Friday Classes...

After a long full night, we went straight to bed and then got up bright and shiny for our second day of classes..Sue Spargo! I had really been looking forward to this class for months and Sue didn't disappoint. In fact, I learned more about wool than I ever thought possible. How it's better to cut tiny thin stems on the bias, and the best wool for leaves and small things. Not to mention all the great ways to embellish a quilt...but I am getting ahead of myself.

I had gone into class thinking that I would probably buy the kit if offered from Sue because I had no wool at all until I arrived in Missouri. I had picked up a nice sample packet at Quilter's Station and I'd done quite a lot of shopping with Sharon and Carolyn, but I still knew those pieces weren't right for the backgrounds of 12 blocks. Sue hadn't made kits, but had instead packed her suitcase with the best supply of wool, silks, velvets, cottons, beads, threads, buttons, rickrack, cording, etc. More than I could stand to resist. She told us to grab what we liked and start cutting the sizes we wanted. I decided on a purple and green quilt with punches of color from all over...mostly very shocking colors. More like Sue's signature style. Chartreuse is one of my favorite colors!

These are the colors I have picked for my backgrounds: After looking I think a few more purples might wander in and remove a few greens, and the brownish one is supposed to be a bit lighter...but I'm not promising to stick a dark orange block in there too! My block is laying there with only half done...as it was when I left class at the end of the day.

After we had all picked our backgrounds and Sue had come around to each of us to make sure we loved our selections, she started us off on one block and gave us tips to getting that block done. The stems on my block are all cut attached and cut on the bias from a very tight weave wool. She then sat down with her ongoing quilt and showed us how to do each one of the embellishment stitches! How to couch under a tiny zig zag, do intricate bead work, how to vary your stitches so they don't appear boring. She was so gracious and shared everything she could think of that we might enjoy learning.

Once I had gotten my back I started picking up a few extra things for pop! Like fabulous teal, orange, bright claret maroon, chartreuse velvet, 2 funky cottons, and a nice green silk. Plus these bags of beads...enough that will last me the entire quilt and then some. The pictures isn't the greatest because of the reflection, but the colors are what I really wanted you to get. Those are the colors of my Flower Bed quilt. Now, I'll be on the look out for just the right funky fabric to fill in some blocks!

I also wanted to give you an idea of how fabulous out space was at the Baptist Church. I took this shot looking out of our classroom with Sue and onto the big main gymnasium where most of the classes were taking place. It was huge and plenty roomy for all the ironing stations, cutting stations, and sewing machines

Last but not least is my almost finished first block for the Flowerbed Quilt. I am waiting to find just the right color for the leaves to sew those down and then I have to sew the purple circles on the top. Who knows what I will do to embellish it further...beads around the blue centers of the flowers, rick rack and stitching down the leaves. Don't you just love them? Sue's idea. It's a very large plaid and you can get all sorts of color combinations with one piece of wool! Too Cool! Dinner at the Outback and we finally relaxed in our hotel and sewed a bit before passing out, we both needed it

Thursday's project finished...

Just wanted to put my finished class project on here for you to see from the first class. The American Welcome Mat by Lynn Hosford. Turned out quite fun to do and a good primer for sewing wool since I have the whole quilt to make from Sue's class.

Went to see the oncologist today with Mom and she's all set to begin chemo. Tuesday the 3rd, they put in her port for easy access to her arms viens and then Friday is her first chemo session. This is going to be a very long process I think.

Thursday night with the Quilting Babes!

I can't believe that I had all those lovely women right in Sharon's house and didn't take a single picture of all of us? Sad, but too true.

Sharon lead the car toward home after the last shop and we piled into her house ready for a rest. Her husband, who was just the sweetest guy, had everything ready for dinner, in the ovens and ready to go so we could do nothing but visit. Carol was already there with Shirley, waiting for us to arrive and the rest of the Quilting Babes showed up on cue one at a time. THIS was our surprise! It was regular stitch night for the Babes and Sharon had arranged to change nights and have it at her house and for the ladies to bring quilts for show and tell. They do marvelous work! The quilts always look fabulous in pictures, but in person you get to see the stitches and the largeness of most of them and it's simply wonderful. We had such a good time eating a wonderful Chicken quiche, salad and veggies...not to mention Carolyn's fantastic brownies for desert!

After dinner we got to go into the "stewdio" and learn a new trick that Sharon used for the great circle quilt that you can see here. A fool proof spectacular way to make round perfect circles that are perfect every time...no applique. I only wish I had thought to take pictures while we were all still at the house, but if you click on the link above the opening shot is of the whole group of Quilting Babes at their latest birthday quilt sewing. After everyone trickled out we sat down with Sharon and her husband and had a nice little talk that unfortunately had to end way too soon. We needed to head back. Since they had graciously picked us up at the hotel, Sharon and her hubby drove us all the way back to the hotel where we said our goodbyes.

This is Sharon and I. Be kind it was 10:30 at night after a very long day and we were tired. That's me in the white. Sharon, I had the most fun meeting you and spending time with your sewing group. Your home is just lovely and really reflects you. I'll leave you all with the picture of us in front of the watermelon quilt in Sharon's den. It's one of 3 made by Sharon, Ibby and Carolyn...it has quite a story behind it, but I'll let Sharon tell that one if she wants one day.

PS: The Angel Worry stone is in my purse where I will hold it any time I get too worried over the next few months of doctors and surgeries. Thanks for thinking of both of us.

Thursday afternoon shopping!

Let's face it, this will be a long post because it was a very long day. Good and full of fun, but long. When we left the Baptist church where all the classes were being held we drove down the road and called QuiltGranny Sharon and Carolyn who were picking us up at the hotel. There they were! After hugs for both, we dashed upstairs, threw in the class stuff and headed back out for the main event...SHOPPING!!!

Libby beat me to the punch again and has all the correct names of the shops on her blog post which you can read here. Once I see the shop and walk inside I can't be expected to remember things like names and ceilings...fabric fills my head and my eyes go wonky and I am intoxicated by the fabric and all the goodies. Tunnel vision over takes me and I see nothing but stuff I can't get in person here. We hit Jason's Deli for lunch and then went right for the first little shop in Eudora, Kansas. Very cute and full of the 30's prints I love. Now this was a primitive weekend, but I do love those 30's prints. The colors were fabulous!

These were the ones I picked up that day with the pattern that was placed so perfectly right beside all the fabric. These stores know what they are doing when they have the wonderful quilts made up and looking so pretty! I had to buy the pattern. I have a terrible time finding oranges locally and this little shop did not disappoint. I grabbed a FQ of each one and a few of the teals too. The little blue stack was found at the 3rd shop but I lumped them all together just for ease. I can't wait to have the time to start working on the blocks. It will be one of those lazy quilts where you do a block here and there.

Then we moved along to Lawrence, Kansas and the most fabulous store ever! Sarah's Fabrics was amazing! We went in the back door and I was again intoxicated. Floor to ceiling full of fabrics that are from all sorts of collections and era's. Sharon says they never discount or move older fabrics out so if it doesn't sell ...it doesn't leave. Anything older can be found here. The back corners had rows and rows of homespun and I was so overwhelmed I could hardly see them all. Quite frankly I'd need about 6 hours and several $1000's of dollars to do that store right. But I forced myself to shop with my meager limitations. *G*

The ladies were so helpful and sent us in any direction we needed. Libby was on the hunt for something in particular, but I was searching for anything homespun. Just seeing these in person is enough, but getting to pet them and compare the colors...YUM! I have to buy online and you aren't always sure of what you are getting. These are the ones I picked up...
Now if I had it to do over I think I would have gotten less of each and more variety. I think I got 3 and 4 yd pieces of each one. Something Lynda Hall said in class the 3rd day really stuck with me. She buys 1 yard pieces and generally never more because she said she likes to "run out and be forced to find something else to use along with the later pieces". I've never thought about it that way. The browns and the pink were something I had found at the local quilt show in 1/2 yard pieces and had NO idea how to ever find again. SO when I looked down and saw them sitting there...oh my, I was happy. The top piece is a pale aqua stripe and will be just right for something as will all the others. I have no plans for any of them except to use them. I also wanted Civil War fabrics in black. I am in a swap and sorely needed blacks for August swapping and the saleslady went around finding me these wonderful gems. CW blacks are hard to find and these will go a long way in many quilts.

Now please go read about Libby's brush with fame and meeting Barbara Brackman. She was so excited. Sadly, when she ran over to say I had missed her chance meeting and conversation, my response was "Who's Barbara Brackman?" I did mention I am new to primitives stuff right? I warned you I see only fabric right? I would have missed a big pink elephant walking in unless he had some fabric draped across his back!

After we left Sarah's we went across the street to another perfect little shop called Stitch on Needleworks where they had a bit of everything including wool! Sharon had graciously called ahead and asked them to have plenty of wool ready for us and they were more than happy to go in back and find any color we wanted. This stack includes the wool I got from Quilter's Station on the first night as well as at the wool at this shop. All lovely pieces that will show up in quilts, needle holders and sewing kits!

I was going to write about the entire day but just can't do it...it's too long and my neck is tired. I'll be back to finish the evening this afternoon. The fun we had getting to Sharon's house, seeing her friends, dinner, and our own personal truck show with the Quilting Babes!

Wednesday...Day One!

Finally the first post about this wonderful event...the 3rd annual Primitives of the Midwest. I'm sure I will gush a little too much but can't help it. It was, to put it very plainly...AMAZING! Nothing was left undone. Nothing was done half way. Everything from the name tags down was completed so perfectly and with such care that we couldn't have had a bad time if we tried. I think most of the people who read my blog also read Libby's blog so I won't go into a complete re-write of everything she said in her first post. You can read it here. I'd rather share my experiences with the event.

Having never been to any sort of event like this before, I was so excited to go and it did not disappoint. The flight in was long and after a short delay for the second leg from Atlanta, we finally landed a bit late, and by the time I had gotten my baggage and taken the tram to Libby's gate, she was just walking off her plane. Off we headed for 5 days of fun.

The first evening was so fun. We signed in at Quilter Station and received our goody boxes filled with a home made primitive journal, our name tags listing our class codes on lanyards, loads of chocolates and other goodies. I was in pig heaven looking around that shop. We don't have any local shops that carry homespun's and wool is non-existent in this area, so my eyes were as big as saucers. I picked up both kits made especially for this event by the shop, a bag of assorted wool, and about 6 FQ's of lovely brushed cottons. We stuffed our things in the car just in time to take our seats for the "show". Each teacher was introduced and showed their first quilts...*quite funny*..and then showed off the samples of the classes they were teaching. I will admit that I am very new to the primitive style of quilting and it's teachers and I knew some of the names but none of the faces, so I kept quiet and just drank all the information in like a sponge. We were then treated to a show by Marilyn and Minerva who make wool hook rugs...let me just say these ladies can make strands of wool look just like paintings! Like Libby, I won't show the pictures here because we were priviledged to take them for our own enjoyment only. We finally came back and hit the Outback for dinner at 9PM..*10pm to my tummy* and fell into bed exhausted. I know Libby must think I am a real nut, but the beds at this hotel were the best I have ever slept on. Best hotel ever!

Above is a picture of some of the stuff I got on my trip. I admit fully that I went hog wild...I knew I would. The fabric was from another day and I'll show it close-up on another day. In the basket is the Wool Sewing kit for Libby's class that I purchased from Cherie Ralston. I didn't take the class, but once I saw the project I knew I had to make one! The wool I picked up over 2 days, but most from that first night at Quilter's Station. I don't know how much wool I will work with in the future but it is delicious and fabulous for applique...no turning edges under! We received one book in our welcome packet, and I bought the other two. One about pin cushions from Sue Spargo and one called Wintergreen Threads by Need'l Love for the cover quilt. Also a kit made especially by the gals at Quilter's Station for this event...a tiny basket that gets stuffed and made into a fabulous wool pin cushion. I also wanted something cuter than a make-up bag to take class supplies in, so I picked up the red Singer tin. It was just too cute. No featherweights, I looked, but still perfect.

Thursday morning we headed out bright and early for the start of classes. My first class was with Lynn Hosford and was a cute American Welcome Mat. I learned one thing very early on...I am a SLOW sewer. Libby ran rings around me, as did most of my class mates. So you get to see the unfinished version. I think I'll work on this today, but it might not get finished. Eventually all my projects will be finished and shown as they get done...on my own time. Everything is tacked down and ready for sewing. The lines will be covered with flag poles and the pineapple will get sections and beads in each one. Then the whole mat gets another layer topped off with a pinked edging and button hole stitching. We had 5 people in the class and it was so fun and comfortable. I learned all about wool and what to do and not to do in 3 hours.

Both Libby and I had taken just a morning class on Thursday and that left the day for shopping! All that to come in another post!

Back from Primitives!

There's no place like home! After a fabulous trip and a very long day I finally got back in my state and back in my own home! Last night I was so pooped I wouldn't even attempted to ever look at the computer. I missed the sweetie too much. It will take all week to go through all the packages and stuff I bought, the projects, pictures, emails and what looks to be over 175 blog posts! I'll get to them all but I won't be able to comment on every one, though I would love to.

I got caught up on my Mom's condition and got full reports from my sister on all the visits I missed. Friday is the oncologist. Stage 3 A lung cancer. They plan a short chemo round and then removal of what's left of the tumor and nodes.

The laundry started last night and will continue today as will sorting out all my packages and purchases. The new wool that I found to be so delicious and had to have loads of.... the kits from the lovely teachers and classes I didn't get to take... and finishing all the projects from the classes that I was fortunate to spend time in. Those ladies were even more giving and wonderful than I could ever have imagined. Spending a whole day with Quiltgranny Sharon and her wonderful friend Carolyn, going all over Kansas to shops I only dreamed existed! We are severely wool and homespun challenged in my area. Best yet was getting to have the special honor of being one of the "Amazing Quilt Babes" for the night with Sharon and Carolyn's sewing group. Ladies, it was sheer heaven to meet you and get to see your quilts in person. You do fabulous work!

Best part of all was getting to meet Libby in person and doing all this great stuff with her. She deserves a medal for dealing with all my quirks and idiosyncrasies. It was the most fun I have had quilt wise in years! Everything down to the packaging of the kits was done above and beyond! No pictures yet, but I will share what I received from my lovely friends...

As well as being our chaperone's on the best fabric trip EVER, a fabulous dinner, and being such a wonderful friend, she offered to pack and ship these 2 bog boxes for me of all my purchases that day. Lucky too, since the suitcase was so packed that IF the airlines had attempted to search my checked bag, someone surely would have lost a limb! They arrived about 15 minutes ago and I can't wait to rip into them!
And last but not least by any means, was this lovely little quilt from Libby! All packaged up in a vacuum sealed bag smelling just like the Maxwell house coffee can. My very first experience with coffee dying. Hubby was in heaven with the smell. It's already found a place of honor on the living room wall!

Out for Retreat...

Well if you read Libby's blog, you know that in just less than one day we will be meeting up in Missouri for the Primitives of the Midwest!! A great weekend of classes. I can hardly wait. No pictures I guess. I could show you a fabulous picture of my neato bags but they would pale next to Libby's theme appropriate stuff so you see why I need the extra help that these classes will give me! I haven't been into the "primitive" style as long as she has been, but I am itching to catch up. I think I have all the airline regulations down and I've packed correctly. I have everything for 5 fun filled days of sewing and friendship and what I don't have I am sure to find for sale at all the fabulous shops!

Okay, I lied. I took a quick pic of the suitcase and bags set up on the bed. I think I am finally ready. My generic black suitcase, my tote and my cute purse.

Best part is that I get to meet and room with my good friend Libby, and I get to spend one day with Quiltgranny Sharon and her friend Carolyn shopping all the best haunts in the area! I plan to have the suitcase packed with goodies when I get back! I left shopping room thanks to a helpful hinter who shall remain nameless.

See ya'll back here on Sunday afternoon with loads of tales and pictures to show!