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?
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
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?
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
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! 
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.
