Lancaster City

Join me and my girls for another tour.
(I enjoy making little dolls. )
Check out the "Brooklyn" gum that my daughter
found and gave to me from New York! Cool

This time we are going to Lancaster City! yeah!

Last week, me and my quilting buddies Lee and Kathi

took a trip to the

Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum.

A view of the city from the second floor.

I have a thing for church steeples.

This building was formally a bank that

was owned by The Lancaster Trust

Company. After looking at the Espirit

Collection and the Navajo Weaving Exhibition (just gorgeous!).....



I was studying the architecture of the building.

I just loved the domed ceiling and that beautiful window!

You can view the quilt collection HERE

Click on panoramic video

You might have to download the Plugin and restart

your computer. It's worth it! And you won't be disappointed.

You can also view "Christmas through the Decades"



After viewing the quilts we had a delicious lunch of

grilled cheese and soup at the

Treats Creamery & Cafe. What a fun day!

On our way out of the city ..............



Marriott Lancaster at Penn Square the former Watt & Shand Building



This is the building where the new Quilt

Show will be in March! The Lancaster show for the last 22 yrs. has been in the Lancaster Host Resort but now will be at the Marriot in Lancaster City, March 24-27 2010 at the Lancaster County Convention Center.

Rita Barber the producer of the Quilter's Heritage Celebration is retiring. Rita has put on some great shows and we will miss her!

Our new Producers will be the

American Quilter's Society.


We have a local Quilt Artist in the area -

Sue Reno
Sue does just fabulous art quilts and has made
several of the Watt & Shand building - please
visit her blog to see her work- it's absolutely amazing!

On the way home I took this photo of

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
I love the structure of this old church and the steeple!

If you love stained glass windows as much as I do;
check out the above web site and click on
"Windows of Grace".

Look who is sitting out side my front window. I love to

see Cardinals when it's snowing. Their red color

against the white snow is so striking. (all the snow we

had melted - yeah! It's pretty to look at but not to

shovel it. It was freezing cold out today and windy

I'm not a winter person ~~~ Is it spring yet?)



Making Journal Covers for Christmas presents.

They are in various stages - I better hurry up and finish them!

Lititz, Pa.

Oh my gosh, a couple of weeks and it
will be Christmas already! Lots of
shopping to be done yet. So last week
I went to Lititz and did some shopping.
I love coming here. See the traffic and
the houses are close together. It reminds
me of Queens, N.Y. (where I was born)
I feel right at home here.

Wilbur Chocolate Factory is one of the most
popular tourists places (and for locals too!) I love to
buy the chocolate wafers and make my own concoctions.
I'll try to do a blog about making some easy noshes for
Christmas. Chocolate dipped marshmallows and pretzels.
No wonder I can't lose weight!Here's a shop up the street from Wilbur's; it's called
The Savory Gourmet.
Read the sign -Look at what one of the owners did to the statue of David(?)
I thought that was so cute! The bow is in an appropriate spot!
(I met the owner in one of the shops and asked
permission to use the photos for my blog and she said "sure".)Here's The The Broad Street Bazaar The owner is
Shelley and I asked her if I may take some photos for
my blog. (permission granted) This is where I sell my stuff.
Wait until you see the fun stuff in here! Everything
in this shop is handmade from local artisans.
Where to begin? Let's start with the photos. See the
photos on the red chair? I love this photographer's
idea - each photo looks like a letter of the alphabet
and spells a word. See the word FAITH? Love it!
(on top) Under it is the word LOVE.

Up on the wall is a woman who does hand crochet.
See that brown vest in the middle - I have my eye
on that - it's just my style!

On the opposite side of the photo on the blue chair;
is my friend Kathi's baby quilt. She has a couple of
these little beauties around the shop.



I'll tell ya - this shop is packed with goodies. I did
some of my Christmas shopping here but can't show
you what I bought... my daughter reads my blog. (-:

Lots of beautiful jewelry, handbags, purses and hand
made cards, etc.

My Rocking Horse

Look at all these adorable dresses! Oh, there's one
of my hand dyed handbags hanging on the wall.
And to the left side is my friend Kathi's grocery
bag. (orange one)




Update: This store has since closed

More Friendship Stars + Art quilt

This is my second Fabric Paper art piece. The fabric
paper is the tree trunk and leaves. The blue
background fabric is my hand dyed using Dylon
Dyes and the one under that is my shibori piece
using set-a-color paints. It still has to be worked
on with free motion and decorative stitches.




Here are two more of the Friendship Stars
that I did (see side bar for Block Party)

This is is more traditional with the four patch in each
corner. I'm not happy with the way it turned out;
mainly because the blue is too dark - to me anyway.


I chose red, white and blue for this block to honor
our Soldiers. The corners are intuitively pieced.
I like how this one turned out it looks happy.

I can't wait to try the next one that Block Party has up
- it's a variation of the Friendship Star and a little wonky.

Friendship Star Block 1

I joined the group over at Block Party
See my side bar for the page.

Here's my first Block:

I also finished my Fabric Paper Art Quilt
This was from Linda Matthews "Free Lunch"
See my side bar.

I really had fun doing this project! The flower is a
photo that I took of a nasturtium in my garden.
I then printed it on tissue paper - another one
of Linda's lessons.

The background is paper fabric and also the leaves.
I used free motion, decorative and hand embroidery
stitches. I added my hand dyed cheesecloth and lots
of beads. The orange fabric (border) is my hand dyed
fabric where I use Dylon Dyes.

This is my first attempt at an art quilt! I also
have two other paper fabric pieces to play with now.

I would like to encourage you to join Linda's "Free
Lunches"

Vicksburg block 3

I did remember to do my BOM for Vicksburg Dawn!

Dawn is doing a free BOM called Vicksburg.
If you would like to join in Click Here
Use fabrics from your stash.

Block Party - Quilt Along

(update note: Links are now corrected
and working - 11/7/09)

"Block Party" Two choices to participate. You
can join a virtual Quilting Bee or use your own
stash and sew along. There will be a tutorial
for a specific block; it's quarterly so you will
have plenty of time to do your blocks. And then
upload photos of your completed blocks
to the Block Party Quilt Along on Flickr.

(I'm choosing this batch)

Now here's the exciting part! Photos of your blocks
and quilts that you make with them might well be
chosen to be published in a book!
There is also a giveaway of 8 fat quarters of gorgeous
fabric! If this sounds like fun to you and would
like to join in Click here For the details.
This is also a great way to reduce your stash.

I'm in - hope to see you there too!

Guess what I saw?

Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece
traveling exhibit. Only three more stops to go. If you
have an opportunity to see it; please do!

Friday afternoon I had a lot of errands to do
in Lititz. I remembered that the Alzheimer's
exhibit was at the Moravian Manor and so
I grabbed my camera and that was a no-no.
No photographs are allowed to be taken of
the quilts but you can buy the CD or the
book with all of the quilts and their stories
in them. The monies collected goes to the
fund for Alzheimer's research.

If the exhibit is not traveling to your area
you may purchase the book and CD
Here

When you go in you receive a tag (like the
one above) and when you leave - they ask
you to write something about your experience.

I don't know anyone personally who has
Alzheimer's. Although I do know a friend and a
former neighbor who has had a relative effected
by this terrible disease. When the neighbor used
to go and see her mother she said "My mom
keeps asking me who I am." Sad

This exhibit was very enlightening and educational
for me. Each Artist has a statement next to their
quilt and tells the story of their loved one who
had/has Alzheimer's. To read the stories of these
women and how Alzheimer's had/has affected their lives
is truly heart breaking. Their quilt expresses their
heartbreaking story.
The construction of the quilts are fabulous as each quilt
tells a story visually, each one has their own way
of interpreting their feelings of this disease .
The visual impact is very emotional!

The one that really "did it"
for me was the one that said (paraphrasing)
"What if I forget that I loved you" well, I just
broke down and cried when I read that and
couldn't stop until I left.

Thank you Ami Simms for all of the work
you are doing and educating the public
(me too) about Alzheimer's and the affect
that it has on people's lives. I now have a
better understanding of this disease.

Quilt Festival - Fall 2009

See the image on my side bar----------------->
to join in and to visit all of the
participants. Oh man this is so
much fun ... I just love it!
Thank you Amy!

My favorite quilt always seems to be
the one that I'm working on at the
moment.

I picked up a copy of "Baby Quilts" by
Fons & Porter mainly because of the
quilt on the cover which was teddy
bears. The cutest little things.
My intention was to make that quilt.

But when I reached pg. 64 I just
feel in love with "Training Wheels".
Something about the pattern just
intrigued me. It reminded me of
an old pattern "wagon wheels".

As I'm studying the pattern; I suddenly
got the urge to hand piece it. It was just
like it "wanted" to be put together by hand.
(by that I mean hand sewn)
I'm thinking that it's a lot of work and
cutting out (mostly with scissors and
not the rotary cutter) I only did that
once before....and I thought "why not!"

My computer was in the process of being
repaired - by the time they order the parts..
etc. (well it took a month!) The time I
would spend on the computer; I could
sew this quilt together. And I did!

In the magazine there are templates that
I traced on plastic - I also marked for the seam
allowance. The center circle is appliqued on -
I used Karen Kay Buckley's circles.

I was undecided on what fabric I would
use until I went to Joann's store and
found some by Heidi Grace. I just
fell in love with the "little birds"!
What I bought matched some of the
fabrics that I had in my stash.

As I don't do scrap booking; I didn't know
who Heidi Grace was until I looked her
up. You can see some of her quilt fabric
here
Here's is my other quilt from the
first Online Quilt Festival

Vicksburg Block #2

Dawn over at Linen Closet Quilts is
having a Free BOM.
Pat Sloan has set up a Forum and
also a Flickr group for our photos.
~Thanks Pat!

If you are interested in joining -
Click on the image on the right
side of the page to find out more.

Here's my Block #2

I used the freezer paper (under) method instead
of my usual back-basting method for this block.
It's been awhile since I appliqued with freezer
paper - I had to brush up!

For the rosebud - I chose a three dimensional look.
You cut a circle - fold the circle in half - fold the left
side to the middle - then the right side to the middle
overlapping a wee bit. Take a needle & thread and
about 1/8" from the bottom make a running stitch
and gather just a little. And there you have your
rosebud.

Hope you all will come on over and join us
for the fun!

Quilting Gallery Bloggers

Do you belong to
Quilting Gallery Bloggers? (see my side bar) It's a
place where you can find other "bloggers" in your
Country and/or State. It's free to join and also fun!
They are also listed on Facebook.

Quilting Gallery is having a contest called
"Nature's Best Quilt Contest" and entries
end today. So if you want to join and/or enter
your quilts etc. do it today.

You can view the contestants HERE

Voting starts tomorrow Sept. 26th thru Oct. 4th.

I kept procrastinating about entering and
decided the last minute to enter after reading
Quilting Gallery's notice on Facebook.

Here's my entry under Small Quilts

It's called Lancaster Rosebuds and designed by
Carol Blevins. Carol is one of our local teachers,
designer and started the York Quilters Guild
I'm sorry to say that she does not have a web site
(I wish she did!) so that you could see all of her
wonderful quilts.

In this Stained Glass workshop we used fusible
pre-made bias tape and applied it using a twin needle.
I love walking around during a workshop
it's always fun to see everyone's
interpretation of a pattern using
different color combinations.

I used a lot of free motion quilting in this
project using decorative threads. It gives
it a very nice textured appearance.

For a very simple design; I think it's
very elegant.

Over at Linen Closet Quilts
Dawn is having a free BOM. Here's the first one:



I used the back basting method for the
needle turn applique which is the
technique I like the best.
For some reason my camera didn't pick
up the colors - beige background and
a med. blue print.
I can't wait to see what Dawn has for
the second block.
We're only to use fabric from our stash.
That's good news for me. I might do this
one over again. We'll see...

Back-Basting Tutorial by Sentimental Stitches.


Today there was a meeting of our
local Quilt History Study Group.
What great heirlooms were brought
in! But my favorite was one that
Trish from
Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum brought
in: (permission granted)

***I have made a correction here to what I
previously wrote. ****
This quilt is from Lancaster County c. 1860,
from a member of the Keller/Brubaker family,
the quilter is unknown.
There is a similar quilt that was made by
a neighbor, Fanny S. Bucher, 1860 (we did not
see this quilt yesterday)



Here are a few more close ups:

I'm amazed at that tiny flying geese.

Square in a square "on point" no less!

I kept the images very large so that when
you click on them you can see the detail.

The collection will be on display next
March 2010. If you're going to be
in the Lancaster area for the AQS new
Quilt Show in downtown Lancaster-
check out the Lancaster Quilt Museum.

Computer Fixed! (fingers crossed)

I have not used my computer in almost
a month! Checked my e-mail by using
the library's computer. The problem
with my computer was that it would
freeze after it was on for 10 minutes.
I have a Gateway that is only a little
over one year old. But thank goodness
I bought an extended contract! Oh,
my monitor also went out. I had to
ship that back and now am using my
old monitor which I'm glad I saved.

Anyways, my computer is practically
rebuilt. First they replaced the hard drive
(I lost a lot of my stuff that I didn't (foolishly)
put on a CD. ) When that didn't work -
they put in a new Mother Board and fan.
Now it works great! It took my all day
yesterday to load all of the drivers and
updates from Microsoft - all 88 of them!

Without the computer; I did manage
to get a lot done.

I took a workshop from my Guild ~
The Red Rose Quilters Guild last
month from Libby Kube Hage
We did Libby's quilt "My Blue Heaven",
her own design, using
Tri-Rec rulers by Darlene Zimmerman & Joy Hoffman

I decided to make mine red, white and blue.
It still needs sashing and a border but I'm
very happy that I got this far.

The rulers are very easy to use and I always
wanted to learn how to make this star.
I think it's the same as Fifty-Four or Fight
block.

I also managed to get 2 baby quilts completed,
which I'll post during the week.

Right now I have to catch up on reading
blogs and get caught up on what everyone's
is doing.

Computer problems

More Dylon Experiments

Saturday was a beautiful day to dye
fabrics - up until 5:30 about when
it started to get cloudy and then rain,
I mean like downpour!

Frustrated, I had to grab all of my
fabric and start to clean up my mess.

I lost my notes! I always keep notes
when I'm dyeing fabric so that I know
what I did to a certain piece in case
I want to do it again - or not.

Since it was a nice day; I decided to
try four colors - Amazon Green, Ocean
Blue, Tulip Red and Sunflower Yellow.

I squished the fabric into containers
with a small amount of dye.

I use the dowel to turn the fabric - I have to
remember buy more.

The fabrics that I used were Kona white, unbleached
muslin and broadcloth - the only broadcloth that
was left in the shop was 65% polyester 35% cotton.
I was unsure how this would take the dye -
I guessed probably lighter. All were washed in
very hot water.

The reason that I squished the fabric with
very little dye is that I wanted to get that
mottled look.

click on the photo for a larger view

First of all I noticed when uploading the photos
that the colors are not true. I'll have to adjust
the settings on my camera.
This is the look that I was going for - I thought
it looked like a jungle - so I transferred the
top of a tiger's head. cute
I also didn't iron the fabric because I'm doing
a separate experiment with this look. I used
the unbleached muslin here.

Be sure to check out Trish's Dylon Post

Still using Amazon green here - again the colors
do not look true to me. The bottom piece is
much greener. The top piece is unbleached
muslin and the bottom is Kona white.

I would like to answer here something that
Serena had a question about the
feel of the fabric after it's dyed. The dye
does not change the feel at all but the paint
(Setacolors) do. The paint sits on top of
the fabric where as the dye penetrates.
I'm not sure of the exact way to say it - yet.

Ocean Blue - I used Kona white for the two.
The bottom one - I twisted the fabric and
let it sit in the dye. This is one of my favorites.

This is Tulip Red - both the top and bottom
I used Kona white and the middle is the
broadcloth, polyester and cotton blend.
You can see that it's much lighter than
the other two.

With this one - I laid the fabric down in
a long pan - I put on it "tulip red" and
in the corner I drizzled "ocean blue" -
I just wanted to see what would happen;
I thought maybe the colors would blend
and make purple. Maybe I waited too
long to apply the blue - I wish I could
find my notes!

I'm almost sure I used the unbleached muslin
for these two. They were squished in the container
also to get that mottled look. This is Sunflower Yellow.


In a previous post that I wrote - I think it was
when I did the zig-zag quilt. I had mentioned
that I wanted to try using Fusible Batting.

So I went out and bought some and thought
first; I'll use it on my practice pieces where
I make quilt sandwiches for my free motion
exercises.

I used one of the Burnt Orange pieces that
I previously dyed with Dylon and ironed
on the Fusible Batting. I was baffled to see
that some of the glue from the batting was
coming through the fabric!

See those vertical lines? That's the glue!
I have used this batting previously and
have had no problem with it. So my question
would be - Does it only do this on dyed fabric?
It works fine on my painted fabric.



Here's a bag that I did:

Isn't that pretty? This bag is a design from Jackie's Desighns (Posh) bags
Jackie has a Yahoo group and the bag above was done
in one of her Sew Alongs.
The pink fabric is my dyed fabric using SetaColors.

So with all of this fabric that I dyed and painted
it will be used for my bags, applique and art quilts.
I'm starting to accumulate quite a stash already.