Quilts For Kids

This little crib quilt came as a free kit from Quilts for Kids. The kit had a pattern, strips cut to size, backing fabric and a label. The fabric is wonderful, current, and bright. All you have to provide is the batting, a little time, and the return postage! The finished quilts are distributed all around the US to various hospitals and groups. I was very happy when I opened the package and saw that the fabric was really good quality and the pre-cut strips were straight and the right size! Now I just have to wash it and send it back to the organization. How easy is that? I know, I know.....a lot of folks will say that the quilts we make for charity should stay in our own area, but this is a national organization that distributes quilts where they are needed. The makers of "Downy Fabric Softener" has partnered with "Quilts For Kids" to provide 10,000 quilts to children in hospitals.

If you'd like more info, visit Downy.com/HelpingKids or to request a kit, go to Quiltsforkids.org

BOM Placemat

One of the guilds I belong to is doing a block of the month, but after so many years of doing these, it becomes a question of what to do with these blocks. So, this year I have decided to make placemats. Thanks to 3 Creative Studios for the idea. Check out their blog for some really good ideas and freebies. Anyway, the first block is "paper pinwheels". It had a plain 6" center so I decided to replace it with a pinwheel, added borders to the sides and this is the result. I won three, one yard pieces, from the same line in 2003! It's wonderful fabric but really didn't go with anything I had or any project on my to do list. Sad that it had to wait so long to become part of something but I'm happy with the way it turned out. If you look close there is some of the salmon-y color in the little flowers.

Finger Painting?!

I'm almost (notice I said "almost") embarrassed to post these pictures, but we had too much fun not to share. The first picture shows the gelatin "plate" with a few squirts of paint on it, paint bottles, and Brandy's hands. You can make the plates in any shape....we had rectangle, round, domed, and large square ones. It's really amazing just how tough and firm these things are! We were able to pick them up, wipe or rinse them off with water, plus you can re-use them for several weeks if you store them in the fridge. Just make sure they are well labeled....can you just imagine what would happen if someone tried to eat some?

Okay, next picture is Kaye's large square plate with various colors on it. See the big comb? That really created some interesting patterns. Once the paint is on, a piece of pfd fabric is carefully laid on top and pressed into the paint. We used a brayer, rolling pin, combs, and a baker's bench knife, not forgetting to mention our hands, to spread all that paint around. The gelatin plate "gave" just enough to allow us to push and skoosh and smush all we wanted. It really was like being in kindergarten or even pre-school.

Yep, those are Brandy's hands again. We gave up on the plastic gloves! Acrylic paint washes off!

It took us awhile to figure out that we were probably using way too much paint........some of the pieces are stiff as a board! Think a sewing machine needle will go through 1/4" of paint? We tied a clothes line across the kitchen to hang some pieces and the rest are on the floor. Now the big challenge is what on earth will we do with these? Some are "very interesting", our polite way of saying yuk, but you just have to imagine some neat stitching and embellishing on them.

Yo-yo's and Applique

Yo-yo's....I need many, many more of these cute little things! This project was put away for awhile (not telling how long!), and almost forgotten. It seems that January is the month to dig out our ufo's or phd's and make a list of those projects begging to be finished and this one was yelling pretty loud. Anyhow, the pattern calls for 384 yo-yo's. Yes, 384!! Not to mention all the applique and bias stems! Each hexagon block has 6 yo-yo's.......that comes out to a lot of blocks, 64 to be exact. Time to re-think this project even though I love, love the finished quilt, it needs to be quite a bit smaller. The design comes from Barb Adams and Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs and is in their book "Lovina's Pressed Flowers".

There are just too many new and exciting patterns, fabric, and techniques that I want to try, to ever get everything finished. Example in point: tomorrow three of my friends are coming over to play with jello! I just put my gelatin "plate" in the fridge to harden. Phil just rolls his eyes and shakes his head when strange things happen around here. Anyway, what does fabric, gelatin, and paint equal? Check back in a few days to find out. If you subscribe to Quilting Arts magazine, check out the cover of the Aug/Sept issue for a hint.

Surprise Package!!

This package came in the mail Saturday morning from Marina who lives in Australia! I couldn't wait to open it, especially since it really did come as a total surprise! Marina was my swap partner last fall as part of the Stitchers Angel Swap hosted by Helen Stubbings. We've become cyber-friends and e-mail back and forth about once a week. It has been so much fun and very interesting to exchange information and ideas with someone on the other side of the world. Marina is sweltering in the heat of summer while I'm trying to stay warm 'cause it's the middle of winter here. What's even more interesting is the fact that we both have been working on an on-line bom from Bunny Hill Designs!! Of course, I'm way behind on mine....but that's nothing new for  me! 

There is a calendar called "Wild Australians" (animals indigenous to AU), three big pieces of fabric, which I have a plan for already), and a copy of Patchwork.  Now, what Marina doesn't know, is that there is an article in the magazine that references my other Stitchers Angel, Deb Gardiner, who is a designer of dolls and other things!!  Is all of this a coincidence or what?  I thinks it is pretty neat and so...Thank You, Marina, you are a keeper.

Patchwork Posies and UFO's

Happy New Year everyone! One of my "resolutions" should be to post more often! I've been reading all of your blogs and forgot about mine.

Well, I've been working on this little quilt from a workshop with the gals from Blackbird Designs, Barb and Alma. Yes, it was a couple of Januarys ago and I've been trying to hand quilt it for the past year (or so). My hand quilting goes ver-r-ry slowly, but I am determined to finish this one. All of those little round buds were supposed to be appliqued circles which were replaced by yo-yo's because they are more fun to make plus they add a little character. The background fabric is creamy tan like the full photo, not off white like the close-up.

I've spent the past week trying to re-organize my sewing room along with a lot of other bloggers. lol My DH tells me that it seems like I'm alway putting things away or just moving stuff from one spot to another....he's right. Time to weed out things I know I'll never use - craft & quilting stuff - and find homes for those ufo's I'm never going to finish. Why do so many of us, crafters and quilters, seem to always have multiple projects going on at one time? Is it because we are creative and the creative mind never stops? Or do we just become bored without multiple projects to work on?

All Things Christmas Sampler

"HAPPY HOLIDAYS" everyone!  It's Christmas Eve, is your shopping done? baking? quilting/sewing projects?

It's not quite finished and it's Christmas Eve!!!! This was supposed to be ready for last Christmas! Where did the year go??!! At least it is bound and ready to hang, but still needs lots of embellishments, especially the bottom row. Nothing like naked ornaments.

The tree has red beads and still need something to sparkle up the star, and the Christmas Pudding Cake has sequins and beads on the holly berries. This little quilt might be one that has something added each year until it says "enough, no more, you are done"!!

The pattern for this was a bom from Angie Padilla's website. She has a lot of really cute ideas and applique patterns. Some are free and some are for members only. It's a fun site to browse.

Maine Christmas Wreath

Each year, our niece who lives in Maine, sends us a fresh wreath with a little bag of balsam needles. Oh-h-h-h, the fragrance is so wonderful and always brings back treasured memories of when we lived there. Yes, our niece and family make and sell wreaths each year, along with some other decorative items. Aren't we lucky to have them as family!!

The bottom picture is a basket full of the little bags filled with balsam needles. Yes, I've saved almost all of them! The red one, lower right, is the fresh one. When you give it a little shake or squeeze, the scent just fills the room!

Thanks Louise and Tim. We love our wreath

Ravioli Day 2009

Yesterday was our annual "Ravioli Making" day. Every year the family gets together to make dozens of ravioli for Christmas dinner. The first picture shows part of the assembly line with Nicole, (a friend of the girls) who joined us for the first time, Alyssa and Taylor, waiting for dough strips.

Papa feeds the dough into the machine and Nicole tried her hand at cranking the dough through, while Alyssa gives her a hand with the final pass.

Kathy is in charge of popping the ravioli out of the cutting trays and keeping track of how many we make. We broke the record this year with around 26 dozen!! That's 312 ravioli, or about 156 cheese and 156 chicken/spinach!! OMG! No wonder we were tired by the end of the afternoon.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the "Ravioli Squad". Nana, Papa, Taylor, Alyssa, Stephanie, and Mom Kathy. It's a wonderful tradition, one that I hope will continue over the years to come. Our son lives in Kansas and he and his wife make ravioli, and our daughter who lives in Florida has started making them with her family as well, so we will all enjoy this tasty treat during the holidays.

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season and a reminder to continue sharing the traditions you may have. They make wonderful memories to share with the generations.

Fun Giveaway!

Click on over to My Brown Bag Studio to enter Kimberly's delightful giveaway!  She's made some really cute holiday items.....a little pinwheel quilt, a very cute wooden sign, a wreath, plus more.  Leave a comment to be entered into the drawing on Dec. 13th.  Hm-m-m, the more that enter, the less my chances are of winning! 

Sam's New Stuffie

Yesterday, when I looked in the "doggie toy" basket, it dawned on me that everything left in it was missing half its stuffing, chewed up, stiff from slobber, or just worn out. And....only one still had a squeeker that squeeked!! Poor dog, no wonder he hasn't been playing much. He's been going over to the basket, looks in it and walks away. So, this morning I decided to make him one with some left over fleece, plus, I had some squeekers that I bought quite awhile ago (found 'em last night!). As soon as he saw the fleece and heard the squeek, he knew that whatever was on the table was HIS! When that last stitch went in, it was throw it now or be attacked! The whole thing only took 10-15 min. from start to finish, so off to dig out more scraps of fleece to make a few more. I used some odd strips of batting for some of the stuffing which makes it just a bit firmer for chewing.

Seasons Greetings

This little mini stitched up fast and adorable. The pattern is from Cheryl Goss of "Willowberry Designs" and measures 8 1/2" x 13 1/2" . The details really don't show up well on this photo, but you can click right on it to see the stitching and beads. The hanger loops are ribbon with small jingle bells. I used "tiger tape big stitch" as my quilting guide. It's 1/4" wide tape with markings for the up - down stitch length and makes it easy to sew even stitches.

Click on the title "Seasons Greetings" to go to Willowberry Designs blog.

Knitted-Beaded Necklace

One of my friends asked me if I had posted anything new since Taylor's big birthday. Now, I know she checks almost daily, so either my life has been extremely boring, or I've just been a bit lazy with my postings! Hm-m-m, might be a bit of both, lol. Anyway, here is a picture of one of my latest endeavors. Once I understood the sequence of where and how many beads to knit in, it only took a couple of hours (I'm a very slow knitter). One of my teen grandgirls oh-h-h-ed and ah-h-h-ed so much that I agreed to make her a purple one, which means the other two girls will want one. Sure wish I knew how to knit faster, 'cause I really want to make socks, but using 4-5 needles at one time really intimidates me.

Big day for Taylor!!

Happy 18th birthday, Taylor! She had to show us (grandparents) what her Mom and Sisters did to her car! All four sides have something written on it, but my camera was out of memory so only two sides are shown. Taylor reminds me of Mighty Mouse.....she's all of 4'10", a strong gust of wind could blow her away, but she makes her presence known. We always know when she's around because there's constant chatter and motion. She just makes you smile (when she's not tired...then it's grumpy, don't talk to me). I'm not sure just how she drives this big Yukon but she doesn't seem to have any problem. So, another milestone for Taylor!!

Crazy Christmas Cactus

I got this plant about 10 years ago when we still lived in MA, so it survived a cross-country move. Apparently, it loves it's home because it now blooms about three times a year....actually, parts of it bloom at different times from now until spring. There must have been two plants originally because as you can see, some flowers are red and the others have a pinkish tint to them. I'm surprised that after all these years the colors are still so separate. The red ones are starting to fade, but there are still lots of buds of both colors.

Flea Market Fancy give-a-way!!

Hop on over to Sew Take A Hike blog for a chance to win some great fabric from the "Flea Market Fancy" line, an autographed copy of DS Quilts, and more. Make sure you read all the instructions in order to qualify and grab her button while you are there.

Teton Retreat...hard at work

We had a wonderful three days of quilting. This retreat was a "do your own thing" retreat. It was fun to see what everyone was working on and gave us a chance to dig out those UFO's, or as I like to say, our PHD's (projects half done). Lots of tips, techniques, and short-cuts were shared by all. Don't you love to learn new things while having fun?

Teton Patchworks Retreat

These are just a few of the projects we worked on during our retreat in Idaho. One of our talented ladies showed us her "10 minute" tablerunner. The photo on the top left is of the 21, yes, 21 tablerunners that we all made. Of course, we had to make a "quick" trip to the quilt shop for fabric to make them!! Continuing clockwise, the next picture is a "fractured picture". The original picture is enlarged and divided into sections, then each person in the group makes one of the sections. The trick is to get all the sections to fit together! The two tops that I worked on are on the right. One is a wacky four patch, and the other is an on-line bom from last year by Angie Papadilla. Cindy was working on her pinwheels and Kaye was putting together a block exchange from another group. We really made a lot of progress on our projects even though we talked, laughed, and ate, and ate.

Angel Swap Goodies

These are the goodies that my swap Angel made for me. Debra made a journal cover with an appliqued rose, a super cute flower pincushion, and a zippered bag, all of which I will be able to use this weekend (yep, another quilting get-a-way). See the little pieces of allsorts? They are buttons! What's really interesting is that my hubby loves licorice and had actually bought a bag that morning (yesterday)!! The other little bag that's reflecting (darn) contains little Christmas Pudding buttons. Deb is a designer of cloth dolls and stitcheries, and her daughter makes the buttons. She has lots of fun patterns for sale, so pay her a visit at: www.wattlebee.com . Oh I forgot to tell you that she is from Australia.

Thank you Deb....I'm so happy you were my Stitching Angel!

Pie Pincushion Winner!!!

Here is a picture of what Cori of Chitter Chatter Designs sent me for her give-a-way last week! This pincushion pattern is the cutest "pie" that I've seen. She included the tan background fabric for the "crust", red and blue for the "fruit", green wool for the stems, and a strip of bias ready to use as the stem! Last, there's a sweet little package of beaded pins waiting for their new home! Thanks a bunch, Cori! Can you tell that I love it?

Angel Swap

Yea! Marina received her goodie package from me!  I have really enjoyed this swap, especially the e-mails to and from Marina.  It was hard to keep my identity secret until the package arrived! Her blog is now listed on my sidebar, so pop in and say hello.... www.maizieandtheboys.blogspot.com 

First 12 x 12 project

This is my first 12 x 12 project. The quilts are 12" square (close) and are designed based on a word. The word this time was "cold". I think I will call it "Cold Night in Maine" because of the birch trees and pine trees. The cardinal is there because there needed to be a dot of color and chickadees (state bird of ME) would blend in too much. Besides, the cardinal is the state bird of Ohio where I grew up. I wanted to use batting for the snow, but didn't want another layer of batting behind it, so I took a larger piece, cut the curve for the snow, put the snow piece on the top of the dark fabric and the other piece underneath the dark fabric That way there is only one layer of batting for the whole thing. You can't really see that the thread is a sparkly white mettalic and that I free motioned some snowflakes in the background.

More Make A Difference Day Photos

The first picture is us (Winnie and me) delivering some quilts to St. Anne's Shelter last Saturday. This mornings paper had an article and photo of St. Anne's showing sleeping mats covering the lobby floor in anticipation of an overflow need for shelter due to a snow storm that began early yesterday. At the very least, there were enough quilts to keep the kids warm!

These two pictures were taken at Archway House.  Thanks to the generosity of all the quilters who donated quilts (and their time), we were able to meet our goal of one quilt for each child who spends some time there.  The young staff is great with the kids and provide counseling along with a fun sense of humor.  All in all, it was an eye-opening yet gratifying day.  Now to start all over again for next year.  If you have any extra quilts or fabric or batting that you'd like to contribute, leave a comment on this blog.

Make A Difference Day Update

A previous post shows lots and lots of quilts that were collected from many generous quilters here in Utah, and this was the last stop. Saturday Winnie and I delivered 22+ quilts to Archway House (for teens), and 10+ quilts to St. Anne's Shelter. Today I took 8 or 10 to the Children's Justice Center and this last bunch of 21 quilts to Catholic Charities.

We all hear of the many places that try to provide for the homeless, families in need, distressed children and on and on, but until you actually visit these places, it's hard to fully understand just how much they depend on volunteers and donations. I'm not talking about just cash donations, but baby food, diapers, toiletries and too many things to list here.

Big, BIG Givaway!!

No, not here on my blog, at least not yet.  Check out the Pumpkin Patch Primitive Quilt Shoppe's blog for a chance to win!  The prize is A Fat Quarter Bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics!! How neat is that?  Go to: http://pumpkinpatchprimitivequiltshoppe.blogspot.com or click on the title of this post.  Good luck!!

Angel Swap 2009

Here is a picture of the items I'm sending to my swap partner in Australia. There is a ditty bag, needlekeep, mug wrap and pincushion. It has been really fun to get e-mails from (can't tell you until she receives them) her and to lurk on her blog! The gal at the post office said that it would take about two weeks to get to AU from here. Sure hope she like everything. If you get a chance to participate in next year's Angel Swap, don't pass it up! Happy stitching everyone.

Quilts, quilts & more quilts!!

Just look at this load of quilts!! Three armloads and a car full!! We (Winnie, Sue, and I) have been getting together to work on charity quilts for "Make A Difference Day" which is a week from Saturday. Today we were at the Senior Center working away, up to our eyeballs in fabric and batting, when in walks one of our friends, Kaye (she's on the right in the picture). Kaye has been collecting quilts from local guilds for distribution and brought more than 40 quilts for us to take to a local youth services center. We chose the youth center because it is for kids from 11-18, most of whom are awaiting placement in foster homes or in need of counseling. Most quilts that are made for charity are crib size and girly. It seems that the boys and especially teens are kind of forgotten, but not this year!

Kudos to Winnie and Sue, who started this quilt-a-thon about 12 yrs. ago. With all the quilts that Kaye brought today, we will be able to give love and warmth to lots of kids, big and small. Thank you to all of you out there who have donated these quilts throughout the year. Working together makes things like this possible.

Sleeping on the job!!

Is this called "sleeping on the job"?? This morning I decided to cut batting for some charity quilts that a group of us are making. As soon as I got up to get the tape measure, Sam decided that this stuff might just make a comfy bed. After several attempts to keep him off, I had to stand the roll of batting upright. Maybe he wants a quilt of his own?

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Head on over to Parkcitygirls blog to have a peek at some of the quilts entered in the "Fall Quilt Festival".  There are hundreds of quilts to check out, so grab your favorite cuppa something, get comfy, and start clicking!  Yep, I've got one entered,too. There is a Quilt Fest button in the left column which will take you right to it, or you can click on the title of this post.  Have fun.

Who's in My Pumpkin Patch

This pattern is actually called "Grin In The Night" from Kim Diehl's book, Simple Seasons. Kim taught this class during our annual Quilt Fest a couple of years ago, just before the book came out, so we got to test the pattern. It was a fun class and for me, a new way to machine applique. This wall hanging measures 28 1/2"x 36 1/2" and is quite bright. I hung it in the kitchen (dining area) on the only large wall, which you see when you walk in. I also put a fall table runner and placemats on the table and counter. Wanna guess what he saw? Not the bright wallhanging, but the two small placemats!!

New Bag

New bag

Check out my new bag! It's a Bunny Hill design using a "honey bun" roll. I haven't decided whether or not I want to add ribbon ties to each end like the pattern or just leave it as is. The bag is designed with the knitter in mind as a project bag (18" long), but it's just the right size to carry a 12"x 6" ruler, rotary cutter, and a small quilting project. There are five pockets inside which makes finding things easy. I actually got most of it sewn while we were on vacation in Midway. Yes, I took my sewing machine![Photo]

Changes

I finally found the courage to venture further into the unknown and make changes to this blog.  When you are told to delete code for the current background in order to put in a new one, the question is, will I lose everything already there?  Well, it worked!  Let me know if you like the changes....or not.  I'm spending far too much time playing with this stuff and not enough time working on the stack of projects waiting to be finished!! 

Sam & Nikki

Sam has always been in a one dog house and thinks he's king of the neighborhood. We had Nikki, our daughter's dog for several nights and they had to decide who was going to be pack leader! They ended up taking turns at being boss and it was really funny to watch the interaction between them. They are so totally different in personality and behavior. As you can see, they finally settled down after a day of play. I think Sam will miss her, although now he has all my attention again!

Kaleidoscope block

This is the block started in Paula Nadelstern's class, "Needlestars". The corners aren't sewn on yet, so don't look too close. I'm really happy with the center....it came out pretty good for the first block. It takes a lot of precision and patience to transfer guide marks onto the templates for fussy cutting each piece! Now I know why the templates I made at least 10 yrs. ago were still in Paula's book (I found them when I pulled her book off the shelf to take this class!). I started quilting because I wanted to make a kaleidoscope quilt, after watching a show on TV. Needless to say it wasn't even a "Stack 'n Whack block. I had been quilting, learning from books & magazines as I went my merry way, until we moved to MA. There were lots of quilters and shops and classes! Need I say more? Bethany Reynolds came to one of the shops to teach (before her first book) her methods, and I was hooked. Along comes Paula's book, but I think I was too intimidated to actually cut into the fabric after trying to make my design and templates. Her new fabric, which has bilateral symmetry, makes it so-o-o much easier to achieve a complex design.

Class with Melody Crust

Melody Crust was one of our National Teachers this year. I was lucky enough to take several of her classes which included beading, free motion quilting with decorative threads, and what to look at, and think about when designing borders. I learned a lot and came away with loads of ideas.

Quilt Fest 2009

Here is just a sampling of the quilts from this year's show. We had a Baby Jane show as well. What stunning quilts!! The background is an OMG quilt (I didn't say "gosh") with over 5000 pieces! The quilt depicting President Obama is beyond description and taken from the cover of Time magazine. The applique quilt is a work of art. I'm so sorry I didn't get the names of the quilters/artists, so if you recognize one of them please let me know and I will update everything. There were close to 80 quilts and I'm sure the judges had a very dificult time choosing the winners!

Angel Swap design from Cori

This is Cori's sample with the pocket quilted, embroidered, and colored (colourque) instead of appliqued. Almost too cute to hide beside the bed. Something to think about. Doesn't she do amazing work? Her website is www.chitterchatterdesigns.com if you'd like to check out her other designs.

More pics of Quilt Fest coming up in a bit.