End of trail

Quilting at Jeannine's

The Busy Fingers hand quilting group gathers once a week at a member's home to work on whatever quilts they may have on their frames. This week we met at Jeannine's home, out in the country on a beautiful lake. Jeannine, a retired nurse, is a talented hand quilter, expert at hand appliquing, a wonderful cook, good friend... well you just can't say enough about quilting friends, can you?

Whenever I travel down Elizabeth-Scales Mound Round, I always try to catch a glimpse of a white steeple in the distance.That is Jeannine's church, that was moved to the new site about one year ago. On the way to her home this week, I paused to take a close-up shot of her beautiful church. Jeannine quilts at her church each Wednesday, between all the things she does for her family, friends and community.
When you arrive at Jeannine's log home, and are welcomed inside, you are greeted with a wall hanging our quilt guild did last year. It is House on Willow Hill.

It was one of those projects that you probably wouldn't attempt on your own, but when you are challenged to keep up month by month by your quilt guild friends, you happily join in. It was featured in McCall's Quilting Magazine as a 5 part series quilt, premiering in the April 2006 issue. HOWH is an intermediate level quilt featuring many varied techiques which makes it an interesting quilt to work on and a learning experience! It was chosen for the cover of the Catskill Mountain Region Arts and Culture Guide, June 2006, after winning first place at the Catskill Mountain Festival Quilt Show in 2005.

As you step in Jeannine's home, you are drawn to look up to the beautiful wood beams and the display of her Cat's Meow homes and buildings of Galena.This week, before we began quilting at Jeannine's frame, we admired the beautiful tops that our quilt guild had created for the Quilts of Valor Project that donates quilts for the wounded soldiers. Our little guild of less than 30 members recently gathered to create 8 quilt tops for the soldiers.
Then we took a quick walk outside to enjoy her beautiful gardens and a walk to the lake.

After a trip to see Apple Canyon Lake on this beautiful July day, it was back up the trail to Jeannine's home to begin our day of hand quilting.

Quilts of Valor

This is the most wonderful project. Quilters all over the country are gathering to create quilts for wounded soldiers. Each state seems to have a way to organize. Quilt guilds are creating blocks and then meet together to join the blocks into quilt tops, and Long arm quilters are volunteering their time to machine quilt the tops. The Friendship Quilt Guild created the blocks and then gathered on two different days to combine the blocks into 8 quilt tops for the soldiers. It was a joyous day that we will all remember.

Quilting Cats

This quilt is one of my favorite scrappy patterns. It's called Sawtooth Cats. The cats backs and tails and sawtooth border are all paper pieced from tiny scraps. It was a raffle quilt for our local humane society, where our Black Lab, Zeus is from. I asked for volunteers to help put it together, and my dear quilting friends from the Galena Territory pitched in.

We began with a morning paper piecing together, with some of the ladies paper piecing for their first time. Others pitched in to help me with the borders, the sashing, embroidery, binding, and the machine quilting. It turned out so pretty, earning $500 for Safe Haven. It now hangs in the home of a generous friend, another cat lover and supporter of needy cats and dogs, who also helped work on the quilt.

The quilt is now on my Dream List of projects I would like to make for myself. We'll see...

Here's our real cat, Tori, helping me hand quilt "Trail Ride Dreams," a quilt I made for my niece Katie's college graduation from Loyola in Baltimore. I get to spend a week with Katie every summer on a week long trail ride in Missouri.