Quilt Expo

Yesterday was Quilt Expo - the annual show put on by Nancy Zieman in Madison, WI. It was so fun travelling with my friend, Joyce and spending the day together. We have been friends for 30+ years and because we are both busy, we don't get the chance to really catch up. First I started us off on the wrong highway because I just wasn't thinking, so we had some map time and GPS consulting and re-routed ourselves before I took us to Chicago. It seems we got busy talking right away instead of paying attention to the GPS.

The quilts were inspiring as usual. There are quite a few of the WOWSER quilts and plenty of the "I think I can make that" quilts plus even some for beginners. There were lots of drop in lectures and some classes and of course, an abundance of shopping opportunities.

I have lots of photo, so will try to share them all.

Only In Packer Country . . . . .

Since Green Bay won the Super Bowl last year, the NFL is providing a free pre-game concert tonite with Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum and Maroon 5 prior to the season opener. To make this happen two main streets in that area are closed for 10 days to set up and take down the stage, street lights and stop lights were removed, as well as several trees.

3000 tickets for the concert were handed out which required those who signed up for them to stay at the concert site after the game starts tonite. A second concert will then be held outside the stadium and filmed for showing on TV at some later time (Watch your listings, ladies! LOL)

The good news is that some really nice things are happening too. A number of the Packers players are leading sessions of Play 60 to get kids active for 60 minutes a day. Some former NFL players and members are building a playground at a local school. Several retired Packers are to be honored and are participating in the pre-game and half time activities on the field. That is always a cool thing.

My Quilting Bible

Do you have a quilting notebook? Or as my friends call it, my Quilting Bible. I took mine with me recently to a stitching get together and several people commented on it. So I thought I would share what I keep in mine.

First and foremost is a listing of all the local quilt shops that are usually included in the shop hops. There are some that are out of my range and others I get to frequently. I keep this info with addresses, phone numbers and business hours so I am always prepared to stop in if I am in the neighborhood.

My best use of this notebook is for tips and techniques that I find in magazines, like binding with no lumps ( I used to make a lot of lumpy bindings! GRR!) or

No waste Flying Geese.

LuAnn from Loose Threads sent me this info on sizing Dresden plates. She found it while cleaning up her sewing room and sent it to me. It was a lifesaver, so in the book it goes.

I also have info on calculating the amount of fabric to buy to make bias binding. That can be a stumper.

I save patterns or photos of quilts that I really like that I might make someday.

I also print out free patterns from the internet like this one from Bonnie Hunter's website.

I also have stitched out all the stitches on my sewing machine in purple thread on white muslin so I can see how they look in the pre-programmed size and then in altered width and length. This is great for embellishment so you have an idea of which stitches will work with the quilt or clothing design you are working on.

I keep measurements of things like the size of the mattresses in our house, window measurements, fabric ordering info for drapes or matching items. I also have info on the color wheel and some other little tips.

Finally I keep lots of blank paper - lined and graph paper so I can write out instructions or graph quilt patterns when I see something I want to make someday.

Have I missed anything? Maybe a cute cover instead of just green plastic??

PS Only 2 more days until I go to Madison for Nancy Zieman's Quilt Expo. Yea!

Here's What I am Working on Today

I fused this applique several months ago and set it aside. Now I am zigzagging the edges of each piece. This is not a favorite thing as I am really a hand applique person and I am not very careful about the zigzag edges when I do this by machine, but I think it is a cute little piece and I love the bright colors. This is a freebie from Don't Look Now. She has several cute patterns as well. I bought one of my favorites at the Madison Quilt Expo last year. One of these days I will get around to making it.

Went to the Farmer's Market on Wednesday night with my hubby. This was indeed more of a party event than the Saturday morning market I usually frequent. Lots of people wandering around the booths and in and out of the stores and restaurants on the street. There were beer and wine vendors, a small stage for entertainment, belly dancers, and a large stage a couple of blocks away for late night entertainment.

I bought these little ground cherries. They are kind of new to me. I think I got some last summer too. They are from the same family as the Chinese lantern flowers and look very much like a gooseberry, only yellow. They are very sweet.

I put one next to a plum so you can see the difference in size. Have you tried these before?

I can't remember the name of this quilt

I pieced this quilt several years ago. I liked this block (even though I don;t know the name of it) and I had lots of strips to use up, so I just got busy and made it. Then a friend had a baby and I thought this would be the perfect baby quilt, but I just couldn't give it up because I liked it too much, so I made another one just like it for her.

A group of ladies from my church have recently started meeting twice a week to quilt and invited me to join in. Wow! Twice in one week is a lot of sewing time. I do sew at home most everyday, but with this group, I feel inspired to really get things done. So I pulled this top off the quilt ladder and got it quilted and bound this week. Another item crossed off the to do list.

Now that fall is here the group is moving to once a week. This will be a nice incentive to keep those projects flowing and hopefully I will get a few more done before the end of the year.

Quilting in Progress

I have decided to finish up some projects that I have in storage. Some are in boxes or on hangers in the closet. Some are in pieces on my cutting table. Some are tops that are hanging on my quilt rack and quilt ladder. I decided to start with the ones ready to quilt and finish some of those up before starting anything else.

So now I have quilting in progress. I feel like I am the world's worst quilter. I really like this part of the process the least as it seems that I am always pushing and pulling the quilt thru the machine and can't quilt a straight line to save me - even after I have drawn them on. So I put on my favorite music, open a can of Diet Coke and try to make the best of it. Maybe I will get better with practice. If not, I may need a new hobby! LOL.

Veggie Tales

Saturday I made a trip to the Farmer's Market. We are fortunate to have a large one (about 100 vendors) on Saturday mornings. I would say about half are fresh food stalls and half are an assortment of crafts, prepared foods, and a variety of other stuff. You can smell the Kettle Corn being made from several blocks away. The blue and white tent tops are fun to see from a distance too. I usually see one or more people that I know so that is a bonus. It is usually a good time to be outside in the sunshine.

On Wednesday there is another large Farmer's Market in the late afternoon and evening. It is more of a party atmosphere as many people come to grab supper and do their shopping with a glass of wine in hand.

We are lucky that we have a Farmer's Market everyday of the week - a different location everyday. The other locations tend to be much smaller - 10 - 20 vendors.

This past Saturday I bought Lodi apples and got busy making applesauce. Tonight I am going to fix the eggplant - probably eggplant parmesan. We had cabbage last night. I bought one tomato and the man who sold it to me weighed it 3 times. It was over a pound and I think he thought the scale must be off. It will make some great BLT' s this week.

I also found some red okra. I love okra and this was definitely new to me. I haven't decided how to fix it yet. The vendor told me he had eaten it in soup and he could not tell any difference. Anybody seen this variety?

Do you have a favorite market buy?