Where is everybody?

[Sherry B.]

Wow, Margo and Rita! You both do such beautiful work!

[Lois B.]

I have been busy working on projects that I need to share. I am way, way behind on posting Mug Rugs. Just finsihed with summer house guest stuff and need to prepare to travel. Completed a project that was filled with skills i learn from TQS and want to blog about it. Why, just why do I give things away before I take all the photos I need for blogging. I need to get myself more organized. You'll be seeing more of me, I promise.

[Lois B.]

Glad to see so many people are quilting. Lovely quilt Margo and Rita. I have been working on UFO's. Have finished some and hope to get pictures up soon. Still have over half of my Dear Jane quilt to hand quilt. Had to put it up for while, since hurting my back in January, it has been hard to handle it, since I am quilting it on a hoop. I have to figure out a set up so I do not hurt my back when I move it around. Getting ready for a family reunion next week. Looking forward to see everyone.

Margarita

[Annis C.]

Beautiful quilts everyone. Those house blocks look like fun. If only I had the time. My goal this year is to continue finishing as many WIP's as I can or if I do make new quilts, to use mostly fabric from my stash. Probably most of the rest of this year will be watching my retreat building change from an ugly duckling into a swan. This is how it looks now. With a little (or maybe a lot) of imagination you can picture the dining room tables to the right of the door in the center and quilts hanging on the walls. I now know a little about how to patch concrete walls. The dark patch on the upper left corner was an opening a few days ago. They covered the opening with wood and poured concrete into it. The overhead doors in the front and back of the building have been removed and new walls poured on the floor to take their place. You can see the one in the front. There are still lots of windows to cut openings for and as you can see it still needs a roof.

[wendy w.]

Annis that's massive. I can't quite see your vision but feel your excitement. You must show us this picture again when the features are there.

I think you've all been beavering away enough to make up for me I love your idea Rita those houses can be made as we work on other things, I'm looking forward to how you'll make it work.

My son is now married it was an amazing happy day that went really smoothly I'll do a blog this week to share some pictures then post a challenge on the Chinese Whispers thread for anyone to join in if they want

[Lois B.]

Wendy, looking forward to the wedding blog and the challenge.

[ANNE E.]

I love all the quilts shown, Rita and Margo what gorgeous quilts, I'm afraid I WASTE too much time playing with the computer.
I must organise spend more time at the sewing machine.
Anne

[Susan B.]

It's humbling to see how productive Margo are Rita are with turning out quilts! I think Anne is right, spending time on the computer is a time-eater.

[Geneva C.]

Wow! What fun to see what everyone is working on! I don't know if you remember but last January I started cutting 8"x8" and 6" x 9" pieces of every batik I had. I sub cut them into squares and triangles to make the economy block. I knew this would take awhile.... about 3 months! Ritzy was right. It hurt my neck and shoulder to do too much. But at least I was playing with fabric. And "packing" it as I went along. There turned out to be over 360 fabrics and I have 2 sets now. So, for a reward for unpacking I sew a couple blocks. It is fun to put the different fabrics together and watch the squares turn out. So far I have around 120 blocks done. They are 5" square. As soon as I get a design wall up, I'll take a picture and post it.

Sherry, yes I have been to the quilt shop in Prosser. It is amazing! That woman is a quilt fabric hoarder, much to our benefit! She has over 10,000 bolts. Fabric is crammed in every nook and cranny. The front part is an old house. There is fabric in the bathroom, kitchen, hallways, everywhere. She built a back building which is crammed with fabric also. I love it!

I love everyone's quilts! They inspire me!

Rita, I like your idea of a swap or something with the house blocks. What size are they?

I am reading the August issue of The Quilt Life. There is an interesting article about Stephanie Serrano who lives in Hilo, Hawaii. http://www.venusdehilo.com. She has a unique Round Robin thing going on. http://www.venusdehilo.com/improvi-robin/ . We could do something similar. But it would cost money for mailing.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I love chatting with you all and enjoy so much hearing/seeing what you are up too!

Take care,

Geneva

[Nancy R.]

What beautiful quilts, Margo and Rita! You have both been very productive!

A house block swap would be a lot of fun! Perhaps it could be run like the mug rug exchange? People could just be responsible for arranging their own exchanges. It would be more expensive for postage, but would require no central organization and each individual could decide how many blocks they want to exchange. But we might also need to add deadlines or people might never have their blocks so they can make their quilts.

I'm looking forward to the next Chinese Whispers challenge!!

[Robin G.]

Good to "see" you, Geneva, and I'm happy to hear you are moved and somewhat settled. :wink: The Venus de Hilo swap sounds quite fun. It would be fun to do something like that. I've been wanted to become involved in some sort of round-robin swap, and I like the idea of fewer rules and more freedom to play, and the mystery of not knowing what's going to come back. A really fun way to use up scraps! I think I missed something, however—what is the economy block?

[Charae H.]

A house block swap sounds great to me, too! No ideas on how to set it up, though!

[Annis C.]

I hung 2 quilts today after sewing on hanging sleeves. The sunflower quilt was started at a quilt guild meeting and finished in 2006 and is at the back door in the laundry room. The twisted log cabin was made in 2008 and is hanging above a desk in my soon to be classroom. I hope to find homes for more quilts soon.

[Beverly C.]

Robin, the economy block is a free pattern on Craftsy - 5 1/2 inch block. There's also a paper-pieced download for the same block.

[E.M. T.]

Annis..Quilts are wonderful, but I want to know about the hanger holding the Log Cabin???? :shock: