Ultimate Guild Challenge (part 1)!!!

Hey all,

Here is the story of my AQS ultimate guild submission.  The challenge was to create a quilt 52 x 32 that depicted a Tennessee Williams play and use the exterior colors of the Tennessee Williams home

Tennessee Williams house, Columbus, MS

in Columbus, MS. You can add other colors but those need to be included.   I drew Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  So first I downloaded and watched it on Amazon, I had never seen it.  Loved it!!  Paul Newman and Liz Taylor were amazing.  Then I came up with a plan of doing a plantation house with a cat on an out building.

In October I stopped by Katherine's house and we spent the afternoon taking photos of  her place.

Then I resaved the pic as a black and white photo.

 I drew and redrew the house a lot of times but was still not happy with the perspective.  Finally went to see our wonderful art teacher and she helped me out.

Once I got a good drawing I ran it through my printer and printed a grid on it.

Then I got some poster paper and drew a grid on it and enlarged the photo.  I started sewing it block by block till I got to the house.

To do the trees I would trace out a block and mark what type of fabrics go where.  And make that block...I would think oh, I can make a bunch of these tonight, but invariably it would take me lots longer than I thought.

But none the less it kept growing, albeit slower than I would have liked.

So when I got to the house I took my sewing machine out of the hole I made for it and put a light in the hole and a piece of plexi glass on it and would trace parts of the pattern to make.

So the house started to grow.

Ultimate Guild Challenge (part 2)!!

 I realized here I needed more variety in the grasses.  Judy came to my rescue, and I completed the top.

Then I laid it on the floor to take a picture and realized I had major problems.  The challenge said the quilt had to be 52 by 32 and mine was 57.5!  It could be plus or minus one inch so I needed to cut it down to 53.  But I did not want to lose the ends and the sky was major league rippled...it was way too much to "quilt out".  So I decided to get the sky to lay flat first. I sent pictures to some of my quilting buddies and family for suggestions.  I ended up taking the house and the sky apart and adding more sky in and tightening up the seam by the chimney (my son's suggestion), so now it was pretty flat, still had a small bit of rippling, but that would quilt out.  Now how to deal with the excess length???  I took it to school to consult with Sarah the art teacher, who helped me on the perspective, and get her take, she said to lose the chimney on the left, my IB students also said that was the best way around it.

I did not want to lose the sunflowers and chimney or the sun and shed, so what to do???  I took the quilt apart in the middle and shaved some off of all the blocks between the house and the shed.  So then I put it back together still had to take some off the side with the shed, but not more than an inch.   Finally had it the right size.

So then I quilted it up, but it caused it to ripple up some, so frustrated, especially after I had worked so hard to get it to be mostly flat...My friend Julia had told me about blocking hers at guild day, so I decided to block mine.

 Julia said she used a gallon of water, I felt sure she must be exaggerating, but it did soak up a gallon!!
The next morning it was dry and flat!!

I am naming it Cotesworth's Kat.  It is supposed to look like Cotesworth in N. Carrolton, the historic home of JZ George.  (can't call it Cat on a Hot Tin Roof due to copywriter laws)!  I always put a verse on the back of mine, so I think I am going to use Joshua 1:9b -  "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  I think if Tennessee Williams had read this verse his characters would not have been so troubled.

Two steps back...one forward

Hey all,

It is the middle of the night here and I am in bed waiting for the washer to finish so I can put my clothes in the dryer.  I was laying my civil war quilt out to pin it together last night to get it ready for quilting and I checked the size and then realized I had made it larger than the maximum size.  By one inch!!  ugh.  So I took it all apart. Repressed each block and shaved a few thread off each side.

Tonight I put it back together, but I have indigestion pretty bad, so I did not want to stop and lie down as I knew I would be uncomfortable.  So I kept working and put it back together.  Rearranged and tried to change that one block, but from a distance it still doesn't work well.  But it is what it is.  By the way it is 40% challenge fabric.

It is actually growing on me...not sure how to quilt it, but I have to decide quick!!

AAQI Update 1/27

Hey all,

Two more of our groups quilts have sold.  The links below for the quilts and postcards that are still for sale.  This will be the last year that AAQI will be in existence.  The governing board has decided to end the program due to the work load.   They are hoping to  have raised $1,000,000 by the end of the year.

Please visit their site and purchase a quilt.  Click here to read the message by Ami Sims, the creator and director of the site.  It also contains important dates that supporters of the charity need to be aware of.

12,479 - Uneven Lines of Life $40.00	12,481 - Stop and Smell the Rose $40.00
12,482 - Flowers in the Tree $55.00	12,483 - Hope For A Cure $40.00	12,484 - Remember the Score $55.00
12,485 - Basket of Flowers Postcard $30.00	12,486 - Railroad Bridge, Columbus, MS Postcard $30.00	12,487 - Columbus, MS Possum Town Postcard $30.0

Mountain Fest Quilt Show Challenge

Hey all,

At the last minute, I decided to do this challenge.  I bought the fabric last Spring Break, on my way home from seeing Sue & Bill Harmon with a swing by to see my brother's family Ed, Katrina, and Jackson.  After visiting them, I detoured to Pigeon Forge to the Mountain Fest Quilt Show on the way home.   While there, I decided to buy the challenge fabric as I had been so impressed with the entries from our guild members last year.   I hated it.  And I didn't really like the theme, war between the states.  When are we going to let that go?? OK Southerners, I know we fought with honor, but we were on the wrong side.  All people should be free.  And yes, I know that we in the South like to say it was not over slavery, but state's rights, but the right they went to war for was the right to own other people.   Wrong.

So I set the challenge fabrics aside, and every once in while, I would pull it out look at it, google quilts from the civil war era and then put it back away.  Never could come up with a good idea.  I wanted to put Jacob's ladder blocks down the center, with red down the middle to represent the blood spilled,  but didn't know what else to do.  Last guild meeting when Judy and CC brought their quilts, I was motivated to try again.

Part of the challenge is that it is supposed to be made up of 30% challenge fabrics.  And when you read the rules in detail, it says you may need to add fabric in order to make this requirement.  Oops...did not read that till too late!  Also, you have to use 3 out of 4 of the challenge fabrics.  Well I was originally going to eliminate the striped grey/beige as it was super ugly.  Now I realize I will have to include it, in order to make the 30% rule, since I have no more of the other fabrics.   So every block and border I created, I stopped and figured out how many square inches were challenge and how many not challenge.

Bogie and BeCall inspecting my work.

Without the inspectors!!

So here is my top, it has some problems, so do I finish?  I probably will, but not sure if I will put it in the show.  One problem is that I cut the split rail fence block I was making too small I wrote down  cut 5, finish 4.5, then cut I it at 4.5!!! Why??  I don't know.  So I put red down the center, so now from a distance it looks like a swastika!  Why didn't I notice that when it was on my design wall??  Another problem, the muslin is much lighter weight than the other quilt fabric and seems to ripple and pull.  Should have done like my friend Sandi says and starch, starch, starch!!  What a bunch of whining this morning....

On a happier note, look what arrived in the mail this week...

Thanks Bonnie!!  That was quick work after being gone for so long!!

Finished...almost!

Hey all,

I am almost done!  I need to put another coat of paint on the top...I drilled through it in one spot, when I was putting the brackets on.  Ah well, it probably needed it anyway.  I have to wait till tomorrow to do that as the can say 24 hours to add a second coat.    Hopefully I will have it in place before the end of the week as I am tired of workbooks falling everywhere!!

Break from quilting

Hey all,

Yesterday afternoon was so glorious, that after our guild meeting I decided to cut up some wood for a shelf unit.  I decided a month or so ago, that the students in my classes needed a place to keep the workbooks in the classroom.  So I got my table saw and drill press out and sat in the sun and cut all the pieces up.  That night I glued them all together and cleaned the dining room table off, covered it and am set for painting tonight.

The top and one other shelf is not pictured.  Prime and painting today!!

Easy Street Update 1/13

Hey all,

Got the "B" block done today.  Here is what it is looking like with things sewn together.  Took this with my iPhone so it is a little blurry.  

Terry

One step forward, two back

Hey all,

Have you ever had a day where everything you did, you had to redo?  That was my day yesterday.  I was working on the Easy Street Mystery by Bonnie Hunter and every block or triangle I made, I had to rip apart as one or more pieces was orientated in the wrong direction.  I ended up completing three setting triangles and two A blocks, but for the amount of time I was sewing I should have had a lot more done.  Ugh.

In the meantime, I misplaced my school room keys the Wednesday before Christmas break and still have not found them.  I hate looking for things, and the longer they are gone, the more time I am wasting.  I did finally tell an administrator they were missing, because usually when you confess, then they turn up...not so this time.  I have tried my mother's "think back" system that usually works but alas, no keys.  So lately I feel like I am stuck in the mud of life.  Somebody send in the tow!!

I am going to work on something besides Easy Street today after church...maybe a break will help me get my mojo back.

AAQI Update 1/11

All of my quilts are on the for sale page.  If you are interested in purchasing a quilt for AAQI  follow the link here and feel free the purchase one of mine or one of the many other awesome quilts providing funds for research. 12,484 - Remember the Score 12,485 - Basket of Flowers Postcard 12,487 - Columbus, MS Possum Town Postcard 12,486 - Railroad Bridge, Columbus, MS Postcard

Sunday plans

Hey all,

Made plans for the MQA meeting this morning and will have to allocate a whole lot more time for lesson planning...they are really requiring them to be much more extensive than before.  

I hope I can get to a place where I can get these done during the work week.  I sure do hate having to do them on Sunday afternoons.  

If I finish I will be working on the pigeon forge challenge.

Have a great day!!

AAQI Update

Hey all,

My quilts have pictures up, but are still in the Waiting for assignment page.... you can click on the picture and it will take you to the AAQI.

12,484 - Remember the Score
12,485 - Basket of Flowers Postcard 12,487 - Columbus, MS Possum Town Postcard 12,486 - Railroad Bridge, Columbus, MS Postcard Since I updated last, Juila's quilt sold.  So that is 4 of our groups that had sold. These other great quilts, from our MQA group are still for sale, and many others 12,476 - Changing Directions $40.00 12,477 - A Different Path $40.00 12,479 - Uneven Lines of Life $40.00 12,481 - Stop and Smell the Rose $40.00 12,482 - Flowers in the Tree $55.00 12,483 - Hope For A Cure $40.00

Christmas Trip to New Orleans

Hey all,

While Will and Celeste were home, we took a quick trip to the Big Easy...enjoying the atmosphere, food, museums and shopping.

Here are some pics from the trip.

Grilled oysters at Acme Oyster House

Will, the brave, eating a worm.

at the insect museum

blue dogs

funky signs

 Beignets at Cafe du Monte

Katrina sculpture