The Vortex...unbelievable

Well, I cannot believe the Vortex has not swallowed me up alive!!  I have been consumed by this most amazing quilt for a couple weeks, now.  It was made by a new friend from Florida, named Julie.
She hand-pieced the whole vortex, and it was truly an amazing  project.  I had to do lots of thinking before I even started it.  How to quilt it???  How to keep it even, and not end up with puckers and pleats...oh, my...well, my hubby came up with a good idea and between the two of us we got it figured out.  I am going to post a few photos of how I basically did finally get it on the long-arm and then quilt it.  Thanks to Julie, I had a whole new thinking experience  to problem solve...I love to figure out how to do difficult quilts....even tho it may be scarey..yikes!!
I am also baby-sitting Cinda Lou.  She came yesterday and spent the night.  She practically sits on my feet as I am piecing...what a nice dog!  She is soooo sweet. 
Well, I am making plans to teach quilting again at  Smith Owen Sewing Center in Grand Rapids in October.  That should be great fun...we had a blast last time.  I hope some of you will be able to take the class.
In the mean-time, I will get back to the studio and finish stitching around the edge of the big Vortex, before it sucks me into the abyss of  UFO's!   PS....also working on a copy of Freddy's quilt..it is nearly finished...just working on the last few flying geese units...it is pretty wild.  Have a great day...

PPS....we celebrated our 48th wedding anniversary yesterday...how is it possible???We have known each other 51 years...wow.....my hubby has surely been a good sport with all my messes and projects these 48   years...ha....Judy

In the pictures...top picture was when I laid out the top on a table and added the pieced vortex circle...I had to get myself organized  for the quilting.  I then marked with pins inside the circle the width of the last row at the outer edge.
Then, I cut out the center of the  white top...that was so I didn't have so much thick fabric to deal with, and the quilt would lay flatter...the vortex would actually be against the batting.
Speaking of batting, who would guess it would be so hard to find a piece of white cotton batting in king size....I finally found some,   Dream Cotton....it worked just fine.( I had run out of white in my stash of batts.)  

I finally ended up pinning the back to the long-arm as usual.  Then I added the batting,  floated the top which by now had a huge hole cut into it...like a giant Krispy Creme  glazed donut!   I loved glazed donuts....Then I simply floated the pieced vortex over the whole overlapping as evenly as possible....WOW....it WORKED....  Well, now I am ready to piece...oh, I did use some 505 spray to hold things a bit, and a few pins...then I had to crank the whole thing to the middle so I could start there and work my way out...didn't want any puckers on this masterpiece....that worked like a dream too....I simply ditched and stitched a swirly line...very simple so the vortex got all the attention....I did not applique the vortex to the background first.  I was afraid that it might stretch and end up with puckers ....which it did not by this system.  So, now I am stitching down around the edge of the vortex after the fact...worked out great...this info is for any of you who think you might want to try this quilt.....just don't get sucked into the vortex....................ooooohhhhhh.....here I go!!

I FIGURED IT OUT!!

HI All....well, it has taken me some weeks, but I think I finally figured out how to post a new blog.  Thanks to a friend in FL who has sent me the most amazing quilt to quilt.....oh, my .....you would not believe the work that went into this piece.  I will get permission to post a picture!  Anyway, she said she reads my blog, and I felt so guilty for not writing lately, that I had my dear hubby and friend Sharon get me going again.  Can't figure out why the computer people have to always change things around and confuse my brain.
Anyway, today is my annual outdoor barbecue and quilt show.  We  grill hotdogs and EAT of course...and hang quilts on the fence around the yard.  It is always fun, and the weather has cooperated everytime so far.  I have to clean up the studio some, and  get some things ready around the pond and gazebo, but it will be so worth it to have everyone come by.   The long-armers usually come, at least some of them...what a great group of gals.  I hope if you are a long-armer you have a  support group like we do....great for sharing ideas or as a source of emergency supplies if ever you need them.
I just finished another great Freddy quilt...so happy!...the quilt, that is.  Also just finished sending the last quilts to England for the next Kaffe book...it should be a great one!  Be on the lookout for some great free patterns that will be on the Westminster site...I am just quilting them now.  They are very nice and will be easy to piece.

Well, just to get on line again with this blog,  I will make this a short post today...more later.  I have left out lots of things of late, so will try to catch up with some things...have a great day....judy  

Oh, my...how do you get rid of all that white space....well, the quilts above are from Freddy Moran..her floral collage one, and then that wildly pieced wonder.  I am copying hers from just taking a few measurements...it is a challenge, mostly because of the zillion pieces in each block....the original came from Quilt Life magazine awhile back...wow, can't believe I am piecing such an intense block...getting   quite a lot done already...also started another lonestar, with food theme!  Happy quilting.

IT WORKED!!

Well, gals...guess you don't need your secret word to post...it worked...  A picture of some of the Japanese quilters in my studio...

Where has the Time Gone

Gosh, it has been at least a month since I last wrote.   Well, here is my best excuse.  I have been trying to figure out the blog since it seems to have changed format again...I couln't figure out how to get into this thing...by the way...now that I think of it, I didn't have to put in my secret word yet...I found "home", which said new post, and here I am...bet it doesn't work. 
Well, we have had a very wet spring and summer.  In fact, last Friday was thunder...all day...and was I HAPPY....  Thunder is my favorite weather next to sunny and 70.  In all the years of living in Oakland and now WA....there was more thunder that day than in the 35+ years of west coast living.   I LOVED it. 
We have been doing some weeding, next to the pond....lots of quilting, I taught a class on featherweight quilting which was a blast, we had the Japanese ladies here for the grand opening of their show, and I have been working on the next book for Kaffe Fassett and Liza Lucy....a really neat quilt just arrived from Liza..colorful, happy, and with ric rac....it is fun!  I will see if she gives me permission to post a picture on an up-coming blog.

Well, my curiosity is definitely more than I can stand, so I am going to see if I can post this thing not having given my secret password....I hope you all have a great day....love,  jude
Let's see if this will publish to my blog, now...
The above pix are from recent photos....flower pounding at our guild picnic, a fabulous view of the bay at Friday Harbour when I taught a class to the guild there...and how about that blown glass whirligig at the home of my hostess...to FAB....and  a couple aprons from our guild apron challenge...one by Opal and one by Trish...very creative!  Well,  gotta go put my quilt up on the frame..it is for our show and needs to be done asap...due Sunday.  Have fun.  judy

RE-LOCATION

RE-LOCATION!!
Well, I certainly have not been writing on my blog of late....I wish I could do like many of you who write every day or so.  Somehow life has a way of keeping me too busy in other areas....plus, this new blog format is HORRIBLE....I can barely find out where to write to post a blog...hope this is the right way to go.
The other day I had a visitor by my pond, or should say, my resident frog was stuck in the net we keep over the koi....I spotted him trying to get loose...and managed to catch him in my little net, pop him into  a bucket, and hold him there.  I  got hubby Ken to come and help..."take me up the road to that big ol swamp", says I.....Off we went, and found the biggest, best old swamp by the side of the road.  There was even a cute mallard in there, lots of logs, and lily pads....grasses and just great pickins for a big ol bull frog.  He was as big as two of my fists put together, maybe bigger...with spots on his belly.....I didn't want him eating my small koi, so re-location was the best solution.  I think he will be really happy in his new home.
As for quilting, I finished my Sara Nephew piece, the top anyway, and got several more customer quilts done...just heard from Liza and 10-12 more coming from her in the next few weeks.  Guess I better get going on all the others stacked up. 
Taking a paper piecing class Thursday through my guild...mandela style quilts  which are great....paper piecing NOT!   Hope I survive this one.  I want to make a koi and water lily style one, but not sure if I can with this technique.  I am going to try.

Well, gotta get to work, will try to write tomorrow or soon....will give you the blow by blow of paper piecing madness....love, jude  
Well, since I cannot figure out how to get the writing by the pictures, I will just let you know that the top pictures are of the infamous peacock quilt, then my koi, of course, and finally my glorious poppies...that seems to be the only things I can grow well.  Of course today they look pretty rough with all the rain that  beat on them.....have a great day, all.

OH, NO.....new blog settings and stuff!

Well, girls....every time I get something figured out, they change it up on me.   I will try to write a few lines before I go off  to the studio to hang out with my quilting buddies today.   I have to finish Freddy's  Apple Orchard quilt, and then work on my entry for the quilt show.....I got it all done, except for some borders.  Looks pretty good, too.  The blocks were made by the girls in my guild, and I added signatures from a family reunion.  I called it Family Farm, but may change the title yet!  I still have some things to post from Michigan, but need more time to figure out this new format.  I think the old way was just fine, if you ask me.

I just want to post a couple pictures, and then get to work.....have a great day, and hopefully this will get posted to my blog!   Judy    See....the new format makes my life a challenge...top photo is my sweet Tommy Boy.  His blood sugar was over 400 yesterday again.  The vet says to give him 2 units of insulin in the AM and 1 at night.  I hope he doesn't get too low and have seizures again.  The poor old guy.  The gal at the vet says Tommy is her favorite old man cat!  The peacocks are a quilt I am working on for Sara Nephew's up-coming book...got the borders yesterday from OVer the Rainbow, and the flowers and vase are for Freddy Moran....we are pillow turning her quilts now so she doesn't have to sew on the bindings.  They are really neat!   Have a great day!

Back Home

Here we are back home again from our big trip to Michigan....and with souvenirs....two big colds!!  It seemed everyone out there had colds!  I ended up taking some antibiotics and still have not quite got rid of everything....and I spend all my time yelling at hubby...his ears are still plugged up.  Guess the plain ride didn't help.  Now I find that my blogging is all goofed up with some kind of new blogging thingie that is way more difficult than what I was used to..I couldn't even get it figured out to see if I was into my blog site to post today.  Well, I will write a few things for a trial run.

As you can see my two classes at Smith Owen in Grand Rapids were quite large...and were they fun!  What a group of great gals and fabulous quilters to boot!  I sure hope I get back there again...not to mention the fabric in the store...WOW...and the displays for the fabric were wonderful too.

We drove up to Traverse Bay area and over to Mackinaw City....cold and windy, but sunny that day.  Mackinaw City is still desserted till later in May....so to find a place for dinner was a bit of a challenge.  In the summer months things are really hopping up there......but on the way from Traverse to Mackinaw....you must stop in to see Renae's Fabric shop .......in Williamsburg, MI....a small house just packed with the most glorious, gorgeous fabrics.....way to tempting.   Well, with that little note I am going to close this to see if I can post on this newfangled blog whatever......will write more about the trip next time...if there is a next time!   Judy