Looking for a little bit more of this fabric....

I posted a message on my Facebook page but thought I'd try here too. I'm working on a quilt for my mom with this fabric as the main piece. I bought this back in the summer when one of my local quilt stores was going out of business. Didn't know what I was going to do with it at the time so I only bought a yard. I need a "tad" more. Anyone out there in "quilt blogland" have a little bit they would be willing to sell me. It's a Robert Kaufman Imperial design . I need a less than a 1/4 yd.  I've tried the internet. Can't find it anywhere~ My cousin went to Lancaster & she checked out the stores there. It's such a pretty fabric & just the right colors for my mom's livingroom. Thanks for checking your stash!

Not just a quilt

I made this quilt  many years ago. I have fond memories of my friend, Beth & I each making a quilt after we saw the pattern at a quilt show. It was done in Fall colors & leaves.We decided to change it to blues & flowers. What a job ! But we loved the finished quilts . Often when my grandson comes to visit, he uses this one as a fort. The quilt on my bed has sashings that he uses as roadways. No...not just a quilt~

Irish Chain quilt

A "finish"! This summer, a friend asked me to make a double -bed size quilt for her son's 26th BD. His BD was last week. Only a week late, not too bad. I hand quilted on the diagonal.

A cute felted birdhouse

Should have posted this back in May.The birdhouse & flowers were Mother's Day gifts from my kids. The flowers are still blooming although they aren't as full as they were in this photo. The birdhouse is all felted. I thought of my friend, Pineland Treasures Barb, as she likes to felt. The instructions say it's good for outdoors.It's so cute.  No birds took up residency this year. There's always next year~

A special Birthday "card"

      A friend made this very unique & beautiful "card" for me .

Summer Fruit Table Runner

My friend &  I saw this table runner made up at my local quilt shop. She's getting her kitchen re-done & loved the "fruit" theme. She's not a sew/quilter so I had fun making it for her.  The runner is a simple pattern & sews up quickly.

Friday's "stamping with a friend" day

 This card was fun to create. Shutters & window & butterflies are die cuts from Memory Box. The cat is from Kate's ABC's cricut cartridge, the lamp( ? )  The brick is from a cuttlebug folder.

The ice cream cone was an idea from a Cricut magazine. We used the Indie Art cartridge.

Big Blossom Trio quilt

A completed quilt~ yeah! This pattern is called Big Blossom Trio. I think the fabric in this quilt is so pretty. I don't think it shows in the pictures but the fabric has silver threads throughout each  print. I hand quilted in the ditch & also used a flower template for the middle of the big blocks.This quilt is 48" X 54" . A nice lap size quilt.

Morning Star block quilt

I was browsing through quilterscache.com & found this interesting block pattern called Morning Star. It's a 1914 block -that-isn't-a block. The design is named for it's sashing, which forms the stars. It was interesting putting this together.I hand quilted around the stars & the green sashing.  The fabric is something I bought years ago. Finally got to use it. In an earlier post, there's a picture of this print being used in a fabric basket for my sister that lives in Wyoming.

Flip n' Fold pillow

I made 2 of these Flip n' Fold pillow covers in abt 1 hr! The pattern is from Happy Hour book by Atkinson Designs. A great book to have in a quilting library.

A new table runner for my kitchen table

One would think that if I sew, I would have a different table runner for every occasion, season, or whim. But this table runner was made in 2005 & except for the times when I have a tablecloth on the table, this has been the runner. It has special memories. Three friends, sitting around my table with our sewing machines , each of us making a runner with the same pattern but different fabrics.The the runner will always be special but I think it's time for a change.....I've been collecting apples & other related fruit design fabrics to match my kitchen light. I had enough to make 2 runners. The first is the French Bread pattern. The other is Moda Marbles Stars . I like the French Bread pattern the best for these prints. I think the Marbles Stars pattern gets lost in the busy print. My original runner will still go on the table once in awhile.

yes, another "Easy Attic Window " kids quilt

Just needed to do something simple so I pulled out this cute " Rustic Bear" fabric. Made it & then found a backing to go perfect with it. Don't kow if the paws are actually "bear's paws" but I'm going to say they are for this quilt.

Finally finished hand quilting this Summer 2010 Nine Patch Challenge. Now I'm putting the binding on. Almost finished!
p.s. don't you just LOVE the color of my sewing room walls ? LOL Use to be my daughter's room & it had island- print curtains to match . Never got around to painting over it since I know it would probably take a few coats of paint . I'd rather sew than paint.

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.