Thread Catcher,a very useful tool.

Besides my glasses, my thread catcher is one of the very useful tools that I have on my sewing table. Several years ago a freind made this little thing. It is so cute but also so handy in "catching" all those stray threads. Keeps my table somewhat neat. Now that Spring is in the air, I'll throw the threads outside for the birds to use for making their nests.

Another stampin' play day

Another stamping day with a friend. Here are the results of a few hours of creating. The first card is copied from a blog( Kittie Krafts) . We added a few of our own touches. The frame is from Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge. The swirl is from another cartridge(Accent Essentials). The flowers & leaves are from a die cut, accented the flowers with pearls then we added the butterflies( a punch). We made 2 of these cards.

The other card is a little simplier.(sorry it's a little blurry). Using die cuts for the circles, flower stamp & copic markers. The words were cut with a Cricut cartridge ( don't remember which one ) She has the gypsy for the Cricut so we can find what we want easily.

My friend, Susan, & I always have a great time of stamping, lunch & laughing. I am sewing too but don't have anything to post yet. So for now I'm showing you the "stampin" part of "stampin' quilter".

Friday's card making results

Fridays are my day to get with a close friend & create cards, eat lunch, laugh & create more cards. Here are the cards we've done on the past two Fridays. The first 2 are done with the Cricut cartridge Nate's ABC's Same image but one at 4" & the other at 2" . Neither are totally finished as they need words & maybe a little ribbon. Trying to think of a clever saying to put with these. Open to suggestions...The Snowman was fun & one of my favorite cards. We went outside & picked up a few small twigs to embellish this card. The tulips are a die cut from Memory Box.The frame around these tulips is from the Cricut cartridge ,Ornamental Iron#2.

All Around Minnesota quilt

After making the Orca Bay quilt, I needed something a little less complicated. Borrowed this pattern for my cousin. Love the overall result but this was still a challenging design. I finally said..."Better done than perfect" on this quilt top. I couldn't get the middle "triangle " pieces to match up. That part should have been one of the easier steps?? Took several of them apart..several times. And then when I thought all was as good as it was going to be, I started laying the design out. Only to find out that 1/2 of each of the 12 blocks had to be re-done.Lesson learned, read the "tips" every time! The floral print I've had for many years. Glad to finally make something with it.

Yesterday afternoon I made this cute fabric basket for my Wyoming sister. She's looking for hostess gifts as she makes her way East this summer. I thought I'd make her this sample basket. Also had this wildlife print for many years. Really trying to sew down my stash. I don't know what I was thinking to make with this fabric but I have abt 3 yrds of it. Better make a few more baskets....
LOL

Orca Bay top completed

The top is completed. Such a sense of accomplishment. My cousin & I spent today in my sewing room She was sandwiching several small projects & I was putting the inner border & outer border on my Orca Bay. I wanted to stop after the inner border was on but Donna keep me going. She said she wasn't going home until it was completed. When it was all done, I layed it on the floor & Donna saw that I had sewn one of the outer borders upside down. So...with ripper in hand, off came one side. Donna had to leave but with in an hour, I had texted her with a picture of the correct completed top. I also saw a place where one of the blue blocks is not right..going to leave it as one of my "humililty" blocks.

A saturday shop at "The Quilted Nest"

For Christmas, my daughter gave me a gift card to a quilt shop near her. Saturday, we had lunch at the Torilla Press in Collingswood & then visited the fairly new quilt shop , The Quilted Nest, with my gift card in hand. Bought a few fat quarters, just because I liked them . Got 1/2yd of neutral snowflakes, just because I liked them. Bought the bicycle fabric,(2 yds so I'd have plenty since I don't know what I'm going to make yet) & the coordinating red(1- 1/2yds) , just because I liked the bicycle print & it made me smile. Used up the gift card :) We then went & did a little shopping for my daughter. A good day!

Orca Bay Mystery quilt...steps 1-7 complete

Steps 1-7 are complete. Now the fun begins....

Part 5 of Orca Bay Mystery quilt

Working on part 5 of Orca Bay Mystery quilt. Although I know what the finished quilt should like( since I'm a wee bit behind) , I'm still think it will be neat to see mine all come together. Slow but steady...

Summer(2011) Bow-Tie quilt

Tonight I put the final stitches into the Summer(2011) "Bow Tie block challenge" quilt. Yea! The quilt is hand-stitched around the light parts of the blocks. This is an "entirely from my stash" made quilt. Well, the quilt top anyway. I did have to buy a white muslin for the backing. Tomorrow I will send this quilt off to my sister in Wyoming.

French Bread Christmas tablerunner

This is an easy pattern to follow. I made the "braid" in abt 1 hr but then set it aside for a couple of weeks before putting the borders on. I'm glad to get it finished before Christmas. No hand quilting on this one. Just machine stitching.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This year I've started early & have a couple quilts ready ( or almost ready) for Christmas . This one is adapted from Watching for Santa in the book Comfort & Joy by Mary Hickey. It went together fairly easy. I like the look of Attic Windows. Still need to sandwich & bind this one. I think I have time :)This quilt is also from the Comfort & Joy book. It's called Peppermint Patties. The picture shows it still needing a binding. But...it's totally finished now.

I Spy quilts completed

Enjoyed using my kids novelty fabric to make these 2 quilts. I've made a few I Spy's for boys so I thought it was time for some girl I Spy quilts.In the pink I Spy, I've hand quilted around the images in each block. In the Attic Window quilt, I just hand quilted around the block.

my "Sweet Treat" handbag

Barb, from Pineland Treasures, & I got together to do a little sewing. She & I both made a handbag. Barb's is displayed on her blog. She asked me to take a photo of mine & put it on my blog. I bought the "HoneyBun" roll of Moda of fabric & the pattern was free :) I would like to make mine a shoulder bag. Tried to make a fabric handle today but wasn't happy with it. I'll figure something out...

starting Christmas cards...

Our Wednesday stamping group has started creating Christmas cards. I put on Christmas music & we had a great time. Since several of us get together & each one brings some of their own supplies, we have a great selection of stamps & tools to use. Shown here are 3 cards that I made today.

Polka Dots & Roses

A finished quilt top of polka dots & roses fabrics. This will be a college graduation gift for my friend's daughter who will graduate in December & has always loved polka dots.

a quilt made by Hospice volunteers

My mother-in-law has been living with us for the past 3 yrs. For the last 3 months she has been on Hospice. July 20th was her 84th BD. The nurse & the aide gave mom a lap quilt made by volunteers. I know some of you out there do this for hospice & other organizations. I just want you to know how much it means to the patient to whom it is given. The quilt put a smile on her face. It put tears in my eyes. So to those of you who who make these quilts..a big thank you!!

Wednesday's are stampin' days

Wednesday's, a small group( 5-6 of us) of friends & family, get together to stamp. We've been doing this for abt 15yrs. My how time flies! We all usually do our own creations. Often we'll copy a good idea from each other. Sometime, I'll have a "make & take" ready for the girls.Today we all did our own cards. Here are a few of the cards I made today. The first one is from Hero Arts clear mounted stamps. I stamped the flower & leaves on printed paper. Then used watercolor pencils to highlight. Last, I used Citrus Crush flower soft in the center of the flower. I saw this idea in the Cricut magazine. The bird is from Create a Critter cartridge.I didn't have music paper & couldn't find any at JoAnn or AC Moore so I made my own. I found an old music lesson book . Tore a page out & then antiqued it with a tea bag.

This last card makes me smile! The penguins are from a stamp(Art Impressions) . The stamp has 5 penguins & a surf board. I colored & cut out these three & put them on printed paper. "Surf's Up" is from Art Impressions also . I put a glaze on the red inner tube,the goggles & the sunglasses for dimension.

A little rocking chair project.

Well, I finally did it. I trash picked! My first ever :) Driving by,I saw this rocker( in white at the time) on a trash pile. I stopped, looked it over & decided it was worth putting in the back of my car. My husband did a little sanding just to get off the loose paint. Then he came out with this green spray can & went to work. I went to Joann's & bought some inexpensive craft foam( $3.50 with a 40% off coupon) & made the pad . Some might recognize the print. I still have a good amount left from the curtains & quilt I made for our grandson. The rocker is sitting on our back porch waiting for our little Jax .

Up for the challenge

I saw Michelle's blog abt the new summertime quilt block challenge. I've never made the bow tie block before. Goes together very quickly. I'm going to make mine in scrappy blues since I recently came into a large amount of blue fabric & I promised my friend a quilt. Her favorite color is blue. Perfect!

Summertime fun placemats

My one daughter & her husband are big Dave Matthew's band fans. I saw these fun fabric prints & had to make something for Susan & Jim. Also made a table topper from the same prints(no photo since I gave it to them already). Didn't have enough fabric to make all 4 mats the same. I think these will look fun on a summertime party table.

Quad & ATV themed Sidelights quilt

This 'Sidelights' patterned quilt is for my 2 1/2 yr old grandson's new bedroom. I made curtains from the theme print & then decided he needed a quilt to match. I'll be backing it with fleece( his favorite fabric). I'll tie the quilt instead of hand quilting it.If you do take a closer look at the photo, know that I didn't try to match the checks around the blocks. I would have gone crazy trying to match them so I didn't even try :) My daughter didn't care & I know Jax won't care either.

Going to need more storage bins.....

I just spent a good part of this evening with a new stash of fabric. My mom's friend was getting rid of her quilting supplies.When asked if she was selling or giving the supplies away, she said she'd take a donation. Hmmm?? I had $25 in my wallet. She was happy with that. All the fabric( lots of blues) & books shown are from her. Also included was a new roll of queen size batting , a couple packs of tracing paper, & a couple rolls fusible iron-on paper. When I got through looking at all of this, I thought to myself...I'm going to need more storage bins, especially for the blue fabrics. Guess I'll be making a few "blue" projects .

Rainy Day/Sewing Day

It was a rainy Monday. After lunch, the aide came to care for my mother-in-law so I had 2 hrs to play . I went to my sewing room. To get my sewing juices flowing, I started by sewing a few scrappy string quilt blocks. They were added to my collection of scrappy string blocks that I will some day put together. I don't have any rhyme or reason when I put these together. The only rule is that i don't repeat a print in the block. Love the way they turn out !

Then I put the outer borders on this baby quilt. The pattern is called Sidelights. Very quick & easy quilt to put together. Like those type of quilts! Although, I do like a challenging one from time to time. As was the next quilt pictured..... LOL

I put the final border on my mystery quilt. Yeah!! This will now hang on my quilt rack waiting to be sandwiched & quilted.For the picture, I took the other ones off the rack. I think it's # 4 in line. It was a good sewing day :) Thankful for the rain & my sewing room & the free time I have once in awhile. Often my sewing room is where I have my quiet time.

a baby quilt...

I saw this quilt done in my local quilt store. I changed the fabric on the back (sorry, no picture) otherwise it's the same . I was going to fussy cut the baby stroller but it just didn't work out .It's also the way the girl at the quilt store had done it. I hand quilted big hearts on the theme blocks & tiny hearts in each of the 9 patch squares. Medium hearts are quilted in the corner squares. I don't have anyone in mind for this quilt but I'll be ready with a girly baby quilt when needed.

Cupcake Oven Mitt

Sometimes you buy a pattern & say "that looks easy" but it's not. This looked easy & it was. Yeah! Pineland Treasures Barb & I got together to make these cupcake oven mitts this afternoon. Mine is done with berry print. Barb's is done with Aunt Grace fabric.

Mystery Quilt no longer a mystery...

I wasn't going to post a picture of this until the last borders were put on . But in honor of National Quilt Day...Here's my Roll Roll Cotton Boll mystery quilt top "almost" finished. I layed out a little of the outer border just to get a sense of what it will look like. Still a lot of sewing left to do but heading to bed with a sense of accomplishment.

a cross-stitch sampler

I don't have any new quilt pictures to show at this time .Still working on the mystery quilt.Getting close to putting the top together though.

Here is one of my cross-stitch samplers done a few years ago( 1995) . It was done on linen & beaded. Took me 2 yrs to complete. I don't have the pattern any longer but I think it was a Theresa Wentzler(sp?) pattern.

A finished cross-stitch

Several posts back, I showed you this cross-stitch 1/2 done. I can now say it's a completed project( except for the framing or whatever I'm going to do with it) . This will be my last cross-stitch done on linen. I just can't see as well as I did when I was in my 30's, 40's, & 50's :) I'll continue to cross-stitch but on 18ct where I can see definate holes. Not just threads.

By the way...There's a great giveaway on Keepsakes by Melissa blog.

Think Spring....

Went to a quilt store yesterday just to browse as another snow squall went through our area. The Spring fabrics are out & these 2 pieces just called my name.( 2 - 1/4 yd pieces) I don't have anything in mind for them at this moment . They are just pretty& they remind me that Spring is just around the corner...sort of :)

It's a Beach

On a cold, dreary, rainy Tuesday this week I burned a Peach Mango Salsa candle & made a beach table runner. I forgot to put "island" music on but that's ok. The tropical mood was there anyway as I tried to decide what fabric to use for my umbrellas. The stripes don't match perfectly but I'm ok with it.I did my best without obsessing over it. The pattern is "It's a Beach" designed by Karen Montgomery. I'm sending that pattern out to my friend, Beth. She can now make it for her new DIL . The DIL is from Virginia Beach & will now be living in Colorado. No beaches there.

Slow,Steady & Obsessed

I finished part 4 of the mystery quilt . Now I'm onto the infamous part 5 with the 600 units. Shown here are 62 of the 600. Doing them in a black/neutral instead of red/neutral as shown in the instructions. My "pink" is red so I couldn't use a red here. I'm on my way & yes, I'm obsessed with getting these done. A couple of years ago I bought the Fons & Porter Half/Quarter ruler but never knew how to use it.Just looked like something I HAD to have :) With the good 'ole internet, I figured it out so I didn't have to buy the Easy Angle ruler or use math to figure out how to cut these units . Sure does make these 1/2 square triangle units go much quicker. I'm counting & recording the count as I go so I don't have to count 600 all at once. Haven't counted that high for awhile :)

Mystery quilt part # 3 completed!

A good day of sewing with my cousin, Donna, yielded step 3 completed for me & 10 blocks completed for her. She was just starting part 3. Here's Donna sewing away.We laughed at her pile of strips. It started out organized but quickly turned into chaos. You can't see the strips that are all over the floor too :) We had fun.

My 60 string blocks. Donna's first block.

look what's on my design wall...mending :)

Since I took down the Christmas tree last night, I thought I'd get to work on my mystery quilt today. After doing the usual cleaning chores & lunch with a friend, I finally got up to my sewing room. I saw the mending project .My son & son-in-laws think I can do miracles with their jeans. I must do a good enough job since they keep those jean repairs coming. This little hole was nothing compared to some of the jean repairs I get. Hole is fixed but the mystery quilt will have to wait a little longer. It's time to make dinner.