Bunny Hill give away!!!

MamaSparks is having a terrific give away for a $50 gift certificate to spend at Bunny Hill Designs. How exciting is that??? Anne Sutton herself is offering this gift certificate for the give away...very generous. So hop on over and enter to win.

Pear pincushion

Well I still needed something easy to do after I finished hemming the day of the week towels, so I pulled out a pincushion pattern that I purchased sometime last month. It's a Heather Bailey pattern and it went together very well, although I should have stuffed it a bit fuller. Oh and don't pay attention to the mess in my work space...please....lol...I have to clean it this afternoon.

 

Plus I was jealous that I didn't win the pretty pear pincushion that Jean from Linen and Raspberry gave away last week...really I was! If you haven't visited Jean's blog you really should. She takes beautiful pictures and she also makes wonderful quilts and she's met Janet from Quiltsalott in person.
Janet is an applique master and I would love to sit and just watch her work!

Okay I've got to get busy now....Have a wonderful weekend world!

Frustration!!!

Well I can't seem to get anything to work out right in my sewing room and that means I don't have anything new on the quilty front to show you. I'm working on the Antique quilt and I think I may have messed up somewhere along the line, but I'm not sure where. It could be that I'm trying to convert from cm to inches or maybe my printer is way off, but things don't seem to be lining up like they should. I decided to put the AQ down and just do something mindless for a little while.

First I went out on the deck and took a few pictures of the wonderful flowers out there. Usually by this time in the summer they are looking pretty wilted, despite my husbands best attempts to keep them green and flowering. We've had unseasonably cool temps the last few days and a bunch of rain. Seems we've switched places with Seattle somehow...poor them... Anyway here are some pretty flowers...

 

 

 

Then I moved on to taking pictures of the animals. Shia is saying "help! the kitty is taking over my bed"

 

Now Shia is saying "oh well might as well live with it"....lol

 

But I still wanted to sew something and I don't make a lot of mindless quilts as most of the stuff I do involves itty bitty pieces, so I remembered that Monday when I was at the Savage Quilter in Oklahoma City I picked up this panel (forgot to take a picture) of kitchen towels and tada.....

 

 

 

Cute huh!?! Didn't think I needed to take pictures of all 7 of them, but they each have a scene of the chores for that day just like Grandma's used to. Very vintage and nostalgic looking, although it's just printed on the fabric. I thought about both of my Grandma's while sewing and I really, really miss them. Also the panel came with 4 napkins, but I didn't get them hemmed yet.

Okay I guess I should accomplish something around this house today and maybe I'll pick up the AQ again tomorrow. Sometimes if you give a frustration a few hours it works itself out.

I'm back in the saddle again......

Oh yes I am....I had some time this weekend to get back where I belong....my sewing room! Yippee! I accomplished quite a bit actually. I put the back together for the Truly Scrumptious top. I pieced it to use up fabric and that always takes longer and I also pieced the binding.

 

I also made some of these cute little LeMoyne stars for the Antique Quilt.

 

And I worked some on my pies for the pies and tarts quilt.

 

Oh and I forgot to show the new pincushion I ordered for myself from Bunny Hill Designs It was to make myself feel better last week....it worked :o) It's so pretty and heavy too. I really, really like it.

 

Okay I've got to go to the big city today for a doctors appointment. I may have time for a stop at quilt store if I hurry...

I miss quilting :o(

This has been such a busy time at work and in life that I haven't done any sewing lately...that makes me so sad! I worked over 12 hours yesterday and today will be another long day.
I thought I'd show a couple of pictures of quilts that I made several years ago for gifts. This one was made for my friend and boss, Mary in honor of her 60th birthday.

 

It's a Miss Rosie's pattern and I've made it a couple of times since. Very simple, but effective.

 

I made this quilt for my oldest daughter's 18th birthday. I don't remember the pattern name right now, but it is also an easy fun quilt and I really enjoyed making it for her.
Okay enough for right now, I've got to get to work....maybe this weekend I'll get a chance to turn on my machine.
Later!

Elaine is having a give away....

 

Or as she put it a "stimulus package for quilters". So go on over to Elaine's blog at Faithful Quilter: Elaine's Journey and enter to win. She has a great blog and she's a wonderful swap hostess!

Truly Scrumptious....DONE!

 

It's done, yeah! I think I've worked on these wonderful little ladies for about a year and a half, so it's nice to get a long term project wrapped up. Also I used fabric that I had leftover from another quilt so that's a good thing. I still need to cobble together a back for this quilt, also out of left over ShangriLa fabric and it will go to my quilter next month.

Here's a picture of my totally completed pies from my Pies and Tarts quilt.

 

That's 31 out of 100 completely done and I have another 20 at least to applique to the background. I'm going to put these blocks together very soon so I can get some tarts appliqued on. I've added in several backgrounds from what I was sent because I wanted a little more variety. This is going to be such a cool quilt and I think I've got my camera all messed up again because the colors are really very vibrant.

Well I'm off to work. It's going to be a busy one because we have a town wide sale going on at the end of the week. Working in retail is just a barrel of fun don't ya know...lol

Have a great day!

Just checking in to say Hi...

I really don't have anything new on the quilty front to show, so I thought I'd put up a couple of pictures of quilts that I did last year. The first one is made from the Chocolat fabric that Moda did a couple of years ago. I'm not sure why but I really didn't enjoy making this quilt, but it has become my favorite to cuddle with lately.

 

This quilt is one that I made and decided to give to my Mom for a housewarming present when she moved into her condo. Somehow it reminds me of her and she loves the colors.

 

I have been working on my Pies & Tarts blocks...geez they take a while, but I love them and can't wait to start putting them together...someday soon, I hope! Also working on the last fairy block and then I'll put them together. Next week will be a tough one as we have a town wide sale called Krazy Daze and it requires lots of work in the heat. I'm still checking out blogs for inspiration though. See you around!

My first quilt

Camille at Simplify and Carrie of Miss Rosies fame have a challenge to do a post about your first completed quilt and your last....okay here it goes!
Well it's not my very first quilt, but it's close. The first quilt was actually Eleanor Burns May Basket pattern and it was given to my niece when she was born and then I made the same pattern for my first daughter when she was born 7 months later. I don't have those quilts anymore or pictures of them so I thought I'd show you one that was right up there among the first quilts.

 

It's so ugly isn't it....I actually never really liked this quilt...remember this was probably 19 years ago and the fabric was purchased at Walmart and I quilted it myself on my little Kenmore. You know what though, this quilt has been used by my family more than any other quilt that I've made. It's the "picnic quilt" and it's been camping, to outdoor concerts, 4th of July and it's covered up more than one sick girl around here. It's also been washed and dried more times than I can count and it's still in one piece, sort of!

Okay here's a picture of the second to last quilt that I finished totally(the last one was my Mom's basket quilt and the pictures are terrible).

 

Yes it's my Dear Jane I'm sure that some of you have seen many versions of this quilt on many blogs around the world, but mine is supposed to look like the orginal. I've started a new DJ quilt, but I haven't had time to work on it in such a long time...I will get back to it though. I really loved making this quilt and it was challenging at times and I feel like I grew as a quiltmaker.

So there you have it...one of my first quilts and one of my last. And since this post is about first quilts and my sister was here for a few days this week learning to quilt here are a couple of pictures of her first quilt (there will be 2 first quilts as I wanted to teach her to cut and piece and she had a pattern picked out that was fusible buttonhole applique that just happens to be a Simplify pattern).

 

 

 

Here is a picture of Pamela hard at work.

 

We had so much fun and I hope that she learned a lot and will keep sewing. Just wish we lived closer so we could get together more often....
Well this post is long enough...time to get busy!

Where to begin??

Okay I think I'll begin this post with a picture of the yummy red velvet cupcakes that I made for July 4th. I got the recipe from Marja...she makes these all of the time and let me tell you they were wonderful!!! They have also been named 4thofJulpcakes by Kara and her friend Jacob. I doubled the recipe and I was making cupcakes forever...lol

 

Also last week I was blog hopping, as I am frequently known to do for inspiration you know and I stumbled across this terrific blog by a Belgian lady named Guute and as I was reading her blog I noticed that she was reproducing an antique quilt that was pictured in QuiltMania #70 and she had started a yahoo group to make this quilt....yipee...that's just up my alley and what's one more project anyway...lol...So I joined this group and here is my progress so far.

 

Here is a picture of the original quilt.

 

It's gorgeous isn't it! I think it will be a big quilt and I'm excited for Guute to post the next round of instructions. Oh by the way, all of the fabric is from my stash! Woohoo! I'm really excited about that.
Here is my Diawabo Houses quilt that I finished this weekend.

 

I also ordered backing from it as I can't buy this type of fabric anywhere in Oklahoma. I have shown a picture of this quilt before, but I didn't have the borders on.
My sister will be here in the morning and we will be sewing up a storm in no time. I'm so excited for her to share my passion!
Goodnight!

It's not perfect, but it's done!

Oh yes it is....and I'm proud.

 

This block was just a tiny bit difficult because I couldn't decide which method to use to piece it (stars are hand pieced) and I used vellum in the paper piecing parts. I normally use a newsprint like product to paper piece since my favorite material for this kind of work is no longer around. I ran out of my newsprint stuff so I had some vellum that I had bought at a quilt store sometime back and I decided I would use it up. Yuck...I really don't care for it at all. Even though I waited until the ink dried and then I set it with my iron, my fingers where black by the time I finished this block and I didn't even do that much pp. Also I think it's thicker somehow because this block turned out just a smidge small. Not small enough to do it over again, mind you!

Here's what my helper did while I slaved away at this block. Lazy girl, until it's bedtime and then she's all about being energetic!

 

Well I'm off to do some more quilt housekeeping. I'm going to put borders on my houses quilt and I also have to go get supplies for tomorrow. Think, hamburger, hot dogs, stuff for homemade ice cream...you get the picture. I'd invite all of you over for the festivities if I could. Wouldn't that be great! You'd have fun too...we live a block from the city lake and we get to see the fireworks display up close and personal!!! Have a wonderful Friday!

One more done!

Here's the latest NI block done!

 

I think I'm going to have to put this project away for a little bit because my little sister is coming for a visit next week and I'm going to teach her to quilt! So in preparation for her visit I am doing a little of what I call 'quilt housekeeping', meaning making quilt backs (made 2 last night for big quilts), getting the binding made up, and in general just cleaning the 2 sewing rooms that I can manage to trash in short order! LOL Not to mention getting the rest of the house ready so that we can just concentrate on the important stuff like sewing and fabric shopping.
I'll leave you with a picture of my storage solution for my red and white selvage collection. I also save other selvages but they don't look quite so pretty as these do.