2010 Opportunity Quilt

As promised, its the day after our guild meeting and here is the 2010 Opportunity Quilt.  We're calling it Jewel of the Mountains and its a French braid design (obviously).  The members did a great job piecing this quilt; it was really fun to work on.

 

And here's a close-up showing the swag and bead-board border with Bottom Line Copper.  I did the center of the quilt with the Double Plume pantograph by Keryn Emmerson  using King Tut Berry Patch on top and So Fine! in the bobbin.  The center was way too busy for any custom quilting.

And here's a photo of the back.  The fabric is the most delicious purple!!

If you'd like a ticket, let me know.  They're the usual $1 each or 6 for $5; and the drawing will be in September.

Pictures of Miscellaneous Stuff

My camera cord arrived, so now you get photos:

This was a few weeks ago...Emma needed her feet trimmed; however, I don't think she thought a chainsaw was the correct tool!  Luckily, Dennis was just headed out to chop some downed trees into rounds for firewood.

These are our good friends, Julie and Abi. 

They're in a bit of a pickle.  They live several miles in, down a windy, tree-lined, dirt road.  They ordered this park model rv, got the outside measurements and then measured the road into their place to be sure it fit.  Slight problem:  The rv was actually 13'8"--not the 12' they were told.

Two days later, one tree down and part of the roof removed, the rv is at its new home...perseverence wins out!

The yurt has turned out to be such a wonderful space.  I never bought much into the feng shui stuff, but the building is round and feels so good when we're in it.  This is a picture of the sky through the skylight on top.  It lets in so much light during the day that I often forget to turn on the lights above my longarm--who needs them??  Now that the weather has changed (I know its only February, but its spring in Butterfly Valley!), we have a fire in the morning, let it die in the afternoon, and open windows and the skylight and its perfect in there!

I mentioned my sister's visit in my last post and the $100 worth of gift cards I had for quilt shops.  Note:  The key word is "had."  A friend and I went to Reno last week and I spent every last penny.  This is my loot!  I found a colorway for Mythical Horses that I hadn't seen before.  I have every last one of those fabrics; unfortunately, I'm afraid to cut them because they're so beautiful. (I'd be open to suggestion though, if you've seen a pattern with them that looks great)  The bright purple, green and sunflowers are for a block swap I'm doing (you can check it out here).  The purple and brown batiks are to finish my retreat quilt and the others are to take with me to Asilomar next week.

Finally--Some Quilts

Okay, I'm back to blogging--hopefully a bit more regularly. *fingers crossed*

This is a picture of our Guild's Opportunity Quilt.  Well, it a picture of a small portion of it.  The Guild hasn't seen it yet since I've just finished it, but I wanted to share a little corner of it.  You'll see the whole thing after our meeting on the 16th.  I used the swag template from Constantine Quilts for the border.  It was my first time using it and I love how it turned out.  I also love how easy it was to drive "Lilly" with the new Edgeriders.  They are truly worth every penny!!

This was a really fun weekend for me.  My sister, Barb, who lives in Carson came up and was the first sewing guest in the yurt.  It was great; we sewed and Dennis embroidered a blanket for a horse and we didn't trip over each other once!  *happy dance*  When she came up before, we had to sew at the kitchen table; then when my mother-in-law moved in, there was no room for sewing.  This is the first time in almost a year that we've been able to sew here.  She came up on Friday and we sewed in the evening. Saturday morning we opened presents (it was a late Christmas and my birthday).  I got a Belgian waffle maker--mine broke almost two years ago and I've missed it; now I have a new one!  And she bought some really cute Christmas tree lights that are quilt blocks...aren't they cute?

I worked on the quilt from our retreat last September.  I have it as far as it can go until I buy more fabric.  And it just so happens that I'm going to Reno on Wednesday with a friend and we'll be hitting the quilt shops.  I have three...count' em...three gift cards burning a hole in my wallet.  I'm sure I'll find some fabric that just has to come home with me!!

This is the retreat quilt so far.  I'm not really loving it...but I'm determined to finish it.

Its hanging on my new design "wall."  The wall is a wire that is strung across the yurt with tiny little clamps on it to hold the quilts.  I think it will work well.  Since yurt walls are round, having a real design wall isn't an option.  This works though!

More to follow....