A Very Small Quilt Show!

No stitchin got done this week. We spent our last days in Biloxi getting ready to roll down the road. We also had some excitement. On the week-ends our son John goes to our house and calls me with mail. He also checks the answering machine. He said a message from my uncle was on it and all it said was "it's Uncle Emil and I am in trouble." The message was left on Thursday. He has my cell number but he called the house for some reason. I called and called him but no answer. Called his apartment manager and she had not seen him since Thursday. She can not go in unless a family member is there. I called hospitals and no one had him as a patient. It was decided to call the police to do a well being visit. When I called them they said an ambulance call was made on Saturday for him.. I told them that I called the hospital and they did not have him as a patient. They called the hospital but the computer system was down so they could not tell them if he was discharged or transfered. So an officer was sent to the apartment. The manager let him in and he was not there. His car was there but not him. SO, I called the hospital again and talked to a nurse supervisor.  Since the computers were down she could not acess his Privacy Act form that allows her to give me information on him. About 45 minutes later, when computers were up again, she called and told me he had been transfered to another hospital due to his critical condition and I would have to call them to get futher information. I called. He has congestive heart failure and pneumonia and was on a ventilater to help him breath! His condition was "just ok". WOW! We decided that on Friday we would probably be heading straight home. As the week went on he improved, ALOT. He went off the ventilater on Wednesday, was eating like a horse and they would move him out of CCU the next day into a medical room. He got moved on Thursday and is doing wonderful. So we are back to our orginial plan and we will be home in about 10 days.

So, on Friday we left Biloxi and drove the 68 miles to Fountainebleau State Park in Mandeville. We love this park. Upon check in,  I noticed that on Sunday they were having a small quilt show and demonstrations at the visitor center. It was being put on by the Hosanna Quilters. Hosanna quilters meet weekly at Hosanna church and make donation quilts. Each year they make and deliver over 300 quilts. I have gone to this quilt group a number of times in the past. They had a small showing of quilts. Some of which, are donation quilts and some personal quilts. Here is a quick peek.

This is "Insanity". Those squares are folded little squares of fabric to look like prairie points, then sewn to another square and so forth. I had a hard time understanding exactly how it was worked, but it was interesting.

These 2 quilts are over 100 years old. Quilter Pat brough them to show. She is documenting them, so as they get passed down the history goes with them. Aren't they lovely? What a treasure.

Look at this flag quilt. It was found in a box of donated fabric to the group.Can you believe it? Since they tie all the donation quilts, it was decided that this one deserved to be machine quilted. One of the quilters took it home and machine quilted and finished it off.

What a lovely basket. Applique' and tiny little yo-yo's. Done on silky fabric. Bet that was fun!!!

This Stained Galss quilt was beautiful. The quilter that made it was not there so I could not get a full picture of it. Only the quilter could hold up their quilts.

A darling baby quilt.

A Disappearing 9 patch that is a donation quilt.

Look at this lovely Wedding Ring quilt. To bad this is NOT a donation quilt. Those are my wedding colors. I would gladly take this as donation. LOL!

                                        Very colorful Cathedral Windows. This is awesome!

These are pieces from a Crazy Quilt made in 1894! I wonder who d.p. is?

This was also found in donation box of fabric.

There you have it. A small show but yet exciting and some history also.

We have friends here at Fountainebleau so I am sure no quilting will be done while here. We are going on a swamp tour on Tuesday. I wonder how many "gaters" we will see?

Till next time...Enjoy!

Small Quilts

I decided that while we were "snow birding" this winter I would  just make small quilts. One of our LQS went out of business this past fall. I purchased a number of Snap Sacks. I mean, who could pass up 60% off!  Snap Sacks are a little paper lunch bag filled with a pattern and fabric. Everything is included....fabric for the top, the backing and binding. They make a small quilt and finish quite quickly.

The first one I made is called Autumn Patches and finishes at 14 x 19.  A nice table topper.

Next I made Simplicity. It finished at 15 x 18.

Last I made  Dutch Treat. It finishes at 12 x 26.

Sew, those are 3 of the Snap Sacks I made so far. Take a good look at them and see which one is pieced wrong. Yup, wrong. I did not notice till I had it all done. How did that happen?  Ha! It said to piece according to the  "picture" and I followed a diagram in the directions that was for pressing seams.  Dang! I was not about to rip out binding, quiting and rip it all apart. So it will remain wrong. Lesson learned. Did you figure it out which one??

I also made other small things. Such as this dresden candle mat.

I had made another one of these in Christmas fabrics this past December but, I did not take a picture of it. :(

A friend had shown me paper piecing and I found a pattern for a pin cushion and made this. It is not done yet. I am waiting till I get home to finish and fill it.

I really like the paper piecing and would love to make this block much bigger. It finished at 5x5.

I have another small quilt I am still working on. I have it all pieced and I am hand quilting it. I will show a picture once that is done.

We have been enjoying sunny and warm weather here in Biloxi. Although, yesterday (Sunday) it was 3 degrees warmer at home, in Wisconsin, than it was here. What's up with that? They have been having very unusual warm weather for March. I wonder what that means for April or what our summer will be like.

We leave here this Friday and start our trek home. Plan to be home in the first week of April.

We have errands to finish up, friends to say farewell to and getting the coach ready to roll. Not much sewing will be done this week.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to Denise at http://daneesey.blogspot.com/ for spreading the word about my blog. Hugs to you, girlfriend. We have never met but it sure feels like we have been friends forever.

Till next time.

A bit more about me

I am a wife. Married 32 years to a man that chased me down like I was the run away frosting to his cake! I actually was not sure if I wanted to get involved with a man that was divorced and had a child. I think I fell in love with his son before I did him! What an adorable lovable child. When we married he became our son. He is never referred to as a step son.
I am a mother. Two wonderful boys that I love equally. They are be 18 years apart. ( we needed the tax deduction. LOL!)
I am a grandmother to Alex and Rachel. The cutest grand kids I ever had! ( Looking forward to more now that young son is married. :) )
I am a mother-in -law that loves those girls like they are my own.
I am retired. Well, actually, I am NOT old enough to retire. A benefit of being married to an older man.
I live in Wisconsin. Wausau. Right in the middle of the state.
We are snowbirds. Yes, we leave the wonders of the "winter wonderland" in search of sun and warmer weather. We have an RV that we spend our winters in. I have all the amenities of home, except on a smaller scale.
Right now we are in Biloxi, MS.. This is our first winter in the south. We usually winter in AZ.. The rising prices of gas, food and campground fees made us change our migration along with health issues. After all , I do need money for fabric!
I "sew" enjoy quilting.  Cutting up a perfectly beautiful piece of material and sewing back together to make something even more beautiful is awesome. The joy and pride, once that last stitch is done in a binding, and I stand back to look at what I have made, is just outstanding. At that point, you wish everyone you knew was there to share that moment.
I also putter in gardening. I say "putter" because I am really not into it. It makes the yard look good, nuff said!

Let me introduce you to my family.

My "hubby guy"

He looks up quilt shops, enters them into his GPS, and takes me to buy the fabric that I hoard!

What a guy!

                                   Oldest son Richard. A very proud father to his children.

Richards wife, Rosalie. Oh, I wish you could hear her sing!

Grandson, Alex. He is just a happy guy!

Granddaughter, Rachel. The gymnast!

Our youngest son John. He knows how to make me laugh. On his wedding day to Sara. Sara is the family cheesecake maker.She is responsible for my weight gain!

So there you have it ...my family. Oh wait, you say you want to see me?

Well, Here I am....cheesecake cheeks and all!

Hoping you enjoyed this peek into my life and I didn't scare you away!

Have a wonderful week-end.

I'll be back!

A little about me!

Here we go! Does every new blogger start out wondering, How do I do this?  Where do I start? Well, I will start by telling you when and how I got into quilting.
A friend kept telling me we should take a quilting class. I finally give in and signed for a class. Guess what? She never showed for any of the classes! After the first class I was hooked. Joan, our instructor, was so informative and fun. She made the process not only look easy but fun. At the end of the 6 weeks I had my first quilt and a huge desire for more.

This is the result of that class.  A small quilt that I just love.











While taking this class, hanging on the wall next to me was another quilt I just loved. I picked up the pattern, fabrics and away I went. I cut, I pieced and sewed it all together and this is what I got.
Lightning Strike is the pattern and I love it. Another friend does long arm quilting and she quilted it for me. Here is a picture of it. It is also the quilt in my header.
                                                               

So, if anyone is out there, reading this, come on back. I will show you more.