impromptu home tour....

Welcome to Nancy's house!

I had the pleasure this last weekend of

getting an impromptu tour of her

serene home.

The table is set.

Ready for a yummy meal.

Everything was neat and tidy.

She didn't know she would be giving me a little tour!

But I'm so glad she did!

Aren't you?

Wouldn't you like to sit and read a book here?

Me too.

Pretty bags that hold...

who knows?

But they sure look better than

the piles at my house.

Her kitchen.

Oh my! How beautiful!

What a restful home.

Buntings hanging in the guest bath.

Don't you think they add fun and whimsy?

What pretty colors!

We'll end this tour with a quilt

that sits on the end of her bed.

This is the quilt I made for her last year.

A thank you gift for all she does for the

many college students that she

gives to every year!

One of them is my daughter!

Red and white kind of fits in her house....

don't you think?

These scallops were a first for me!

Whoo! Hoo!

In the next post I'd like to share with you

the large collection of crossstitch

and redwork that Nancy has created!

You'll love it.

home again.

Here's my unfinished traveling companion.

This little "placematforthemiddleofthetable"

kept me busy on the plane when I wasn't watching a movie...

and in the very few moments I had of quiet time while I was away.

I took some embroidery floss and beads...
and doodled away on this pretty fabric.
I think I'll leave it unfinished in the middle of my table
and take it along next time I head to a waiting room.
Seems like I'm in waiting rooms quite frequently.

Here's the reason I didn't get too much done.
This girl kept me busy!!
And what a fun busy it was!!!
There were tennis matches, friends to meet,
restaurants to explore....
She even arranged a shopping date with a
very creative wife of one of the professors
while she took exams!

What a treat!!!

I really had to limit purchases.

You all know how airline travel is these days!

But that didn't stop me from getting some

super cute fat quarters!

Who could resist these?

travel kit.

I'm going away for a long weekend with my daughter!

Yeah!

Sewing supplies are a high priority as I pack!

I can't take a sewing machine along....:(

so I'll have to make do with handwork!

I love the ability at home to move from one project to another

and to have all my supplies handy.

I sure hope I'm remembering everything I need!

The project above represents a

LONG TERM commtiment.

Here it is so far.

All those circles will eventually have to be joined together...

somehow or other!!

aaah!!!

I might get tired of working on that one

so I'm bringing a no brainer

for the middle of my kitchen table.

What do you call it when it's

~smaller than a table runner

~ the size of a placement

~used in the middle of the table

?????

One pretty piece of fabric....

a simple border.....


And lots of embellishments to doodle with!
I'm ready.

See you in a few days!
Wonder if I'll come home with some loot??!

pink and brown.

My first completed top for the graduating high school seniors!

Whoo HOo!

Isn't it lovely?

The ladies and girls at church made all those 16 patches.

My friend Linda squared most of them up.

(which really helps when you're putting a

bunch of blocks together!

Even when you know everyone's supposed to

use a 1/4" seam....it rarely works out perfectly!)

What a wonderful team effort!

One quilt top down.

six quilts to go!!!

Deadline: JUNE!

The sewing machine's been hummin'!!

crockpot queen.

I entered this quilt in a quilt show this last weekend

in Glendale, Califoria.

This is a sort of memory quilt of my Sunday afternoons:

Crockpot meals with the family including

my son and daughter-in-law and sometimes friends.

I had so much fun making this quilt!

The process of making it brought to mind all

those happy memories.

I hand appliqued all those images on there

then I machine quilted it.

I thought, if you've ever dreamed of entering a quilt show,

you'd be interested in what the judges said.

Here's a close-up of those potatoes.

Now for the judges comments!

Best features:
~Whimsical, fun quilt to explore.
~Quilting motifs are well chosen.

Areas needing improvement:
~applique stitches should be smoother and tighter.
~Strive for more precision in machine piecing.
~Strive for smaller and smoother quilting stitches.

I think the judges pretty well summed up my quilt,
don't you?
I have a long way to go when it comes to precision!
But I'm sure having a fun time getting there!


I hope that this encourages you to enter a quilt show!

unfinished.

Here it is.

All the quilt tops that are waiting for their day.

Their "quilting" day that is.

This pile reminds me....

I've got a lot of work to do.

It also is a treasure trove when I need

a quilt....right now!

I pulled this one out yesterday for a new baby.

Simple.
It began with this little piece of cute, cute fabric
I bought for $1.
Instead of cutting it up I used it for the border.




Then found some fabric I liked that kind of matched.

Those little dark squares were appliqued on.
That way I had a lot less matching to do when I was piecing.
I usually try to find the easy way! :)
And believe it or not...
Appliqueing those little squares down was quick!

This little quilt gets a life today!
I'm off to quilt and then give it away!

spring cleaning

I did some spring cleaning.

Two windows....whoo hoo!!!

Every little bit helps over here!

I never tackle the whole house in one day!

These two clean windows will keep me satisfied

for a while....especially since these windows

are in the BOY's room.

You know what boys are like?

I took the curtains down to wash.

WOW!

What a difference sunshine makes!!

I can now see the quilt that lives in here.

I made this one last year...long enough to cover

my 6 foot plus son.

Can you see all that light?

I'll hang it so you can admire it without the glare.

This one was super simple.

A bunch of 5" squares sewn into 4 patches.

black sashing that is not cotton.

I bought the black on sale at a discount place.

(about $1 - $2 a yard).

It's kind of like that fabric that you use for uniforms

that never wears out!!

I wondered how it work in this quilt.

And guess what?

It's great!

I've washed it a few times and it comes out just right.

See?

It pays to save money and experiment!

Now.....here's the reality of teenage boys.....

Other than the fact that they never let the

Sunshine in!

Dirty socks!!!!

I'm off to do laundry and vacuum dog hair.

But.....somebody loves those socks. :)

charity.

I belong to a local quilt guild here in Long Beach.

Every month there are quilt kits to take home and

work on for local charities.

This guild has given over 200 quilts to these

charities each year...isn't that amazing?

In fact, last week at the meeting we had the

volunteer coordinator from the local veteran's hospital

tell us how the quilts they receive are making a

difference there! It was very inspiring!

So I picked up a quilt kit Thursday night.

It was full of fun, happy fabric.

Little did I know that during that evening my

cousin who is battling cancer was admitted to the hospital.

After visiting her and praying for her I had a quilt to make.

And you know what?

This quilt was so helpful to ME!!

Here I was thinking I was going to help someone else by making it!

As I worked with this cute fabric I could

imagine happiness in a child's eyes.When someone is sick you really want to

DO something!



Who could be totally sad using this fabric?




It put a smile on my face.

And it gave me the opportunity to

Do something!

When our loved ones are sick we can pray,

but activity also really helps ME!

And this activity was the perfect prescription!

friday.

This picture doesn't look much different than the last post's picture.

But it is.

The difference??

DONE.

done. done.

It's quilted.

It's bound.

Ready for some use!!

Why, oh why did I wait sooo long?

This quilt began with a bunch of leaves from a pattern.

I made a few and then tried to figure out what to do with them.

I hate following patterns.

I will begin with a pattern.....sometimes...but then...

I want to do my own thing!

I think it's a rebellious streak in my nature.

And Hey!

Who does it hurt? :)

I ended up appliqueing this tree in the middle

with the leaves

floating around everything.

I'm adding this to Amy's sew and tell.

What a great way to end the week!

I'm going to go see what everyone's been up to.

one year ago.

About one year ago I went on a driving trip

and took this quilt along.

This is one of my handquilting projects.

You know...you can't speed through those!

I knew when that driving trip was over that I was

CLOSE to being done...but this beauty went

into my "get to it later" areas at home here.

I had NO idea how close I had come to finishing.

well.....would you believe it??

20" left!!

I'm not kidding!

What a shame it had to sit there and wait for me that long!!

I pulled it out because I want to begin another

handquilting project.

My liberated amish quilt.

Here.


Except I think I'm deleting that applique...




And handquilting simple diagonal lines.
The jury's still out for those of you who like to share
quilting wisdom. ;)


I was thinking of using a dark thread (black)
or some different colors.
Maybe I'll even use some embroidery floss.





I splurged and bought this wool batting that
I've heard is nice to hand quilt.


So....before I begin this one...
I'd better finish the last 20" on my other quilt.
Right? Right.

Here's an update on this one.

Thanks to those of you who sent some suggestions...

but I had already sewn half of these corners in!!!

I loved the input...but don't love to rip out!

My next step, I think, will be to add a brown border

top and bottom and then maybe a little more pink

to make the quilt rectangular instead of square.

Keep your comments comin'...

It sure helps keep me goin'...:)

color

This is on my design "Floor" today.

Pink and brown.

Remember me blabbing about the senior's quilts a month or so ago?

I've taken the blocks that the ladies at church made.

Squared them up.

And added strips and cornerstones.

I'm very thankful.

Why?
Because My biggest problem today is....

What color should I put in those empty spaces around the quilt?

Wouldn't it be nice if that were the biggest problem

any of us had every day!!

Well, today the problem is little and I'm

Thankful!

This little problem also involves a fabric shopping trip.

See...sometimes problems bring opportunities!

Wonderful opportunities!! :)

I'm also thankful I have some color outside!

......Thanks to my husband!

We have a wedding anniversary tomorrow

so I thought I'd show you some of his flowers and plants.

This is one of the many ways he gives to me!

Thanks honey!

Yellow.



Orange.

pink.

white.

purple/green/gray???

bluish purple.

RED.

Color that welcomes.

I think he's got all the colors covered...

Don't you?

Thank you for joining me on that little garden tour!

It's always nicer to have someone along!