Fabric and Paint

I was looking for crocheted doilies to add to

my most recent art quilt project.

The first thing that I came to was a PAPER doily in the drawer.

An AHA! moment.

Paint and paper doily!!!!

Now I'm messing about with PAINTS!!!

And...

It's fun!!

Litttle BLUE chair

I FINALLY sent this little blue chair

off to The Alzheimer's Art quilt Intiative.

It's just been sitting around here.

Finished....

Hand quilted!!!...

Beaded....

Bound....

For a LONG time!

I finally got around to SENDING IT IN!!!

Eeeek!!!

I drag my feet about silly things sometimes!

:0

It's been given a number: #11,180

Hope it's assigned soon and finds a PROPER home!

Ooooh!

A GOOD home would be nice too!!

;)

Fun Times!

It's a GREAT day

when you get to see

YOUR OWN quilt hanging in a show!

Even BETTER when it's hanging

with some **QUILT stars***!!!

This one is in Long Beach right now

at the International Quilt Festival!!!!

The exhibit with quilts on the wall is called

"Black and White with a TWIST"

The twist is 10% of another color added to black and white.

I wandered around the show this morning

and.....

 I'm on OVERLOAD!!!

There were so many

interesting.

unusual.

fabulous.

quilts!!!!

I've got to GET busy

and get some of these ideas

OUT of my HEAD.....

and onto the FABRIC!!!!

Birthday Bag

Some leftover denim makes a GREAT bag!

I first stitched the name in...

Then added three little very simple flowers!

;)

It's big enough for swim things...

or....

book things!

Gotta love that perky lining!

?The question is....

What will I FILL IT WITH for the birthday Girl???

Hmmm...

So many possibilities!

Quilting with Tears

I just finished making these two quilts.

Quilts for my cousin's children.

She passed away right before Mother's day this year.

It was a long illness and her family was put through the ringer!!!

Her t-shirts and nightgowns went into these with some of my tears.

Tears for a life cut short.

Tears for her two children.

Tears for her husband.

They're simple quilts.

Hopefully they'll give some comfort.

I'm thankful that she had trust in God.

Only HE can really comfort us.

I told her I'd see her "tomorrow" in heaven.

Time flies....so I know it'll be soon!

It's such a blessing to have HOPE!

Quilts were made by cutting 4" strips of clothing

and sewing them together in rows.

I used basting spray on fleece....NO batting.

I quilted wavy lines along the seams.....

Then added a binding.

IT WORKED!

;)

Garden Thoughts

*Finishing a quilt is rewarding!

*Using up scraps makes the finish even SWEETER.

* Pebbles don't ALL have to be similar in size...

* You can make bigger pebbles when you get tired

of the smaller ones... ;)

* Pieced and pretty fabric makes a GREAT backing.

* When you've made a GENEROUS sized quilt back...

there will be big pieces cut off the edges....

* These are perfect for cutting into 2 1/2" strips for binding!

* You don't have to search for ANOTHER piece of fabric!

* Searching takes a while at my house!!!!

* Even though I LOVE these flowers...

I know they won't LAST.

* A quilted GARDEN DOES!!!!

A garden quilt

I've added some "Pebbles" to my garden quilt!

Pebbles take more thread...

but the pattern is Soooo forgiving!

AFter all...

Pebbles are NEVER alike!

They come in ALL sizes!

And they're not perfectly round.

They provide the PERFECT quilting background!

My flower garden is surrounded

by a simple TRELLIS.

;)

Today...

Hopefully...

I'll be finishing this one up...

pebbling the narrow border on this quilt!

The Finish Line

I'm VERy close to finishing this one!

Woo Hoo!

A few stitches here...

A few stitches there...

Pretty soon you're almost DONE!!!

:0

The 16 patches are ALL done and now I'm filling in the sashing.

No need to mark when the squares are this small!

(2 inches)

Pretty soon it will be a finished quilt...

and....

I'll have to find another quilt friend something else to carry around with me!!!

I think I'm hooked on hand quilting!

Old and New

I quilted a quilt top today!

It's the perfect blend of OLD and NEW.

The old homespun and plaids along with

the NEW camper fabric.

They Just GO together.....don't they?

It's the perfect camping quilt.

Cozy.

and.

Comfortable.

With some whimsy thrown in!!!

I was even able to rescue an orphan quilt block.

This TREE seems to be "right at home" in this quilt.

Rescuing quilt blocks is a hobby of mine.  :)

Even using these old plaids and homespuns

felt like a "rescue effort".

Oooh!

Aren't these Rescue efforts FUN?????

Good Neighbors

I had quite a few 2 1/2" strips leftover from a project.

Quite a few....but...not enough.

I did what many quilters do.

I MADE DO!

The cream panel was added

with a vine, a few leaves..

and some fun circles found in a small batik scrap at my house!!!

It all came together!!!

:)

I MAY add a border.

I'm going to look at it and dream a little bit more first.

I will go back and zigzag OR blanket stitch around the applique.

Ironing applique on is SO easy!

I should do it more often!

(The product I used is called steam a seam.)

This quilt is a gift...

Like so many of my quilts are.

They're ALL special...

but this one is EXTRA special.

It will be given to my neighbors who are moving away soon.

They have been the BEST neighbors and I'll miss them.

Terribly.

Quilting gives me a place to grieve.

A place to be sad.

The stitches are a bit of healing for me.

Just one

A little block for Lori.

It is paper pieced.

6"

Pattern here.

I'm in AWE of you quilters who make

WHOLE quilts using these

itty bitty...

teeny tiny...

perfectly pieced blocks!!!

YOU know who you ARE!!!

Not sure I will ever have the patience to do it!!!

I will say making this block

Humbled me..

and also made me want to TRY to MAKE one of those

AMAZING quilts!!!

I CAN make ONE block......

but a whole bunch???

Hmmm....

A First!

Here's my friend's FIRST quilt!

Isn't it a BEAUTY??

She came over to sew today and

FINISHED this top!

She began by making lots of 16 patches

using this method.

Then...

She found this BEAUTIFUL vintage fabric

to alternate with her pieced blocks.

The vintage fabric was found at a rummage sale

and in it's former life had been CURTAINS!!!

I love that buttery yellow!!!

While she pieced this lovely quilt today.....

I worked on my botched banner..

and FINISHED!!

Woo Hoo!!!

Quilting with friends ALWAYS

makes the sewing SWEETER!!!

Disqualified!

There I was...

Sewing REALLY big rings onto a sheet.

(This is a big flag for a children's program at church.)

I was dreaming about OLYMPICS.

Sewing Olympics.

I guess that's what a quilt show is...

But....

 there's no gold medal for the FASTEST quilter..

Is there??

That's the one I would go for!!!

LOL!!!

I had the cotton sheet on hand...

but had to buy the felt.

I used a BIG, big serving bowl to get the ring size!

Glad I HAD THAT!!!

Oh boy, I was feeling good about finishing this up!

I was feeling like the FASTEST quilter in the land!!!

I even found some thread around here that matched the colors!

Maybe there's an award for that too???

  ;)

I was having fun in dreamland...

When....

ZIP!!!

I cut the bottom off too SHORT!!!!

UGh!

Double Ugh!!!

If you were my neighbor you would have heard me CRY!!!

:0

Guess I'll be doing some UN sewing NEXT!!!

"Disqualified!!!"

I can hear the announcer NOW!!!

:)

Thoughts on Labels

Another quilt is quilted.

WHEW!!!!

This one was a biggy!!!

Please remind me to say "NO" when asked to make

a queen sized monster....o.k.???

I wanted to get this labeled and OFF quickly...

but found out this past week

that my handy dandy label pens are not holding up!!!

When I spied this quilt last week I noticed

the print on the label I had written had all WASHED away!!

EEeeeK!!!

I did a little research thinking maybe I'd buy some

pre-printed labels for future quilts.

They are almost $1 a piece.

(maybe YOU know a good source???)

I began to brainstorm!

I have a quilting/darning foot....

and I have DARK thread!!!

I made one myself.

It's my first try...so don't be too hard on me.....;)

I figure my stitching will probably last longer than

the pens I had been using!!!!

And my Dad who's getting this one...

won't care that my penmanship is not

TOP notch! ;)

I used freezer paper on the back and peeled it off.

DON'T do that.

In the future I will use an interfacing.

;)

After attaching this label...

We're going to eat!!!

One of my favorite simple recipes....

Cheeseburger pie!!!

I split the meat in half ....

Double the recipe....

and sneak in some zucchini!!!

I'm always trying to find places to put THAT!!!

The quilt is quilted and bound.

The label is DONE.

And dinner AWAITS!

;)

Do as I SAY not as I DO!

I used a blanket for batting on this one.

DON'T do it.

Many of you advised me to make a denim quilt

when I blogged about my son's special request.

So.....

I thought about backing this with denim...

but my son said that didn't sound cozy enough! ;)

I thought it was a GREAT idea!!!!

I already had the quilt top ready to go...

otherwise...

I DEFINITELY would have made it DENIM!

I quilted this very SPARINGLY!!!

AND...

It wasn't EASY!!!

Don't DO IT!!!

I hope to never do it again.

:0

I survived.

The DEED is DONE...

and I can move on!

And guess what???

It IS heavy!!!!

At least it WORKED, huh?

Oh! the things we do for our CHILDREN!

;)

++++++++++++++++++++

My husband and big kids were all gone for the last few days

so I got a LOT of quilting in!!!

The two younger ones, who WERE home, don't mind simple meals.

So I did a little cooking.....

if you call SPAGETTIOS cooking!!!

LOL!!!!

These quilts were also quilted up...

and didn't tax my muscles as much as that heavy thing did!!!

They're quilted and bound...

READY to go!!!

Here are the backs using mostly donated fabrics!

Thank you so much!

I will be giving them away this week!

Thank you to ALL of you who helped out with these!

Group projects are ALWAYS so much fun!!!

P.S.

Just got a GREAT big BEAR hug

from my TALL 18 year old

for making him that BIG ol' heavy quilt!!!

:)

I'm Smiling now.

:)