Quilt Dundee

The last full weekend in July is reserved for Quilt Nebraska. It's a sort of religious holiday for Nebraska quilters, a time to take classes, renew old friendships, eat chocolate, make new friends, shop, talk and laugh. I went to my first Quilt Nebraska in 1998 (read a little about that trip here). This year, I had to cancel at the last minute. I decided to have my own private quilting time at home. To accomplish this, my family was to act as if I weren't there for two days. I would quilt, ignoring the kitchen, the telephone, laundry, chauffeur duties.....

Friend and fellow quilter Barb Rennard told her husband what I was doing. When he realized it was QNE weekend and that Barb wasn't going, Stephen said she should have "Quilt Dundee". No sooner said than done! Naomi and Deena sprung into action. Plans were formulated. Calls were made. Saturday morning, seven quilters showed up at Barb's house in Dundee for the First Quilt Dundee.

Julie, Claudia, Alice, Barb D, Barb R, Judy S, Judy M and Deb posed for a picture in front of a wonderful Quilt Dundee sign.

We had a blast! Door Prizes! Booby Prizes! Chocolate! A banquet featuring Zio's pizza and Graeter's Ice Cream! No workshops here - we all had projects: cutting fabric to start a new project, assembling blocks into a top, schlep bags, kumihimo and applique. My project was Caitlin's t-shirt quilt. It will be a two-sided quilt, so I can include as many shirts as possible. After one day of sewing at home and a day and a half at Quilt Dundee, Side One is complete!


I got a good start on Side Two, but I need another Quilt Dundee!

This Is Going To Be A Long Season

Opening Day, 2010. St. Louis 11, Cincinnati 6. This is going to be a long season.

I did everything right. I wore my Reds jersey. My Cincy flag flew, as it does every day that the Reds play on tv (not very often), and every day they are in first place (not very often). This is going to be a long season.

Ok, so it is Cincinnati tradition for Adam Harang to start on Opening Day. Please! In this case, tradition sucks! The guy went 6-14 last year and struggled in spring training. (In his defense, he didn't have any run support in 2009). Is he really the best the Reds have to throw out there? Was there anyone on the Reds roster who was better in spring training? Maybe Bronson Arroyo deserved the start. At least he had a winning record in 2009 (15-13). Call up Chapman! This is going to be a long season.

Bullpen meltdown: Cards score 7 runs off Cincinnati relievers. Ugly. I love the name Yadier Molina. I wish he played for the Reds so I could walk around saying "Yeah!! Yadier went 2 for 4! Yadier hit a home run yesterday!" Instead, I have to say "Yadier hit a Grand Slam in the NINTH inning". :( This is going to be a long season.

ESPN broadcasters Brent Musburger and Rick Sutcliffe called the Reds the NL Central Dark Horse. From Merriam-Webster: dark horse: an entrant in a contest that is judged unlikely to succeed. This is going to be a long season.

Why does ANYONE pitch to Albert Pujols? Two home runs on Opening Day. First inning, two down, you pitch to the guy. 7th inning, one on. Dusty Baker, I love you, but please! Why didn't you give Lincoln the four finger salute - IBB! This is going to be a long season.

Reds vs Cards on Wednesday. Johnny Cueto. 2009: 11-11, ERA 4.41. At least the Reds don't play the Cardinals every day, or This. Would. Be. A. Long. Season.

Bright spot: The Reds did have some offense, hitting two home runs, a third stolen when Colby Rasmus reached over the center field fence to catch what would have been Scott Rolen's 2nd home run of the game. I am Forever Optimistic. But it is going to be a long season.

Baptist Fan Quilting

I've quilted 3 quilts for Jackee B using Baptist Fan Groovy Boards. This classic quiling pattern looks great on almost any quilt! The first quilt is simply pieced log-cabin style using a variety of floral fabrics.



The 2nd quilt is for Quilts of Valor. The center block is a wonderful focal point. It isn't as complicated to piece as it look!. Jackee did a great design job as she surrounded it with red and blue and neutral string blocks.





The 2nd string quilt is made of scrappy blocks, each one a riot of color. I love the black and white borders! I also like how Jackee varied the piecing, some diagonal, some parallel. This small piecing variation makes the quilt appear more complex that it is! The fan quilting curves soften the straight piecing lines.



The quilting lines show up best on the black and white back.

One-Handedness Sucks.....

Trigger Finger Release surgery has made my right hand unusable for a while. Being one-handed makes so many daily tasks difficult or impossible. Leave the top off my painkillers please! Once I am past the pain, I am going to be bored silly or very frustrated! Try washing ONE hand!

The reality of being one-handed for at least a week is much harder than when it was just something that would happen "after surgery". Typing one-handed isn't hard, just slow. Using a right-handed mouse with my left hand takes conscious and deliberate thought. Texting is easy. Evidently, I use both hands all the time!

I can't sew. I can't load a quilt on my HandiQuilter. I have squares for 3 Nickel Quilts cut, hoping I can piece in a few days. I can watch tv, although I already know that daytime tv was invented to make sick people go back to work. I have already re-watched Tuesday's LOST episode (Ab Aeterno) to see what I missed when I dozed off.

I can't cut vegies or make a sandwich. Haven't even thought about cooking. I'll take store-bought cookies to the Orchestra pot-luck. I may not eat there, as balancing a plate is not do-able! I don't think one-handedness is a very good diet plan. Too easy to eat Junk!

I can drive! Not the Mini, with a stick. My truck, with power steering, hands-free phone & on-the-wheel controls. I can't carry or lift, so shopping is out. I can take my daily walk with Casey. Please rain, hold off until after 3 pm!! Have to wear Crocs - no shoe tying done here!

I can't write. At least not legibly! I can print oversized, poorly shaped letters, not as well as most kindergartners. I have to stick with easy sudokus & crossword puzzles with larger squares. My daughter put my eyeliner on for me this morning!

May I have some cheese with this whine?

HandiQuilter 16 For Sale!

Author's Note added 3/27/10: Machine is SOLD!

Just one year ago, I bought an HQ 16. I've upgraded to a bigger machine, so want to sell my first baby. It is an HQ 16, on a Studio Frame (the best!). It is one year old, has the new handles with tilt screen. Comes with all the usual stuff - external bobbin winder, Front and Rear Handles, Stitch Regulator, laser light, Velcro leaders.

It is in EXCELLENT condition, and comes with a warranty! Yes, my warranty is transferable! Asking price $6000. Email me (alice@dellajane.com) or leave contact info in a comment. Financing may be available. Price does not include shipping from Omaha, Nebraska.

Turkeys Today!

I know, it is St Patrick's Day, not Thanksgiving. And my birds aren't green. But there they were, within spitting distance of the street, so I pulled into Boy's Town and snapped off some quick shots. The turkeys are fairly skittish, so I couldn't get very close. They are at the far range of my camera lens! The toms all spread their tails, drawing attention to themselves and letting the hens move away from me. I wonder if that is what they were doing, or if I am just reading chivalry into turkey behavior?

Becky's Quilts

I quilted two cute baby quilts - for Becky's grandsons. The first was an I Spy quilt, so I quilted the alphabet and numbers, one in each block. I thought it was neat that the C was on the Curious George block.


The second quilt was a Maple Island pattern by Debbie Bowles called Carnival. Becky used beautiful fabrics, including some she dyed. I quilted a simple stars and loops all-over pattern. Several times in the quilting, I wrote CAMDEN, the little boy this quilt is made for.




You can see more pictures of the quilts and the quilting on flickr.