Congratulations Rhianon - Third Place is excellent...

Thanks Again, Rhianon for allowing me to share your work with my readers! 

Rhianon placed third (out of over 60 entries) in the online contest HERE ...  Congratulations Rhianon!

From my homefront there has still been no quilting... However, MaryAnna has officially moved in.  She said goodbye to her Aunt and Uncle yesterday with the promise from them that she can come visit anytime.  There was a little apprehension and a little admitted fear, and a good case of the nerves.  She has wanted this for many years, but now that it is a reality, the reality of it has finally hit her.

We are excited to have her and I will post more later, but right now I must get to work and finish her room!  SO much has happened in the past week that I have fallen far behind my own expectations.


Until Next Time,
Paul

Guest Blogger: Rhianon Taylor

Today I am featuring a friend of mine as a Guest Blogger... Rhianon and I "met" via the internet when one night last December, while we were both working on the same Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt, we both cut the tips of our fingers off and wound up in the hospital getting stitches, she in the UK, and I in Columbus Ohio.

I jokingly posted on Bonnie's blog that it was her fault I couldn't sew for two weeks, and Rhianon responded with "The same thing happened to ME!"  We have been internet friends ever since, and I hope the day comes when I meet her in person.

She is very humble about her skills, but she is fantastic with a needle and thread.  Enjoy this guest post, click on the photos to see large versions where the detail will blow you away... And at the end of the post, please click on the link and vote for her Dragonfly Wall Hanging in the Quilting Gallery's weekly contest.

Without further ado, I give you Rhianon Taylor:

Dragonfly Wall Hanging - Finished !

At last, I've made some great progress with my wall hanging and I guess I could almost call it finished.
It's a very 'busy' piece and it's knowing when to stop.  I think it has enough on it now and it pretty much resembles the picture I had in my head.

I took this on a lovely sunny day but had still to add the little flowers in the bottom right corner. 
Click on photos for extra close ups.

                                            Close up detail of 3D flowers.

I worked some hand embroidery on the flowers and dragonfly.

                                           Close up - bottom left corner.

                                           Top right corner.

                                          Beading on Dragonfly

                                           Hand embroidery and machine quilting detail.

Last to be added, were these little flowers which I made from tiny Suffolk puffs.

  I'm really pleased with how it turned out, in fact my brother and sister have already tried to get me to part with it, but after all that hard work I think I will enjoy it myself for a while.  I will pass it on eventually (maybe!).

This week I will be working on my Bird of Paradise applique.  It is almost ready for quilting and I can't wait to let you see it.

Have a great week whatever you are up to and thanks for stopping by my blog.
Rhianon.


Thanks Rhianon for allowing me to share your work with my readers!  If you'd like to leave Rhianon a comment, here is a link to her ORIGINAL POST, I am sure she would love to hear from you!

AND, If you enjoyed this go to The Quilting Gallery and VOTE for Dragonfly Delight.  Scroll all the way down and click the box next to the name Dragonfly Delight.  There are some other beautiful quilts there as well, and you can vote for up to six, but vote for Rhianon!

Until Next Time,
Paul

Wantobee A Quilter Campaign WINNER!

Yesterday was a Tuesday, so it was a day for Quilters to win in the Wantobe Quilter Campaign, and when I saw the prize for yesterday, I had to enter, I mean the fabric is gorgeous!!  AND Guess What!?  I WON!

From Sew We Quilt...

#1 Winner of 1/2 yard Bundles....
Paul...
( we only have 1 PAUL...lot's of Paulines, Paulettes and Paulies...
but only 1 Paul)  in USA. 

IF you REALLY want to drool, click on it and see it in the LARGE
version!!  Go Ahead, you know you want to.... Click on it, I dare you...

Now, what to make with that beautiful bundle of fabric...  Oh the possibilities.  So what would YOU make with it?  You know I am going to have to do something with it right away, I mean I don't want to seem ungrateful and just add to my stash.... When you win something, you're supposed to use it right away, Right?

Thank You Thank You Thank You Madame Samm...

IF YOU would like the chance to win like I just did, see THIS POST and register with me and then visit Sew We Quilt on the appropriate day, read the post, follow entry instructions for that day, usually follow a blog or two and leave a comment.  MWF  are the days for Quilter Wantobes [folks who have no supplies and have not yet quilted] and TT for Seasoned Quilters.  AND The WINNING will continue from now until the end of OCTOBER!!  M-F daily winners, sometimes several per day (like yesterday)!  AND you can win more than once, so, Go NOW!!  Register with me and then get commenting!

Anyway,  WOO HOO!  I am excited.  I won something!  Again!  (I will be sharing another win soon!  I don't have a photo to share yet...)  Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket...

Until Next Time,

Paul

Family Needs have Silenced my Singer........Temporarily

I thought I would put up a quick post to let you all know that I am fine, one of you actually sent an email inquiring which makes me feel good.  I am glad I was missed...

But, All is well.  Just BUSY BUSY BUSY!  Josh left for the University of Akron on Friday.  I had a golf outing with my employer on Saturday.  We have started preparing for MaryAnna to move in this Sunday!  Chyenne turns 11 this week.  I have to take the girls to the Dance Studio for open house and sign up for classes this fall.  The Auditors will be in this week, so preparation at work has been intense.  I have inventory next month, and have had to begin preparation for that, so the past 10 days has been NUTS!  I thought I'd have a little time on Sunday to sew, but alas, something came up and I didn't get a chance to, but I have to say this...

I LOVE MY Local Quilt Shop!!  Quilt Trends in Columbus, OH!  I stopped by on Saturday, and they were closed (I was thinking they were open until 6 PM, but they closed at 5 PM, I arrived at about 5:30 PM).  David (Shop Owner) saw me, opened the door, and called out to me as I was getting back into my car, "Hey Paul... Do you need something?  Come on In."  All I needed was some thread, but that is the kind of customer service that will keep me going there for my quilting needs.  If they carry it, I'm buying it there.  Even if it costs me a little extra.  I don't think JoAnn's would open their door after they closed, and I am certain they don't know my name!

Anyway, I'll get back to quilting soon, I promise.  I have two projects to be quilted, several WIPs and two new projects just waiting to get started.  I just have to finish painting MaryAnna's room, register for dance classes, Celebrate a birthday, Run to Athens and back, Run to Akron and back, Cover the desk of a vacationing employee, keep up with my own responsibilities at work this week, Buy some furniture and set it up, and THEN if I have enough energy left, I'll get to quilt this week...

Until Next Time,
Paul

Something NEW out of something OLD

About two weeks ago, I had a post named "What to do with this Bargello..." where I talked about this old Bargello that has been sitting in my WIP drawer for too long.  I had several ideas and after your comments and a sudden undeniable desire to do something NEW, I decided to make a Baby quilt out of it.  I decided to make a colorful back and dug into my stash.

My calculations told me I needed 10 FQs, so I chose some bright
colors and a White w/ Black Polka dots and set off to make a
6" block checkerboard with bright colors and White squares.

Before sewing I always make sure my blocks are properly squared
and match in size

This was a quick and easy project, cut 6.5 inch squares, sew them together in 9 rows of six, color, white, color white.  Quick and easy and chain sewing friendly...

My favorite way to sew... Chain sewing, like chain smoking,
only MUCH Better for you!

Right off the machine, still attached by a thread...

IRON the seams toward the colored squares... I don't want any seams
showing behind that white....

Another view of the seams sewn toward the color.

After ironing all of my seams, I layed out my rows to make
sure I like the order in which the colors are going to line up.
There is NO need to lay a pattern like this out on the floor.  As
I looked at this something didn't feel right. 
Then it hit me, "OOPS!! I'm missing a whole ROW of blocks!!"

A short search it was, the kitty had stolen a row of blocks.  When I
tried to take her photo, however, she dropped her loot and ran!

So, here she is in all of her colorful glory, all 36x54 inches of her.
Now, I'm wondering if I should just make this the front and the
Bargello the back, but then I decided the Bargello should be
the front...

So, I sewed the two halves of the barello together and laid it out on
the back of the quilt to insure I had adequate clearance, and I did.

I had three blocks left over, so I decided to make a few pinwheels...
Although I have no idea why I did, or what I'm going to do with them!

I am going to quilt this soon... I am still messing around in Photoshop to decide exactly what to do with it, but I will definitely post it as soon as I have an idea of what I am going to do.

Of course my wife looked at it and said, "I like the colorful side better!"

Until Next Time,
Paul

Win a NEW JANOME!!

 Are you a Wantobe Quilter?  You know, you've always wanted to quilt, but have never tried?  If that's you, and you would like to win a JANOME HD 1000 sewing machine ($299 value), be sure to read today's post and comment at Sew WE Quilt.

The give away happens at midnight tonight, so you have no time to waste!

To participate, You MUST be registered with a participating blogger... Hey, I'm one of those!!  AND you must mention who you are registered with in your post.  If you have already registered, go NOW and post a comment.  Today's guest poster at Sew WE Quilt is Nan of Pots and Pins, and she is a fun blogger to follow, so don't hesitate to follow, you'll enjoy reading her posts.

If you are NOT registered, go HERE and follow the instructions to get registered... As soon as you send me your email, GO HERE and follow the instructions to qualify, and post a comment.

GOOD LUCK!!

Until Next Time,
Paul

Life Lesson... Take Advantage of Opportunities When You Can

I heard this story and I just had to share it... Enjoy!

     A young Marine and his commanding officer board a train headed through the mountains of Switzerland.  They can find no place to sit except for two seats right across the aisle from a young woman and her grandmother.

     After a while, it is obvious that the young woman and the young soldier are interested in each because they are giving each other "looks."  Soon the train passes into a tunnel and it is pitch black. There is a sound of the smack of a kiss followed by the sound of the smack of a slap. When the train emerges from the tunnel, the four sit there without saying a word.

     The grandmother is thinking to herself: "It was very brash for that young soldier to kiss my granddaughter, but I'm glad she slapped him."

     The commanding officer is setting there thinking:  "I didn't think the young Marine was brave enough to kiss the girl, but she missed when she tried slap him... She has a strong slap!"

    The young woman was sitting and thinking:  "I'm glad the soldier kissed me, but I wish my grandmother had not slapped him!"

     The young Marine sat there with a satisfied smile on his face.  He thought to himself:  "Life is good.  When does a fellow have the chance to kiss a beautiful girl and slap his commanding officer all at the same time!"

Opportunities... Take advantage of them.  Don't worry about what others will think, they'll probably be wrong anyway!!

Until Next Time,
Paul

Space Between the Beats...

Last night's quilting activities did not happen because I took my son to a Drummer's Clinic put on by Mark Schulman.

Mark Schulman has toured with BILLY IDOL, PINK, CHER, STEVIE NICKS, SHERYL CROW and he is currently touring with FOREIGNER. 

It was a pretty cool clinic even for a non-drummer like myself.  My son loved it and I will admit, so did I.  While it was VERY LOUD, it was entertaining and educational.

One of his key points was the importance of the space between the beats.  That space is VITALLY important, because without it you just have noise.  The space between the beats is almost more important than the beats themselves because the space between them is what defines them.  Each one is individual, and each one is important, from the small *tap* on a high hat, to a hard core double bass roll, every beat is important, and without space before and after each one, they lose their identity.  BUT, individually they are pretty boring.  It is the assembly of the beats and the spaces that is music.


It was actually pretty philosophical and it got me to thinking about life and also my quilting.  Each seam is important, each stitch is important, every cut we make with our rotary tools is important.  ALL of those things individually are pretty boring.  If our craft of quilting were comprised of making ONE cut in a piece of fabric, nobody would quilt.  Same could be true for sewing one seam, or even one block.  Individually the parts (the tasks) aren't very impressive, it's the assembly of those pieces and parts that is impressive, almost intoxicating.


None of us LOVE every part of the process.  Let's be honest enough to admit that there is a part of every quilt that we don't enjoy.  For me, it's usually cutting.  I don't enjoy the cutting part.  I don't enjoy it because it is during that stage that the final product starts to take shape, it begins to form in my head, I begin to recognize which parts are going to be easy and which parts are going to be tough, but the reason I don't like it is because it is boring.  It is boring because while it is exciting to see it forming in my head, seeing it in my head is no where near as fun as it is to start sewing blocks together and assembling the finished product, but it is a necessary part nonetheless.


The Space BETWEEN the beats is what defines the beats themselves.

Reflect on that for a moment, and if you'd like, share what that means to you.


Until Next Time,
Paul

Weekend Sewing Update

This past weekend, I spent the evening sewing and then Saturday while "helping" Chyenne get her math lessons completed, I got to sew again.  So Betsy got a much needed workout and I got to do some quilting.

So here's what happened... With MaryAnna's move in date quickly approaching (we still don't know exactly when it will be, but it will be soon), I need to FINISH her quilt that was started back in May while on vacation in Florida.  So, I finished the top last week, and it was time to do a back for it.  When I set out to do this quilt, I bought all of the Fat Quarters I needed for the top, I also bought some fabric for the back.  (By the way, since we call the Top a "Top" why do we not call the other side the "Bottom"?  Or call them "Front" and "Back"?  Forgive me, I digress... But that has always bugged me!!)  When I got to working on it, I wound up short on FQs for the front, so you would think that I would KNOW I was not going to have enough for the back, but NO, I attacked it blindly and quickly realized that I indeed, didn't have enough.  So, with my commitment to NOT buy any more fabric for a while, I had to get creative...

So, I took all of the scraps left over from the front of the quilt and I grouped them by size.  I then cut up the brown fabric that I had bought for the back into similar sized blocks and started sewing them together end to end, alternating between brown and front fabric blocks.  I started with the largest pieces (6 inches wide) and I sewed until I had no more to sew.  I then measured what I had sewed (36 feet) and rolled it up for safe keeping.

Iron, Roll, Iron, Roll
A Tedious, but very Effective way of keeping long strips nice
and flat and organized...

30 plus feet of 6 inch wide fabric blocks all rolled up on a piece of PVC.

Then I did the same with the 4 inch pieces, the 3 inch pieces and the two inch pieces... After I had used all of the fabric from the front of the quilt (save one scrap that I want to use for something else), I sat and did some calculating... I was about 900 square inches shy of full coverage, so I decided to frame my stripped backing with a frame of brown.

Four Inch Roll...

I rolled the 3 inch strips around the 5 inch roll.

After cutting all of the strips to the proper length, I laid them all out to find a sequence that would bring some continuity to the otherwise completely random back...

All of the strips including the side borders, all ready
to be sewn together...

After sewing all of the backing strips together, I laid the top onto the back to make sure everything lined up properly and guess what?

My back was too short!  Oh, I was so MAD at myself... HOW Could I POSSIBLY mis-measure so badly!?  I was fuming as I took this photo... So much so, that I didn't even think to take a photo after I picked up the top and realized that I had yet to sew on the top and bottom brown framing strips!  Whew!  I KNEW I couldn't have been that far off on my math!

After attaching the top and bottom frame pieces, everything lined up just as I expected them to.  More photos soon as I will prepare my sandwich and quilt it in the next few days... And WAIT till you see the binding for this quilt!

I used just over three bobbins of thread.  I fill three bobbins at a time, and I rarely have to fill bobbins more than once in a weekend, but it was a 3 bobbin weekend!  Right now my bobbins are all full again and ready for another day of sewing...

My selvedge bin is filling up.  I'll still accept donations.  Thanks to those of you who have sent me selvedges.  I will create a quilt of nothing but selvedges as soon as the barrel is full!

And in a closing note... I have been reading of how hot it is in Texas, so this PALES in comparison, but I rarely use the AC on the way TO work in the morning at 5:30 AM, but yesterday, at 5:30 AM, this is what I saw when I started my engine...

86 degrees at 5:30 AM!!  The heat isn't actually a problem...
It's the Humidity that kills me!
Give me Arizona any day!

And Don't forget to visit Madamme Samm and leave a comment mentioning Me!  M, W, F = Newbies, Tue and Thu = Experienced Quilters.

If you haven't registered yet, or don't know what this is about.... There are some AWESOME prizes to be won, but you have to register with ME!  (or any of the other participating bloggers).  Learn more HERE.

Until Next Time,
Paul

Wantobee A Quilter Campaign Starts TODAY!!

IT has begun… Stash Manicure’s "Wantobee A Quilter" Campaign Starts TODAY!  This is a really cool campaign designed specifically for newbies and rookies… “Wantobees”.  BUT, there’s stuff for veteran quilters as well!!

Here’s how it will work… Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday NEW “Wantobee” Quilters will win prizes.  Tuesday and Thursday those of us who already quilt can win prizes.

How do you win?  There are a few steps. 

1. You have to register with a blogger.  You can only register with ONE blogger, so if you already registered with someone else, that’s cool, I won’t hold it against you.  If you haven’t registered yet, send me an email with your name, street address and Email address, and you’ll be registered with ME!!  Thank You, Thank You!

2. You must FOLLOW This Blog.  If you already do, AWESOME, if not, you need to start… After all, you enjoy my reading about my quilting adventures, Right?  (You’re reading now!)

3. You must FOLLOW StashManicure.  If you already do, AWESOME, if not, I guarantee, you WILL NOT be disappointed.  Madamme Samm does an awesome job.  (Let me put it this way… I have three blogs with direct links in my web browser’s header, and Stash Manicure is one of them!)

4. You need to visit Stash Manicure on the given days, M,W,F for Wantobees, and T,T for Veteran Quilters, you go to Stash Manicure and you leave a comment.  Make sure that in your comment you mention that you are registered with Paul at Outnumbered Quilter.

That’s it.  That is all you need to do.  Obviously, the more comments you leave, the more chances you will have to win.  There is no restriction on how much you can win either, so comment EVERY time you are eligible to do so!

The biggest catch is this - You NEED to be registered with a participating blogger!!  And I AM ONE of those bloggers!! 

During this campaign there will be some AWESOME prizes being given away, so don’t hesitate to participate!

I will not share your information with anyone except Madame Samm so she knows you are “legit”, as my boys would say.  If your comment is chosen a winner one day, you will get an awesome prize!  And, if one of YOU win, SO DO I!!

You know you want to do this… Go for it, sign up TODAY!!

What are you waiting for? Sign up today by sending me an Email with your Name, Street Address, and your Email address!  And Go VISIT Sew We Quilt right NOW!

Until Next Time,

Paul