Moonvalley Quilter

A Few of the Fun BOMs Starting

2012-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

The first block is up & just waiting for you!
http://april-makingendsmeet.blogspot.com/

And be sure to check out Jill's BOM - Calendar blocks

http://www.appleavenuequilts.blogspot.com/

Making a Dresden Plate Quilt
http://bunnyhillblog.com/

And this one At Country Junktion
http://www.countryjunktion.com/2012BOM.html

I know there's a lot more that I haven't found yet.

So if you find them send me a link!!

Lone Star Quilt Along

2012-01-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Quilt Times & Jaynes Quilting Room are co hosting a Lone Star Quilt Along/Support Group! Thank you both. No patterns are provided but lot's of pattern suggestions, info & support! So if your interested, go check it out.
Here's a few of the Lone Star books I've used & or read plus there's a couple of great instructional DVDs too. You can find them all on Amazon. I haven't seen the Jackie Robinson DVD yet but there's a short promo on You Tube.

Lot's of great ideas!

I've made 4 of these, all strip pieced. So much easier. I'll admit here that my 1st was a 12" mini. Not the best one to start with & the center came out all wonky! But I finished it anyway... And I'll even show pictures.
2nd one was a king size Radiant or Broken Star. I took a class from a young Amish woman in Libby Montana around 1998ish or so. It was in blacks, grays & burgundies. My oldest daughter has it & after looking everywhere tonight I could not find any pictures, asked & hoping to get one soon.
The 3rd one was made for a friend & her husband at her request, I got the top done & then she changed her mind so it was never quilted but here's a picture of it before I sent it to the Australia Brush Fire victims. I used Eleanor Burns Radiant Star book.
And last is another that hasn't been finished. This one is lap/baby size & also made using the Eleanor Burns book. I plan to pull a bunch of Batiks and add pieced & solid border to turn it into a twin, hopefully!

The Peach, Rust & Green one I sent to Australia
My Batik PhD. Haven't found the top to take a better pic, sorry

And here is the Mini Wonky Western Star! Someday I really need to make another & retire this one!

So what am doing this time? I have no idea. But you'll be the 2nd to know, right after me...

First Project of 2012, a Quick & Easy Comfort Quilt

2012-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Before my daughter was deployed, she asked if I could make a Comfort Quilt for the wife of one of the Airmen in her unit. She has cancer & is not doing well. With Christmas & my grand kids visiting it was just to hectic. So today I played in EQ, using a floral print & 5 coordinating print to come up with a pleasing, very fast lap quilt. This pattern would work with any medium to large print fabric. I pulled all these from my stash today. I have batting. So the only thing I might have to buy is Flannel for the back. I'll play with the color arrangement some, but I'm pretty happy with the design. So what do you think?? It should finish to 58" x 70". Please ignore the funky colors. I just grabbed in EQ. I'm to lazy to scan my fabrics in!

Updated the picture. Colors are still off but placement is better

Deck the Halls with Skulls of Jolly!

2011-12-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Damon's

Jolly Skull Tree!

Merry Christmas to you & yours!!

Making Ornaments ~ 2011

2011-12-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

I will have made about 60 ornaments this year, when I'm done. A lot more than usual. It all started with those reindeer! I make personalized, dated ornaments for my family & close friends every year. It's my way of saying, I'm thinking of you. They're all made on my embroidery machine.
The horse heads are for a special project I'm working on. More about them in it's own post.
And then there's the weird, yet to be seen ornaments for Damon's tree! But you'll have to wait to see those ...
Let's see , so far I've made 20 secret weird ones, 14 Reindeer, 6 horse heads, 4 gingerbread men, 3 Patchwork Snowmen, 3 Military Ribbons, 2 cowboy boots, 2 sugar skulls, 2 caffeine Santa's, 1 wedding heart, 1 old truck, 1 snoopy, 1 flower, 1 heart snowman, 1 funny frog, 1 alien Santa and a pirate ship in a pear tree! OK, there really is no tree, maybe next year...

And just to keep you interested, here's a little sneak peek at Damon's tree! I did say weird, didn't I...

These are all designs I bought or got free on the Internet.
*Embroidery Library
*Urban Threads
*Snow Lady Designs
*Sew Terific
*Embroidery Garden
*OESD
*Embroidery Designs
*A purchased Snoopy set
*Sew Dragon Designs
*Moose B Stitchin
Have I ever mentioned that I'm a Design Junky!!

Christmas at Our House, Continues

2011-12-19T20:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas is such a special time. Christmas to me means family & hopefully lots of it. My kids & grand kids are literally spread from 1 coast to the other so it's very seldom that we get together. This year my son & his 3 little ones were here for Thanksgiving so that's when our Christmas started. Damon our oldest grandson will be here on the 22nd!! The last Christmas we had with Damon was in 2002. I keep hoping that just once they will all make it home at the same time, but with Military kids it'll probably will never happen. Oh well, you learn to enjoy what your given! The little quilt hung on point is one I designed for a paper piecing class, way back when.

The Santa & Tree banner was a gift from Jill!

In a normal house the TV would be here! Damon helped me string this Popcorn 12 years ago!

I made the basket wall quilt using a pattern from an older McCall's Quick Quilts. And the table runner on the rocker, I made using blocks won in a quilt guild block drawing.

If you enjoy looking at Christmas pics, head over to Jill's. Her sunflower tree is just beautiful!

Christmas at our house!

2011-12-17T13:31:00.000-08:00

I'm one of the weird ones that has small trees throughout the house. Just wait till you see the one in my 18 yr. old grandson's room. Then you'll know how strange I really am! But that ones still in progress & for another post. Today I'll share my quilting room & bedroom...

My Bedroom

Santa was a gift from Jill! Cardinal Quilt & stockings, I made.

Gift form Jill ! My Quilting Room Tree!

I hope you enjoyed this small peek into our home.

As you can my decorating style varies from

traditional to the weird & wacky, to just plain cute.

Never could make up my mind.

I've got Reindeer coming out my ears!

2011-12-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year. You know, when all those last minute ideas pop into your head & you know you just have to bring them to life. It starts out with an innocent thought, "these are so easy, I think I'll make so & so some". And then all "he!!" breaks loose. The next thing you know it's 1 am, your blurry eyed & shaking from caffeine overdose! But they're so cute!
Thanks to my trusty embroidery machine these happy little reindeer are going to make some little girls & a few little boys smile! The design was the freebie of the month from Embroidery Gardens yahoo group.
And with all these reindeer running around I had to dig out my reindeer wrangler!

And here are the ornaments I finished for the 3 youngest grand kids!

Design by: Sew Teri-fic Designs

Design by: Embroidery Library

Design by: Snow Lady Designs

Happy Sewing!!

The Cowboy Christmas Room

2011-12-11T14:27:00.001-08:00

We have 5 horses & our 3 youngest grand kids have always called Dale their Cowboy Grandpa. No visit is complete without lot's of horseback riding. I've been collecting Cowboy & western Christmas decorations for awhile now. And this year the dining room was the Cowboy room according to the G Kids!
This little mini Santa was a beginners project to learn Foundation Paper Piecing. His finished size is 7x9".

The Christmas Star wall quilt is one of my original patterns from when I was still teaching quilting classes in Montana. The little stockings were some my oldest daughter made for my parents when she was around 14 or so. I found & glued on her poor eye! And here's our the little cowboy tree...

This is a quilt I made, while still in Montana. It's always been 1 of my favorites. I believe the pattern was in an older McCall's Quick Quilt mag.

And this guy is probably the only UFO I'll get finished this year & he wasn't even on my list. My mother bought him as a Mary Maxim kits # 80025-03, who knows how many years ago. Only change I made was to not use the fake hair & beard.

So are you all madly sewing away in the hopes of finishing before the big day!! Jill?? :)

Christmas & Grand Kids!

2011-12-09T08:42:00.001-08:00

I'm going easy on myself this Christmas. I'm making my usual ornaments for everyone & the little ones got tied fleece throws! They were so easy to make & a big hit! Everyone over 18 gets gift cards & ornaments. That's it. No stress & all fun...
My oldest daughter Shana made this beautiful Angel ornament at vacation bible camp when she was about 7. It's a treasure. Someday I'll give it back to her, maybe!

And right outside their bedroom door is the animal tree! They loved it. All year as I went to the 2nd had stores or garage sales & picked up little stuffed critters. There's a few holes now as I let the kids pick a favorite to go home with them. No lights or tinsel but so cute!

Christmas with the little ones...

2011-12-08T09:40:00.001-08:00

Christmas started at Thanksgiving for us this year! Our son had 10 days leave before shipping out to Afghanistan again. So while we had Trav & our 3 youngest grand kids, we celebrated!! We baked, decorated, crafted, rode horses & had so much fun. The days went by way to fast but we made wonderful memories!

Both Trav & our daughter Shana are in the military. Marine & Navy, we couldn't be more proud of them. Both will be shipping out in early December. Gives us a good reason to have another party when they're home!!

Now on the the grand kids. Cute, cuter & cutest!!

Making Ornaments!

Can't have Christmas without the stockings & sleepy kids!!

To be continued when Blogger acting better...

Sagebrush Quilters, 4th of July Quilt Show

2011-07-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you Paula for the pictures.

Mom's Legacy of Unfinished Quilts # 7 & 8 are finished at last!!

2011-01-07T14:07:00.000-08:00

I'm now finally officially done with Mom's UFO's. We lost Mom in 2004, I didn't start working on these until the winter of 2005. 8 large full to queen size quilts & 1 wall hanging. When I'm not doing the happy dance, I'm slowly working on my own UFO's. As I was sorting through Mom's mountains of books, fabric, patterns, UFO's & everything in between I made a promise to my kids not the do that to them. So I went through all my unfinished projects & made 2 piles. 1 to finish & 1 to donate. I donated fabric & UFO's to several groups that finish them & give them to shelters for men, women & children plus I used 125 yards of fabric in pillowcases for good causes! Let me tell you working on my own & finishing Mom's UFO's & donating the rest feels great. A fresh start!! I still have a list of my own but most of those are small & easily finished projects. Will I start any new projects? Probably but I'm making sure if I start it I finish it...

Rose Sampler for daughter #1 & Monkey's Wrench for daughter #2

Stained Glass Quilt finished, Jill's gift & a Naming Challenge!

2011-01-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

Jill over at Apple Ave. Quilts made this cute little candle mat as part of my Christmas. I love it. She knows the color I like so well. She also sent the little cowboy snowman & a Fat Qt. bundle of plaids. I need to put on my list of projects a Plaid quilt for me.

And another of my UFO's is quilted, bound & delivered! I feels so good to get those old projects done!! It still needs a name & I guess I'm to brain dead from all the holidays & then the snow to think of one. Any ideas?? Might be a little surprise for the best name!! So pass the word...

Wishing you all a New Year, fill with Happiness & Quilts!

2010-12-31T07:43:00.000-08:00

Sure hope your all snuggled up & warm today. It was - 18 with a wind chill of - 43 this morning. Send lot's of warm thoughts! And here's you laugh for the day. Famous last words " You can quilt that out!"

Quilts for Kids

2010-12-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful charity that uses discarded & donated new fabrics to make quilts for hospitalized children. You sign up on their web site & they send you a kit & instructions to make a quick & easy quilt. The only thing not included is the batting. You just sew up the top, quilt & bind it & send it back. Just a few hours of your time is worth the smiles!! http://www.quiltsforkids.org/

363 Days to go!

2010-12-27T08:26:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Sunrise

Well it's over for another year. All the madness & rushing around. All the midnight sewing. All the cleaning & cooking, wrapping & decorating. Now we have a whole year to think about getting started early & still madly rush to finish everything we want to before Santa's big night. I haven't decided if we're all just nuts or do we really enjoy it? Me, I actually did very little sewing this Christmas. I made a few ornaments & that was it. This was a hard one for me. Both my oldest & youngest child are away serving our country. My grand kids are in Virginia & Oregon. So it was just us 3 & between the rain, snow, mud & ice, it seems we had little energy left over. So we had a simple Christmas with just a few small gifts, a few decorations & a really nice quiet dinner. And it seemed to be just what we needed!

Christmas ornaments 2010

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-24T05:54:00.000-08:00

My Christmas wish for you, is that you are happy, healthy, crafty & creative in 2011 & many years to come!

It's not the latest gadget they'll remember, but the fun & laughter, joy & tears that you've put into something special, soft & cuddly & made just for them!

So have a very Happy & Creative Christmas...

Mom's Unfinished Legacy of Quilts # 6

2010-11-22T04:51:00.000-08:00

If we can get through the pass into Ca we're off for a week of family. You notice I didn't say vacation, because I have never considered visiting family as relaxing. Which is what a vacation in supposed to do. Oh well, at least I won the where to stay battle & get to stay with Dee, my friend, cousin & fellow quilter. So you all think of me while you enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving!

And to leave you with so quilted eye candy. The is the 6th of my mothers UFO's. I'm calling it "Bear in the Cabin's". My Mothers passed in May of 2004 leaving me with a mind boggling amount of fabric, patterns, books, UFO's. You name it, it was there! I'm slowly finishing the UFO's & giving 1 to each of her grandchildren. This is my nephew, Keith's quilt. I started with the house blocks, the 1 large bears paw block, lot's of plaids & with EQ's help this is what I came up with... Sorry about the wrinkles, it was in a box & going right back in to be mailed.

Another UFO is off to be quilted

2010-11-18T07:29:00.000-08:00

Finally another UFO off my list!
These blocks were from a paper piecing class I taught while living in Montana, probably around 2000ish. They are from the book "Foundation Pieced Stained Glass Quilts" by Liz Schartz & Stephen Seifert. I pieced all the block & set them on point during the class. When I pulled this out, deciding it had aged long enough. I found that I had used up all the black solid except 1 little 1/2" inch strip. So I tied that strip on my purse handle & took it everywhere with me until I found a black close enough to work with. I think I will have it quilted with a simple meandering or stipple stitch in a bright variegated thread & I'll bind it in black which is already cut & ready to use!! My daughter Hannah has already laid claim to it, which surprised me a little as she goes for more countryish colors usually. It will finish at about 83" sq.

A Few of my favorite Christmas Quilts

2010-11-16T09:45:00.000-08:00

Sew Cal Gal is having a Christmas Quilt Show for bloggers! So if you love Christmas like I do go check out all the beautiful quilts & more! Here are a few of my favorites, I made these when I was still living in Montana.

Fly Home for Christmas:

I think this pattern was from an older (2000 or earlier) McCall's or M. Quick Quilts. The poinsettia quilting was done on my embroidery machine. Machine pieced & quilted by me. Most of my family was living far enough away to have to fly home so the name seemed appropriate...

Christmas Holly

Machine pieced, quilted & appliqued by me.

This is another pattern from an older quilt magazine. I can't tell you which as when we moved I donated most of them to the care center & quilt guild ladies.

Cardinal Christmas:
I've always love Cardinals & when I saw this pattern I just had to make. Just wish I could remember
who designed it. Somewhere along the way I misplaced it.
It is machine pieced, quilted & appliqued by me.

Yes, I'm still Alive!

2010-11-15T07:02:00.000-08:00

I've had some email's lately asking if I died! No, but some day's it kinda feels like it. I have Fibromyalgia & Ostreoarthritis. I was diagnosed 5 years ago. Life can be going along great one day & the next you have a flare up then you just want to crawl in a hole & never come out. There are a lot of meds you can try. Some work, some don't. Some can make you feel worse than the FM. Let's just say this has not been a very good year...

Yes, I have been sewing & quilting. Not as much as I would like. But family & FM sometimes gets in the way! I've finish all of my mothers UFO's. Finished a couple of my own UFO's. Some more pillowcases for the grand kids & a new purses for me. I'll add a couple of pictures every few day so be sure to check back!!

"Camille's Bag" pattern by Penny Sturges http://www.quiltsillustrated.com/

Snow & 90's all within a week!!

2010-06-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I think summer is finally here. We had snow on May 30th & now it's in the 90's!! I'm loving the heat!! I've been a really bad blogger so far this year, just can't seem to take time to post... You noticed I said take not find!

I have been sewing, designing & quilting, not a lot but some. I got the last 3 of my Mom's Legacy of unfinished quilts back from the quilter. I finished the binding on the 1st & am working on the 2nd. It will be so nice to get these completely out of my hair. I'll have pictures soon. I've also ordered EQ7. I can't wait. I've been playing with the Bow Tie blocks in EQ6 & here's the design I'm thinking about. I would have to make 12 more blocks but because there or several different fabrics & colors I think I can come up with something This quilt would be king size so I can use it once in a while instead of storing it away. What do you think?

The local guilds quilt show is coming up July 2,3 & 4 & I still have a challenge quilt to finish up. So I'll be busy but will get pictures posted soon. Now I off to enjoy the sun!

Snow, wind & more snow :(

2010-04-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

Seems that every time I look outside it's either snowy or gale force winds. So were is spring? I'm grumpy & not feeling creative at all.
I did go to the Quilt Guilds monthly all day Saturday sewing. Was I creative, no but I did finish unpicking the vintage 1958 hand pieced Bow Tie blocks that were supposed to be my husbands baby quilt from his paternal Grandmother. She finished blocks for a boy & a girl quilt, but passed away before piecing the tops. So finally I talked them away from my mother in law. At some time MIL decided to combine them into a top with solid navy blue sashing & borders. But nothing was matching up so she gave up & I ripped the whole top apart & plan to start over with some feed sack type fabrics. There are 87 blocks in various blues & pinks. I'm going to start playing in EQ6 to see what I come up with for a layout. Now I think I'll go see if my struggling tulips made it through the latest storms... Sure hope the weather changes before my trip to Salt Lake & the Home Machine Quilting show!!!

Where did the last month go?

2010-03-28T13:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged! First I was fighting an awful cold that hung around forever then when you thought it was over it would hit you all over again, then I had my 2 youngest granddaughters for 2 weeks while my 5 yr. old grandson had surgery on his eyes. The girls are 3 & 7 & they came with colds of their own. My grandson is healing well & the girls are now back home & over they colds. And if I don't see another sick person for a long while I'll be one very happy camper!!
I have gotten a some sewing & quilting done during all this. I made both girls little spring jumper, they got the pick the pattern, fabric & lace. Cute aren't they.
And just before the girls came I finished another 25 pillowcases for Operation Pillowcase. And received 6 more from fellow guild member Kathy H. So that's another 31 to mail off Monday!
And last but not least I am slowly working on my Cottage Gardens UFO. I have 15 of the stars block done, 14 to go...

Have a very Happy Easter!! Teresa

Goodies in the Mail & Operation Pillowcase

2010-02-12T15:52:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Freda at "Sew Whats New" offered a prize to the 1st person to send her a link for pinup girls fabric. I sent her to J & O Fabrics & won!! And here my prizes a wonderful vintage handkerchief & a charm! I have a box of vintage linens from my mother that I someday plan to use in the right project & this fits right in. Thank you Freda!!
And what have I been up to the last couple of weeks? I finished the quilting & machine sewing the binding on Gilbert's quilt, now my daughter is finishing up the hand sewing. I'll get the label on & get it it's the mail next Tuesday. I embroidered a label on the Rainbow fish quilt for my month old great nephew & it's in the mail + I sent 5 bright pillowcases for the other nieces & nephews in Wa state.
Also I'm working on a few more pillowcases for the Operation Pillowcase Project. These pillowcases are fast & easy to make & use up a lot of outdated stash fabrics + it's a great way to say Thank You to our young men & women over in Afghanistan. If your interested in helping out head on over the the Operation Pillowcase blog & sign up!!! I will add pictures after I get them finished... Happy Quilting

A Cover for Damon's Art Journal

2010-02-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

Damon left his Art Journal here last summer & someone (ok, that would be me) forgot to send it to him. A couple of days ago he asked how long I planned to keep it! So to make up for holding it hostage all these months, I made a cover for it. I used some clipart he found online & digitized the embroidery. Hope you like it Damon... Here's 1 of his pictures drawn when he was about 12 or13. A little strange but good. He's 17 now & learning to draw real people & horses.

Gilbert's Comfort Quilt

2010-01-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

This is the 2nd quilt this year that I've made for a friend diagnosed with cancer. Gilbert lives in a very small mountain town in the middle of nowhere Montana. We lived there 12 years & Gilbert & his family became our family. He started Chemo last week & we just found out a few days ago, so I chose a quick & easy Rail Fence pattern in the colors of the mountains that surround his home. I got the top pieced this afternoon & I'll get it pin basted & machine quilted next week. I plan to back it with flannel & bind it in the darker brown color. We love you Gib...

Operation Pillowcase, my 1st box ready to go!

2010-01-26T07:48:00.001-08:00

This is some major stash busting!! I pulled out the serger that my Mom left me & I finally figured out how it works. Yes, I worked at a Bernina dealer for several years & never really used them. I was the sewing & embroidery machine person. Well, I'm hooked. I can stitch up a pillowcase in the same time it takes to cut them out! In about 4 hours, I cut & sewed these + 1 for the husband & 6 for the grandkids!! That's 32 yards of fabric busted!! And most of it 1 yd. or less pieces. And I finally used up the 3 Stooges fabric...

Making Quilts with Leftovers

2010-01-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

My daughter has a friend that was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer before Christmas. She will be starting Chemo soon so we wanted to get a lap quilt done ASAP. She likes very soothing colors with everything matching, not scrappy looking at all so I pulled a stack of 1/2 sq. triangles leftover from a sampler quilt I made many years ago. And even found a lot of the coordinating fabrics. I don't consider this a UFO because to original quilt was finished... Just leftovers!

Lifting Spirits with Operation Pillowcase

2010-01-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

Have you thought about what type of projects you might want to do to help others. There are lot's out there. All very good causes. I've been watching & reading, waiting for that one to catch my eye. I would love to help more but physically & economically I know I can't, so I wait to decide until one really grabs me. Many of you know my son & nephew are Marines & my daughter & son in law are Navy. Also my dad & 1 brother in law were Army & 2 brothers & 2 brothers in law were Air Force. I think I almost have all the different branches covered. So when I read Debra's blog this morning I thought that's the one! For the last hour, I've been pulling fabric & I'll be making pillow cases for the next several weeks! These guy's & gal's really have a tough job, terrible weather extremes, missing friends & family. It only takes about 15 minutes to make a simple pillowcase & if it will lift their spirits & let them know someone cares, I'll do it gladly! So if you have a few minutes & a yard of fabric let someone know you care...
Here is a link to the blog Debra started this morning... Operation Pillowcase

This picture is of my son Travis in Babylon, during his 1st of 2 deployments to Iraq. He will be heading to Afghanistan in late summer or early fall.

My Quilting Goals for 2010 & UFO Pic's

2010-01-03T10:19:00.000-08:00

In 2009 I made a list of goals I hoped to accomplish. Well I think I did pretty good.
*I finished all my Mom's UFO's, the last 3 are at the quilters.
*I used over 200 yards of fabric from my stash.
*My machine embroidery files are about 90% organized.
* Finished a quilt for each of my Grand kids
* Finished 6 of my UFO's
* Made 4 Tops for Charity + donated several almost finished tops & fabric
* I haven't made a 2nd wedding quilt for daughter # 1 but the pattern has been chosen.
* And I was still sewing for Christmas 2 days before. Not sure I'll ever make this goal. I just can't seem to get motivated before Dec 1st!

Now on to 2010
#1. Complete the unfinished 2009 goals!
#2. Finish 6 more of my UFO's
#3. Make a Flannel quilt for my bed
#4. Finish all the Quilt Unv. EQ6 classes
#5. Donate several tops, quilts or pillowcases & fabric
#6. Enjoy Life
Bonus Goal: Use another 200+ yards of fabric from my stash!!

This morning I went through boxes & totes hunting up all the unfinished projects I have left. I'm getting down there! Only 12 to go, TWELVE!!
The 1st picture is almost finished tops:
1 Black Stained Glass needs borders (finish for daughter#2) 2000-
2 Bears Paw needs borders (will be donated to someone) 1996-
3 Baskets needs a little more Button Hole stitch & quilted 2000-
4 Thimblesberries "Safe Haven" needs quilted ?
5 Batik Lone Star needs quilted 2000-
6 Machine Embroidered Bears of the Month, need to make 4 more blocks 2005-

2nd Picture starting top left:
7 Quilters Flower Garden needs borders 2003-
8 Scottie Dogs needs 2 more blocks & pieced together 2000-
9 Starburst, Finish piecing 2006-
10 Lower left, Thimbleberries Got to find the rest of the fabric 1998-
11 Bernina Christmas Pillows finish 2006-
12 Bow Tie started for my husband in 1958 by his Grandmother
That's it, all 12 UFO's That's all I could find. :) Happy Quilting

December Quilty & Crafty Finishes!

2009-12-31T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well, here are my December quilt & craft finishes. Nothing like waiting to the last minute! I collaged the pictures to save space & me from having to load them separately. All told I made 24 ornaments & bought 2. Many were duplicates of these shown. Several that went to Virginia I remember taking pics, just can't find them. So I probably Thought I took them. Some of them are white lace so are hard to see. And here's 3 of the 4 pillowcases. I also finished my version of Judy Laquidara's "Bears in the Farm House". Let 2010 begin!
Have a wonderful New Years & stay safe!

Happy New Years & gift pictures!

2009-12-29T10:34:00.000-08:00

I had planned to blog several times & share photos of our home & family at Christmas! But once my 3 youngest grand babies got here it all flew out the window. I was blessed to have them home for Christmas for the first time! Cissie is 7, Mary, 3 & Joey, 5. So it got a little wild at times. But so enjoyable. It took 5 tries to get a picture of us in front of the tree. Pictured left to right, Cissie, Grandpa, Mary, Me, my middle daughter, my son & Joey. Missing & enjoying Christmas in Virginia are my oldest daughter, son in law & 2 oldest Grand kids. My son took to kids home to their Mom this morning & the house is so quiet it almost echo's.
I gave a lot of gift cards as that seemed to be what was needed most.
But I did get some sewing & embroidery finished:
24 ornaments for family & friends
3 Pillowcases for the 3 grand babies
2 grocery totes for daughter # 2
embroidered 3 sets of towels for grand babies
& 1 Cowboy Santa pillowcase for hubby.
I'll add some pictures later today or tomorrow.
And a few Thank you are in order;
Jill at Apple Ave. Quilts made me the cutest snowman wall hanging & Teresa L. for the wonderful ornament & card from the Xmas ornament swap. Jill has some really great pictures on her blog of her holiday sewing. And here is my Snowman, ornament & card.

May you all have a happy quilt filled New Years!!

Sewing up a Storm

2009-12-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

Well the term fits. My Sewing Room is a disaster... I've made 20 ornaments(4 more to go). Put the binding on the Autumn Bear Tracks quilt, just the hand work left. Got the Christmas letter together & partly mailed out & am working on the family calendar. Plus I still have 3 sets of towels to embroider & 3 fleece throws somewhere under all this! I was thinking of putting up a little sewing tree in here. Think I'll scrap that idea as the living looks worse with all of Christmas still in boxes in the middle of the floor!! Where are Santa's little helpers when you need them... Max & Mr. Cat are no help at all. One sleeps through everything & the other just watched & is probably wondering if I've totally lost it!

Another UFO finished!

2009-12-04T08:36:00.001-08:00

Another one bites the dust!! I started this 4 years ago as a baby quilt for my youngest granddaughter. Well, at the 6 month PG mark my DIL changed her mind & wanted something old fashioned with a light sage green color. I was a little upset at the time as this quilt had a whole lot of pieces so it was thrown in a tote & I gave her a quilt already finished that was real close to what she wanted! This one is going to my niece for her little boy due on the 16th... So maybe it was meant to be after all.

On a happy, throw a party note, I finished the last of my Mom's UFO's!!! All 3 of them are at the quilters now. Only I forgot to get a picture before so you'll all just have to wait... Now on the the Christmas Ornaments.

Credit's: Quilts for Kids by Lisa Christensen

Jill's Tree Skirt Pattern

2009-12-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Now it's the big Christmas count down...
Jill at Apple Ave. Quilts has a wonderful Christmas Tree Skirt pattern for you to make, it's so cute!

Quilt Top Finishes

2009-11-06T14:51:00.001-08:00

Thought I would share these quilt top's as I'll be sending them out to be quilted & I most likely won't see them again until spring. Sorry about my picture quality, I'll do better next time.
The 1st top is # 6 of 8 of my mother's unfinished projects. I'm calling it Plaid Monkey Wrench. It's 77x97". The blocks were a friendship exchange with the Lemhi Piecemakers quilt guild. This one is going to my daughter #2.
Autumn Bears Tracks (my name for it) was an Internet project I started earlier in the spring. Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times designed it. I believe she is selling the pattern now as "Bears in the Farmhouse". I enlarged it to 90x90 & slightly changed to a pieced border. This one is going in my guest room.

And the 3rd top I'm calling The Rose Sampler, was another of Mom's UFO's. This was a Block of the Month from a quilt shop. Mom started it 10 years ago. It came with all the fabric. It originally had 12 blocks But I redesigned it to better fit a queen bed. It's 97" square. This one is going to daughter #1.
I'm working on the last of Mom's UFO's, quilt # 8, now. I really want all Mom's tops done this year so next year I can work on my own UFO's... I used Electric Quilt to design the layouts on all Moms quilts. I just love that program!

Quilt tops & Internet headaches!

2009-11-05T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a enjoyable Halloween. We don't get any Trick or Treaters were we live, so we hopped in the car & went looking for the wild mustang herds. We found several but they were to far away to get pictures. Maybe next time...
I've been working on several quilt tops & finished 3 of them last week. I have to get pictures, then I'll get them posted. I'm hoping to get 1 more top finished before we go to California to visit hubbies Mom. Which is in the same town my cousin, the quilter, lives in...
I've been fighting with the internet service again. They say I'm over my bandwidth & I say not a chance. Of course I lost because there's no way to prove that someones been helping themselves to it. So we pass coded the router which should have been done long ago & guess what usage dropped overnight. So finally after 9 days everything seems to be working again.
Anyway - Quilt top pictures coming up soon...

?'s about the Big Board Ironing Board

2009-10-24T08:44:00.001-07:00

I had a few ? about the big board we made... Here is a good tutorial on it. It was very easy to make. Materials we used: 5/8"piece of chip board, 1x2's, 3 layers cotton batt, a heavy cotton fabric & a heavy duty staple gun with 1/2" staples, drill, screw gun & screws.. Oh & a saw to cut the broad all though a lot off times you can get the lumber yard to cut it for you! We made a rectangle of 1x2's around the ironing board instead of following it like in the picture on the tutorial. Everything else is pretty much the same. You can make it whatever size fits your needs. These are wonderful. Don't know how I got along without it!! Happy Saturday...

Quick & Easy & Finished!

2009-10-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my 32 wedding anniversary! And it was the 1st time ever that I forgot. Good thing my husband was on the ball. We went out to a nice dinner in a cell block at the Jailhouse Restaurant here in town.
Then I talked my husband into helping me make a Big Broad for ironing my quilt tops. It's wonderful & I'm not sure I could ever lived without it again. It measures 22"x 62". Comes off easily for storage & when the fabric starts looking bad it's easily recovered!! Did I mention I love it!!
Halloween is almost here & this little treat bag tutorial came out just in time. It's the Itty Bitty Poochie bag on Moda Bakeshop & it was so quick & easy to make. I did these 3 in about 1/2 an hour! I think I'll pull out the christmas fabric box & make some more!! Thank you Happy Zombie for a great little bag. Happy Quilting!!

Mail Lady came bearing Gifts

2009-10-10T07:00:00.001-07:00

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail yesterday! The Lemhi Piecemakers quilt guild of Salmon ID. which I was a member of for several years & my Mom was a long standing member sent me this wonderful set of signature blocks & an iron on patch of the guild logo the my Mom had designed. Thank you all , I love them. Your all missed very much...

Not sure if it's Fall or Winter!

2009-10-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

One day the top temp was in the low teens to 20's & 2 days later it's 40 to 60! We had a snowstorm just a few days ago... Defiantly the start of Quilting Season! If you look real close you can see the 3 horses huddling under the awning.

Here is another of my Mom's UFO's in progress. This one is going to my oldest daughter Shana. I'm hoping to have this one & the Plaid Hole in the Barn door quilt to the machine quilter soon. Then only 1 more to go. You can bet I'll be doing the biggest happy dance you've ever seen. That is if you could see it because I sure won't be taking pictures!! I'm making it a life time goal to either finish what I start or donate it to someone that will. I feel really good about finishing all Mom's quilts but I not passing my UFO's on to my kids. Now the unused fabric, thread & quilt books they will just have to deal with (:

This is a EQ version showing the borders & here are the blocks. It will finish just under 100".

And here is my niece Tiffany with her quilt!! This was the 1st of Mom's UFO's that I finished. Happy Fall

Were has the month gone?

2009-09-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how a whole month just kind of past me by. I've done some quilting, not a lot but some. I've went for several nice weekend drives. I went to all day Saturday quilting. I've had several Dr. appointments but there is a lot of time not accounted for.
Oh well Oct. will be better! I love the fall. It's my favorite season. I love to colors, the cooler nights, the birds looking for seeds, sunflowers & scarecrows & pumpkins! Last weekend

we drove over whats called Success Loop. It's about 30 miles long & just beautiful any time of the year but now the leaves are changing color & there are lots of deer out. So I'll stop talking & share some pictures...
And what have I been working on in the quilt studio?
I've almost got 2 more of my Mom's UFO tops finished. The plaid Monkey Wrench will go to my middle daughter Hannah. And the other is a sampler, but I don't have pictures yet so I'll add them later. It will be for my oldest daughter Shana. That leave's just one quilt more to finish. I feel like I should be throwing a party!!!

The 1st is the quilt designed in EQ the 2nd is the quilt center! What do you think?
Hope your all enjoying the cooler fall weather! Happy Quilting

Happy Hummers

2009-08-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

There's not a whole lot going on here the week. I'm slowly piecing 2 of my Mom's UFO's, I'll have pictures later. And I've been very busy keeping up with these little flying pigs! Whoever started the saying "Eats like a bird" knew nothing about birds!! I have 3 - 32 oz. & 2 smaller feeders that I fill every 2nd morning...

Sagebrush Quilter's Outdoor Quilt Show

2009-08-16T16:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday the local quilt guild held an outdoor quilt show at the historic Renaissance Village in Ely Nevada. There was 85 quilts entered plus homemade ice cream & the opening day of the local Farmers Market! Click here to see more pictures & enjoy!!

Christmas Medley, Joey's Wildlife Quilt & Cissies Crazy Colors Quilt

2009-08-08T18:31:00.000-07:00

These quilts were really finished in July but I just got around to taking pictures! I know these are really terrible pictures but it's hard to catch someone around here long enough to hold up a quilt.
The 1st quilt "Christmas Medley" is my version of the Block Centrals 2008 "Somewhere in Time" BOM. I wanted it king size, so instead of making 4 more blocks I made a large carpenters square medallion center block!
The second quilt is for my grandson Joey. It's my design using a panel in the center. And the 3rd is for my granddaughter Cissie. It was made using Judy Laquidara's free pattern "Out of the Bag".
So what else have I been doing? Working of another of Mom's UFO's & planning out a new quilt for my bed! As soon as I have it figured out I'll post a picture!
Happy Stitching!!

2009 Quilting Resolutions & Goals Revisited

2009-07-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Finish at least 2 of my Mom's quilts -I finished 5 quilts & 1 wall quilt so far! 3 more to go.

Finish & deliver quilts to all 5 grand kids, this really is a reasonable goal as 3 need binding, 1 put together & 1 started from scratch. - All done, at least for this round!!

Make my oldest DD's 2nd wedding quilt. She just had her 4th anniversary, I think she's still using the quilt from the 1st round. Hope she took the label off! - She's still waiting!

Finish at least 5 UFO's. - Finished 5 & working on the 6th!

Organize my Embroidery Design files & transfer to new computer, I'm up to the F's!! I don't even want to know how many designs I have. - I started this in Jan. & got side tracked, I think this will be a winter project!

Decide on Christmas early & have it 90% finished by Nov 1st! - I Better get busy!

Walk the dog's at least 5 times a week. -I was doing great before it got hot!

Make & donate several quilts to Quilts of Valor. This is special to me as my son Travis is on his 2nd tour in Iraq right now. - 2 QOV's & 2 quilts for the Australian Fire's. Plus fabric & UFO's for Teens & baby's in Texas!

Finish Travis's R,W & B quilt for his return home this summer. - Signed, sealed & delivered!

**I feel I've pretty much accomplished my goals for 2009. I've used over 100 yards of fabric from my stash & cleaned out a lot of shelf space. To bad I'm so good at filling it up again!! I'm hoping that by December I'll have everything marked off!

Tote Bags, Boxer's & Pillowcases

2009-07-17T16:31:00.000-07:00

While my 2 oldest G-kids were here they kept me busy sewing for them! Let's see, the first thing I heard was you are making pillowcases this year aren't you? You know if you don't this will be the 1st time!! Then it was grandma do you think you can make me a tote bag? Then of course my middle daughter wasn't going to be left out, so another tote... Then it was, do you think you could whip up some boxer shorts for me. It's a good thing I really love these kids. But next year I'm teaching them to sew!! And here is the results: Damon & Vic both had to pick all the own fabrics. Some of their choices really surprised me. Hannah wanted Sunflowers & orange. The black tote is one I made 5 or 6 years ago & really liked so when I needed a zippered bag for a carry on to Virginia I used coordinating fabrics & the Summer Tote pattern by Lazy Girls Designs.

Sagebrush Quilters 4th of July Show

2009-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Sagebrush Quilters of Ely, NV held their 4th annual quilt show over the 4th of July weekend. There were 95 quilts entered. It was a very tight squeeze fitting them all into this old building, that is being renovated by the Fine Arts Council. Enjoy!!

Quilt Finishes, Family & Graduation

2009-06-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

We're home from Virginia. We had a wonderful visit, but I really am a terrible traveler & I'm so glad to be home. Plus the high humidity in VA has my bursitis & the shoulder I broke 30 years ago acting up again. My oldest G-daughter Vic had a great graduation & party afterward,. Here she is with her Dad, my daughter Shana & G-son Damon. It's not very often we can get a picture of the 4 of them together!!

And while we were there our son came up from North Carolina & I was able to deliverer the latest of my Mom's UFO's to him. Only 3 more to go! The farm panels were some of my Mom's fabric & I thought it would make a great back...

Way to much Family

2009-06-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

I have been sewing in between family & friends visiting! We went for many years without any visitors at all. We were way to far off the beaten track. Now we seem to be living in the runway! I'm starting to look forward to winter!! And now I'm off to Virginia to visit my oldest daughter & her family. See you in a couple of weeks!!!

Blooming Cactus

2009-06-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

I told Sue at North Winds Quilting I would post a pic of the first cactus in 30 years that's bloomed for me!

And the Winners are!!!

2009-06-02T04:51:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone that entered, I enjoyed reading your comments very much. I wanted to reply back to each of your but life seems to get in the way. I will be sending emails to the 3 lucky winner shortly. I'll be needing your mailing addresses so I can send off your goodies ASAP...

Sue H at Featherstone Quiltworks the 5 Fat Quarters

Debbie M has won the Mary Ellen Spray Cover

Mille at Millie's Quilting won the Lone Star Book

2 more of Mom's UFO's done!

2009-05-31T18:48:00.000-07:00

The local quilt guild invited me to all night quilting party last Friday. I'm not much of a night owl anymore but I managed to stayed until 11. Way past my bedtime! I knew that sewing space would be tight so I brought 2 of my Mom's UFO's that just needed the binding sewn down. That way I could sew & visit & not mess anything up. Everyone had a good time & I finished both bindings & ate way to much great food. I didn't think to bring a camera. Oh well, just picture a bunch of women with food on there shirts from eating & talking to much & with thread & fabric scraps everywhere. That would be us!

1st quilt - Mom's Southwest Pinwheel, going to my niece Leah.

2nd - Mom's Paper Pieced Flower Garden - going to my sister Karen

Just 4 more quilts & 1 wall hanging to go!!

Airplane Binders

2009-05-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

These are made from a free tutorial that Terry Atkinson posted on her blog. They are so much fun to make. The green & teal is for my oldest daughter & the snoopy is for her husband. I thought they would be great for taking notes at the computer!

2 More Quilts Finished!

2009-05-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

All these 2 quilts needed to officially be finished was labels! So Tuesday was designated label day. On the kids quilts I have been embroidering them right on the quilt. They are fast, easy & permanent.

This is my G-son Damon's quilt. I named it "Wild Thing", I thought it was fitting for a 16 year old.

This Irish Chain was one of my Mom's UFO's. This one is going to my oldest niece Etta.This is a hard quilt to take pictures of as it has a lot of gold metallic in the leaf print & the solid red & purple want to glow!

My last 2 goals for May are to put the binding on another of Mom's UFO's & finish a journal cover for my Son in Law. Guess I better get off the computer & get busy!!!

Have a wonderful "Safe" weekend

2009-05-23T08:41:00.000-07:00

I have 2 more days with my son Travis before he returns to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, with military children you never know when the next visit will be. I haven't seen my Navy daughter in person in 4 years, so we are flying to Virginia next month. We will only have 5 days but I've learned to make the most of the little time you have. As Travis is stationed only a few hours away I'm hoping he will be able to drive up for the weekend! Then my 2 oldest G -kids will be coming to NV with us. Vic is 17 & just graduating from high school, she will be staying for 2 weeks. Damon is 16, last summer was the first summer he couldn't come & I think he missed it as much as we did! He'll be staying a month. I love all my grand kids dearly, but I do have to say that I looking forward to the teens verses the toddlers, I'm still recuperating!!

Have a wonderful weekend & please take the time to think about the men & women who gave their lives so we could feel safe!

Family, Friends & Grand Kids

2009-05-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Jill has taken the leap & started a blog. She is a wonderful friend & quilter & her first entry shows 2 mini quilts she just finished. You can find her at Apple Avenue Quilts.

My 2 youngest grandkids are going back to Oregon tomorrow. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks. It's sure going to be quiet. Mary is 2 & Joey is 4. Here they are on the Disappearing Nine Patch quilt I made for Mary as her big girl quilt!! And hopefully now that life is quieting down I'll get some pictures taken of several quilts I just got back from my cousin Dee!

Don't forget to enter my Quilters Give away. It ends May 31st!!

Quilter Giveaway to celebrate 100 Posts!

2009-05-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

I know, where have I been? Life & Family, that what happened. I picked up my son from the airport, had a wonderful visit with my favorite quilting friend Jill. Had a 2 hour marathon run through a really great Machine Quilting Show in Salt Lake City, UT. & this was all in one day! Since then my son & 2 youngest Grandkids Mary & Joey have been keeping us very busy. They are 2 & 4 and constantly on the go. You can bet this G-ma is very tired at the end of the day...

Now on to the giveaway,, I have 3 very nice, quilty gifts for you to win!

#1. Jan Krentz's book - Lone Star Quilts & beyond.

#2. A pack of 5 Batik Fat Quarters.

Or:

#3. A cover for the Mary Ellen's Best Press Spray. This fits the newer skinny 16 oz. spray bottles.

In order to win please leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite aspect of quilting & what state you live in.

You can get a 2nd chance by adding a little note on your blog about this giveaway. Just be sure to let me know.

And you can get a 3rd chance by signing up as a follower of my blog.

I will be drawing 3 names on May 30th.

And please if you enter make sure I can contact you either through your blog or an email address!!!

I'll be taking my son back to the airport on the 22 of May, so I'll be very quiet until then. But I will be checking my blog often! Good Luck

Quilts of Valor # 2

2009-04-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is the 2nd Patriotic - Disappearing Nine Patch I made for the Quilts of Valor project. I'll be mailing these off to Debra at Debra's Design Studio on Monday to be quilted. This is a really great pattern when you need a fast & easy quilt! I'm sure I'll be using it again. And I've used another 11 yards from my fabric stash for the year!! Look on my sidebar at the little snail in the flowers & you'll see that I'm over 1/2 way to my fabric usage goal...

And I forgot to load the quilt pic's

2009-04-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

The Quilt of Valor, Donation quilt & my Blue Goose in the Cabin Quilt!

Missing in Action

2009-04-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure were the last month went, but it sure went their fast! So what have I accomplished? I got our taxes finished with 2 days to spare. I got the flu & it hung around for over a week. I finished 1 of the 2 Quilts of Valor tops on my April finish it list. I got the binding on a quilt I started way back around 2000. I've brushed enough fur out of our 3 Akita's to make yarn for several sweaters. It doesn't sound like much but that's about all the energy I've had.

But in the good news department My son is back in the states from his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq!! He will be flying out here on May 7th & staying for 3 weeks. I see very little of him or my oldest daughter that's in the Navy. Hopefully she'll get to fly out this summer!

Things I never got around to blogging about: I had my 4o - something B-Day at the end of March. My husband found me a Singer Feather Weight in a Junk store in Idaho that's in really good shape. Now I can go the the local quilting group & sew. I hated packing up my big machines so usually I would either take hand work or just visit. My 2nd daughter gave me a really nice plant in a special pot & shampooed the carpets & my 2 military kids remembered to call! My friend Jill sent me a wonderful packet of Batiks, a pattern & Charm pack to start the pattern with & a challenge to make something with the batiks!

Oh and this is my 100 post!! So check back in a day or so because I'm having a giveaway to celebrate! And there will be several really great quilty gifts!!!

3 March Finishes!

2009-03-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

**The Airplane Journal for my oldest daughter Shana's B-Day** Here's the Tutorial

** The Shadow Star quilt, an Internet quilt project from Patchwork Times**

** And my granddaughter Mary's Disappearing Nine Patch quilt** Here's the Tutorial

And you might want to check on these giveaway's in blog land, both these blogs have weekly contests!:

http://www.ctpubblog.com/2009/03/26/weekly-giveaway-flower-festival/

http://embtreasures.com/blog/monday-giveaway-collins-blue-wonder-marker/

More Quilt Tops off to the quilter

2009-03-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been so quiet lately. I received a call from my quilting cousin last week. She was coming through NV on her way to Idaho & if I could meet her in Wells NV she had 4 of my quilts finished & could pick up some more! Well I had Joey's flannel quilt ready to go & I found backing for the Judy L. Stash Challenge quilt so it went into the pile. And all I needed to do was piece the backing for the King size "Somewhere in Time" BOM I did last year, so that makes 3. But what I really wanted was to finish the Red, White & Blue top using some blocks of my mothers as a Quilt of Valor - Welcome home quilt for my son Travis. He's due back from his 2nd tour in Iraq in the middle of April & will be flying out here on May 7th. I can't wait to see him, it been so long! I took Mom's blocks & made 15 chain type blocks & added 1 pieced & 3 fabric borders to make it bed size. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I know it has hearts in it but my Mom & her quilt guild made those blocks, So they will be special to my Marine son, who is very family orientated!

And what did I get back. 2 of my Mom's Legacy of Quilts I'm finishing for her Grand kids, my Grandson Damon's quilt & a lap quilt I pieced about 10 years ago. I'll get pictures of these later. I also got the binding on the Judy L. Shadow Star quilt & my granddaughters Marys, Purple & Pink Disappearing Nine Patch Quilt. So it was a very productive week here in very windy, snowy NV. Perfect weather to finishing up the 2 Quilts of Valor tops I'm sending to Debra at Debra's Design Studio for quilting!

Meowwwww Fabric is here

2009-03-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Phyllis Dobbs a recent Guest Blogger on Quilting Gallery had a fabric give away from her new fabric line! And I was one of the lucky winners. Thank you Phyllis! Now I have to decide if I want to use it in a baby quilt or make a doll quilt for my granddaughter Mary who will be 3 in August!

From the Stash Quilt Project

2009-03-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Judy at Patchwork Times issued a "Use your Stash" Challenge/Mystery! Here is my finished quilt top. Thank you Judy for challenging us to quilt outside our comfort zone. I love bright colors but I usually go for star patterns! I used a lot of the same fabrics that were used in the Wonky Stars Bushfire Quilt that I sent to Australia. I think I'll put this one away for my 2nd DGD Cissie, she's 6 going on 14 and will need a pre teen quilt soon.

A Quilt for Joey

2009-03-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

Here's my original design rendered in EQ & the finished top! Wrinkles & all.

After pulling lots of flannel from my stash, mostly leftovers from past projects. Some from 15 years ago. I started piecing around the center panel. First thing I found out was there is a really, really big difference in the quality of flannel fabric from then to now. The older stuff likes to stretch a lot. It stretches just by looking at it! I was really glad to be working with big pieces. Time to simplify the outer border design. I decided to keep the trees as is, so I was very careful with my cutting & piecing. They were a little wonky but not to bad. They took me as long to piece as the rest of the top. Not everything is perfect but Joey won't mind. Now it's off the be quilted!! As for the rest of the scraps, I think it's time to make another Rag Time quilt & use it up...

Wonky Stars and Fabric Challenges

2009-03-01T14:28:00.000-08:00

My daughter Hannah helped me make these 25 Wonky Star blocks to send to Australia for the Bush Fire quilt project. They went together so fast, with me sewing & Hannah trimming & pressing! While helpful Hannah was admiring the blocks she said "you know they are getting a ton of blocks, I think we should put this top together so they don't have too, Soooooo.....

here's the top. It's off in the mail on Monday, wrinkles & all.

Credits:

Wonky Star Block - Gwen Marston

Wonky Star Tutorial here

Bush Fire Quilt Project Info here & here
There are several Bushfire Quilt projects going on right now, I chose this one because the star blocks looked fast, fun & easy to make & they were!

And in other news:

Judy at Patchwork Times has challenged us to make a quilt top totally from your fabric stash. She said you should be able to find your fabric
in 5 minutes or so! Well I think I almost cheated because I was given a stack of 30 Fossil Ferns fat quarters 4 years ago when I was working for a Bernina dealer. They were just sitting there all together on my cutting mat with big chunks taken out from making Wonky Stars so I thought why not!! Here are all my cut pieces.

More Fun & Easy B-Day Gifts!

2009-02-23T15:02:00.000-08:00

I found this cover for Best

Press Spray while I was searching for something different to make my friend Jill for her birthday. I made up several. They were really fast, fun & easy to make. If you like it, go visit Terry Ann at Atkinson Designs. She has lot's of great patterns plus some really great tutorials!

The embroidery designs for the bookmarks & B-Day cake ornament came from Embroidery Library. The Hibiscus I made for Jill, the little applique dog for my middle daughter's B-Day & the cake decorated her present!!

I had a very productive quilting weekend, I made up 260 - half sq. triangles for a new just because I want to quilt project & DRUM ROLL please...

I finished the top for my GS Joey tonight, I'll post a picture before I send it off for quilting. All 5 of the grand kid quilts are basically finished,,, finally

A Flannel for the Husband

2009-02-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

This was one of the quilts that the FedEx man temporarily lost a few weeks ago. It's all finished & my husband claimed it before I even had the binding on. Here it is, right were it will spend the rest of it's natural life, in his recliner!!

I started it sometime around 1997-99? I think the pattern was from a either a McCalls or McCalls Quick Quilts magazine. But I couldn't tell you which issue. One more UFO finished!!

Vic's Quilt ready to mail

2009-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

To all the Artists & Crafters in Blog Land,

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

This is my G-Daughter Vic's quilt & pillow, it's off in the mail on Monday

The pillow was a learning block on curves & spikes from Debbie Karasik . One of the "Quilt Mavens" given to her yahoo group. And the quilt was a online class given by Patti Anderson at Quilt University.

Damon's B-Day Bookmark

2009-02-13T05:18:00.001-08:00

All the older kid's are getting Bookmarks & a gift certificate's for a book store for their birthday this year. Small & easy to mail. A gift that doesn't cost more to mail than to buy!!

Tiffany's Quilt Label

2009-02-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

This label will be embroidered on all 8 of Mom's UFO quilts , I'll just change the names & the colors!

2 of "Mom's Legancy of Quilts" Finished

2009-02-12T15:21:00.000-08:00

This Bulls Eye quilt is the 1st of my mother's UFO's to be finished. This one is going to my niece Tiffany.

The Red, Black & Gray was the only completed top . Just needed quilting. It's the biggest of the 8 quilts. It's going to my nephew Ian!

Birthday Bookmarks

2009-02-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the first of the Birthday Bookmarks! The large Celtic Cross is from Embroidery Library. I'll have to do some research on the other 2 designs to give the designer due credit.

Baby RJ's Quilt

2009-02-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

My Grandson Damon, lost a very good friend 18 months ago. Brandon was born with a heart defect & other problems & was only expected to live 3 years. Well, he fooled all the Drs. & lived 15 years! Damon had a very hard time of it for several months. My daughter called to let me know that Brandon's little sister had arrived, very healthy!! So it was time for a quilt.....

Isn't she beautiful!

A New EQ6 Hearts Project File to share

2009-02-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

I've been playing in EQ when I should be sewing. Look on the side bar under EQ Project files to share for the new Hearts file. There are 9 small quilts & 6 foundation pieced blocks in it. You will need EQ6 to open them. I'll add just the blocks in PDF later in the week. Enjoy

Mom's Legacy of UFO's

2009-01-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

One of my main Quilting goals this year is to finish all 8 of my mothers unfinished quilts. Here's the stats so far

1 Finished, picture to follow
1 waiting for binding
2 on the way to be quilted
4 sets of blocks waiting

These are all going to my mothers 8 Grandchildren when finished.
Today I designed quilts for 3 of these block sets in EQ and here's the results:
The Patriotic Heart Blocks- Heart blocks, scrappy. I just Need to make the chain blocks!

The Scrappy Plaid Monkey Wrench Blocks.

The Plaid Houses & 1 lone Bears Paw in like color.

The last set of blocks is a sampler quilt complete (hopefully) with all the fabric. I have a feeling that one will be the last to finish. No picture of it yet.

It's Done, Finally

2009-01-27T12:13:00.000-08:00

Made for my granddaughter Vic.

Her middle name loosely translates to

"Beautiful Fragrant Girl".

So we are naming her quilt

"Beautiful Fragrant Flowers".

There is a small pillow to match that I'll finish later this week, then it's off to the east coast!

The second finish is a set of 4" blocks given to me after a year as Pres. to the TLQ quilt guild in Troy Mt. That was way back in 2001-02. And it's finally done! This came out 19"square. Usually you would get a lot more blocks but I think this block & it's size scared a lot of the guild members away! It's just right for a table topper.

Last but not least my Amaryllis finally opened. It took forever to start growing & never did get leaves.

Keeping track of the Stash - Jan.

2009-01-25T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been keeping track of how much fabric thread & batting I'm using & of course how much I buy! I really haven't had a lot of urge to buy much since I inherited everything my Mom had. You see my Dad wanted all Mom's fabric & crafts cleaned up & moved out ASAP. My Mom was a major hoarder. She had a room in the house that was just a pathway. A 2 room out building & a very large mini storage unit full of yarn, fabric, books crafts & ceramics etc. She had no idea what she had or just could not find it, so she would just buy more when needed. Well this all came to me. So what do you do with this much. You sort through everything & Donate lots, until people that would normally love to get some fabric, yarn & books, run at the site of you. After 4 years I've finally manged to get control of the fabric monster & I'm not letting go. Which means buying only whats really needed! Also I promised my kids I would not do that to them, knowing my kids they would take 1 look & dump the whole lot.

The "What Fabric" pattern is available at the Quilt Bus.

So here's my Stash report for the month of January:

Fabric used this month: 21 yds.

Fabric used YTD: 21 yds

Fabric Bought in Jan. 3 yds.

Fabric bought YTD: 3 yds.

Net stash used + 18 yds!

Thread spools emptied in Jan: 6 small

Batting used: 1 Full & 1 Queen

Quilted Projects finished in Jan. - 4 with to many left to count

The Fed Ex Man lives, just barely!

2009-01-25T10:26:00.000-08:00

It all started with a call from my cousin in California.

Me: Hi Dee, how have you been?

Dee: Good, ah did you get the quilts I mailed you.

Me: When did you ship them & who did you use.

Dee: Fed Ex and on the 12th.

Me: Which address did you use, we have a physical & a mailing.

Dee: The HC one.

Me: That's the USPS mailing address but no problem, they are probably holding it trying to find out were it goes. Give me the tracking number. SHI%%**#

Dee: What?

Me: They delivered it on the 16th to an A. See... different first name & last name one letter off.

Well as you can imagine the panic was starting to set in & between me & Dee there was probably 20 traces between Ca. & NV. for that box. On Saturday the Fed Ex drivers wife delivered it to my door. It's a good thing it wasn't him because if he had showed his face right then, I might have feed him to the dogs!! I know the box was miss addressed but you don't just pick an address or name that's close, you CALL the phone number that's printed on the address label & find out where it goes.

I've been waiting for these quilts for awhile now. Every time we planned to meet up to get them someone got sick & there was 2 deaths in the family, so Dee decided to surprise me & mail them. Bet she never does that again!

Let's see; that's the Shadow Star ,top left from Judy L's quilt for an hour. This one is going to DGD Cissie.

The brown, red & green flannel is from about 7 or 8 years ago, I think it came from a McCall's Quick Quilts mag. I'm keeping this one myself!

Top Right; one of my Mom's UFO's. This one is going to my son.

Middle quilt on right, Feathered Star in Batiks. This is for my oldest DGD Vic.

Bottom right; Disappearing Nine patch for youngest DGD Mary.

January's - One Project a Month Challenge

2009-01-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

Here is the first of 2 UFO's projects I'm finishing up in January. These were from a machine embroidery/quilting class I taught about 5 years ago. They measure about 8"x11". The class was about making Embroidered Refrigerator Art Quilts. Now on to the next quilt!

Little Puffin

2009-01-21T18:26:00.001-08:00

I made this about 8 years ago from a pattern in "The Foundation Piecer" renamed "Quilts with Style" Magazine. It stopped publishing several years ago.
I had holes when I took Christmas down that needed filled!

I've been Bad!

2009-01-20T17:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you! Tracy over at 3B Girls Quilting made the beautiful table runner for her giveaway last fall. I received it just in time for Christmas & was a really bad blogger & forget to post a picture. It also came with 1 of Tracy's patterns " Crazy Daisy" floral Table Runner & Placemats so be sure to check out her blog & website to see all her great designs! http://www.3bgirlsquilts.com/

Damons Quilt

2009-01-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

I finally got my grandson, Damon's quilt top finished! Damon picked out all his own fabric & the pattern when he was visiting a year & a half ago. And he has been very patiently waiting on me to finish it. Well it's all boxed up & ready to send to my cousin Dee to machine quilt it... One done & to many to go!

This is a Jackie Robinson pattern " Weaver Fever".

Ely Fire & Ice Festival

2009-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry no pictures of the Fire (fireworks) part of the show. The Photographer got cold & went home!

My Quilt Police & BC BOM Top finished

2009-01-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

I have to laugh every time I see pictures of all the cats that spend time in the quilting studios. We are owned by a cat, he's 16 years old & sometimes playful, sometimes cranky & he's usually asleep on the guestroom bed. But I have 3 very discriminating quilt police. They check out everything I do. They will test drive any quilt left to low & they love to sleep behind rolling chairs & under the ironing board! To bad the smallest is 105 lbs. & they take up all available floor space & leave fur behind!! But the love me & think they have to watch me at all times. You should hear all the grumbling when I decide to change rooms after they've gotten comfortable!

And Drum roll.....

I finished to Block Central 2008 BOM " Somewhere in Time" I changed to setting , adding a center Medallion - a 36" Carpenters Wheel to make it King size (102"). What do you think? I'm pretty happy with it. Now I just have to find the backing flannel & bought last year & get it off to my quilter!

If you've ever wanted to try a Carpenter's Wheel or any star with Y seams & felt intimidated by it, try this book by Sharyn Squier Craig. To bad I had my block 1/2 finished before I remembered I had it..

It's Snowing!

2009-01-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

Let it Snow!! 90 minutes & counting...

Goodbye to 2008

2008-12-26T14:49:00.010-08:00

2009 - THE YEAR OF THE QUILTER!

I feel like I lost a good 6 months in 08. So I plan to try to make up for it in 09. Here are some of my goals:

Finish at least 2 of my Mom's quilts

Finish & deliver quilts to all 5 grandkids, this really is a reasonable goal as 3 need binding, 1 put together & 1 started from scratch.

Make my oldest DD's 2nd wedding quilt. She just had her 4th anniversary, I think she's still using the quilt from the 1st round. Hope she took the label off!

Finish at least 5 UFO's.

Organize my Embroidery Design files & transfer to new computer, I'm up to the F's!! I don't even want to know how many designs I have.

Decide on Christmas early & have it 90% finished by Nov 1st!

Walk the dog's at least 5 times a week.

Make & donate several quilts to Quilts of Valor. This is special to me as my son Travis is on his 2nd tour in Iraq right now.

Finish Travis's R,W & B quilt for his return home this summer.

I think I better stop there & see how thing's go!

Here's hoping you have to pick lot's of little thread scraps off your clothes in 2009!

Have you ever wondered just how far our creative talents go. Take a look!
http://www.quiltersofsc.org/artfullbras/artfullbras.htm

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T15:41:00.009-08:00

All the decorating is finished & all the packages are mailed! It's time to put my feet up & really enjoy the season.

Hopefully

you are doing the same.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Rush is on!

2008-12-11T19:46:00.009-08:00

I'm a Procrastinator! I admit it. I always wait to long to get started on everything, then the mad rush is on. So where have I been? Hiding in my sewing/computer room on a rolling chair going from machine to computer, that's where! It's a wonder I'm not getting motion sickness. I love to make gifts for my family, but with the move & still unpacking & now decorating for Christmas, I'm way behind. All that the kids are getting that's hand crafted will be the family calendar & Freestanding lace ornaments. That's the pile of parts & pieces on the table waiting to be put together. And yes there is a skeleton in the mix! It's for my 15 year old grandson, who likes the weird! Only 5 more ornaments to go & binding the calendars. More pics to follow.

Now, meet my 5 wonderful Grand kids, Dam, Vic, Cissie, Joey & Mary. Is this Blackmail material or what! I just may have to make one of these with the dogs & cat!! Happy Sewing....

Edited:: I am having way to much fun morphing everything into elves!! Now if only I could get them to stop dancing & get to work!!

Somewhere in Time BOM from Block Central

2008-12-05T18:17:00.005-08:00

Just 5 more blocks to go!!

Before the Cotton Storm Hit's!

2008-12-03T17:08:00.006-08:00

Better look quick, because it won't look anything like this in a day or so! I'm way slow starting my Christmas sewing, were are the sewing elves when you need them. I think Santa probably has the locked in the toy factory!!

After Christmas I will be putting floor to ceiling shelves in the closet so I can empty the those totes stacked behind the doors. Let the sewing begin...

NEEDED: 30 Hour Days!

2008-11-26T01:20:00.012-08:00

How time flies! We officially own our house as of the 14th. I have been hanging quilts & pictures & emptying out the last few boxes. I never have been able to figure out what happens to the few things that just disappear in a move. This moves causalities are 2 very nice cutting boards!

I've been planning out where I want the shelving & cabinets in my sewing room. It will be so nice to be able to find things again.

This is the time of year when you need a few extra hours in your days. We can fly to the moon but we haven't figured out how to add a few extra usable hours to our days. Oh, well who needs sleep anyway!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving & make sure you take the time to enjoy your friends & family...

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

2008-11-03T09:19:00.003-08:00

I was playing in EQ last night when I should have been sleeping & here is the results! I thought I would share my EQ file with you. Look to the right under EQ6 files & enjoy.

Perfect Sewing Weather

2008-11-02T14:09:00.011-08:00

We've had rain, sleet, snow, wind, sunshine & back to rain so far today. The perfect sewing weather! I'm working on my Block Central BOM, trying to catch up. And in between sewing, I'm working on the 2009 family calender with pictures and all the birthday & anniversary info in it. I started this 5 years ago thinking it would remind the family of every ones special day. Well they still forget but I enjoy making the calenders & seeing my families picture throughout the year. And it makes a nice, easy & inexpensive gift for Christmas.

Last weekend we made our last trip to Idaho until next spring. We picked up the last of Dales tools & our new horse, Ritzy Future. She's a beautiful Black Missouri Fox Trotter. Here she is with her new friend Custer!

Autumn Colors!

2008-10-19T16:05:00.005-07:00

I was playing around on my EQ6 & came up with this quilt design. If you want to try it & have EQ6 here is the project file. I would love to see your interpretation of my design! Get it here!

Exploring White Pine County

2008-10-02T03:48:00.021-07:00

My daughter & I played hooky & went exploring a few mornings ago! There is nothing like cool crisp fall air & a drive in the mountains to start your day! So I thought I would share just a little with you. First we hiked around the Ward Charcoal Ovens built around 1876.

They have several trails in the area & a nice camp ground & lots of deer, elk, antelope,rabbits, birds, coyote's & ground squirrel. Oh & snakes! We didn't see any animals that morning but after seeing this track maybe it was for the best. I do believe this is the biggest elk track I've seen for awhile.
Then we went to Cave Lake State Park & wondered around! Very pretty little lake with great fishing, so they say. I'm not much of a fisherman. But I don't mind sitting on shore with my nose in a book or daydreaming while someone else spends a few hours playing with fishing line. And if I don't catch it I don't have to clean it, right! And just to show you that we do have trees with fall color in Nevada, maybe nothing like what you would see back east. But very pretty in it's own right! Oh & last, but not least there was that wild Nevada Desert Moose lurking in the trees!

Moving in, It's not an easy job!

2008-09-21T11:34:00.011-07:00

I've been in Nevada a little over a month. I never thought it would take me so long to unpack. But we've made 2 weekend trips to Idaho & I ended up with a head cold that doesn't want to go away. And we still have to go back for one more horse in early October. I'm still wondering why we thought we needed another horse right in the middle of selling one house & buying another & in another state at that. Must have been a case of temporary insanity on both our parts! Oh well, I'll just have to buck up & make the drive. It's about 8 hours driving straight through but coming back with a very scared 18 month filly will take a lot longer.
Here is my new sewing room in progress. I'm hoping to finish this week! Maybe!!!