Partying with Pam Buda (and Fran and Pati)--photo heavy

Back in 2019 the Pam Buda Circa 1880 Club (sponsored by Marcus Fabrics) that met at Village Dry Goods submitted a video of our club to Marcus for a contest they were sponsoring. We happened to win. The prize? A visit from Pam Buda herself. It was scheduled for April 2020. Of course, it was canceled due to COVID. Fast forward to July 2023, when it was finally able to be rescheduled (thanks to the persistent people at Marcus). And that is where I spent two days a couple of weeks ago.

We started on Friday morning with a special party just for our Circa 1880 Club members. The three ladies pictured below made it delightful.

Left to right: Fran (owner of Village Dry Goods), Pam (fabric and pattern designer extraordinaire, and owner of Heartspun Quilts), and Pati (Director of Marketing for Marcus Fabrics).

Though the photo below is a bit blurry, I love it, because it looks like they are all trying to "make a point". I do not recall what they were trying to say. Maybe they were singing. There was a little bit of that happening at one time. (I promise, we were only drinking water with the refreshments of fruit-kabobs and banana cake.)

Below you can see where we enjoyed a little game to help us get to know Pam--and win prizes. Pati asked the question, we guessed the answers, Fran held the bag of our ticket stubs, and Pam drew the winner, then Pati distributed the prize.

After learning much about fabric production trends from Pati, and about Pam's many upcoming fabric lines from both of them, we then had an opportunity to share our Circa 1880 quilts. First we saw Pam's--the one that inspired this whole Club. This was based on a vintage quilt Pam had seen in an older publication.

Then club members had an opportunity to share their quilts. There were so many great versions. I have only chosen photos of 2 that are each set a different way from the original pattern as shown above in Pam's quilt.

Following the fun of this gathering, I had lunch with a couple of friends, and then we visited the Brigham City Museum of Art and History, which currently is hosting the "Light the World" quilt exhibit, featuring art quilts from around the world. We returned to Village Dry Goods to do a little shopping, and I was startled by a familiar voice behind me, calling my name. There was Lynn Hopkins!

Lynn is the designer of the Tiny Blocks that I had been teaching each month in my guild this past year, in Lynn's absence. He is currently serving a mission with his wife for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he was back in town briefly for a family event. He'd hoped to be able to make the party with Pam, but schedules didn't work out. Above, left we are holding his Circa 1880 quilt, and above, right he and my friend Ruth were looking at something he had made from his Tiny Blocks. You just can't talk to Lynn without ending up laughing, as this photo attests. He has very big plans for the future of his Tiny Blocks. They may get even tinier!!! So maybe I should say he has small plans?

That evening in my hotel room I was  Zooming with Chooky and the Chookshed Stitchers while having my dinner, and stitching some tumblers. Below left, you can see my machine set up on the hotel desk, and to the right you can see some of the global participants that evening. It was the perfect way to close out a quilty day, and it is always a lot of fun.

This is all I got sewn together that evening before calling it quits--just three rows from the box of large tumblers I have had cut for years. This is a start--and I am trying to be totally random. We'll see how long that lasts. These are laying on the Kingsize bed in my hotel room.                                                                                                                                                                                              Next morning we were at the Brigham Academy Center for a full day class with Pam. I love this venue--all kinds of natural light. This class was open to all, not just those in the Circa 1880 Club. They capped registration at 50. Below you can see my table-mates in the foreground.

We made one block from each of the three small quilts featured in her new  pattern, Haunted Halloween. I'll show my progress on those in a later post. 

We had a break for lunch, after which Pam did a trunk show with many of her beautiful quilts. Here are just a few of them.

This was just what I needed after a couple of crazy busy and stressful months of summer. These ladies in the photo below made it so very fun and refreshing. My thanks to Village Dry Goods, Marcus fabrics, and these three gals, for all of the work and time it took to make this great for those of us attending.

Pam has been a special friend for many years, and it was very sweet to spend time with her again. I hope there will be a "next time". Thank you, Pam!

Before I close this I need to announce the winners of the drawing from my last post, celebrating my 12th anniversary of blogging. Sadly, 18 of the comments were from people who did not have an email attached to their comment and did not include their email address in the comment, so they could not be included. 

I had the random number generator choose the winners.

*First place went to Denise @ Count It All Joy blog--she will get her choice of the kits.

*Second place goes to Nancy @ Joy for Grace blog--she will get whichever kit Denise doesn't choose.

Apparently you had to have a blog with the word joy in the title to win this time around.

I have notified the winners via email and will get their prizes sent out to them this week.

I have several things I want to blog about that will need to wait for a time when I haven't already written a chapter book for a post.

Until then, be creative and be kind.

Janet O.

p.s. If you love Kim Diehl, another blogger is having an anniversary giveaway that you might want to check out. Click here.

A sunset from an evening walk during the last week of July.

Circa 1880 top assembled (mostly)

Technically there are still borders to add, but it feels monumental to finally have the rows assembled. Here it is laying on our guest room bed.

I made the first blocks for this quilt at my usual January retreat in 2018--two years ago! At an invitation from Pam Buda to strip piece our blocks and then swap our duplicates to get more variety more quickly,  how could I say no? Though I admit that I wondered at the time if I would ever actually get one made. Lo and behold, I even made this larger than the pattern called for. I never dreamed I would have that much patience!

In the pattern every block is an uneven 9-patch, but after I heard that Lynn Hopkins (who works at the shop where I was participating in the Circa 1880 club) was going to put some little baskets in his quilt, I couldn't let that idea go. After a bit of pondering I thought, "Why just baskets?" Hence the "rogue blocks" were born. I added 7 actual "rogue blocks," and then I included 8 of what I like to call "surprise centers"--a 1" block in the center of the uneven 9-patch.

Here they are on display--and if you are looking for perfectly matched corners and no cut off points, go somewhere else. I wasn't that concerned about those things. Feels more "Circa 1880" to me if things aren't quite so precise.

First up: Rogue blocks
 

  

Blogger won't let me position photos like I normally do, so these look pretty random.
Next up: Surprise Centers

 

This has been the mainstay on my design wall for 2 years, and I am thrilled that I had the opportunity to swap with Pam and a few friends. Now I need to decide what will live here for the next two years. :)

     
I didn't think I would get to go to my winter retreat this year,  but within the last few days the persistence of family and friends has come together and the way opened up--how could I say no? I know Mom is in good hands, and it is only 30 minutes from home, if there should be a need. I am on my way today and SO looking forward to it.

Until next time,
Janet O.

Insanity in the sewing room

I don't know what else to call it. I already have all of my rows made for my Circa 1880 quilt, so why is it that I have spent what little time I can get in the sewing room lately making these? These are all 2 1/2" unfinished blocks, with those centers finishing at 1".

When I started making the "rogue blocks" to put in my quilt a few months ago, there were a couple that were just an uneven 9-patch with a tiny block in the center.
This past week I've been dreaming up more center blocks that can be scaled down to a 1" finish.

Those 16-patch centers are strip pieced. There is no other way I could have made those squares finish at 1/4". Having a ruler with good marking, and using fine thread helps increase the accuracy in stitching 1/4" finished rows (and a good dose of insanity really helps).

 

And the pineapple and log cabin center blocks are foundation pieced, of course. Each 1" finished--more insanity!

Kat Keefes Quilting shared her "signature block" idea with our Facebook group. She used the selvedge with Pam Buda's name printed on it--so clever!
I played around with the idea and came up with one of my own, and included some sentiments from one of Pam's fabric designs, as well.

The only other sewing that has taken place has been on the August small quilt pattern for the Circa 1880 club. I tweaked the value placement on the fabric--inspired by a Kim Diehl churn dash quilt I love that has 9-patches in the center.

The center blocks and sashing are assembled, but I had still been auditioning borders until I recently settled on this lovely blue paisley from the Mrs. Miller's Apprentice line of fabrics. Notice that I tucked a churn dash block into the center block. This is larger than the other small quilts in the club so far, but I really love it.

I shared with you in my last post what I had received in my swap with Julie (my threadbare life blog). Now that she has received my package, I can share with you what I sent.
I had to swipe this photo from her blog, because I forgot to take a photo of this before I sent it (she did the same from my blog with what she sent to me).

I sent her an uneven 9-patch pincushion, a notepad,  my handmade herbal soap, a favorite treat, and a mini quilt I made from scraps found on top of the "trash" bin at retreat last January. Julie is the queen of rescuing unwanted items and up-cycling them into treasures. I wanted to send her something that I had rescued and this was all that fit that description. It was such a lovely exchange. Thanks so much for participating, Julie! This is my second swap with a New Zealand blog friend. Oh how I hope to see their homeland someday--and maybe even get to see them! :)

This is my first post in September--pretty pathetic. It had better not be my last. I need to have a monthly mini ready to share  in a little over a week. Yikes! I am nowhere near ready!! I'd better quit playing with the Circa 1880 blocks I don't need.

Until next time,
Janet O.

May Mini-of-the-month and Miscellany

Part of the Circa 1880 club is a new small quilt pattern using the uneven 9-patch blocks every other month.  I am using the "April" pattern for my mini-of-the-month with Wendy over at The Constant Quilter blog.

Next week those of us participating in Sandy's "Indigo Challenge" will be posting our completed little quilts--well, I think everyone else has theirs completed. I did finish piecing mine this week and hope to get it quilted before the end of the month. But in case I don't have it completely finished, I figured I had better not plan on it to do dual duty for both the Mini-of-the-Month and the Indigo challenges. I am very excited to see what the others have done with the vintage indigo fabrics Sandy shared with us.

Here are shots that show the quilting on this. Of course, you can click on them if you want a closer view. No feathers in the border this time. I put feathered wreaths in the setting square and triangles.
And here you can see it with its sister, the February small quilt. Each little quilt incorporates the same uneven 9 patch blocks that make up the bigger quilt that is the main focus of the Circa 1880 club.

I know it is a bit after the fact, but I wanted to share a few things from Mother's Day. First of all, my Mom and three of my children (with two spouses and four grandchildren) were able to join us for dinner that day. We missed our oldest daughter's  family in Oregon, but are grateful for the technology that gives us video chats!

And I loved that the air was scented with these beauties from the yard. I have probably made about 4 bouquets like this in the past week or so. This is my favorite part of spring flowers. I have 16 lilac bushes in 13 varieties. If I could figure out where to put them, I would get more!

One of many surprises for Mother's Day was a pair of tickets to a game of Utah's Major League Soccer team, ReAl Salt Lake. I am a big fan, and my sons are the ones that got me hooked. How fitting that they gave us the tickets. :)  We enjoyed a day of perfect weather and a perfect score--a 3-0 shut out. 

I mentioned earlier in the month that this May is the 8th anniversary of my little blog. It has been such a fun ride. I have met several bloggers and followers over the years, from Maine to Oregon, and many places in between. I hope to meet many more. And there are so many others that I feel like I know, though our paths have never crossed in real life.  I am grateful for each friendship and thank you for sharing this experience with me. I am offering this little bundle to a follower who comments on this post. I know some have had a hard time getting comments to show up lately, since Blogger has changed some things. I have changed my setting for now to hopefully allow your comments to get through. If that still doesn't work, send me an email (through my profile info). This will remain open until the 30th of this month.

There is a simple little one-patch quilt, some of my herbal soap, a spool of my favorite Aurifil thread--a good neutral color for piecing, a package of my favorite extra fine, glass-head pins, and a little magnetic closure notepad with the saying "So much fabric, so little time."

Leave a comment if you are interested, and I'd be interested to know how many of those 8 years you think you have been following.
Until next time,
Janet O.

Drawing Now Closed

Pyramids, Strings, Scrappy Trips, and Circa 1880

This post is a real hodgepodge. I'll start with this little cheddar and indigo quilt top. Sandy (my material creations blog) recently had the good fortune to receive a bundle of old indigo scraps that appear to be leftover cuttings from clothing construction. She has been kind enough to share and there are a few of us participating in a small quilt challenge incorporating the indigo scraps in any way we choose.

When I think indigo, my mind immediately follows with cheddar, and I knew what I wanted to do with these lovely blues. But Sandy cautioned that the fabrics were on the thin side and they frayed easier than what we are used to using. So I decided to do a "trial run" little top to get a feel for working with them. That would give me a chance to see whether or not my idea would work. 

I have always admired a little quilt Marian Edwards (Dream Weaver blog--scroll to the bottom of her post) made back when the Panama Pyramids craze was in full swing. It was the inspiration for this, but I switched the placement of the cheddar in my quilt. I wanted to show off the indigos. After working with the fabric, I think I may be able to go ahead with my original plan, if I am careful. Thanks, Sandy, for the chance to work with these wonderful vintage fabrics. Can't wait to see what the others create.

While digging for some particular scraps this weekend, I came upon my ancient string project. Just so you know, I don't love working with strings, but many years ago (like, more than 10) I took a class on foundation piecing with no pattern. Sounded interesting. We worked on 3 projects. One was finished into a quilt and donated. One was given away to someone who was more interested in finishing it than I was. And this one has been in a box for longer than I have been blogging. But Lori (humble quilts blog), who has been hosting a string-along, encouraged me to at least pull it out and look at it. So I did, and I do like the look of it.

And now that I have looked at it, it is once again in a box in the closet. :)

My design wall looked like this earlier this week. I got all of the Scrappy Trips blocks made. I need to press them and square them up before I start assembling them. I pulled out my Kansas Troubles fabric and found the light piece I wanted to use for the inner border. But I didn't have enough of anything I liked for an outer border (I want this bigger, but am so done making these blocks--started this in 2013).

So I ordered a piece from an etsy shop. Always risky--not knowing the true colors, but it is a Kansas Troubles fabric and they usually work pretty well together.

Now my design wall looks like this.
I have 14 rows made for my Circa 1880 quilt. Last post not a soul even tried to guess how many of these little blocks I had made.  And I had planned to send a prize to the one who came closest. Oh, well. :)

These rows are not sewn together. I haven't trimmed the dog ears yet, and I am pondering whether or not to stay-stitch the edges, as some have recommended.

Every other row is made with blocks I received from someone via swaps. It is fun to be able to look down a row and recognize the person who made them based on their style and color preferences. But I won't leave it all to memory. I am planning on labeling each row with the maker's name.

If you look closely you may spot a rogue block. Last week at our Circa 1880 Club meeting it was mentioned that someone was making the quilt King Size AND they wanted to add a border around the edge of 2" basket blocks--with appliqued handles! It is a guy who works part time at the shop that is doing all this. Then someone else mentioned that it would be fun to put 2" baskets mixed in the quilt. I thought about that, and ended up deciding, "Why just baskets?" So right now my plan is to include a 2" log cabin, pineapple, star, and one or two other blocks. There will just be one of each, randomly scattered through the rows I make out of my own blocks. I like giving that little tweak to the design.

I guess that covers things for now.  Hopefully it won't be another two weeks before I can put another post together--but don't hold your breath. 
Until next time,
Janet O.