

quilting, finishing UFOs, starting new quilts, 

learning new techniques and projects

spending time with family and friends

and meeting new ones

Wishing everyone around the world

A Peaceful and Gentle New Year

Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

Jo

update on my Crystal

My Crystal, in my studio just the day before...

It's hard to find a good way to say it. 

I love something Lynn of Sew'n Wild Oaks passed on from a friend, 

"Dogs never die, they fall asleep in our hearts"

I keep hanging on to that because it helps fill this BIG empty hole in my heart.

Following our visit to the vet with the sad news that she had a large tumor on her spleen, we took her home. We spoiled her with warm broth, dog cookies and cheese along with little bits of food. She actually started eating more and improved. Was up and her usual self, barked at the mailman, ran to greet Beckie when she came by one morning. I even entertained the thought that she was going to be OK. Sunday evening, those hopes were taken away. Crystal now lives in our hearts.

Trying to stay busy and as focused as I could manage this week. Finishing customer quilts, a little Christmas shopping and finishing three quilts for Christmas gifting. The two Frozen quilts are almost finished for Emma and Katelyn.  A third quilt going to Texas. 

 

 Quilted with stars, blue backing, gold Glide and a wool batting

Binding is on

Updated this afternoon....

The label for Ty's Texas quilt

 

Pix of the Frozen Quilts

 Quilted with an easy heart and swirl pattern

Pink bindings, ready to be hand stitched down

When Beckie came by she gave me this towel she embroidered

If not for the bear tail it looks like it could be Crystal as a puppy!

  :0) thank you Beckie. I love you

 Wishing everyone Happy Holidays

and praying for a Peaceful New Year

Thank you for your warm comments, cards and emails about Crystal
Very much appreciated

for my Dutch family...
Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! 
Jo

Blog Break

Taking a break from blogging. 

Today was not a good day. Following a visit to our vet with my Crystal, we have a very hard decision to make. Bottom line, I will loose her soon. Still in shock tonight trying to make sense of all of this.  Crystal has been diagnosed with a tumor on her Spleen. Surgery could do her in or prolong her life by a few months. Without, just a matter of time, possibly days. 

  Beckie, thank you friend.

Crystal

Challenge Quilts, revisited

Sandy and I ran into each other twice today! This morning at a fabric sale where we both spent about the same amount :0) GMTA and again at Honey Run at Cathy's at Goldie's Weekend Sew In. She was sewing on binding and I was picking up quilts. Anyway, she had a pic of Kathy's challenge quilt plus more and sent them to me from her phone.

Challenge Quilt by Kathy T

Kathy actually made miniature quilts of quilts she has made! 

Plus some embellishments, machine embroidery and Sew Much More! 

Here is a better pic of Connie's challenge quilt

Yoga by Cassy L

and Brandie's again, these four were the top vote 'getters'

Too see more individual pix refer back to the first post...

The following is a recap of most. For the display, 

names were not included on the placard so as not to influence votes

and I don't know everyone in the guild (we have 200 members)

#1 The bird cage is made by Judy P. We had trouble finding her letter, 

it was an S which she made into the hook for the cage! Very clever Judy!

Redwork is by Michelle, one of the organizers

#4 The giraffe is made by my friend Sandy (Sandra E on my longarm blog)

 #11 Where the Wild Things Live by Pat

# 12 Audrey Hepburn by Brandie

# 13 Sorry, don't know the name, it is a self portrait and it's really good! 

Heidi by Grace C (an organizer)

 # 14 She was a nice girl by Jill R

# 15 Fender guitar with music by me :0)

#19 with bird cages is Kelly K. Both Kelly and and Judy's birdcages (above) were in memory of Maya Angelou

#17 Betty V made the spools of thread
(great FMQing!)

That's Kathy's in the upper right #18

Lower right is Bonnie C's, organizer

# 21 Sculls eating the moon is all Marilyn K!

Blood Splatter is Angie

# 22 Yoga is Cassy

# 26 Connie's Humming birds

# 27 is very clever, reading tea leaves. Our theme was to be about reading

Armchair with A Golden Book by Cindy G

 # 28 M is for Marriage by Shar

 # 30 The quilt with the blue sky is by Cathrine

(you don't want to know)

And on the chair is Gail's clock to tell us it's Quilting Time! Love it! 

Still missing one of the walls! because that's where Lynn's quilt was hanging...

 Along with Judy's Shoe Tree

 and a few others...

This is my second (and last) attempt to get all of them in one post!!!

One thing I can say, Annie's Star Quilt Guild has some pretty amazing quilters!

This is a pic of our wall of Community Quilts...

and that's not all of them

Enjoy your weekend! 

Groetjes, Jo

Challenge Quilts

Last night at Annie's Star Quilt Guild's December meeting was a potluck, cookie exchange, December Christmas block exchange but best of all... this year's Challenge Quilts were displayed along side piles of our Community Service quilts. My camera seemed to only focus on the Challenge quilts! and after reviewing them this morning discovered I missed one whole section!!! and it was the section with the #1 most voted entry was hanging. Silly me! It was a challenge to take pix dodging back and forth and in between on lookers, all of us making the very hard decision of voting for our favorites. All were amazing!

Black and White and Read All Over

Criteria... the size, 24 x 24, must include the letter and the black and white swatch of fabric provided in the gold tube we each received and in the theme of reading. Did not have to stay with the black and white.

Just realized I may have missed two sections! I am so fired! We did have allot of fun tho. Following dinner and the voting most of us took turns on the stage, at the podium with a mike (anyone that knows me, a biggie!) and talk about our project while Grace held our entry. Grace, Bonnie and Michelle each did such a wonderful job organizing and setting up the whole process. Thank you ladies!!! They also made a quilt but did not enter them in the voting, so nice and humble of them because they would have received many votes! Following are close ups of just a few...

by Connie A (out of focus :0(

One of the top vote getters (is that a word?;0)

Going for a Jacobean theme, love her borders. She told us how she removed the top and bottom borders and reoriented them after she finished quilting it! lol
A good decision altho allot of work! It really frames the quilt nicely! Well done Connie!

by Brandie C (ABC)

Great design and concept! as well as her amazing applique and machine quilting. Both Brandie and Connie are accomplished FMQ quilters!
Brandie's also fell into the top vote getters

As well as Kathy Thomas' quilt (not pictured) was #1

Kathy is new to our guild! She is also the person that purchased my Gammill. I've really enjoyed watching her grow as a quilter and is fast becoming very good! She left the meeting early as she has been ill, get better soon Kathy!

by Cassy and in the top four!
Congrats!!!

by Pat

This is so cute, as a grade school teacher Where the Wild Things Live was her favorite book to read to her students... Perfect! Well done!!!

A couple more of my favorites...

by my friend Sandra E

by Lynn P

 Marilyn K's Sugar Sculls
Marilyn has lots of scull fabric, the back was just as cool as the front!

Judy J's Shoe tree with her two dogs

Grace C's Heidi, she had the letter H

Michelle's beautiful Redwork

Bonnie and Grace with Bonnie's quilt. 

These two ladies are mother and daughter as well as two talented quilters!

All of us have learned so much from them over many years! Thank you again ladies!!!

One more added here, this is Gail's challenge quilt...

Off to the side because it is mounted/stretched onto a frame

with the mechanism to make it a real clock! Very clever and creative!

and last, the quilt I made for the challenge

Very much outside of my 'traditional box'! 

Made for my brother Paul who loves to read and play music, my letter was P. The Fender logo and guitar are both made to scale because my brother will know that! Other than the FQ for the background all made from scraps from my friend Donna. Every single piece of fabric has music on it to 'camouflage' the black and white piece of music fabric that was contained in my tube. It was fun altho I didn't allow myself time to completely finish it before the deadline. Embellishments like beads will be added for the knobs and tuning pegs on the guitar. Working on it the day it was turned in, I machine stitched the binding down instead of hand stitched and did a terrible job at that so that will be fixed too. Debating if I will hold off sending it to Paul until after our guild's quilt show next year, November 2015 or to send it off now. I can't wait for him to see it! Wish I could be there.
  

Enjoy your day and the weekend!

We have another day of rain! Yea!!! Glad we had a break from it yesterday leaving a woindow to move and set up all the quilts at last night's meeting. It's impressive to see all of the wonderful quilts our members make for Community Service.

Groetjes, Jo

"We will be known forever by the tracks we leave."
Native American Proverb

December Goal: Frozen Quilts

Two Frozen quilts to be exact!

The results of a very nice holiday weekend!

As per my November goals, 1) finish piecing Amaretto Cottage center field. Check! (pix posted on previous blog post) and 2) start these two quilts from the Frozen fabrics purchased and mixed with some stash fabrics. Pictured above cut, laid out and up on my design wall ready to be pieced for my December goal of having them ready for Christmas giving to two very special young ladies! They will finish about 40 x 50. My fabric picks...

Most, but not all were included. The large pink Frozen print at the bottom of the left pile will be the backing. It was a really nice rainy weekend to work on these little quilts. I am making them different for the fun of it but now I have to decide on who gets which or should I let the girls pick? How would you handle that one???

Feeling so much better today as my energy level returns. Met with quilting friends for lunch and spent the afternoon with Mom as I do every Monday. At lunch today, Frozen was the topic of conversation as more than one of us was planning Frozen gifts for grand babies!

Finished a customer quilt this evening and now ready to call it a day.

Can you believe that today is December 1st! Where does the time fly?!? December goal is to piece and of course finish these two Frozen quilts. 

 Cut Frozen pieces served up on a tray, ready for December sewing!...

I love these little beads and safety pins to mark the rows, it keeps everything in order :0)

  Enjoy your holiday planning for December! 

Groetjes, Jo