Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop

Pieceful Gathering Quilt Shop

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sarah's June Quilt

Hello Pieceful Quilters:

Believe it or not, I actually got the top of a little quilt finished for Sarah Club sometime between my two weddings and a baby! It is still not quilted, but maybe this week I will get it done.

In case anyone missed the quilt from last month, I will show that first. The first one below is the antique quilt that we started with. It belongs to Deb, and it has been in her family for a long time.


Antique Broken Dishes Quilt

The pattern is sometimes called Broken Dishes, so we called our quilt Sarah's Broken Dishes:



Sarah's Broken Dishes - I think we captured the feeling of the original - don't you love it?
Kits are available on our website

This month we reproduced a quilt from my collection. The block, when it is pointing up, is called Little Pine Tree, but this quilter had her blocks pointing every which way. I think that when they point sideways they look like the Birds in the Air block, or maybe fishes. The fish thing didn't appeal to me, so I called it Birds in the Pines.


Carrie's Antique Quilt - Birds, Fishies, Pine Trees?


Sarah's Club Reproduction - Birds in the Pines
It is a bit smaller than the original at 23" x 19"!
Kits include Pattern, Backing and Binding for $29.99.


This four-patch on point is an antique doll quilt that I recently aquired. We are thinking about using it for one of our selections next session. We will be adding a daytime group for those of you that get nervous going out at night. Be sure to register on August 7th at our Quilt Show, Barbeque and Discount Registration Day!

Hope to see you all soon!

Carrie

Memories of the 4th

Hello Patriotic Quilters,

This weekend is the 4th of July, a time to celebrate America and to reflect on all the blessings that we have here in this great country.

My own reflections have to start with my dad. He is the most patriotic person I know, and he saw to it that his family celebrated the 4th in true American style. He would start the day by waking us up to a LOUD recording of Stars and Stripes Forever, followed by a bunch of other patriotic selections. After feeding us a wonderful brunch on the patio (Mom, like me, was not the head chef in our household), we would all pile into the car and head over to the Parade.

I grew up in Deerfield, which had a wonderful traditional parade. We had our spot - right in front of the Duraclean Store (it hasn't been that for years and years, but it will always be that to us). The store entrance was set into the building just enough to fit two lawn chairs and a cooler. The "sun-shy" would sit there, or we would all smush in if rain threatened. I only remember 1 complete rain-out in the 30 plus years that I attended. Back in the day, everyone knew my dad, and that spot was always open for us - more recently, we had to stop down there early in the morning to stake out our spot with old chairs and blankets. Deerfiend is not the sleepy little town I grew up in.
The parade was always magnificent - During the time I was growing up, Deerfield always hosted a Drum and Bugle competition the night before the parade, with groups from all over the country. The groups then appeared in the parade, so we got some amazing musical entertainment.

Remember when the kids used to wear clothes?

There was always a bunch of convertibles carrying the local politicians. We only liked the ones that threw out candy! The Shriners and Kiwanas (sp?) groups would have BIG men in tiny cars that looked like flying carpets or on tiny motorcycles. We often wondered how they got those guys in and out of those vehicles - mostly out... The lady that owned the local shape-up place always had a float full of fit people doing exercises - on hot days we wondered why they didn't keel over! We also wondered how the owner never seemed to get older or droopier - could it be she made a deal with the devil? Ok - I was already jealous of her figure by the time I was in High School. It's just not right!

After the parade we would head over to the local Country Club for great games, food and more food and finaly, the fireworks. That was back before people realized that goldfish had feelings, so they would release hundreds of them into the highly chlorinated pool for all of us kid to try and squish - I mean catch. Mom would hold a plastic bag full of fresh water for us to drop them into. By the end of the day, most of them were floaters - if it was hot we called them boil-in-bag fish. But at least one fish always survived in it's algi filled bowl - with little or no food - usually until the end of June of the following year. Goldfish are amazing little creatures, aren't they?

Besides the Goldfish Boil, there was the penny toss, races, pony rides and various other games we would play in order to win all kinds of cool platic junk. Remember the cheap paddleball games? After we lost the ball, dad kept the paddle in the linen closet to remind us to be good - and we never even considered reporting him for child abuse!

The club back then was awesome. I lived there in the summers. It was still a small town club - now it has moved and become pretty ritzy - I liked it better then. I believe the french fries there were probably what started me on the path to obesity - or it could be the beer in college. Hmmm - I guess we will never know for sure. Anyway, I digress.

The fireworks there were always the best - a perfect end to a perfect day. I remember watching them on a blanket on the driving range with my first summer love. He was so cute. I wonder what happened to him. Probably fat and bald - but then, so am I (fat that is).

My memories of the 4th will always remind me of what an awesome country we live in. Even though the 60's were not the best time in our history, we still managed to celebrate this great nation. I will never take this country for granted, for no matter what problems we may have at times, it is still the greatest nation on earth. This weekend on the 4th, try to forget your troubles, and remember how lucky we all are to be living here. I know I will!

Three Cheers for the Glorious 4th of July!

Carrie

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Mystery Quilt Photos

Hello Pieceful Quilters,

I know I promised photos of the quilts my Mystery Group made - for those of you that don't do Facebook yet. So without further ado - here they are:

First, and far from the best, is mine. Not nearly enough contrast to show the pattern. Luckily the class listened to me better than I listened to myself:




Carrie's Quilt - Almost Done! Just need to finish the binding.


Marcelline - hers is actually done and waiting to be quilted. I will get her picture with it when she comes to pick it up. It is gorgeous! (Of course I am not laughing in the back there)


Mary L - liked it so much, she did a baby one! (No, she's not an over-acheiver)


Mary K - You can really see the pattern in this one - Good Job!


Mary L2 - Gosh we had a lot of Marys! Maybe that's why we had such a Mary time!
Don't you love the way that cheddar pops in this one?


Laura - aren't those colors fabulous? Great border treatment!


Geri - Picked fabrics based on one border, and didn't like it in the end. It took serious courage to scrap the original border and choose a different one. It was worth the risk - this border really frames it nicely. Beautiful!


Marilyn - Beautiful colors, stunning quilt. Bravo!

The pictures really tell the story. The "Mary" group did an amazing job at making my pattern look faboo! Thanks to all that participated, and - I PROMISE next time the pieces will be bigger and not as numerous! It sure is pretty, though! Good Job!

Happy Quilting!

Carrie

Monday, June 21, 2010

A Quilter is Born!

Dear Pieceful Quilters,

Please welcome Samantha Quinn Reed! She was born on Thursday, June 17th at 11:55 pm, weighing 7lbs, 5oz - 19" long. Mom, Dad and Sam are all doing well, and Grama is as proud as she can be! I was thrilled to be included in the delivery and to see my first grandchild born. What an amazing experience! Below is a pictorial visit with Sam as she came into the world. If you don't find other people's babies all that exciting - feel free to log off now. Otherwise, enjoy my little family:


Let's get this show on the road!


Just a few minutes old


Daddy, Mark, and Sam - bonding


He's not crying - there's something in his eyes - hahaha!


Happy Mom holding her little sweetheart


They will let anyone in here!
Proud Grampa, Kate & Sam, Jen & Mike Quinn, John Quinn
So neat to have the whole family there when she was done.


Day 2 - Isn't she sweet?


So tiny!


Mom and Daughter


Grampa's Girl


Getting dressed to go home


Not too excited about her new clothes!


It takes a Mechanical Engineer to figure out one of these things!


Do I look excited? Too bad Sam didn't echo my enthusiasm!


First car ride. Sleeping already, and they haven't even started the car!
What a good baby!

That's all for now. I have a ton of stuff to catch up on here at the shop. We are actually open this week, and there are several things going on that I have to prepare for! No rest....

Happy Quilting,

Grama Carrie