Merry Christmas My Friends!!

 My son and I spent the afternoon decorating cookies, believe it or not we never pose these guys but they always look to me as though they are dancing when they come out from the oven!!  Now on to the other foodstuffs :)

Thanks for taking time to read and comment on my little blog, you all bring me such joy!  I wish you all a Merry Christmas my friends!!

A Christmas quilt plan thanks to a win!

I had the great fortune of winning a terrific giveaway on Norma Whaleys blog Timeless Traditions recently.  She had an extra copy of the French magazine Simply Vintage and sent it on to me :)

I have admired her quilt Silent Night and now I have the pattern, along with the pattern for that great snowman pillow...yay!  She does sell the patterns and kits if you might need one too...I also love her How Does Your Garden Grow pattern...just beautiful!

This is a bundle of blue and green homespun wovens that I have had stashed for more years than I know.  My friends and I went to a quilt show together years ago and bought these kits for a quilt I no longer have interest in making so...they will be perfect to make this quilt  :)

My favorite quilt magazine is Quiltmania and I stalk Barnes and Noble for it's release but I have never seen this one in person.  I think I would love to see B&N carry it also, the pictures are just as beautiful.

Thanks to Norma for such a generous giveaway!!  I am hopeful with a year until next Christmas, I may be able to add this quilt to my other Christmas quilts next year!
 
This is one of my favorites, you can find a bit about this one here...

One Last Post on the Doctor Who Paper Pieced Quilt For My Son

My friends, I had so hoped for a more grand picture to show off the finish but it is rainy and muddy and not great weather outside (though I am still doing the no snow yet happy dance daily) so I took the quilt over to our church and spread it out on some tables...maybe the weather will clear and I can get a better one at some point...preferably with my son :)

 Here is my personal favorite block...so much detail and the Dalek looks like it may turn to "look at and/or exterminate"  you at any moment!

 The quilting shows up in well in most blocks and gives it texture but is fairly subtle.

Subtle even on the higher contrast blocks like poor Dave here...I am just constantly amazed as I look at this quilt as to all the detail in these block designs.  And yes, this block is officially the creepiest I have ever made...

 You can see the quilting texture better on the Crack in Time block, perhaps?

Loaded the Converse block twice and it came in sideways both times??  There is always one in the crowd!

 The patterns for the blocks if you too want to take up the challenge can be found here:
 http://www.whimsandfancies.com/
 http://trilliumdesign.blogspot.com/2013/04/is-there-doctor-in-house.html
 http://www.fandominstitches.com/2011/05/doctor-who.html
 http://quietplay.blogspot.com/


A heartfelt thanks to all who have encouraged me on this journey.  Especially all you wonderful designers whose patterns these are!  

And most especially Soma, who let me whine to her on several occasions when I started to lose resolve that I could do this when what I should have said is simply..."You and your patterns are awesome and fantastic and thank you for sharing!!"

I am happy to report that my son is well pleased with his quilt :)  

Mission accomplished, big sigh of relief...now what is next?!!

Quilting is Done on the Doctor Who Quilt!!

Thought we'd never get here!!!  This is the last line of quilting on my son's Doctor Who quilt finished last night.

I'm sorry to tease with just this tiny picture today, but I am now binding and the reveal is coming :)  As you can see, I went with my standard "organic" straight line quilting in Aurifil grey #2600 which is the same thread I used to piece the top and I am fairly pleased with how it came out.

If you want to see the quilt top before quilting or find the pattern sources, look to this post.

Great Weekend

Hi all...hope those of you celebrating Thanksgiving had a wonderful and blessed time celebrating with family and friends.  We did and had the joy of a wedding as well...

Awhile ago, I posted on my finish of a wedding quilt for my dear sis-in-law here and she agreed that I could show this picture today of her opening the quilt package later that evening still in her wedding dress  :) .

Isn't she a beauty??  Her hubby is the guy tuckered out there on the floor, lol!

It was a beautiful day and they are a wonderful couple with 6 gorgeous kids.  May their life be richly blessed and full of much happiness!!

Twas the Night Blog Hop - My day

Thanks to Mdm Samm and Marlene for such a fun twist to our normal blog hop routine...this one has us making and gifting and receiving...oh my!!

This is what I chose to make to suggest a quickie but thoughtful gift set to be made for a Christmas gift...

This is a coordinating set of a needlecase, twine dispenser and clover clip jar (or quilting pins jar)...

I believe the twine dispenser is self explanatory as I used a retro sugar canister like you'd find in a diner and added measuring tape fabric ribbon around the top and a button...

The clover clip jar is made the same way from a Ball 4 oz. jar...

The needle case is made using two fabric scraps 3 1/2" x 9" and canvas and batting cut to match...and some of that measuring tape ribbon...

You can see I quilted the text scrap (to be used as the outside) to the canvas for stability and then layered the inner fabric and batting to make a sandwich...lots of those clover clips to hold it together.  Then stitch around leaving a 2 inch open spot to turn it right side out...then top stitch all around for a finished look, and add the felt and ribbon, also top stitched down...

Then add a bit of hand embroidery to make your recipient feel the love...

And Voila!! Ready to gift...

Just as a side note, the project I am currently making for Christmas is a longer term project...also done with hand embroidery...

I am using my new toy, a Beam N Read LED 6.  Wow, I have to say, this is a very nice tool to give you wide LED light exactly where you need it.  I definitely benefit from the directed light as this is back stitched black-work done on a texty busy background.  Works great :)  Please excuse the belly shot...I wanted to show you how easy it is to stitch with no hoop as I like to do and still shine light right in the proper spot.  It hangs around your neck but isn't heavy at all and never gets warm...I am very pleased with it.

Our family has what I consider to be a large collection of musical instruments...I have picked 12 of them to put into this project beginning with a Mountain Dulcimer.

On the First Day of Christmas, my true love played for me a dulcimer in a Pear Tree...

We do have a dwarf pear tree but my true love will not be in it...he does play me the dulcimer often though, especially old hymns.  We have a bit of a family Hymn Sing every Christmas.

Stay tuned for further instruments as we get closer to Christmas!  You might be surprised as to some of the instruments included, lol!  Any guesses?

And now I get to reveal what I received in the swap that was organized as part of this hop.  I had the great fortune to be paired with my friend Patty from A Stitch in Time...she is so talented, and she was so generous with her time and thoughtfulness in this gift...wow!

 A Jewelry Travel Case which rolls into a convenient carry-all, a canvas zipper bag, and some wonderful fabric.  You can see that we share a love for Sweetwater fabrics and that she understands and shares my current fixation on Doctor Who.  Thanks Patty,I just feel so spoiled.  I admitted to her that I may have carried that zipper pouch about with me for a while crooning..."My Prescioussss..."  

Thanks for wading through my extra long post, please be sure to visit all the other wonderful people sharing this day with me!!  May your Christmas be Merry and Blessed!!

Friday, Nov. 14

Quiltscapes

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Stitch In Time<-sent a giftie to me :)

Kris Loves Fabric<--you are here!!

Life In The Scrapatch<-My gift went to Pat :)

The Days Dewings

Ok, I Admit I am a Little Terrified of this Next Step

This Quilt has been a two year process but now I am almost done...

 Rolling out the batting to size...

 It's a bit of a squeeze on my bedroom floor at 75" x 90" with the outer border, but I made it fit!

 Sandwiched and pin basted...

 Sorry for the poor pictures...it is just too nasty outside with cold and rain to get any outside.

A peek at the galaxy print backing...

I am going to start quilting today...and yes, I am a bit terrified.  This is not usual but I feel a bit of pressure to get this right.

The patterns for the blocks if you too want to take up the challenge can be found here:

 http://www.whimsandfancies.com/
 http://trilliumdesign.blogspot.com/2013/04/is-there-doctor-in-house.html
 http://www.fandominstitches.com/2011/05/doctor-who.html
 http://quietplay.blogspot.com/

Wish me luck?

Let's Talk Turkey, Shall We?

Because sometimes a girl needs a break even when she's trying to be good and get a project finished...she just needs a naughty moment to make a frivolous block for no reason other than the joy of piecing it...he still needs his feet embroidered on but how fun is this guy?


Thank you Lori Holt from Bee In My Bonnet...I had fun making a turkey this afternoon...now I must get back to my machine quilting my DW top...ha!

A Finish For an Upcoming Wedding

I don't think my husband's sister has ever read my blog so I believe this is safe to post :)

I thought it would be fun to make a quilt with a modern twist on the traditional Wedding Ring.

She and her new husband-to-be are blending their previous families to create a gorgeous new family of 6 kids.  As a mother of one boy I can only marvel at their ability to keep track of all those different schedules!

 One line in the background for each person,  this was fun to stitch and pray for blessings for each one!  I really love the cross-hatching it created in the corners!

 The fabrics are all from a strip collection of Hoffman Bali Batiks and the backing is that same American Jane dotty fabric that has been showing up in my newest leaf blocks and the GTSB blocks...I think it makes a superb backing fabric as well!

For the quilting, I chose to outline all the rings and the triangular shapes in the background.  As this was not done continuous line it took FOREVER!!  But I think it turned out pretty well and I didn't mind burying all those thread tails...much!

Another leaf for fun :)

 I made another leaf from my friend Soma's pattern...you can find the pattern to make your own here.

Hard to tell...as it's so realistic, eh? 

I am still machine quilting so not much new to report yet...but it is nice to be working on a finish for a change  ;)

Have a great day!

Black Cat Crossing Wicked Hop-My Day!!

Many thanks once again to the wonderful Madame Samm and to Wendy for hosting this Wicked Sew and Tell and allowing me play along!!

 Here is the half yard bundle of Black Cat Crossing that I used for my project:

I am normally not much of a purple fabric lover but I like the pop of color this has with those dots and stars.  And ooooooooh, there are black birds and cats. 

I chose a pattern that I have used many times in the past, The X Plus Block...also known as Spool Block by Nancy Cabot.  I love this block pattern and it always does so well with these type of prints.

Here is my Spiderweb quilt top in its photo shoot...

 Here it is posing with the itty bitty tiny harvest of apples we had this year...wasn't a good year for apples in our backyard orchard  :(

Here is a detail shot...isn't that cobwebby neutral from the Black Cat Crossing line perfect for this?  I ordered it from Bear Creek Quilting Company.

 Kind of looks like Spiderwebs in the Beans, eh?

I chose to do straight line quilting on this top and am very pleased with the final quilt...

 Here it is amongst the pumpkins...

 And among the posies...

 Love those red leaves popping up on our property...

Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to stop by all the others posting today and leave them your comment love!

Friday, October 24

Just Let Me Quilt

Buzzing and Bumbling

Thimblemouse & Spouse

krislovesfabric<---You are here!!

  Quilt Doodle Doodles

Making Time for a Special Quilt

So, I have many projects in the works but decided to take the afternoon to finish a UFO in a special way for a special little boy I will probably never meet...and I am very glad I did :)

 This quilt was made using a UFO project I had left unfinished so long ago that I had forgotten that I had the template for the small twister.  My quilt group was looking for one and I was sure that I didn't have it...this "evidence" of a top says otherwise, lol!  Still don't know exactly where to look for the template though!!

I used a football print to border it and some coordinating football players for the back...and...voila!  A baby quilt for a sweet one year old in a family our church is sponsoring for Christmas this year.  I spent a few hours praying for this sweet young guy and his family to be richly blessed as I finished this quilt.  Hopefully this quilt will bring him warmth and a smile :)

 Still waiting for more color from the trees around our property...