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

Michigan, Here We Come!

MICK DUNN'S quilt...Mick gave me the privilege of quilting her beautiful quilt she started in Margaret Miller's class...gorgeous....we each got a first place ribbon at QA quilt show.

I took that kinda blurry picture of a blue flower at Opal's house. Not sure what kind it it!

Just a shot of the Big Mac bridge that connects the lower peninsula to the UP......a beautiful part of the USA.

Hi all....well, today is the big day....flying out on the red-eye to Grand Rapids. Big 90th birthday party for my mom-in-law, teaching, and visiting cousins, friends, and a college friend from MSU.

It has been about 48 years since Lottie and I have seen each other. Boy, does the time fly. It should be great fun to catch up on 48 years.

I am looking forward to teaching two classes with a total of about 50 quilters. How fun is that going to be?? I love to hear the hum of those machines all making beautiful designs.

Of course, we have to drive to Mackinaw City by way of Traverse City, and home past our old cabin...which was totally torn down the last time we stopped by. Just a vacant lot. It was enough to make me cry. To think our family built the cabin board by board, and brick by brick.

Hoping maybe another cabin has been built for another family to enjoy.

We hope our Tommy Boy holds out well while we are gone. He is back on insulin, a tiny dose this time, and our wonderful neighbor will cat-sit for him.

Well, packing is about finished...all I have to do is get ready to meet Susan for a ride to Mukilteo Quilt Guild tonite. We are taking Colleen Wise to dinner. She is our speaker and a fabulous quilter and fun teacher. Check her out on-line. Then Ken will pick me up at the meeting about 9pm and off we go to Sea-Tac....oh, boy. I love all those lines and the security check!! Flying is not much fun anymore. We just have one stop in Minneapolis and then on to GR. Hope you all have fun these next few days. Even though I will be having fun quilting and eating whitefish in MI, I will miss my guild's studio tour and retreat....will write you a report about MI when I get back....judy

Good news, bad news....

Oh, my...Kaffe and Liza's quilt is much more beautiful in person...the latti are in 2 tones of teal/turquoise....very pretty combination. I am already collecting to make this one!

I made homemade scratch canollis this weekend for Easter dinner at Opals...yum...I will have to put the recipe on my blog some time. The blue and orange lonestar is Freddy's.

Oh, what a great night we had at the QA guild last night. It was ribbon awards night for our March Quilt show. What fabulous quilts were displayed in that wonderful new building at the fairgrounds. The light flooded in through the windows making every quilt sparkle and the space so clean ....with nice smooth floors so you didn't have to navigate bumpy cement! Anyway, several of my friends won ribbons, and I even did, too. With all those gorgeous quilts, it was really an honor to win...I got a couple ribbons for my quilting on friends' quilts and one for my You are my Sunshine. That was the good news. Earlier in the day I got a call that my class in CA at Empty Spools had been cancelled. Not enough sign-ups for a go...that made me kinda sad and disappointed as I was looking forward to teaching the gals about quilting. I guess it wasn't meant to be. But, on the positive side, I have about 50 students in 2 classes when I go to Grand Rapids next week...so that will be great, and we will have a blast quilting and thread painting.

Grand Rapids here we come!!

Well, with not going to CA in June, I can stay home and mother my koi, work in the yard, and clean my studio so the girls from Japan don't get buried alive when they come to visit.

We have had beautiful, sunny days of late, and that is a welcome sight. I hope your spring is warm and flower-filled! Is that a word...oh, well, who says you can't make up words. Gotta go finish a really cute story book quilt for Nita....she does beautiful quilts. Have a great day...judy

Guild Day today!

One of the last Lone Stars I quilted for Freddy...beautiful!!!

Fun thread pic of a few of the threads I used this last couple weeks.

Freddy's collage...how fun is that one??

Tommy Boy in his favorite posing...sleeping. ha...

Good morning all.....today is our Camano Island Guild meeting..the day meeting, that is! We are going to have Quilt University, where several of us will demo various techniques we use in quilting. I am going to demo how to use Angelina fiber. It is fun to use....give it a try if you have never used it. You can do some fun things with it, and it adds sparkle and dimension to your art quilts. It can look like water, snow, or anything else you want to spark up in your project.

I finished the last of Freddy's quilts yesterday. I will get more after my trip to Michigan, I suppose. I love to work on hers, they keep me smiling and cheerful with all those colors and shapes. Now I have a pile of charity quilts to do, as well as one for Kaffe and Liza as soon as the backing arrives.

I think we had frost this morning, if not, it sure looks cold out there. The frogs have been croaking so loud you can hear them all the way inside the house with all the noise of tv or radio going! There is a bullfrog adding to the chorus, so they sound very professional! I love to hear them, as it means spring may be coming. More rain yesterday, and more coming. I think we are about to float away.

Now I am working on things to mail to Grand Rapids for teaching. I will bring some of my Dazzling Doodle books for the girls to buy if they wish....and all my handouts for class. It will be so much fun to teach there. I am really looking forward to it, and meeting all those new machine quilters!

Well, I better get all my "stuff" gathered up for my demo, and get going. Hope you all have a fun day, and get lots accomplished....I hope to start a new quilt using Sara Nephew's new mini triangle ruler....peacocks....yeah! Then I can quilt peacock feathers all over the place...have a great day...jude

Sew Day with Opal!

What a cute boy....this is my Tommy Boy, doing what he loves best...sleeping!

You can almost see bottom by my mailing center....I hope to re-paint the little stand to the left.

The fish are waking up for the season...but it is still too early to feed them, poor guys!

Freddy's happy collage quilts..they are so colorful and cheerful....have a great day!!

Oh, today should be fun, as my quilting buddy Opal is coming to quilt with me. She is going to machine quilt on my fabulous Juki, while I work on my long-arm doing one of Freddy's collage quilts. I even cleaned my studio a bit by the door, so I can actually get into my shipping center! WOW, a miracle!! I had fun teaching yesterday at Pacific Fabric, two classes back to back on machine quilting. We had a great time, and the gals did really well with the quilting.

Friday I am doing a machine quilting demo at Bill's Janome shop...Smokey Point Sew and Vac.

That is always fun, and there is a great Janome I want to get some day for classes, very light weight and it even has a thread cutter button....I love those thread choppers!

Well, gotta get going and get Freddy's quilt up so I can get those collaged flowers stitched...Freddy has an exhibition coming up in a few weeks. I hope you all have a fun day whatever you are doing....judy