Baby Blankets, Thanksgiving & THE PIECAKEN

It never seems real to me how intense the prep work for the holidays can be. Days, perhaps weeks... go in to preparing for that one family gathering.

This time, it was Thanksgiving.
I had only one child who decided to make the journey home... so I was determined to maintain the level of tradition I had started years before to make her feel it was worth it.

On the quilting end of things... our modern guild held its first free sew day at our local shop. 
(Thank you A Nimble Thimble of Tyler, Texas).

The evening before, a distant family member in her late forties had her first child. 
(When I say distant, it is because I am still not fully sure how exactly my husband is related to her. But a baby at that age is certainly deserving of its own special quilt.

This now trumped my current project- completely ready for my sew day & now was added to that ever-growing WIP pile :(

We made a rushed trip to Jo-Ann's for fabrics late that evening... so I could prewash and cut strips before my sew day. 

Unfortunately for me... Mom's color's are mint, yellow, & gray. I like all three of those colors very much... just NOT TOGETHER!

Since I really was unsure what Mom (who I have never have met) considered mint- I decided on KONA MINT as the background. 
If it was wrong... I had their company to blame it on.

1 1/2" strips

I decided on the pick-up sticks pattern by Becky Goldsmith, I had worked on in a workshop a few weeks before.
It was mindless & would be relaxing... I thought.

After an entire day fighting it out with my Janome Jem...
missing my knee lift, the needle down position, a needle threader, a stable table and good iron & ironing board---- 
I remembered I had only completed 8 blocks at that full day workshop. 
Why had I not just gone with the standard 3 hour nine patch???

My lightweight easy to transport for workshops Janome Jem

"sew" far- "sew" good... just "sew" slowwwwww

After a sew day of free sew, chat, & determination

By days end, I was desperate for at least a few more fabric options and raided the shops fat quarters. Thankfully they came through.

I have wasted far too many hours thinking and sketching layouts. 
The original pattern used 36- 8 1/2 inch blocks to create a square quilt.

After 9 blocks, I realized it was too big... so I started obsessively manipulating to cut it down to a baby quilt size.

A rejected design...

after several manipulations of way too many layout option ideas...

Eventually I decided... I was shipping this off and would probably never see it again... so I would just make it fun and useful...

pinned & piecing

fully pieced

So, between basting the turkey & basting the now fully pieced quilt... I am ready to start the quilting.

Which brings me back to our very first Thanksgiving in our new kitchen.

Never wanting to miss an internet fad- my DH suddenly decided he needed to make a PieCaken. 
A what??? 
A pie- baked in a cake- covered in frosting. (Let's call it a diabetic coma producing salute to the tur-duc-hen)--- both of which should not be on anyones table!

flashback to childhood...

my eldest child still likes batter... be still me mommy heart

my darling hubby (DH) and his masterpiece

SO... While I am falling on my face... (Don't worry... I protected the pretty part with my chin!)...
Christening the new wood floors with sink splatter & mixer spew... 
Making stuffing, dressing & getting the bird ready to roast, 
cooking the sweet potatoes, the mushrooms & the rest of the glutenous feast... 

Me & my all-mighty Wolf oven... with it's own THERMOMETER 

& jazzy blue inside- welcoming it's first roast turkey!

He was busy with his pie-cake-ens. 
He was quite pleased with himself and made it practically a self portrait once he decorated with crushed oreos and bourbon frostings.

The PieCakeN

Meanwhile... I am roasting the turkey in my beautiful new convection oven. 
This beauty has every bell & whistle & does everything.

I followed Butterball's recipe for a convection oven turkey! (A first time for us ever cooking a turkey in a convection oven).

And then we waited... and waited... and waited. 
Guests arrived.
Most of the kitchen was cleaned.
Side dishes were beginning to dry out.
And we were opening another bottle of wine since we had no invented a new drinking game:
"A sip for each degree!"

Eventually I reached out to Butterball since we were now ways past their "estimated cook times".

at 5:10PM we had only reached 127*

My dinner was planned for 5PM... it got later and later...
SO finally... I reached out for help-
OR TRIED!

"Dear Butterball Hotline,
I have followed your directions for a succulent Thanksgiving Turkey in my new convection oven... 
4 hours later... 
We have still not reached a core temp of 180* and you closed at 7pm EST! You have reassured me online you are "committed to familial support"--- But- since you have already closed, I cannot enquire when the hell my "cook 2 1/2-3 1/2 hour bird will be done! You are NOT (like the president's turkey Abe) pardoned for this!!!
My guests are sipping wine at every degree increase! At this rate I shall run out of wine before we eat!!!
Sincerely,
Robyn-

They have still not responded to my message!

At 7:30 (nearly 5 hours later!)- we decided to take the now shrinking turkey out of the oven.
And while I must admit- it was indeed the most succulent turkey I have ever prepared... we never reached 180 degrees!

Finally ready to carve, I still had some rage

In the end the meal worked out and was overeaten by all

******************

SOOOOO:
This morning, after some more ranting on my part about my dinner frustrations, 
my DH said I must have misread something.

uh.... NO I DID NOT.

"Well, what did the oven manual say?"

"Oven manual? I told you, I cooked the butterball turkey with directions off the Butterball website!

I stormed off to do Black Friday internet shopping...
He reappeared a bit later.

(Perhaps I should have checked the oven manual after all...)

I DID follow all the Butterball guidelines. 
BUT-
remember when I said this beauty does everything and has every bell & whistle?
It also has lot's of cooking cycles. 
Had I of read IT'S manual, I might have remembered I needed the bake-convection-ROAST cycle.

oh crap... 
I will read the directions at Christmas... if I remember that is...

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving surrounded by laughter and loved ones. 
I missed mine far away and those no longer with us... but was grateful for those present. Especially when food was FINALLY SERVED 4 bottles of wine later!!!!

Pass the tums please 

WE are the TYLER MODERN QUILT GUILD

I am excited & ready to shout it off the rooftops.
After way too many hours, debates, struggles, & frustration...
And after focus, determination, perseverance, and belief we could succeed...

A town of talented- but quite traditional quilters now has a MODERN QUILT GUILD!

My friend Tricia Harvey got the ball rolling a year ago at a A Nimble Thimble, a local quilt shop in Tyler, Texas.

As a modern group- we were a small gathering of nontraditional quilters with ideas and eagerness to help support each other in creative goals.

And then--- we weren't. 

Now, I honestly can't pick a moment it happened... or a who changed things... or specifically a how.

Perhaps each of us found someone else to invite... and then they invited someone else?
But before we new it, we had over 40 people signed up on our mailing list, following our fb page, and showing up at meetings & sew days!!!

We were having growing pains... and it was time to take the leap forward. 

It takes a lot of work to start a new chapter of The Modern Quilt Guild!

After the initial contacts & meetings... you move forward in the planning stages and commit officers.

Next it's the official stuff. 
Determining the guilds goals & mission... 
Meeting frequency, location, planning events and such.

Dues had to be agreed upon & a bank account set up. You need this to apply for the 501(c)3 group exemption in taxes.

And lastly (And how I spent a better part of my week)... the bylaws.

The Modern Quilt Guild has a great example on their website as a sample... but we needed our own since we are a small starter chapter in a much smaller region than Austin.

The hours went by over coffee and sweets on Sunday...
Each of us had printed out other guild bylaws that were our "favorites" for ideas.
Alas... it seemed every bit of them was open to discussion, interpretation and reinterpretation until we made it ours.

Our wizard then assembled all the bits from the bylaws collected from "those other" guilds and then the things we created independently for ours.

And then I proofed-
and edited...

And proofed-
and edited...

And proofed-
and edited

And proofed- 
And---- And---- And--- Could it be?
I found no more spelling, grammar, fact, wordiness, or edits.
That was it--- we had BYLAWS!!!

Our wizard printed them out- and they were ready for distribution at our meeting last night.

Our officers were present and ready to serve! 
Tricia called the meeting to order after 90 minutes of socializing, sewing, shopping and quilters slowly meandering in. 
(I ended up taking the minutes because our secretary was running late- I hope I can read my own penmanship!)

Welcomes & announcements were made, soap to clearly layout our new agendas format. Next we moved on to a discussion of the progress we have made towards our goal of becoming a chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild.

Organization plans & bylaws were presented... and accepted.

We reviewed entries from our "logo challenge". Each sketch numbered to allow a private vote, our logos were placed out on a table for consideration. 
My design was actually chosen... but the colors are awful since I used what I had available. A computer artist in the group plans to scan it in and completely update and redesign it. She will bring back variations and we will make a final logo decision next meeting.

All that remained was membership.

As a startup guild, many of us are already individual members of national. It complicates things some & dues will have to be prorated in some way.
Our treasurer collected dues and we hoped to hit our ten new national member goal.

As of last night, we have 23 members of The Tyler Modern Quilt Guild... 
TWENTY-THREE!!! 
(Not too shabby for a small start up in a traditional town)

And surprisingly, when I stopped taking notes and looked at the faces of our founding members... I found a lot I knew from The Quilt Guild of East Texas... (what I call our traditional guild).
But many I did not know & look forward to getting to know them.

An hour later, show & tell began. 

I was glad I had not brought anything this month... there is so much talent in this group! It can be a bit intimidating at times... but mostly,
I am inspired by them.
I look forward to forming new friendships & strengthening some older ones.

As a Vice President, 
I plan to proudly encourage participation in the way we learn from each other.
Inspire one another 
& learn from one other.
And most of all...
We are going to have a kick-ass time!

Because... shout it from the rooftop...
THE TYLER MODERN QUILT GUILD HAS ARRIVED!!!

Some founding members of The Tyler Modern Quilt Guild

Race Cars & Pick-up Sticks

With the International Quilt Festival behind me, next it was my husbands turn.  
We flew to Las Vegas on Thursday and stayed for an extended weekend checking a goal off his "bucket list": 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Driving RACE CARS!!!

He has wanted to do this for a long time, so exhausted from festival... there I was, flying off again so he could partake in FANTASY RACING CAMP..

I spent most of the weekend sitting at the track observing & trying to amuse myself. 
I watched workshops on Craftsy, colored with Tula, and played more games of spider solitaire than anyone should ever play in a day!

A "high point" for me, included a helicopter ride allowing overhead city views for an evening between the city & the track.

Las Vegas from up above

Two days of defensive speed training exercises... and it was time for them to "qualify" for their race.

I was anxious beyond explanation.
There are reasons I am not married to a race car driver!

But he maintained control of his car... and by the end of the race- he and his teammate completed the race with a third place finish!

Lamborghini Gallardo 570-4 Super Trofeo Medal Ceremony

Home by midweek, (exhausted)- I knew I had a guild meeting Thursday featuring Becky Goldsmith with her program "It is not a quilt until it's Quilted".

0. 
   

Followed by a full day workshop requiring quite a bit of precuts... with her pattern Pick-up Sticks, sold at her company Pieceocake Designs. 

Becky Goldsmith's quilt: “pick up sticks”

featured in her book The Quilter’s Practical Guide to Color

Eventually though, I got it all done. 
(This required extra trips to my local shop after the measurements were wrong :(  )

I decided on a silver background & as many fabrics as I could gather with "words" for my strips.

All the strips were 1 1/2" wide...

But, after reevaluation, 

I decided the larger print and turquoise strips 

were just not right for this project...

I settled on 1 1/2" strips in shades of whites, blacks, & reds

36- 10" squares of Kona Silver

By 8:30AM the workshop was a go!
We were all set up in our "workspace" and ready to get piecing... 

We prepped 4 blocks at a time.

In total... 4 cuts per block with one wonky cut strip sewn at a time before next cut was made.

After all the piecing- the blocks are trimmed down to 8 1/2" squares.

 “pick up sticks” trimmed 8 1/2" block 

4 blocks pieced will create a large square.

4 blocks on design wall for “pick up sticks” 

4 blocks on design wall for “pick up sticks”

7 hours later in workshop “pick up sticks”...

After an entire day fighting it out with my Janome Jem, missing my knee lift, needle down position, a needle threader, stable table and good iron---- I completed only 8 blocks.

It is a simple technique and now that I've got, it would go much faster. (Especially with all the comforts of home!)

Hopefully I will keep motivated and create a throw... and it won't end up in the WIP pile.

Until next week,

Lamborghini Gallardo 570-4 Super Trofeo THIRD Place Trophy!

2015 Fall Quilt Festival: Part Two

So much to say... And, like so many other attendees trying to keep up with festival postings... 

It gets away from you. It is a feast for every sense and hard to truly describe by me in words for my blog. 

This was my third year fortunate enough to attend.

The week was exhausting... Probably longer than I had the energy to truly handle.

While also,

being shorter than one needs it to be to do it all.

You have no real choice, but to accept the fact- you can't. 

Take in all you can.

You are at the biggest quilt event there is. 

Enjoy every minute.

And hopefully... Come back next year....

So,

I am just going to add in a few pics from my last workshop & days in Houston. 

My final of 3 workshops was on Saturday. 

THE FINISH LINE— CREATIVE WAYS TO COMPLETE YOUR QUILT EDGES with Philippa Naylor

I had already spent 2 days with her earlier in the week.
This time, we spent our time on bindings, prairie points, and other unique decorative quilt dimensional additions...

Philippa & I posed with my completed samples

Later that day was their Halloween party. I got all "wicked"...

My goal was a sort of dame- ghoulish- darkish old victorian.

Instead, I was asked if I was a 'Harry Potter villains"... 

ummmm, is it a better costume that way? If so... ok.... let's go with that!

The crowd was filled with Halloween fun waiting in line!

The crowd was fun and ready to party. 

Good food, live band, lots of fun costumes!

They had a Photo Booth for ghoulish freebies

My final day, I spent back on showroom floor looking once again at some of my favorite quilts and obtaining close ups of eyeballs. 

(Still my week spot in portrait quilting)

Here are just a few closeups from very creative quilters: 

It rained sooooo much all week. 

Houston has NO drainage... Everything floods. I don't know how they survive. 

Hotel attached to convention center is the difference between being on time for workshops- and perhaps missing them completely...

This year was made even worse by the round the clock- all around the downtown construction...

lovely view from my window

I made it home Sunday night after flight delays between downpours... Exhausted!!! 

But grateful for the experiences and now, the memories. 

There is so very much to be gained at the international quilt festival.

The show, the workshops, the people you meet... And did I mention the shopping!!!

I shipped home a box to keep luggage checkable... 

And frankly, for later delivery so I could unwrap it like a new gift later in week!

Yesterday, my kitchen window seat cushions were finally completed!

The final project to complete our kitchen renovation! 

Window seat cushions finally in place :)

And today- it was back on another plane for a weekend with my DH...

It's his turn for a special adventure... And I am along for the "ride". 

Already, counting down until festival next year!

TY to my DH 

for another memorable 

International Quilt Festival experience!