Woo hoo - France

It took many, many hours to get here, but the Chef's Tour in France has arrived.  I'm at Chateau D'Agel for a week.  With a friend.  DH and dog stayed at home.
Here's the breakfast view...

The bad news:  Janice (my traveling companion) had her luggage delayed and the delivery wasn't going to arrive until Tuesday.  Like she could go for 4 days with no clean underwear.  Yeah, um, no.  And I left my cosmetics at home somewhere, so I'm in Europe with NO MASCARA.  Based on the amount of wine I drank yesterday I think I won't care too much. ☺

Nouveau Muses, Buckhorn Quilt Show, Zucchini Report

This is called Nouveau Muses.  I had to get help spelling "nouveau" because it seems my brain is not as sharp as it was 30 years ago.

These lady panels are drop-dead-gorgeous.  If you've been hearing about the new digital prints, this is an excellent example.

They were paired with some beautiful William Morris prints for the borders & sashings & panel insets above and below the ladies.

I did some pretty quilting in the piecing, but in the panels I just did outline quilting along the printed lines. 

This used wool batting which added a perfect 3-D effect to the women.

These bottom pieces were quilted with the identical motifs as the upper windows.

Last night I got home from Margarets where I spent a few days with quilting buddies at the Buckhorn Quilt Show.  The quilt I am taking a lesson from is this one... I love, love, love the motifs stitched in the blocks!  Embroidery is a skill I use very little of these days, and this example has been done with thread painting.  By machine.

Here's the artist statement with a story about the quilt.

ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  5
Picked YTD:       121
Gave away:             3

I left on Thursday morning for Margaret's, and got home after dark Saturday night.  DH would never in a million years go out and pick zucchini, so I have a BIG SURPRISE waiting out in the garden for me today.  They could be all ruined by some stupid animal/bug/disease, or perhaps I'll find 10 cricket-bat-sized fruits lurking under the leaves.  We'll see, after I get dressed.  Pray for me. 🙏

A Few Great Edge-to-Edge Quilts, A Little Rant, and the Zucchini Report

When I post photos on my blog and discuss the quilts, the focus is usually on custom quilted work.  In reality, most of my work is edge-to-edge quilting.  It's way faster, and way less expensive.  Considering that most of what we make, as quilters, is utilitarian quilts that will be loved, used, puked on by the kids and the dog, and thrown in the washing machine?... e-2-e is the way to go.

This was a block of the month that we did at the Binbrook guild last year.  My blocks are all done but the top's not yet assembled.  Ruth always gets her stuff finished.  I love the pink!  I love sampler quilts!

This is a really cool quilt that the maker completed by cutting the curvey bits with a template.  I looove curved piecing.

Now who doesn't love turquoise in the summer?  And look how beautifully it pairs with scrappy browns.

My little rant is with Microsoft.  I have used PAINT for years.  It's a free program (so I should stop my bitching right there)  that I use to shrink photos and add all the fancy circles and arrows and text that you see on my pics.  It appears that now I will have to get it from the Microsoft Store and download it.  Still free, mind you, but now a P.I.T.A. (pain-in-the-ass).  Why can't these companies just leave me alone with my OLD STUFF.  I'm happy with my OLD STUFF.  I know how to use my OLD STUFF.

Anyhow...
ZUCCHINI REPORT

Picked this week:  12
Picked YTD:       116
Gave away this week:  6

What did I do with it this week?  I made four more zucchini loaves, two of which I'll give away today when we go the the BBQ/Pool Party.  I made four loaves last week too - gave away one and split the others in half for the freezer.  I also broke down and cooked a zucchini for my supper!  First I sauteed some onions, then added sliced zucchini and gently cooked until slightly soft.  Completed by adding a couple of diced tomatoes and letting them reduce a bit.  Yum.  Sadly, the plants are starting to look a little ravaged.  A few were torn out over the past two months because of bug infestations but that still (as you've noticed) left me with PLENTY.  I expect that the next two weeks will see their demise.