Peg's Retreat

Pat's daughter, Rhonda, who lives in Virginia, was planning a trip to Huntsville to spend a week with her Mom, and they decided to get together at Peggy's for a sewing weekend.  I had never met Rhonda but had heard lots about her, so I decided to join them.  Peg's sister, Jeanette, also joined us for a little while, as well as our friend Anne. Had a great weekend!  Peggy had embroidered T-shirts for all of us.  We were Quilting Queens of Alabama.  She also had embroidered special names for all of us.  I was "Marsha-Marsha-Marsha," Rhonda was "Help Me Rhonda," Pat was "Trish the Dish," Anne was "Annie, Annie, Bo Bannie," Jeanette was "Net" and Peg was "Peggy Sue."    I headed home on Monday but the others stayed longer.  Below are a few pics from the week.

The Quilting Queens of Alabama:

                               Pat        Peggy       Anne       Jeanette    Rhonda         Marsha

Here are pics of the quilt tops we were working on:

Anne and Jeanette worked on one called The Deserted Highway.

Pat and Rhonda worked on one called Boston Commons:

Peggy had previously made two Boston Commons quilt tops as graduation gifts.  She tried to work on the Deserted Highway quilt but, being the hostess, she had way too many interruptions to finish that one.

I worked on one that I saw in the Keepsake Quilting Catalog.  It came as a kit called The Lady Kit.  I did not order the kit.  I just figured out the measurements from the picture and used my scrappy 2-1/2" strips to make mine.  It is still laid out on my design wall.  Not sewn together yet.

Rhonda also brought a beautiful quilt top for Show and Tell that she said she has been working on for years and is finally almost finished.

String X Quilt

This one is for my daughter, Dana.  She saw a picture of one like it and wanted to "place an order for one like this, please."  It is a Bonnie Hunter free pattern.  I made this one king size and it required 144 of the string-pieced rectangles.  I decided to add a scrappy piano keyboard border of 2-1/2" x 6-1/2" rectangles, which required 192 of those.  But all of the fabric in this quilt top came from my stash. Love it when that happens!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

Recent texting conversation with my granddaughter, Sarah Emily................
Her:  If you need a suggestion for another quilt project, I have one!  LOL!
Me:  And what would that be?
Her:  The Alabama chevron lap quilt I sent you a picture of.......I know a nursing student who would love to have it.
Me:  I'm not sure I want to do one like that for just anyone.  Would take a lot of figuring and planning to get all the colors in the right place.
Her:  I meant for me!  LOL!  But I understand.
Me:  It's too late in the day for me to figure out a "hidden meaning" in a text.  But I will give it some thought...you might be worth it.
Her:  You crack me up!

Needless to say, she got her Alabama Crimson Tide chevron lap quilt and was happy with all the fabrics I found in my stash...didn't have to buy a thing!!  She said it was "freakin' AWESOME!!"

Front of quilt                                                                Back of quilt

Quilt Ladder

Here's the quilt ladder that my brother Mike (twin) built for me.  Made from white oak.  It holds 8 quilts and six of these are queen size, made from Bonnie Hunter's free patterns or mystery quilts.  Top row:  Easy Street mystery and Sister's Choice free pattern; Second row: Scrappy Trips and Oklahoma Backroads free patterns; Third row: Cathedral Stars free pattern and Lazy Sunday mystery.  Bottom row:  Ada's Stars and Li'l Twister.  So excited to have this new way to display some of my quilts.

Cathedral Stars

This is the latest of the quilts I have made from Bonnie Hunter's free patterns.  However, I did use a different technique for the star points which was from a pattern called Rising Stars, a Strip Club pattern from Cozy Quilt Designs.  My granddaughter helped pick out the border fabric.

My New Bag

Over a year ago, my sister who lives in Hickory, North Carolina, asked me to start saving the selvage edges of my fabrics for her.  When I was cutting (or tearing) them off, I included about 1/2" of the fabric design. She came to visit for the 4th of July weekend and I just have to share what she brought me made from some of those selvages.  A large tote bag, measuring 20 x 12 x 5 !!  I love it!!  Thank you, Jane!

She also made me a cosmetic bag and a couple of hotpads.  But I was most excited about this.

Lake Retreat

Three of my quilting friends from Huntsville, Alabama came to Andalusia on June 27, 2014 and we spent the weekend at the lake house belonging to a local quilting friend.  I had a mystery quilt planned for the weekend.  So we sewed, ate lots of good food, sewed, ate lots of good food, sewed, etc. etc.  We did take a break for a pontoon boat ride on Saturday afternoon.  Here are a few pictures of the quilting ladies and their mystery quilt tops (except for borders).  We had a great time!