Disappearing Four Patch

I was watching a tutorial on the Disappearing Four Patch by Missouri Star Quilt Company this weekend.  http://quiltingtutorials.com/all/disappearing-4-patch-quilt-block-tutorial/  I just had to give it a try.  She used 5" squares, but I decided to use 10" squares. 

Sew four 10" squares into a four patch.

 



Cut 2" on both sides of the horizontal and vertical seams.



 

This is what it looked like after being cut.

Switch the top two squares.  Switch the bottom two squares. Turn the center four patch one turn to the left.

 

 



Sew back together.  Using 10" squares results in an 18 1/2"

 unfinished block.

Premmie Quilts for Charity

I am a little behind on my charity work, so I whipped up these three premmie quilts.  The quilts have to be 25" square and have Christmas fabric on one side and flannel on the other.

 I made one blue and two red.  The bottom shows the flannel side.

Allan Fradsham's Speech on Quilters

Allan Fradsham, a criminal court judge in Calgary, Alberta gave a speech at a quilting conference in Canada about his wife, Gloria, becoming a quilter.  It is long, so get a cup of coffee/tea and read his humorous take on the quilting community.


http://kaythesewinglawyer.blogspot.ca/2015/06/a-speech-on-quilting.html

A Trip to Old Town Spring

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in South Texas.  After being stuck in the house for about three weeks with allergies/bronchitis, I was ready to escape.  Haven't been that sick in years.  I told my DH that I was going to crack a rib, pop out an eyeball or have an aneurysm.  I might do all three, so just explain it to the EMTs when they got here.

So, my Son and I decided to take a trip to Old Town Spring.  There is a great Quilt Shop there, GRS Creations, with the most precuts I have ever seen in one shop.  Lots of fabric, too.

Then, I had to visit my other favorite shop, Lana Williams Gallery.  It is full of mixed media paintings and creations.  No photos allowed, but the whole shop is full of eye candy.  I own an awesome painting by Lana Williams and several custom made iron wall pieces made by her son-in-law.  It is on Preston Avenue in Old Town Spring, Spring, TX.

Time for lunch, so we headed a couple of blocks over to Wunsche Brothers Café.  This is what we found.  Not good.  Was looking forward to a chicken fried steak with cream gravy and lots of veggies.

 

Was told that Wunsche had a fire last month.  The website says closed permanently. So sad.

Wunsche is described as a haunted eatery since 1902.

 

Fortunately, I know about another fun eating place a few blocks in the other direction.  Hyde's Café, 26608 Keith St., Spring, TX.

 

 

About seventeen of us descended on Hyde's about the same time, so it took a while for our order to come, but it was good.  I had catfish and zucchini sticks and my Son had his traditional cheeseburger and onion rings.  I  think they can look forward to a lot of extra business this summer due to the closing of Wunsche. They may have to hire more cooks.

 

As we were leaving Old Town Spring, I spotted this sign and just had to take a picture.

 

Spirit Quest Home of Spring Ghost Tours

 

 

With our stomachs full, we left Old Town Spring and drove down 2920 about a mile to the Antique Gallery.   There are hundreds of individually stocked booths in an air conditioned building.  Air conditioning is always a plus in Texas.  It was 85 degrees yesterday.  Hot, humid summer days are on the way.  We spent several hours checking out all the goodies.

 

Antique Gallery Entrance

It was a FUN day and I enjoyed some time with my Son.  He is 23 yrs. old with a girlfriend and job, so I consider this a gift, with Mother's Day just a few days away.

Divas' Contribution to the Tin Can Raffle

As I mentioned in the last post, The West Houston Quilters Guild had its 2015 Show in March.  Each Bee is asked to contribute an item to the Tin Can Raffle.  We call it a different name each time, but I always remember the original.  Each item is numbered and matched with a lidded can, with a slit in the top, for tickets.  After buying your tickets, you only place one in the can matching the item that you want to win. 

The Monday Night Divas Bee created a beautiful quilt to donate to the raffle.  We were each given a piece of focus fabric by our Beekeeper, Carol B.  Each month, a Diva demonstrated a technique and used it to create a 12.5 inch block.  Our second block could be any pattern.  These demos fulfilled our educational requirements for the Bee.  In the end, we had 20 finished blocks for our quilt.  Connie S. designed the top on her computer to get us started.   Carol B. put together the top.  Carol S. did the custom quilting in butterflies, pearls and wings.  I added a 3/8" binding, a hanging sleeve and label to the back. 

 

The quilt just back from being quilted by Carol S.

 

We were blown away. The quilting was free, so I never expected such a beautiful custom job.

 

 

This is after I added the binding and a close up of the awesome quilting.

2015 WHQG Show

As you can tell, I am a little behind in my blog posts.  I was so busy getting my four quilts ready for the West Houston Quilters Guild Show in March and time just got away from me.  Besides finishing the quilts, there were labels and covers for the labels, sewing on hanging sleeves, making drawstring pillowcases with clear windows to hold the quilt picture and information and filling out the paperwork for each quilt.  It had been six years since I had entered a show.  It is kind of like getting pregnant again, you forget how bad it feels to have the judges nitpick your hard work to pieces.  However, I love my quilts and I am the only one that has to be pleased.

 

"Diva Keys"

This was a strip exchange by the Monday Night Divas Bee.  Key to My Heart Pattern.  Quilted in sewing & quilting notions.

 

 

"Eclectic Mail"

Pattern that I saw at the Missouri Star Quilt Shop site. Made with the Tim Holtz line called Eclectic Elements.

 

"Sea Turtles"

Take Five Pattern.  Quilted in Sea Turtles.

"Texas Wildflowers Behind Barbed Wire"

Texas Wildflower fabric quilted with Barbed Wire Pattern.

 

Monday Night Divas Gift Exchange

I am a member of the Monday Night Divas Bee.  We draw names and exchange Christmas Gifts at a restaurant a few days after Christmas.   We are finished with our family celebrations and the restaurants are still decorated for Christmas.  It works for us.

I wanted to share this cute sewing kit that I received from Pam.   It is so creative and I love the closure button.

 

This is it closed up.  Look at that pretty button.

This is it unrolled.  It could hold small blocks to work on.

All of these goodies were inside of the tube with drawstrings on each end.

2014 IQF Class

While attending the Houston International Quilt Festival in Oct/Nov, 2014, I took a class called "Painting with a Twist & Shout".   The class was taught by Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal.    Leslie and Jamie are wonderful and just believe that art should be fun.  We painted on four long canvases, while listening to upbeat music.  Then we cut it all up and played all afternoon.


First, we covered the canvas with colorful, original drawings.  We painted on one in groups of five or so and then we switched tables until we had painted on each canvas.

 

Then we added just white paint on each.

 

 

Then we added just black paint on each.

 

 

We took a two hour lunch and when we returned, the canvas was dry and had been cut up into large rectangles.  They were face down on the table, so we could choose two at random.  Now it was time to play.  We were each given a journal to cover, postcards, tags and slides. 

 

This is my journal and postcard. 

 

 

 

Leslie and Jamie were hard to catch standing still, but I got a couple of pictures.

 

Jamie Fingal

Leslie Tucker Jenison