Northern Deb Quilts

Beautiful Fabrics and fun projects

2012-02-16T19:35:00.001-05:00

Today I brought my Happy Mochi Yum Yum Star Sampler project into the shop. We have a BOM starting in March. I finished up the middle, the surrounding 8" stars and then the plain white border. Now I'm making the other 7 different stars that surround these. That will take me a while, I'm sure. So this is a picture of what I hae so far and those luscious fabrics behind it are the ones I'm using... Happy Mochi Yum Yum... Yummy is right!

Another project I working on VERY SLOWLY is a summer dresden fan quilt for a baby. It has these bright little dresden plates... the blocks are 6" finished or 3" for the quarter block. I'm using this Fantastic Fan template WHICH I LOVE!! Let me tell you, it's saving me some time! It is made of metal and had a sandpaper type back so that it really holds the fabric as you cut. I get the little fans cut out SUPER fast. I'm machine stitching these to the background to make it even faster... plus it's for a baby and I want it very washable. I'm using invisible thead.

And here's another project I'm working on ... a little every month. It's my Farmer's Wife BOM class that uses Penny Haren's techniques of pieced applique. I really enjoy doing these. There are about 50 done so far... all in 30's repros. The next 50 or so are going to be made using Civil war fabrics. I want to end up with 2 twin sized quilts when I'm done.

I've been PINNED :)

2012-02-15T10:48:00.003-05:00

I have to admit I don't know too much about Pinterest but I've heard lots of talk about it. Seems it's a place you can spend HOURS looking at pictures and getting inspiration. Since Al and I don't have internet at home (Yes, shocking, I know!), I can't spend hours upon hours looking through the web... sure would like to though. But today I was reading my dashboard and looking through blogger stats and noticed that I had a lot of visitiors checking out my cupcake potholders and the center of my civil war quilt. The traffic was coming from PINTEREST. Thank you to whoever pinned me up... it's a nice compliment! Maybe I'll have to have join... or get asked? Is that how it goes?

Well, back to breakfast. Al and I are at the Original Pancake House...THE BEST BREAKFAST around! They have wi-fi, great pancakes with REAL maple syrup, REAL butter, REAL cream for the coffee and a great water view... can't ask for more than that can you? After this, it's home and back to sewing. The small stars for my star sampler are done and stitched onto the center... now I need to add the plain inner border then start making the 12" sampler stars. I'll take a picture of it when I get a little further on.

Making more stars for my Star Sampler Quilt

2012-02-13T15:07:00.003-05:00

Twelve small stars are needed to surround my main star on this sampler quilt so I'm a little more than halfway done with that part. These stars are more from the Happy Mochi Yum Yum line.

The other day I had LOADS of time to work on this, and that's what I planned to do, but once I got down to the sewing room I started cleaning and playing. It was just too tempting to go through some older boxes that I haven't been through in a while. AND before you know it, most of the day was gone. Don't you just love feeling fabric? Well after a few wonderful hours, I am a little more organized. There's a nice size pile to donate and a couple of bags to give to friends. Trouble is I only got part of my stars done. It's so hard to stay focused! Later today I PLAN to finish them up and cut the next border which is just plain white.. easy! Lets see if I get it done ;)

So what did I organize? Well, I dug through my old Blue Sue Quilt box. This is a quilt that I started... oh... maybe 3 or 4 years ago. It will have twelve blocks. All the sunbonnet sues are in shades of blue and each block represents a month of the year. I'm up to May. I drew up the blocks long time ago and am slowly doing the applique. Pulling this out made me want to work on it SO bad. It's turning out well but I just can't take the time on it right now. There are too many other quilts that have to come first. I was digging through this box because I knew I had lots of blue fqs and I'm trying to get enough Nature's Notebook blue and yellow FQs to do a quilt. I'm missing all the darker blues from the line plus the green mini print. There is also a geometric print in yellow...also in blue... could use either of those. Anyone have these? I'll gladly trade for what you need if I have it or can get it.

After that I dug through the fabrics for my daughters wedding quilt... just to make sure I have everything I need and YES, thanks to some of you, I do. I have it all sorted and organized so as soon as I have this sampler done, it will be time to sew her quilt. Her shower will be in June or July and wouldn't it be nice to have it done by then... here's hoping!

So now my room clean (and vacumned :) ... TIME TO MESS IT UP!

Farmer's Wife and Block Frenzy blocks

2012-02-11T14:29:00.006-05:00

Al is working today so I get to spend some quality time with my sewing machine :) The block above is from Farmer's Wife, cups and saucers block #25. This one was foundation pieced so it was super fast and easy... AND so precise! I have two or three more blocks that I would like to complete TODAY, from that quilt.

The block below is one I made a couple of days ago for Hearts to Holly's Block Frenzy. I call it Interlocking Stars. I'm not sure what the actual name is. The gray fabric is from Lily and Will... Puttin' on the ritz. If anyone wants to join in the block frenzy, just send a 12-1/2" block (unfinished size) to Sue at Hearts to Holly (or drop it off). You need to use the current line... the yellow and grays from Lily and Will. For every block you make and bring in, your name goes into the pot once. At the end of a month and a half, she has someone pull for the winner. Winner gets all the blocks sent or brought in! This is going to make a sweet sampler quilt. I want to up my chances so I need to make at least one more block. The winner also gets to choose the next line used. :)

Making a Sampler Quilt w/ Happy Mochi Yum Yum

2012-02-06T12:45:00.003-05:00

This is the center and the start of my new sample quilt for the shop. It's a Jelly Roll Star Sampler Quilt from the book Jelly Roll Sampler Quilts by Pam & Nicky Lintott. Next I'll be working on the stars that surround this center. My BOM class using this book starts in about a week so I've got to get going on it. I'm using the fabric Happy Mochi Yum Yum along with a nice white.

Pin Basting my "Modern Quilt"

2012-01-30T12:53:00.006-05:00

Pin basting is one of those necessary evils that are a part of quiltmaking ... unless of course you ship it off to a longarm quilter or have another way of basting.

For the most part I like to quilt my own quilts, especially if it is a baby-sized one like this. Last night as I was pinning, Al said he was surprised by the amount of pins I use... this quilt doesn't hide them. I thought there might be more quilters out there wondering how many pins are needed to hold the quilt together.... and my usual answer is put in lots and when you think you have enough, add more.
BUT I figured a picture is worth a thousand words. I counted about 14 pins per 12" block so I'm guessing that there are probably about 200 pins in this. If I don't OVER pin my quilts, I end up with puckered parts when I flip it over and if this has ever happenned to you, you know how it makes your heart sink! You can't just take out stitches... you would be picking them out forever... You have to hide the pucker (put the label over it) or live with it. I'd rather put in more pins.
There is a tool sold at many quilt shops that helps with the pinning. It's called the KWIK-KLIP. It has a wooden handle and a small metal piece sticking out at one end. I wouldn't pin without it.... it has saved my fingertips.
OH, and one more thing... sometimes it goes without saying but sometimes not....use SAFETY PINS for pin basting not straight pins. Your hands will thank you!

The Generals' Wives Quilt

2012-01-29T13:50:00.004-05:00

This is block three of the BOM I joined. Are any of you doing The Generals' Wives? Since I work at the quilt shop, I hear about how hard some of these blocks are and I know that if the seams aren't perfect, the block won't come out the correct size... SO, I thought why not paper piece this. I'm using my EQ7 to print out the separate parts of this block. One thing I'll have to watch out for is the striped fabric on the outer parts of the block. Two paper piece sections will have the stripe running side to side and two sections will have the stripe up and down. I'll have to make sure I use the correct pieces in the correct places.

THE OTHER COMPLICATION is that I have to draw the REVERSE of what I want to end up... paper piecing is like working with mirrors. I think I'll try a 30's version of it first. IN FACT maybe I'll try all the blocks in a 30's fabric so that I don't ruin my kits with experiments. It won't matter if those come out backwards... I'll just have an extra funky quilt :)

In May I'm going to be doing a demo at the library in town ... teaching ENGLISH paper piecing. This little cube in the pic below is one of my experiments. I kept the papers in it and stuffed it with some poly. Not sure what I can do with it but it's cute.

One of my new loves is MODERN quilting. Below is a picture of a baby quilt I'm working on. I have the borders on now... but not in this picture... they're all Kona Ash gray. I'm going to pin the quilt today and then try to get it quilted this week. I'd like to do a very linear quilting pattern but havent made up my mind exactly what and where. Then the binding.. Hmmm... Orange maybe? I joined the MODERN QUILTING GUILD... a local one. They are everywhere and if there isn't one in your area you can go to The MODERN QUILT GUILD and start one in your area. There are two in Michigan... one in Ann Arbor and one in TC.

What's your favorite ruler/template?

2012-01-28T22:10:00.002-05:00

Today I had my Demo class using the 45 degree Trapezoid ruler. It's one that I don't own, I used the shop's ruler to make my samples... BUT boy do I love it. I plan to get for my own. It cuts 2-1/2" strips, cuts the trapezoids for the braid, the pieces for the windmill block and for the attic window block, PLUS you can use it to cut the ends of your 2-1/2" binding strips at a 45! This is going to be one that I use time and again.

So my questions is what ruler do you just love... one you wouldn't want to be without? Or which one that you've tried is a good timesaver... or just plain fun?

Old blocks New quilts

2012-01-26T16:17:00.004-05:00

Here's a picture or two of the one hundred plus blocks I found yesterday at the resale shop.

They are mainly pastels, plaids, old shirtings. Some are handsewn and some are not. Some are well done, some... well... not as nice.

When I find old blocks like these I feel like they should be used "as is".... as they were intended to be put together. Maybe the idea was to use a four patch then a solid, then another four patch.. ... OR maybe they were just going to stitched together, one four patch after another.

Putting the solid between them would definately be more my way of doing it. I don't like quilts to be too busy. Maybe a muslin or a Kona solid like snow? Hmmmm

So today I was out doing some errands and stopped into another resale hoping to find some rustic candlestick holders for Jenn's wedding. They'll be painted dark and then washed with an antique white... unless they're old silver.

SO I'm looking for that stuff (found a few) and I decided to check the sewing stuff.
I found another bag of blocks! Is this the time of year quilters clean out their drawers and sewing rooms? Well, these blocks are newer than yesterday's blocks.

There were 14 Friendship blocks, all signed but except one... and some were dated 1990. Some had cities also... local cities. I didn't recognize any of the quilters names but who knows... these ladies might be mothers, aunts, friends of my quilter friends up here. What a quandry... do I buy them?
As I dug farther through the bag, I found a handful of odd blocks... one of a kind... and then rolled up together was another group of 15 or so 9-patch blocks. These seem to be from the 70's and 80's. A few of them I liked really well, a few... UCK. The fabrics were cotton for the most part but not all.
So did I buy them? YUP. You know me, I just can't resist adding someone elses UFOs to my pile. I may give some of them away but I think I see a couple of quilts in there. After thinking about all of these, I think I'd like to keep the friendship blocks to make myself a quilt... it'll have ties to the past quilters in my area and that's a nice feeling.

Resale shopping and some vintage fabric finds

2012-01-25T22:36:00.006-05:00

Al and I were out shopping at some resale shops today and guess what I found?! A bag of old quilt blocks for $4! There are about 150 blocks in this bag and these in the picture are some of my favorites. I'm going to give them to daughter Lisa because she loves 30's and 40's fabrics.. pretty sure that most of these are in the age group. The part of the bag that I'm not giving to Lisa is a group of nine patches that are soft colors... probably just as old but not really her style. They are not well done blocks but still I love them. I think I'll put them together to make a small vintage looking quilt. When I get them all spread out, I'll snap a picture. I also bought a bag of old buttons.
After shopping the resales, Al and I met with daughter Jenn. She tried on wedding gowns for us and we all fell in love with two of them. She has a favorite she found downstate and now these two... SO... which dress will be the one... dress 1, dress 2 or dress 3? Kind of like House Hunters...lol. I think she's leaning toward dress three... my fav is dress two.. but no matter which one SHE'LL BE BEAUTIFUL! Plans are coming along nicely for the wedding. They have they're venue... a vineyard just outside the city and they have the photographer. There are a lots more decisions to make but thankfully I don't have to worry about most of them. I tried on a dress for the first time today... and ...hmmm... think I need to head to the gym... SOON!

Help me win!!!

2012-01-23T12:23:00.004-05:00

Help!!! I've entered into the Aurifil Quilt Contest on Facebook and need votes. It's late in the contest so I'm not sure I stand a chance but MAYBE with a little help....

Go to the link below to view my quilt, like Aurifil and vote. I just LOVE these threads. If you know anyone else that would help me out by voting, send them the link. Thank you, thank you, thank you (in advance) for the votes.

http://apps.facebook.com/offerpop/Contest.psp?c=59778&u=15957&a=255558194495800&p=73173250093&v=Entry&id=185474&rest=1

Update 1-26-12: I didn't win but thanks to all of you who helped me out. 31st place is nothing to sneeze at, right?!... out of about 300!

Orange Central Park Quilt is Done

2012-01-18T20:29:00.009-05:00

The binding is being stitched down, so for the most part, the orange quilt is finished. I did an allover meander on most of the top and then changed to a flower and leaf design on the border. The batting is the thinnest 100 percent cotton batt that I could find. It's nice... not too heavy.

Here's the back of the quilt. I used up all the leftover pieces by cutting them to a 12-1/2" length and attaching one to the other. Then I cut two long pieces of white, 12-1/2"wide, to add to the top and bottom of my colorful strip. I like this splash of color on the otherwise all white back. OH, almost forgot... got to add a label!

This quilt will be at the shop as a sample but after they are done with it, it goes to daughter Lisa. She claimed it... it's her colors. Pattern (Orange Slices) is written .

Decorating with and around quilts

2012-01-18T12:22:00.012-05:00

As I was quilting the orange braid strip quilt (still don't have a name for it..any suggestions?), I was thinking about all the quilts and quilted projects I have around the house.

I was trying to figure what I'd like to make next... what I needed... and this is in addition to the things that MUST get done. I HAVE to make a wedding quilt for Jenn, which will be fun. It's going to be pretty colors and an easy pattern.

I also NEED to make a quilt for my neice... and that will be another fun project. It'll be purple OF COURSE... not sure what pattern yet or what shades purple.

But besides that I also like to have a few small projects thrown in... things that can get done quickly... completed in a couple of days. ANYWAYS, as I was thinking about my next little project, I went around the house see what was needed and then had a thought. A lot of us show pictures of our quilts and pillows etc but not always where they end up... what our rooms look like with our quilted projects in them. SO, today I'm showing some of my rooms and some of my past projects along with some of the "art" pieces my family members have made. Jenn is quite an artist and has done some paintings for the house, Lisa makes beautiful quilts and has taken some wonderful pictures, my brother Larry is amazing at bronze and baking, my mom is an excellent oil painter, my brother Rick makes beautiful jewlery out of gold and silver, my father-in-law was an artist in his own way.... he could draw very well,.... the list could go on and on... so here's a few things that I've made..my family has made and my friends have given me.

This is Lisa's bedroom and her built-in-bed. She made the quilt that is at the foot of it and the little pillows. I upholstered the headboard and footboard and made a pillowcase for it.

This is our great room with two quilts over the couch. The one is a kit from Hearts to Holly in flannel that I made a couple of years ago.. VERY WARM! and the other one is a "fish" quilt. It was a wall sized quilt that I blew up to full size for Al. I use it sometimes but if he catches me he takes it away.

It's HIS!

Below is a picture that Jenn painted in college. I love it. I lay on the couch and stare at it... what it is changes from time to time... don't you love that about contempory art? The bench under it was made by my father-in-law and the quilt in the basket I made for Lisa years ago.

This bronze doorstop was made by my brother for Jenn's 16th birthday. I've stubbed my toe on it more times than you'ld believe but I love it. Comes in handy when the windows are open and the doors are all slamming.

Here's my laundry sink in my sewing room. I have a glass jar full of old wooden threads and another jar full of empty spools (from my sister). Also on the back ledge are quilted postcards from friends and daughter Lisa. There are two "mug rugs"... one hold the soaps and one is for setting my iron on. The vintage blue canning jar is stuffed full of old buttons (I have two more just like this one) and finally my little quilt that I entered into the last quilt show up here a year ago. My first and only entry into a show.

Now this picture is a photo my daughter Lisa took... I wanted to know what she was thinking going into this area of Detroit!?! but I love it. Her and I both love architecture... on it's way up or down :)

This is a table in my sewing room with a few of my favorites on it. The little "man" next to the lamp is made out of sewing machine parts. My father in law worked at Fords for years... they have a sewing area.. doing seats, headrests, etc. One of the guys there took old parts and made this for him. I just love it. Another gift someone made him is the set of bookends from an old singer sewing machine. It's on the bottom shelf holding up my sewing books... weighs a TON! I have my pincushion on top... have quite a few pincushions now.. but can you really have too many? :)... Also have my two bins of solid fabrics and a half quilted quilt. This is my Americana quilt... I'm probably 2/3rds of the way done on it but just haven't been motivated to finish it up.

OK, here's a chair in Al's movie room. Lisa made him a quilt with all of his favorite things on it... cars, dots candy, tools, route 66 signs, coke... plus she embroidered and paper pieced some designs on the corners. Lots of work in this one but he knows that and loves it.

Here's Jenns old bedroom. I made the quilt for summer use... a picnic quilt. The one on the little rocker is for my "someday" grandchild... I call it JJ's quilt... as in Jon Junior... not sure if there's going to be a jj or a jane or another little someone but for now that's the name I use. I remember when I was carrying Jenn and I called her "little zander"... thinking she would be a boy. I ended up with two girls and couldn't be happier about it. You just never know...

Here's an oldie... my mom painted a bunch of paintings for my bridal shower over 30 years ago! I think I'd like to find it a little frame and hang it on the wall. The owl in front of it is made out of a gourd... mom bought it for me at an art show a few years back.

And here's my bedroom. That's grandma's 100th birthday quilt on the end of our bed... she's in a nursing home... still doing great at 103! The pillowcases are from a swap on Block Central... sure miss that forum. The mug rugs on each side of the bed are from my friend Pat... another swap but this one at The Quilt and Needle forum. They have Charlevoix fabric as the tea cups! There's another quilt in the basket under my nightstand (which is an old singer sewing machine). This is one I grab for picnics, beach.. it's getting worn but I still like it.

Back to Lisa's old room. That's her Gumby holding a ball pillow I made. The pretty quilt above was made by my friend Rebecca a couple of Christmases ago.

Thank you all for going on my tour... I hope others will do the same... I'd love a peek at where everyone has their quilts and other goodies.

Congrats, Jenell!!

2012-01-16T10:43:00.003-05:00

Some of us ladies that have been friends through Block Central Forum, The Quilt and Needle Forum and Facebook got together to make a quilt for Jenell's newest grandbaby. We all did different parts from making a block or two, doing borders, putting the top together, quilting, binding, supplying the backing, batting, making a label, etc....

Since I did the quilting, I got to see the finished product before sending it off to Jenell. It sure turned out pretty. I've been waiting to post it on my blog but wanted to make sure Jenell got it first and posted it on facebook. Here's a picture of the finished quilt.

Funny thing, this was a new quilt pattern to me... hadn't seen it done up before and I really liked it. When I went to guild this past week, another lady brought in the same quilt, a little larger and different colors... loved that one also. I think I might have to make one in my colors.

Pin Basting my ORANGE braid quilt

2012-01-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

The final border is on my orange braid quilt and now it's basting time. Here's my usual place to do it... the kitchen floor.
I move the table and chairs up against the doorwall and take over the eating area for a couple of days. Al doesn't mind... he likes to eat at the island most of the time now that the kids don't live at home.
Tomorrow I'll start quilting this one... hope to be done by the middle of next week.

FANTASTIC sale coming up at my fav quilt shop

2012-01-13T12:21:00.002-05:00

Just thought I would tell anyone that is close to Charlevoix about Hearts To Holly's BIG SALE. Tomorrow and Monday they are having a birthday sale .... daughter Em's 29th birthday (well actually the 9th aniversary of that birthday). SO to celebrate they are having 29% off of yardage and GET THIS.. buy 9 FQs and GET 9 FQs FREE (pre-cut fats only).

Now I know lots of you don't live in northern Mi but if there is a certain fabric you're looking for it wouldn't hurt to email them or call. They can always pack up a flat rate shipping box and send it off to you. They have MODA's Circa 1934 (which I love), Central Park, lots of civil war, lots of 1930's, Hometown, American Banner Rose, Charlevoix (of course), Fig Tree fabrics, LOADS of blenders and solids, Amy Butler, Kaffe, soooooo much more. You wouldn't believe the fabric stuffed into this store.

Hearts to Holly Quilt Shop has a blog: www.heartstoholly.blogspot.com
Phone is: 1-231-547-2729
More info: http://www.heartstoholly.com/Cart/contact-us.php

Just had to let all of you know ... I know I love a good sale so I'm sure plenty of you do to.

I'm out having breakfast right now with Al. It took us half the morning to get out of our driveway... YES, the snow did come. It's blowing around and drifting. Was over 18" in one spot of the driveway. Al ran out of gas for the snowblower but thankfully our friend Larry was driving by in his plow. He quickly finished up the job for us.
Well, time to get home and do some more stitching.. I'll be quilting a couple of quilts the next couple of days. Posting a pic soon :)

A Sunny Quilt for a sunny January day

2012-01-11T17:33:00.002-05:00

Here's my sewing room and the yard beyond... doesn't look like a normal January day in Michigan out there, does it? The sun is shining and the grass almost looks green. It was so warm out I ALMOST didn't need a jacket... BEAUTIFUL! So when I wasn't outside I worked on a sunny braid quilt that I'm doing for a shop sample. It uses a really nice trapezoid strip ruler. This is the first time I've tried using it and I'm hooked. GREAT TOOL! I'm going to demo it at Hearts to Holly ...at the end of January. This is the quilt I'm working on using the tool.

The fabric is mostly Central Park ...on of my favorites.. Kits will be available at Hearts to Holly if anyone wants to make one.
I made 6 braids then added a yellow border to each... then added a spacer between each of the braids.

It gets a final border after all the strips are done. There are two fabrics I brought home with me to try out... one is an olive print and one is an orange daisy floral that is in the braid.... leaning towards using the orange.

With some of the leftover braid pieces I made one more braid and used it on the cuff of a pillowcase. I didn't take a picture of that but it was quick and easy. It would be a good use of leftover strips and scraps to make a matching pillowcase for more of my quilts.

Ahhh... the holidays are over!

2012-01-06T11:08:00.003-05:00

Don't you just January?! The winter holidays, ALTHOUGH FUN, are over... no more major shopping to worry about... no more cookie baking marathons... the decorations are down and put away... the house is clean and clutter free... well almost all of the house.. NOW I can spend lots of time back in my sewing room and that's a whole new mess... but a good one :) I love Christmas time and I love all the decorations and the parties and the eating but it feels so good now that it's done for another year.

Lisa and Jenn were home for a bit along with Jenn's HUBBY-to-be, Jon. We had a couple of sewing hours tucked into our regularly scheduled holiday doings. Jenn made a cute set of chair cushions for her Grandma-in-law-to-be (boy, that's a mouthful) and a couple of other goodies for friends and family. Lisa worked on some BEAUTIFUL window hangings (Lisa, do those things have a name?). They're kind of like stained glass in fabric. She used some really pretty shot cottons (Kaffe) that she bought downstate. I wish I had gotten a picture of the finished product...darn... but I DO plan to make my own so I'll post a pic when I do. I did get a few pictures of us hanging out in my sewing room just before Xmas and on Xmas eve.

Grocery / Travel Tote Pattern GIVEAWAY!

2011-12-11T14:58:00.011-05:00

This week I'm doing another giveaway. It's to introduce my new pattern:

The GO GREEN Grocery Tote!

This stitches up VERY quick... just over an hour and you'll have both the tote and the storage pouch.

The two can be made using only a 1/2 yard of fabric.

I sometimes add an extra strip of a coordinating color to accent the top facing.

Fold the tote into quarters then roll it up and put it into the pouch.

Nice and convenient. Pack it into your luggage when you go on a trip... you know... for all that fabric you buy ;) Keep a few in your car or purse for unexpected trips to get groceries... you know you want to be GREEN!

And what a great extra something to tuck into a gift for someone.

Leave me a comment on my blog and you'll be entered into the random draw. I'll have the internets RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR do the drawing.

If anyone wants to purchase the pattern, Hearts to Holly Quilt Shop has it or email me at northerndeb@ymail.com.

So what am I giving away? The pattern of course... a half yard of fabric to make the bag... the interfacing needed... the drawstring AND the locking device.

You'll get a complete kit! Drawing will be next SUNDAY... December 18th... GOOD LUCK!

New happennings up here in northern Michigan...

2011-12-07T11:26:00.007-05:00

OHHHH.... where to begin this time?....

MY OLDEST DAUGHTER IS ENGAGED!!!!!

Yup, daughter Jenn and soon to be son-in-law Jon, went on a cruise to Greece, Italy, Turkey...and a bunch of islands.. and they came back engaged! Her sweetheart of a guy suprised her with a proposal on the Greece island of Santorini. They rented a smart car and cruised around the island seeing the sights. They stopped by one picturesque cliff overlooking a church, he set the camera to video (she didn't know this) and proposed to her. I haven't had a chance to see the video but she said she was surprised, confused and well... SAID YES :D Before they left on the trip he asked us permission to marry her and we gave our blessing. Of course, it goes without saying that we love him.

So the plans are for a fall wedding.. August/Sept of 2012. I have to get stitching! I promised her a wedding quilt of her choice. She picked a pattern from Quiltmania using Moda Martinque.

I'm collecting as much as I can for it. If I need more to add to it, I'll use some of Moda's Etchings. This is a line that came into the shop, Hearts To Holly, a few weeks ago that will work well with it. It has some of the same aquas and grays. Okay, so another new addition to our family was Charlie Boy. Daughter Lisa has adopted a sweet kitty and named him Charlie. His formal name is Charles Eames (can you tell she's a fan of his?) We bought him a catnip mouse for Thanksgiving that he seems to enjoy. I'm allergic to cats so I can't pet him or I'll be itching and scratching for forever. Sure wish I could, he looks so soft and cuddly.

Well, that's all of the news for now... I'm WAY behind on Xmas sewing. I have a dozen projects I'd like to finish up and hardly any time to do it. I can see some late nights in the sewing room coming up.

AND then there's the baking. I do a cookie trade with my brothers that live in CA. We swap cookies for seafood. Got to get making those.

Still have some Xmas decorating to do... Xmas cards and letters to write out...Still have some presents to shop for... ahhhh....

Don't you just LOVE this time of year!?!

Farmer's Wife Blocks from class

2011-11-21T18:33:00.005-05:00

Here's some of my finished blocks from my Farmer's Wife class at Hearts to Holly Quilt shop. We've been working on these for over a year now doing about 4 or 5 a month. I think I have 50 done so this is just a small sample of my blocks. I'm doing the first 55 or so in 30's repro prints and then I'm going to change to civil war repros for the second 55.
This is Wrench #2: And here is Weathervane #100:Morning #57: Maple Leaf #56: Linoleum #55:Friendship Star#41:Contrary Wife #21: Churn Dash #20: and finally Calico Puzzle #16: Now that the quilt blocks for the first quilt are just about done, I'm thinking about settings. I may put them on point since there are a few basket blocks. Those look best on point to me. I suppose every other block will be plain... maybe a sashing between? Not sure. Whatever I pick, I'll probably do the second set (the civil war colored blocks) with the same setting. I want two very similar quilts when I'm done. Maybe two twin sizes? I might have to get creative in my borders if they're not large enough.
If anyone is considering doing Farmer's Wife and wants an easy way to make them, give Sue at Hearts to Holly a call... or email her. She still has packets for making all the blocks. You can get them through the mail... you'll get the instructions for about 5 blocks a month... It's about $10 per month plus shipping cost. This program has paper piecing, pieced applique, regular piecing... well, it has it all... the creator of the program has you making each block in the easiest way. We're really having fun with these. And if you live in the Traverse City/Charlevoix area, give the shop a call and join our class.

Garden Party Quilt Sample

2011-11-16T16:57:00.003-05:00

I thought I would post a picture of the sample I finished up a while back. This is a block of the month we are just starting through Hearts To Holly called Aunt Grace's Garden Party. If you want to get in on this, contact Sue at http://www.heartstoholly.com/. The sample was a fun project to work on... I love doing english paper piecing (the hexagon flowers are made that way) and I like applique. The flowers in the center are appliqued by hand but then I did some of the leaves by machine using invisible thread. It's had to tell the difference... you have to really get up close. Don't you just love the scalloped border? I sure do. So now that this sample is done, I'm starting another block of the month. This one isn't for the store... just for myself (well, it'll probably end up being for someone in my family). It's The General's Wives quilt.... beautiful civil war fabrics in that one.
I'm also working on about 3 other projects at the same time... can you tell I get bored easily :)
Sue ordered some SPOOL paper pieces for me and I'm using those (along with my collection of civil war fabrics) to make a large spool quilt. The blocks are 4" and the quilt will need 144 of these. They're all hand stitched (english paper piecing again). I have about 20 blocks done. If I get a chance I'll take a picture of it.

Now for an update on how Mom is doing. Her last surgery went well... she has to work on getting her voice back but it was the same problem last time. It took a month or so and I'm sure this time will be at least as long. Doc said he didn't cut any nerves so it'll just take some work. Her eyesight in the left eye is back!!! The bypass took care of that problem. There are still things that mom has to work on... lung power, talking, swallowing... but I'm sure she'll do it. She's a strong woman... anyone who has gone through what she has and is still here to talk about has to be. I have to give LOADS of credit to her doctor too. He's wonderful... amazing really. So this Thanksgiving our family has lots to be thankful for. And as long as I'm talking about thanks... Thank you to all you who prayed and sent good wishes for her. I think it's all good from here on out.

1930's Reproduction Dresden Plates

2011-10-31T21:02:00.004-04:00

These are the blocks I've been working on at the hospital while mom was recuperating. There are 16 of them now so I think I'll do 4 more. Twenty (4x5) would make a nice quilt for a child. The blocks get trimmed down to 8" finished size. The dresdens are done with paper pieces cut in that petal shape. Sure makes it easy and it's all hand sewing. Perfect for a take-with project.

I'm still deciding on sashing and setting. I know it's hard to tell in these pictures but the background is a very pretty aqua. I have red and white gingham, solid red plus more of the red and white polka dot that is in the centers. Somehow I want to combine all of those in the sashing design....well, we'll see...

While I was going through the camera taking the pics of these blocks, I found a picture of my mom and my daughter Jenn from this summer. Just before all of these problems started, mom visited me up north. I took this pic of them at the castle.

Mom came home from the hospital today and is doing well. I head home to Charlevoix tomorrow. I'll be playing catch up with my outside work, inside work and sewing... but I can't wait... I miss my bed, my tub and mostly MY SEWING ROOM!

Handsewing At U of M

2011-10-28T16:36:00.003-04:00

Lots of hand sewing going on right now... lots of waiting. I'm at U of Michigan waiting for my mom to have a feeding tube put in. She's still having trouble swallowing. They haven't allowed any food or drink for a couple of days now. Hopefully she'll be getting the tube in and within 24 hours will have something in her stomach. Her spirts are amazingly good... I don't think I would have a smile on my face like she does. I'd take her pic but she'd hit me over the head. We curled her hair for the surgery today... want her to look nice for the ride down the hallway.

I'm working on an English paper piecing project I started with my daughter in Shipshewana. It's a small daisy or dresden appliqued on a 9" aqua block. I'm using 30's repros of course...my fav. I have 12 blocks done and am just going to continue until I get home. If I have 16 done then the quilt will be for a baby... If I get all 36 done, it'll be a twin... we'll see.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers... I know it's helping.

Big Hugs to Rebecca... hope all is going well with Gregg.

UFO list going down

2011-10-22T21:27:00.003-04:00

I've had a chance the last few weeks to work on my UFOs. This first one was going to for a gift but I changed my mind. I'm donating to mom's church for their auction. Hope it's gets them a few dollars. I used lots of 6" squares that I traded with my friends from our old forum, Block Central... sure miss that place. The backing was a sale fabric from Hearts to Holly Quilt Shop. It was bright and had most of the colors from the top. If anyone is interested in how I made this quilt (VERY EASY), go to this page: http://northerndeb.blogspot.com/2010/03/making-quilt-from-6-inch-charm-squares.html of my blog.Now here's the quilt that started off being the donation quilt but changed to the gift quilt. The blocks were made by a friend up here in Charlevoix. She didn't have any plans to use them and said if I could make use of them, go ahead. Well they turned out much prettier than I expected. Used plain white for every other block, set them all on point then added a large white border. I had the navy and white floral background in my stash. The batting was in my stash also.

Both of these quilts were quilted on my home machine.... nothing fancy, just a meander/stipple pattern.
I finished up the sample quilt, Aunt Grace's Garden Party and that turned out really nice too. I don't have a picture yet but it's hanging up in the quilt store. It's going to be a block of the month starting in Nov. If anyone wants to make that one, give the store a call.

Now, for anyone wondering how my mom is doing... well, Al and I are downstate at mom's right now. The church auction is tomorrow and I'll be going with my sister, my niece and some of mom's friends. Mom is not up to going since she just got out of the hospital. Her voice is starting to come back, sounds a little stronger to me. She's fed up with her thickened liquids but knows she doesn't have a choice for right now. We all hope that her throat will get back it's ability to swallow. Mom has her bypass coming up in the beginning of November and we're all anxious for that. The hope is that this will be the fix that takes care of the stroke symptoms. Thanks to all of you that have her in your thoughts and prayers.

This past week was Grandma's birthday. She was 103!!! A few of you have asked me how she's doing. Grandma is just like the enegizer bunny...just keeps going. Her vision is gone is one eye and the other is almost gone. She's been legally blind for years. She seems to get around the nursing home just fine though... uses a walker and feels her way down the hallways. I made her a Charlevoix Apple Cake... the same ones we sell every fall at the apple fest. Anyone still making those? (I posted this recipe on block central a few years ago). I know a few husbands that are addicted to this cake ...right Jenell? LOL This is one of grandma's favorite cakes.

Well, off to bed. Busy day tomorrow.

Barn Quilt

2011-10-07T11:55:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I posted and I'm sorry. Life has a way of intruding into my sewing room and when it comes to a choice between family and sewing, family wins hands down. Mom is having lots of problems right now but we are hopeful that the docs at U of M will fix the problems. Early November will be ANOTHER surgery and again we are worried about the outcome. This time it will be a bypass. The cleaning out of the blockage worked but didn't last and the left carotid artery is blocked again... they don't know why. It was fine a month ago. Her voice hasn't come back yet from the last surgery and her swallowing isn't better. She has an appt with a neck doc and he's going to try something new on her. Hoping that helps because right now everything she drinks has to be thickened to honey thickness and that's not FUN! Coffee, tea, pop... everything. She's not happy... but none of us would be. She would love your prayers.

Al has been busy painting his barn and adding a little something for me. Here's a picture of Al painting our barn quilt block. This is called "Pat's Pines" named after my mom, Pat. Al painted this while I worked and was busy with other things. Didn't he do a great job?! I'm going to add the directions to this block (12") the next time I'm online. It's really easy if you have the Tri-rec tool.

A new mug rug... or is it a pot holder?

2011-07-08T16:15:00.004-04:00

Here's a new pattern I came up with to make a mug rug or potholder using a few paper hexagons. This month I have a class at Hearts to Holly teaching English Paper Piecing. Thought this would be an easy project for someone who wants to give it a try but not make a HUGE quilt.
Wouldn't this be a nice baby quilt if maybe a dozen or so of these blocks were joined together? I just might have to make one...
Yeah... so I'm hooked on paper piecing... I really enjoy it... It gives me something portable to work on when Al and I are traveling plus something to take to "chattertime" on Friday mornings. Right now I'm doing Seven Sisters (with diamond paper pieces), a set of dresden circle blocks that are in 30's on aqua background, and a block of the month sample for the quilt shop that has paper pieces in parts of it.

So the past few weeks (when I wasn't sick in bed), I worked on the new block of the month from Moda that the lqs got in. It's going to be a store sample and it's coming along nicely. When I get a little farther along I take a picture. It's all in 30's, which I love, and mostly in primary colors. The challenging part of this quilt will be the scalloped border but it's also one of the things I like best about it.

Shipshewana Quilt Show

2011-07-03T19:56:00.004-04:00

I'm posting just a few pictures of the many I took on my trip to Shipshewana... these were just outstanding! There were so many well done quilts... such nice handwork. The one below is a dear jane... I've been wanting to start one of these for years. It's just another of 100's on my "someday" list.

This quilt should have had a blue ribbon but didn't and I really don't understand why. She made all those cute little quilts, really mini quilts, that are hanging in this quilt show quilt. The one next to the barn is a yoyo quilt with REAL yoyos... tini tiny ones! And the quilt with the scotty dogs are all VERY tiny scotties pieced or appliqued in. JUST AMAMZING!

This one had me with the hand quilting. The quilt is beautiful but the handquilting is so tiny and straight and CLOSE together.

And here's my favorite of the show (yes, it got some ribbons!). The quilting was PERFECT and so pretty... someone has a great eye for color.

There were many more but I'm trying to post this in a hurry (my computer is about to die and I'm running out of time). Enjoy!

Playing around with some new blocks

2011-06-23T20:59:00.003-04:00

The color doesn't show very well but these are 30's repros on an aqua solid. Lisa and I started a couple of blocks after visiting Yoder's. We picked up some paper pieces shaped like these rounded petals. The pack comes with 16 petals and 2 circles for the center. This gave us something to work on in the evenings in Shipshewana. Our fingers were itching to play with our new fabrics :) I think we bought about 25 new pieces of 30's fabrics.

Tomorrow when I get home I plan to post pictures of the quilt festival. We saw some wonderful quilts. The handquilting was AMAZING! While eating our lunch at the festival, we shared the table with some talented ladies. One was experienced in dyeing her own wool so she gave us lots of tips... she teaches a class in wool so I guess you could say we got a free class! We're back in lower Michigan now... Lisa is back home and I head back up north tomorrow... And we're both so tired (but happy!).

A present from my daughter

2011-06-20T22:02:00.004-04:00

When I went downstate today to pick up my daughter, Lisa, she had a present for me. I had admired the doll she made that sits on her sewing room shelf.... she made me my own dolly!

Isn't she adorable? I took her on our trip to Shipshewana.

We've already purchased fabric even though the quilt shops are closed. Stopped at the anique store that was open for 40 more minutes. We sped through it, zooming in on quilts and old quilt fabrics. I found 3-1/2 yards of a vintage fabric for 12 dollars! I love it and now have to figure out where to use it. Lisa bought a bag of scraps for 8 dollars and here's some of what was in it:

She found a bunch of old quilt blocks in the bag and one of them had the newspaper still attached to the back. We read the paper and found out it was from the early 30s. The block is not well done but she loves the fabrics in it and seeing the old paper. She's going to keep it just to have it as a piece of history. The top three blocks in the picture above are going to be put into a quilt. The middle one will fit in a farmers wife quilt. The basket needs a handle and to be appliqued onto a back ground. The dresden fan is only 1/2 completed so she plans to finish it up and maybe make more that match. The bag had lots of fabric scraps too. Lots of fun for the price :)

The Quilt Show - Part II

2011-06-19T22:22:00.003-04:00

Here are some more of my favorites: Lisa, I thought you might like this one... has your colors:

Love the birds....

Lisa, another one for you to check out... those are yoyos appliqued on the vines with buttons in the center!

And this is one that I did like that much when I was close up but when I stood far away the pattern showed up... I LOVE it!

And here is the BEST OF SHOW! Those are all little pieces... and all the points are perfect on the triangles and corners... all stitched in the ditch.. IN EVERY DITCH!!!!! Amazing!

This one didn't have a ribbon... not sure why... it was very well done. I loved the colors.

Here's another with wonderful colors:

Another beautiful blue quilt... I should have gotten a picture of the one to the left of it... I dont remember looking at that one. Looks really pretty from the little bit I can see...

And finally here's a pretty appliqued quilt:

There were a few more pictures but quite a few were blurry... Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

The Quilt Show -Part 1

2011-06-19T21:52:00.003-04:00

Well, I sure did enjoy the show!! BEAUTIFUL quilts :) This one was my favorite and the one I thought SHOULD have gotten best of show (but what do I know)... It was absolutely amazing. Check out the double edging... cream and burgandy scallops on all four sides! and all those beautiufl scallops that are appliqued in the vine borders. Well, I give this one MY viewers choice award. So, you're wondering how I did? WELL... here it is... hung next to my friend, Marg's quilt, and there's our blue ribbons :) Yup, I was jumping up and down (and I'm not exagerating at all). My quilt was in the wall size quilt group... it was just over 24" square. My friend's quilt was a little smaller and in the mini quilt category. Her's is amazing... each of those colors in the braid is is separated by a little black satin ribbon stitched in! And her applique work is perfect. I didn't get a picture of the purse just below my quilt, wish I did... it was the cutest! Sparkles and beads and pretty fabric.

Here's a quilt I wanted my sister to see. It's an adorable dresden fan quilt.... and I think it's vintage. I like the yellow centers that match the outer border.

This is another old quilt...well, the top at least. The lady bought the top and finished it up. Isn't the edging nice?

This is another of my favorites... I didn't see a ribbon on it (maybe they didn't want it judged?) but I thought it deserved one and I told the maker that. This is now on my list of someday quilts.

Well, that's all I could upload at a time so I'm going to post this and put up some more. I need to show you the best of show quilt... done by a man!!! Yes! Pieced and quilted. He's a wonderful longarmer.

Quilt show in Petoskey

2011-06-17T14:12:00.004-04:00

Today is the start of our quilt show in Petoskey Michigan. It's also on tomorrow if you're in the area. It'll be at the Knights of Columbus Hall (over by Burger King). I have one quilt entered... I meant to enter more but this has been a BUSY spring and summer. Maybe next time...

SOOO... this is the quilt I entered. This is a picture I took before it was quilted and bound. I'm going to the show tomorrow and I'll take lots of pictures to share with all of you.

AND the winner is.....

2011-06-15T09:20:00.002-04:00

I did the draw this morning, for my pattern and the FQ, using a random name generator... that was fun :)
The winner is:
VROOMAN'S QUILTS!!!
Send me an email letting me know which pattern you would like. The choices are: Molly's Quilt (a beginner baby sized quilt, tacked and turned), Chopped 9 Patch Placemat pattern (makes 4 modern ones at once without binding or hand sewing), or the Tea Bag Tote (a tiny tote that holds tea/coffee/sugar packs in your purse.. also perfect size for doggie snacks or a pacifier). I'll mail your pattern and a pretty "Sunkissed" FAT QUARTER off to you as soon as I hear from you. Email: northerndeb@ymail.com
CONGRATS!!!!!

2011-06-09T18:01:00.005-04:00

The last few days have been soooo much fun. Lisa was up for a few day... to visit, to talk, to sew. We had a chance to go to the beach and relax, we went over to Traverse City to visit Jenn and to shop and eat and shop some more. Lisa had her new camera with her and snapped a few pics at a park. I found this great rock for resting on and it came with a footstool :)

We worked on a few blocks for my "Farmer's Wife" quilt class that evening. I try to stay ahead of what we're all doing (since I'm teaching it) but that's not always possible. She helped me pick out fabrics for the different blocks. Isn't it amazing how different people are attacted to different colors? Daughter Jenn is artistic and seems drawn to bright, primary colors... American Jane fabrics, bright batiks, to name a couple. Lisa is retro and vintage so she likes the brown, orange, gold, olives. They both love vintage quilts and they both like the 30's fabrics. I love blues... and pastels, batiks and SOLIDS (my fav). I love amish quilts, civil war, 30's... anything vintage. Well, I pretty much love any fabric out there. It's really had for me to find a fabric that I hate.

Today I'll be working on more of the Farmer's Wife blocks plus some more blocks for the Block Frenzy (Hearts to Holly Block Swap). This is the first one I made with this month's fabric. Maybe if I make 3 or 4 blocks I'll have a better chance of winning them. Gloria (who I work with) won the last draw and boy, did she get some beauties. The fabric was Moda's Faith Collection. This time it's another of my favorites. I bought some of this fabric for my girls for Christmas. Love all the grays in it... and mixed with the browns?... Love it!

Don't forget to enter my CONTEST! Click "contest", become a follower and leave a comment on that page for your chance to win a pattern and a FQ of Sunkissed from Moda. I'll let you pick which pattern of mine you want... the easiest one "Molly's Quilt", the placemat pattern "Chopped 9 Patch" or my tea bag tote "Tea with Auntie Em".

Tea Bag Tote Pattern

2011-06-03T12:44:00.005-04:00

This is my TEA BAG TOTE pattern. Hearts to Holly has kits and also the pattern (pattern is only $2!). You can also get it directly from me (www.northerndeb@ymail.com).

It's quick and easy... and SO FUN :) I made loads of them already. They're great little gifts... add in a pretty vintage tea cup, some tea bags and maybe even a matching mug rug....wrap it all up in some cellophane and you've got a great gift for a friend, mom, grandma, etc. I use the tea bag tote to keep my favorite tea bags with me in my purse. Make it up in a doggie print and store treats in your purse for your favorite pooch. It's also a great size for baby's pacifier. You'll find dozens of uses for it!

Don't forget my contest! You could win a pattern and a fat quarter of "Sunkissed". Just become a follower (if you're not already one) and leave a comment.

Contest and a new pattern for BEGINNERS!

2011-05-31T11:36:00.007-04:00

I've been working on a project for the last couple of days... a pattern for brand new quilters. While working at the quilt shop, I've had a few ladies come in looking for a VERY easy quilt pattern... something to make for a baby that would be quick, easy and perfect for a beginner. Since we didn't really have one, I explained how I made my first quilt. After showing a few people how to do it, it hit me... just write it all down in a pattern. So here it is:

It's SUPER simple and very reasonable to make. The pattern uses 5" precuts (one pack or two), a little extra yardage if using one precut pack, some batting and backing. The sample is made using a Moda charm pack, "Sunkissed". Hearts to Holly has the charm packs and this pretty backing. They also carry the batting, which I tried for the first time. It's a very soft and fluffy, poly. It'll hold up well for lots of washing and feels SOOOO good! The sample will be hangin in the quilt shop if anyone is out that way and wants to feel it. There's no quilting or binding for this quilt, just turn and tack. It could be tied (like we did in the old days) but I found tacking quick and easy. You can get the pattern at Hearts to Holly or email me at northerndeb@ymail.com.

Wouldn't this be a cute quilt for a new puppy or kitten? I think I might just have to make one in a doggie print.... ohhhh... and FLANNEL?! Nice :)

Just a note: The rocker in the photo? It's a child's rocker... was my mom's when she was young. It's been up in the barn for a while and I decided it needed to be in my daughters old room now that there's extra space. Someday, I'll have some grandchildren that will use it .... I HOPE!

SO,the CONTEST?!!

Just become one of my followers and leave a comment for a chance to win this (or one of my others, your choice) pattern plus a FQ of SUNKISSED. Leave a way for me to contact you... your blog address or email.

I'll draw a name in two weeks... June 15th... GOOD LUCK :)

Ahhh... SPRING!

2011-05-23T11:51:00.003-04:00

Spring has come to the north, FINALLY! All of our flowering trees are beautiful. The apple trees, cherry trees, bradford pears and crabapples are full of white and pink blossoms... boy do we have the bees :)... sure hope they're doing they're a good job of pollinating.

This week we celebrated Jon's birthday.. he's a great guy (and maybe will be my son-in-law some day). Jenn and Jon, Al and I, all met up at Pearls on Wednesday. It was the crawfish festival there and Jon dove right into a 1 pound plate of those goodies (I'm saying that sarcastically, since they look like overgrown bugs to me..uck). BUT according to him, they taste somewhat like lobster...hmmm, might have to give them a try some time...NOT!
That's Al and I in the above pic and Jenn, Jon and me in the bottom picture.

Okay... that's it for now. I'm working on a little quilt (to put away for grandchildren) using the corn and beans block. It's a fun little scrappy. I'll post pictures of it as soon as I'm done quilting it. It has a wool batting which is a first for me. It's kind of fluffy so I split it in half... and I'm glad I did. It's still nice and soft and puffy. Perfect for a little boy (HINT, HINT... yeah I mean you two... get married already and give me some grandbabies!!). In the meantime, this quilt will be my entry for the Hearts to Holly Challenge.

Mom's Day

2011-05-09T16:52:00.003-04:00

I had a wonderful Mother Day, yesterday. Jenn bought me some underthings (Boy, I needed these!) After breakfast Jenn and I spent some time working in her boyfriends backyard, doing landscaping. I love gardening, it's so nice to work outside playing in the dirt (even if it's backbreaking sometimes).

We stopped by a shop to pick up some flowers (for her) and veggies (for my garden) plus dirt, compost, chips... all the regular stuff. She bought me lunch and then we headed back to town.

Al dug out an apple tree from our back. He ran out of room in the orchard so this one was waiting in my garden, waiting for us to find it a spot. Jenn decided to give it a home. The tree is planted and so are some daffodils from our backyard, a clump of irises, a foxglove she bought and a few other extas. I should have taken a before and after picture... it's looking really nice.

And what did I get from Lisa? Well, her gift came in the mail today. She bought me a turntable cutting board (Olfa), a hexagon template (one of the only templates I don't have) and some fabrics. What a nice pile of goodies!

Thanks Jenn and Lisa!! You both always find the perfect gifts. I had a great Mother's Day! :)

Where does the time go?!

2011-05-01T14:22:00.005-04:00

Wow... where does the time go?

Easter was wonderful... Al, Jenn and I went down to Mom's for a wonderful dinner with the family. Mom made ham, potato salad, RIBS plus LOADS more. Then she made about 8 desserts (there were 9 of us)... so we went home stuffed. It was a fast trip.... We drove down Saturday, came back Sunday. Quick but fun.

My sister stitched me a few goodies. She's a beginning quilter and learning fast. She made me this cute Dr. Suess pillow for my sewing room:

Don't you love it? It's perfect with all my stuffed animals and children's books. And then she made me this cute Easter mug rug:
I have it on my coffee table for now. Looks pretty with all the Easter eggs out. Guess I'll have to put all of that stuff away soon.....

So since I've been back home, I started working on one of my UFOs that has been in a box for... hmmm... years? The block is called "Corn and Beans". The quilt is going to be a lap size. I'm running out of the background color so when I finish up this last row, I'll start on a border or two.. and then bind it up. We're having a fabric challenge at the lqs and I put all five fabrics in this quilt so that I could "kill two birds with one stone"... get a challenge done.. get a ufo done. :)

And here's another item checked off my to-do list. We have the block frenzy going on at Hearts to Holly. The fabric to use in our blocks was chosen by the last winner ... it's Moda's Faith Collection (collection for a cause). OH, I hope I win this time. Your name goes into the draw once for every block you make. Make one, goes in once, make 5... goes in 5 times. I probably should make a few more blocks... So yesterday, I went out to the mailbox and found a wonderful squishy goodie! My good friend, Jenell, sent me some Aussie fabrics. We've been talking about ordering these for quite a while but I just haven't gotten around to it. Jenell, THANK YOU. I'm going to fussy cut one a "happy" man and tuck him into my black and white quilt. The quilt top is already done but I think some unsewing is needed. This will make quite a conversation piece, don't you think?

Chattertime at Hearts to Holly in Charlevoix

2011-04-21T10:34:00.002-04:00

One of my good "internet" friends asked about Chattertime. The last time I was there I took a few sneaky pics... We have a wonderful classroom where we can meet almost every Friday morning. Sue provides a treat (her sister is the best baker!) and coffee. We have show and tell. Sue shows us the newest fabrics, tools or tells us about trips, specials, sales, etc. Mostly we chat and eat. OH, we stitch too :) Some of us bring hand sewing.. some of us just come for the food and friends. If you're ever visiting on a Friday morning, stop in and join us.

Making Fans and Plates

2011-04-14T13:46:00.004-04:00

We had our monthly guild meeting last night and Hearts To Holly Quilt Shop did demos of popular templates and tools. Since I was doing one of the demos, Sue let me choose what tool or template I would like to show. My favorite (right now) is the Fantastic Fan. It comes in 3 sizes and I've tried them all. This is a quilt center I made using the 12" size (makes a 24" plate): And this is the smallest size that I had... 3" fan (6-1/2" plate):I'm really hooked on making these. The one above will probably be turned into a summer mug rug since it's so colorful.

Catching up on projects plus goodies from swaps

2011-04-07T14:49:00.004-04:00

Here's some pretty Charlevoix fabrics that I wanted to use for my second quilt. The first is already half (well, maybe 3rd) of the way done. Yesterday when I was working we ran out of some of my FAVORITE fabric... the light blue waves that are in this picture. I'm now on a search for it because it's the main fabric of this quilt (or was). I wanted it mostly blue and yellow with splashes of the red. Today I picked up the yellow floral. I already had the yellow stripe and the reds. I may have to work in the other blue in place of the waves. I like it but I didn't want to have two florals of the same pattern in the quilt.

Another project finished up today... the rug I've been crocheting using scrap strips. It's finally big enough. It was supposed to go in the girls bathroom but it's been hanging out in my sewing room so long, I think that's where it'll stay. Check off another project FINISHED! Now I need to start on the rug for DD2.

Lately I've gotten some wonderful squishy mail. Pat sent me two beautiful mug rugs, Sharon sent me some pretty green happy blocks I won on scrappyandhappy (yahoo group) and Dorian sent me this cheery mug rug in my favorite color of aqua for the mug rug swap on Quilt and Needle (Thank you so much Dorian). Yup, it's been wonderful getting the mail :)

And now another Happy Block swap has started. It was my choice this time and since I'm just dying for summer to get here, I thought I would do a summery swap. Here's my blocks: Fruits or veggies in the center and picnic tablecloth type designs for the outer fabric. I would love to do a quilt for myself out of these... to take in the summer to the beach.. hmmm.. might have to start another project.

Surprises in the mail

2011-04-03T12:25:00.003-04:00

Look what came in yesterday's mail!! I found two mug rugs from Pat.. we swapped mug rug sets on our Yahoo group and these were two that I was just WISHING we going to be mine. It's a secret swap so we don't know who our partners are until the mug rugs arrive. Pat had posted a picture a while ago and said she had mailed them out... well.. I kept waiting and watching for something to arrive and it didn't.. I figured someone else had been the recipient of these beauties. Then she posted yesterday that her mug rugs were taking quite a long time to arrive at ____'s house but she had confirmation that yesterday they had been delivered. I thought, MAYBE, they would be at my house. I worked till 4:30 then went to a friend's house right from work. When I arrived home around 7 I checked the mailbox... nothing... then the kitchen counter..nothing. Al was at work and when he got home at 10 he had the mail with him. WELL, there was the package for me, FROM PAT! I was so excited!

If you look closely, the roses in the mugs are Charlevoix fabric and I'm nuts about that stuff. Right now I'm working on two coordinating twin quilts using some of the fabrics. One of the quilts is peach/coral with blue. The other will be blues and yellows. Here's a picture of the blocks for the first quilt. Now don't those mug rugs look perfect with it? I think these mug rugs will have to go on the night stands in the guest room where the quilts will be (this will be in the new house). Sure hope no coffee or tea mugs sit on these.. water should be ok. Thank you, Pat! :)Yesterday after work I stopped at a friends house. We trade fabrics every so often. She knows I'm collecting 30's reproductions for my seven sisters quilt so she had me come by to pick some out. She has quite a large collection of them... lots of different ones. We had a great time chatting about quilts and fabrics and quilt shows. She told me how she once got 3rd place (or so) in an ugly quilt contest (her first quilt, before she took any classes). It's hard to believe she could make one that bad because her quilts are perfection! She has loads of beautiful quilts on beds and walls in her house. It was like going to a quilt show.. inspired me to get some more UFOs finished up. Maybe I can get one of these Charlevoix quilts finished by the time we have our quilt show this summer. This is just SOME of the pieces she gave me... aren't they nice?

NOW, since I won the happy block swap on Scrappy and Happy, I get to choose the theme of the next happy blocks. I was thinking about it all day yesterday and decided on doing "Summer Fruits and Veggies". Digging through my stash, I found a pile of fabrics that I think will suit the theme. This should make a nice summer picnic quilt... fruit and veggie centers with dots or checks (think summer tablecloth prints) surrounding them.

Time to get some sewing done... Al is working again today. Chicken soup is simmering on the stove so time for me to get something accomplished.

I Won Happy Blocks :)

2011-04-01T19:18:00.004-04:00

Today was a great day... I won the drawing at our Yahoo group for the Happy blocks... This month they were kelly green with yellow centers. These are the four I made. Very springy, don't you think? The colors are better in person. The yellow is bright and cheery and the green is a child's crayon green.. Now the hard part... what to make. Adding a third color to these might be nice but maybe I'll wait till they show up to decide what to do with them.

I made another mug rug, not too long ago. I didn't post it because it was going to my sister and I wasn't sure whether or not she reads this blog... I wanted it to be a surprise. It's pink and cream... very girly (unlike us, right MaryAnn?!). I was playing with some leftover charm squares and decided they looked cute together. So, she told me she's going to hang it up in her dining room turned sewing room.... Another mug rug destined to live out it's life hanging on a wall instead of cozy under a cup of tea...hehe... I should really learn to use darker colors. Who wants to spill coffee and tea on pink and cream? I guess it IS a miniature quilt. Well, off to the sewing room...

Binding Tutorial

2011-04-01T18:30:00.006-04:00

Today I worked on a scrappy project... doing the binding on it. The corners of this one aren't 90 degrees and as I was doing them I thought that maybe someone out there would like a tutorial on how to do binding. If you follow this step by step you'll be able to do 90 degree bindings and odd ones too.

I cut my bindings about 1-1/2" to 2" for most projects since I do single layer bindings... in other words, I turn my bindings to the back, turn under the raw edges then stitch them down. Many people do double bindings... they stitch the fabric on double (it's folded in half lengthwise, both raw edges being caught as they go around), then when they turn it to the back, it's already folded on the edge. If you do double bindings, you'll probably be cutting them 2-1/2" or so.

Another choice in binding is cutting it straight along the WOF (width of fabric) or cutting it bias (at a 45 degree angle to the selvage). On this project I cut it straight but I usually prefer bias binding. Either way will work with the tutorial.

Here's a link to it:

BINDING TUTORIAL

Let me know if you have any questions or if I can add pictures to make it clearer. I've helped my daughters to do bindings and I'm hoping that this will help others. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.

Getting OLD...

2011-03-31T16:55:00.004-04:00

Usually I write about quilting, sewing, shopping..etc... but today I have other things on my mind (what's left of it!) Al and I went out for coffee to a small place not too far away. I was chatting with the waitress as I stirred sugar into my coffee... she refilled Als's cup and as I'm stirring I look around and ask "where'd my coffee cup go to?" YEEAAAHHH...... This seems to be a trend lately. I hunted for about 10 minutes for my glasses ...asked Al if he'd seen them.. "on your head" was his reply. He's very good natured about all of this. He just laughs and rolls his eyes. It's probably just my age or maybe it's the weather but my knees are killing me today. They always creak but today there's a double creak... well.. sort of a creak, crunch, Take a step, creak, crunch. And if I'm doing the stairs?!.. it's creak, crunch, snap... creak, crunch, snap... Then when I get up from the sewing machine, I can't stand straight... at least not right away. So here I am, walking away from my sewing room, half bent over.. creak crunch creak crunch creak crunch snap... If you look up the word decrepit and see a picture of me, don't be surprised! Just an old quilter, falling apart at the seams....

Stitching up some new placemats

2011-03-28T17:13:00.005-04:00

What a nice day today was to work in the sewing room....bright and sunny but cold, cold, cold. This morning I stopped at the quilt shop to pick up some fabrics and battings I needed to work on projects. The first thing I did was make up a bunch of new placemats for the kitchen. I wanted something contemporary and also wanted to use this new coffeepot fabric I picked up at Hearts to Holly. This is the pattern I made about a year ago..they were stitched up in Thanksgiving fabric back then. I think I'll make one more set... something bright to go with my Fiesta china. A while ago I made a set in some spring Lakehouse fabrics: These are so fast and easy since there's no binding, no handsewing and no quilting (unless you want to).

Finished up my Blue Strip Scrap Quilt

2011-03-22T10:22:00.003-04:00

It feels so good to be finished with a project... check a BIG one off the list. :) This is my Blue Strippy Scrap Quilt that I started after seeing that my boxes of blue fabrics were overflowing. This helped... a little.. It's amazing how much blue I still have and I didn't buy A THING! I love bues, always have, so I suppose that's why I have, oh, maybe six bins of it. There's the navy box, the royal blue box, the medium blue boxes (2 of these), the light blue box, the aqua box, the turquoise box, the blue plaid box, the blue solids container, the blue civil war and Americana box... okay, maybe that's 9 or 10 boxes of blues... but it's down from what it was!

And this is my finished Central Park cosmetic bag.. I was leaving for the party and had forgotten to take a pic so it's wrapped but you can still see it. The bag wasn't really the gift, although everyone love it. The real gift was inside... yummy chocolate gift certificate, glass nail file and cuticle cream.
I used a little ric rac in the seam between the top and the bottom (found it in my box of old trims). The buttons on the right of the bag are stacked... a creamy white one with a nice swirl texture and an orange button with a little crystal imbedded in it. They were the perfect addition to this.. think I'll make myself one this week :)

Playing in the sewing room

2011-03-21T11:55:00.007-04:00

My sewing room resembles a childs play room at times... I have Dr. Suess books, dolls, bears, stuffed animals, a childs rocker, wooden toys, a rag rug... among other things. I decided it was time to make myself a mug rug since I've done one for everyone else (well, kind of my daughter's idea) and so this is mine, which fits in with my child's theme... kind of a doll quilt mug rug:
I had leftover pieces from a quilt I call "my quilt"... it's a quilt I'm slowly making using just fabrics I love, blocks I love, applique I love... and it will be all mine when it's done. A while back I did some tiny patches to put in the quilt and then changed my mind so these became my mug rug. It'll go perfectly in my bedroom some day when the "my quilt" is done.

Today's project will be a cosmetic bag for a white elephant gift exchange I am attending this evening with my sorority sisters. I'm making the bag and then putting in a glass emery nail file (these are hand painted by a lady up here and they're so pretty) and cuticle cream plus I'm also adding in a gift certificate to Kilwins Chocolate (mmmm..who doesn't love chocolate?). These are the fabrics I picked up at the lqs this morning to make the bag out of. It's Central Park, one of my favorite new lines:

Aren't they yummy? And here is a pic of my favorite quilt shop...took it the other day when we were starting up Hearts To Holly's new blog. See that quilt hanging on the back wall... It's from Me and My Sisters and we now have kits for it. I cut up a bunch the other day using the Me and My Sister's pattern and Moda's Happy collection plus some from another new collection. Wouldn't that be a great quilt for a grad? If you'ld like a kit, just call Sue at her shop (number is on her website) http://www.heartstoholly.com/. She can send you one out.
And this is my Just One Star to be sent to Moda. Sue at Hearts to Holly is giving out fabric to make these stars and will be sending them into Moda all at once. Have you done yours? They're super easy and a worthwhile project. If you want to find out how you can help the Quilts of Valor project, click here:
http://modafabrics.blogspot.com/search/label/Just%20One%20Star

And the saga continues....

2011-03-19T20:03:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I listened to my husband and daughter (who also thought that it was too busy) and split apart the red and cream quilt. I went to the lqs and bought a couple of yards of a deep beige to calm everything down. Cut the squares for between the blocks of mostly red, then the side triangles, then the corners... stitched MOST of the top together... and am not loving it. :( It's not bad but I just don't love it like I did before splitting the quilt up.

SO, my daughter (the above mentioned one) comes to stitch with me today and sees the first of the two quilts ..the one that is mostly red. She doesn't like it. Says she saw my blog and thinks I should have stuck with the first one .... AHHHHH!!!!

I told her she was one of the deciding factors for why I didn't make the original quilt and now have two. And my husband of course... who came in and saw the new one laid out on the floor and said he still doesn't really like it... but then he says.."I don't really like red"... Well, I'm SEEING RED!!

Moral of this crazy story (no the story isn't done yet but here's the moral anyways) ... Listen to your heart. You know what you like and what works for you...

PS: Anyone want to come over and help UNsew a quilt? It's looking like that is what I might be doing... And looking at the comments on this blog, everyone out there agrees that the first was the best.

A Tale of Two Quilts

2011-03-16T18:21:00.003-04:00

The story starts out with a charm swap with the ladies at Block Central. We swapped red charms and I joined in even though I had lots of reds... what's a few more red squares. It is one of my favorite colors. Then I joined the cream charm swap, then the red strip swap, the cream strip swap....I put the reds and creams all in one box with the idea that one day I'd make a red and cream quilts. Well, we were all chatting about red and cream and found a really cute one on http://www.maryquilts.com/. I love her quilts... she has such a great eye for color. I decided to make this one:

That was many swaps back and in the meantime I've started ...oh... lets just say LOTS of quilts.
One day, I was curious (curiosity killed the cat and almost the quilter) about how many UFOs I really had. I started pulling them all out.. Out of boxes, off of hangers, in the cupboard, on the shelves. When the list was done I had counted about 29. This isn't counting the boxes and stacks of fabrics that are organized and waiting to become quilts (let's just ignore those for now). Since I was VERY embarassed at the high number I decided to start getting to work on finishing up some of these. The first one I grabbed was this red and cream one. I started making the double four patches once again and was pretty far along so I laid them all out on my sewing room "design" floor.
Al came in to see my progress and said it was WAY to busy... sometimes I ignore his opinion and sometimes I listen to it. This time I thought he might be right so I played with the blocks. I took away all the mostly cream ones and left the mostly red ones. This is what I had:

Then I laid out the cream ones:

Well, I found I like these each alone more than combined... I may have to add plain red blocks in the mostly red one and plain cream blocks in the mostly cream quilt but it looks like I'm making two now instead of one... so after all this work to get my ufo list down, I now have one more UFO! Now the question is.. do I continue to work on my ufo list KNOWING what could happen or just give up and go shopping for fabric? I agree... time to shop :)
The End

Finishing up a swap

2011-03-16T18:06:00.003-04:00

We're doing a mug rug swap on Scrappy and Happy. We send two mug rugs to a secret partner... spring themed. These are the two I made and am sending out tomorrow. I sure hope she likes them. After I finished I realized that I used a white background... not the best for setting tea and coffee on.. oh well, live and learn.

Welcome a new blogger

2011-03-15T19:45:00.002-04:00

My favorite quilt shop (also my local one) is Hearts to Holly. You've probably read about it in my blog... She carries lots of great fabrics, has tons of cute patterns AND is going to be in Quilt Sampler in the Spring/Summer issue coming out in May. Well, as of today, she's also a blogger here. I hope you'll all stop by and say "Hi" and follow her. She plans to put up lots of pictures of incoming fabrics and patterns to get our creative juices flowing.
www.heartstoholly.blogspot.com

Spring is coming, right?

2011-03-13T16:26:00.003-04:00

By the looks of things up here in northern Michigan, Al and I have come home MUCH too soon. This is a picture I took on the way out to breakfast a few mornings ago. Yesterday looked pretty much the same, except add a little freezing rain and ice... yeah... Why did we come home?...

Well, the good thing is it's perfect quilting and sewing weather. I spent the morning in my sewing room sewing up a few blocks for our favorite block swap with the ladies at ScrappyandHappy. We are making "Bright, spring" blocks. This is one I made up this morning... not sure if it's out there somewhere but I'm calling it the "Charlevoix Four Patch". I picked out this fabric on the way home from Arizona with my Oklahoma friend, Jenell. With this "dead of winter" feel outside, it's a cheerful burst of color.

The bright pink in this is a Kona called medium pink. I picked up a few new solid fabrics since I will be joining a Kona solid swap. I bought Espresso, ash and grass... try saying that three times..LOL. The Kona ash is a fantastic color... one of my favorites. It goes so well with all the brights and clear colors. The lqs says they'll be getting in a bolt of it. :) :) I'm planning to get about 5 yards of it to put aside for a quilt that I want to make AFTER I finish up at least one UFO. Keeping myself in line (sort of).

My Great Green Goodie OR The Green Rabbit :)

2011-03-09T17:46:00.003-05:00

Trina's GREAT GREEN GOODIE has arrived so now I can show you what I made her. This is a wallhanging for her kitchen. We had to use mostly green fabrics for this surprise swap and could make anything for the kitchen or sewing room. I had some wonderful cucumber fabric and a bit of lettuce fabric so I thought a green bunny would be the perfect applique to use with those pieces. And bunnies are so "springy". The bunny came from a book by Darcy Ashton that my bought for me a few years ago. One of these days I would like to applique a whole group of these furry fellows for a child's quilt using 30's repros.

Something Green... but what?!

2011-03-02T19:58:00.002-05:00

Today I'm working on something green. I can't say what it is or what it's going to be or who it's for CUZ IT'S A SECRET...lol. We're doing a Great Green Goodie Swap at scrappyandhappy.. a wonderful yahoo group (formerly block central). We make something that is mainly green for a secret partner and mail it out to them this week. It has to be something for the kitchen or the sewing room. I'm making one goodie for each room.

So, what else am I up to? Well, as Em from Hearts to Holly says, I'm coughing up a lung. This darn cold that has hit me twice is still hangin' on in the form of a nasty cough. I sound much worse than I feel. Al wants me to go to see the doc but... well... if you know me at all... that's not happening :)

The other thing I'm dealing with is the loss of my 1/4" foot... sniff, sniff, sniff, sigh... Somehow the thing fell off sometime between Arizona and Michigan. I checked all my bags, the truck, the garbage, the sewing room floor... EVERYWHERE... but no luck. There's a possiblity that it's in Arizona on my BIL's laundry room floor. Might have knocked it off when I was packing it up. SO, I went online and ordered a new one from Ebay... be here Monday or so. That means I have to stitch the WHOLE weekend with out it. Going to have to use a piece of masking tape till then... oh, the injustice of it all :( ..lol

An old quilt

2011-02-21T21:59:00.004-05:00

As most of you know, Al and I love to browse in the antique stores. Sometimes I have my camera with me, sometimes not. I love to get ideas from old quilts. Well, this is a picture of an antique quilt that was part of a trunk show at our guild. Sure am glad I had the camera with me that day. It's a very well done and well preserved quilt.

Wouldn't it be beautiful quilt done in just pinks and browns... maybe civil war fabrics. While I was here in Arizona, I bought a few more Jo Morton fabrics from her "Annabelle" collection. This would be a perfect pattern to use and and you know, it's really pretty easy. One block is a snowball block... think it was about 12" square and the other block is just a double nine patch. Then set on point. EASY.

Found some vintage patterns and threads

2011-02-20T18:17:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Al and I went out for a little bit. I was feeling somewhat better but today I'm almost as good as new (except for this hacking cough). We stopped at my favorite shopping place (Goodwill) and found these wonderful retro patterns and old threads on wooden spoools. The threads aren't any good for sewing anymore since the cotton is very weak (the silk threads are still ok) but I like to have them for decorating my sewing room. I fill up old jars with these. Aren't they pretty? The bag of goodies came with all this and more... lots of thimbles (one is sterling silver), old tape measures, threaders, elastic, binding, needle books (I love these), buttons and more.
The patterns are going to be hung on my walls unless one of my girls wants a dress or shirt of this style. It's so funny to see the sizes on the patterns... a size 16 is like a 34 bust! I'm thinking I would need a size 20... AT LEAST. No good for the ego :(
The one pattern, way on the left, is newer and I might just stitch that up this spring. It's a cute wrap top. The collar needs a little updating but I like the general idea of it. And the baby pattern... well, you just never know. Someday I might be a grandma (wishing and hoping ...sigh...) so wouldn't the little bunny pjs be daring for my grandaughter's doll?

sick in bed

2011-02-17T13:09:00.001-05:00

deb wanted me to let everyone know she is sick in bed today. hopefully she'll be back at it tomorrow. al

Well, darn it, I'm sick again :(

2011-02-16T14:12:00.004-05:00

I woke up this morning, sick again and it is NOT convienent. (but then again when is it?!) I have a special green gift to make for someone. We're doing another swap online with the ladies from BC (but now we're S&H.. scrappyandhappy). For this swap we traded names and are making a secret gift for our partner. Only rule: it needs to be green. I'm still trying to decide between two ideas. I bought the fabrics yesterday... some really pretty and bright lime greens. SO today was going to be the day to work on that PLUS I need to finish up the scrappy strip blocks that are going out to Sherry. I'm running behind on all my swap this month. The mug rugs sidetracked me a little. They sure were fun to make. OH, that's another swap I signed up for. We're going to be swapping mug rugs on Q&N. That should be fun... those little things are addictive!
So anyways, here I am at Paradise with a cookie and a HUGE cup of tea. Hoping between that and the Dayquil I took, that I'll be feeling better soon. It's a shame to be sitting out here in this beautiful sunshine and wishing I was back home in bed.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!

2011-02-14T15:01:00.005-05:00

Happy Valentines Day to all of you... my family, my friends... and especially to my special sweethearts.. LIsa, I found a picture of you from your trip..I love this one and Jenn, you always seem to have Jon next to you (not that that's a bad thing.. I can add him to my list of sweeties)!

By the way, Lisa, CONGRATS on being on the Dean's list... when I was searching for a pic I found the list... why didn't tell me?!!!!

Another beautiful evening here in Phoenix

2011-02-13T20:44:00.002-05:00

Al and I are sitting outside at the bookstore, getting internet service so that I can post some pictures of my newest mug rugs. It's just beautiful out... so nice and warm. And check out the sky... I took this on the freeway as we drove here!

So here's Mom's set of mug rugs. Yes, mom, you have a set coming in the mail too. Al thinks the one above looks like Gizmo (mom's dog)... I think it does! The one below is an artist rendition of mom and her cooking with the kids looking on.. couldn't fit all 6 of us so two will have to do. Now don't hit me because the ham is green...and your facial hairs are showing..hehe

Happy birthday to you!!

2011-02-12T18:50:00.002-05:00

Just wishing MOM a Happy Birthday!!!!

Hope it's a good one :)

Four "mug rugs" finished

2011-02-11T18:32:00.007-05:00

Today I finished up the mug rugs. They were pretty easy to make except for the binding of course... not that binding is hard, just something I put off. The piece of red dot that I used as a binding on the first two came from that scrap bag I bought a while back for $4. I cut my binding 1-1/2" wide since these are so small... I wanted the binding to be fairly small. Usually I use a single binding. Most quilters seem to use a double one and I can see the reason in a large quilt.... you get twice the thickness so it wears longer. But on something small like this I don't want it heavy. Doing a single thickness binding is how I do most of mine... maybe because old habits are hard to break and this is how I was taught... MANY years ago. Well, now that these are done, they're just waiting to be put in the mail. Jenn and Lisa, let me know which set you would like (if you both want the same set I'M IN TROUBLE :).

Shopping for 30's fabrics...

2011-02-10T20:25:00.004-05:00

Just got done shopping at a new quilt shop (well, new for me :) and here's some of the goodies I found. I'll share some with dd2 who is doing a yoyo quilt using 30's. The rest will go into my seven sisters quilt... YES, I'm still working on that. I haven't done too much lately but at least I can collect more fabrics for it. The shop I found was in Chandler AZ called Zoe's Trunk. She carries lots of Free Spirit, Amy Butler and other more modern prints. A very "young" feeling quilt shop. I know my daughters would love it.

And yesterday I went to this shop below. I found some cute batiks to add to my collection and a few pretty homespuns. I also bought some thin batting for the mug rugs I'm making. It was a poly batting but I'm not sure I like it. It seems to really shrink up if you press the final project. Before I put my binding on I gave it a little press (on pretty hot I have to admit) and it scrunched up, A LOT. I don't think I'll be buying this one again. I never thought poly would shrink... anyone else ever have that problem? Maybe it was just this particular one?......

Working on mug rugs with my Dr. Seuss fabric

2011-02-10T14:19:00.005-05:00

Working on Mug Rugs using my Cat in the Hat fabrics and some pretty gray.This is the first of four that I'm making... two for Jenn and two for Lisa... SURPRISE! To Jenn and Lis: When I have the four done, I'll post them and you girls can tell me which you want.

I started putting the binding on this one last night but my hand started cramping up so I had to stop. I can machine sew and quilt for quite a while but if I try to do hand work, I have problems. Hoping to have all four done in a few days but we shall see.

This mat is about 7" square. There will be two this size and two that are a little longer but narrower. The ones I've seen online usually have room for a mug and maybe a cookie or two.

Carrot Orange Cookie Recipe :)

2011-02-08T14:51:00.004-05:00

When Al and I were out shopping in the resale shops last week, I came across a vintage cookbook for 50 cents. It's from about the 1950s. We didn't bring any cookbooks or recipes down here and I've been wanting to do some baking so I tried this one... I have plenty of oranges and we bought lots of carrots to snack on. Here's the recipe I tried.. and yes, it's YUMMMMY!!

Carrot Orange Cookies

1 cup cooked and mashed carrots (about 2 cups raw)

1 cup sugar

1 cup shortening

zest from one orange (about 1 heaping tablespoon), reserving orange

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients, beating well. Mix together the next 3 dry ingredients then add to above. Mix well till all is combined. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet.

Bake about 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack then drizzle with orange icing.

Orange Icing

Squeeze juice from the reserved orange. Start with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, mixing into juice. Add more powdered sugar until you get a nice consistency. Should be thick but still pourable. Drizzle or frost cookies. Let them dry.

Al found a nice Volvo... just wish it was for sale

2011-02-07T13:37:00.003-05:00

Al and I were out bummin' yesterday. We stopped at a bookstore for a bit and look what parked next to us. A cool old volvo. No for sale sign on it but Al found the guy that owns it and found that he bought it in Colorado but he wasn't ready to part with it. Sorry, Lisa, we tried .....

Cute vintage fabrics in this old quilt

2011-02-06T17:37:00.004-05:00

I'm working on repairing the great old quilt I found and wanted to show all of you some of the cute fabrics in it. Some are feedsack... like the little bubble girl and the one below it. I love the first one that is gray and an odd green. This has been a really nice pastime for me... checking out all these fabrics as I repair. Pretty soon I'll be replacing the binding, though. It's worn right through. I'm going to see if I can find the exact color of lavender but if not, I'll use one of the other solid colors that are in the quilt.

Freezing weather even here in Phoenix!

2011-02-03T15:57:00.002-05:00

This sure doesn't look like Arizona, does it? This is the fountain at the entrance to my BIL's street... freezing as it pours out..LOL. Reminds me home....sigh.....

Working on a new southwest quilt pattern....

2011-02-02T13:32:00.003-05:00

Some of you will remember this quilt from last winter. It's the one I made for my BIL for his house down here in Arizona. I've had a few reqests to make this into a pattern and so that's my current project. I didn't keep all my notes so I'm remeasuring and making new ones. PLUS Al would like one of these for himself... big surprise, huh?... I think he'd take one of every "guy" quilt I make..LOL. I'm happy he loves quilts as much as I do but pretty soon he's going to have a larger collection than ME! The weather outside is COLD and that's coming from someone from Michigan! It's a high of 47 today... but right now with windchill it feels like 18 degrees. Could have gotten that stuff at home! Tomorrow is looking much better... will be back into the high 50's/low 60's. I really can't complain (even though I am..lol) because of what is hitting the rest of the country. Hope all of you are staying warm and have electricity. Lisa said school was cancelled (just what she was hoping for) so she can stay in and keep warm. Take your vitamins, Lisa (she caught a cold) and drink plenty of water/juice.
Al and I are headed out to some antique stores in a bit. I love to wander around them seeing what I can find. I mostly look for Fiesta and quilt/sewing stuff but I also like to nose around old books. It reminds me of Grandma's attic... used to go up there and find old Bobsey Twin books and other treasures. It was ice cold in the winter, hot as h_ _l in the summer but sure I loved it up there. Well, Al is pacing... he wants to GOOOOOOO....

Hearts to Holly Quilt Shop in QUILT SAMPLER soon!

2011-01-27T14:51:00.004-05:00

Have you ever seen a more charming quilt shop?! Well this is Hearts to Holly in Charlevoix Michigan and they're going to be in the Spring Summer 2011 QUILT SAMPLER!!! All of us quilters from the area are so proud of Mike, Sue and they're daughters.

One daughter designed the beautiful quilt (shown behind Mike and Sue) using Moda's new Charlevoix line of fabric designed by Minick and Simpson. This is the quilt that will be in the sampler and kits are already selling like hotcakes.

So how great is this? A "Charlevoix" line of fabric coming out at the same time as the Charlevoix quilt shop getting well deserved national recognition.

I heard from Sue yesterday that she has the WHOLE line of Charlevoix fabrics in now... ALL 40 of them!! I need to get my order in fast.

Hearts to Holly is on facebook so stop by and tell them congrats :)

Score!!!

2011-01-24T17:54:00.002-05:00

Today Al and I went to downtown Mesa to shop around in the antique stores. I didn't have anything in particular I wanted but I was on the lookout for any sewing/quilting items. I found this wonderful old quilt for ...guess... $39!!!!! It needs some minor repair but for the most part is in fantastic condition. The back is lavender... brighter in some areas, faded in others. Its hand quilted but the best part is all the old vintage fabrics. Most seem to be 50's era... lots of cute atomic designs, birds, dots, and plaids. I'm taking it back to the house and soak it for a bit then set it out on the porch to dry. I think it has maybe 5 pieces that are worn right through and need to be replaced but since it's scrappy, that won't be a problem. I bought some vintage polka dot plus another old (50's era) fabric at the local goodwill. I'd like to get right to work on repairing this.

Amish Block Swap and walking around Arizona

2011-01-23T16:28:00.002-05:00

I finished up my two blocks for the Amish Block Swap we were doing on BC. If anyone was a member of BC and is wondering what happened, contact me and I'll let you know where we are meeting. BC is still down and we're not sure if it will ever be up again. In the meantime Dorene has set up a Yahoo group so that we can all chat and do our swaps. This is the block that I've made for the Amish swap. I designed it myself... might be something similar out there. I wanted a block that had the feeling of an amish quilt in block size.
Drawing of the winning names will be coming up soon.... first of Feb! Good luck!

This is me walking around my BIL's subdivision by Superstition Mountain. Al and I are trying to walk everyday and so far are doing well. There sure are some beautiful homes out here. We've been checking out the more modern versions of desert southwest. Hoping to get some ideas for our new home in Michigan..... IF ours ever sells. I don't have a problems with it never selling since I really love the place we're at right now. But if it does, then I'm ready to design something totally different from anything I've ever done before. VERY modern, clean lines and small. What am I going to do with my huge collection of fabric, you ask? OK, not THAT small :) Got to have a big sewing room no matter what. I can live with two bedrooms, a smaller kitchen, smaller great room, etc but I have to have my large sewing area and walk in fabric closet.

My hand is still in a splint and typing is very hard to do. It's getting better, the swelling has gone down somewhat and that's the reason I did a little sewing. And I hope the little bit I did doesn't hurt the progress I've made. I'm just dying to work in my Dr. Suess quilt... I've drawn it up and now I need to do some cutting. Today Al and I are out at an outside mall (I'm in Starbucks getting coffee and wi-fi) where we'll get him some socks and underwear plus get some walking in. I'm going to take some pictures of a fountain they have here... it's so cool... it's a fireplace with a waterfall in front of it! I would love to design one of these for the new house... maybe in the yard?

After days in bed...

2011-01-18T18:59:00.002-05:00

Well, I'm finally back up out of bed. Not quite sure what it is that I get when I come down here to AZ but seems every year, I pick up a bug on the way down or have an allergy to something down here. Anyways, I've been in bed for the last 4 or so days. I'm up today... Al wanted to go to the Barrett-Jackson auction so I told him that I would drop him off. That gives me ALL day to hit the shops :)

I know you are all thinking I'm out fabric shopping but SURPRISE, I'm not. I went out to the clothing stores to get some walking shoes, knit pants and sleeveless tops. We've decided to go to the gym everyday to work out ... hasn't happenned because I was sick but starting tomorrow it will. I didn't bring much to wear to a gym. Most of my spring/summer clothes were getting pretty sad. I lucked out, found some great sales and got everything I needed. So now I'm relaxing at a bakery (no treats, I don't want to have to work off any more pounds than the ones wrapped around my waist right now) and having a chance to get online.

As I was wandering around the web today, I found a really cute site with a bird block. I'm planning on making this one. It's just too cute. Here's a link to it... http://www.littlemissshabby.com/2011/01/birdie-stitches-block-1/
I guess break time is over... I need to continue shopping. We still need some baking supplies so that I can make Al some cookies tonight.

We're back in Arizona

2011-01-12T13:52:00.002-05:00

Al and I have arrived in WONDERFUL Arizona... it's sooooo nice and warm! We got a call from DD2 this morning and she told us we missed out on 5+ inches of snow... OH DARN! LOL It's high 60's here and sunny. We are all unpacked and have my temporary sewing room all set up. I need to get to work on a few swaps that I haven't mailed out yet. Rebecca, your scrappy strip blocks are first :)

This is a picture of the quilt I made for my mom and dad for Christmas. It's all out of brushed cotton (flannel?) with a poly batting. It's so nice and warm. I made one for Mom & Dad and one for Al & I. Ours is home in the lqs... a sample until next year. So far this is my favorite lap quilt. It was easy and very cozy.

I took a picture of the mitten that my daughter, Jenn, is making. She made two lefts using this wool so she gave me one and we both made a right to go with the other. This is a super simple pattern. Jenn and I also made Lisa a set also using some cute orange and gray stripe.

Well, today Al and I are going to head out to get the oil changed on the truck. It needs it after all those miles. Then we are off to shop a bit... get some walking in (all those Christmas pounds need to get burned up!) and maybe barbeque some dinner.

Got to say a quick hi to mom and dad and wish dad a

HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Cookies and Tea at Mom's

2011-01-07T18:20:00.001-05:00

We've begun our yearly trip south and the first stop is at mom and dad's house. It's rough spending the night here... all we do is chat and eat and shop. YUP, it's rough :) I'm working at the computer and was brought tea and cookies... got to keep up my strength, ya know. Yes, I plan to eat all of those!

We went to a quilt shop in Berkley this afternoon. I've never stopped at this one but Lisa (our DD2) recommended it to me. She said they carry lots of Kaffe and I LOVE that. I bought a little... not too much because we have lots more stops to make.

After shopping for fabric we out to a middle eastern resturant for hummus, beef barley soup, baklava (Mmmmm!) and smoothies. Yummy. We had a chance to visit with Lisa and bf, Josh for a bit. I also stopped at a Salvation Army store and found a real FIND. I'm collecting Fiesta and happenned to find 4 lime green mugs in NEW condition. (5.99 for 4). Can't beat those prices. Also bought a bunch of books to read... those were only 5/$1. Can you tell this is one of my favorite places to shop? Aside from being a GREEN thing to do, it's great for my wallet :)

So tomorrow Al and I start heading south, out of Michigan. But we won't be leaving the snow if you can believe the weathermen. Looks like we'll be driving in it for the next few days... all the way into New Mexico. We will be getting up at the crack of dawn (as usual) to head out. Al planned this so that we don't have to worry about Detroit and Chicago morning work traffic. Well, my tea is getting cold and there's some cookies here calling my name......

BIG, BIG NEWS... favorite quilt shop in Quilt Sampler Magazine!!

2011-01-03T11:04:00.006-05:00

Well, 2011 is going to be a great year... I can just tell :)

Now that's it's January, those of us that work at the Charlevoix quilt shop, Hearts to Holly, can announce that we will be in the spring issue of QUILT SAMPLER as one of the top 10 shops!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are all so excited. It's been a super busy fall and winter getting ready for this. Sue, the owner, has a party going on all day today at the quilt shop. She has some wonderful discounts, cake and punch and of course fantastic fabrics!

I bought some Dr. Seuss FQs this morning, plus a layer cake of "Charlevoix" fabric from Minick and Simpson:

The Charlevoix fabric line (Moda) will be the fabric used in her quilt that will be in the magazine... of course :) She is taking pre-orders for the kit and listen to this... It comes with a signed copy of the magazine, the pattern (designed by Sue's daughter), all the Charlevoix fabric AND a custom label with a picture of the quilt shop on it (Sue's daughter is an artist and did a beautiful drawing of the shop). Anyone that wants in on a kit (there's a limited number) can call Sue at Hearts to Holly (231-547-2729) and reserve it. It uses mostly creams, blues and deep reds. Perfect for summer.

She's also taking orders for Charlevoix fabric by the yard. If anyone needs jelly rolls, charm square packs or layer cakes, she has those now but they're going FAST!

SO, CONGRATS, MIKE AND SUE!!!!

You deserve this honor. All of us that frequent your shop feel more like family than customers. The town would not be the same without all that you and your family do.

And... Last but certainly not least, my background for this blog is my Christmas gift from a wonderful online friend. I took it with me to the shop this morning to show it off. Isn't it pretty? It looks so nice on the wall in the aqua bedroom. Thank you again, Rebecca. Al and I both love it :)

Christmas

2010-12-27T10:51:00.002-05:00

Can you believe Christmas is here and gone?! That sure came fast and was over just as fast. Seems like I barely had time to visit with the girls and they were off again. :(
Al and I are out to breakfast and I brought one of my Xmas gifts along with me. Jennifer's boyfriend (we're hoping he's family someday) bought me this book... she must have told him about my love of quilts from Japan. I love these neutrals. I'm so impressed with the talent evident in these quilts.
Santa was EXTRA good to me this year. My sewing room has lots of new additions... my quilt book, fabric (Kaffe!), a wonderful candle shaped like a spool of thread (how does Lisa always find these thing?!), fabric gift certificates, scented drawer liner to make my fabrics yummier and xmas lights shaped like threads. Then there was a BEAUTIFUL wall hanging from my BEST internet buddy. I'm hoping Al will hang it today so I can take a picture of it. The machine quilting is amazing... she is SO talented. Thank you, Rebecca! I also received some wonderful dishes to add to my collection of FIESTA... Jennifer picked out two pretty colors, yellow and green. Someday I hope to have almost all of the colors so that I can mix and match to do a colorful table setting. Our next home is going to be fairly modern (a big change for us) and I think these will add a nice touch of color. Another FANTASTIC present was my chocolates...mmmm... Godiva!! Lisa's boyfriend bought me a box of my favs, open oysters. I have to admit they're all gone. I KNOW, I'm so bad... but I just couldn't stand them sitting there staring at me... calling my name. After fabric, chocolate is my biggest weakness. Well, I could go on and on with the list of goodies but let me just say thank you to all my Santas... love you all! Wish the day lasted longer.....

This is for Jennifer :)

2010-12-20T13:04:00.004-05:00

I thought I had lost a picture I took of a quilt I made for my great-neice. Cleaning out some drawers (something that has been VERY neglected) I came across a flash drive that had some old pictures on it... pictures I thought were lost and gone forever. I plugged it into the library computer today and found the picture below. I'm thrilled to have found this one because Jennifer loves this quilt and I hope to make another for her "someday" little girl. I didn't use a pattern so the only way this one was going to be remade was to get a picture from my neice or to find this picture. :) :) :)

Here it is, Jenn:

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas

2010-12-20T11:37:00.002-05:00

Well, thanks to a suggestion by Jeannette, my hand is improving. I'm using the supplements she suggested and guess what?!!... I think it's getting better! I'm going to keep using these since they're an all over good idea. Thank you, Jeannette!

Yes, Rebecca, it is great to have a houseful at this time of year. I'm really glad that the two girls will be home together this year. Last year one came for Christmas and one came for Thanksgiving.. It's just not the same. Years ago we would get together at my moms... ALL of us.. my 4 brothers, my sister, our kids, grandparents.. that was really nice. But now so many of us live elsewhere.

Gerda, I admit, my hand is probably an age related problem... Al is always reminding me that I'm no spring chicken...LOL. I know I have a tendency to overdo when it comes to sewing. I could sew for hours and hours... and sometimes do. But cutting gets to my hand. Hope you're keeping warm up there in Canada. It's been so darn cold here, it must REALLY be cold up there. I know that can play havic with the old bones.

Now to say hi to my family... It's hard to get a chance to talk to all of you but I thought this would be a good time. Hello to all my relatives in CA... Rick, John, Uncle Russ and Reva, Laura, Keith, Alexandra, Natalie. Hello to Karl, Sue and family in WA, Larry and Ciera in N Carolina, Karl, MaryAnn, Keith, Angela, and Connor in southern MI and everyone in MN. I also want to say a special hi to Eric and Tori and their sweet little children... you have a couple of GREAT kids there. Hope one of these days we can all get together again. And an EXTRA big hello and HUG to mom and dad. I hope ALL OF YOU have a great Christmas!

Santa's workshop has closed!

2010-12-18T09:12:00.002-05:00

I finished up the last Christmas gift and everything has been shipped! Putting the sewing machine away till after the holiday.... AHHHH... now to put up my feet.. OH WAIT, I forgot... now I've got to get cooking and baking.

Lisa will be here for Christmas along with her boyfriend (I think), and Jenn is coming with her boyfriend so were going to have a nice get together. But we need food! Lisa and Josh are vegans so I usually make two different types of cookies and snacks. It's a bit of a challenge to cook for vegans but I've found some interesting foods that I enjoy ... foods I probably wouldn't have tried if it wasn't for Lisa. Growning up, if someone mentioned eating TOFU I would have crinkled my nose up but now I've found some types I really like. I just have to remember to follow the recipes. I forgot to put the sugar in the pumkin tofu pie that I made for Thanksgiving... that was NOT good!

I mailed off all the Christmas cookies that I baked. I traded cookies for crab with one brother that lives on the coast of CA. He's a fisherman and he gets the BEST crabs. I've been dreaming of these for a while and yesterday a box of them showed up on my front porch. Al and I munched on cookies and crab last night. I don't want to think about how much butter we consumed yesterday... between going out to breakfast at The Original Pancake House (they use REAL butter and cream), having all that crab dipped in butter and then eating loads of butter cookies... well.. I guess this Mrs Claus is going to fit the image this year! We packed the last of the cookies up last night and Al is mailing those today so now it's time to bake for us.

Don't know if I've mentioned that I'm having problems with my right hand. With all the sewing, and cutting and rolling out dough and working, my hand has taken a beating. It's swollen between the knuckles and is burning. Hopefully after Christmas it'll calm down. I can hardly write so I'm having Al write out some Christmas cards... my handwriting is with my left hand and it looks worse than chicken scratch. Last night I took a couple of Aleves to help reduce the swelling and I think it worked... somewhat. I'm typing... slowly... hopefully I won't have to cut much fabric at work today.

Blizzard weather here in the north

2010-12-13T13:21:00.002-05:00

This is a picture I took at noon yesterday... COLD!!! The winds were gusting over 50 mph. Today the wind chill has temps WAY below zero. Al and I spent some time outside cleaning the driveway, the porch and walkways. We got out to go to town but there isn't much happening. I think most people are staying inside.
So with this cold, windy weather I just stayed in and kept warm... sewing in my room. Finished up a few Christmas presents... now just a couple more to complete and I'll be done. I did a little baking... got the gingerbread men done. I need to have LOTS of cookies baked in the next few days because I send them off to my brothers in CA. Usually I wait till last minute so that I don't have all those goodies around tempting Al and I. If I make the sugar cookies too early, they all get eaten and I have to bake them all over again. :)

Getting a scrappy quilt made up...

2010-12-08T15:23:00.002-05:00

This month it was my turn to receive scrappy blocks from many of the ladies at block central. I just love going out to the mail box and finding nice little fabric surprises in it. Three more are on the way and those along with the ones I'll be stitching up will be enough to finish up this quilt.
This quilt is going to be a gift for my neice. Her dad, my brother, just won custody of her and they're both very excited to be heading to North Carolina.... BUT she does need a few things and I think everyone needs their own quilt. I'm planning on using a flannel backing for this and it's going to be TIED, not quilted. I want it to be done fast!
Thanks to all my BC friends for the blocks :)

Thanksgiving with the family

2010-11-25T18:31:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!! We are downstate at mom and dad's for the day. My sister and her family came along with my brother, my daughter and her boyfriend... other daughter went to Nashville (Al is taking the pic)
Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Stitching weather

2010-11-08T10:22:00.002-05:00

It's been SO COLD the last few days. It's been a busy fall but when I haven't had to work I head down to the sewing room, turn the heat on high and stitch away. Just can't believe how fast we went from fall to winter!
One of the projects I'm working on is this Christmas purse for my mom's bowling friend. She loved mom's summer purse and wanted something for her mom's birthday which is coming up fast. She said she wanted a "Christmas" bag and these cute santas with the animal print trim on their hats is the fabric she chose. I'm going to make 2 or 3 ties to go though the "belt" loops... one out of a coordinating animal print, one green and maybe one more in a creamy Christmas print. I still have quite a bit to do on this... the bottom of the bag is stitched but the band and ties are just laying there... got to add those on today.

Jennifer spent Sunday at our house and so we did some baking, cooking and sewing. She made a couple of really cute blocks using Figgy Pudding Christmas fabric. She's joining a block draw... Everyone is making a block or two and then someone's name will be drawn from all the block received. The lucky winner will get all the blocks made and will choose the next fabric line to be used in December's draw. This is a block she designed using the fabrics. Isn't it adorable?

New spicy tablerunner and the start of a new quilt

2010-11-01T19:26:00.006-04:00

This is a new sample I just finished up last night for the local quilt shop. I think it's called Spicy Spiral tablerunner... I don't remember the designer's name. The pattern makes a 42" runner but I adapted it to use a shorter wedge so it's 36"... perfect for my coffee table. It's going to be hanging in the quilt shop for quite a while so I might just have to make another one. I used mostly batiks in greens and brown. If anyone wants the pattern, contact Sue at www.heartstoholly.com.
I started a new quilt... just the center is done. This is another sample piece for the quilt shop. It's a baby quilt with a medallion center... lots of black and white with dusty aqua and gray. I know I wasn't going to start any more new quilts....BUT... this one will be pretty quick and easy. It'll be displayed at the shop for a year or so and then I'll probably give it to my mom for her church auction or donate it to the hospital up here.. I don't know anyone with a new baby boy..darn.

Finished up with this years round robins

2010-10-18T18:55:00.002-04:00

This is Rebecca's quilt top. The last border is the one I added and now it's off to the last person from our group. This was a JOY to work on... such pretty colors and fabrics! I found lots of pinks, burgandy, teal and browns to use with it. Hope you like it, Rebecca!

Halloween Quilt

2010-10-14T19:45:00.003-04:00

Here's a little SNEAK peek at my halloween quilt. I appliqued some spiders onto the top and this one block. Don't you just love him?!

Batik Pillow Pattern

2010-10-14T19:38:00.003-04:00

Thought I would show you my newest project. I just finished making a pillow that will be a class and a pattern. I took a break from some of my current projects to get this done so that the shop could have the sample. Now it's back to working on round robins and a Halloween quilt (hope it's done for THIS Halloween!). BOY, you should see the MESS in my sewing room... a disaster!!

Working on blocks and pillows

2010-10-08T16:44:00.002-04:00

Finished up a block for BC. This is our October block swap and I really should have been done with the two blocks by now... but... I had a bit of difficulty with this one. UNTIL I read something online about how to do curved blocks. Pie goes on the bottom, crust on top... Curved pieces fit together MUCH better if you follow this rule. The piece that looks like the pie goes down... and the other fits in nicely on top. Glald that's done!!

Quick and Easy Placemat Pattern

2010-10-04T11:49:00.006-04:00

Here it is.. my first pattern! Hearts To Holly Quilt Shop (231-547-2729) has them for $6 . You can also get them directly from me.. my email is on this blog. We sold 3 the first day... I'm so excited :)
If you look back a bit on my blog you'll see them on my kitchen table. I made 4 of them for Thanksgiving but since then have made 8 for Christmas and 4 for spring. They're SUPER easy. I use one large "focus" fabric (I fussy cut part of it) and then lots of leftover strips and squares. The only quilting I did on them was around the edge... wanted them to have a more contemporary look (and make it easy on myself!).

Check off another finished project...

2010-09-24T12:24:00.001-04:00

The bathroom wallhanging is finished!! YEAH! All quilted and bound and ready for hanging. I'm still working on the crocheted rug but it's almost there... Just needs to be about 6" bigger. I've decided to do a white shower curtain with blocks of color.. plaids, solids and prints that are in the wallhanging. It's going to have a large sashing of white... kind of like "happy blocks" but bigger. I think this will give it a more modern feel but still cottagey (spelling?..is it even a word?).

Finishing up some LQS samples....

2010-09-12T15:58:00.003-04:00

So the other thing keeping me VERY busy is working and making samples for the shop. I have quite a few samples to finish up but I thought I would take a picture of two of them. These were quick and easy. The gingerbread pillow is called cookie time. I found the perfect brown at the store that looks just like gingerbread cookie dough. We're going to sell the patterns and some kits. And these placemats are a class I'll be teaching. One large D9P (disappearing nine patch) plus some strips make these very quick. No hand sewing AT ALL! No binding! I could make dozens of these... but lots of other projects waiting to get finished up. Sew, I'm off to the sewing room again!

Working on the bathroom extras

2010-09-12T15:43:00.003-04:00

Al is determined to list our house this fall so I need to get the bathroom finished up. We painted it a nice neutral medium beige/tan and are installing a new mirror. This mirror is much larger and will make the bath feel bigger and brighter.
The wallhanging is going on one wall above the towel shelves. This rag rug is going in front of the sink but since it's only 1/4 of the way done, I've got to get going on it! I also have to make a shower curtain... something to go with this cottage look. Haven't decided on the perfect one yet... any ideas? I might bring in the bright homespuns... I know for sure that I want it bright with lots of white.

Busy finishing up the cupcakes

2010-09-07T13:46:00.002-04:00

Well, Mom is having her tea party in October so I thought I better finish up the last of the cupcakes she'll need. She's putting one at each place for a nice take home gift. I sent her 3 already and just had 5 to do... so with the help of my daughter, we finished up the last 5. Now to get them in the mail. These are SO simple. The pattern is called Hotcakes... not sure who puts it out. The hard part was finding the round buttons for the "cherry on top". Mom got lucky and found some downstate... we are out of them up north. Now I'm on to my next project which is to finish up the wall hanging for one of the bathrooms. We're repainting it and I need to get this quilted and done so that I can take it to the paint store... need a color that "pops" it... but nothing bright. I'm thinking a light or dark tan/beige. The bathroom only has one small window so I don't want to darken it up. The wallhanging is nice and bright with a tan border. I'm also working on a croched rag rug to use in there. I'm cutting all my selvages and scraps into 1/2" strips and with a large hook, I'm crocheting an oval runner. So far so good... I worked on it last night for a few hours and got a good start on it. Just need to cut lots more pieces. My hands are a little sore today so I'll give it a few days before getting back to it. I'll post a picture in a couple of days... forgot to take one.

Southwest Round Robin Quilt

2010-08-24T19:29:00.003-04:00

My quilt top came home today and IS IT BEAUTIFUL!!! Al and I just love it. All the ladies in my group need a HUGE pat on the back for such nice work. I can't wait for the next Round Robin.
Al and I are taking this down to the sewing room to start planning the next few borders to bring it up to queen size. This will be a quilt for our bed in Arizona.

The next projects to finish up...

2010-08-23T17:47:00.002-04:00

So now that one little project is finished up, I need to get going on three others.

First one that needs finishing is the last rows on a strippy scrap block that goes to someone on block central. I sent the block out to her but cut it a 1/2 inch short... THAT'S NOT GOING TO WORK! LOL

Then I have 2 purple and cream blocks to do. I'm making the "Rob Peter to Pay Paul" blocks. This is for the BC October Favorite Block Swap. During shop hop, I bought a template to cut these out quicker. It makes a 6" block so I need to make 8 of them so that I end up with 2 - 12" blocks. When I was digging through my civil war fabrics today, I found the perfect purple and cream.

The final project that needs working on tonight and tomorrow night is a gift for a friend that lives in Arizona. I found some cute oriental fabrics (some vintage, some more recent). I'm going to make her a surprise using these... just haven't decided if I should make a small wall quilt or a pincushion. I'm leaning toward the wall quilt since I have a cute pattern in my latest two copies of Quiltmania. I know she love oriental fabrics, so either will probably be good for her.

Making a miniature civil war quilt

2010-08-23T17:37:00.003-04:00

I decided to finish up a few projects that were hanging around the sewing room. This was one of them. I started making a bunch of mini 9 patch blocks when I was in Arizona in the winter. I have lots of small pieces of civil war fabrics and they're all so cute, I hate to throw even the smallest bit out. Today I put them together with the green patches and then added the hst border (1/2" blocks). I fussy cut a few of the pieces so that some of the prettier parts show in the quilt. There's a bee, a cat's head, some star flowers, and a few other "I spy" pieces. The quilt is 7" square. This was a challenge to make but lots of fun... just have to add a label to the back of it.