Saturday, May 25, 2013

Vacation Time!

I just found out that my local quilt group will be meeting next Saturday, June 1! Boo Hoo!
I will be leaving on Saturday for California! YAY! My oldest granddaughter is graduating from 8th grade. Can't miss that!! She has grown so fast since we left California!

I hate missing the quilt meeting, but there will be more meetings but not more 8th grade graduations!

I worked on my string basket weave quilt blocks and got 10 more done today. I also cut more strips from my scraps. I need to get to my other stash in the little trailer to get other fabric for strips so I can get more variety in the blocks. I keep seeing the same fabric in the blocks and I want it to have a lot of variety. So tomorrow I go rummaging in the little trailer that I use for storage. LOL! I will be knee deep in fabric looking for strange, different and wonderful patterns of fabric!!

My husband and friends have almost finished building our storage shed .. . YAY! Then all will be neatly piled into that building and goodby old little trailer that barely holds anything..

The weather has been reallly nice the last few days. Nice sun, a little sprinkle here and there and a gentle wind to cool everything.  My trees are starting to leaf, a little late this year. That's because spring came late this year, it's been a very cold winter but very dry, virtually no snow this past winter and now no rain. We need rain, this will be the fourth year of our drought in New Mexico.

I also worked on hand quilting the baby quilt for our neighbors great granddaughter expected in August or September.

So all in all it was a productive day!
Keep on quilting everyone!


Friday, May 24, 2013

Quilts, Quilts and more . . .

Today I have to finish cutting orders for Freezer Paper Hexagons that I have pending. I sell these in different sizes on my website www.avelisquilts.com

I use heavy duty Freezer Paper for the hexagons so that they last through several applications to fabric. The hexagons also have 2 little holes in the middle. When the hexagons no longer stick to the fabric, you can place a pin through the holes and keep using them over and over. There are different sizes in different package amounts . . . 25, 50, 100 pieces.

These freezer paper hexagons have become very popular lately because they are so easy to use. Just iron them on to the fabric and you are ready to cut. Once ironed on, they will not shift when you are sewing them.

I personally use the one inch size for the quilt I am working on. I always have a hand project with me to work on and the "Insanity Quilt" is my latest hand project.

At first, I thought I would make a few hexagons and put the rosettes together as I go. But, now I am making hexagons and putting them in the cardboard container I make out of cereal boxes. I sort the completed hexagons by fabric pattern. Since I now have several of these containers full of hexagons, I am reaching a point where I want to start making the rosettes and putting the quilt together. It will be fun to see this quilt grow.  Of course it is stitched by hand only, so it will be slow going!

The hexagon box pattern that I use to make cereal box container is available for free. If you wish to use this pattern, just email me with your email address and I will send you a copy.

Happy Quilting!


Thursday, May 23, 2013

A New Day! New Blog!

What a beautiful Day in Guadalupita, NM, USA!

I have decided to start a blog here on blogger as it seems no one is reading the blog i have on my website . . . www.avelisquilts.com. This is my first post.

I will generally be talking about quilting, specials on my website and life in general in the mountains of New Mexico, USA!


Well, here we are just a few days away from Memorial Day, 2013! 

How quickly the year has gone!  We are just barely starting to warm up here in the mountains of New Mexico.  My apple trees are just barely starting to leaf out. Still no significant amount of rain. We have not had more than a mere sprinkle here and there. I wonder if the temperatures will be as high as usual this summer??


I am still working on the string quilt and have made an additional 100 blocks. This type of block is so simple and so quick that I am able to make 10 blocks a day.  Of course, they are small blocks . . . only 4 5/8 inches square, but they make a darling quilt!  I am so anxious to see the whole quilt put together.

I set up my new quilting frame and it is waiting for the string quilt. I still haven't decided if I am going to hand quilt it or just tie it with silk ribbon. I am kind of leaning towards tying it with silk ribbon because it will add a beautiful dimension to the quilt -- all those cute little bows. I also dread hand quilting through all those seams. Each block has at least 5 strips of fabric, so that means 5 seams!

I guess, I will wait until its on the quilt frame to decide!  LOL!!