Please Vote for This!

There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.

— Sophia Loren

Hi there.............I am posting today to ask you to vote for "Josh's Kitty Quilt".  This is one of my favorite quilts........the one I made for my son and that features our two Kitties, Lucy and Tinkerbell in the center block.  I have entered it in Quilting Gallery's Pet Quilts Quilter Show.  I would appreciate your vote beginning at Quilting Gallery on Friday, (August 15).  Click here!

 Miss Lucy Matilda was the very first cat that ever owned me......yes, I admit it. Before Lucy I didn't really like cats....and, when I got her,  it was only so she could keep the field mice population down at the country house where I was living.

I explained to Miss Lucy that her job was to kill the mice and she would be allowed in the house every so often.......(this, I explained while Lucy was doing figure 8's around my legs)........eventually Lucy made her way to my lap, onto the furniture, and definitely into my heart......she was with me for 19 years before she crossed Rainbow bridge.............She is represented by the two gold cats on the quilt......

The two gray cats on the quilt are in honor of Miss Tinkerbell....who we "rescued" from a water drain at the grocery store......well, to be honest....when we stopped to "save" her......Tinkerbell had already hitched a ride under our car and came home with us......we are happy to still have Miss Tinker with us at the ripe young age of 15.......

 

The quilt is an adaptation of the  "Trip around the World" design using 5 inch charms throughout, excepting the large center block with the tessellating kitties, their tails curling into a snails trail block. In keeping with the theme,I added 4 more snails trails blocks.

 The quilt measures about 60x80 (give or take) 

Thanks for your vote!

Vote Here

 

Winter Spice Flannel Curves update and a Pink Flamingo!

"Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born." --Dale E. Turner

Wow! Those Crazy Curve templates are WOW!..........after folding the 16 FQs I was able to cut 4 layers at once in less than 15 minutes!  After the initial layout, I photographed it and then made a few changes and here is what I came up with.....I love how photographing a project gives one a different perspective as far as balancing the lights and darks.......

 




Here it is photographed from a different side.........

 I began sewing the curved patches and decided I'm not going to sew them with wrong sides together where the seams will fray as part of my rag quilt but instead will sew those patches normally since they require a quarter inch seam and I'm a little concerned that they might come apart after I clip them.  The seams press down nicely without clipping so I think I feel better doing a regular seam instead.   I will use a larger seam when I sew the 7 inch resulting squares to the backing and make those seams the rag quilt seams.........

Check out the photo below:

When my Sis and I visit Mom and Dad we usually stop at the Humane Society Thrift Shop to see if they have any quilting fabric.....which, quite often, they do...........well except for the last time I was there but I did see this little bundle of pre-cut low loft batting.  I bought it for a dollar and then put it away in my sewing room.....and completely forgot about it...........well, until today when I was looking for some pattern instructions I had mislaid.....would you believe that they are exactly the size I need for the 7 inch blocks I am making for this quilt?  I needed 64 pieces of these batting squares and I counted 61 in this bundle.....is that weird wonderful or what???

Mr. Pink Flamingo is now a new addition to my little patio....thanks to him I am now officially a "little ole lady" and ready to retire to Florida.....hahaha...........well the retiring won't be happening soon and the going to Florida would only be in terms of a vacation... and the "little ole lady" stage....um well....we will talk about that later.............hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  I will just say TTFN and talk to you next time..........


 

Meet Stevie and the beginning of Winter Spice Flannel Curves!

 "Try to be like the turtle - at ease in your own shell".   --Bill Copeland




This is the newest addition to our turtle family...........meet Stevie....(we are not sure whether she is a Stephanie or whether he is a Steve.....lol).....but Stevie definitely loves tomatoes and blueberries~

 Stevie is smaller than our other turtle, Donnie, and so far they are not very sociable with each other.....(possibly they are both the same gender?)......and Stevie seems to be more inquisitive and a little more active than Donnie.....

 ......and like most turtles, Stevie loves the sprinklers!

 

 So now that I have finished introducing you to our new turtle let me introduce you to an old project.....
Almost a year ago I decided to make a quilt called "Fuzzy Flannel Curves......here is the link to that post for any of you who would like to read more....(CLICK HERE)

 So I've had the flannel fabric for this project for a year but didn't have the crazy curve template I wanted to use with it until my birthday this year (thanks again, Irene), so now I am ready!  This will be my very first RAG quilt! My flannel is by Maywood Studios, "On a Winter Night"  and "Spice Market"by Exclusively Quilter.....so I will call this quilt "Winter Spice Flannel Curves"......haha...how is that for not so original???

 This is a FQ project....I will fold each FQ I use twice to make 4 layers and cut all 4 layers with the template but sew them back together using 4 different fabrics. The top will need 16 different FQs and I will use the same fabric lines for the back, although I am not using the templates for the backing.

.....so stay tuned....I'm on my way upstairs to begin cutting!

I'll talk to you next time....TaTa for now.............

 

Lovely Gifts early for my Birthday!

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

— Robert Brault

Lucky me!  I got some early Birthday gifts! 

My Sis got home from her visit to the Texas Hill Country and she came home bearing gifts!

  First look at this neat little notebook cover she made for me.......partially quilted, and partially machine embroidery........and all of it filled with love! She even included the notebook for me!

 The front has a rooster in the middle of  a crazy quilt patch and the back has a kitty cat in the middle of a crazy quilt patch and it has pockets everywhere!

 

But my Sis didn't stop there.......she knew I wanted a 7 inch Crazy Curves template to start my "Fuzzy Flannel Curves" quilt with so she gave the template to me for my Birthday together with a new "Welcome" Heart hanger for my sewing room.....there is a little hook inside the heart where one of the little figures can hang depending on the season.....you can see a flag there now and the set includes an egg for Easter, a ghost for Halloween, an Angel for Christmas, a snowman for winter, a pumpkin, and so on......

I love all my gifts but I love my Sis more.........

OK, you would think that was enough spoiling for me but my Sons surprised me with this:

It's a long story but the gist of it is that I had ordered a regular screen Dell computer through one of my sons, who works in the business.....but he talked to his brother and together they upgraded it to a touchscreen Dell for my birthday!  I'll say it again......I love this gift but I love my sons more...........

It's back to work tonight and tomorrow so I'm going to head upstairs to see what I can get done before it's time for work.......Ta Ta for now......talk to you next time......

 

Beatitudes Table Cover Finished!

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

— Harry S. Truman

The Beatitudes Table Cover is done and ready to deliver to my Sister!

I added some feather patterns with my embroidery machine for the quilting and also did some meandering.  The binding was a little tricky because of those strange inside corners but it sits nice on the table..............

 

 

I like that the cover can be turned to allow the longer points to hang away from the chairs..........

Yes it was finished yesterday.......still in July so my label is correct! haha

 

Tomorrow I have to attend an in-service for work but I am going to post some wonderful gifts I got this week...........but it's time for bed now so Ta-Ta for now.............

 

 

 

Scriptures Table Cover Update

Love what you have. Need what you want. Accept what you receive. Give what you can. Always remember, what goes around, comes around...

— Unknown

Ok I am on a roll here with the official "Rose of Sharon-Ways to Love & Beatitudes Scripture Table Cover"..........whoa, that's a mouthful so I think I'm good with just calling it the "Beatitudes Table Cover"..........

The flimsy with the nine blocks was not quite large enough to hang over like I wanted so I added some coordinating red fabric along the border......I had made a similar design when I made the Americana Tablecover and I liked the way it looked so I did it for this one too.........

I forgot to mention on my last post that the flower in the center block is "The Rose of Sharon" and the 4 scriptures surrounding it are some of the "Ten Ways to Love" scriptures......

 
And here are some closeups of the 8 Blocks embroidered with the 8 Beatitudes............. Did I mention how much I love my Embroidery machine????

Oh my gosh......it's late and I'd better go to bed........maybe tomorrow I will be able to start quilting the sandwich!  Good night and Ta-Ta for now...............



 

Back in the Tablecover business!

Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game.

— Will Durant

When my little Sister visited a couple of weeks ago she loved my 4Seasons tablecloth and reminded me that HER table was the exact same size and SHE would love to have something like that for her table............well I suddenly became obsessed with making her "Belated Birthday-Early Christmas Present"...............I have been enjoying my embroidery machine so much and I never seem to tire from making new projects with it................here is the flimsy for what I am calling "The Beatitudes Table Cover"............

 When I started out with the first block I really didn't know what I was going to do but I wanted to include some scripture for her so I used some of the "Love Scriptures" I had also used on the 4-Seasons cover but I used my Embroidery software to "split" the pattern and leave just the written scripture without the additional embellishments.........Unfortunately on the one you see on the upper right corner of the center block (photo below), I forgot to center the pattern in my resulting file after I split it, so it isn't didn't center to the hoop correctly.......was I going to pull it all out and risk tearing my block????? NOT! ......so the little mistake becomes part of the "character" included with all the love I am putting into this project......lol.........

 Unfortunately, I didn't stop there at including "character" into this project......After I decided that the 8 Beatitudes would be perfect for the other 8 blocks, I began by cutting out 13x13 inch squares for each block.  I gave myself a half-inch leeway so the squares would be 12.5 square after the embroidery was done.  I wanted the scriptures to be able to be read no matter where one was sitting at the table so I turned each corner block when I embroidered the pattern....ummmm...well I turned the first two corners and forgot and embroidered the last two straight...........that meant I had to re-cut those blocks, which wasn't a huge problem since I decided to add the red half square triangles to the corners........ except that now the "mistake blocks" became bias-blocks and they stretched some and created some puckering when I connected them.  I am hoping the quilting process will correct it............

I still haven't decided on what I will use for the drop.....I am one of those sewing by the seat of my pants sort of girl and I don't often know how my projects will end up until I see them so we shall see what this project turns into.......til then I will say Ta-Ta for now......talk to you later..............

I'm Still Here!

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

 I'm still here and still plugging away at a few projects.........just spent a few days visiting with family for 4th of July in New Mexico.....what fun!  Also got a good dose of  "Nana time" so I am rejuvenated!

While I was away I got some wonderful mail.......my swap partner, Kat, sent me this fabulous mug rug...........

 

 I had admired one of Kat's mug rugs, in which she had included some hexie flowers, and she remembered! Look at the clever fussy cutting she did with the matching fabric on the center.  And I borrowed a photo from Kat's blog which shows more clearly her embroidery of the ladybug and her hand quilting.......

 Kat also sent me some goodies.....a jar of Adirondack maple syrup, a sweet ladybug notepad and some lucky shells......

 Thank you, my friend.....I love it all! Since this is my One Flower Wednesday offering, as well, I don't want to forget to remind you to check out the other flowers in Karen's garden this week......just click HERE

I also managed to come home from my visit with something from my Mom.....this gorgeous copper pitcher which she had put outside "to clean up"...........ummm....I sort of asked for it (probably with this little sad face that only children can get away with) and she gave it to me......I wish now that I had taken a "before" photo......

this is after the first cleaning I gave it.  I also pulled out the stand,which had been crushed up under the bottom of the pitcher.......it still has a way to go but it is already gorgeous, don't you think?




There is a little second hand shop that my sister and I like to go to when we are visiting Mom and Dad in New Mexico......they usually have some nice quilting fabrics that we like to snatch up......unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go there this time.......but fortunately, my sis did and I managed to finagle my way to getting this piece to blue gingham from her.....

Does anybody else but me see Dorothy Gale of the Wizard of Oz here???  I thought this would make a wonderful border for my Oz Wall hanging.......of course that means I actually have to get back to working on it......but maybe this fabric will help.......

we shall see.......Ta-Ta for now.................

More Love for PNG

"Stop searching the world for treasure, the real treasure is in yourself."    ---Pablo

Here is the last of the gifts I have made for the babies in Papua, New Guinea................I had planned to try to do something with some American Indian Petroglyph motif flannel that I have but my idea was just going to take too long and I wanted to be able to get these warm quilts mailed to Gina in Victoria by tomorrow...............so, instead of the flannel quilt I quickly tied up this fleece throw which is nice and snuggly and will keep some little soul warm and happy.........and I kind of like sending all these hearts full of love..........

 Notice the top far left orange heart...........that is my label........

 and the other two quilts are labeled and ready...........

 Rolled up in the box or folded flat in the box...............lets get going!

Gina, these will be on their way to you down under tomorrow so that you can send them on to PNG for me!  

I Got Another B-I-N-G-O !

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling." --Margaret Lee Runbeck


Little did I know that it would take such a little thing as a tiny little cold baby to get me back to my sewing room................
and here it is.........another BINGO quilt for some sweet baby in Papua, New Guinea........

This BINGO card started out as a rectangle so after surrounding it with a green button border I added a strip of the striped fabric to each of the long sides to square it up and added one more border of whimsical zoo animal print before surrounding the whole thing with the rail fence blocks

.....I used some of the red fabric I had used in the rail fence blocks for the backing.  This quilt has a little thicker batting inside but still isn't too heavy, I think. I quilted in the ditch on each border then diagonally across the rail fence blocks......

Now back to the sewing room to see what I can come up with for the American Indian Petroglyph flannel fabric......Ta-Ta for now.............