On the Road with Scraps

Wow, what a busy week we've had.  First of all Veronica and I drove back to Louisiana to babysit for the week.  Then we starting cutting fabric scraps in an attempt to tame Veronica's scraps.  They were getting a little out of hand. 

She has boxes and bags of them taking over the house.  She's been cutting 1 1/2", 2" and 2 1/2" strips.  She has lots off leftovers for her mini string star too.  She has decided to challenge herself to "use the rotary cutter" everyday in October.  She's hoping to get quite a bit done.  She told her friend Tina and Tina thought that was a great idea.  Now Tina has joined in on the fun.  We'll see what they get done. 

Then we took another trip to Mama's Quilt Shop.  It's so friendly and inviting.  If you're ever near Independence Louisiana, you should stop in.  Brenda is a wonderful shop owner and very knowledgeable.  They've got lots of fabric, notions and patterns. 

Veronica  got her yellow challenge that Carol had them working on done, aka, "the sweatshop" challenge.  She ended up with 2 tops for 2 granddaughters. 

Well, we're off to "work" some more on those scraps.

My Juki machine

Veronica has been sewing away on her beloved Juki sewing machine.  She started with a challenge last Wednesday.  Her friend Carol said they were going to use up some fabric!  Veronica told Carol she was in.  Veronica decided she wanted to get rid of her yellow fabric stash.  She doesn't like yellow, but she sure does have a ton of it.

So she cut cut yellow till she had over 100 2 1/2" strips for the pattern Carol said they were working on.  Then off she went to the sew-in that Dayton Quilt Guild had.  They sewed all day, they raced sewing fabric strips.  They were maniacs!  But they were having fun.  They talked about all the memories in these fabrics strips.  A few came from some friends who have passed away, but there were still some great memories of shopping trips and "what the heck possessed me to buy this fabric".  At night she came home to work on her mini stars.  She says they're a beast, she has so many seams using her tiny scraps, but her Juki sews right thru them like shes sewing butter.  Butter, Yum!  Sorry, this bear loves to eat.

She's been working on a lot of stuff, she even sewed mini yo-yos on the drive to Louisiana for her granddaughter's birthday party.  Then she worked on hexies going the other way.  Shes says she's cleaning up fabrics, using them up, putting them in quilts so they'll leave her house.  She does have a lot of fabric.  She's challenged herself to get it done. 

Shes' s got the orange challenge going with Mattie, Quiltsmart's owner. If you're interested in joining the Bitty Lone Star Challenge, you can find that on Bear Thread Design's Instagram at BTDQSFall Lone Star Challenge.  You've got time, it doesn't start till October 1st.  She's thinking of new challenges.  We'll see how long she keeps this up.  Stay tuned for more adventures with Veronica and Jaggie.

Sample making

Well, this may not be a subject that everyone is interested in, but I thought for those of you that are, I would sprinkle in a little advice.  Do you ever wonder where all the samples at your local quilt shop come from?  Sometimes the employees make them, sometimes customers make them.  Different shops have different formulas for calculating how you"get paid" for the samples. 

Some stores have you pay half of the cost, some give you the fabric and pattern, you make the quilt and after a certain amount of time, the sample is yours.  Sometimes the stores pay you to make them and the samples are theirs. 

Well, I've been making samples for local shops for years, probably 20 years or so.  I've never had a problem, I usually get the quilts after about 3 months, they like to rotate every quarter or so.  I agreed to make 6 quilts for a local shop that I had not made samples before, so I asked how long they would keep them.  I was told about 6 months or so.  That was fine, I was in no hurry to get them.  I guess I should have gotten that in writing. 

I delivered the quilts to them June 1, 2017.  Every time I asked for my "quilts", I was told I couldn't have them 'yet'. So yesterday was September 11, 2018, I thought it's been long enough, it's been 1 year, 3 months and 11 days.  I wanted my quilts, so I called and said we were coming to get them.  My daughter fell in love with 2 and so those were hers.  On the way out, my daughter was stopped and told that the quilts she had were not what me and the "person in charge had agreed on" me taking home. Apparently, we were only going to get half.  Huh?  Nope, too late! 

I will not name the shop or the "person in charge" who by the way is no the owner of the shop.  Not really sure what her position is, she acts like the person in charge, but I don't really think she is.  I will never make samples for this shop again.  I will get everything in writing from now on, I used to just believe that a persons word was their "word:. 

I've learned my lesson.

A Look in "The Box"

Where has the time gone?  Oh, yes, we've been busy quilting away.  Trying to empty "The Box". Well, let me tell you about "The Box".  It's just an ordinary white box that says UFO'S 1990's.  At first, I thought it was from outer space, but then Veronica explained that it was a box of unfinished objects.  So why isn't it called UO?  Right?  Even this bear knows that unfinished is one word.  Silly humans.  So, anyway, in this box there were lots of unfinished quilt projects.

Veronica pulled out something she called a watercolor quilt.  Looked like a bunch of squares to me.  She said it was a bunch of squares but when she finished it, it was a really cute wreath quilt.  She said it's a little more yellow than she wanted, but she's happy that it's done.  Well, at least the top is done.

She also found some quilts partially completed from a week of classes with Trudie Hughes, way back in 1993!  Now that's like a thousand years ago.  She said one only needed the border, so she got that one done.  She said it was already cut for her.  She had 4 others that were partially sewn together and some that were cut.

She found some paper piecing papers, she said they would be little stars when put together.

She's been happily sewing every day, and half the night on her Juki DX7, she's in hog heaven now that she's got her Juki to sew on.  She says her Juki is the gift that keeps giving.  It gives her hours of fun, fun, fun.  I hear her singing I love my Juki, I love my Juki, I love my Juki.  Every once in a while, I hear say, I love that the thread cutter is on the foot pedal.  She says this saves her so much time.  And the light is so very bright. You can see everything! Oh and that presser foot that comes up when she stops sewing, it's amazing!!!  She was up to 4 this morning sewing.  I even took some pictures, they were kinda dark, but she's at it again, so I'll get some more this morning.

Stay tuned to see the rest of the quilts from "The Box" as she finishes them.

Traveling Adventures, Visiting Mama

Well, here it is, a week since my last post.  I had to go babysit a human baby for a week.  They sure do cry a lot!  I'm hiding every chance I get!  Do you see me?  Where am I?  Why, I'm under the pile of course.

Veronica and I get to stay in the RV at night, it's nice and quiet.  We set up the most fabulous quilting area.  She says it's called "Glamping", hmmm, not sure, but ok, I'm game, I'll go with it.

So our first night here, we pulled out all the quilting goodies that Veronica brought.  Here is every Deb Tucker ruler and Technique Sheet that Studio 180 sells.  Boy, are we gonna have some fun!

Veronica brought enough fabric to equal the local quilt shop.  We'll be going over there one day this week to check out all her new stuff.  It's called Mama's Quilt Shop, in Independence, Louisiana.  The owner, Brenda, is fabulous, we just love her.

Once we got everything set up the way we wanted it, Veronica decided she needed to get the last 12 blocks made for the charity quilt she's working on.  She found 30 Grandmother's Fan blocks in "the Box", that's what she called it, honest.  (Next week's post will be all about "the Box").

 I was really confused, looked like a regular box to me and it was full of fabric.  So anyway, she set to work getting the blocks finished.  She worked on them at Lakeview Quilt Guilds Sew-In last week and got 18 done.  She got the other 12 finished now, so all she has to do is put them together and quilt it.

The whole time she was sewing I heard her  muttering about how she wished she had her Juki machine here, seems it has a "foot" that comes "up" when she stops sewing for a sec.  She said it sure would be easier sewing curves that way.  Then she explained that she brought her "mechanical" Bernina that is 30 years old.  Said she felt comfortable leaving it in the RV when we're not around.

She said it was a workhorse, but I didn't see a fluffy tail on it like my horse has.  Anyway, she managed to get them finished even if she did use her workhorse.  So, I guess that's good.

Next up is finishing more stuff from "the Box" using her Deb Tucker rulers.  Ooohhh, I can't wait...

 

Those pictures will get posted on Instagram as we get them done.

Quilting on the Island!

I'm back!! I have been on many adventures since my last post. We've had so many changes in the past few years its had to keep up with, but I'm back and ready to talk quilting and traveling!

I went to a Mardi Gras party a while back and I really enjoyed the atmosphere, so I kept the party going, moving poolside for the summer.

Last week Veronica and I had a Quiltsmart Mondo/Midi/Bitty Class at the Island Quilt Guild in Galveston, TX. I say "we", but once we crossed the bridge onto the Island, I left Veronica to go check out this "blue water" they've been having while she headed on to teach the class. Lucky for me, I had already gotten a base tan at our home pool, so after a little sunscreen, I sat back to enjoy the sunshine while she and the class attendees made some awesome bags. (I really should have had Veronica make me one to hold my beach towel and sunglasses).

If you haven't made a Mondo/Midi/Bitty bage yet, what are you waiting for? Veronica teaches classes, so if you are interested in having your Bee, Guild or group host a class you can email her at VLCox@live.com. We've made many over the years, but these are some of our favorites.

Have you made a Quiltsmart bag? What's your favorite style to make?