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.