Wednesday, January 07, 2009

#2 of 10

This HeartStrings top was pieced by Barbara in FL and quilted with my Circle Lord Swirls template tonight. It's #2 of the 10 tops I hope to get quilted in January.

Is anyone else out there saving selvages? I won't ever make an entire quilt (although I do plan to do Karen's Red Zinger in strips & strings this year) but I want to play with some postcards. I need to find a place for these since they seem to be multiplying.

I have another question for you too - does anyone have date nights with their husband? I was thinking this evening as I was walking downtown to meet Keith for a date tonight how good these have been for us. We started them pretty early in our marriage and my favorite ones have always been when we meet somewhere after work rather than Keith coming home first.


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31 comments:

Anonymous said...

you are just flying over there Mary ... you can always come here and help me with kyle's quilt .. i'm struggling to finish it

as for dates .. yup - reg and i have dinner out when kyle goes to his dads - we turn it into a whatever we want thing and fly with it :D

hugs
g

Unknown said...

Yes, me and the mother of my boyfriend saving selvages. Because she wants to make a bookshelf quilt.

My boyfriend and I are toghther for 9 years now and we still have dates ;)

LG
Christiane

Joyce said...

I really like the colors on this latest heartstrings quilt. I save selvages for others but don't plan on using any myself. Since we are both retired, every day is date day. Lol.

zizzybob said...

The quilt looks great. Thanks for making my tops look so good.

Brenda said...

Yes to selvages, no to date night, altho we're going out tonite for DH's birthday. I have a huge bag already and its time to start sewing them.

Marilyn said...

Mary,

It looks like you will accomplish your
goal for January.

Even though I am no longer married, I
know a number of people who have a date
night. It seems very romantic to me and just
the kind of thing needed in our busy world
Marilyn

Anonymous said...

LOVE the selvage quilt idea ... but am trying to resist ... need to FINISH things, not start new ones! LOL

DH and I do have date nights ... anything from a spontaneous dinner out to just stopping by a book store, browsing for a few hours and having a cup of coffee. Some of the best ones have been on way home from work (we commute together though we work in different places). Weather will be lovely so we stop and take a walk hand in hand through a park ... a lot of great talking and communication takes place on those. We both agree that "dates" are most important ... keeps a little magic going ;-) Good topic, Mary!

Flatlander (Linda)

Dawn's Daily Journal said...

We have date night. It isn't a standard once a week or once a month thing though. If our youngest is going to be at a sleepover the hubby and I take advantage of the free time and go out to dinner and a movie. When life gets busy and we haven't had time to talk about anything other then the kids, bills, work ect then we go out to dinner or even to a coffee shop so we can be together. Some Saturdays we go out for breakfast...alone. :)There have even been times we've gone for a long walk and called it a date. I think dates with your spouse are so important. It's a time to reconnect and remember what it is you love about each other.
Love the colors in the quilt!!
dawn

♪♪Melody♪♪ and Puddin said...

Beautiful quilt. I looked at the link to salvage quilts. I had not seen them and they do turn out very beautiful, but I am into string quilts at the moment. After I get the twisted happy block one done. :-)

YankeeQuilter said...

I am passing on salvage quilts...I have accepted I cannot do everything! We do date nights too. About twice a month or when one of us has been away for a a few days for work or family. It gives an excuse to dress up a bit. We are also trying to do something "nice" each week for each other. Last week my DH washed the dog (my dog so my chore...) and I made his favorite Greek dish without being asked. After ten years it is easy to take each other for granted...

SueR said...

Love the colors in that string quilt. Yes, I bought Karen Griska's book about selvages and have been saving them for a little while. I tried out a small project before Christmas, a small Christmas stocking, and I enjoyed it enough to pursue some other projects. Postcards would be great to experiment with. Wanda at Exuberant Color is saving too.

Julia said...

What a beautiful quilt! The colors are so warm and inviting!

We do date night occasionally too! Most every night after Ethan goes to bed, we meet downstairs on the couch and cuddle, while watching a little t.v. before bed. I love doing that! :~) A great way to unwind after the day and just be next to each other.

Royce said...

I saved a bunch of selvages during my Christmas sew-a-thon and have used some of them as "ribbons" for my scrapbooking. I'd never seen the strip quilts before till I ran across your blog. I do plan on trying it.
Did you quilt the HeartStrings by Barbara in one night! I'm speechless - that's something.

Paula said...

Back when DH was healthy, we had date nights. I always took the kids to grandma's house about 3:00 p.m., went home and took my time getting prettied up. Around 5:00, DH would arrive home, shower, and we'd head out for dinner, shopping, etc.

We don't have traditional date nights any more, but sometimes, I convince him to "go out" with me. I load him up in the car, and we pick up some great take out and eat it at a park. He can't get in and out of the vehicle any more, but we still try periodically to do that. Not as often now as the disease progresses.

So, I say, while you can, invest that time with your spouse. We don't know what the future holds.

Stephanie D said...

Well, I see I'm far down the list for selvages!

I'm saving some, because I'm doing one for our quilt challenge in March. But it only has to be a small one, so don't need too many.

DH has been disability retired for many years now, so we're always together when I'm off. Sometimes too much so! As far as date nights, not really, but we do try to get to a movie now and then or go out to eat someplace different.

Gypsy Quilter said...

I roll my selvage strips in to a string ball in case I need to tie up anything.

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I'm saving selvages too and also don't really have a big quilt in mind. I think a lot of little projects is more like it. I'm thinking of storing them over a clothes hanger with the smaller ones in a ziploc with a hole punched so it can hang from the same hanger.

QuiltinLibraryLady said...

oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I like that quilt. Such pretty fall colors.

Selvages, no. Red Zinger, yes. I copied it out of a magazine and it's on my list of "to do someday" quilts.

Dates ended with marriage.

Dianne said...

Love that string quilt in the woodsy colors...would look GREAT in my bedroom!

DH has been working from home for the last 14 years, and I really miss the idea of date nights. Maybe we can institute them again when we aren't living in the country. I love the idea of meeting up somewhere, rather than setting out together.

Selvage Quilter said...

Wow! 10 quilts in January is quite a challenge. I love how #2 came out; pretty swirls in the quilting.

We've used to have date nights, but we haven't done that in a long time. Thanks for the reminder. My favorites are walking, light meal at a cafe, bookstore browsing, or a good movie.

I can't wait to see your Red Zinger. I had such a blast designing that quilt for Quilter's Home magazine. Mark Lipinski had just been to our guild in NYC and he said that he didn't like it when quilt magazines "dummed down" the patterns and made them boring. So I challenged myself to come up with something really cool. And I love it. Some quilters have made string quilt versions (no selvages) with great results.

Have fun. And happy new year!

Karen

Unknown said...

I just don't know when you have time to blog and quilt and walk and take photos.
Gee Mary, I just don't have your energy...great stuff.

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

Hi Mary!
I don't save my selvages... I don't like them, I dislike having to cut them off... Besides, i have 5 bins overflowing with scraps. I can't save everything, although I know many do...
As far as a date night. We have a date night every Thursday night. Usually we just do, dinner and a movie, because we are so tired... B keeps us busy. Or sometimes we hear some jazz,a play or maybe an art opening... It's something to look forward to every week. Although in NYC, paying a babysitter, popcorn and a movie! It gets pricey! Movies are $12.50 each here...

Laurie said...

I don't save salvages...i'm not good at saving scraps that a lot of people would shudder about! LOL And yes, DH and I have been having dates night for about 20 years now. We save one night just for us (which was much needed when the kids were home)and it worked so well that we continue to do so. I just LOVE date nights!!! When the kids were little we made it rule to NOT talk about them either...just US!

Great quilt!
Laurie

Stephanie said...

There is a great pattern in the new issue of Quiltmaker for a pincushion using selvages. It wouldn't take too many of them and would work up quickly.

Jessica said...

My MIL & FIL have done a date night each week since my husband was about 2 years old (he's 36 now). Because of my husband's crazy schedule we can't do one weekly but we try to get out without the kids (or have a romantic dinner after they go to bed) at least once a month. And a weekend away a few times per year.

Martha said...

I haven't done anything with selvages. I save the interesting ones. I won't make a quilt with them, but I like some of the smaller projects I've seen.
Date nights are a joy in our marriage. We began when our kids were little. Way back when we were limited by 'budget constraints' to splitting a cola and window shopping.

Lisa said...

It's hard to manage date nights and truly they happen once or twice a year at best. We are parents of a 4-year old... we did both sneak away from our jobs for lunch together though today... something we don't do often enough.

julieQ said...

I am intrigued with selvages, and am saving them...do not know what exactly I am going to do with them yet! I love your string quilts, every one is so pretty. My husband and I have date nights each week. One week he plans it, his choice, and the next week I plan it. We try to do something different and expand our horizons each week. Keeps it all fun!! We recently went to the King Tut exhibition, now that was different!

Quilter Kathy said...

I have been using the selvages for small things like postcards and pot holders...fun!
Date nights are few and far between for us, but we sure do enjoy them when we get the chance!
Maybe I need to put more effort into planning and making them more frequent in 2009?!?!

Anonymous said...

Saturday night is always date night....and that's tomorrow VBG!!

Nancy E said...

Hi Mary,
Yup, I use the selvedges...in fact, I have a running pile in my desk drawer that will get put together in some fashion with my crazy quilt blocks. I have a floral quilt, "Fleur d' Lisiere" that just needs to border on, which is also selvedged. Send them my way, Mary, if you have any left. You have my address.Nancy Eaton in CT