Another block is up

We mounted a 4 x 4 block on the building at the Evart airport yesterday. Apparently there is some history revolving around the Compass Rose pattern and small airports. I need to find out more about that.

Compass Rose on Evart Airport

The First One is UP

My grandson and I put up the first of the Osceola County Quilt Trail blocks on my garage this afternoon.

Painting

Barn blocks are being painted! Here’s one in progress, a 54-40 or Fight block.

New quilts posted

I finished up a couple of quilts this week. This one has been in the ufo pile for a while, and I finally got the nudge I needed to get it finished. It’s done from Ricky Tims’ “Kool Kaleidoscope” method. The title, “Red Feathers”, comes from the fact that the quilting is feathers in red thread.
AND, I’ve been not only painting quilt blocks to put on barns, we need to raise several thousand dollars to get this project rolling, so one of our fundraisers is a quilt raffle. I made this quilt for that purpose. It’s made using my freezer paper piecing technique, and quilted on my longarm.

My newest project

Since my last post (way too long ago) I’ve taken on a new project. I’m heading up a project by our local arts group to put Osceola Co, MI, where I live, on the National Quilt Trail with painted images of quilt blocks on barns and other structures.
At present, we have two 4′ x 4′ ones in process of being painted, and plan to add one 8′ x 8′ one also this year.
As a promotional tool, we made some 2′ x 2′ blocks to be placed in the various communities to get people’s attention and hopefully raise a few dollars for the project. This block, Osceola Star, is an original of mine, and will both serve as our logo and be placed on my garage.

Happy New Year

Since I haven’t posted anything for the new year yet, I’m wishing you a Happy New Year kind of late.
Not much quilty going on here, except that I’ve been preparing samples for some classes I’ll be teaching at the LQS this winter. Mostly simple stuff, some specific techniques, such as bobbin trapunto, celtic applique, machine quilting.

Another snowy day

We haven’t gotten completely dug out from the last snowstorm, and now another one! And it looks like more to follow. A good day for puttering around in the Quiltorium. I made a bib for my granddaughter, Bella, for Christmas. I used to make these by the gazillions when I did arts & crafts shows, back in the dark ages, but have not done any for several years.

We’ve been beset by another 10-12″ of snow, fortunately no power outage here, though Iunderstand there is some not far away.

When I’m chain piecing my quilts, I often run into an instance where I need the piece that is in the machine and don’t have another set to sew, so instead of pulling it out and cutting the thread, I have a bunch of 1.5″ squares all cut and ready, and just pair up a couple and use them for “spacers” to sew something just to get the pieces out that I want.  Eventually those spacers end up as 3″ nine-patch blocks.  After a while, they really do accumulate, and I need to clear out the box to make room for more.  I really don’t know how many quilts I’ve made with them.  I just recently finished this one for a friend who is expecting a baby in March.

Welcome to the Quiltorium

Greetings from snowy Michigan. Winter is starting off with a bang here. Good quilting weather! This is the view from the Quiltorium.

I recently became the owner of a longarm quilting machine, and my quilt shop owner trusted me to quilt this top for her. It was made by her husband’s mother, probably in the 1960’s.