Pillows for People

Pillows for People - this is a charitable project that a group of ladies locally are involved in this fall. Our goal is to make enough pillowcases and buy
enough pillows to donate to the Love Feast in December to give to the attendees. The Love Feast usually feeds a couple of hundred people. We are hoping to get enough donations of new pillows, pillowcases, or cash (to help buy pillows) to make this happen.

Matthew 11:28 is the inspiration: "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (depending on which translation you use)

I have 4 pillowcases made, but lots of fabric to make more.

Busting some stash

I plead guilty to having more stash than I will probably ever use, and yet I can't resist buying more beautiful fabric.

But I've made a small effort to work on that stash and to make things that I'm giving away. These Christmas placemats were made from 3 fat quarters and some scraps of white and red fabrics left from another project. I have enough of the white and green center fabrics to make at least one more. And I have some other Christmas fat quarters, so maybe I'll make another set as well.

And today I made 4 pillowcases for a charitable project that several of my friends are getting involved in. I used stash for all 4, and definitely have enough stash to do some more. I know it's only about 4 yards of stash used in these pillowcases, but it is a start. I'll post pictures - maybe tomorrow.

Right now I'm watching the Vikings play and working on some hand quilting. Go Vikes!

Intervention #2 & Spiders

Just a quick post before I head out in the rain to a school in-service.

Last night 3 of us met at Sylvia's for another little intervention. We all cut out a project and have the pieces ready for sewing.

But this darling little spider was Marilyn's show 'n tell for the night. It's a placemat, probably for one of her grandchildren. Aren't the fuzzy legs a hoot? It is all made from random strips of Halloween fabric, trimmed to the right shape, legs added, and bound. The eyes are 2 little ironed on applique shapes and buttons. I love it!

Little Things Giveaway

You really must go to The Last Piece blog to check out the giveaway for a new fabric line called Little Things. It is so very pretty!

http://thelastpiece.typepad.com/the_last_piece/2010/09/a-little-things-giveaway.html

Hill City - last but not least

Not a quilt, but this is a work of art. Zoom in on this horse sculpture and you'll see the amazing details - all made of bits and pieces of spurs, bridles, harness, etc.

Hill City - Part 4

All I could say about this one was WOW! Appliqued leaves and stunning quilting - not to mention a beautiful color palette.

Fussy-cut cardinals were the star attraction in this one. Very simple and all were the same size although the optical illusion was that the framed ones are different.

The third quilt is a work of art. The parrot was applique work and absolutely beautiful. It was for sale and worth every penny of the huge price tag.

Hill City - Part 3

I saw so many inspiring quilts in Hill City this weekend that I don't know where to start in showing some favorites. This was one of my favorites. This one is hanging from the front porch of Mistletoe Ranch just outside of Hill City. It's a kaleidoscope quilt in bright colors and the workmanship was wonderful. Someone was very smart to hang this one right behind the flower bed too so that it picked up on the bright yellow of the flowers.

More of my favorites tomorrow!!

Hill City - Part 2

If you are ever in the historic Black Hills town of Hill City there are a couple of places I would highly recommend for a great meal.

The Bumpin Buffalo is a bar and grill that serves up great ribs, cold beer, and tons of other items in a smoke-free environment. The Buffalo sports a huge old carved wooden bar and a tin ceiling. Great service too!

My other recommendation is the Alpine Inn, which is really a fixture in Hill City. At lunch time there is a full menu. At night the only choice you get to make is how BIG the steak is on your plate. The evening menu is restricted to a steak dinner with all the usual sides (baked potato, salad, etc.). But come early and plan to wait for a table at this popular location. It's worth the wait.

Hill City Quilt Show - Part 1

The weekend road trip to the Hill City Quilt Show was a grand success. I was very fortunate to attend this year with 5 friends - 4 came with me from Mitchell and we met up with another friend who recently moved to Rapid City.

The cabin was charming, the weather was perfect, the food was fun, the wine was tasty - and the quilts were inspiring! And the company of good friends made the relaxing weekend perfect.

Saturday was the indoor show and day 1 of the vendor mall all held at the high school which is at one end of Main Street of this historic little Black Hills town. More quilts could be found hanging in the woods around the Mistletoe Ranch (a year-round Christmas Store) just outside of town. Next door to Mistletoe Ranch is the Quilt Corral shop and the Prairie Berry Winery.

Then on Sunday the fronts of the Main Street shops had quilts displayed outdoors. And a whole new set of quilts were hanging outside Mistletoe.

Star Struck

I have a huge library - of regular reading books and also of quilt pattern books. But I just had to add another volume to my quilting libary. This arrived in the mail on Monday and it has some gorgeous quilts in it.

Stars are one of my favorite quilt designs and you will be "star struck" by the artistry of this designer.

It inspires me . . . but now I need to make some time to try one of these star quilts. But it will be hard to decide on just one of them.

Sewing & a triathlon

I took Friday off and spent most of it sewing. No finishes yet,but I had lots of fun working on several small things. I made a couple of gift package blocks made with pieced boxes and appliqued ribbons. I pieced these from leftover scraps from my stash.

However, yesterday no time was spent in my sewing room because we did a little road trip. My husband and I drove 90 miles to Yankton to meet Jerilyn & Darin. During the drive down (and home again today) I worked on the blanket stitching around my gift blocks. One is done, and a second one is partially done.

While in Yankton, Darin joined us on Fox Run Golf Course for 18 holes, while Jerilyn relaxed and then went to pick up her registration packet for today's triathlon. She - along with a couple of friends - competed today in her first triathlon! My daughter is much braver than I was at her age. The girls (ages 29-37) all finished with better times than they expected. It was a gorgeous day for swimming a quarter mile (it was about 55 degrees when they hit the water), biking 14 miles along the Missouri River, and then running 5K along the Missouri.

They all were pretty excited - and already planning for next year - following the event. Jerilyn is the short one on the far right.

More from Quilts & Vines 2010

I wanted to share just a couple more photos from this year's Quilts & Vines event at the Strawbale Winery near Sioux Falls.

This beautiful row quilt was one of my favorites because I love red and green. But I also just loved the visual impact of the blocks selected.

The other little quilt was a fun Halloween wall hanging with 4 witches spinning off the center. Isn't it fun how the hats all connect in the center? And I think the choices the quilter made for color was so non-Halloween, but worked perfectly.

Hill City Quilt Show

If you are going to be near the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota next weekend, here is an event you can't miss - The Hill City Quilt Show will be Sept 11-12. Check it out!

http://www.hillcityquiltshow.com/