Cotton Quilters' Meeting | September

Last Monday the Cotton Quilters Guild held its September meeting. After dispensing with our usual meeting agenda, we had a few out-of-the-ordinary items to handle. At the end of the month we'll hold our quilt show and craft fair. 

Several people are working to get things organized, but Pam, the president, is handling most of the details. She's the kind of girl who likes to make sure things are done right. During the meeting, however, I convinced her that I'm handling the booth arrangements and that I have things under control.

At some point we got to show and share, which was short since there weren't many people showing quilts. But wow! We were pretty impressed. We've seen Cleo's quilt with the animal appliques as a WIP, but it's now finished and ready for its first show. 

There are so many cute animals, but that skunk is too fun. The momma opossum with the babies on her back just draws the viewer in and makes her really look.  Now that's a wonderful thing, but it also means that people are seeing every little detail and quilters are able to analyze your work. Just a little intimidating, don't you think?

Bertha's quilt is for a very lucky grandchild. Aren't those stars something?!

And this last one that I got a photo has fun abstract flowers. I really like the way Marilyn framed them

with the window sashing. It makes the black and white have a wallpaper effect. Can you imagine looking out the window to these pretty Dr. Suess-like flowers? 

And that's how our little guild ticks. One of the nicer aspects of being retired is that I can attend guild meetings, and I've set a goal to go to at least 10 of the 12 that we have each year.  Not too much, I hope. Have a great week!
Mary 

How to run errands the easy way

I had a few errands to run today. It's was such a beautiful day, too. Perfectly sunny with a little breeze. Maybe a little warm for my preferences, but that's what the shade is for. 

A lion keeping watch over the train as it rolled through Bunkie.

How to make the best of a chore I normally dread? Turn it into a beautiful day. Really. Just appreciate the scenes, especially the ones I wouldn't normally notice.

A corn field harvested and plowed before winter

Along the way I looked around and found a few especially interesting scenes around our little parish and thought I'd share them. 

A cotton field after the machines made their passes

Can I do this all time? Of course not. But I can make an effort much more often than usual. Because if we look closer and think about the places and people we do see, we can find beauty and feel joy. And what can be better than that?

Water lilies on the bayou outside of Cottonport

Before saying goodbye, I need to say "Happy Birthday" to our sweet grandson, who is 17 today. And take a look at these two silly girls who helped us celebrate with him last night. 

 Millie is growing so very quickly, but then who would believe that this boy, who we call Puppy when he was her age because he did his teething on the furniture, is now a young man? The beauty holding the tyke? Jolie, who is now in high school. Are yours growing up too fast? How do we slow them down?

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: T H R E A D

Who doesn't love thread? Maybe people who have no use for thread. Even they use thread without thinking about it: clothes, bags, home decor and so on. 

Thread is a fairly important commodity. Once it's woven into fabric it becomes even more important, but it's when the fabric is sewn into a ready-made product that most people begin to appreciate thread.



Well, not us quilters! We can appreciate thread in it's simple forms, can't we? Turns out those simple forms aren't so simple when you begin looking at how thread is created from raw fiber. 

Here's one of my favorite videos showing how cotton is turned into thread using highly specialized machinery, How It's Made - Cotton. 

Here's How It's Made - Silk. Yes, there are silk worms.

For the knitters out there: How It's Made - Wool.

Of course, there are a few quilts with thread on them. Wait, I should write that "quilts about thread." No, I still don't like the wording. How about "quilts depicting thread" or "quilts showing spools of thread"? That last one might do, but I imagine that you get the idea. On to the quilts...

This last one is currently hanging in my studio. I hope they inspire you to look at thread in a different way. 

How to start a quilt (in the midst of a mess)

There are two kinds of quilters: those who have every tool and scrap of fabric organized and put away, and those who haven't a clue what she has, where it is, or how to find it. 

Can you guess which one I am? If you said clean, organized, and put together, you'd be right. 

Unless you came for a visit right now. Or last month. Or maybe for the next couple of months. There are so many things "stored" in my studio, that I now have to walk through a pathway to get from one door to the other. I was at the point of giving up but, as I am wont to do, I turned my problem into Richard's problem. His promise is as good as done, and I've got his promise to clear out some of my problem. (Did I talk myself into a circle?)

In the meantime, I'm ignoring as much of everyone else's messes and sewing around their piles. How is it possible? Ah, it is. Just clear out a little corner of the worktable, the sewing table, the ironing board and the floor. No kidding! 



I got tee shirts over the weekend and began working on a customer's tee-shirt quilt. I have a small window for getting it completed. But I also got an injection in my right shoulder yesterday. 

Unfortunately, that closed the window quite a bit since today I cannot raise my right arm. I cut most of the shirts Tuesday and Wednesday, and I began organizing and pressing them today.


A few of the shirts could be prepared by hand, so I pulled that off.  Also, I managed to sew a few panels together. When the pain got too serious, I left the machine and made decisions about some of the more puzzling shirts.


One puzzle was this karategi, or karate uniform jacket, which I've decided to treat in a special way on the quilt. I try to do something surprising on each memory quilt I make. I like the idea of giving the customer something extra to show to friends and family--a conversation starter with two conversations to share.

I had hoped to finish my cutting today, but using a rotary cutter is almost impossible with this shoulder. These soccer jerseys will have to wait until I can move again. 

And this football jersey is going to take even more thinking before I make the first cut. Tee shirts, which are worn only a few times or as a common everyday item, do not intimidate me. Oh, but something like this...oh, yes! Imagine the memories that this football jersey holds. 

The recipient is going to look at these shirts and remember his glory days at East Ascension High. If you look closely at the jersey, you can see that it was torn and ragged in a few games. The seams go from neck to hem--battle scars, if you will.

For me, it's not just measure and cut. It's choose carefully the best technique for the item. Cut just as carefully, and sew with a professional look in mind. 

Each shirt gets one chance when the rotary cutter goes to work and no one likes to rip seams. The worst, though, is thinking of a better way to present an important shirt after it's been cut and sewn.

When you need more time or you don't have the space (or body ability) to accomplish what you want, do as I did today. Clean some of your work surface. Put tools and extras away. Sweep the floor. Luckily, those are jobs that I can do without the use of my right arm and will help resolve the storage problem that I've had since the kids moved in. 

Pin It Weekly #214

How are things in your Pinterest? My little corner of Pinterest has a follower by the name of Blinking Cat who has many boards that you may well enjoy.  These few come from his/her tatting board, but there are boards for knitting, sewing, crafting, quilting, kids, blogging and, oh, so many more. It's just easier if you go there.

I have been pinning some fun pillow covers...

And some fine art readers...

The Library ~ Elizabeth Shippen Green (1905)

Louise Catherine Breslau (Swiss, 1856-1927) - Reading, c. 1889

Sunday Afternoon by Malcolm_Liepke (367×559)

And one of my favorite painters...

The old mill - Vincent van Gogh - 1888 

Place of Creation: Arles, France

And finally some button diy crafts...

Have you been pinning lately? Leave a comment with the link to one of your boards so the rest of us can enjoy your work.