June is flying by me, and so is my vacation!
I have been designing and sewing some memory quilts for my brother-in-law's family. Sadly, his father passed away in February. I made sure to mention to my sister that they save all of his shirts so some memory quilts could be made. Although this process has been humbling, it has also been very inspirational, and as soon as I am done with the two memory quilts I am currently working on, I will be sharing some patterns I have come up with.
I have been able to visit several quilting friends so far this month, and have enjoyed sharing time with them. My friend, and AMAZEBALLS quilter, Ann of Attic Threads invited me to attend a St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild meeting. It was interesting, and there were some folks there I enjoyed meeting. Please stay tuned to see if I decide to join or not? I am undecided at this point for a few different reasons. Perhaps you all could give me some suggestions in my comments on why it is good, or not good to join a quilt guild to help me make my decision?
I was able to share some time with my quilting friend Donna. You can read about how I met Donna here. She gave me the coolest sticker! I wish I had a photo to show you!!!!! OK OK OK OK.......my camera has decided to take out on me! HORRIBLE TIMING! My parents 50th Wedding Anniversary is in a short 3 weeks! YIKES! Gonna have to get that taken care of! I can't WAIT to show you the amazing quilting Ann has done on Golden Rings!
I have done some damage to my bank account RETAIL THERAPY in some quilt stores lately, and I can't wait to show you those items either! I have also been blessed by the kindness of others in the form of scraps! My mouth is literally watering thinking of all of the possibilities that can be done with them!
I would like to share a new experience I recently had, and I DO have the photos to show you! My quilting friend Bev offered to show me how to use her long arm quilting machine, so I JUMPED at the opportunity! Perhaps you remember this quilt:
This quilt top was made using Tara Rebman's pattern, "Eating In Bed" found in the premier issue of Modern Quilts Unlimited magazine.
I donated this quilt to Bev's VFW group. The group then decided to have Bev quilt it, and have a raffle fundraiser with it! After Bev loaded the quilt, and began quilting, she invited me over to learn a few things. I have never used a long arm quilting machine other than playing with some at various quilt shows. It was a very interesting experience and one that made me hunger to learn more!
Here is Kevin the Quilter actually QUILTING!
Looking rather focused I might add!
I didn't want to mess anything up!
Bev was so kind and encouraging!
I had an absolute blast and can't WAIT to learn more from her and Ann!
(I am cracking myself up at how stern I REALLY DO look when I am focused on something! LOL)
Truth be told, I didn't do very much quilting at all. Obviously my quilting looked different than Bev's did, and I didn't want it to effect the overall quilting. ANYONE, and I do mean ANYONE that doesn't think quilting is an ART FORM...........well, I have one gesture for you, compliments of my father....
A very happy Father's Day to all you dad's, grandpas, and uncles out there including mine!
As always,
Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Kevin the Quilter
My goodness, you sound very BUSY!!!! Isn't it fun to be part of the quilting community? There's no end to friendships and activities :*) And look at you - long-arm quilting!!!! YOU GO GUY!!!! Next thing you know, you'll be buying one of those machines of your own =^..^=
ReplyDeleteI prefer piecing myself..lol but way to put yourself out there! The quilt is a beauty!
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a great vacation. The modern quilt guild is over an hour away for me. I'm tempted, but do not have a modern stash.... For now I admire from afar. Guilds are a great place to meet real live people. ;-) Keep having fun on your amazing quilting adventures. Waiting to see the memory quilts.
ReplyDeleteI am intrigued by your intent expression because you are looking NOT at the quilt. There must be some kind of screen or guide you are looking down at? Can you tell I've never laid hands on a long arm? LOL Well, that's exciting you got to try it out! I have a feeling you will own one some day, maybe sooner than you think. Unfortunately, my magic ball has gone hazy now, so I can't tell you when. ;)
ReplyDeleteSounds like your vacation has been really full of fun stuff. Sounds like you've gotten lot done. I've never been able to join a guild since I work, so I'm not help at all on that subject.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're putting your time off to good use! I joined a local guild a few months ago. It's a nice way to meet local quilters and participate in local opportunities for service in the community. They also have speakers and activities and sometimes even classes and it's a lot easier to participate in that stuff close to home when you don't have to arrange travel and accomodations to do it. We meet once a month so it doesn't really become too overwhelming. In my case there are a lot of members who have been quilting for many many years and I feel like I'm sort of touching on some of the "history" of quilting through them.
ReplyDeleteI had to smile at the one handed quilting you were doing and it looked like you were using your other hand to steady yourself. I find it harder to use a pantograph than free handing so perhaps you'll get a chance at that next time. I think joining a guild is a wonderful opportunity to meet others with your same passion. Even though the internet is a great help for questions, nothing beats seeing it all in person.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful dresden plate quilt! I would love to have the room and money to invest in a longarm. Twould be so much better on my neck and back than trying to wrangle a quilt on my DSM!
ReplyDeleteHow great that you had some hands on time with a long arm. Love the Dresden Plate quilt.
ReplyDeletegood for you ! I have wanted to try working a long arm machine too, I should give it a go but to be honest I am so afraid I would be buying one by the end of the day! LOL
ReplyDeletelove the dresden plate quilt, so nice of you to donate the quilt what a great cause, I hope it brings in lots of money for them.
hope you can get the camera fixed.....enjoy your vacation how much longer do you have off?
wonder how many more quilts you can make in that time
kathie
hahaha Love your dad's face. :) Perfect! And how fun to play with a long arm machine. I'm intimidated by them myself. Sorry to hear about your BIL's loss.. but I'm sure you are making them some quilts that will remind them of blessed memories. Let me know what you decide about joining a guild. I'd love to be a fly on the wall at a few MQG meetings, or just randomly show up for fun when the mood strikes, but not sure I could commit to it.
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