tricks and treats : NYC style

The goblin friends trick or treat NYC style... 

With some of the better costumes I saw tonight... ENJOY!

I thought this was the most clever costume of the night...

Magritte's the son of man.... Brilliant!

It was PACKED trick or treating... Hard to get down the streets... Mobs of people... The slightly chilly  night did not deter people from coming out to get their goodies!

There is a 4 block area of townhouses in Chelsea where everyone goes. The owners decorate like crazy for the event and must go through hundreds of dollars of candy... Kids babies, dogs and grownups... everyone comes out to watch the fun.

No dress up for me this year... (who is that gray haired lady, anyway??) I did manage to get my orange sweater out...LOL!  I actually forgot that I had a plan for a great costume, but remembered after we saw the Magritte painting...(at the end of the night!)
Remind me next year... will ya?  I need a yellow hair wig and some red white and blue face paint...  Guess you'll have to stop back next year to find out what it is...

Boo got a load of compliments on her creepy white costume... And a nice load of candy.  Did you have some trick or treating fun or a crazy costume this year? Do tell!

Making MILK SHAKES

A little something new for me bed...  I call it ''MILK SHAKE'' inspired by this color palette.

This is not KING size yet, but it will be after I get back from Houston.  Right now this is approximately 76'' square. I know, on here it doesn't look that big...

I could of course just made a bunch of blocks all the same size and sewn them together, But I prefer the pieced meal PUZZLED way...  Where you can't quite see how all the blocks went together... Like I did on my "Everything But the Kitchen Sink'' quilt.   I usually start in the middle and work my way out to the edges.

For instance, here,  I wedged in a 2.5'' X 2'' piece of blue/gray plaid in between 4 blocks so things don't line up perfectly...  I think it gives the quilt an all over complete thought, instead of being Stopped visually with a seam every 12'' or so...I like it to make you eye dance all around...

You can see I did that again with the dark pink rectangle .........right ^ up there... And of course making some more ''Made Fabric'' as go to fill things in, and make it all blend together.
It's very HOME-Y to me... Snuggle colors. good for winter...

I plan on getting more Dark Navy colors and the golden Brown tones for the borders while in Houston.

I leave Wednesday and come home Sunday.  Are you going?  Say hi!   I'll be working with the Alliance for American Quilts doing Q.S.O.S Interviews of the all the quilters of the Texas Legacy III book. So looking forward to seeing my pals, Shelly and Shelly..(who has a quilt in the show this year). And loads more friends who I only see a few times a year... Stay tuned for those fun pics and QUILTS galore!!! FUN TIMES!

We're looking forward to trick or treating tonight, even though it will be chilly (50 degrees)!  In the past it's been 70/80's on Halloween so this will be a ''coat over the costume'' sort of night...Check out some of the past Halloween fun here        

...NYC does HALLOWEEN very well! MWAAHHAAAAAA!!!

Now I'm hungry for a milkshake... wonder what's in the freezer.

day out: NYC

 The Headless Horseman was out for a ride....

 The Pumpkin thought that was pretty funny....

 We did not think the SNOW was very funny.....

 A beautiful sunny COLD NYC Day...

But I'd rather stay in and sew.... My ears got cold!!!

Stay tuned for the super fun HALLOWEEN PICS from tomorrow night!  Have a great night!

BASICS GALA, humbled and grateful!

Here's what I brought home with me last night!

I want to share it all with you! Each of you who have ever donated a quilt to my BASICS QUILT DRIVE, owns a piece of this Community Service Award.  I may have gotten the ball rolling, but you all jumped in and helped out and gave something homemade and from your heart.  I am so grateful!

It's sometimes rare to get patted on the back for doing something that seems obvious to do.  When I asked Raul, Below, if he could take a few quilts for his Org. and replied, "do you have 700?"  You can't ignore when the NEED is placed in your hands.  I may have started out thinking small, (a few quilts)  But you all helped me think Bigger!  The thought of 700 families being on a waiting list for a home was a staggering number to me...  I couldn't ignore that.

Do you realize we've kept over 300 families WARM last year with all the quilts??  I'm worrying about the other 400...We need to get them quilts.

I spoke to Robert Gonzalez last night and he said in the past few days, 20 boxes arrived!  I'm so proud to hear that!  The quilts have been coming in, but I must say, we really need more. We're not at the 400 mark.. I need all your help to spread the word and help me get those quilts.

Robert and I are finalizing the date for the next Distribution day. It's looking like it will be the first week in December. As soon as it's set, I will let you know.  I would be thrilled to have some of you there to help out, and feel the love when we hand the quilts over to the new owners.

Click here to see all the old posts and all the great things that we've done with your quilts!!

I know it's a lot to ask, to make something and send it off...I know how much time it takes to make a quilt.  I thank you for your efforts, and I have to ask you for more.

 BASICS/Promesa Board members and last nights Honorees

What I need from you all.

Please help me in posting about the quilt drive. not just one day, but once a week, or every two weeks... Something short and sweet to put it out there... every little bit helps.
http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

Ask your guild or local quilt shop if they can donate Charity quilts or Store samples.

Form your own little group to whip up quilts together.

Add the button to your blog.

Find those old quilt tops, finish them up.

(ANY SIZE QUILTS ARE NEEDED)


Frequently asked questions:

**I do not take quilt tops to finish, nor does Basics accept unfinished quilts.

I already make a lot of quilts for Basics, and run my own custom quilt business.
This keeps me very busy.


I may have a name or two who would help longarm a quilt top for you, providing you include backing batting and binding.  ALSO, I will only offer that to someone who has already donated a quilt to BASICS. I need to ask that you complete at least one quilt on your own. (email me)

All size quilts are welcome and needed. Whatever we get, we find a home for.

The address and ALL the information is on the website
http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

Please check the site to answer your questions before emailing me.  The less time answering emails the more quilts I can make. ;-)

Quilts get Sent to :
Basic Housing, Inc.
Attn: Robert Gonzalez / BBINC
540 East 180th Street,
Bronx, NY 10457

Pirates and Mermaids was the costume theme this year. Here's the two cutest Pirates I've ever seen. Buds, Boo & Josh.

Pat has been Helping me out spreading the word,  Can you help to?

Scott at Blue Nickle has helped!

Gen Q has helped.

Linzee and etsy/Storque has helped.

Mark Lipinski has helped me out. Will be on his show in November....

Kathy of Pink Chalk has been helping out.

Sewinggood helped out.

Fabricshopper helped out.

Paperthreads helped out!

ModaLissa helped!

Moda Bakeshop helped! 

CraftGossip helped! 

Kristy at HopefulThreads helped!

and more and more and YOU!

Thank you fabulous quilters!!!

Cloud: Blogger's Quilt festival

''Cloud''

Playing along with Amy's Blogger's Quilt festival...

I had been contemplating what quilt I was really crazy about this past year, and had a hard time choosing one.  I nearly forgot about CLOUD, which has now been re-named, ''Lucky's Cloud''

At the time I was commissioned to make this quilt, the expecting mother only had CLOUD for a word inspiration... I thought that was pretty cool. Cloud.  Simple but yet so complex.. depending on the day, what color the could could look like... grey, purple, blue, yellow with sun light...  

I figured it had to have Lot's of puffy quilting, and movement. With of course a few stars just for good measure to dance and play in the clouds...

Why is it ''Lucky's Cloud''?  The wee babe has arrived, and HE, already has a nick name... Lucky.

Lucky is right.  I hope he has sweet dreams under his very own cloud. ;-)

This quilt just fell into place for me. No second thoughts or doubts, including the quilting. As much as I dislike white quilts, (I was terrified to get the white dirty with sewing machine grease or something)
I can see no other option for it.  smiles.  It's one of those quilts that make me smile, and I was happy to hand it over to it's new owner...

Thanks for stopping by.

BASICS NEWS

''Lotta'' quilt

I finished up this quilting on this ''Lotta'' quilt that I had made in August using Lotta's great fabrics! ... I know I've been a bit slow lately at my finishes, But, I have to say I am finding I have more patience to slow down and enjoy the journey even more than I do already! 

This was a quilt I made using Lotta Jansdotter's new fabrics for Windham, that are coming out at Market as we speak!  I was lucky to be bale to play with them early. I only added the yellow, gold and white to highlight the prints.  Love the prints.  Big bold graphic prints...

This quilt was made modifying this block.  The middle section is an octagon, which I then pieced the squares, and triangles to fit the full squares all the way around the Octagon, then squared off the corners.  I played with the placement of the colors so that each block would look differently each time.

A good way to practice your y seam piecing! And drafting skills!

 It's in the wash right now getting nice and crinkly! Love that!

 ****

 

 BASICS NEWS!!!!

Tonight is the BASICS/PROMESA GALA. They have merged their two org's and it is now called ACACIA NETWORK.  You may recall last year is when we auctioned off MANY of the House Block quilts, and I gave a quilt to the governor of NY. pictures here!

I was happy to receive word that I am receiving a Community Service Award tonight, 

which I'd like to say, 

I am accepting on behalf of ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE DONATED A QUILT OR TWO OR 30!

Hillcreekquilter donation

I'm so thrilled with all your generosity in helping me achieve this goal to bring these families quilts.  We are currently working on our next distribution event, for early December. Date is still being figured out, so stay tuned for more info on that, and PICTURES from tonight's event!

Now I need to figure out what to say tonight. gulp.  Wish me luck!

LeeAnn's quilt donation

Please KEEP SENDING THOSE QUILTS!!  We need MORE!  The more we get, the more we give!! Tis' the season for giving!  Thank you!!!

PLEASE! Add your quilt to the flickr page so we can see them all!  Show us your lovely donations!  FLICKR PAGE IS HERE.

Visit the website for INFO on what quilts to send and where:
http://bumblebeansbasics.com/

And lastly!

Winner of Riel's book is Jean! Congrats Jean! 

A HUGE Thank you to Riel for her great post about  her quilts and hearing her BOOK with us!

Riel's new book: Giveaway!

Guest Blogger: Riel Nason:
So, a bit about the creative process of writing verses the creative process of quilting … I actually haven’t been quilting for too long, so when I wrote The Town That Drowned in 2008, I didn’t quilt.  BUT, during the editing process, after the book had been acquired by the publisher, I was definitely hooked 100% on quilting.  A chance to sit down at my machine and sew was the treat I had to look forward to after I put in a good morning of editing.  I am taking a bit of a writing break now with the promo for the novel going on, but I am still quilting up a storm.  Halloween is my favourite holiday of the year, and I’ve made a number of Halloween projects this fall.  

 When I write, my process is to jot a bunch of little ideas down, details, funny lines, maybe a partial outline, and then I just dive in writing, starting at the beginning and going through chronologically to the end.  When I quilt, it is actually very much the same.  I don’t use patterns, and I free piece.  Sometimes I draw a very rough sketch, list a few ideas down about details to include, then I choose some fabric and start cutting.  I make it up as I go along.  Quite honestly, I make a lot of mistakes and always have my seam ripper handy.  When I start a quilt, I generally like to work on it straight through as well, beginning to end.

 As to the type of quilts I make, I like bright colours, scraps, quilts with lots of little pieces and different fabrics and – most of all – I love selvage quilting.  I love the recycling aspect of using selvages, the fact that it is a modern variant of scrap quilting, that selvages are tiny little bits of fabric and, of course, selvages have writing on them!  My selvage quilts are the ones that challenge me the most and are my favourites of all the quilts I’ve made.

Thanks so much Victoria for letting me chat a bit here! 

More info about the novel can be found at www.rielnason.com

WOW! what eye candy right?  I love her free pieced spirit! and her eye for color makes me dance!  THANK SO MUCH!!! 

Congrats on the Book, Riel! It's so nice oto hear more about you!

Would you like to win a copy of Riel's book?  

Leave me a comment here and tell me:

Have you made a selvage quilt? 

Do you prefer to free piece?

or use a pattern to make your quilts?

 I will draw a winner Friday at 11am.

Blogger's BOM day!

It's Blogger's BOM day!  Time flies doesn't it? Sheesh! I just whipped up my blocks today, first thing! I'm making two of each month's Blocks to give myself a nice selection. I'm using all ''Shirtings'' for this quilt... Great fun putting the boxes of shirts to use! super cozy feeling already!

Are you staying up to date with your blocks?

Hop over to Vickie's blog for the instructions for October's Block

And over to Jackie's... You can jump in at anytime!

Flickr group to add your blocks http://www.flickr.com/groups/bloggersbom/

POwer SUit

The POWER SUIT CHALLENGE quilts had their OPENING last Saturday. We were sent fabrics donated by a tailor and we were asked to make somethingthat meant POWER SUIT to us.  I took it literally, and went for using every bit of material the gave us, including the labels and prices, and the idea of how a man's suit is actually made, custom. Your fabric choices, the tailoring lines, prices for cuffs, collars and button holes...the hand stitches... and did you know that when you go for  final fitting of a suit, the tailor grabs the top layer of your lapel, and RIPS IT  down?  Just to show the client that it was hand done, faced, and that meant it was ready to be finished after it's final fitting... Who knew!  I'm rather new to the idea of Art quilts, but I had a great time exploring working in a way that is new to me.

Check out pal, Leslie's here:
http://leslietuckerjenison.blogspot.com/2011/10/power-suit-challenge.html
and Jamie's here:
http://jamiefingaldesigns.blogspot.com/2011/10/power-suit-challenge.html
Fun stuff!
and here: ( to see more of the quilts)
http://elizabethcreates.blogspot.com/2011/10/power-suit-challenge-quilts-part-2.html

I'm also working on a few other small projects... This pink green combo, is rather out of my color zone.. But I am loving how sweet it is without being saccharine sweet! And also finally got this quilt below basted and ready to quilt. I left it taped to my floor for 4 days, and the dogs were making it their bed...LOL... time for a good washing!  This quilt has the Lotta Jansdotter fabrics in which I just love...

And lastly! I got new lights in my studio!  It's so fabulous!  Now that the building going up outside my studio is 15 stories.... I can see again! LOL!

So. Who's going to festival?  I will be there November 2-6th... 

Thursday and Friday morning I will be working at the Alliance Booth...

Say Hi!

No Fall Market for me. 

I won't miss Halloween with my one and only daughter.... ;-) not for a million bucks!