Farewell String Quilt for Fr. Casey Mahone

Banner to say Farewell.

My string block quilt.

A few weeks ago our Parish Priest, Fr. Casey Mahone, announced that he was being transferred. Although he has only been at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church for 4 years the Community was stunned at this announcement. He was a perfect fit for St. Xavier and St. Monica's.

Of course, right away I said to myself I must make a quilt. I thought about it, asked friends but I just couldn't come up with a quilt idea. Yes I own a million books, magazines, free downloaded files but nothing, absolutely nothing was working for me. So I gave up on the idea. Sunday (4/20) morning I woke up and said "the string blocks, they'll be perfect, the string will represent the people of our Parish". God does work in mysterious ways!!!

About 2 years ago I was in a swap to make scrappy string blocks. Things were going sour in the swap so I dropped out but made my blocks. Afterwards I looked at them and thought "what was I thinking" ... I hated them so I put them in the cabinet and closed the door. Awhile back I showed the blocks to the Heartstrings group and had decided to cut them in half to add plain fabric on one side. Thank goodness I didn't move forward with my idea.

When I woke up Sunday (4/20) I knew exactly what I wanted to do. So right after breakfast I got started. The top was finished on Monday morning; Monday afternoon I stopped at Sheryl's looking for the perfect backing ... a red backing. I found it, perfect red with just a touch of gold fleck .... it's by Blank Fabrics. Blank fabric are so nice ...... it came out of the washer/dryer just like it was on the bolt ... absolutely no ironing .... beautiful. Tuesday morning I loaded the quilt on Prince Charming (Nolting longarm) and got started. Tuesday about 9:30PM the quilting was done, quilt was trimmed, bias was made and binding was on the quilt. Wednesday I got to work hand stitching the binding to the backing ........ it's done, it's done, it's done with days to spare.

I used the Trailing Vine pantograph by Lorien Quilting. Now I'm fairly new to longarm quilting and points are alittle hard for me. I decided to make the inside section of the leaf rounded. I'm telling you this in advance because when DH (who is an ordained Deacon) looked at the finished quilt he said "WOW I love the flame and fish" (popular religious symbols) motifs and I thought "What, flames and fish?". I then said "it's a vine, honey". I have to admit that because I rounded that point inside the leaf sure enough it does look like a candle flame and the other leaf does look like an eyeless fish. Perfect!

By the way it was only after I had the binding on that I noticed the fabric had a tiny leaf design. I couldn't believe it ...... double perfect.

I like to make my labels by hand using the IdentiPen by Sakura. I sew the label with my Janome 6500 sewing machine to the backing fabric "before" quilting. Too many quilts are stolen and labels are removed .... when the label is quilted into the quilt it's pretty hard to remove. I do want to give credit for the label wording to my very best friend, Irene. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn't put it into words. I sent her a HELP email and in less than a minute she responded. The label wording is all Irene's. Thank you Irene.

To end my long write up ......... I LOVE the quilt. Here are a few photos..........

Do you see Flames and Fish?

575 reservations ..... the largest local dinner ever in a Catholic Community according to the Vicar, Fr. Peterson. Over 100 parishioners volunteered to setup, cook, serve, clean up and more.

Fr. Casey and his brother.

Fr. Casey and his quilt.

Joe giving Welcome speech and Fr. Casey's story.

Our gift to Fr. Casey from St. Francis Xavier and St. Monica's Parishes

Much better photos here by the Church Photographer.

Good bye Fr. Casey .......

Pink/White String Quilts

Last year I joined a swap over at HGTV for pink and white (only) string blocks ... 6.5" and/or 12.5" blocks. In the end I only sent in the 6.5" blocks .... mostly because of the rising postage rates.


So I made 2 quilts from my 12.5" string blocks. I did make a few extra blocks with aqua centers as I wanted to make a heart shape in the middle.

Here's my 1st String Quilt with the aqua heart shape. I used Hearts and Loops pantograph.

Here's my 2nd String Quilt ...... by the way DH picked out the border/backing fabric. He has such a good color eye .... so much better than me. I used Angel Wings pantograph by Jodi Bemish on the quilt.

Both of these quilts will be donated to charity.

DH on the Fashion Runway

DH is the Director of the County's Senior Centers. Tuesday was the annual 2008 Senior Expo. The place was packed and lots of goodies being given away at all the booths. Yes I found a few things I couldn't live without. Anyway, one of the highlights of the morning was a Fashion Show by Belk Department Store (DH and 5 ladies).

Here's a few shots. Sorry they are so dark ........ it was fun and DH was a good sport.

A Neighbor Visits

Hello ...........

Well look who came over to visit, Mr. Kitty. Yes, that's his name. He lives across the street at the "pool house" as we call it (big house with a big swimming pool). Now it doesn't really show in this photo but Mr. Kitty has the most unusual blue eyes .... like the waters in Hawaii.

Quilt Fresco (update)

A few days ago I wrote about a Fresco ........ above are our hands from my Wednesday Stitchers Group. They'll be winging their way to France this week.

GD #2

A quick post today .... GD#2 had to have a tooth pulled last Friday. She's getting ready for her braces and tooth extraction is the last step. The baby tooth had to go as the big tooth (as she calls it) was stuck, crooked and painful. Braces T-Day May 18.





Then of course a girl must show off her doggie. Tippy had a trim on Friday too.

Tippy's Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIPPY

Today Tippy turns one year old ........ gosh where did the time go.

Tippy's family had pizza to celebrate.

Tippy invited everyone to share in one of her favorites .... peanut butter cookies. YUMMY

Then it time to open the presents. Ah snacks, a new pink food dish and some new toys.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Tippy
Happy birthday to you !!!!!

Off to Cincinnati to Visit DD#2

Over the weekend we went to visit our youngest daughter who lives in the Cincinnati area. Oh Friday was so beautiful, warm and it was a nice drive over. She owns a beautiful home which sits on a golf course. Now I'm going to throw in some trip photos just for fun.






Oh here are my GrandKitties. Miss Winnie and Mr. Foghorn.



















IKEA just opened in the last month in Cincinnati ...... I LOVE IKEA. Plus DD#2 lives about 5-7 minutes from IKEA. Did you know IKEA has fabric on bolts? I didn't ..... It said 100% cotton but I was a little leary that it could be used in for quilting. I took a long look but in the end decided the fabric was more on the canvas side than quilt fabric. BUT that's not to say I won't buy some of their fabrics next time.






On Saturday I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby. We don't have Hobby Lobby's where I live. They have reduced their quilting fabric selection a good bit but I managed to find quite a few pieces that I couldn't live without. LOL I also ran into Hancock Fabrics .... nope don't have Hancock's here either. Unfortunately the store was a wreck so I didn't stay long and made no purchase.

Then we were off to the TriCounty Mall. Picked up some makeup and did alot of window shopping. We were ready for a late lunch. Now those who know me know that I love pecan waffles from The Waffle House. On this trip I had decided to skip my favorite pecan waffle as DH and DD#2 aren't that keen on The Waffle House.

But DH and DD#2 insisted so I readily agreed ...... off we went. All too soon it was Sunday and time to load up our car and head back home. We had a great visit and miss DD#2 already.

Now the trip home on Sunday was lousy ... it rained, rained and some more rain.


Oh I do want to say THANK YOU to the lady in the dark blue van who pulled up beside of us pointing and mouthing something. We waved to say thanks, she speed off, we pulled off onto the shoulder. Sigh .... DH once again left the gas cover thing-of-a-bob off.

Now flying down the highway I snapped these trees ..... I think it would make a terrific art quilt. Maybe someday I'll get up the nerve to try an art quilt.

Now see this bridge in the distance?

It crosses over the Blennerhassett Island and Ohio River ... once it opens (very soon) we'll be able to cut 20-30 minutes off our travel ..... ah we can't wait.

Oh boy we see the bridge to home...........


Toll bridge to home.


Now just pass the toll booth is Joann's ... alas I was too tired to have DH stop. LOL


Home Sweet Home

I'll unpack tomorrow.