Wego Quiltin' String Star Workshop

Happy Memorial Day Weekend Quilters!
I hope you all enjoy the weekend......I will be flying......

For your patriotic viewing pleasure, I would like to share a very special quilt with you....

Patriotic Snake Quilt

Technically, it IS called a snake quilt....

but, for those of you who despise snakes of any sort....

envision this as patriotic fans and streamers! LOL

Please visit my friend's wonderful blog posts to view this beautiful 

Quilt of Valor we all worked on together.

It was a pleasure working with these talented quilters.

Jan of

The Colorful Fabriholic 

Cherie of

The Quilted Jonquil

And, Dar....where is your post? LOL

I want to share with you all through some photographs,
the fun I had with the Wego Quiltin' Guild in Oswego, IL last weekend.

I was able to share with this group my most popular workshop...

 "String Star"

Of course, Cheryl

hammed it up as a "Huffman Hotty"

all day long! LOL

You can click on her name above to see her latest

posts about my visit and stay with her and her family.

Thanks Cheryl for being such a great friend!

In fact, Cheryl got all of the quilters in the spirit of things

by turning them into "Huffman's Hotties!"

We had a blast sewing up the strings!

I think that many quilters are surprised how much can 

get accomplished in this technique based workshop.

Come take a look.....

Take some old phone book pages or $1 scribble pad

pages, and a diamond template......

Use the diamond template as your guide for piecing.

Pick out some strings.....

Scraps and strings courtesy once again of

Cheryl!

Determine how you would like your strings pieced....

Making your diamond string by color family is always

a nice, effective, and easy idea.....

See what I mean......

A quilter after my own heart!

After sewing......peel the pages off....

As you can see in the pics above and below...

sewing with friends is ALWAYS a good thing!

Pressing matters!

Take a lunch break!

Lunch was potluck, and it was DELICIOUS!

After lunch, get back to work, cutting those

diamonds out!

And before long.....

The stars will start coming out!

Minions! LOLOL

I am ALWAYS proud of ALL of the quilters

that take my workshops.....

but, I have to say, I was EXCEPTIONALLY

impressed and proud of this group!

Each quilter had a star to take home.....ready for quilting!

Way to go Wego Quiltin Guild!

Thank you all so much for your hospitality

and friendship!

It was so nice visiting with you all!

I was last with this group 4 years ago

for my lecture and trunk show!

As I was leaving the Chicago suburbs, I was able to 

visit with my friend...

Wanda of 

Exuberant Color.

Wanda has been such an inspiring artist to me......

as she has been to countless other quilters.

She even gave me some scraps to take home!

Thanks so much Wanda!

If your quilt guild is interested in having me come visit

for a lecture, trunk show, workshop, or auction

DO NOT hesitate to contact me!

My calendar is filling up quickly!

Also, in the near future, there are going to be some

changes coming to this blog!

An easier and more efficient blog

for guild leaders to navigate and research!

Thanks for all of your encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild, Naperville, IL

Hey Quilters!
What's up?

I am just returning from a wonderful time with some wonderful quilters from the Chicago suburbs!
The past few days have been jam packed with quilty visits and fun!

Pride of the Prairie Quilters hosted me on Thursday evening for my lecture and trunk show.

What a GREAT way to be welcomed by the guild!

Chicago deep dish pizza!!!!!

I can't thank my friend Cheryl, on the front left, of

Cheryls Teapots2Quilting

for suggesting me to this guild.

And, yes, the pizza tasted as good as it looks!

Cheryl and her family hosted me in their home for

my visit.

This guild meets in a spacious hall at the

Zion Lutheran Church in

Naperville, IL.

It was so nice meeting quilters before the meeting started.

Deb, on the right, drove down from near Wisconsin!

I love meeting all of you who read this ole' blog!

It was great meeting you Deb!

And.....guess what.....

"Goodnight, Darlene!" is an official pattern now!

HOORAY!!!!!!

I just got them in before I left for Illinois!

This nice quilter came up and introduced herself to me,

and for the life of me, I can't remember her name.....SORRY!
I blame it on lack of oxygen from working on the plane!

Here she is with one of the first copies!

Thank you!

Sharing the story of "Radar"

during the trunk show.

I can't thank my friend Ann McNew enough

for allowing me to collaborate with her on

this inspired work.

The next day it was time to play in the scraps

for my "Crazy Crumb Stars"

workshop.

Cheryl was kind enough to share scraps

with all of the quilters!

"Crazy Crumb Stars"

How fun to go from these small scraps......

to these fun and varied units!

What a nice group of quilters to play with

on a rainy day!

Smiles all around!

We are having a blast!

Lynn's little friend Elsa was there to help her

"LET IT GO!!!!! LET IT GOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Thanks for playing along Lynn!

Cheryl truly embodied the role of a 

"Huffman Hotty!"

It was so nice meeting 

her awesome friends

Mary Ann on the left and 

Sharon of

Country Home Quilting blog

on the right.

The quilters worked all morning long

making the required units to make a

Crazy Crumb Star block.

Lunch was served by the guild, 

and it was delicious!

After lunch we focused on piecing our stars.

Plugging along.....playing with those star points....

And, figuring out the placement of those units.....

Coming together now.......

Ooooooh.....cool color placements!

Just lovely!

TA-DAH!

Look at these pretty little 

Crazy Crumb Stars!

These quilters were an absolute

joy to work with!
I hope you all had as much fun as I did!

I also met with the Wego Quilting Guild,

and will be sharing the fun I had

with those quilters in my next post.

Thanks again for the great time

Pride of the Prairie Quilters!!!!

Thanks for all of your encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Mother's Day and finishes...........

Happy belated Mother's Day to all of you quilters out there!
You know....you don't have to have given birth to have been a mother to someone!

You all KNOW who I was with on Mother's Day!

My Sis and I are so blessed with the parents we

were given.  Momma taught my sister how to be

a really good mother herself!

I am so thankful to have spent another Mother's Day

with my momma, especially after her health scare

last September.

Here are a few finishes for your viewing pleasure.

This is the doll quilt I sent to my partner

Laura in Massachusetts for my friend

Lori of 

Humble Quilts

Doll Quilt Swap.

I wanted to use some of the smallest pieces of fabric I had

left from various projects this past year.

I love the way the quilting combines everything, and

I even tried to be humble in my piecing!

Just take a look at what I received......

I was overjoyed when I learned my blogging friend

Cecil of 

Patchwork Inspirations

had my name as her partner!

She sent this beyond beautiful doll quilt.

She also sent some French chocolate in

an egg carton! LOLOL

How appropriate Cecil!

She knows my love for my chickens!

The blocks are expertly pieced.

And, the color scheme is very appealing to me.
HERE
is a link to her post containing
some great photos of the work 
she sent to me as well as the quilt
she received.

A closer look reveals Cecil's gorgeous hand quilting!

Cecil, I truly love it, and it is hanging by the door to my

studio so I can see it every time I enter it.

WHICH IS A LOT OF THE TIME! LOLOLOL

Isn't it interesting Cecil and I chose to use that

poison green color in our quilts without even

knowing the other quilter was using it!

Linking up with 

Humble Quilt Exchange

Show Me Your Quilt

Linky Party!

Abigail Rose has chosen to be my sewing buddy.

She loves to be at my feet in my studio!

She recently had her very first grooming

and did really well!

Having never had a large breed dog,

I hadn't a clue they grow so quickly!

I have also been able to finish up my

"Tree Inspired"project for

Scrap Club hosted by

Kevin the Quilter.

My Sister and Brother in Law are

celebrating their Silver Anniversary

this month.

They didn't want a party, but, I think it 

is a milestone that is overlooked, and, not often

achieved these days.

So..........I killed two birds with one stone

so to speak.

From the looks on their faces, I think

they like their anniversary quilt?

"Birches at Midnight"

Quilted by my friend Kim.

My friend Heather of 

Peachy Pages

suggested I do a flange binding.

I made a larger flange, and 

really like the way it frames this quilt.

Thanks for the suggestion Heather!
Two color scrap quilts really demonstrate

how diverse a color range can be.

And, this quilt demonstrates how proud I am

of my sister and brother in law.

Congrats to you both!

If you are opposed to seeing

food like you would see in a grocery

store, please pass by this next pic.

Here is your chicken pic!

These beautiful broilers were grown here

at the quilt cave and harvested by me.

I know I have said it before, but, I am

so happy to have a place where I can grow my

own food.

And, I am happy I know how to process them myself.

Just so you know, I say a prayer of Thanksgiving

over each one!

And, I just have to share this story here.

I have been a commuting flight attendant for 18 years now.

Commuting to and from my base in Chicago has always been

a challenge, but, anymore, it is downright impossible.

As you can see in the pic above, I am in a car, 

not a plane, with my

fellow friend and flight attendant Collette.

The driver of the car is Joey..........

a VERY NICE MAN!

Collette and I were trying to get home after flying.

I can't tell you what a horrible feeling it is

to complete work, and NOT be able to get home due

to full flights, and occupied jump seats.

This is happening more and more.

Fortunately for Collette and I, Joey happened to 

be driving from Chicago to St. Louis

for personal reasons I won't share here.

An Operations Agent knew we were trying to get

home, and said it never hurts to ask......

so, you KNOW I asked Joey for a ride.

He was nice enough to give us one!

I share this story, because, sometimes, I need to be

reminded there are nice every day people (aside from quilters)

 willing to help those in need.

Collette and I made sure Joey's gas tank was full, and 

that he was well fed for his trouble.

It was a blessing getting home.

Thanks Joey!

I am looking forward to spending time with

quilters from Northern Illinois later this week!

I hope to meet YOU at one of these

UPCOMING EVENTS!

May 16, 2019

Pride of the Prairie Quilters

7PM Lecture/Trunk Show

Zion Lutheran Church

11007 Book Road

Naperville, IL  60564

May 17, 2019

Pride of the Prairie Quilters

9AM-4PM

Crazy Crumb Stars Workshop

Zion Lutheran Church

11007 Book Road

Naperville, IL  60564

May 18, 2019

Wego Quiltin' Quilt Guild

9AM-4PM

String Star Workshop

Oswego Presbyterian Church

1976 IL 25

Oswego, IL  60543

Thanks for all of your encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter