More pics from Christmas Dinner 12/21/08

Some pics form Christmas Dinner 12/21/08

Cooked all Day/Ate all Night LOL

Here is the duck I cooked for my early Christmas Dinner with friends. It was yummy!!!!

Quilt Survey

1. What is your name and where are you from?
Henry "Donnie" / North Carolina
2. How, when, and where did you learn to quilt?
I began quilting a little over a year ago after being interested in quilting most of my life from watching my grandmother and grandfather quilt.
3. Why do you quilt? (tradition, expression, for family, etc)
I quilt because it is family tradition and because I find it to be peaceful and relaxing.
4. Have you taught anyone else to quilt?
Yes one of my nieces.
5. Are there differences in quilting from when you first learned and now? If so, how do you feel about this transition?
There are differences in my work if thats what you mean. I have gotten much better at it.
6. Are you part of any quilting groups/communities? I am a member of this board and thats all. 7. Do you feel that quilting is a part of your heritage? If so why?
Yes it is part of my heritage because my Paternal grandparents quilted together and my grandfather learned how to do it from ym grandmother, who learned it from her mother as she learned it from her mother and so forth.
8. What type of feeling do you get out of quilting? Why do you enjoy it?
I get a sense of peace and relaxtion. I enjoy it because it takes me away from the world for a while and lets me be creative. 9. What different type of quilts have you made? What was the most difficult, easiest? Do you have a favourite style?
Applique has been hard for me and strip piecing the easiest. I do not really have a favorite style.
10. Who do you make quilts for?
Family, friends, recently made a couple for charity
11. When quilting, what happens if you make a mistake? If I make a mistake it stays a part of the quilt. I do not rip out the mistake. I let it stay in because it makes the quilt more unique.
12. What is your favourite feature about a quilt?
Depends on the quilt.
13. What makes a quilt different from other blankets to you?
The thought and love that went into making it.
14. Do you feel that contemporary quilting has lost some value? If so, why? Or do you feel it has gained value, and again, why?
Not sure
15. Does the history of quilting mean anything to you? If so, what do you know about its history? The history of quilting means to me family, my family history because quilts played a big part in my family history. It helped bind the family together by bringing family together. How to quilt was passed down from one generation to the next since my great great great great grandmothers time.
16. Do you have anything you would like others to know about quilting?
Just how fun it is to do. How also it is not just a woman's art form/craft. Men quilt and can be pretty good at it.
17. Do you quilt alone, or together in a group? Is quilting a social event or a chance for some alone time for you? Or both?
Quilting is both for me. A chance to create alone and a chance to get together with others to quilt. I will be teaching quilting soon to a couple of my friends every Sunday and this will be a time for us to get together and socialize as well as quilt.
18. If quilting is in your family, do you feel you are carrying on a tradition? If so, why is this important to you?
I do feel that i am carrying on a tradition and its important to me because it represents where my family has been and what they have accomplished. Its important to because it helps to continue the love that was put into all the old quilts we have from generations before and creates that sense that the family spirit is continuing even if some are already gone on.
19. Do you have any memories of others quilting?
Do you have memories of specific quilts in your past? If so, please feel free to share. I remember my grandmother and grandfather quilting my quilt together when i was 10 years old. My grandfather died shortly after it was finished and that is the one quilt I have that I hold most dear to me.

another penguin quilt

made today dec 10th 2008

A Penguin Christmas :)

Just a little penguin lap quilt put together today. All I need to do now is hand sew around each frame that holds a penguin. :) The back of the quilt is the snowflakes.

Okay nothing to do with Quilting or crafts but still thought id post it here

I AM......... Who I am. I am many things. A daydreamer, an optimist who sometimes is a pessimist. I am a creative person who sometimes still feels the wounds of my past.

I WANT...... Peace. Peace of my mind, heart and soul.

I HAVE.... great friends and family who stand by me even when times are hard and the journey is long and sometimes in the darkness.

I WISH I COULD.......FLY. I would love to feel the wind and sun on my face as I soar high and soar free.

I FEAR.... I will die alone. I no longer fear dying young(less than 30 as I did growing up) because I made it past 30. I honestly never thought I would live to see 30.

I HEAR....... voices of doubt from time to time. Doubt about how my life is unfolding and where it's going but I try to remember that God has a plan and that things have happened for a reason and things will happen for a reason and all I have to do is keep looking for those reasons to help me understand what I have been through and where I am going.

I SEARCH........ I no longer search as I once did to find out who I am. I know who I am now and accept who I am now and so any searching is done to analyze where I have been to keep me from going back to those places that were not good for me.

DON’T THINK ..... that I have a lot of confidence because I really don't. It is an outward show to conceal how scared I am on the inside.

I REALLY ...... think my life has changed around for the better.

I REGRET .... many things but none that I am going to write down in this space. But know that I have found a way to acknowledge my failures and mistakes and to learn from them so as I do not repeat them.

I LOVE.... God, my family, my friends, winter, crafting and quilting, and all the little things that make being alive so GREAT!

I ACHE FOR........ a time when all people are really equal and no one hates someone based on the color of their skin, for their religious or non religious beliefs, or their sexual orientation which is something someone can't change. I ache for understanding of people who are not like you and acceptance of people who are not like you. That is what makes this world so great is that there are so many different ways to be and think and it certainly keeps the world from being a boring place to live.

I ALWAYS CRY .......hmmm, when I see abused children, when I see people killed or beaten almost to death because they love(d) someone who happened to be of the same sex,what humans are doing to our environment and the animals that we are supposed to take care of.

I AM NOT ......always sure of what I am doing and where I am going. But then again, half the fun is the journey.

I DANCE... like no one is watching even when they are.

I SING...... because I am happy. I sing to express my heart.

I NEVER .... expected to be happy.

I RARELY ....... never know what to say.

I CRY WHEN I WATCH ... Beaches or Touched By An Angel

I AM NOT ALWAYS ...... right but most times I won't admit it..... LOL

I HATE THAT.... I am treated as a second class citizen, that I am treated as not human by some people because I happen to be a gay man.

I’M CONFUSED ABOUT ...... hmmm a lot of things!

I NEED...... L-O-V-E. That's all I really need.

I SHOULD .... hmmmm another one I'll have to get back to you on.

A Lap Quilt I finished

Here is a lap quilt I did before I hand sewed little hearts in the center of the squares.

Candle Making

I made some candles tonight. The reddish one is Raspberry and the blue ones are Lavender.

Hideous doll. Will never make another!

This is just soooooooooo bad. I call her Cyclopta.

Okay I may make others but just to get really good at it.

My Fabric and Pattern arrived today

What's in a name?

I did a name generator a friend sent me via email about quilting from thequiltingpost site. My name was

Hot Papa On-line Quilt Shop-a-holic.

So true. I am addicted to quilt shops online.

So I made this but need opinions

Is this a good size for a coaster? The flash kinda washes out the colors but the colors are green,brown,white,tan.

Quilt Shows in NC

So I just heard about a website that keeps track of quilt shows in NC.

I want to go to this one:

2009 North Carolina Quilt Symposium
"Raleigh, City of Oaks"

May 28–31, 2009
Peace College
Raleigh, NC

So I just spent a little bit of money

I went to the Connecting threads website and bought this:
http://www.connectingthreads.com/fabric/cottage-blossoms-placemats-and-coasters-kit_KD1786.html

It looked too cute to pass up.

TV now in quilting/sewing room

I have put a TV into the sewing/quilting room because it was just too quiet in there and I need a little bit of background noise going when I am sewing/quilting. Last night I had the AMC channel on while I was quilting/sewing. They were playing Alexander. It was a decent movie. Not one of my personal favorites but a decent movie.

So now I will have my background noise and sew/quilt until I can't see how to do it anymore, which will hopefully be when I am in my 80's.......lol :)

Just finished this as well

Just a small pillow I put together because I didn't like how the block looked to put it into a quilt. So I thought the next best thing was a cute pillow.

Table Topper

Here is a table topper I had started but hadn't finished. So I finished it today.

Some Pictures of the clean room

Cleaned Quilting Room this evening

I spent this evening, about 3 hrs, cleaning the quilting room and reorganizing it. I didn't realize how unorganized I had let it become. Not to mention dusty and linty (is that a word?). So now it looks better and I can move around in there with a little more ease. Also bought a new table to go in there. A smaller black rectangle table to put sewing machine on so that the white oval table can be used for my cutting mat to cut the fabric.

Here is a pic of the quilt I am working on now

A few applique blocks and then some blocks of just square cut fabric and two old hankies(never used) that belonged to a great aunt.

Well another day has dawned

Well it is another day of cool weather here and low humidity. It is awesome. I hate the summer, this is my time of year. I look forward every year to fall and winter.

So I am still trying to work on the quilt that I made the tree block,folk bird blocks and Umbrella girl block for. I ran into a small problem with the middle section and after ripping the seams and trying to sew it again, I still am having a problem with the middle being all bunched up and not laying flat. So I am trying to devise a way to sew a piece on over it so that it will all look flush and pretty. I am then going to take some of my iron on appliques of butterflies and put around the top of the quilt. Doing that, even with stitching them down to the top of the quilt, will mean that the quilt will be just a show piece and will have to be washed gently by hand and air dried.

Plans are also underway for the annual Halloween party at my house. My costume arrived today via Express mail. It is a black and silver showgirl costume complete with glovettes and headdress. Invites will be sent out this weekend. I already know that a few will be coming because they have already jumped the gun and asked about the party and stated they would be there.

I am also going to be going home to see my grandma and my mom tomorrow. Mom is sick with a double ear infection and bronchitis. Her blood pressure was also up a bit but thats due to the infection and bronchitis. Grandma is doing pretty good but the doctor did tell her that he's done all he can for the congestive heart failure. But she is still in good spirits and still full of life.

So anyways when I get home tonight I will post the pics of the quilt. Ciao!

Turning cooler

It is turning cooler. Yay!

Musings of a quilter

Well the last two days I have been in a kind of funk. I haven't really wanted to do much of anything. SO I didn't do any quilting last night when i got home from work. I did see something that I want to get for my niece for Christmas.

I recently made a pillow with my niece Monique, who turned 15 yesterday, and she seemed to like making it and seemed interested in sewing in general. So I saw a post on a website of a small Janome sewing machine. It is only 59.99 and will pretty much last her a long time if she takes care of it. So anyways I am thinking of giving her that for Christmas along with some thread and fabric and other sewing items.

My oldest niece who is in college is hard to buy for so I am going to give her a gift card for 60 dollars. My nephew Rodney is going to get a lap quilt as are my nephews Bruce and Robert. My niece Kimberly is going to get a lap quilt as well.

I am in the process of making a quilt for my parents as well.

Thats all for now.

Week of September 22, 2008

Well yesterday, Monday the 22nd, I worked on a few projects. I had a Christmas project from last year that was still trying to tell me to finish it. So I took it off the shelf it was, the very bottom one, and decided to give it a go and to finish it. So last night I took it down and finished it. I think it turned out good, I wouldn't say great, but it turned out good. I think I am going to give that as a present to one of my nephews because it is a Tic Tac Toe game made out of fabric. Pics should be below this post, if not I will add them later.

The second thing I did was I started to do a small Christmas lap quilt for one of my other nephews. I got only the first block done, which is made out of 4 smaller blocks.

Helen hasn't been over lately to quilt but we are staying in touch by phone and email. I do not even know if she still comes on here to our little blog spot. So I guess I am just going to take it over.

This blog spot was originally so we could write down the minutes of our quilting days together. I guess I will just turn it into a a little forum for myself for now until she rejoins me.

Well that is about all for now. I will post more later when I am at work tonight sitting on the desk for 4 hours.

tic tac toe game

christmas tic tac toe game

Tree block

Another block

Heres another block I have done

50's House Dress

Sun Bonnet Sue reading a book

Bouquet Block

Bouquet block

Things have been crazy busy

Things have been crazy busy the last couple of months. Donnie(me) started a new job that has him working evenings Tuesday thru Saturdays. So we haven't really been able to meet and do any quilting together in the last couple months. Helen has also been busy so thats why we haven't been able to do any quilting together on Sundays or Mondays when i have off.

Here is a little something I finished today.

Springtime Quilt I am working on

I decided that the quilt needed a lil something more. I decided to give it a purple border. :) Enjoy!

Donnie

Springtime Quilt I am working on

Here is the springtime quilt with all of the border on it. (Donnie's)

Springtime Quilt I am working on

Here is a springtime quilt I am working on.
I still need to add top and bottom green fabric border.
I think I want to do some kind of applique or something to the green fabric and yellow fabric, but not sure as to what.
(Donnie)

Working on this

I (Donnie) am working on this.

3 bags tonight

I completed three bags tonight.

Made a bag

Couldn't sleep. Made a bag.

Also haven't been able to get a hold of Helen all weekend. :( Maybe she will call me tomorrow.

WIP Memory Quilt

Helen and Donnie worked on this together yesterday. A memory quilt of Donnie's students from the school where he worked until Friday.

Latest Quilts

Here is a wall hanging I did and an offset log cabin quilt I've started. The heart quilt has definite issues and will need to be redone in some sections, and maybe the fabric needs to be reconfigured, but overall pretty happy on figuring out the pattern for the most part.

HST's past week

I went over to Donnie's on Sunday and we looked at his squares sent to him by Cathy from the Quilting Board. He decided on a 9 square patch pattern using alternating blacks and black floral squares that were already cut. The pictures are out of order, but you get the idea. They looked really good! I showed him the latest book I got called French Braid Quilts, very nice designs in there. I also dropped off the wall hanging quilt I made for his house on Tuesday, where he showed me his latest purchase, a quilt designing software program called Quilt Design Wizard. I had not seen one of those programs before, it was really neat. We plan on getting back together after the Easter break.

Lap Quilt I made March 8th,2008

Here is a lap quilt I made for Troy.

FINISHED! :)

It is finished! I think it turned out nicely with a few minor things that I will remember for next time.