Saw a wonderful antique quilt

Al and I were out in Traverse City yesterday and decided to stop into a few antique shops. He was checking out the old tools and signs while I made a beeline for the quilts and linens. This is one of the quilts I found AND REALLY WANT! It's marked 250 dollars which is probably a steal for one this nice and this old (30's). It's in WONDERFUL condition except for one block that has what looks like a grease stain (might come off) or black paint (most likely wont come off).

Since I AM a quilter, I guess I need to get myself busy and make this one. I KNOW, I KNOW.. I have an enormous pile of WIPs... BUT!!

Deciding on colors...

What do you think of these colors? I just love them. I'm on a lucky streak lately... I've won two swaps at block central.. the first was the "Roses" happy block swap and the second was the "Favorite Block" swap, which had the theme- Americana. Since I won that last one, I'll get to choose the next color/theme for the favorite block swap that ends in October. The blocks will all be different so it'll make a nice SAMPLER. I thought about fall and winter and snow and Thanksgiving and Christmas.... BUT... then I thought about what kind of quilt I like to grab in the winter to just cozy up in.
I usually want something soft and pretty with flowers. SO, these are the fabrics I pulled out of my stash that feel the best to me. I havent "officially" mentioned my theme yet but I'm pretty sure it'll be SHABBY CHIC.
I also think this would be a great quilt to give for Christmas... to a friend, a new baby girl, mother, sister...
A while back I asked on a poll what colors you love in a quilt... pinks, yellows and orange rated pretty high, so I think, peachy-pink, buttercup yellow, soft olive or moss green, and creamy/buttery whites.
SO, WHO'S GOING TO JOIN US? There will be two lucky winners! Stay tuned :)
And about that lucky streak..
I just won the door prize from one of the shops on the SHOP HOP last week... A wool batt! Think I need to head out and buy some lottery tickets!

Shop Hopping!

This is just a few of us... we had 3 van loads travelling from store to store. I bought some fabric... you all knew I would, didnt you? Found fabric for some pillows for mom... for the family room. Bought a bunch of fqs (20% off) to use in a mini quilt, and lots of cute fat quarters for my daughters (Amy Butler fabrics, mostly). We all had lunch in Bellaire at LuLu's... I had a yummy sandwich of roasted pork with horseradish slaw, homemade potato chips and a thick hunk of old fashioned barrel pickle... mmmmm! Also had a cup of tea, which they served on platters with individual tea pots, little bowls of raw sugar or cubes, tea bags. Each person having tea got a cute little setup. And the tea was the best I've ever had. I took the label from the bag so that I could see about getting some for home. Today was supposed to be mid 70's but it was a little cooler so the tea hit the spot.

Denise's medallion

YEAH!! Check off another thing done!

This is the border I added to Denise's medallion. We're doing a round robin with www.thequiltandneedle.com. We are almost at the end... I will be getting one more medallion to work on before mine comes home :) !!!

This round had a fabric sent with it that I REALLY wanted to see added to the quilt... it's the flower fabric in the center of the circles. I didnt want to use too much because I was afraid it would get to busy but I wanted enough so that when Denise gets it back, after one more border, she will have the fabric somewhere else in the quilt. She plans to add a final border using her flower fabric. I cant wait to see this one finished! It's going to be a beauty.

Weird weather up here!

What a spooky looking sky we had the other day... It was beautiful blue until this big ugly cloud moved in. No rain but lots of wind. Blew a few branches off a delicate maple tree. 

More sewing room storage...

This is my template/ruler shelf. I had Al cut slots into the bottom of this shelf so that I could insert my rulers, squares and templates. I LOVE THIS SPACE!! This is a hutch I bought at a resale shop. I needed more storage and wanted something pretty. I have three nice drawers for tools and papers... plus all these great shelves. I keep pictures of my online friends and letters from them on the one shelf... like having company when I'm sewing alone :) I also keep one of my first quilts (a UFO) on the top shelf. I am VERY SLOWLY hand quilting it. I started in the 80's and the stitches are toenail catchers. I've improved some since then...

This is more storage... under the cutting table. I have boxes with Xmas fabrics, solids, SCRAPS (a very important box) and more.

The sewing closet...

We were talking about sewing rooms on BC and I thought I would post pics of mine. I have to label everything... my family thinks I'm nuts (maybe I am) but I love to be organized. It's so much easier to find what Im looking for ... gives me more time for important things like quilting! This is my closet and all my cottons. I have them boxed up by color... at least the smaller pieces are. The large ones are in boxes marked "backing" or "large pieces".

I hang up some of the quilt tops on hangers at the back of the closet... plus shirts that will be cut up and used in "Green" quilts.

Vacation is over :(

Well, the vacation is over. Taking mom home today and back to work for me. We had a wonderful break... lots of shopping, eating and walking around by the water. The weather wasnt all that warm but comfortable... in the mid 70's mostly. We had one really rainy day so mom hung out in my sewing room... she read cookbooks and I sewed. PERFECT vacation day.

This is the start of the rose quilt (happy blocks from blockcentral). I made every other block... the 4 patches surrounded by white. I have lots of pretty rose fabrics that I wanted to add into this quilt. I received MANY pretty blocks and this is only a small portion of them...most of these have solid fabrics bordering the roses. I have more that will be going into another quilt. 

The other quilt will be for my mom... It will be more floral which I think will be something she'll like. Mom's father grew roses and we've always loved them. She really likes pink and yellow so that will be the main colors in the next quilt. BUT for now, I have to hide this quilt top. I may change my mind and give her this one. Depends on how I decide to border it... Mom is coming for a visit. She lives downstate and gets only a few weeks a year to come up and stay with us. 

Americana Picnic quilt is done :)

The picnic quilt is done... just in time for the festival. This is made from all the 10" squares we swapped on the quilt and needle. You cant see the center patch well but it's part of the Declaration of Independence... I got the "July 4th" part to show along with the words "America".. and some signatures. Love that center one :)

I went to the beach last night while Al worked and finished up sewing the binding down. Still need to add a label. That's Lake Michigan in the background. This is my favorite beach... it's about 4 miles from us. I took the picture early this morning ... later in the day it will be PACKED!

I made a list of UFOs/WIPs (I prefer the latter term) and Im up to 16! YIKES! I really need to get going on these projects. And STILL I browse the quilt magazines for more ideas....

I think I'll add a list to the side of this blog to keep track of my progress... It'll help to keep me working on my wips instead of starting more.

Top of my list is a western quilt for my brother-in-law. I designed it during the winter when we stayed at his house in AZ. I bought MOST of the fabrics and started the center (it's medallion style) and that's as far as I've gotten. I want to be able to give this to him this winter when we head there again.

Sewing up a storm!

I won the "happy blocks" this month on www.blockcentral.com !!!!
These are the ones I made for the swap and now there's going to be more of them making their way to my door... This is going to be such a beautiful quilt. I'm going to make it up for mom for mother's day. Im sure she'll love it.

Not sure what kind of setting I'll use. It looks pretty just as they are so I might not add much. Maybe just a white sashing?.. Maybe not...hmmm

Just have to add the borders on this and I'll be ready to quilt. I cut out the navy border today and then sewed up another one that goes on after that. I'll add them on tomorrow. Glad it's going to be done in time for the festival up here. We do a lot of picnics and hang out at the beach, PLUS we have fireworks at night. Lots of company ..we're always needing extra quilts...

I finished the happy blocks for the August swap, the "my favorite block" for the July swap and now I'll start on a border for the round robin. Im tossing a few ideas around for the round robin... I havent decided which idea will look the best. This is such a fun swap and I plan to do it again. We have a lot of talent on www.thequiltandneedle.com. Check out the album with the pictures of all of the beautiful quilt tops. There's quite a few I would love to hijack :)