Reproduction Directional Fabrics

Spoils from the F.A.R.T. Baby!!!!!
Used to be, back in the day....I would purchase fabrics sort of willy nilly.
I've got a LOT of fat quarters (duh!) 1/2 Y and 1Y pieces.Whatever caught my eye at the time. When going thru all my pieces, blocks and parts of vintage stuff I've collected throughout the years,It's come to reveal that I need YARDAGE TO finally put these things together with alternate blocks ,sashings ,borders backings ....that's why I needed me some YARDAGE!(mmmmmmmm yardage!........)
Lately I've been completely sucked into directional fabrics(reproduction of course!)....they do all the work don't cha know...!
This is what I hauled home from the super quick and dirty road trip.
For your viewing pleasure!!!
OH! BTW...a little birdie told me someone liked her quilt that I was working on that she saw on my blog....(HASN'T BEEN UP FOR SHOW AND TELL YET)
hmmmmm ?????COULD IT BE???????another lurker?????
So I gotta say HI BRENDA S.!!!!!!!!!! you've been chosen as "LURKER OF THE MONTH!!!!!!!
Come on out and say something!!!!!!!!!!!!

Moving Right Along.......

Well ALMOST!!!
I've got 2 more rows to go.
Here are examples of real machine (longarm quilting top and bottom)
The middle pic is odd/interesting. Looks like someone was wanting to know what some hand quilted stitches would look like.
"Faux Quilting" I guess, because there are no other layers joined by these stitches.
I thought it would be interesting to document because you know .....
I'm going to have to RIP THEM OUT!
My quilting progress isn't as far as it should be because yesterday was "one of those days".
I'm blaming it on the impending full moon.
And the fact that I had a kind of pointy heavy frozen thing(rigid ice pack family size!) fall out of the freezer and hit me on the back of the head . It was hurty and must have affected my judgement because I threw up my hands ( on the quilting and STOOPID INTER-NOT!!) and ended up watching some ridiculous thing on "Fashion Week" and a Bridal thing.
I know.
Someone check to see if some alien being has taken over my person.
AND THEN!!!
We went back and forth between some 80's rock band movie with Marky Mark(when he WAS) AND jENNIFER aNISTON (again, I know!!!??????) and the geek gaming chanel featuring the Halo release freak show shenannigans.
I think I'm back to "normal" today. (define normal!) A friend of mine called up needing some moral support in exchange for lunch.
It did us both some good to get the hell out of the house, and the beers didn't hurt either.
I returned just in time for the internet guy to show up and did not hesitate to walk up to his vehicle,smack it on the window well and inform him that if he didn't fix my internet connection I was taking HIM HOSTAGE.
( all very charming and delightfully of course!!)
So far so good cause I'm bloggin again kids.. Later!!!!!

Early Fall F.A.R.T of 2007 (the door mouse)

OK kids!!!
Here it is !!! More bolts of fabric than you have probably ever seen under one barn roof!!
As you can see also....some of the bolts on the floor actually blocked the view of the bolts on the lowest shelf...so you had to move piles around to see everything.
I managed to find several "directional prints" in my favorite genre' "reproduction type fabrics. There were however a lot of things I wasn't very interested in. That's just me though . I'm pretty specific about what I'm gonna purchase.
I do recommend going though at least once just for the "over the top buttnormity" of it all.
On the way we stopped in Maumee at another quilt shop'The Quilt Foundry"located strangely enough in an old foundry!! They just happened to be open late that night...... lucky us!!The lady who was working there was giving us some history on the place and in addition to being a foundry waaay back in the day , it was also a manufacturer of the yellow dye that used to come with Oleo margarine.
I guess the margarine came in a sort of grey color and the yellow dye packet was mixed in by the consumer. For those of you who are too young to remember Oleo...ask your grandparents ...sounds nummy!!!!!
It was also interesting to learn that the current owner of the building had parents that worked in the building and lived nearby. He used to stop in on his way home from school.
As we were leaving, I was attacked by a quilted fish on a stick on the way out of the quilt shop...more on that later....I'm waiting for my insurance photos to be returned.
(I'm fine really!!! thanks for your concern....)
So....more stories and pics of the infamous trip later......
(I'll show you my stuff!!!) LATER!!!!

Up Next.....LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

This quilt top belongs to a very good friend of mine. I believe she picked it up at a flea market..
It may be the next up on the ol longarm.
I know I will have a hard time giving this one back also

Early Fall F. A. R. T. of 2007

Meanwhile......
Down on the Farm................
Dad and Dougie had a little "coop improvement" session here today.
We're upgrading from "Silver Hillybilly Tarp" to
some nice metal roofing with a solid wood support.
This will no doubt support the "frozen preciptiation" (you cant make me say it!!)that we tend to get in these here parts during the winter months.
We will also attach a wind barrier to all 3 sides of the enclosure( recycling that Silver Hillybilly Tarp!) along with some clear plastic sheeting to let some sunlight in.
All 5 days of it.
The chickens now have a 5 watt night light bulb in the enclosed part of the coop..
Doug is going to insulate that with some foam sheeting and we also have a heat lamp for the super cold days and nights.....
Just perfect for playing poker during those long winter months...



(This is a new topic but refers to the Blog title....and involves the other half of my parent two-some......EQUAL TIME!!!!!!)))
so............... my Mom called me up the other day.
Her granny grundies were obviously in a bunch.
"I'm just so CRABBY and I don't know why.....I just want to run away!!!!!"she said.
" OK!! Let's go on a road trip .I feel a F.A.R.T. coming on!!( FABRIC AQUISITION ROAD TRIP)!!I'll be your hostage!!!" I said. "Lets go to THE DOOR MOUSE or .....we could just go to Shipshe...."
(Shipshe isn't a road trip technically for Mom so to speak...She can go there ANYTIME she wants when she's at The Lake)
I was however THRILLED at the prospect of just getting out of town . Regardless!!
"I think we could do THE DOOR MOUSE!!!!"I can't remember how far away it is.....though I think it was right off the toll road. We can spend the night."
"Let me check my calendar..Yup !!!!I'm free from now till .................????"
(HELLO!!!!! STILL NOT WORKING....ME NO JOBBIE !!)
"OK I'll get on the web and check it out. I'll call you back.!!""Ok! i'LL CHECK IT OUT TOO!"
And this kids, is how the whole thing started.
THE DOOR MOUSE (www.thedoormouse.com)is a huge quilt shop in a BARN in Bettsville, OH.
If memory serves they had an aisle FOR EVERY COLOR. 3 HIGH PLUS 2 layers of bolts on the floor.!!!
You need to have some sort of a plan or theme or project in mind before you make the pilgrimage.
Otherwise its completely possible to end up in in a corner sobbing and chewing on your hair....due to the BUTTNORMITY of the experience.
We took pictures last time we were there but that was the "pre-digital era" so who knows where the hard proof is.
Stay tuned for more coverage on this "2007: The F.A.R.T. Of Early Fall!"

String Thingy

Well its DONE !!!!
For my part anyway....Mom gets to pull all these thread ends through..
hahahahahahahahhahahahahaha better her than me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It looks worse than it is although it is pretty bad! When cross hatching these very small 9 patches you get a lot of starts and stops...Some quilters do knots but I'm of the other school of thought. I think it looks neater and you have the added security of knowing the thread is samdwiched between the 3 layers.. Quilt judges prefer no knots also.. for what thats worth..
Normally I would pull these through for a customer quilt...but Mom knows the drill...sometimes we barter..and thats the dealie-O!!

JUST AN UPDATE.....

(unrelated quilt pic!)
A couple of things today:
I am plodding and I do mean PLODDING along at getting the afore quilt mentioned.
IT IS TAKING FOREVAH!!!!!!
I thought I would be brilliant(!) on Monday and went down to my local library. I finally got a library card(i've only been here 7 years ok??) and proceeded to check out some audio books and perused the shelves looking for written works on creativity.
I've heard other quilters and artists enjoy the audio because it gives their brain something to do while their hands are busy. ( I really NEED something to keep me focused once the design decisions are made)This would also keep me from checking the internet cause I'm trying to feed my brain cell. ( I only got 1 but its HUNGRY!!!)
I plowed through all 3 of the audio books ( on cassette TAPES yall)the selection wasn't huge at the library....but I did get something out of each one.
Just recently I joined Audible..they had a special intro deal for 3 months and I was perusing my first free choice. Then I remembered I had a set of cassettes by Dr Phil....somewhere.....I found them and busteed them out.I had never listened to them! Wow! 5 90 minute tapes..I was excited to be able to keep improving my brain cell whilst I plodded along.
Maybe I was at my improvement capacity for 1 brain cell,( having just finished a self -development marathon!!)but by the time I got to # 3 tape I couldn't handle it anymore. What was wierd was Dr. Phil KNEW HE WAS BEING OVERBEARING because he mentioned,sounding harsh; not being negative, just a REALIST.
Like he knew at this point people were going to shut him off. Which is exactly what I did. I do like Dr.Phil....especially his abrupt, no nonsense let's get to the point RIGHT NOW approach.....but not for extended periods of time.
I've managed to stop the swelling and bleeding from the audible brow beating! Thanks doc!

and for something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT..............
MY blog is rapidly approaching the devils number of hits. What puzzles me is the HUGE AMOUT OF LURKERS and so very few posters. I for one am a poster especially when there are few comments.I've almost ALWAYS got SOMETHING TO SAY.( I know blahblahblah) I's just nice to know someone OUT THERE is willing to COMMUNICATE.
SO I'm urging all y'all to OPEN UP YER CAKE HOLES AND SAY SOMETHING !!
lEAVE ME A COMMENT!! I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!!
Tell me your favorite audio book.....or chip dip!!!
Ask me the difference between a QUILT and a BLANKET!!
It matters not!! What is important is that we are creating DIALOG...
Help me out a little here. I know that you can!

Mumsie's 9 Patch

You know....one can never do enough for ones Mother.
( ok I've owed her this one for a while now)Hi Mom!!Gettin er done!!!!!
This is what I meant earlier by "devil may care" color combos.
LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!
AND it's the next bestest thing to quilting one of my own!!!!
I am cross hatching with black Aurifil Mako thread (cotton!!)on the pieced center in the blocks and sashing. Stippled in the black outer border and still undetermined on the inner green border.
I'm waiting for it to speak to me.
Sometimes I hear quilt voices in my head.

Another Quilt Finished

Done.Yeay!
This quilt is owned by the same lady who did the "Brown Bricks"(see previous post). She was stash busting and just wanted them "Utility quilted" which was completely understandable for the 2 brown bricks . I was happy to oblige. When I pulled this one out of the bag I knew it was going to need a little extra somthin somthin ( more than utility quilting for sure!)as far as quilting goes. I spoke with her about this and she told me to go ahead and do whatever I wanted.
Which, If you are a Long Arm Quilter, can be both a blessing and a curse.
Most of the time clients say this and again I am happy to add the "frosting" (in the form of quilting) and hopefully the quilting adds that finishing touch and the owner is happy with the result.
I am now to the bottom of my pile of customer quilts. Mostly because I have had so much time to get caught up and havent been to quilt guild to take anything for show and tell to remind them that yes indeed I AM STILL QUILTING!!!!!!
(usually I only quilt part time due to the having to have a "real job ")
Last night I had 4 client quilts I delivered to members but no one showed preferring to show when they are bound and truly finished.
I did bring the BIG BLOCK MONSTER to show ...but it doesn't exactly exemplify my custom quilting skills.
So today I will start on my Mom's quilt for her "other Guild"show coming up in October.
This will be a fun one because I love these types of fabrics and"devil may care" color combos!!!!!!!

Prairie Pride Harvest Market 2007

This past Labor Day weekend I participated in a local Harvest Festival.The owner/promoter of the festival has a very lush farm setting with flowering grounds and a great rustic barn with a large porch.She had the local conservation club selling food and a husband/wife team of strolling folk musicians. I was lucky enough to get a porch space last year due to a vendor cancellation. I snagged a different spot on the porch this year.(See pics from both years) All in all it is a quaint and charming experience.
This year I added Vintage Aprons to my list of wares.I also sold organic produce,(tomatos,peppers garlic) natural salsa,designer fabric remnants, hand-dyed muslin, hosta,lemon balm, catnip and hollyhock starts and seeds as well as fresh cut flowers.
For some reason its taken me 2 days get back to feeling like my usual self. I guess every ounce of energy I had was spent preparing for the festival...
Oh! and cleaning and organizing my studio for the Local Newspaper to come and interview me about my LongArm Quilting business...The photographer has already been here...the interviewer cancelled on my last week and is going to show up today..
(We will see!!!!!!!)