Vacation

I just returned from a 6666 mile road trip (19 days, 19 states, 11 reunions/parties).  I did manage to squeeze in stops at 9 quilt shops.  For the most part, I behaved myself.  I collected green batiks for a leaf applique quilt I've been designing for a few weeks.  Picked up the reds for the state quilts.  Plus some blues for a quilt for my mom. And a few irresistables.  I'll post more on them as things get unpacked.

As for progress...I have 192 hexies put together for Rita's quilt. Another 100 or so are glue basted.  This project is English Paper Piecing for which I attempted glue stick for basting rather than thread for the first time. The hexagons are 1.5".  There are over 1000 pieces in the planned size.  However, as it goes together, I'm concerned that it's smaller than I'd imagined.  Need to decided if it needs more pieces or wide borders.

I also got some of the state blocks finished.  This one is Anvil and represents Pennsylvania.  The red fabric was sent to me by Laurel at Lively Stitches.  Hmmm  the block photos are a little blurry this morning...as am I.  Will work on better photos and updating the State Block page after I recover from the trip.

Ohio Star fabric came from Lucy at Oh Lucy What Did You Do?  who is a brand new quilter, working on her very first quilt.  She's also a friend of mine from high school.  Met her for supper on our way through S. Ohio.

Here's my Iowa block, "Corn & Beans".  Picked up one of the reds at Prairie Star Quilts in Elk Horn, IA.  The owner, Julie Larson, has designed a series of reproduction fabrics that are available through the website.  We took the back roads back to the freeway, and drove through fields of corn and soybeans.  The choice of block was obvious.

Our stop in Tennesee was at The Quilter's Attic in Goodletsville, TN.  This turned into a very expensive stop, as they had a selection of batiks that I didn't yet own.  And I bought a fantastic pattern book:  The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt  I plan to use these templates for my State blocks as well as a blue & white Life History Quilt for mom. (Like the state quilt, there will be a block to represent an event from each year of the first 80 years of my mom's life.)

More Distractions

When I was finishing up the piecing& quilting on the Pinwheel quilt.... I pondered if there was any quilt that I liked well enough to piece...just for the sake of the end product.  Since I don't like making more than one of anything....I  started thinking about samplers.  Which took me back to when I started quilting and I had planned a 50 block quilt to represent each of the states.  I have a binder of ideas and patterns that I had put together.   However...back then I didn't applique, and I hadn't spent much time in some of the states...so my pattern choices might be different now.  (I will omit the details of which state I chose for a "Boondocks" block.) This all reminded me of another project I started at that time, that I dug out of the "Archive" basket.  (That's a cross between a UFO bin and a scrapbook, filled with things I either have finished, or have no desire to.)

This used English paper piecing and was intended for the back of a jacket in 1987.  No telling where those missing states are.  But this trip down memory lane reminded me of 2 reasons that the USA quilt had not been made.  1) I couldn't imagine displaying a red,white & blue quilt  (remember...this is the 80's when everything was mauve & slate blue) and  2) I was drafting 12" blocks, which would make for an enormous quilt.

So that got me thinking.....What if I made the quilt just red and white.  And made 6" blocks...like those Dear Jane quilts that I'm in awe of.  BUT WAIT!  Wouldn't it be cool if the fabric for each state came FROM each of those states!!!!  And I just happen to be going on a cross-country road trip this summer.

And I had just bought the Quilter's Travel Companion...with the thought that we are going to have to pee sometime...and all quiltshops have bathrooms.  Long story short...I spent several hours planning a route that would get us to a quilt shop in each state.  We'll be a little pressed for time when we get back West...but those are states in which I have friends & family so there are still opportunities for collecting fabric from those states.

And...of course, I figured out that I'd really only need 1/8 yard of fabric, which could be mailed for a 1st class stamp.  So I could always lure my family, Facebook and Blogger friends into joining my treasure hunt.  After all, it would be less than $2 to participate.  Since I started this evil plan a couple weeks ago...Harley Dude brought be a fat quarter of red from his bike trip to Oregon, and Debbie picked up some red in Maui while she was on a business trip.

Today's Distraction:  I'm off to the Boise Basin Quilt Show.
Wearing the Stalker Cat skirt.


Editor's note:  Harley Dude is now referring to this as "A poodle skirt for cat butlers."

Safe Quilting

Interestingly, the cold medicine I'm taking fails to warn about cooking under the influence. Fortunately, I only burned one side of the grilled sandwich.  

Faced with that reality check, I thought it was in my best interest to avoid anything sharp or hot during my afternoon of sick leave.  Ruling out irons, rotary cutters, good scissors, pins and needles was a bit of a challenge.  Eventually, I opted for paper scissors and glue.  I still have all my fingers, and a good start on the hexagon quilt I'll be sewing on the Epic Road Trip of 2010.

I finished cutting out about a thousand little hexes that I had printed out on scratch paper. I was somewhat concerned since the only times I've done English Piecing, I've used cardstock and basted the material in place.  I managed to successfully used the gluestick approach and though the paper was flimsier than I'm used to, I think it'll work fine since I don't plan to re-use the papers (hence the scratch paper). 68 glue-basted, 984 to go.