Casey's Sewing and Knitting Circle

Our little group of 11 women met this past Friday for a day of sewing, knitting, talking, laughing and eating!! Sherry was our hostess this week. She keeps the coffee pot full!! Thanks Sherry!!

As I sat there in my space, I looked around and everyone that was "sewing" was using a Janome 720/760 machine - they weigh about 12 lbs are are virtual workhorses!! SueRap was sewing itty~bitty HST together to make her "Starstruck" blocks, SueBee and Pam were making pillowcases for charity ~ oh what fun fabrics they were using!! Laura was sewing blocks for a charity quilt and Chris was knitting. Janice and Sherry were doing hand embroidery and Kay was stitching on a binding. Helen was working on her blocks for a "Day & Night" quilt in green batik fabrics - stunningly beautiful!! Margo was hand piecing. I didn't get a whole lot accomplished myself but I did get a "granny" apron cut out and some of the rick-rack attached.

When we all get together, there are usually no less than 6 separate conversations going at once, and of course, we being women, we could keep up with all of them, including the one we were engaged in!! Never a dull moment with this group!!

We all bring our own lunch and then eat dinner together as a group!! Helen made a delicious cheese casserole, SubRap brought a green salad, Laura made her famous fruit salad and Pam made a scrumptious blueberry cobbler ~ we always have more than enough to eat!!

This is a group of women who truly love to quilt and knit and on top of that, we are very very good friends ~ I am so blessed to count these ladies in my small circle of friends!!

60 Degrees of Fun

I was asked by a local quilt shop owner to come up with a project that would utilize the new 2 1/2 inch 60 Degree ruler from Creative Grids and offer as a class. First, I cut out some 60-degree triangles with the ruler and played around with them for a bit and just shrugged - I'll never figure this out! Oh dear, what will I make?? I went to the Creative Grids website to see if there were any patterns - nope, nada, nil, zero, zilch, nothing!! However, there was a picture of a hexagon block. Ah, ha!!
I put my thinking cap on, opened my EQ6 program and started drafting some hexagon blocks - then inspiration hit me ~ I could make a wallhanging ~ sort of a fabric canvas. ***note~the hexagon block on the left is located on the 3rd row down, far right in the photo to the right)

So, I drafted the blocks and set them into the quilt and started playing around with color. This is what I designed ~ I took it to the shop and she loved it!! I have left this "canvas" intentionally blank so that I can demonstrate some other tools and finishing techniques. I will be teaching the class at Stitches in Newport on April 17th. Now, I just hope to have enough students to make it worth all the time and effort I have put into this project! Wish me luck!!

SNW - Fun and Done!

Well, I finished my last few SNW blocks and mailed them off to the coordinator a few days ago! The top photo is my fabric.


This is a sampling of my blocks. This was a fun swap and at times I questioned my sanity for even signing up!! Now, they're done - YAY!!

Here's how this swap works ~ there are 20 of us and we are each making 50 Stack and Whack 4-Patch blocks and mailing them to Linda, our coordinator. She will sort them out and mail each of us 50 DIFFERENT blocks!! I can't wait to get mine!!

More SNW

This is my 2nd choice of fabrics for the SNW exchange - it is called "Wild Rose Farm" from Robyn Pandolph. I should get 20 blocks from this fabric.

I've stacked, cut and sewed 10 so far today - this is a sampling.

Back to the cutting table!!

Stack and Whack Exchange

I am a member Connecting Threads' quilting community called QWU - Quilt With Us. I belong to several of the groups on the site and one has issued a challenge called "Stack and Whack Exchange Blocks" - there are 20 of us participating and each of us will make 50 blocks to send to the coordinator who will then package them up and send them back!! The theme of this exchange is "Flower Garden" so I will get 50 flowery blocks to put into a quilt!! The top photo is my 1st fabric choice called "From the Past" by Hoffman. I got 21 blocks from this fabric. This is the 4 patch SNW pattern ~ so very easy to cut out and sew together!! I am using 3 different fabrics for this exchange, so stay tuned.

This is a sampling of my blocks.

Guess I'd better get busy on the rest of them!!

Gadget Queen Goes On The Road!

Last Tuesday, Feb 2nd, I was a guest speaker for the Canoe City Quilters in Old Town. They presented me with a crown and septor - what a hoot eh? They asked me to bring and demonstrate some of my gadgets. I took a couple of friends with me because I saw this as an opportunity for a "road trip" with some shopping involed!! We had a wonderful time! I really enjoyed talking to the group and I think they liked it too! So, Sherry and I stopped for breakfast at Governor's in Waterville, then stopped at "Stitches" in Newport, then on to Bangor, where we picked up Nancy and went to the "Cotton Cupboard", then on to Marden's in Brewer for a bit more shopping - then to Old Town for supper at the original Governer's and then the meeting! I got home by 10:30pm but was so wound up I couldn't sleep, so I didn't get to bed until midnight, then up early the next morning for Tacoma Lakes quilt group meeting - I was a bit dingy to say the least!!

Speaking of the Tacoma Lakes group - what a prolific group we are!! You can see some photos from our last meeting on Margo's blog - she always takes a lot of photos and then posts to her blog - kind of like a wrap up to meeting - we love it!! Thank you Margo!!

Getting Organized - Again!

Now that the holidays are over it is once again time to reorganize my sewing space. Everything is helter skelter - Christmas fabric everywhere!! I believe I will pack that up and put away until at least July or August when I will once again start thinking about making Christmas gifts and bags. I found a really neat pattern online for making gift bags ~ ~ I've made only the one bag and it was so easy I will definitely make more! This one measures approximately 4"x8"x2" and is fully lined. They can be made smaller or larger!

This will be another busy week! Wednesday I will be sewing with my QA group - we will meet at Koleen's this time and work on our challenges ~ September Sun ~ Koleen and Sherry have finished theirs and Sue and I are slackers!! I may just work on a WIP instead. I really enjoy getting together in small groups with my quilting buddies!!

On Friday, another of my sewing groups will be meeting at Kay's ~ she just recently went back to work after a 15 month sabbatical (translation:laid off) and as this is a "shut down" day, she has the day off! Last Friday we met at another member's home - another great sewing day! This was our first meeting since before the holidays so it was so nice seeing everyone!! As always, lots of food and lots of conversation and lots of fun!! I just love this group!!


I have already chosen the fabrics for my next "Cut That Out" bag - now that I understand the directions, I will make several for gifts and a few more for me!! I also like to make "accessories" for my purses ~ here is a photo of those that I made to match my first bag! I made a checkbook cover, zippered pouch and cosmetic bag.

Time to get this posted and get on with my day! Happy Sewing!