a finish & a greeting

I whipped up a little doll quilt for a super hero-loving grand niece who is expecting a special baby doll for Christmas. I have been enjoying watching Audrey's quilt along, wanting to join in, but haven't had much time with Holiday preparations. This quick little toe-test of the circle blocks have me wanting to make more -- next year.

Wishing all y'all a safe, warm, love-filled Holiday.
xxx, smazoochie

Merry & Happy to all y'all!

Sending to you my warmest quilt-y wishes for a Safe & Wonderful Holiday

and for a

Blessed, Peaceful & Healthful 2015!

See you next year!

Hater no more

I've always loved making quilts -- picking patterns, colors, fabrics. There is nothing more fun than seeing 2 fabrics joined together with stitching! Then laying out the units to make the whole -- pure joy! But in my long history of quilt-making, different phases of the process have come & gone as my least favorite part.

I think when I started out, I liked least/hated cutting out of the quilt. I suspect the reason may have been that I was using scissors & sand paper templates. Rotary cutters, rulers & mats were brand new when I began getting serious about quilting (does that make me sound ancient!?). Once I got my "whizzy whacker", I was faster & (usually) more accurate, but I still did not love it. Over the years, I've learned tips & techniques that make me better at it. Now, I get on cutting jags & just cut & cut & cut.

Even when I was young & limber, basting used to kill me. I'd clear a space on the floor & crawl & stretch & reach -- it makes my muscles ache just thinking about it! Now I have Shug set a tabletop on a couple of saw horses; clamps & spray baste are a great help, too. I still have to reach a bit & if I baste more than one top my back gets tired, but there is no more up & down to the floor. I do a better job & even look forward to making my quilt sandwiches.

It was not all that long ago that quilting was my bête noir. I nearly always machine quilt & I used to dread it. Again, I think better techniques have helped. Early on, I was taught to 'put my pedal to the metal' when doing free-motion. My shoulders hunched, I didn't breath & I ended up with jagged, uneven stitches. Slowing down & relaxing has done wonders -- I'm no pro mind you, but not that bad. I also experiment more with my walking foot quilting & like the results I'm getting.

Another part of quilt-making that I did not like was anything that involved handwork. Projects flying forwards would come to a screeching halt when I needed to get out needle, thread & thimble. With hand-sewing, it is not better skills that have made me more appreciative, but learning to slow down & to like slowing down. I don't think I would ever do much hand piecing & I'm not particularly good at hand-quilting, but sometimes I wish for some handwork to curl up with.

Easter Sunday was beautiful down here on the Gulf Coast. I was able to indulge in a bit of all aspects of quilting. I hope you & yours had a wonderful day as well.

Merry Christmas, all y'all!

Merry & Happy to All Y'all!

My very long weekend

American Independence Day, the 4th of July, is one of the few holidays that cannot be made into a 3-day weekend. This year it fell plunk in the middle of the week -- not the best for celebrating -- that is unless you gave yourself the rest of the week off, like I did!

Wednesday we spent the whole day at our sail club: hamburgers & hotdogs for lunch (I tried a version of the "Kiwi burger" (our club has quite an international membership & the current Social co-Commodore is a New Zealander -- aka, a Kiwi -- besides the usual burger stuff, they add sliced beets & a slice of pineapple; I skipped the pineapple but added the beets & quite liked it); lots of fun & games for the kids; Shug & I got in a pretty good sail; then resting & chatting & snacking & reading until dinner; then waiting for it to get dark for the fireworks, shot from a barge in the Bay. A very nice day.







Thursday, I was up to my butt in quilt backs. Just FYI, there are 336 5-inch HSTs in a 42 fabric layer cake -- I used all but 10 from my Stitched in Color cake. There is almost as much piecing on the back of this quilt as there is on the front! I also prepped & pieced the back for the jelly roll race top I made at the HMQG retreat. The Guild challenge this month is to get those quilted. Both were then ready to sandwich & baste.

On Friday I did laundry, dusted, vacuumed, etc. But I managed to work in some layout & assembly time with one of my projects for the Low Volume QAL. I also got 2 more Jane Market Bags cut out -- these will be gifts.


 

Saturday, Shug helped baste 2 quilts; outside, he set up a couple of saw horses & the plywood work surface he made me. In a VERY fortunate turn of events, as I basted, I found my "humility block" in the Stitched in Color quilt -- but not being prone to humility, I later fixed it. It wasn't so very hot but it was pretty humid & I was very sweaty & a little cranky by the time I finished the second one. Shug also cut some templates for me so I can experiment with them with my low volume, granny calicos.





It was thunder-y & rainy on Sunday. Luckily we had done errands on Saturday, so didn't need to get out. I could spend a much time as I wanted stitching! And I got quite a bit done: more low value work, prepped the Jane Market bags & began quilting one of the basted quilts!





I hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as I did mine. What did you do?

Retreat & More

It has been a week since I returned from the HMQG Quilt Retreat. I -- and I think everyone else -- had a wonderful, productive time. Time away from our daily lives & the ability to do NOTHING but sew was exactly what many of us needed. The meals were great, the company was great, the only problem was it was just a day (or 2) too brief. Nearly everyone finished -- or made major progress -- on at least one project. Some had 4 or 5 tops finished by the time we left Deepwoods Retreat on Sunday. (If you want to learn how to make efficient use of your time, ask a busy Mom!)









I took with me the fixin's for about 11 different projects. I had decided that my first priority was the yellow zigzag top -- it was built on the diagonal & had outgrown my design door. As I was laying out the rows I was thinking I might use some of the remaining blocks on the back. But as I came to my last rows I ran out of blocks! I was short by 2!! I would have been panicked but I knew that I had some leftover fabric at home. I joined in on the jelly roll race & came in dead last. (Woo Hoo!) I had planned to work on my Swoon blocks -- I had all the parts for 8 additional blocks cut & ready to put on the assembly line, but I had mis-cut one element for all of them. And -- of course -- it was too small rather than too big. So I moved on to another project. I came home with 2 finished (well, nearly finished) tops, great memories & a desire to go back SOON!



I also came home with more fabric than I left with. There were awesome gift bags for everyone! (Thanks Fat Quarter Shop & Pink Chalk Fabrics!) I got 2 "cutie packs" -- 2.5 inch squares -- of Circa 1934 (I think these will be cute used with linen, maybe raw-edge appliqued) & a layer cake of Malka Dubrawsky's Stitched in Color!!!! I can't wait to begin something with that!





When I got home, I was still in that GO mode. I built a daisy cottage for an internet friend



& (finally!) worked on my blocks for the QuiltCon Block Challenge. After I got my stack of fabrics in the required colors, I was sitting at my sewing machine & noticed how they matched the little Avon mug I have sitting in my window. So that became one of my blocks. (I think it is pretty darn cute.)





Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Easter!

Not a smitch of stitching.*

I know I am not alone: things have been so busy & hectic that unless we've been burning the midnight oil to finish gift projects (not me, thankfully -- this year I recognized my limits) we've hardly made it into our sewing areas at all.

I've been finding it hard to get into the spirit of the Holidays. I've been tired, sad and grumpy. But I finally sat myself down and said "Get a grip!!!" So I am counting my blessings and trying to see the glass as half full. Then I started thinking about this picture --



I think this was the Christmas that I was 5. My Mom got me a Shirley Temple doll a few months before Christmas, then spent lots of time sewing her a wardrobe. Now before you start thinking that I am *much* older than I really am let me point out that Shirley Temple is a contemporary of my Mom's. The dolls were re-issued when I was little and, probably as much for herself as for me, she bought one. I don't really remember this Christmas morning, but I have always loved this photo. There is Shirley down there under the tree. And look at the tree! All the little outfits hanging on hangers!! This is what Christmas is about!

So I dug out old Shirley and her clothes. I washed and pressed them, dressed up Shirley and hung the rest on the tree. (Which we only put up yesterday.) Since Shug and I will be home this holiday, we can do a little decorating. And while we will miss being with the families, I am heaving a big sigh of relief to not be traveling. I got out a few more things and it is really beginning to look and feel much more like Christmas.









Season's Greetings to Everyone and a Happy, Healthy and Blessed 2012!
love, Beth aka Smazoochie


* My thanks -- and apologies -- to Zuzu Bailey.

Happy Fourth! (4 days late)

Shug and I had a really nice & busy Fourth of July weekend. His Mom and niece came to visit and we had a great time showing them a great time.
My Mother-in-law is terrific. She has been a great help to me this past year as I deal with my Mom's dementia. Best of all, we share a passion for quilting -- though our styles are very different. So I always enjoy seeing her. Our niece is 9 years old & this was her first visit to see us. We swam and played games and made pizza and watched movies. The Sunday of their visit was Crafterday. With Uncle Shug, Miss E. did some woodworking and built a box. With Aunt Smazoochie, she did some sewing and made a pillow case (with Brownie fabric!) The 4th is a big day at our sail club: the kids built little sailboats out of dowels and tongue depressors; there was an egg toss (Miss E. and I were out pretty quickly because I have such bad aim); there was a watermelon race where about 12 watermelons were put out in the Bay and everyone had to sail out to find them and bring them back to shore (we saw 2, but we weren't able to get them onto the boat (it is harder than you might think)); there was a cookout -- hamburgers and hot dogs of course; and finally, FIREWORKS!
If you ever have the chance to see fireworks on the water, go see them! They are beautiful!!

Meow-y Christmas, y'all.