Merry Christmas - 2014

 

Wishing each of you a very Merry Christmas from sunny Seal Beach, CA where it’s 66 degrees and the sun is shining.  Definitely a Southern California kind of Christmas. 

 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 22, 2014

In 2014 my friendship group did a round robin, if you missed it click here to see the finished tops.  In 2015 we are doing a block exchange.  Each member makes their first block, shares some loose guidelines to guide the others and then passes it to the next person in rotation so they can make a block to add to the collection.  At the end of the year we should each have 11 blocks and then it will be up to everyone to assemble their own quilt.  Well, it’s taken me forever to decide on what my “theme” would be but I finally settled on Wonky House that in some way represents the month it is completed in.  Here’s is my starter block with a December theme.  It’s not sewn yet but you get the idea.

I also want to show you what I made for my friendship group gifts that we exchanged last week.

I made 10 of these cute little covered sewing buckets.  They’re perfect for holding all you goodies.  I’ve had mine for many years but made them for each of my Wacko friends this year. 

To see what other’s have on their design wall, check out Judy’s blog.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 15, 2014

Once again I can’t show you what’s on my design wall but I can show you what I finished up last week. 

These are wallets I made for a gift exchange that I participated in last week. 

I received some wonderful homemade gifts in exchange but I’ll save that for another time.  Today I’m putting the finishing touches on my gifts for my friendship group “The Wednesday Wacko’s”.  We are having our Christmas party/gift exchange Wednesday night.  It will be a lot of fun with great friends and good food.  I can hardly wait. 

To see what others have on their design wall, check out Judy’s blog. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 8, 2014

Thank goodness it’s a new week.  Last week we had our house tented and fumigated for termites and I wouldn’t wish that on my worse enemy.  But it’s behind us now and we’re almost back to normal.  Thank goodness. 

While kicked out of the house I was able to get some sewing down while in a local hotel room.  Most of it I can’t show until later this week but I did have a chance to work on Bonnie Hunter’s Grand Illusion mystery.  I’ve almost completed clue 1 but have only made a sample of clue 2. 

Hopefully I’ll get more made before Friday when clue 3 makes its debut.  To see how others are doing on the mystery check out Bonnie’s Link-up here. 

You may want to check out Judy’s Patchwork Times also to see what else is going on out in the quilting blogging world. 

In the mean time, have a great week.   Check back later this week to see what else I’ve been working on.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–December 1, 2014

E-gads, can you believe it’s December?  The good news is that that means Bonnie Hunter’s mystery has started.  In fact it started last Friday with the first clue in the Grand Illusion Mystery.  The first step has you making 280 half-square triangles and then make 100 Broken Dishes Units. 

All of my half-square triangles are cut and about 1/2 of them sewn.  Here are the Broken Dishes Units that are made so far. 24 down, 76 to go. 

I don’t really think I’ll be able to stay completely caught up but we’ll see.  I have until next Friday to make the rest and be ready for Clue 2. 

Check out Judy’s Patchwork Times to see what others have on their design wall. 

Here is a link to Bonnie’s linkup page to see everyone’s progress on their Gran dIllusion Mystery. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–November 24, 2014

I just got home from vacation so my design wall is empty but I thought I’d share this.

I’ve been a Bonnie Hunter fan for years but this is the first time I’ve decided to attempt to do one of her on-line mysteries.  These are all my fabrics minus the neutrals and my black and whites.  I have plenty of them so I’ll pull them as I need them.

I love that Bonnie helps you with color choices if you decide to follow her lead.  She gives you the name and number of paint color cards from Lowes. 

If you’re interested in following along with her Grand Illusion mystery click here for the link. 

To see what others have on the design wall, check out Judy’s Patchwork Times blog. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–November 17, 2014

I’m on vacation this week so I don’t have a design wall but I do have a picture to share.  If you’ve visited Kauai, and you’re quilter, you no doubt already know about the amazing Kapaia Stitchery in Lihue.  What a marvelous quilt shop it is.  Here’s my little purchase. 

It could have been a lot worse,  and maybe it will be if I make it back there again before we leave. 

The amazing thing is these beautiful fabrics are only $6.29 a yard, so how can a girl pass that up?

To see what others are working on, check out Judy’s Patchwork Times blog.

Enjoy,

It’s My Sister’s Birthday–YEA!

I have the best sister in the entire world.  Her name is Melinda and today is her birthday.

This is a repeat of a post 5 years ago but I still feel the same. 

Happy Birthday Melinda!

I thought I’d share a few pictures of her.

Wasn’t she a cutie?  She was probably about 5 or 6 in this picture.

Here we are in our matching dresses that our Mother made for us.  I think I must of had an itch, sorry about that.

I’m guessing she’s about 8 or 9 in this pictures.  That’s our Mother, Melinda and me. 

I didn’t have time to dig for more picture so we’re skipping until many years later.  If you know Melinda this is a very typical pose.  She loves to read and always has.

Love the socks.  She still loves to wear different and unusual socks but then again so do I so I guess it’s normal.

Here she is this last summer having a good time with her friend Elvis.

My sister is the reason that I started quilting and for that and many other things, I am grateful.

Please take a minute and visit her Blog and leave her a comment wishing her Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday, Melinda.  I love you!

Enjoy,

A New Quilt Ladder

Check out the new quilt ladder I have in my entry way.

It’s big enough to easily hold 12 quilts and if I play with the arrangement a little bit I no doubt could add more.  It was made for me by my friend Linda’s husband Stan.  I can’t begin to tell you what a beautiful job he did. 

A great big thank you to Stan for making me such a beautiful piece of furniture.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–November 10, 2014

Still not much sewing going on but I am excited to be getting ready to leave on vacation.  My husband John and I, for the last several years, try to plan a fall vacation each year.  This year we will be flying and spending most of our time in a condo so I’ve been planning what to take with me to satisfy my crafty/sewing side.  In the old days we would spend a lot of our time in the sun and water but as we’ve gotten older we prefer sitting in the shade, reading, hand sewing or……………

CROCHETING!!!!!  I’m not the worlds greatest knitter but I’m slightly better at crocheting and hey………….how badly can I mess up dish cloths.  So I bought some cotton Peaches and Cream yarn, dug out a crochet hook, watched a YouTube video and I’m ready to go.  I have also packed some hand embroidery and hexies to work on.  Now if I can just remember some clothes and my Kindle I should be all set. 

BTW, while we are on vacation I try to post a daily vacation blog post.  If you’d like to follow along, starting Thursday you can check here on our vacation blog.

To see what others are working on, check out Judy’s Patchwork Times blog. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–November 3, 2014

Not a lot of sewing going on around her but my granddaughter Emily needed a new laptop bag so she made this last Friday.

She used my “Click-it bag” pattern but added the handles.  She’s a college student so she carries her laptop all around campus.  This is the front of the bag and here is the back.

It is just so darn cute, now I want to make one for myself.  I tried to convince her to give me this one but she left here with her laptop in it.  Oh well now I have another project to add to my to-do list. 

To see what others are working on, check out Judy’s Patchwork Times blog.

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–October 27, 2014

A few weeks ago I went to a local quilt show and saw several quilts that were appliqued stick people.  I’m going on vacation soon so it’s a perfect hand project to take along.  They were so cute that I started my search to find the pattern.  It wasn’t easy but I finally found it but apparently it is no longer being published.  I’m persistent, and finally found it hidden away at a small distributor.  They had 3 of them and I bought them all for myself and 2 friends. 

Here’s the pattern front.  The original pattern has Crayola coloring on the blocks but the quilts I saw (and how I intend) is to simply outline the stick figures with Perle cotton. 

After increasing the pattern by 150% I traced the first 3 months yesterday.  I’ll probably trace the rest of them today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also need to decide which colors of Perle cotton to take with me. 

Aren’t they pretty? 

It see what others have up on their design walls, check out Judy’s blog. 

Enjoy,

The Big Reveal

Last night my friendship group (the best friendship group in the world, BTW) met to reveal our nearly year long Round Robin.  It all started last January when we each made a center block and sent them on their way.  Our center blocks made 9 stops as they moved from one person to the next.  In all, each quilt ended up with a center and 9 borders. 

Here’s a picture of each of the quilt tops from last night.

My quilt that started with a South African hand embroidered center.

Linda’s RR started with a vegetable center. 

Marilyn started with a raw edge appliqued flamingo center to represent the time she spends in Florida.

It’s hard to see Pammy’s center but it’s a beautiful hand embroidered sewing scene. 

Pat’s decided to embroider a Redwork Christmas themed center. 

Patti’s is really, really into genealogy so this tree was a perfect center to focus on her family tree.

Rob’s center was definitely her.  She love’s all things Amy Butler.

Sue was finally able to use a center block that she had made many years ago.  What a great way to start a Round Robin. 

Susan loves her pets and the appliqued center showcases her love of cats.

Terri pulled out an old block that several of us received as a gift a few years ago.  It has “Twas the Night Before Christmas” machine embroidered in the shape of a tree. 

They are all so different and just wonderful.  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends. 

Next year we’re doing a block exchange.  It should be fun and maybe just a little less stressful. 

Enjoy,