A New Technique

On my activity list for this holiday week was to try a new quilting technique. I came across the fusible collage idea at the Exuberant Color blog. I didn't follow her idea exactly, but used the basic premise. I grabbed a random piece of batting from a previously trimmed quilt (no it is not exactly a straight rectangle - it tapers a bit) and my bag of scraps. Since I did not have fusible batting, I just added Heat and Bond Lite to the batting, laid out the scraps (this took the longest amount of time as I am fussy about color and placement). And then fused it down. After it was fused I got some backing (again from the scrap pile) and then machine quilted it. The quilting also helps hold down some of the loose edges that are not fused down. The whole thing is roughly 8 inches wide by 29 inches long. I found the four black and white squares in the scrap bag and thought they made nice focus points down the center of the piece. I quilted these down using one of the decorative stitches on the sewing machine.  

Also on the list of activities is to try a new recipe. After a huge meal on the 4th, and the subsequent leftovers the thought of eating again delayed this idea. But I have been digging through cookbooks and Pinterest and have a couple Chicken Curry with Coconut milk recipes (1 and 2) that I will merge and give a try. I was deliberately looking for recipes that did not involve having to use the oven - can't imaging using the oven while the air conditioner is running!

A busy holiday week

It is amazing how much you can get into a week when you are not at work! I took this entire week off and while I am getting plenty of rest and relaxation in I am also moving forward on a lot of projects. I finished yet another quilt - this is the Bloomin Steps pattern that I made to use up some of my scraps. All it needed was the binding. 

I am also trying to get outdoors as much as possible this week. I finally got up to the New Land Trust on Monday. I took Ivan up with me. The bugs were pretty bad so we were there for less than an hour but the trails look pretty good. Unlike other parks most of the trails are not trampled down so they still have to mow them. The signage is good but I would definitely print and take a copy of the trail map. I have also included a picture of their state of the woods facilities.

This week is also my birthday and we had a nice cookout with friends, with the guys doing most of the work. We had chocolate cake and Lemon Monkey Bread. Only four more days of freedom - best get off the computer and get out there and do something active. 

Another Quilting Finish

Yes, I am getting a number of quilts finished lately, but the reason for that is that I sent out 3 to get quilted in April and got them back in June. So here I am with just the binding to do to officially count them as done. This is the second of the three. I already have the binding cut and prepped for the last quilt and will likely post a picture of that one by the end of the week.

This one is about crib sized. Made from purple and lilac fabrics I inherited from Cheryl Patch. This quilt will be donated to the quilt guild for its silent auction in next year's quilt show.

NY Beauty Quilt Done!

Here it is all done! I just finished putting the binding on today. I had to look back, but the beginning of this quilt dates back four years. Kat came down from Montreal and taught us to paper piece the NY Beauty blocks. I made blocks for about three years off and on again but never in any targeted way. Last year I laid out the blocks I had and pieced the top together. I dropped it off in Glens Falls to have it custom quilted at Distinctive Quilting. I used a black and white wavy striped fabric for the binding.
I think this will definitely be going into the next guild quilt show. Just need to figure out where to hang it in the meantime.

Road Trip!

 The quilt I dropped off this spring to be custom quilted was done and needed to be picked up down in Glens Falls, NY. I had planned on going down today as they have Saturday hours. It turned out that Damon also had the day off - this is super rare. We almost never have days off together unless one of us is sick or on vacation. So Damon agreed to come with me to Glens Falls - likely because I told him we could have lunch in town at the Davidson Brothers Brewery. So we went and got the quilt - it looks fabulous, I will post a picture once I get the binding on.

We went downtown and had a great lunch sitting outside. The quilter had mentioned that the LARAC art/craft fair was going on. We were not aware of the event (if I had been we would have brought more money!) We did each pick up a few things. Pictured first is a small water garden from Vermont Nature Creations, now hanging in one of the kitchen windows. They even give you the plants! We also picked up (2nd picture) a metal wine rack from Moose's Metal Marvels. The picture doesn't do it justice. The picture was taken while it was sitting on the floor, when it is meant to be hanging on the wall - we just need time to get to doing that.

Damon also picked up a couple special varieties of a local peanut/almond butter and I bought some postcards from an artist and a Christmas gift for someone. I was a really warm beautiful day out. It was great to walk around and look at all the arts and crafts after lunch and they even had a band playing in the central gazebo during the event. Before we left Damon picked up some growlers of beer to take home.  

A really great road trip!

Another day in NYC

Somehow I became a group leader for one of the dine-a-rounds at the conference (I didn't volunteer and they didn't ask me - they just said here, you are in charge). Anyway I was leading my group up 8th Ave. into the Fashion District, when I had my celebrity spotting for this trip. Christian Siriano of Project Runway fame went right by us, and I was on the only one to notice (yes, others knew who he was).

  

NYC

 In NYC for the SUNY Librarian Association conference. Attended the SUNYLA council meeting this morning. As the pre-conference I signed up for was cancelled I had the afternoon free. So of course I had to stop by the City Quilter (it is only two blocks from where I am staying at FIT). I was surprised and delighted to find Maria was there! Maria was in our quilt guild in Plattsburgh, but moved to the city a couple of years ago and is in a mortuary school program. She has a internship in the fall, but for the time being she is working at the shop and teaching a few classes there.

I also ran up to 38th street to rummage through all the ribbon, button and notion shops. One of the best is M & J Trimming on 6th Ave and 38th st. I was able to replace the hand dyed silk ribbons I had bought in Paducah that got lost in the post.

Off to the evening social for the conference  in a few minutes and then heading up to see a production of Harvey at Studio 54 tonight.