Still smiling

I am still smiling from what I see as a huge step that I’m celebrating with myself.  There’s a lady in guild…you know the one; she hasn’t ever met anybody she didn’t sit right down and talk to, I don’t think; “Hi, my name is Mary B.  What’s yours?”.  My bee leader does Mary’s long arm quilting and they talk about my work, so at my second meeting, Mary made me promise to bring something in to show next meeting.  Last night was that next meeting.

Okay, you guys know me well enough to know that wasn’t happening, right?

Except, maybe in the back of my mind, it was.

I took my Mom’s birthday quilt with me to work on the binding and when Mary sat down next to me, we spread it out and I showed it to her. 

She said, you have to show that in show and tell and I said, I just showed it to you and told you all about it.  And, she said, you have to show it to the guild; I’ll come get you.  I said, but it’s not finished yet and Mary said so what.  And, she wandered off to talk to somebody else and I put my head down and got back to work and prayed she’d forget (and since we were in church, I thought that might succeed). 

When it was time for show and tell, Mary came and got me and I could either make a scene or get up off my duff and speak into the microphone, so I bundled my quilt up in my arms and I went.  And, I waited in line right behind Mary and she introduced me to some other people in line and before I knew it, I was at the microphone and two ladies were holding my quilt up for the guild to see and I said “Hi, I’m Lane Wilhite and this is my Mom’s 75th birthday quilt.” and everybody, in unison, said Oh! and then applauded.  I blushed scarlet red and stumbled back to my seat, clutching my quilt in my arms.  The ladies sitting behind me that Mary had told to make sure I went gave me big smiles and a thumbs up. 

Mary B will be getting a thank you email if I can find her email address.  I think she and I are going to be friends.  I plan to borrow some of her courage.

So, it really isn’t finished yet.  I’m still hand sewing the binding down, but this corner is done.

I love the 49 snowflakes.

I quilted this quilt on the diagonal lines, as straight as I could, balancing the need for really straight with the need for appearing straight, because no matter how good I was at piecing, not all my little squares came out with their points exactly matched, so I had to fudge some of the diagonal gridding to make it look right.

Then, after it was stabilized, I started putting in the snowflakes.  I’m betting that you guys thought I’d either finished or given up because I have so many other projects going on.  But, I haven’t.  It’s just that straight lines and 49 snowflakes are really boring.  So, I’d work on it until I couldn’t look at it anymore, and then move on to something else and come back to this, first thing the next morning and work on it some more. 

It will go in the mail this week. 

Eileen Urbanek as a really good speaker and I really wish I’d taken her class after hearing her.  It was a missed opportunity.   Eileen was selected by Judy Neimeyer (sp) to become an accredited teacher of her paper piecing method.  I thought I had one of her books, but I don’t and that’s a situation I intend to correct after seeing the beautiful quilts.  Eileen brought several of the patterns in multiple colorways, showing the precision that can be gotten through paper piecing in a colorway that will go in any home.

But, I plan to take three of the next six classes offered by the guild.  And, I’m considering a fourth.

Where will I find the time?

So, here is Sydney in the coat muslin.  I finally got the hood in this morning and am happy with it. 

And, she’s very happy with it.  Hers will be considerably shorter and mine will be a bit longer, but that’s why we make a muslin, right? 

These are the fabrics for my coat.

I could not help myself when I saw that plaid cotton fabric.  It’s going to make an ideal underlining and was on sale, so it only cost $21.  That’s not bad.  The other investment was the toggles, which were $6.50 each and I needed four.  Thank goodness for 50% off notions weekends. Other than that, I only needed the pattern, which was less than $5 and a spool of thread.  I think I can afford that, just on the off chance that it turns out to be GREAT!  Now, there’s about a month of basting and serging to go.  And, then I can put the first seam into it.  Maybe it will be finished by cold weather. 

Eileen talked about her endeavors to finish projects and she wasn’t shy about all she had going on at all.  So, I thought I’d show the sofa, otherwise known as the stacking area for projects in the works.

Left to right are the Indian Orange Peel, my Mom’s birthday quilt, the coat and the hexie quilt. 

That’s what I’m working on this week.  Next week, it might be totally different stuff.

Be well and have a great Tuesday.  I am high on Lane.  And, I’m thinking about taking the bus trip to the Houston show with the guild.  Maybe.  Or, that might be just a bit much for me.  We’ll see, but I have to decide this week.

Lane