Friday, October 30, 2009

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?
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Thursday, October 29, 2009

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.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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.






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Monday, October 26, 2009

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.
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Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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!!

Monday, October 19, 2009

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.
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Thursday, October 15, 2009

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.
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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

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?
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Sunday, October 11, 2009

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.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

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!!
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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

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]

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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!! 

Sunday, October 4, 2009

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!
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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.
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