Checkout where my pillow landed

Just a quick update on where the swap pillow I made landed when Patricia took it home.  Check it out on her blog piece peace .  See my other posts about the swap here and here.

Keep dreaming...Colleen



All the swappers and the pillows they received.



trouble and a trip

If you are still having trouble commenting on some blogs like I am try this.  Uncheck remember me when you log into blogger.com .  It worked for me. 



Tons of batiks at Thimble Pleasures.

Ok so I am going on a two part trip and am looking for suggestions of quilty things to see in the areas.  First I a going to Boone, NC for 3 nights to the NCRA leadership conference.  We have some free time.  I know I should go to the Boone version of our Sew Original.  But I wonder if there are any exhibits or other quilty places I might see. 

Lots of grreat straping too.

When the conference is over I am driving down to Gatlinburg, TN for three nights.  What quilty places are there to see in the area?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I do plan on hiking in TN. 



Muddy creek.



I  am also excited to take my featherweight and work on the TMQG Kaufman Solid challenge.  We are to take a Dusty solids charm pack and add one other fabric of our choice to the top.  We are to share our finished quilts at the next guild meeting.  I have a basic plan for mine I have been waiting for time to make.  I plan to sew in the evenings and make part of this vacation a little bit of a quilt retreat.  As I told my mom I can work without the distractions of stuff at home.

Keep dreaming...Colleen



Lucky the Plott Hound meets Jellybean the sheep.
 Both have their own children's books.



Pillows were swapped!!!

Lots of pillows were swapped by the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild!

That's me kneeling in the front row on the right.  All of the pillows were amazing, different, and seemed to fit the receiver.  I loved the bag mine came in.

I loved the detail on my pillow! 

She used one of my favoirte Valorie Wells linens and cut out the flowers, appliqued, and embellished them with beads!  She said she had never done the techniques before and was happy to try someting new. 

The back was one of my favorite dots.

Here are the other swappers.

 

  That's what I love about swaps like this.  You are challenged by your partners preferences and then inspired by the swap item you receive.

Then we had some amazing show and tell.

We also had one of the women in the guild teach us about tying quilts. 

I  found a couple of techniques that would make great embellishement ideas too.I really love this group!  It makes me realize how much I miss living in the area.

Keep Dreaming...Colleen

My pillow goes perfectly on my studio chair!

TMQG Pillow Swap

I am excited to be going to my second meeting of the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild today in Chapel Hill.  The first meeting I attended, I blogged about here, was a tour of SpoonFlower. 

Today's regular meeting will be at Thimble Pleasures quilt shop.  I love how they usually have swaps and challenges associated with each months meetings!  Today is a pillow swap and scrap swap.

I signed up for the pillow swap through the guild website discussion group.  John (aka Quilt Dad ) sent us secret partners.  Mine was Patricia of Piece Peace who said she like bright colors and modern prints in anything I wanted to make.  A last week's Bee I created the top. And here on my studio comfy chair is the finished product.

I quilted the top with cotton batting and a muslin backing.  Then I sewed wool felt flowers on.  I created these with my sizzix that I blogged about here and here.

The backing I used to swraps of Valorie Wells and Ami Butler flannels.

I really love the challenge of swaps. I cant wait to see what my partner created for me!

Keep dreaming...Colleen



Summer tote bag for my secret pal made from this tutorial.
I used regular cottons and added interfacing and lining .



Foto Finish-Something old

What to pick, what to pick?  I am surrounded by old things that I collect and I find and I love.  It is something I do.  Finally I decided to share this.

This is a log chain.  My dad has used it for years.  He got it from my grandfather who used it for years.  My grandfather got it from his Uncle Lee, his mother's brother, who used it for years.  Supposedly it belong to their father, my great great grandfather Adam, who used it for years. 

Adam who was reported to not be a nice man to his family.  His children all ran away or were helped to run away when they were very young.  I think my great grandmother ran away when she was around 12.  Uncle Lee was born with a deformed back and this chain was reported to have been used to beat him once so severely he almost died. 

Why do I have a picture of it?  I was working on a genealogy project for a class during my Master's program.  Stories I never knew were told and incorporated into the project.  Frank stories I never knew as a child but ones that filled in the missing pieces of my families life.  This picture became part of it. 

I think this is a beautiful picture.  I see the wall and the pink phlox of one of my parents gardens that I helped to create.  I see the chain that represents to me not pain but the continuity of a family and a family work ethic.  This is a tool members of my family have used for more than 4 generations.  That is a cool thing!

keep dreaming...Colleen

On my patio fence-an old furnace cover from PA with a Moravian star on it. 
A galvanized pail for collecting weeds.

I'm a little addicted to old cookware too.