Christmas in May?

Not really, but a fantastic quilt -- Antique Christmas Memories. The book is by Judy Hansen of the Quilt Shop of Deland and it is an absolutely adorable quilt!

Happy Hauntings

In case you're new readers... I LOVE THIS QUILT! I should rephrase and say I LOVE HALLOWEEN! So, of course, I would love this quilt. This is the "Happy Hauntings" quilt (pattern by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool) and it is the second one I have had the pleasure of quilting. This one belongs to Dianne and she has been "patiently" waiting for it while I slowly fall behind on work, life, and so forth! Thank you Dianne for being SO very patient!

I am slowly pulling my fabrics for this quilt. Perhaps if I am diligent with my applique over the summer I will have one of my very own for Halloween this year! Yes, a girl can always hope!

Altar Cloth Update...

The altar cloth has been shipped and received by Mary! WooHoo... Mary stated "...it is beyond my wildest expectations... you did such a magnificent job and I can not thank you enough for your beautiful work... It is just magnificent..." Gotta love those words of praise! No really, this was such a special project and I was truly honored to be a part of it!


Here is the finished piece

and I can't wait until Mary sends a picture of it at the wedding -- yes, I will definitely post!

Here are a few detail shots of the back

Apparently, I am turning into a weekly blogger - it has been a full week since my last post. BUT, I have been super busy with a special project. It belongs to Mary and will be used as an altar cloth at a very special wedding next month. The parament was designed especially for the bride and groom by their friend Gary Anderson, a Seattle artist (photo of his original is on the left).

Mary did a fantastic job in "recreating" the piece in fabric. To the right you'll see a picture showing her choice of fabrics and oh so perfect layout. You couldn't ask for a closer interpretation of the original.

Here are some pictures so far of the quilting I've been working on -- some initials, wordage, and loads of background fills.

Almost a week...

Wow, my apologies for neglecting all my blogger fans. I've been posting away on Facebook and not here -- so here's my week in review:

Well, I spent a lot of time working on Sheila's bargello, which is an awesome quilt. The pattern is "Diamonds Jubilee" by Nancy A. Smith (QuiltnNana Creations). This was a recent class held at the JaM Patch(http://jampatch.blogspot.com/ or http://jampatch.com/). I'm sure we'll be seeing a few more of these awesome quilts once some of the others start to finish (haha, strange play on words) their piecing. I already have a few "hold" spots on my schedule.

Okay, Sheila's quilt leads us into the weekend. I just loved her quilt SO MUCH, I had to grab the fabrics for one for myself. Here is a picture of two hours worth of therapy at the JaM Patch...

for those that don't know me well... I have a problem with brown and green. So some of you were worried when I had picked out this border fabric a week or so back. I really don't feel it is much of a problem (hehehe) -- it just matches my decor. Perhaps I like these colors??? I am a true "earth" -- dirt and grass! Anyway, I think the quilt is going to be more blue than brown and green. BUT, the fun part of bargello quilts is that you really don't know how it is going to look until all the pieces are cut and sewn and you see the magical transformation happen.

Okay, last but definitely not least, is Patti's quilt -- so cute! So much color going on and loads of applique. This quilt has received loads of comments on facebook -- check it out! I do not know the name of the pattern, but have been informed that it is a Fassett pattern, feel free to comment with more info!

Virtual Field Trip!!!

Today I found a super fun site -- and it is actually QUILTING related! Can you believe it, I almost couldn't and I "wasted" my lunch goofing around creating all kinds of quilts. It is the called the Patchwork Pattern Maker and it is part of the website of the Victoria and Albert Museum (great site by the way). So, let me explain... you upload a picture (any picture) and then go through some simple choices like number of colors and number of blocks, and you get a layout grid for a quilt of the picture you just uploaded. The program allows you to print out and/or download the grid and color chart. WOW, oodles of fun and loads of amusement. And even some awesome quilts if you start and finish (hehe) them!

Here is one of the "quilts" I created -- original picture and then grid layout --

And here's another one --

Make sure you check out the websites! I can see so many fun uses -- hope you can too!

Quilt Shop of Deland - class sample

Here is a little beauty belonging to Judy of the Quilt Shop of Deland (http://www.quiltshopofdeland.com/) -- it is a store/class sample (I don't know the name) but, if you are interested make sure you contact her.

Piecing Dilemma Solved (over a year later)...

Wow, I didn't realize that I had left this project for that long! Remember way back (April of last year) I had posted about my ambidextrous piecing dilemma. Well, last month I started (continued) with this project in an attempt to finish it for my Mothers birthday. It turns out I sashed the "right" blocks to make up for the size since I donated the "wrong" blocks to another project. It turns out the quilt is about 78x78 - not too shabby for a jelly roll. Well, it was a jelly roll minus 1 fabric, plus 4 others, sashing, and a border. But needless to say, it turned out great and my Mom is quite pleased with her gift!

Also, a peek at the binding before it went on. I have to send a shout-out to the fabric fairy because I didn't have any more of this fantastic stripe left! Gotta love those fabric fairies!!

No longer a mystery...

Shay's Wheel of Mystery quilt is complete. WOW, it is such a stunning quilt -- the colors, placement of the colors, and quilting make this quilt an all around winner in my book. I really love this quilt. I love how Shay "hid" some borders and you really don't see them at first glance. I chose to only make the first one stand out -- I wanted to keep the other hidden border set in with the background. It takes several sweeps of the eye to notice everything in this quilt.

One day I'll finish my scrappy Wheel of Mystery wall hanging -- it is a kit consisting of many pre-cut batiks. Even if I quilt the heck out of it, it just won't have the pizazz that Shay's quilt does. See blogger fans, once again we are shown about the importance of color placement!

No new eyes and Shay's Wheel being started!

My newest find still hasn't arrived (my Restaurant Readers). I received an email stating that my color choice (shiny brown) weren't available at this time in the power I ordered. Not knowing how long the back order wait would be, I decided to go with the shiny black in the correct power. At this point I just want them to arrive so that I can start using them -- I am willing to sacrifice my original color choice.

On the quilting side of life... I have started Shay's Wheel of Mystery quilt. Shay choose many shades of turquoise with a deep brown. I love her careful color placement, it created an awesome hidden border. It was just screaming for me to do something different in there... so I did! Here is a peek -- more pics to follow once it's done.

I can see clearly now

or as soon as my latest find arrives at my doorstep! Aging sucks, we all know this, but my need for reading glasses along with not enough light is getting worse by the minute... not year. Okay, this is basically the problem of every woman over 40 right so why do I feel the need to share such problems with you, my wonderful blogger fans, because I have found a solution!

In yesterday's mail I received my latest issue of On Track magazine (imqa.org) and what did I find... one of Linda Thielfoldt's "finds" -- they are called restaurant readers -- what an amazing concept! Reading glasses with tiny little LED lights built in. Check them out here -- I can not wait until mine get here... the suspense just may kill me. Thank you Linda and IMQA for all your wonderful little gadget finds.

Here's the pair I ordered and I am so excited! I know, its the little things that amaze me - haha! But I need to wear my readers while I'm quilting and I am forever needing "more" light -- now I have the perfect solution! And the more I think about them, the more uses I am finding... I can now bind in the dark while the family watches tv -- no more annoying everyone with the operating room overhead lights! I won't have to wait until high noon sitting next to the kitchen window to pick out tiny "mistake" stitches. Oh, give me time and I'll come up with so many more uses... until then I'm waiting so very impatiently!

Gail's Quilt

Here is another amazingly-pieced quilt by Gail -- great use of color too. She really makes my job so much easier!

Gail's only instructions were "keep it simple" and "it's an everyday quilt". I understand the keep it simple part -- that translates into only do enough to make it look wonderful. I have a problem with the everyday quilt part. Yes, it is my own personal problem I know. To me an everyday quilt needs a lot of quilting. It is going to be used everyday, and washed a lot -- hopefully, ewe that was a bad visual. Anyway, one of my personal peeves... something that is going to be used everyday needs to be stitched well in order to hold up to the use and washing. BUT, there are many people that think only show quilts need super amounts of stitching. WRONG... show quilts need super amounts of "show" stitching. Everyday quilts needs super amounts of stitching... not super dense, just super quilted! I will explain all of this in further detail in a separate post -- oooohhh, I have just given myself homework! What fun.... NOT, but I really want you all to see what happens to quilts when there isn't enough quilting. I have everyday quilts and show quilts and there is a definite difference!!! My dogs would never sleep on my show quilts! LOL... until next time, Happy Quilting!!!

Baby Jungle Fab...

Wow, Scott's quilt is absolutely awesome. I really like how it turned out -- so uber-stylish and contemporary! This baby's first words are going to be WOW, I love my quilt! I love the backing as I had mentioned in my early post about this quilt. For those that follow my facebook page this quilt is old news I know. For those that don't there has been tons of commentary on my page posts about this quilt... tons; it seems everyone really likes this quilt. Scott was kind enough to share the pattern source during all the chat so I thought I would share it also. It is by Better Homes & Gardens and can be found here it's called "Simple Squares & Bars. So far a few FB fans want to try it in hand-dyeds -- oh, I think that sounds too good or being the monochromatic junkie that I am, I was thinking about doing one in shades of gray. Okay.... I say that but, really I have "penned" it to my list of quilts I want to make. Yes, pen, so much closer to being started then pencil - LOL! One day I'll share with you my "list" -- wondering if there is enough lifetime?

Anyway, off to start the binding on this great quilt!

Store front...

Okay, I have spent almost my entire Sunday setting up the store front page on my website. Sometimes I am so computer savvy and other times not so much... yep, today was a not so much kind of day! It is just a basic store front with only 6 items so I figured -- how hard could this be -- only as hard as paypal was going to make it! I really think it was more my brain's attention deficit problem but we're going to keep blaming it on paypal and the fact that they didn't want to make the shipping calculations work correctly. As far as I can tell it is now working, but I really won't be sure until an order comes through and goes completely haywire -- wow, I have all the faith in the world today!

If you get a chance, click the link and check it out -- let me know what you think -- better yet, order something and tell me how it works! LOL... or cry.... either way works today! Needless to say, I'm a little leery of putting the paypal links here on the blog -- but I will try... perhaps after yet another cup of coffee!

Happy Sunday and Keep Stitching!!!

Baby Quilt meets Jungle Fab!

Here's what's going on the frame next...


This beautiful baby quilt was pieced by Scott in Ohio. The backing is the most adorable Jungle Animal print -- one of the cutest that I have seen in a while -- it is "Safari So Good" by P and B Textiles! I had to piece the backing and match up the pattern -- here is the result


Quilting pics will follow tomorrow -- I plan on ruler work with multi-directional lines in each block of the quilt. Hope it looks as good on the quilt as it does in my head!