Another round robin border completed!!

Today I finished up the border I was adding to Rebecca's medallion... YEAH!! It took me a bit longer than I thought it would but I sure love it. Rebecca did the New York Beauty center, Denise did the Delectable Mountains and then I turned it on point with the applique.... Now it's off to DebbieAnn. I'm excited to see this one finished up!

Working on round robins and pincushions

I spent most of this morning finishing up the first of my "tiny" pineapple pincushions... at least tiny compared to the huge things the pattern makes. This one is VERY small... so small I decided it needed a nice little pedestal to stand on. It's all finished and ready to take to the quilt shop for the swap. I have two more little ones to go..

I've also been working on a round robin that will be Rebecca's in the end. I'm turning it on point and doing some applique so it's a little slow going. I have two sides done and I'm halfway finished with the third. It should be finished up by the end of the holiday weekend and then I can post a picture. My daughter stopped by the house when it was spread out on the design floor and she thought it was for her... she has always loved New York Beauty quilts and that's what Rebecca did for a center... plus they both have the same love of pinks. I told my girls that when they get married I would make them a quilt in what ever pattern they would like.... Jenn wants circles for sure.. and this quilt seems to be on the order of what she would like... HOPEFULLY I have a few years before she gets married! Lisa will probably want something vintage looking... oranges, yellowy greens, brown... but who knows, she might surprise me.

Pin cushion Exchange

Here is an a portion of a newsletter I received from Hearts to Holly Quilt shop. If anyone is thinking of joining a pincushion exchange this is a nice one. This is an adorable shop in downtown Charlevoix, just off the lake. Some of the pincushion are already arriving and ARE THEY CUTE!! I'm working on my next pineapple pincushion... the one that will be in this exchange... SO JOIN THE FUN!! Contact Sue at www.heartstoholly.com. She has some wonderful wool fabrics too, if you're doing that kind.

Working on a summer COVERLET

Here's a picture of the scrappy 30's coverlet that I've been working on, here and there. It's really quick and easy but I don't have much time to spend on it since I have so many other things going. When I'm in the mood for some mindless sewing I pull this one out. I just love the summery colors. Aren't 30's the cutest? I put a white (not quite pure white) strip in the center of each block and then just use any size strips I have around... there's quite a few leftover 30's pieces in my sewing room. I also added in solids cut from a FQ pack I bought at Heart to Holly.
They have the nicest FQ packs of solids I've seen.

Gwen Marston is going to be having summer classes and a retreat up here in northern MI and this year I heard it will be using solids.... I've got to get signed up for a class! And check out this book of hers... Liberated Quiltmaking II . You can see some of her wonderful quilts at www.gwenmarston.com. I sound like an advertisment for her but I think she's very talented and has a great eye for color.

One Pincushion done... THREE to go....

One down... three to go. I finished up the first pincushion for the swaps and just can't part with it. I love the colors of the wool and I love the base I found (at a resale shop). If I'm going to keep it, I have to make two more for the swaps plus I decided I'm making one as a gift for someone that has a birthday coming up in July.... so... I have a lot of work ahead of me.... Story of my life! I stopped by the LQS today to pick up more wool and she dragged a box out of the upstairs that I DOVE into... oooohhhh... nice wools! I put a special piece aside for myself for the next pincushion. It's a soft yellowy/gold plaid that would be perfect for a pineapple. BUT, at $72 a yard, I need to be VERY careful with how much I use. I also picked up a few more pieces of some of the more REASONABLE wool. They're just solid colors but very pretty.

I shrunk the pattern down from 14" to this which is about 9". I think I'll shrink the pattern a bit more for the next one. It still seems a bit big to me. The only problem I may have with shrinking it some more is being able to work with such small pieces. BUT, I'm going to give it a try. PLUS, wool is so expensive, I would like to use less of it per pincushion.

Working on Pincushions for swaps

Today I had a chance to work on my pineapple pincushion (Sue Spargo pattern). Yesterday I took the pattern to the pinter and had them shrink it by about 65% so that it wouldn't be the size of a table centerpiece (LOL)... The pattern said the finished pincushion measured 14"tall and although I just LOVE this pattern, I didn't want to make that large of a project.

I have the base picked out... I had Al cut the base off a candleholder and am going to glue this to it. Right now I'm working on getting all the little decorations attached to the main part of the pineapple. Tomorrow I'll add the top leaves and glue on the base. I'm using old buttons to decorate the pineapple instead of beads... mainly because I don't have many beads at home but I have LOADS of old buttons. Well, back to work.....

Possibly 1800's Fabric?!!!

I was at "chatter time" this morning here in Charlevoix and had a chance to show my beautiful old fabrics to the ladies. One of them is very good at dating fabrics and believes the brown, grays and purple hexagons date from the 1800's... and quite possibly from the MID 1800's! One of my friends has an original civil war quilt passed down through her family and she said the fabrics are VERY similar to what she has in that quilt! I think I need to take a trip to Lansing, MI or to the Ann Arbor area to see if I can find someone who could tell me for sure what I have here. Apparently the thing that gives it away is the patterns plus fading of the fabric. Some of the purple has faded to brown. Also the whole group is mostly drab... and they are getting brittle (some, not all). Well, if they are proven to be that old... I'm NOT going to cut them! Not sure what I'll do with them...

Most of the fabrics are 30's and 40's which is wonderful... I just love that era and am going to enjoy making a quilt to show these off. I may work a few into my "seven sister's" quilt... it would be nice to have some REAL 30's mixed in.... and the quilt is going to be totally handmade so I'll feel I've done them justice. Not sure if it will get finished in MY lifetime... I'm really not all that quick at hand quilting!

My BIRTHDAY came early!!

Today was my birthday!! Well, not really, but it sure felt like it! My daughter, Lisa, was shopping downstate at estate sales and garage sales when she came apon a wonderful box full of old fabrics ..... FOR $5!!!! She told me she would be sending me a little bit of some of the yummy things that were in it but she wouldn't tell me what they would be. WELL!!!, the package came today and was filled with wonderful 30's fabrics (some feedsacks!) in all kinds of pretty patterns and colors. AREN'T THESE THE MOST DELICIOUS FABRICS?!!

These are just some of them... there were lots of diamond pieces (I will hand piece these together then applique the stars onto white blocks), hexagons (these look even older than the 30's so I'm going to see if I can find someone who might know) and lots of strips and pieces.

How cute are these dancing kittens?!!

And these were some of 4 patch blocks in the bunch... she kept the bowtie blocks. She's planning to sew the bowties together for her own vintage quilt.... and ALL this plus lots more that she has for $5! She said the box was PACKED! Oh, I think I need to hit the garage sales instead of the quilt stores :)

Can't wait to get sewing on these... but first I'm going to drool a bit more.......

Mother's Day Weekend

These are the fabrics that Lisa gave me when I went downstate to see my mom on the day before Mother's Day. We didn't have much time... it was a REALLY rushed trip but at least I got to visit for a few minutes with Lisa, give her the cool, retro chairs we found her and then spent some time with my mom and dad. Lisa thought these fabrics would work for this quilt... CHICAGO QUILT SHOW QUILT I can't wait to give it a try. I'm going to dig through my solids and see what I have that will also work with this. NOW, I KNOW I shouldn't be starting ANOTHER quilt..... BUT I JUST HAVE TOO!!!! This one is too cute to pass up :)

Mom and I went out to see "The Backup Plan"... it is definately a women's movie... don't think any guys would enjoy it. It had a few good laughs that I think only someone who has already had children would appreciate. It's not going to win any awards but it was entertaining and mom and I enjoyed it ... We went to BIG BOY's afterwards and had strawberry sundaes and tea...mmmm, then off to Borders to look at cooking magazines (her) and quilt books (me). We got home just in time to turn on the RED WING'S GAME. Very depressing though... Al stayed up to watch a good portion of the game but since we were leaving at 6am (he had to be at work at 11am), he couldn't see it all. He said it was a good thing he didn't try... they lost :(

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

It sure is nice out....spring has arrived! Our spring blooming trees are LOADED with blossoms. Lots of bees hanging around... I hope they find the fruit trees in the yard. The peach trees have lots of flowers and so do the cherries. The apples don't have as many yet but they're just a bit behind. This flowering crab smells wonderful! Al is going to order some mulch delivered so that I can get these beds fixed up... I got some of the weeding done last night and today I'd like to finish up the ones near the house. I think we're going to need a truckload of mulch... I need it for the garden, the landscape by the road and all these smaller landscapes. I think I see ALEVE in my future!

Here's my favorite spring flower, my lilac. This one was given to us by a friend that owned a nursery and was closing it down. We helped him clean up and do some final landscape projects and he paid us with plants. This was kind of scraggly for a couple of years but look at it this year! It's finally taking to it's new home :) And mmmmmmm, it smells FANTASTIC!

I'm going to try to get lots of yard work done today and tomorrow... Wednesday I'm heading out to the U.P. to do some quilty shopping with some friends. We're planning on visiting some galleries and shops. Then in the evening, Al and I are heading into Traverse City to have dinner and see a show. It won't be until Thursday before I have a chance to do some more sewing....

Civil War Block

Today I had a chance to sew for quite a few hours while Al was at work so I finished up my "log cabin" blocks for the Favorite Block Swap on Block Central. We're doing civil war fabrics and some of us are picking blocks from around the civil war time. Crossing my fingers and hoping I win a set of these in June... sure is going to be pretty!

I also worked on the signature block swap going on at Quilt and Needle. We are each making 23 little (3-1/2") signature blocks and then swapping with each other. I finished the sewing and just have to sign them. I'm not sure what I'll make when mine get home... maybe a tiny quilt for my sewing room... maybe a tote for taking to Chatter Time.

Later tonight I hope to work on some pillows that are going to someone special from our "chatter time" group. We all worked on blocks for her and turned it into a quilt and now we are making a couple of pillows and a pillow sham to complete the set. I know she's going to love this... it's all turning out REALLY nice. I'll take pictures after she receives it.