library day!

Here's one of my Christmas presents.

After seeing this movie I was inspired....

NOT to be a wonderful cook...

sorry kids...

but to learn more about Julia Child.

Her enthusiasm about cooking reminded me of

my enthusiasm about quilting!!

I ordered her book from the interlibrary loan system.

What a GREAT invention!!

I picked it up today, so now you all know what

I'LL be doing this weekend!!

(and I hear there's rain coming my way...woo hoo!)

I also brought this book home.

Don't you think I'll be inspired by looking at these knits?

It looks very much like a quilt book...hmmmm.

Then there was this book:
This one's been checked out by "yours truly"

Many TIMES!!

Everything about the title screams My name...

Scrap quilts...the art of making do

That fits me to a "T".

I'm hoping it will again inspire me as I

DREAM about using some gifts sent by

a quilting-blog-friend Barbara.

Thanks Barbara!!!

Aren't these pretty?



This is one of my favorites!!!






And LAST but not least...
Do you think I'll learn anything from this one???

I can sure use the help!!!

Words

You probably knew what they were.

But, just in case,

I spelled it out for you.

And Now I think I'll.....

:)

points!

Can you believe it?

I didn't lose any points on this one!!

I know it was that fancy trianglesonaroll paper I was using
But...

I still want a few brownie points for doing it!

You just don't know how I struggle with getting things to

Match up!

truth be told...I don't usually worry about it too much.

It was kind of exhilarating to finally have a quilt come

out looking so .....well......perfect.

It is a small one.

And I did have those little triangle papers.

And I did slow down a bit.....

I really DO need to slow down!

Here's the back.

I pieced in the baby's name to the quilt back instead of

adding it as an appliqued tag afterwards.
Fun, huh?

Details for you out there who like that kind of thing.;)

• Simple diagonal quilting lines.
• Each block is 4"
• 64 blocks altogether.
• 6" wide white border.
• Quilt measures - 43"x43"

Have fun quilting today!

I'm adding this to sew and tell friday!

four.

Yesterday I made a bunch of these

Half square triangles.

I have a few baby quilts to make and thought

I'd begin with this simple block.

What can I do with four?

one.


two.



three.




four.

And how, you may ask, did you get your blocks to be so perfect?
I had a little (lot of) help.

Triangles on a roll come in real handy.
I'm pretty good at....
liberated.
wonky.
crazy.

I'm not good at...
1/4 inch.
matching points.
You get the picture.

I put two pieces of fabric together.

Right sides together.

Lay that handy paper on top.

Pin.

Sew along the lines.

I know I never would have tried these on my own.

I'm NOT a gadget person.

But they were a gift.

Sooo......Now I'm kinda hooked.

Cut.

Fold that paper back.

Now here's the real trick!

The really good Hot tip!

Hold that edge on the left and RIP the paper off!

quick!

This little piece comes right off!

Press.

Viola!

I'm OFF to make some more!

While I did that this little friend helped out!

She's probably my best friend in the kitchen.

Four ingredients.

Put those meatballs in the crockpot with the sauce.

serve on rolls with melted cheese.

Did you notice there's not much bread?

I forgot to take a picture until we'd already started eating.

AAAH!

there's only 1/2 a roll left....

And one more bite!

Wait!!!

Let me get a picture!!!

I almost didn't make it!

picture day!

Baseball season has arrived for these two.

They are both playing "challenger baseball".

What's that, you ask?

Children with disabilities are on teams that

utilize the little league boys as "buddies" for their games.

They use the same fields as the regular little league and

have their games usually beforehand.

It is the most "feel good" sporting event I have ever been to,

And I've been to a lot!

My two little ones here LOVE it!

But...today was picture day.

As you can see, I have two teams represented.

You know what that means.

Two games every week.

Two of everything!

And today it was TWO picture times.

I had a little break between the two times.

Guess what's right down the street?

Retail Therapy!

And, I really needed some sanity!

So, I drove down the street to my local sewing machine shop.

They will be closing soon and

All the fabric was 50% off!

There was quite a bit to choose from.


Thank heavens....because I really needed the
sanity that fabric brings me!

I see some baby quilts in my future here!

While I was there I picked up one of my quilts

that's been hanging in the shop for a while now.

It belongs in a place like a sewing machine shop....

don't you think???

This is ME.

Yep.

My self portrait.

Did you smile?

Good.

You can now see that I like to

sew in slippers, robe and

I like to go FAST.

Well, now that picture day is over

I can begin cutting into that lovely fabric.

Maybe I'll have a cup of coffee first.....

Want to join me?

kindness.

I was reminded again today why I love to blog.

Besides the fact that I love to quilt,

Why do I take pictures and blab about quilting??

Well, there are just so many nice people out there!

It makes life so much sweeter!

When I asked a couple of days ago about these little blocks,

I got some help!

Joan e-mailed Ann and Ann gave me lots of great info.

The block might be called...

Boutonniere or Six Point Flower Garden.

The hexagon template fits in the middle there.

Now, WHEN will I get around to putting this together?

I don't know.

But, I do know there's a lot of

KINDNESS floating around blogland.

I'm going to hang out here some more!

Thank you Joan and Ann.

humble.

I love it when we can take something as

humble as a cloth diaper and turn into

something beautiful!!!

Jennifer did just that!

She added a simple flannel piece and

a little name tag.

Now won't that new Mommy enjoy wiping up

formula a little more??

Yes!

Here's a whole set of pretty things that are so practical!!

Lovely.

my creative space-quilt treasure.

I have a little quilt treasure that lives at my house.

These blocks were given to me a few years ago by

someone who thought I might like them.

Like Them...?

Like Them...?

how 'bout

L-O-V-E THEM???

As you can see there are a whole bunch!!

Now the sad part.

I don't know anything about these little guys.

I don't know who made them.

I don't know the name of the block.

I have never seen a quilt using this design.

Have you?!!!

They even came with the bias tape for stems

and a template because most of them are unfinished.

The template doesn't quite fit the outline of the block...

so again, I'm very curious.....

Can you cure my curiousity today??

You can see some more creative spaces here.

mending and maintenance

Here's a little dress that I really like.

The colors are great and the fabric is sort of like courdory,

but not as heavy.

I've always loved brown and pink.

And, it does look great on my little girl.

The problem is this.

The hem was basically a serged or zigzagged line along the bottom.

When it came out, I wondered how I was going to fix it.

I found some fabric that went with that pink

in my overflowing fabric cupboard.



I cut a few strips 1 1/2" wide.
sewed that on the back side.

This is where my quilting skills come in handy.
It was just like doing binding on a quilt! ;)




Rolled it over and top stitched it down.




A new hem.




A new dress!!

Then, I thought I'd share with you a simple trick.



Look under your machine.
I've had my sewing machine for 2 years and never noticed...
there's a trap door under there!!!?

I was contemplating taking the WHOLE bottom piece off to clean the lint.

Who knew there was little door there???

I like that little door idea a LOT better than
the BIG sewing machine OPERATION I was going to attempt!






note: Victoria over at bumble beans read my post and
told me there was a lot of lint farther back!
AAAH! I guess I've got to do another post on
How I managed to get my machine apart and
then couldn't figure out how to get it back together again...

houses & baskets

V over at Bumble Beans is collecting!

How many houses do you think she'll get?

I've only made 3 and the first one is a little small....

so I may have to keep that in my orphan block drawer.

These were fun to make...but,

I didn't read the directions well enough....:(

She said we could use any color.

OOPS!

I thought I was supposed to use the same colors!

I've decided that important jobs belong to someone else.

I'm forever missing those little details!

I think that's why I like quilting so much!

If I make a mistake....I can just go with it!

Then I got these baskets together

for my Liberated Amish quilt.

I'm now going to think about borders and words!

No rush!

Isn't quilting fun?