OH, NO! Not more snow!!

Well, just a few flurries today, thank goodness. It is powerful COLD, though. Today I hope to finish a Freddy style quilt. I think the gal who made it may have done so in Freddy's class.
Tomorrow I teach machine quilting if there are enough signed up. I love to teach that class, because it is exciting to see the students make such wonderful designs when they think they can't do anything. Even they are surprised!
I worked some more on my paper piecing....a DeJoong pattern...something I never would do ordinarily. I don't like paper piecing. Anyway, it is coming along pretty well. I hope to get the top pieced in another month.
Well, guess I better eat some breakfast and get to WORK! I will write more later if I have time....judy

What a fun Class!

Just a quick note before I run off to another class today....this one with Roxanne Carter, a well known quilter and pattern designer from Mukilteo, WA. This is a once a month class. I have been out of the group for many months, too busy quilting to get back to my project. But today is the day...back I go! (I am working on another red, white, and blue quilt.)

Saturday our guild had 2 gals teach 2 different projects. One was making "littles" with Opal Cocke. This is a type of journal quilt...very small pieces she calls "littles". Are they fun, or what!

Linda Dills showed us how to paint on our pieces with colored pencils, markers, crayons and the like. They were both great techniques to add to our tool boxes....I will post a couple pictures and then add more later when I have more time.

My Studio

Good morning!

Today I thought I would tell you about my wonderful studio. We had a pole barn built and made it into my quilt studio. I had them put in a wooden floor, and since our property slopes down-hill they just hung the wooden floor from the timbers. It saved lots of digging and concrete work...I had made the the one thing I HAD to have for my studio since I stand all day doing longarm quilting. It saves your legs and feet.

I posted a picture of my stars and stripes floor yesterday. It was fun to paint. I will have to say, that was the last time I saw most of the floor of my studio!! I have way too much stuff in there, and I think it is a law of physics, that your stuff will grow to fill the volume of the space.

I have a huge table, which is covered with STUFF, so I can't use it for the cutting I had hoped would happen there. It also has storage underneath. I have a nice view facing east, but had to decide whether I wanted a view or storage....I compromised with a sliding door and lots of storage shelves, along with a couple windows. We also put a deck along the back and one end. It is a great place to have quilters gather!

Last summer we used it for our first annual outdoor quilt show. It was fun...and plenty of goodies to eat. If you have a big back yard, you should try to host a quilt show outdoors, too. This year it will be in August. Just have your friends bring a dish to pass and a quilt to hang on the line or fence. FUN, FUN, FUN.

Back to the studio....I made big shelves to hold thread, and most of the tables and chairs came from re-cycle stores or the University store which sells all the stuff our tax dollars have paid for and they want to get rid of. I got beautiful oak tables from the law library, and a great card catalogue when they went to computers. I really got a lot of good stuff, and CHEAP.

I knew I would have to have a bathroom as well, so we put one in the corner of the studio, with a small kitchen...microwave, no stove. I did put in a great big, deep laundry sink with works great for soaking fabric, and dyeing too.

One of my favorite things is the design wall I put in front of my shelves along one wall. I used barn door hardware to hang plywood sheets covered with insulation board and warm and natural. It works great...as a bulletin board and you can stick up your blocks as you plan a quilt.

So, I divided the studio into 3 sections....my longarm and office area, with storage of books and supplies...my classroom section with 8 tables from the law library, and a little living area with couches and the "kitchen" and bathroom. It is truly a dream studio. I have told the girls I will open it up for them to bring their hubbys if they complain about them having too much stuff....ha...when they see my place, they will never complain again.

If you are ever in my area, you will have to come by and see. We have lots of fun working in my studio, mess and all!

Happy Thursday

This morning is cold, grey and foggy again. Had a good board meeting for our guild last night. We are planning a Quilter's Olympics game in June. We will divide into teams and see which one can make the most blocks. Team members will each have a job, such as ironing, cutting, sewing, running, etc...It should be fun and a little different. Of course we will have goodies to eat...a potluck salad bar with ice cream sundaes for dessert.

Oh, yesterday's pictures were posted with no explanation. That is because I couldn't figure out how to add words after posting the pictures.

The Jack of Clubs was a challenge piece for my guild, and small--only about 18 by 24 or so. We drew a card and had to build our idea around the card we drew. As you can see, I did a very literal interpretation. Others were more creative. It was fun to do.

As for the red, white, and blue design...you will never guess that one. It is the floor of my studio. After we did all the wall painting, I painted the floor with Muralo, a great, sturdy paint. I used a beige tone, and then with rollers, painted various stripes, and using a little roller with stars on it, painted all the the stars. What fun! So easy, and fast, as it was all done with rollers...using a long handle of course! People think I actually got on the floor and stencilled the stars.

I will some day post a picture of the design wall I put in as well. It works great, and covers my stash cupboard as well.

I will post a few pix from my drive out to Camano Island and our trip to Over the Rainbow. My hubby put them in the computer last night. Have a great day...I have a Freddy Moran quilt to finish today. Judy IRish

Frosty day!

Greetings from the frosty Northwest! Another frosty and cold day here. It would be a great day to quilt, but 3 quilt guild meetings for me. I think I should have the afternoon free to load up Freddy's Wagon Wheels quilt, another one like yesterday's, but in darker colors.

I had a great time shopping at Over the Rainbow....got lots of Kaffe fabric, some new roosters, and a few other fun things. I got some great batiks that will work well with fusing.

Our Mukilteo guild is planning for the summer Garden tour with quilts. They tour 10 gardens, and hang quilts in each one. It is really neat. I think I have a great floral one to hang and maybe a couple others as well.

Hope this morning finds you raring to go about all your projects. I will see what quilt I want to post today. I didn't get yesterday's pictures in the computer, but the morning drive out to Camano was beautiful with foggy clouds and watery, snowcapped mountains in view.

This morning I talked with my buddy Marilyn in CT....everyone needs a friend like her. This year I will miss seeing her in May. I will not go east this year, but stay home and work on the big pond project. I think the fish are confused by the weather. I hope they survive all the cold and warm days in beteween!

Gotta go to work, and a meeting. Judy

Freddy's quilt

Well, I am back again, since I couldn't get Freddy's quilt up on the site. I am definitely going to need my friend Sharon back for lesson 2. Anyway, here is a picture of Wagon Wheels II. The apple quilt is one of mine in progess for our guild challenge. I am putting a bottle in with confetti and little goodies inside. It will be fun, and easy to do. I used organza for the bottle, and printed the label on Printed Treasures. I couldn't get the label off, so I just held the bottle on top of the printer, and it worked just great!! Try it some time.

Brrrrr....

It is freezing cold this morning again, with a beautiful streaky pink sky. It reminds me of sea shells. Today I am going with a friend Trish to visit Over the Rainbow. They are a website shop located near by. I posted their website in a previous message, but will try again!

Over the Rainbow has great fabric and goodies, and stories of all their animals and kids too.

http://overrainbow.com/

I finished Freddy's funky quilt, except for the binding. I love it....it is so HAPPY! I think that is her next class quilt, so if you see Freddy Moran in your neck of the woods, be sure to take her class. She is loads of fun, too.

FREDDY MORAN'S NEWEST PROJECT, quilted by judy irish

Sunny and Cold

This morning everything is covered with frost, as seems the usual weather lately, but the sun is shining. This morning I have to start Freddy Moran's new quilt for teaching, Wagon Wheels. I hope to get the picture posted tomorrow, after quilting. It will cheer you up with all the great colors.

I have been printing two of my patterns to get ahead of things. You can buy them at Over the Rainbow's website. One called Creative Detours is great for fabric collections and themes. I have made so many, and have many more to do yet...have fun sewing and dreaming of spring! Judy

Who made that mess??? Just a tiny spot in my studio.

Sun at Last!

This morning and most of the day....FOG, FOG, FOG.... Finally, near late afternoon, we got some sun. Hopefully there will be more to come.

It looks like the snow beat the weeds down, which will make it easy to find the plants and get rid of the weeds for awhile, anyway.

My brother and his wife finally got here for a couple days. They couldn't get through all that snow for Christmas or New Year's Day. We didn't do much...I did some quilting, and worked on a challenge quilt for my guild.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures of the class we took with Frieda Anderson. My challenge is a fusing project as well. It is so easy, and you can do lots of things that don't work well in piecing. I discovered that Wonder Under works better with the weaving, as it is not so stiff and hard. I hope the finished project looks as good as now...unfinished! I will have to fuse and quilt it.

I will post a few pictures to serve as a reminder that spring is coming someday. Tomorrow or Monday I will try to post some pix from the Hero sewing day that was held here in Arlington.

Have wonderful and blessed Sunday...Judy

Foggy Day

Good morning! This morning finds us in a fog again. I thought we were supposed to have some sun this week. I have been too busy to write the last couple days...out early yesterday for a Frieda Anderson quilt workshop...fun fusies. I LOVE to fuse anyway, so this was a perfect class for me. She is from the Chicago School of Fusing. We all made beautiful little wall hangings, and now they remain to be quilted.

Then last night we had a guild meeting with my friend Opal showing her "littles" She made one a week for 2 years. She is very creative. Some of her things are on line. I will have to post her info so you can check on her wonderful work.

Today I teach machine quilting and then have a new Freddy Moran quilt to start. I LOVE to quilt for Freddy. Her colors will surely cheer me up today with all that fog!

I hope you all have a great day...I will write more later. Judy IRish

Quilter's Corner

Hi again...I hope I can post the link to my friend's shop...
Quilterscorneronline.comhttp://quilterscorneronline.com
I hope I am getting the hang of all this. Becky has a great shop. I used to spend lots of time there when I lived in New Milford. JUdy

Goofballs coming!

This morning is another gray day, but sun is promised for this week. I suppose the koi are up a bit, as the weather is a bit warmer. I won't go look, because I want them to stay down!

This morning my little group of sewing gals comes by...we call ourselves the Goofballs!

We try to sew once a month, whoever can come. We have made tumbling blocks, collage quilts, and the Arab lattice quilt. If I could figure out a way to scan in some patterns, I would do that...but that will be for another day. I think you could find the Arab lattice on line. It is basically a 4 patch set on point with triangles surrounding. You learn how to do the partial seam technique. It is fun and easy.

I will have to post some pix of our work after today.

We have our large quilt guild meeting tonight. Frieda Anderson from the Chicago School of fusing is coming, and the workshop will be on Thursday.....fusing. My favorite.

Well, gotta go and eat breakfast and get to the studio to meet with the Goofballs.....Have a great day. Judy Irish

The picture of the tumbling blocks is made by my friend Becky Fraser in CT...she owns the Quilter's Corner in New Milford. I will have to send you her link when I figure out how!

More Freddy Quilts

Here are some more quilts by Freddy Moran. I hope they cheer you up!

Gray Skies...still!

The best news is that the sun should be coming by for a visit this week. Yea!!

In the meantime, I have lots to do. I will be working on Freddy Moran quilts this week. Freddy said her new book is already posted on Amazon for early orders. How neat is that! I am so privileged to work with Freddy, as she and I are kindred spirits, I think. And she even lives very near where I used to inCA...of course then, she wasn't yet quilting. SHe didn't start till she was 65...so there is encouragement to us all. I will post some of the quilts I did for Freddy. I LOVE her colors and whimsy.

My studio still overfloweth with stuff. I keep trying to beat it down, but somehow the stuff always wins. I think this week I should also finish the paper piecing project I am working on. I will have to post a picture of that some time soon. I saw the pattern at Nashville, and somehow was deluded enough to buy it and try it...I have never been a paper piecing fan. I plan to have it finished for our local show in March. I better get cracking.

Gotta get going to work today... raffle quilt, then Freddy's.....happy quilting to all. Judy Irish

Let's see if I can do a recipe!

CALICO BEANS
From Bev Bullard


½ lb. Ground beef
½ lb. Bacon cut up & browned
1 onion chopped

Brown together, pour off grease, (brown bacon separately)

Add:
1 can kidney beans with liquid
1 can butter beans with liquid
1 can pork & beans
¾ cup brown sugar ( I used light)
1/2 cup catsup
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vinegar

Put together and cook about ½ medium heat, stir occasionally. Can cook for over an hour with no problem. Might want to turn down heat so it does not burn.
Normally we double the recipe when we do it.

Good Morning

Greetings....

We are finally drying out a bit here. Most of the roads are opening again. We even had a bit of sun yesterday, but grey, cold, and cloudy today. Going shopping and for early dinner at the Olive Garden...my favorite. We are using up some of our gift cards from Christmas.

Hopefully you all are safe and reasonably warm and dry. I am really getting eager for spring to get here, but it is still a long way off. I really want to get started on that koi pond, and also plan our outdoor mini Sisters show in the yard.

I will try to post some pictures I took yesterday, and later today I will try to post a couple recipes. I think I know what I was doing wrong.

I love recipes, so sharing them is fun. Hope you all have a great day.....judy irish

quilt pix

Still Flooding...

Well, after just losing my first attempt at posting, I will try again.

The flooding is still serious but thankfully not in our particular street and yard. Yesterday I did get to town to pick up batting, but the highway was beginning to flood a bit in a couple areas. The water from the Stillaguamish river was boiling like crazy, and way up into the fields and getting might close to the bridge deck. It is scarey to see the power of all that water, with no place to go. The other road to town was already closed off with water flooding across the road and into the buildings and businesses. We will not soon forget this winter.

I finished my Sunflowers sample for this quarter of teaching at Aunt Mary's Quilt Shop in Arlington. It came out pretty neat, if I do say so!! Today I should quilt the raffle quilt for my niece-in-law! (Married to my nephew, and living in CT) They are going to raise some money for their church scholarship fund.

Tonite is meet the teacher night at Aunt Mary's, and tomorrow clean the studio day! I think I should also take our Christmas tree down....a little early for me to do that, actually. I still haven't figured out how to get my recipes to copy...oh, maybe that would be copy and paste. Don't know how to do that yet.

I will try again to post the picture of my class sample....sunflowers...oh, can't wait to see the real thing this summer.

Floods??

Greetings from WA....and the land of RAIN. Now we have great amounts of rain, most of the snow washed away, and higher temps in the 40's. There are many rivers flooding last night and this morning. We live on the high side of one of the main problems, so we are safe. I hope I can get into town today to pick up batting at the Post Office. So far now major damage, but lots of preventive measures, and cars in the water. I think today will be the turning point for the high water. This will be a winter to remember for years to come. Hopefully no one will sustain major damage or bodily injury.

I checked our pond yesterday, and it is half full of snow water and run-off. We didn't get the liner in last fall, so it will have to disappear on its own, or we will pump it out later in the spring. Our new little stream was doing pretty well with excess water running toward the new pond. I will have to post some pix of that project.

Today I will be finishing a quilt for Mandi at Over the Rainbow. Check our their website....
www.overrainbow.com Be sure to check out their quilting website. You will enjoy it, their stories, and all the great STUFF.

We are supposed to have our Camano Island guild meeting tonite, if the water isn't too high. We will decide by noon.

Well, I guess I better get to work. I will try to post some recipes next time. I think I need a tutorial from Sharon! Have a great day....judy irish

Back again...I think I got the pix up, but too much space between the paragraphs. This is not easy!! I am definitely computer challenged. Well, gotta go to work, so will try some more later.

Hope you all are having some better weather and finding time to quilt....judy irish

Raindrops

Good morning from rainy WA....this is the weather people usually think of in WA. But I always loved rain much more than snow. (It is much easier to shovel!)

It has been raining pretty steadily since Monday, which has washed away much of the snow at last. Now it looks more normal for winter here. I am thankful for that.

Today I am working on a quilt for a friend.....her mom owns Over the Rainbow fabrics which you can buy on line. I will have to post her website......it is a great place to shop, and she has great stories posted as well. Then I will do another quilt for Freddy Moran. If you do not know about Freddy's quilts, you are really missing out. She and her co-author Gwen Marston will be featured speakers at the Sisters show in Oregon this year, along with Gees Bend. It should be great fun.

I hope everyone gets to see Sisters at least once. It is the biggest outdoor quilt show ever. I even had a little outdoor show in my yard last summer. This year we will do another one, only bigger. We barbecued and hung quilts all around. Try it in your area some time.

I will post some pictures of our outdoor show.

Well, now I have to figure out how to put up a couple more websites for you to check out and put some pictures up as well. WHERE IS MY BUDDY SHARON???

adding links!

HI Again....now Sharon is trying to teach me how to make a link....this is getting way too complicated. Let's see if this will work.

One of my other clients for quilting is Kaffe Fassett and Liza Lucy. Liza has a great website called Gloriouscolor.com Check it out!

I think we did it.....well, really will go. Maybe tomorrow I will post a recipe....I think I will just write it in the post....that is all I know how to do for now!!

Happy Spring?????

Greetings to all of you in outer space! I have my friend Sharon here helping me create this fabulous blog. I still live in the stone age, so need all the help I can get with anything computer. I am a much better quilter than computer...I hope you will visit my blog when you have some time. I will try to post something often.

We have been buried in snow for the last three weeks. To think I moved out here from CT to get out of the snow. My friends back there never let me forget that I am buried in snow in WA. We had nearly 30"....after 3 flakes I have had enough!!

I was born in MI, so I know all about snow...but of course my mom was raised in Cumberland, WI.....40 below and walking three miles in the snow, uphill, of course. (She really did.....she also stuck her tongue on the windmill one freezing cold morning...I guess she never did that again.) Enough of memory lane....

I have been quilting the last few days...one for Freddy Moran...do you know Freddy? She is fabulous and so much fun...the color queen...red is neutral!

I also tried to dig out my studio, but that may be a lost cause. I love STUFF...

For now I am in FOG, not the blog....I will try to post some recipes and pictures of my quilts....oh, we are building a new koi pond....so if anyone has any advice about that project, feel free to add your two cents!

Talk to you later....gotta go skate over to my studio....I think I will treat Sharon, my blog teacher to a great burger at the Red Robin......talk to you later.

Judy Irish