Saturday, May 31, 2008

Quilty Saturday
















It is a picture perfect spring Saturday! The windows are all open, there is a fantastic breeze blowing, and I have finished 2 baby quilts. When members of the church have their babies dedicated, the Quilting Ministry makes quilts for them and they receive them during the dedication. We have given away all but 2 quilts so I had to get these quilted to have on hand. There are 2 ladies in our group that have embroidery machines and they make these wonderful bible blocks that we make quilts out of. The quilt on the right is one example. What a great way to tell these children as they get older about the stories in the bible. The parents really treasure these. Last night I finished the binding on another Mexico baby quilt, 2 done and 2 more to bind. The other ladies in the group are working on these quilts at home too so I am excited about the quantity we will have for the Mission Team. This will probably be an ongoing project also as our high school youth go on these types of trips every summer. As a money maker for the kids next year, we have a quilt already made that we will raffle off. It has to be quilted yet but that will be done later this year.
The pix at the top is one of the bible blocks. I am having so much trouble with adding my pix. I don't know how to add them then write something, then add another and make them come out right. Any help here would be appreciated.
Better get back to quilting! Have a wonderful spring weekend! We have graduations in the area tomorrow and have a party to attend. My husband, who is the cooker in the family, has been asked to make his famous baked beans for one party, 2 big roasters full!! It is going to be a real fun party!! :D

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Fat Tuesday on Thursday



The last Tuesday of every month is "Fat Tuesday" at Bits and Pieces. All fat quarters are reduced and that is when I stock up. I was in a "Spring" mood this month and stocked up with these wonderful spring colored fabrics. What is even better on "Fat Tuesday" is you put your name in for a drawing of a stack of FQ's. I have won a stack a long time ago and so I have to go back each month to try and win one again. I love "Fat Tuesdays"!!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mya and her quilt!


Here is Mya all wrapped up in her new quilt. She was so excited that she put it around herself and wouldn't let go. This is why quilting is my passion. :D

Wonderful Weekend

I just love holiday weekends! We had anniversary parties to attend, our out of town grandchildren were here, and a whole day of quilting. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that!


The picture on the left is of a customer quilt I finished yesterday. I just loved it so much I thought I would share. Also the next clue of the OC was posted and so I got to work on that too. When I get a few more blocks done I will play with it to see if I can figure out the design. I am really loving it so far! To finish up the quilty part of my weekend I quilted 3 more baby quilts. I will post them after I get the binding on them. :D Alas, today it is time to go back to work and I have a dentist appointment for my 6 month cleaning. NOT a good way to start the work week!!!!!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Sunday's Quilt





While working on baby quilts on Sunday afternoon, I found these blocks that I had put together last summer. I love the fabrics, Moda of course, and decided I would add more fabric to it and call it a quilt. All the fabrics were from Hancock's back room from a Paducah trip 2 years ago. I am trying to decide whether to add one more border of the little brown print or just leave it as is.
On the baby quilt project, Tuesday night at our church meeting we made 7 more. All the ladies are working on quilts now at home and I have cut more squares for a few that have called to volunteer to help. I am so excited about this and I know the babies will feel all the love that is going into these quilts! I will post pictures of more of the finished quilts as we get them done.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Fun Weekend!


What a great weekend! Alot of laughs, long walks, visiting grandaughters, movie watching, and of course good food. While Jess worked on her cruise pix, putting them on her on-line album and labeling them, I worked on the baby quilts for the Mission Team. They were fast, alot of fun, and very colorful. I packed a suitcase of fabric and batting to take to our quilting ministry meeting tomorrow night to get a few more of these baby quilts pieced and hopefully finish a few. We have until the first of August so we should be able to make quite a few. I put a thin layer of cotton batting into the first 2 quilts and they are so light they should be fine. I want to try one with a piece of flannel to see how it works also. I am so glad we have another week before the next step on the OC, more time for baby quilts!! Have a great week everyone! :D





Friday, May 16, 2008

TGIF

It is Friday and my daughter is coming home for a visit. She had a great time on the cruise but flew home a day early to Columbus, Ohio and today she is driving home to visit her mother! How lucky am I?? This daughter of mine always said from the time she was little, "I am never growing up and I will always live near my mom." Well, she is the only one of my children that moved far away. We laugh about that everytime she comes home.
On a quilty note, I finally finished ironing all my OC blocks and have them all ready for the next step. I also made a baby quilt out of one of my charm packs for the Mission Team to take to Mexico. I started another one this morning out of my Flirtation charm pack. It is really cute!
Tuesday night we will decide how to put them together. I really appreciate all the suggestions and will present them all to the group. I will take my camera and get pix of some when they are finished. Thanks again and have a great weekend!




Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Need Some Help Please!



I need some help! We quilting ladies at the church are going to be making quilts for our Mission Team to take to Mexico with them in August. My question is, would you use batting in these quilts since it is so hot down there? Someone suggested a piece of flannel, but wouldn't that be hot too? These quilts are specifically for babies. The team that was there before said that since the people don't have much they wrap their newborns in rags or whatever they have. That just broke our hearts and we wanted these children to have something better. Last evening I got my charm packs out and one package makes a perfect size little quilt. I am so excited about this project and am looking forward to having our team provide these little ones with quilts they can keep for a lifetime.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

Monday, May 12, 2008

OC Step 4 and Tumblers

Here is one of the step 4 blocks for my OC. I was skeptical about the dk red with the orange but I really like how they are turning out. I am getting anxious to see this quilt finished and it will make a wonderful addition to the fall quilts I have. :D




This tumbler quilt I started after seeing others on blogs. I began cutting tumbers from all the Jo Morton fabrics I had and one evening I put this together. I didn't want a large quilt, and I still can't decide whether to put a border on it. Decision-Decisions!!
Hope you all had a great Mother's Day! My husband and I took my mother to lunch after church and when we were done eating my husband dropped us off at mom's house and he went to Menard's to get some supplies. I love it when he does that so I don't have to worry about him being bored. Once we arrived back home, I spent the afternoon sewing on my OC. Two of my grandaughters that live in Ohio called to visit and later my son, dil, and 2 more grandaughters stopped by. Jenna, my first grandaughter who is now 8, wants me to teach her how to sew. I am so excited and hope at least one of my grandchildren will love it as much as I do. We will start with a pillowcase. My 16 year old grandson stopped by and really surprised me. He is very special because he was my first grandchild and his mother, my daughter passed away when he was only 5. He doesn't live too far away and now that he can drive I am hoping he will drop by more often. Last but not least, my daughter is on a cruise and called to wish me Happy Mother's Day, and then sent me a pix of herself on the ship from her cell phone. Now, wouldn't you think a good daughter would have taken me with her???? :D

Friday, May 9, 2008

Spring has sprung!









Spring has burst forth with some of the most beautiful colors in my yard this year and I just had to share. The little wisteria plant that we put in the ground has grown to be my favorite. Since we have had alot of cool wet days this spring is it has bloomed more than it has in the past. The flowering crab is another favorite and it has more flower than ever before also. Last week when it rained we had a pile of the blooms all over the driveway which was quite a sight. Lastly the shrubs under the trees in the front yard are gorgeous with their different textures and colors. I guess you could say I have my own growing quilt of many colors in my front yard. Spring is awesome!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Nearly Insane


I started piecing my Nearly Insane quilt blocks this past weekend. I am trying to make at least 4 a week, and with the easy blocks that is no problem, but it should get challenging real quick. I am trying to PP as many as I can so I will just have to have patience with them. As far as fabric goes, I have decided to pick from all the Jo Morton fabrics I have. My Dear Jane quilt is being made with Jo's and also the tumbler quilt which I worked on last night. I did get all the rows done and I will work on putting the rows together before work tomorrow. I am hoping when all 3 quilts are done, and I "WILL" finish these 3, they will look so nice dispayed in my home. Wish me luck!!!


Monday, May 5, 2008

Monday-Monday



Why is it that the weekends go so quickly? There is never enough hours in the day on weekends, especially when they were as wonderful as this last weekend was. The weather was sunny and warm and the farmers were planting their crops. I should have taken a picture, but to me there is nothing more beautiful than a freshly planted field in Indiana, where the dirt is rich and dark, and the smell is like nothing I have found anywhere else. Can you tell this is one of my favorite times of the year?

On a quilty note, I spent all Saturday morning quilting on the quilt that will one day be our new minister's quilt and then finally got the label on the quit in the picture for my youngest grandaughter. Poor little Mya, I have made so many quilts it seems that her mother had to remind me that Mya didn't have one yet. Well, little Mya, you do now. Mya is a real girly girl, all pink and blond and blue eyed, and these are the colors that will match her room. I know she will love it!
While I was snapping this picture, our dog Tye decided to pose for me.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Maverick Stars Quilt

Here is a picture of the Maverick Stars Quilt from Bonnie's Quiltville site. I had started this little quilt before going to Paducah and decided to finish it up last night. You can't see it but the center red blocks are of the Ladies Heads I call the fabric from Jo Morton and I fussy cut them so the heads made a little portrait in each corner stone. I will be anxious to see if anyone that see it in person will catch that little tidbit or not. That's ok, it makes me smile every time I look at it.
I am looking forward to the weekend, will be handquilting on a wholecloth quilt on Saturday for our Quilt Ministry at church and then the rest of the weekend I need to work on customer quilts. Have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Feathered Cross Quilt



I love this quilt. I first saw the pattern on Mereth's blog - www.artfulsister.blogspot.com. She had a tutorial of the pattern and I knew I had to make it. I would get up every morning at 5:00 so I could sew for an hour before work. By the end of harvest (Nov.) I had the top done. I still haven't quilted it because I haven't decided whether to do it by hand or by machine.

One never knows how we may make an impression on someone else's life, Mereth has made quite an impression on mine. Thanks Mereth so much for posting your wonderful quilts, you are an artist in my eyes.