Moonglow Won!!!

It's been hard getting back to "ordinary" life and blogging.  

I worked practically non-stop for over 2 weeks on the quilting for Moonglow so I could enter it in the local Oktoberfest Quilt Show, and I am happy to report that I made it!  I skidded in just 1-1/2 hours before deadline to register both Moonglow and Rainbow Pineapples.....  and they both took 1st Place ribbons in their categories!!!

 This event is sponsored by Wilson Bank, and they provide the ribbons 

which are all the colors of the bank - burgundy and gold.

I'm so Happy!!!!

I'll share more about Moonglow and the quilting process with some pictures later this week.  

The first day after I finished, I worked as a scribe for the Judge, so I was able to be there and hear her comments about both quilts.  She used a 1-4 scale, with 1 being "Best", 2 being "Very Good", 3 being "Good", and 4 being "Fair".  Moonglow scored a "1" on all points - Color & Design, Piecing/Applique, Quilting, and Binding.  Woohoo!!!!  Looks like all that hard work and focus really paid off :*D  There are things that I might have done differently if I had had more time, but overall I am very happy with the quilt and will very much enjoy seeing it on my bed every day.

Rainbow Pineapples scored a 1 for both Color & Design and Piecing.  She gave me a 2 on Quilting because she said it was just "sufficient" for the quilt.  She was right.  I really didn't do a lot of quilting on it because it is small and it's a wall quilt, so it didn't need a whole lot.

The second day after I finished quilting Moonglow .... I did NOTHING!!!  Seriously, ya'll... I didn't do anything at all.  I was whooped!  I piled up in my recliner with my cuddly rag quilt covering me and started a new pair of socks.  And I watched 4 episodes of Revolution in a row LOL!!!  It's been a low-key weekend for me, but yesterday I began to get my energy back and spent a good part of the day in my sewing studio straightening things back up after the quilting marathon and getting it back in order.

Then today I started a new project!  

(Getting that October NewFO taken care of instead of waiting until the last day - LOL!!!)  

One of the blogs I love to follow for her amazing eye candy is Terri Stegmiller - an amazing artist and fiber art quilter!  You can visit her wonderful Blog by clicking HERE.  You can also find her on Facebook HERE, and she has some absolutely gorgeous things for sale in her Etsy shop HERE!

Not long ago, Terri put out the call for a few pattern designers.  I know!  I have SO MUCH going on!!!  But I'm telling you, Terri's designs are so marvelous that I just couldn't resist throwing my name in the hat!  And just in case that doesn't convince you, would you believe the designs had cats in them?  Yep, resistance had no chance at all!!!  :*D

"Paws in the Garden" by Terri Stegmiller

Once I saw Terri's "Paws in the Garden", I just had to play with it!  Don't you love the expressions on these cuties' faces?  The lids on their eyes is a genius touch - it gives them so much purrsonality :*)  I spent a few very happy hours today working with the pattern to get it to the size I need for my planned project - what fun!!!   Of course, Terri is a mixed-media artist, so her rendition of the pattern was done with hand-died and stenciled fabrics (that she did herself of course), and lots of embellishments.  Mine will be a little tamer, but I think it will end up being just as beautiful in its own way - I hope it will, anyway :*D  Terri wanted us to do "our own thing" so she could get different looks for the designs, so I'm just doing my thing and having a ball!!!

As for the rest of my Design Wall, it is currently empty.  But of course that doesn't mean I don't have lots of things in progress.  For our upcoming visit to family in November, I'll finish up Genevieve's Banners baby quilt, as well as a new bib for her.  I found this pattern while at Runaway and couldn't resist making one for our little girl, who is now a big girl at six months old!

I'm having a hard time deciding which one to make, so don't be surprised if she gets more than one LOL!!!

I also want to take some hand-sewn gifts for my daughter-in-law's baby shower for our newest baby boy on the way around Christmas time.  Among the items I hope to have for the shower will be some over-sized flannel receiving blankets from some fun fabrics I've been saving in my stash for just such an occasion ....

Aren't they cute????  I think Anna will like them, and I'm pretty sure Cooper will enjoy their cheerful color in his new world :*D

I also have several gifts I'm making for other loved ones that I just can't share right now.... you know how that goes, right?  I'm going to give my October Get It Done list a good look-over to see if I need to adjust anything so I can focus on these things right now.

What are you focusing on in your sewing room?  Is your Design Wall full of fun things, or is it empty like mine?  Please join me in sharing your current projects at Judy's Patchwork Times linky party!  I'll see you there!!!

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

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Rainbow Pineapples are in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Have you been over to Amy's Creative Side to check out all the wonderful quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival?  If not, you definitely need to go!  But before you do, I'd love for you to get one more little peek at my entry in the ROYGBIV Category -

Rainbow Pineapples of course!

This scrap quilt was my project last year for SoScrappy's 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Each month, Angela announced a color, and those of us participating made blocks from our scraps of that color.  I used my crumbs.  These little pineapples only finish at 3-3/4 inches!!!  The entire quilt is only 21" square :*)

I made this quilt without a pattern after seeing a quilt on Pinterest that I loved.  

It was made by Barbara Polston and she called hers Birds Fly Over the Rainbow.

Each month I made 2 blocks from the color of the month....see those little fussy-cut centers? *cute*

And I made a paper-piecing pattern for the tiny flying geese to go around the borders....

I have to say, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out!!!

This past week, I took the quilt top to retreat and quilted it with my little Bernina... mostly stitch-in-the-ditch, with a little FMQ feathering on the corners without flying geese.  You can only see the feathers in bright light like this which washes out the color, but I was happy with them nonetheless.

......then I put the binding on yesterday ....all by machine.

And this is the fun print I used for the backing....

This is my favorite block....♥♥♥

I love the secondary designs you get from Pineapple blocks, don't you?

I hope you take time to look at some of the other fun things I've been up to here at A Quilt and A Prayer!  You can click on the HOME button at the top of the blog to read some recent posts, or you can click on the Rainbow Scrap Challenge or NewFO Challenge buttons - both really fun activities that I'm participating in this year.

Now, be sure to go and check out all the other great quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival!!!!

And if you feel so inclined, I sure would appreciate your vote for Rainbow Pineapples HERE!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Back from the Rooster!!!

It doesn't seem like I've been home at all these past few months!  And it has taken a toll on my blogging, of course.  It always takes me a few days to recuperate before I'm able to get back to blogging.  I apologize for being MIA so much lately, but hopefully these great pictures from our retreat this past week at Red Rooster Retreat in Alabama will mollify you enough to keep you from jumping ship! =^..^=  Warning - this is a long post with lots of pictures!

First of all..... one of the BEST reasons to go the the Red Rooster is the FOOD!!!

Does this look yummy scrumptious, or what?  Oh yes, we chowed down!!!!

All the meals at the Rooster are delicious and hand cooked by Jennifer herself.  She's an excellent cook and loves to cook everything fresh and from scratch.  One dessert was strawberry shortcake, with homemade shortcake and from-scratch whipped cream - YUM!!!  Sorry, I didn't get a picture of that - it was gone before I could even think about a picture LOL!!!

The other great thing about the Rooster is the SPACE!!!

The red arrow shows you where I was sitting - 

when I wasn't eating, or taking pictures, or visiting, or - well you get the idea!  LOL!!!

I was pretty darn productive at this retreat which made me a happy girl!!!  You know how sometimes you go on retreat, and all you seem to get done is a lot eating and sleeping and talking?  Me too!  But not this time...

I started out by quilting my Rainbow Pineapples.  First I stitched in the ditch around each all the borders and then around each pineapple.  The only other quilting I did in the center was to stitch around the center pineapple square for stability.

My quilting gloves are $1.00 gardening gloves from the Dollar Store with the fingers cut off :*D

Then I did a simple freemotion feather in each black corner, which was pretty much wasted effort since you can only see it in the right light....but I was happy with the effect.

I hope to get the binding on it this weekend, and I'll show a final reveal then :*)  

After that, I got caught up on my Piecemaker's Year-Long Mystery Quilt called Baubles and Beads.  We are almost done with this mystery - I finished up Clue #14 at retreat.....

Chain-piecing Clue #13

The clues are coming together!!!  I just love these soft batiks :*)

And last, but certainly not least, I got busy on my Amish Beauties blocks!  First, I had to take apart the two blocks I made in Gatlinburg :(  I was using my new-to-me Bernina 180 for the first time and didn't have my 1/4" seam just right, so they came out almost a quarter inch too small and the pieces didn't fit together very well....

One of these days I'll learn to check that 1/4" inch!!!!  So I did a lot of this first.....

But then I got down to business and eventually I ended up with this.... 11 (almost perfect) blocks complete - WHOOHOO!!!!!!

I'm planning to make 16 blocks for a 4x4 block wall hanging, so 5 more to go.  Since each of these blocks finishes at 6 inches, it won't be very large.  My fellow retreaters thought it would be great if I gave them each one of the blocks as a retreat favor..... you can imagine my response to that suggestion!  :*D

There were some old friends at this retreat as well as some new ones - always a great mix!!!

Our friend Lynn moved away last year to Seattle - we were overjoyed when she flew in for this retreat!  And she was very prolific too.  First she made this oh-so-cute 10-minute table runner.....

With these adorable snowman buttons on each end - too cute!!!!

 Then she started assembling some hand-embroided blocks into a quilt.....This is called Aunt Bea's Parlor from Black Cat Creations.

All of these wonderful 30's fabrics were eventually cut up ....

And used to border her blocks to make this!

She still has to put on the borders, but we all fell in love with this!

It was hard to say goodbye to her when we left, but she's assured us she's coming back in October for the next RRR - whoohoo!!!

We had a few newbies there too!  Cookie LOVED Red Rooster and has already put in her name to come back in October :*)  She worked on her Braid quilt - a Bonnie Hunter pattern - using lots of scraps that she traded with her weekly sewing group.

And Melissa finished up a top before the rest of us were even settled in good!

Her mom, Betty, worked with these wonderful fabrics - I tried really hard to figure out a way to steal them and not get caught ... but... no such luck!

Sandy made the most humongous t-shirt quilt I have ever seen!!!!  She started with this....

Then got busy doing this....

And finally ended up with this....  WOWZERS!!!!

And believe it or not, she had enough t-shirts left over to make another one!!!  Which she started when she finished this one - now that's a labor of love :*)

One of the fun things to look forward to at Red Rooster is flying your completed quilt top - TaDa! - from the top floor banister so everyone can see it.  Here is Joanne with her Red & Black Stars that she had begun at the last retreat.... these beauties just glow!!!

Mary quilted her Redwork Snowmen quilt on her Featherweight.....

I have these patterns too and plan to start stitching them up when I finish Promises & Borders.  I guess I failed to get a picture of the finished quilt, but I can assure you it was amazing!

Pat worked on her Scrappy Asian Road quilt....

...... which turned out gorgeous, of course!  All those sparkly oriental prints - YUM!!!

Carole worked on a gift quilt for a friend - aren't these fabrics just so soft & loverlie?

She had her blinged-out turtle pincushion that Lynn made for her on top of her sewing machine giving her daily support and inspiration :*)

Check out that doily shawl with pearls adorning her back - LOL!!!

And Rose stayed busy playing with some of the most gorgeous batik bricks I've seen in a while!!!  This is planned as a graduation gift, so she put the pedal to the metal and sewed busily the whole time!!!

Michelle decided to model the first strip of her Big Easy quilt...

I can't remember if this picture was before or after she fell on the stairs and put this big hole in the wall - fortunately no quilters were permanently harmed in the filming of this blog!!!

She survived to finish up her quilt top and proudly fly it from the bannister for her Ta-Da moment!

All in all, I think you can tell we had a WONDERFUL time at the Rooster!  It's good to be home though - it always is, isn't it?  I had a few lovely squishies waiting for me too....

I won these beautiful, sweet-smelling handmade soaps from my sweet friend Janet O who blogs over at Rogue Quilter....these are the BEST soaps!!!  Thank you so much Janet :*)

Then I found out I won a copy of the Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks #7 issue from Sassafrass Lane - along with four of their gorgeous patterns!!!  Whoohoo!!!!

I can't wait to dig into this great magazine and see all these wonderful blocks!  Shayla is the Editorial Assistant at Quiltmaker and her block is that cute little owl on the front page in the left side column - I will definitely be making a few of those so be on the lookout for them soon!  And if you are new to the Sassafrass Lane blog - be sure to go check them out HERE.  Shayla has a couple of really beautiful quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival right now :*)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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