Saturday, November 27, 2010

Joy Joy Joy Joy

 I made this cute little joy banner yesterday morning before company arrived back at my house and before the kids got out of bed. I thought it might be a fun project to work on as a group that day. Everyone was game to give it a try.
 Surprisingly my mom started one too!! She is also taking a photo with her camera, but imagine one more lady in the chair. The youngest is my niece on the right who is 17 and my mom the eldest at 75. So this wonderful project by Kathy Schmitz really spanned all ages!!
 By the time we got to the section of buttonhole stitching the letters to the background my niece wanted to be done. I did hers on the machine. We didn't have all the supplies so we improvised and I think they turned out just as good.
 Paige is my son's college age girlfriend. She was determined to do all of hers by hand. I was impressed that she was stitching the buttonhole while playing a game!!
 6 hours later, with learning to do the stem stitch, back stitch, french knots and buttonhole stitch here she is with her finished project!!
 My sister made two of them, one for my niece (her daughter) who couldn't join us for Thanksgiving.
And here is the second one I made with the group. I gave this to my daughter when she arrived yesterday.
I'll work on my mom's today. She got all the letters stitched so it should take too long to finish it up for her.

Thanks for the wonderful project Kathy! This will be a memorable time for all of us.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Wool Crazy & Cotton Boll

A few weeks ago I started on block 2 of my Wool Crazy by JoAnn. I like to add my applique pieces then do the decorative stitching. I'm just getting started but I sure do enjoy it. This block will be all about fall and winter.


Here is my completed mystery quilt step 1 of Bonnie Hunter's. And I only made 3 strips wrong! I'll be keeping them as I have a hunch I may need them for another step. If not, I'll toss them into the scrap bin.

I am hosting 15 for Thanksgiving dinner, which for me, is an army!! You all have a wonderful week.
Thank you for stopping by my Humble blog. I appreciate your visits and comments.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

This and That and Pattern Winner

 This past week I've been able to get the pieces cut for the applique on the Soot and Ashes quilt designed by Cheri. Some are machine appliqued, some are pinned and ready to go. The buttonhole stitch on my machine should make this fairly easy to finish up.
 Block 4 and 5 (close to being finished) of Beyond the Cherry Tree.
 I've been preoccupied with my wonderful talented niece. She's number #1 with her friend and teammate. Volleyball is now over and she was named Co Player of the Year for the Tri Valley League. She is quite the "killer"!!

This was taken at homecoming with her brother who came home from college to watch. I've been immersed into SAT prep and scholarship papers. We are getting together 3x a week to study and hopefully get lots of college money!!!

I know for many of you it is almost afternoon. I am running in the Jingle Bell run/ walk with my son next month and had to get my Saturday run in while I was motivated.

OK, thank you to all who entered. I couldn't find the time to email you all so just know I appreciate everybody's visit to my humble blog.
Thanks Karen for the patterns. I can't wait to get the quilting done on the Land of the Free quilt.

Drum roll................... The winner of the 12 Land of the Free patterns by Piece O Cake designs is............

BETH- from My creations. Beth is multi talented and does wonderful sticheries, cross stitch, needlepunch and quilting!! Congratulations Beth!!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Land of the Free & Pattern Giveaway!!

I've managed to finish this quilt top!! Woo-Hoo!!  The pattern from Piece O Cake called for binding after the applique blocks, but I felt it needed a little more. The blue border is made by Blue Hill fabric, which by the way I love!!  I'm thrilled there is another  manufacturer whose fabric is wonderful to work with. This quilt is machine appliqued.

I first saw this quilt hanging at a quilt show and when I posted in on my blog mentioned how much I love it. Karen at Log Cabin Quilter had started this quilt and offered to pass me the patterns. I think she is very close to finishing her top too. Thank you Karen for your generosity. It's my turn to pass them on. If you'd like to win these please leave a comment and I'll draw a name Saturday morning. There are 12 patterns and each one has the block for the main quilt and another project. Did I mention how much I love this quilt!!!??!!

See this little stack of three quilt tops? That is all that is in the "to quilt" pile!!!!  I've really been trying to stay focused on finishes and no new starts. BUT, I do plan on joining in on Bonnie's mystery quilt which will be posted later this week. I'm hoping to stash bust some oldies and some uglies. I've always admired her mystery quilts but have never did one of hers. I'm so excited!!

Be sure to comment for a chance to win the patterns!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Pennsylvania Plenty- Revisited

Several  ladies asked about the quilt in my header so I thought I would revisit that quilt on my blog again.
When I was working on my Dear Jane quilt about 12+ years ago a few of us gals started our own little online group. We are still together after all this time.
One of the gals from my online group saw this wonderful sampler in this book. (still available on Amazon for dirt cheap- worth every penny)



From the book: "Pieced quilt, Sampler, Lancaster County, PA c. 1870. It bears the inscription "Salinda W. Rupp". The maker had every right to be proud of her creation, for each colorful pieced block testifies to her artistry. Each of the blocks is different from the others: some are based on such familiar patterns as Variable Star, Sunburst and Flower Basket, but others are obviously Miss Rupp's original creations."

 

Two ladies of my group love a challenge and took it upon themselves to design each block by looking at the book (sometimes with a magnifying glass) and drawing them up in Electric Quilt. This was back in 2002. If you recognize this as the Nearly Insane quilt it would be the same one, although I have never seen this book in person. I had a wonderful time piecing it and I wasn't even close to being insane when I was done.
But it was plenty....hence the name Pennsylvania Plenty. My quilt top was completed sometime in 2003.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

In Honor of Washington

 I am making some headway on getting quilts finished!! I got the rest of the binding sewn and label added yesterday and I am really happy with it. I have never designed a quilt that I've liked until now!! Of course, the wonderful fabrics I used does help quite a bit.  I kept the quilting fairly simple because I wanted President Washington to steal the show and the quilting to play a back up role.
 The back is pieced with many pieces of patriotic toile, the Declaration of Independence and the Martha Washington star. (we always know there is a good woman backing a great man)
Here is a lovely piece my friend Jill gave me. If I remember right she said it was an older one of Mary Koval's.  I wish I had more.

I'm also adding borders to another quilt so that means another top finished soon!! Woo-Hoo!!

Monday, November 8, 2010

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

I'm sure many of you have heard of this non profit started by Ami Simms. It never ceases to amaze me what a small grass roots effort can turn out to be. This year the AAQI funded four research studies with $140,000.
(From Ami's blog)
"The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative isn’t like other charities. We are all volunteers, we account publicly for every penny that we spend, and we hold impromptu ceremonies before we mail checks because we know what it feels like to lose someone we love one memory at time. And we know what it feels like to make a quilt and pray with each stitch that our work will help win the fight."


Ami and her volunteers brought 1000 quilts to Houston and I haven't heard yet how many quilts sold but it was a lot. Including my humble contribution. This may not be my favorite quilt but it has the most of me and my heart in it.  Day by day I see my mom's memory slowly slipping. It is such a confusing disease, for the one who has it and the caretakers.  All of the small quilts made, donated and purchased fund a worthy organization. 

I'm committing to make one more quilt to donate by the end of the year.  Will you also commit with me to make one quilt to donate to AAQI? Maximum size is 9"x12" so it's easy to participate.

You can stay updated by reading Ami's blog!!


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Beyond The Cherry Tree BOM

I think I have only posted 1 block of this quilt. Sharon at Grass Roots Quilt Studio has started a blog for those who are making this. Click on the link to the right if you want to take a look.

When I posted my block photos there I mentioned that each block alone isn't particularly beautiful, but all together it will be a lovely, funky quilt.

Sharon also was thinking ahead to the many berries we will need for the border. Not too long ago I picked up a Sizzix cutter for making wool pennies. But I've just found an additional use for it!! Woo-hoo!!
Here's a few berries I have started. You can see the ones with the sloppy seam allowance are my scissor cuts.
Here's the cutter and circle die.


I folded over a small piece of index card to fit the circle I want my berries to be.

Four perfect circles!
Then I folded over a piece of fabric and set it on the size circle I need.

Perfect! All to do now it baste around them and tie them off.

And it cuts wool for penny rugs too!!