Frogs in the Filter

One of the great and colorful lonestars being created in class. THis one from my class in CT.

My very organized shelves of color fabric! I do have some method to my madness!

Leftover binding pieces in a pile...you can use them for other quilts...they don't always have to match.

SOme of the pond pipes etc. that the frogs went through....our new UV filter is there too.

One of my 16 lonestars...this one is chickens, of course!

Good morning all.....

Another gray day in WA, with no sun in sight. Thankfully I am not still in CT where my friends and family are buried in a foot of snow with virtually no power or phones. I remember those days only too well, and am so glad I have moved out here, where snow is not such a problem!

We have been getting ready to put the fish to bed for the winter....they are no longer fed, and mostly just hanging around below the surface in suspended animation! I cannot feed them till next April or May. It is quite amazing how they hibernate all winter long.

My hubby was checking the pump filter last week, the water was running slower than usual.....imagine his surprise when he opened the pump filter to find 3 BIG frogs packed in there! It gave him quite a shock, and when he dumped them out, off they hopped. That had to have been some wild ride for them....over the waterfall, down the stream, another waterfall, to the bottom of the big pond, then into the bottom drains....known as the koi toilets!!, and then through the 4" pipes, up about 5 feet into 2" pipes and through the flapper into the filter....wow. I get worn out just thinking about it. I cannot believe they survived. They were only in there no more than a week, as we checked it a week before finding them. I hope they don't do the same silly trick again. Now we will disconnect most of the equipment and put it in the barn for the winter. Maybe this coming spring we will get some baby koi at last. I would love to have some "born" in our pond.

Well, other than frog stories, I haven't got much to report...just finished the last of the Kaffe Fassett books, so you can be on the lookout for them in the near future. I still have about 5 more to do for Freddy Moran....bright and colorful, of course, and then all the others lined up. Right now Stephanie's big pink elephant is nearing completion....she has been enamoured of the block letters pieced into quilts of late. This is a totally fun quilt and BIG at that. I have started 3 more lone stars, and taught a class Saturday with 11 gals. They had great fabric, so it will be quite a collection of lonestars when they are all finished. IT would make a great show.

In the meantime, today more quilting and making some applesauce for the freezer is on my schedule...hope you get lots done today, too....love, judy

Back from MQX

This quilt was done on a Bernina and Best of Show....little tea pots quilted in, tiny little stitching in the background areas...applique and a3-D bows on the little spoons...how cute it was...ILOVED this one, even though it is not my type as a rule....The quilter did a fabulous job.

This piece was very wide and not so tall, with all little people appliqued and looking at quilts which were all little mini pieced quilts...what an effort...wow....I can't believe people can make such creative and wonderful pieces. I can't get into the applique thing, but sure am impressed by those who do.

Close-ups of Dusty's dragon koi....so neat....small but threadwork was fantastic. He also taught the class on glow in the dark thread. That was fun to see, too.

Hi all....finally back to business after spending 4 days at MQX...the machine quilting conference in Portland. Saw a few old friends, and took about 5 classes. I especially enjoyed the one I took from Norma Riehm....she makes fun pieces with black tulle on top and fun stuff in between the quilt and tulle. Even better if you like to embellish!

Sue Patten's ZenSuedles was fun....I even had to mark a quilt..yikes. I never mark, but now have a piece to quilt when the opportunity presents itself. It gave me some inspiration to get going on my own pieces, and some ideas for Asilomar when I teach there in June.

I stayed with my friend Desma in Rainier, OR. We had a great time at the conference, including buying some yummy donuts at VooDoo Donuts near the convention center.....way too yummy, and fattening. I couldn't eat them too often.

THere was a gift show going on next to our conference, so I got some great scarves really cheap, and great watch...red, white and blue, of course! I hope they are there next year, too. It reminded me of all the great gift shows I went to at Jacob Javitz in New York City with my boss at Connecticut Memories. Lots of goodies there, and so much eye candy!

The quilts at the show in Portland were fabulous, and beautifully quilted...some on domestic machines, including the best of show. It surely does make you want to go home a create your masterpiece. I will try to post some for you to see...I likely won't know the maker, but rest assurred...I did not make them! Hope you get some quilting time in this week, too.....love, jude

Off to Portland and MQX

These are views of Freddy's latest quilt....I have about 5 more to do, and they make me soooooo happy to quilt...so cheery!

Hi all...this morning I leave on the train to meet my friend Desma in Kelso/Longview....we are going to spend the week taking classes for machine quilting at the big MQX machine conference. This will be the first year I have not taught....but it is a new conference so should be interesting.

Our Kitty boy Tommy is doing well, and poor Ken will have to take him to the vet at the end of the week...but he is good and just sits in the car and behaves very well!

I am still playing with quilting on the featherweight which is great fun, and will have time today on the train to work out some things for Asilomar this June. I will give you all a report of the conference and hopefully bring back some pix of all those gorgeous quilts. Have a great week.....jude