I'm a chick magnet...........

We interrupt this blog for an announcement!

I am pleased to share with you all.......

THE CHICKS ARE STARTING TO HATCH!!!!!!

Here is a shortened video of the first little chicken hatching.

It is a little blurry in the beginning, but, then gets much better!

I am a little bit excited, as if you couldn't tell!

I am even more excited about the response to

Scrap Club!

Please allow me some time to get these babies taken

care of, and I will make a post about

Scrap Club

Online!

Thank you all for your interest in everything 

that goes on here at the Quilt Cave!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Thanks for being a friend!

I am a chicken daddy!

Kevin the Quilter

Scrap Club.....

Hey Everybody!

It seems that there is so much going on in blog land these days.

SOOOOOOOOOOOO many projects to whet one's creative appetite!

I have been questioning myself........
Should I add to the many, many, many avenues of artistic undertakings that are out there?

(Some piecing I have worked on this past week.)

I have heard from several of you that would be interested in me sharing Scrap Club via my blog?

I would be happy to do so, however, I would really want a show of hands (so to speak) so I know I wouldn't be wasting my time or yours?  The last thing I want to do is bore anyone here!

If there is a lot of interest, I will share a post of everything that Scrap Club is about.
You certainly can participate from where you are and utilize your scraps!
I also don't want to dissuade anyone who is local to not come because of this?

Please REPLY to this post so I know whether to follow through or not?

Thanks again for your nice comments and response to Scrap Club!

In other news.........

Here is an interesting video on

chicken embryo development.

I find this utterly fascinating!

The eggs are at day 14!

1 week left before hatching!

I! AM! SO! EXCITED!

My long awaited parcel arrived in the mail!

Bonnie has had an overwhelming response to 

her most recent publication, "Addicted to Scraps."

I wanted to wait to order mine until she had received

her latest shipment, because I wanted to buy from the author herself!

I can't wait to use the amazing "Essential Triangle Tool" she 

developed.

I was also able to visit with my blogging friend Cheryl of

Cheryl's Teapots 2 Quilting

as she was driving through St. Louis this past week.

Here we are, posing for our close up

at Jackman's Fabrics.

You can read all about her road trip and

the items she found along the way here.

Thanks for having dinner with me Cheryl!

Don't forget to reply to this post if you are interested in me sharing Scrap Club via my blog?

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter

Updates....

Salutations from the Quilt Cave!

You all are just great!  You know that?

I have so enjoyed reading your replies to my most recent post.

Thanks so much for the insights behind using a cone and stand.

Also, I would like to thank you all for your concern during the recent ice storm......
About that.........well...........I didn't really receive anything where I live Thank God.
I know several others have been affected, and my prayers are with you during this time.

With that being said...........

I was able to finish the En Provence quilt top!

I loved being able to use up a lot of smaller

scraps of neutrals in that border.

YUM!

I am pleased with the results and this will make

a United States Military Veteran a great 

Quilt of Valor!

THANK YOU BONNIE!!!!!!

Just a reminder, Bonnie will be retiring the

directions on how to make this quilt in February.

If you are interested in printing out the instructions and steps,

my advice to you is to do it now before you forget!

EN PROVENCE MYSTERY QUILT

Click this link to find the clues.

Linking to Bonnie's
Mystery Monday Link Up Finale

I know so many of you are excited about my first experimentation with chicken egg incubation.........so...........I have to tell you, I am equally as excited, and I am pleased to share some news with you concerning that!

The second and final candling of the eggs has been done!

Although hard to see, there IS a baby chick in this tiny egg!

If everything goes as planned, I should get around 6 chicks from this

first experiment!

That may not sound like a lot of chicks to you, and frankly, it isn't.

But, it is more than enough for this first go around, and they will

be welcomed additions here at the Quilt Cave!

A little over a week, and my new arrivals will hopefully make their appearances!

And a slew of Civil War Reproduction strings!

What is this all about?

What could it be turning into?

Please join me for my

SCRAP CLUB

I host in O'Fallon, Missouri and find out!
The first meeting will be January 26.

A session starting at 1PM, and another at 5PM.

E-mail me for details!

I'd love to see you there!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Fashionably late.........

 Oh......

Well, hello there!

Pardon me for being late...........

Truly, I didn't mean to be late to the party...........

You see, my job as a flight attendant tends to not let me do what I would like to do at times......

I have had the best intentions of getting my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt En Provence pieced.

However, flying, re-routes, appointments, weather, and other things beyond my control have prevented me from doing so.

So, I will show what progress I have made, and will have to accept being fashionably late and under dressed (top not complete) to the party.........

 Blocks in rows.

I always chain piece whenever possible.

So, here are all 16 blocks in their individual rows

stacked on top of each other.

I like piecing the "shortest seam" way, so I usually

break a quilt up into quadrants.

En Provence is easy to do in this manner since it is square.

I am in LOVE with that scrappy neutral border!

And, this is as far as I am folks.

The top left quadrant is pieced, and I am working on the right.

The predicted Ice-Pocolypse, AKA Winter Storm Jupiter,

 is happening this weekend in my area.

So, hopefully, this top will get pieced.

I have soup and cornbread made to eat.

I pray the electric stays on!

Linking up with Bonnie's
Mystery Monday Link Up, Parts 6 & 7

Tension issues?  Ya think?!?!?!
This is what happened when I tried to sew with 

a cone of thread with a stand.

I know I could fuss over the tension and get it right, but,

I think I will just stick to using my regular spools,

and fill bobbins from the cone.

So, now that En Provence should be a top by

the weekend, what's up next?

Several scrappy projects are in the works......

including......

Bonnie Hunter's

Scrappy Mountain Majesties

This is going to be a wedding gift.

The quilt will be done barn raising style with a row 

of yellows/gold alternating with greens.

All neutral backgrounds.

Yellow is the groom's favorite color,

green is the bride's favorite color.

I love working from color schemes

 like this for wedding quilts.

It makes it so much easier

than trying to figure out a color scheme for a quilt!

Something else is on the horizon..........

Can you guess from this photo????

HMMMMMMMMM?!?!?!?!?

I am incubating eggs for the first time!

This is more or less an experiment in my flock's fertility.

I have a feeling I will get very few chicks from this.....

but, it sure has been fun so far.

I have candled the eggs and have seen more activity

than I originally anticipated!

You KNOW I will keep you up to date on this!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

In other news.............

This beauty is courtesy of my quilting friend Kim.

She recently finished this gorgeous quilt done with

Daiwabo fabrics.

We had a sew day together, and she finished the binding.

Just scrumptious Kim!

I went antiquing one day recently and came across this.

It is a portion of a quilt framed on point.

I LOVE this idea.

WAY too expensive to purchase, but, if ever I find

a quilt that is shredded and I can afford it,

perhaps I can display part of it in this manner?

And lastly,

I bid farewell to my quilting buddy Bev last month.

She and her husband Tom have retired and moved to

South Texas.  They are so happy there, and I do plan to visit.

They both were more than generous clearing out their home

here, and offered me an abundance of items to

enhance the Quilt Cave.

I truly appreciate their friendship.

Best wishes in your new home Bev and Tom!

And.......just a few words of wisdom.........

This is so true......

I have heard from so many of you regarding the

Scrap Club I am hosting in O'Fallon, Missouri.

It is free, and is open to all quilters that would like to come.

Please e-mail me for more information.

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Until next time......

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

New year............

Happy New Year to all!

As you all probably guessed, I have returned to flying after my
self imposed Holiday Hiatus!  (AKA accrued vacation lumped together!)

I returned to flying after Christmas, and flew right into New Years.

Thus, I have been trying to play catch up, unsuccessfully!

Clue #6

and the final reveal 

was presented by Bonnie Hunter for:

All clues and information about this mystery quilt may be found

HERE.

It truly is a lovely quilt, and as soon as I can catch up

and complete the last clues, the top will be pieced together.

Thanks again Bonnie for sharing your time and talents with

quilters from all over the globe!

SO..........

I thought I would share a few photos of Christmas gifts I presented

to others that were of a quilty nature.

These little flying geese

became.........

This little pin cushion for my friend Dar of

Dar's Patchwork Garden.

Her block drive for Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri

has been most successful!

Truth be told, I really owed this to her for all of the help

she has given me this past year.

When she saw the pin cushion

I made for Janet for the pin cushion swap hosted by

Randy, she expressed how much she liked it.

I knew Dar's colors, and this is what I came up with for her.

I think she liked it!

I was blessed to receive this bundle of 

reproduction fabrics from Dar as my gift!

Thanks so much Dar!

I love them and they will be used very soon!

And, here is the "Moore Family Quilt."

My friend Mike was persistent in his efforts to convince me

to make a quilt for his family to enjoy.

We go way back, and he has helped me with

some things I needed help with, so, 

 I obliged.

Thankfully, he and his wife were pleased with the results!

I did return home from flying on January 1st, just in time to eat my

traditional meal of black eyed peas, and greens.

Some of you may not know that consuming these

foods on the first day of the new year will provide you

with good fortune, and prosperity!

One can certainly hope at least!

Many of my blogging friends have come up with a word

for this new year.

I really haven't come up with a word, per se,  but, a state of mind.....

I would like to be able to share this mentality with

ALL quilters........

I ran across these words of wisdom for scrap quilters

some time ago, and have wanted to share it with you all.

I hope you can take it to heart.

Even if you have never made a scrap quilt.........try it!

You may like it!

I am hosting my Scrap Club once again this year!

We begin on Jan 26th!

If you are in the Metro St. Louis area and are

 interested in joining me, please let me know.

I will send you all of the information about it!

Let's all have fun and create some beautiful quilts this year!

I am sending my very best to you this year!
Keep on Quilting!
Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Kevin the Quilter