Peppermint Holidays

Love my peppermint during the holidays! Several years ago I found Millstone Holiday Peppermint coffee in Walmart and Kroger. Haven’t seen any this year . . . I’m on my last bag.

Then, I accidentally found Softsoap Wintermint Wonderland Limited Edition body wash this year. I bought as much of that as I could find – 4 bottles. That would be refreshing even in a summertime shower.

I’m not keen on candy canes, but I do like those round peppermint candies wrapped in twisted cellophane.

And I’m sure that if I look through my fabric stash, I’ll find some fabric with peppermints!

What’s your favorite peppermint indulgence?
Happy Peppermint Holidays!

BlockBase Sew Along

I’ve been making the blocks for Electric Quilt’s BlockBase Sew Along. This sew along was set up to encourage people to learn how to use just the BlockBase stand-along software. We are given a block number every other week, and about 11 days later we can upload our finished blocks to the sew along webpage. We're taking a break for the holiday season, but we'll start back up on January 7.

Of the 6 blocks I've made so far, my favorite is the one with green squares. The blocks with stripes and polka dots -- ummmm, not so much.

The BlockBase software is based on Barbara Brackman’s book Encyclopedia Of Pieced Quilt Patterns. The BlockBase interface has been updated recently, but I’m using my older version. Usually I just access the blocks from BlockBase via Electric Quilt 7, but Electric Quilt software is not required.

Even Barbara Brackman herself uses BlockBase.

QGI 2012 Blocks of the Month

I make blocks of the month for three guild meetings each month that are all affiliated with QGI, Quilter’s Guild of Indianapolis.

QGIN is Quilter’s Guild of Indianapolis North. For 2012, with Janet Wickell’s permission, we’ve been making the Anniversary Sampler at About.com. We get to keep these blocks for 2012! Our goal is to have our tops finished by the February 1, 2013 meeting. Just the top – no quilting or binding – I might be able to get that done!

OTLB is the Out To Lunch Bunch. The blocks are submitted at each month’s meeting where the people who participate put their blocks on the wall and their names into a container. After a name is pulled from the container, that person wins all the blocks for the month. I won the Christmas Bow set of blocks in August 2012.

QGI’s general meeting also has a block lottery. I won the gray Lightning blocks in September 2012. I’d like to make a 50 Shades of Gray quilt. Something warm and fuzzy, a sharp contrast to the 50 Shades of Gray book’s content! Maybe appliqué some pretty pale orange flowers across them.

At this moment in time, I feel like I am a blockmaker. Maybe 2013 will be my year of becoming the quiltmaker.

Quilter’s Guild of Indianapolis Fall Retreat 2012

I went on my first quilt retreat in August 2012 at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, Indiana.

I had never been on a quilt retreat, but I had been to Clifty Falls in my childhood on end-of-the-year school trips for students who had served in the Garfield School City service positions. I had served in the Welfare Department (selling cookies and ice cream sandwiches at morning recess) and in the Health Department (table monitor in the school cafeteria during lunch). I was eager to see Clifty Falls again! Could park visitors still walk behind the falls?

Our accommodations were wonderful! 50 of us stayed at the Clifty Inn and utilized one of the big conferences rooms as our sewing room. The buffet meals were diet sabotage. (But calories eaten at a retreat don’t count!) Every room had a view of the Ohio River. I finished two Carol Doak paper-piece blocks and learned how to make pillowcases with the tube technique. Didn’t get a lot done but sure enjoyed getting to know a lot of other guild members. Didn’t take advantage of the park’s amenities because . . . .

. . . .We’re going back in November 2013. I’m ready! (And I have my tote to carry my mat.)

I now have a coffee mug, a T-shirt, and friendships to remember this recent visit to Clifty Falls State Park.

Carol Doak’s “It’s in the Bag Challenge!!!”

In early November at the Carol Doak Quilting Group, Carol issued a challenge:

It's in the Bag Challenge!!!!

The rules: Make a bag (tote bag, purse, quilt bag or anything that resembles a bag) that contains at least one Carol Doak paper-pieced block and upload the picture by November 30 in the It's In The Bag Album.

I will pull the winning random winner on December 1.

The winner will win 5 YARDS OF FABRIC! Now the more bags you make, the more chances you have to win. Consider using these bags as Christmas and Holiday gifts.

Let those creative juices flow!

Carol Doak

I’ve been carrying my 18” x 24” rotary cutting mat in a pillowcase. I grab the cuff of the pillowcase, and off I go! But of course that means I can’t carry anything else with that hand. Or open doors. Or unlock the car.

So now I have a big bag that looks like a pillowcase with handles. Haven't had a chance to take the bag anywhere yet! Hummm, wonder when the next show-and-tell will be. . . .probably not until January. I'll be ready!

More about the Quilters Guild of Indianapolis

Not only does QGI have that monthly evening meeting I blogged about last week, but there are also two daytime meetings. I love going to both meetings. Each group has its own Block of the Month (BOM) and its own programs.

Quilters Guild of Indianapolis North (QGIN) meets in the afternoon the first Friday of every month at the PrimeLife Enrichment Center in Carmel, Indiana, north of Indianapolis. We’ve been making the blocks in Janet Wickell’s Anniversary Sampler Quilt at About.com. Will I actually put all these blocks together into a quilt before 2013 is over?

The Out To Lunch Bunch (OTLB) meets for lunch on the fourth Thursday of the month (except November and December) at Jonathan Byrd’s Cafeteria in Greenwood, Indiana, south of Indianapolis. Did I mention it is a lunch meeting in a cafeteria? Once a month, great food and great company! It was a wonderful opportunity to sit front-and-center for a presentation of Eleanor Burns’ latest book by Pat Knoechel, Eleanor’s sister. Of course I bought a copy of the book Tales of First Ladies and Their Quilt Blocks and the Braid in a Day pattern. Will I make up the pattern or any blocks from the book soon?

Can’t wait to see what is in store with these two groups in 2013.

The Quilters Guild of Indianapolis

The Quilters Guild of Indianapolis is HUGE! About 400 members.

I have now been a member of QGI for a year. What a year! The group usually meets the second Thursday evening of each month at Second Presbyterian Church on North Meridian in Indianapolis. The church is a magnificent facility. I am in awe every time I drive up to the building. You can see the imposing edifice at Art and Architecture, Click on Chapter #1 Church.

What a year! During 2012 I’ve been helping the Hospitality Chair by greeting members as they arrive and handing out door prizes. As a newbie, greeting members as they sign in has helped me put names with faces.

I attended one workshop by nationally known paper-piecer Quilt Maven Deb Karasik. Learned some great tips about piecing curves and began her Inner Light pattern.

At those Thursday night meetings, I saw trunk shows and watched demos from QGI guild member Carol Schuetz, The Singing Quilter (yes, she even quilts), Wendy Butler Berns, Gayle Bong, and QGI guild member Cathy Franks. So much talent!

And in July I became the newsletter editor for the end of 2012 and the calendar year 2013. What else will be in store for me as a guild member in 2013?

I live in a quilting laboratory!

I was living in a rather small apartment, 880 square feet, in Nevada. As I became more and more absorbed in quilting, I was accumulating quite a bit of quilting fabric and paraphernalia. I’d had a great 1220 square feet apartment in Indianapolis. Rattled around in all that space. And there I was in Nevada, beginning to realize how that space could be utilized for my quilting and other sewing activities. On a lark, on Memorial Day Weekend 2011, I contacted a rental agent in my old Indianapolis apartment complex. At that point, the agent knew there would be two of those 2-bedroom + den apartments available August 1. There are only seven apartments with that configuration in the entire apartment complex. Couldn’t pass that up!! Lots of faxes, emails, and a deposit check later, and suddenly I was ready to move back to Indianapolis. The idea that germinated on May 30 became reality on August 19. That was fast!

The designated living room is my computer and quilting area. The designated dining room (with ceiling fan) is a sitting room with bookshelves, stereo, and futon. The den? It’s an 8x15 stash room. The closet has floor-to-ceiling sliding doors – what a great design wall! The smaller bedroom has the ironing board, serger, and sewing embroidery machine. What a great floorplan for a quilting lab!

Back home in Indiana

I live in Indianapolis now, since August 2011. Why Indianapolis? I loved living here 1998-2001, but I left for a public school teaching job in Reno/Sparks, Nevada.

Retired January 2011 and started wondering what I wanted to be when I grow up. . . . a quilter.

Quilting activities around Reno are few and far between. Far!! Driving at least 5 hours or flying someplace. I wasn’t a quilter when I lived in Indianapolis back then, but I know its highways are pretty much in the center of everything “Midwest.” (Indiana isn’t called The Crossroads of America for nothing!) So here I am!

Now there are so many quilting activities that I sometimes feel overwhelmed!

Robin Hood, Robin Hood, riding through the glen . . . .

. . . . feared by the bad, loved by the good. . . .

There's a new Robin Hood movie coming out.

I've loved Robin Hood since I was a kid. Richard Greene as Robin Hood is still on my local Channel 11.2 in the afternoons. That TV program dates back to the late 1950's.

The next Robin Hood I remember is Kevin Costner. His movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves came out in 1991 when I was teaching at Columbia Elementary School in Fairfax County, Virginia. I had to drive past the theaters on Little River Turnpike to get home. Stopped there after school one day and saw the movie first run. Bought the movie too.

I also have a Sean Connery movie from maybe 1976 called Robin and Marian. The Robin Hood character has aged in that movie.

Are there other Robin Hood's that I haven't mentioned?

Russell Crowe as the new Robin Hood? I'll have to wait and see.

Bisquick!!

I remember my mom making Bisquick biscuits back in the 1950's. She'd roll out the dough and use a donut cutter (without the center hole cutter) to make biscuits to go with our Sunday fried chicken dinners. Fast forward to the 2000's. I remember me dropping biscuit dough on a cookie sheet for a fast version of Bisquick Cheese-Garlic Biscuits.

What's my fascination with these quick biscuits? I really love those cheesy biscuits from the national chain restaurant Red Lobster.

A few years back I searched the Internet for one of those copycat recipes for the Red Lobster biscuits. One recipe even contains Bisquick! Then a routine cruise through Raley's grocery store took me to the aisle for baking ingredients. And there was the small package of the cheesy biscuit mix from Bisquick!

But then came the day when Raley's didn't have any of the cheesy-garlic biscuit mix on the shelf. I settled for the buttermilk biscuit mix instead. Aaaah, these buttermilk biscuits are great with honey for Sunday breakfast. Can you smell them baking?

National Quilting Day

It's National Quilting Day!! The National Quilting Association has provided a pattern to help celebrate the day. The pattern is called Tie One On For the Troops.

So what am I doing on National Quilting Day? So many choices!! I have a quilt top layered and ready to baste. The graphic on the left shows my Electric Quilt version. I enlarged a pattern called Spring Pinwheels from FreePatterns.com. Their pattern contains directions for a 20" x 20" wall hanging. I needed a 40" x 40" version.

Did I say "choices"? My neighborhood Walmart will be closing soon! A new Walmart SuperCenter will be opening about 4 miles away. Of course it is opening without a fabric department. So today I could celebrate National Quilting Day by buying those Walmart fabrics that will soon be gone. They have some beautiful butterfly fabric I've been looking at for months. Then there are the pillow panels with roses. Then there is the tone-on-tone white that can be used for backgrounds.

Another choice? I've been overwhelmed with work for the past several months. Hardly any time for myself. I think it's time to bust out of this town for the day! About 1½ hours from here is a wonderful nursery and quilt shop. It's open seven days a week and has fabrics I don't usually see locally. It's called Workman Farms Crafts & Nursery in Fallon, Nevada. It could be a beautiful day for a drive.

And even another choice! At the No Quilt Police Yahoo Group, we have a quilt design challenge. Some folks started last month to be finished by National Quilting Day. Others are doing something special today. We'll share Electric Quilt and Quilt Pro project files. Last evening I started putting blocks from a children's book into Electric Quilt. Then I'll design a quilt or two with those blocks.

Soooo, what shall I choose. . . . . . ?

I am ready for some football ! !

Where have I been all this time? Well, school started August 3. It's been a tough month so far. Thank goodness the NFL Football season is starting. Gives me a chance to yell and cheer and do some sewing.

When I was a kid, my Mom would go shopping or visiting friends when my Dad watched football games on TV. That also meant that I had the sewing machine to myself. So football and sewing go great together for me.

There's a new freebie at the Carol Doak Quilting Yahoo Group. The group's homepage photo shows a Halloween version. Aren't the spiderwebs great! The 17" pattern is called the Holiday Mini Challenge with evergreen trees in the corners. I was originally attracted to the red-white striped fabric that Carol Doak shows in her PDF file with the pattern.

Then I happened to see some blue-white striped fabric in Hancock Fabrics. For another project, I picked up a bolt of fabric with football players. Wandering around the store with the two bolts, I realized that they coordinated well. So I think I'll make a football-themed mini, enlarged to 34"! But I don't want trees in the corners. Maybe goalposts.

To enter the challenge, I would have to use all the different pattern pieces at least once. That means having at least one tree in the quilt. So maybe I'll make a Christmas mini also. I'll be on break again in November, so I probably have time to make both the Christmas and the football minis. Starting today!

Nevada and Silver Lake School

Whew! It has been a busy month or so. Finally finished this Nevada History Quilt. I had a group of 4th Graders involved in a Math, Reading, and Social Studies enrichment project last year. The school principal had suggested the quilt as a fundraiser for the annual 4th Grade overnight trip to Fort Churchill for an experience in living history. Luckily, I had an experienced quilter in my classroom for part of the day as the instructional assistant. She worked with the enrichment group -- researching Nevada history (a 4th grade history standard), choosing important Nevada events and icons, and designing the quilt layout.

The instructional assistant moved away during the last four weeks of the project. We knew she was leaving before the end of the school year, but not that soon! She and I made schematic drawings of the quilt with handwritten measurements. But how to put it together? What section first? Which border first? Over the next several months, I learned a lot about quilt design.

The project seemed never ending. I made the usual mistakes -- cutting fabric in the wrong direction, sewing a part on upside down, and sewing inconsistent seams between the letters. The teacher who had been planning these trips for 20 years suddenly retired, and the rest of 4th Grade teachers decided to discontinue the yearly field trips. So what was to be done with the quilt, if I ever got it finished?

For the past ten years, there was one parent who had worked preparing 4th graders for the overnight trips. She and I decided that the quilt should probably go to the teacher who had initiated the living history project so long ago.

Meanwhile, what to do about quilting this thing? A quilter from my guild said she would quilt it for free. The she thought that $40 would be a fair price. After a few months, she decided not to do the quilting at all. I felt lucky to get the quilt back. She disappeared from the guild and her phone number was disconnected. A local quilt shop wanted over $150 to do the long-arm quilting. The quilter said she would do it at home on the side doing free-motion quilting on her domestic machine. Quilting and fusible batting for $95. Done! The quilting looks great.

That retired teacher who had begun the living history program all those years ago? She was in our building as a long-term substitute since the third week of school. We gave the quilt to her at the end of the year during a lunch period when this year's and last year's students were there.

I swore off doing any more quilt projects related to my school. Then someone left a T-shirt in the lounge. There was a sign on it -- "FREE." I snatched it up. I could cut off the embroidered part and put it in the center of a quilt. Then eQuilter had the dolphins fabric on sale. We are the Silver Lake Dolphins.

So in the next couple of weeks I'll be designing something wonderful in Electric Quilt! It should be a great project to work on when school starts again in August.

And then I'm not doing any more school-related quilts! (Famous last words.)

BATIK

I have been introduced to the wonderful world of batik fabrics for quilting. This block is my contribution to the block of the month at Ben Franklin Crafts in Sparks, Nevada. The focus fabric is the multi-colored batik in the corners. The center star is also a batik.

Years ago, back in the 1970's, I purchased a piece of art that was batik. It showed a young lady in red with long blonde hair playing a mandolin. The waxy feel was still apparent on the wall hanging. I loved the effect.

I used to frequent craft shows. I've purchased several T-shirts from Grebe Batiks. A moose, front and back. A rose. An evil cat. A cosmic star. A fire-breathing dragon. All fun T-shirts that wash well and last a long time.

Recently, the quilting guild I belong to began making blocks for its 2010 opportunity quilt. Because the opportunity quilt coordinator thinks I'm good at paper-piecing, I was asked the make several blocks. My first experience sewing batiks! All the blocks have black batik background and batik flowers.

What is batik? A history of the process can be found at Bali Fabrics.

What is batik to me? A beautiful new medium for touching and viewing and quilting.

Starry Night

Vincent Van Gogh was an artist who created the painting Starry Night. Don Mclean recorded Vincent (also known as Starry, Starry Night) to describe Van Gogh's tragic life.

This past week, an actual artist came to my 5th Grade class to teach art. They used pastels to recreate Van Gogh's Starry Night on black construction paper.

The artist's visit reminded me of a quilter named Jessamy Thompson. Jessamy lived in The Netherlands in Van Gogh's town. Every year the town celebrated Van Gogh's life. Every year Jessamy sponsored a centralized swap of quilt blocks commemorating Van Gogh's Starry Night. In 2007, I took the opportunity to participate, probably the last time Jessamy sponsored the swap. I received star blocks with labels from Finland, England, United Kingdom, Germany, and the USA. This photo shows only part of the collection I received. I guess it's time to think about assembling those blocks into a quilt.

See you at Elm Creek. . . .

Have you read the Elm Creek Quilts series by Jennifer Chiaverini? I've read all the books in the series and purchased all three accompanying quilt pattern books.

In one of the books, Elm Creek Quilts needed a new instructor. The book was about the people who applied for the job. I wanted to be one of those applicants! I've never been to a quilt retreat. Is there a place like Elm Creek? A beautiful setting and permanent building with resident quilt instructors? I don't think I would be interested in attending a quilt retreat at a motel or rented camp. I want Elm Creek!

I think there is now a fourth pattern book: Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. It has been out for about a month. Must order my copy soon.

Meanwhile, maybe I'll meet up with you at Elm Creek
for a week of quilt camp. . . .

Inspired by Young Students

I find inspiration in the strangest places. These two inspiring pieces of artwork are from the elementary school where I teach.

The top drawing was done by a 5th Grade student "playing" with the Geometry template. The paper had fluttered to the floor. I almost just stepped over it but decided to pick it up for a closer look. I loved what I saw! When I asked whose paper it was, I got no response. Students probably thought they would get into trouble. I finally begged the person to identify himself or herself -- I told the class I wanted to be able to take the drawing home to put it into Electric Quilt. It will take a few more lines so it can be paper-pieced. I'd like to make one huge block and applique it to the back of a shirt.

The second piece of art might be a flag. It is construction paper cut and glued to a 9" x 12" piece of lighter colored construction paper. I found it attached to the southern hemisphere of a HUGE world map on the wall of the school's common area. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know what country it might represent. Maybe I can ask around to find out whose class the "flag" came from.

And what more might I find . . . I'll have to cruise the hallways to see what else I can find. I promise I'll carry a Hall Pass!

Same look, different color scheme. . . .

What a difference color and fabric make! The block pattern is from the Florida Cabin Fever Quilt Guild April Block of the Month.

One aspect of quilting that I need to learn more about is color. I'm accustomed to sewing clothing where colors tend to match and blend. In quilting, fabrics need to contrast -- light, medium, dark, and even the visual texture on the fabric.

I have purchased several quilter's books to help with with color theory related to quilting. All these books are on my quilting bookshelf:

• Quilting Color Magic from House of White Birches
  
• Color Play by Joen Wolfrom
  
• Color Magic for Quilters by Ann Seely and Joyce Stewart
  
• Color: The Quilter's Guide by Christine Barnes
  
• EQ5 Color: Applying Color Theory to Quilts by Susan McKelvey
  

Even a couple of the many color theory websites could be helpful to me:

• Color Wheel Basics for Quilters at About.com
  
• Moda's Color Theory
  

But I haven't used any of these resources . . . . yet.

Now, where is that color wheel I bought? How about just a box of 96 Crayolas?

How about a black quilt . . . . ?

I've begun to work with black background fabric this year. I had seen photos of Amish quilts using solid black background and jewel-tone solids. Working with black and solids did not appeal to me until I visited the Florida Cabin Fever Quilt Guild website to find their 2009 block of the month. It's called A Touch of Amish. "A touch" was right up my alley! I've made the first four blocks, but not quite with jewel tones! Love my avocado green. Yes, a throw back to my favorite color of the 1970's.


Then the quilting guild that I belong to asked for help paper-piecing the blocks for the 2010 Opportunity Quilt. Those ladies know I looooove paper-piecing. I had to learn to sew curves and New York Beauty blocks to do that first one. These three blocks are made with batik fabrics. The black is not solid but seems to have a touch of turquoise marbled through.

So now I've decided to make myself a black lapquilt. I'll be using Carol Doak and Electric Quilt paper-pieced blocks for flowers, stems, and leaves. I've found some beautiful background fabric from Kings Road. Not a batik, but it looks like it -- black with dark green shooting through it. No, not avocado green. :-)