Jack and Gourdy Quilt

Jack and Gordy Throw A Party is now the headline photo!  I have three Halloween quilts now.  Every year Carrie does this fabulous Halloween display, with flowers and hay bales and pumpkins.  So I took all three quilts to her house on Sunday to photograph them with that fabulous setting.........only to find out she didn't even buy a pumpkin this year!  (sad smiley face)

So I took them to the Park behind my house and did some photos on the fence around the baseball field.  It had that great yellow-y orange-y rubber piece on the top of the black fence.   It really didn't work so well, the wind was pretty strong and I couldn't keep them straight, or even on the fence.  And of course i didn't bring any clips or pins or anything!

Better than nothing though!

Chloe on duty

And I have a story about my brave and fearless little girl.  Chloe the Smelly Basset, as she is affectionately called around here, loves to sit outside all night long and watch stuff.  We live in the city, but on the farthest street out to the city line.  And until about 8 or 9 years ago, there was nothing behind us but a large amount of trees and snakes and deer and turtles and opossums and armadillos.  No alligators though, sorry.  Oh, yes, and the peacock.

But Chloe still loves to sit out and watch the nightlife.   And tonight she was rewarded with opossum.

We heard lots of barking and Frank gets his spotlight (it is a large and very dark yard) and his hiking boots (not really THAT large) and leash and heads out to find her and bring her in.

He realizes she has the opossum cornered and when he reaches out to put her leash on, the opossum breaks and makes a run for it.  Right toward Frank! 

Chloe goes into action, she lunged for the critter and rolled it.  Frank pulled her away before she could actually get it.

Bonnie Doon

My big girl Swissy, Bonnie Doon (1998-2010), was responsible for killing 3 opossum in her job as protector of the family.  Chloe learned from the best.  Not the least of which is laying out in the yard at night, making sure the family is safe!

Basset Boy snoozing while Chloe keeps us safe

And hey, you don't see any of the BOYZ out there, protecting the yard, do you?

Kaleidoscope Quilt Show

I have 4 pieces hanging in the Sassi Strippers Guild Quilt Show at the Jones Creek Library.  Please go see the show as it is a nice representation of what is being done now by traditional quilters.  There are no modern quilts in this group, which I thought interesting.  Well, one can be interpreted as Modern - a charity quilt.

I am always impressed at how wonderful quilts look when they are hanging.

My favorite quilt, outside of my own of course, is this one.  Obviously a Saints fan, this one was titled French Quarter Brees.  The free motion
quilting that interprets the wrought iron fences in the Quarter is so much fun!  I don't particularly like the pinwheels but I guess it is a play off Drew Brees name.

This is a picture of the library lobby where you can see my KerBloom! quilt hanging in the rear center.

The two hanging in the front are pinwheels and a stained glass quilt.  I like the effect of where that stained glass one hangs, it looks like it is lighted.

This fox was interesting.  I just downloaded this pattern myself other day.  It was a free pattern and I thought it might be interesting as a baby quilt for Carrie's fertile friends.

That little foxy guy is really cute and I like the off set of the background.





 There were four jackets in the show, set against a wall containing numerous quilts.  The quilts on the ladder are going to be donated to charity.




That circle quilt is a nicely done piece, however I think I would have varied the circles in a more unpredictable way.  I love the colors in the quilt, they are my favorite colors!

Here are two of my quilt, KerBloom! and Jack and Gourdy Throw a Party.  They are hanging in the back of the lobby area, quite  easy to see.

The pumpkins are a Buggy Barn pattern made from shirts, not for traditional quilters!  That is a candy corn border.


My other two quilts are on the right wall of the library.  

My Forest of Frozen Sorrows was made when the Retreat was cancelled due to the frozen pipes flooding the retreat center.

And Carnivale, which was done in response to a challenge to use some ugly fabric.  The ugly fabric is in the center of the circles.  Not so ugly when you put it with complimentary fabrics.

Even though the show is so much smaller than usual, it is a fun place to go see quilts hanging in a beautiful venue.

Go check out the library quilt show and vote for one of my quilts!  You have to be there in person, but if you are in Baton Rouge go check them out at the Jones Creek Library!

Jack and Gourdy Throw a Party

Finished!  I spent the day with Ann at the Red Stick and put the binding on the Jack and Gourdy quilt.   I chose the black and orange stripes because it looks like a witch's socks.  Stockings, I guess, stockings.

It is MARVELOUS!

This is the binding I used

My Uncle Buddy used to say that all the time.  Marvelous, he would say.  My father would say, why did you make so many mistakes on that quilt?  My Uncle would say, Marvelous.

So Jack and Gourdy are throwing a Marvelous party!


glen

Design Wall Monday 10-22-12 and Flying Monkeys

Jack and Gourdy back

Let's see if I can get the month correct here!  LOL.  My Stash Report still is using the September designation.......Maybe I am just that far behind.

The mornings I get up early to do the Design Wall post, Judy does not.  When I am late, she is early!  You would think a woman up with the chickens would be up up.

What?

This week I finished quilting Jack and Gourdy Throw A Party.  I need to do the binding yet this week, maybe it will be completed before Halloween this year!  I showed Frank the finished quilting and he looked at it pensively.  I said...what?  He thought some additional seconds and then ventured cautiously.......that white around the edge, is that really the color you want to use?  I said.....what?  So far I am in the dark as to what he is even saying.  That white....he says again, repeating the intelligible once more as he is wont to do.  I point to the batting sticking out of the edge, This?

Yes, he says. Hmmmm.....You would think he would have gained some knowledge by living with me all these years........


I am working on another UFO from about 4 years ago now, the Morocco Quilt that is a Patch No Work pattern.  It is intended for my bed and will be queen sized.


I have 4 more quilts to go on the quilt frame and a couple of customer quilts to put together   One will be a baby quilt that cute baby who already has one of my lovelies.

See my witchy shoes and great ghostie socks?  And the flying monkey sleeps.........

Quilting On Two Quilts

I decided not to hand quilt the famous pumpkins Jack and Gourdy Throw a Party.  Since I did not attend the guild meeting last night, but chose to watch the debate, I took the time to take out the pumpkin and candy corn I did already hand quilt.

Too much trouble at this point to do so.  I will do some sort of all over design, maybe some Halloween items tossed into the mix.

Then I need to begin working on the Saints.  Christmas will be here quicker than you think!

Look for the Wicked Blog Hop to begin soon, I will be representing on Oct 30, an alpha prime spot!  Check my sidebar for info on that Hop.  I am so pleased to be part of it.  The last one brought many new people here.

I have a meeting tonight of a special group of quilt artists.  I have been having problems with making the meetings but I am so looking forward to this one.

It is nearly 10 AM and I need to wash hair and get dressed.  I have been cooking, zucchini bread, a new batch of yogurt where I used up all the milk and pancakes for future breakfasts.  It is amazing how long this all takes when you ahve to go out and stop dogs from barking at squirrels, put dogs out for playing too rough with the heartworm treatment boy, bring dogs in from running, offer treats to capture dogs who ignore you.

Sigh.

glen

Cholesterol, Sewing at Red Stick and Making Money

Health Minute:  My cholesterol is good but I thought I would pass this along to you so you can keep yours good as well.  Remember the beans I made Monday?

Did you know that you can lower your cholesterol cheaply and easily?  Just by eating more soluble fiber?  Soluble fiber lowers your LDL (the bad one) and raises your HDL (the good one).  You can find soluble fiber in things like Benefiber but you can also get you soluble fiber in delicious  ways, too.  Like:

Wheat bread or whole grain breads instead of white bread

Oatmeal instead of donuts

Fruits instead of candy

Vegetables instead of meats

almonds instead of afternoon sugar snack

Olive oil instead of lard or vegetable oils or butter

Beans (black, red, lentils)

AND DARK CHOCOLATE!

Italian seasonings, cumin, rosemary and real vanilla will your foods taste good without all that butter.

Ok -----------

We sewed at Red Stick Quilting yesterday, as we do most Tuesdays.  I got so little done and I was there most of the day.  It is not that I didn't  work hard, I did.  I thread basted the Jack and Gourdy Halloween Quilt.  I want to do the hand quilting like I did on the Lemon Lime quilt, large stitches with the crochet cotton.  I have purple and orange and need to get yellow for the eyes.  or I may just use the purple for the eyes and call it a day.  I worked a bit on it yesterday and got a group of candy corn and some purple around the first pumpkin done.  Slow work, but it is hand work in front of the TV and will be great for the winter to have the quilt draped over my legs keeping me and several bassets warm!

Please plan on joining us next Tuesday and sewing from 10 to about 3 or 4 or whatever time you can get away.  (Andrea, you hearing me, darling?) We really get a lot done, Ann is working on 3 great grandbaby quilts and got some Christmas lotto blocks done as well.  N interruptions and we usually go to one of two local dives for their lunch plates but you we can be persuaded to go somewhere else if you like!

I talked to a dog trainer friend of mine.  I charge WAY too little for training the buggers.  

But I have two quilting commissions coming in soon.  I am trying to charge enough for them but not too much!  LOL.  It is a good thing I do so love this quilting thing.

glen:  not sure why my typing disappeared in the second half, but this was all I could do to get it readable again.  How did I do that disappearing thing?