PF-PF-PF-PFanny…

Thanks SEW MUCH to those readers who left positive encouraging comments yesterday…cheering me on with my FMQ and a machine that was NOT cooperating!!  It helped…a lot!  PFanny (the PFAFF) pulled herself together and started to preform like she should!  Hallelujah!

So Betty’s charity quilt is done…the FMQ is not great but I can guarantee that the quilt will NOT fall apart after hundreds of washing…which is what we want in a baby’s quilt!  Thanks goodness Betty’s quilt is so dang cute…(Betty ALWAYS does a wonderful job!!)

I did an all over loops, hearts and daisy FMQ design…

Now onto Glynis’ charity quilt…which she put together using the leftover fabrics from her Red Brolly quilt…which you can see HERE!  (It’s worth going for a peek…gorgeous quilt!!)

SEW…hopefully I can get this one loaded and PFinished…with PFanny PFunctioning as she should…YES, I will promise her no more ‘Pf words’ being said under my breath…you know… words like PFrustrating and PFickle, PFinicky and PFlighty…sprinkled with threats of PFlogging!  Yes, I am no PFool…she understands…I may be the PForeman but she is the boss!  SEW bring on the oil…lots of oil…maybe a new needle and thread…?  Just so long as my PFantastic PFanny keeps PFunctioning!

Have a PFantastic Saturday…and Happy Stitching!~P

PFanny Friday…

My quilt tops needing to be quilted are piling up…two charity quilts have been added to the already huge pile!  It’s NOW or never!

I just KNEW PFanny (my Pffaf 1200 midarm quilting machine) would be moody, cranky and troublesome…I JUST KNEW IT!!  She has sat and sulked all Winter(and Spring!)…PFanny knew we were off basking in the warm Californian sun while she was sitting at home sulking!

Yes, I knew PFanny would be a handful so when I FINALLY fired her up to do Betty’s latest charity quilt, I wasn’t surprised that she only went about twelve inches before she started skipping stitches and breaking thread!  NOOOOOoooooo….

I have done the usual…changed needles (three times), oiled her (maybe she was REALLY thirsty?), levelled her (she is dead on!), threaded and rethread…and did it again and again and again…, then changed thread…and bobbins!  She was mad…really mad!!  She has been uncooperative for TWO long days now…

Last night I took her apart and dusted every nook and cranny…and YES I did find some bunnies living where bunnies shouldn’t be!!  Fingers are crossed that my PFanny will purr today…and if not…well let’s just say more BLUE words are going to fly!

My PFanny can be such a pain in the…fanny! 

Have a Fun Friday…and happy Stitching!~P:o}}

If I Win The Lottery…

I need to make at least three baby quilts in the next few months…maybe more!!  I love personalizing them with baby names or cute little sayings…and wouldn’t it be nice to throw on a teddy bear or a dinosaur?

If I should win the lottery between now and the time I start these quilts I would definitely buy a Silhouette Fabric Cutter!!  Have you seen how slick these machines are?…They make the GO! Fabric Cutter look obsolete and archaic…and expensive in comparison! 

The Silhouette Fabric Cutter cuts out lettering, graphics and cute little motifs ready for applique in a jiffy… we’re talking SECONDS!  And the price of the motif is…(are you sitting down?)…only 99 CENTS or less!!  Yup…peanuts!   And every month new motifs are added to the collection…many of which are FREE!

I mean REALLY how cute would a baby boy quilt be with footballs and baseballs sprinkled here and there all over the quilt!  You can size your motifs too…you aren’t stuck with just ONE size!

And look at how sweet a simple quilt can be simply by adding a name…and a couple of flowers!  Ahhhhdorable!  This little girl will be the envy of all the other kids in her play group!

I know, the machine sounds too good to be true!  The initial price is around $300 for the machine…but if you have won the lottery why WOULDN’T you buy it?  I mean really…you’ve got millions at your fingertips…what’s $300?

Now if you’ll excuse me…I’m off to buy some Lottery Tickets…you just never know! :o))

Have a Thrilling Thursday and Happy Quilting!

All Fired Up…

It doesn’t take much to get me fired up…especially on a grey Tuesday morning!  My friend Claire knows how to push my buttons…she sent me this picture of Piece of Works’ newest patterns!  Yowzers!  I love it!!

If this gets you FIRED UP then you NEED to go HERE to get an up close and personal LOOK at these blocks!

NOW…let me put this thought into your head…picture little touches of wool here and there to add a little bit of colour, spark and texture to this quilt!  Huh..huh…see where I’m going with this?  Now we are talking!!  Are YOU fired up yet?

OK…let’s talk dollars and cents….‘Winter Sampler’ is made up of thirty one blocks and the cost of the pattern is $22…I hate to say it but this is a bargain!  Be thankful that Piece of Work Designs isn’t treating this as a BOM or it would be $10 a block for a total cost of $310…yes, other designers DO this…and we ENCOURAGE them to do this by buying their BOMs!!  (This is another blog topic for another day…haha…and YES this also gets me Fired Up!!)

SEW hop on over to Piece of Work Designs for a better look!  But be warned you may get Fired Up!!  She is a beauty!!

Have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for popping in…happy stitching!~P

Diana’s Quilt…

Yesterday was a miserable wet, cold, rainy day…perfect to spend in the sewing room…quilting and listening to an audio book!  I LOVE days like that! 

I got a ton done…

After auditioning ways to set Diana’s blocks I finally decided to put them together on-point.  It just seemed like a more interesting way to set them…

If you are a regular reader, you will remember that Sandy and I went to about 5 or 6 Estate Quilter’s Garage Sales over a period of several months.  On the last of the Sale Days when the prices were 60% off…both Sandy and I decided to buy a package of finished squares, sew them together and each make a ‘Diana Quilt’ in honour of the woman who was such a prolific hand sewer…and who had rooms and rooms of fabric, books, patterns and finished and partly finished blocks! 

Diana didn’t own a sewing machine but preferred to sewed EVERYTHING by hand!  What a treat it was to work with hand stitched blocks…how many hours were invested in making these blocks boggled the mind!

Yesterday, I got ‘er done…the top is together…now I need to decide whether to put on borders…or bring in the Bugler to play ‘Taps’…

What do you think?  Borders or no borders?  One things for sure, I think it’s screaming for a scrappy binding…

Now it’s Sandy’s turn to fire up her machine and work some magic with her bag of  Diana’s blocks!  I hope that Diana is smiling down on us…after all the hours she put into hand stitching these blocks it was a pleasure to put them together for her!

Have a marvellous Monday and happy Stitching!~P

A Thank You Gift…

The other day I received Kim Diehl’s newest quilting book, ‘Simple Appeal’ as a thank you gift!!  Ahh… the way to a quilter’s heart is through a good Quilting Book and man, is this ever a GOOD one!!  I love it…it is LOADED with eye candy!!

Let me show you MY three favourite projects…yes, just three…there are MORE but you will have to find your own book to see them!  Believe me this book is SEW worth it!!

Don’t you love a quilting book that has a beautifully illustrated pictures of the quilt in a warm home setting….

…followed by a full on picture of the WHOLE quilt for reference.  Yes, I LOVE that…and I love this quilt!  Kim has a way of bumping up a quilt to the next level…and she does it by adding spectacular borders!

Ohhh man, this one is SEW on my TO DO LIST!  Kim used a beige cotton print for the background with wool applique!  Love the leaves, stars and berries on the vine!!  Yup, she knocked this one right out of the ball park and into my backyard!

This one (below) really caught my eye too…look…there is a star patchwork in the middle and flying geese on the sides…and the rest is wool!  Brilliant!  But think about it…We all have random ‘left over’ patchwork blocks from other finished quilts…Why not put them to good use? Do you see where I’m going with this? Take one of those blocks and sew on a wide border and then get the wool out!!  Applique around the block and frame!  Now wouldn’t this make a wonderful gift…and you would use up those random orphan blocks! Kim even shows us how to frame these projects.  And this is the perfect time of year to get out Garage Saling for those PERFECT FRAMES!  I can hear it now… “SCORE!!”

Speaking of random blocks…I have several!!  While GSing last year I SCORED these from the Deceased Quilter’s GS…I bought this bundle and Sandy (my partner in crime) bought her own sweet bundle!  We decided on the drive home that we would each make a quilt in her honour…and call it ‘Diana’s Quilt’. 

Yes, Diana hand stitched all of these blocks…can you imagine?!

Now it’s my turn to put them together and form THAT QUILT!  It’s the least I can do…after all, I now have a dresser full of Civil War fabric thanks to Diana…and her six or seven Garage Sales!!  SCORE!!

Have a Sunny Sunday and happy stitching!~P

Heritage Happenings…

I am off and running this beautiful Saturday morning…but not to worry…I am leaving you with plenty of EYE CANDY to enjoy! 

The Heritage Quilters have been as prolific as ever….but sorry no running commentary from me today!  You are on your own…sew ENJOY!!

Told you…prolific and wonderful!!

Have a super Saturday and keep on stitching!!~P

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Joan, from Heritage Quilting, has just finished her garden…and it’s all ready for harvest!

 

Doesn’t it look wonderful…Her garden was all paper pieced to perfection!

Look at how everything lines up and matches…everything in a row!!

Wouldn’t this be a fun quilt to haul out every Summer and Fall!

I love Joan’s selection of fabrics too…the rocks, the lattice work…the leaves and grasses…all very gardeny!

Even the dirt looks good!

Look at the tomatoes…ripe or waiting to ripen!

Joan, I love your garden!!  Thanks sew much for sharing! 

Now THIS is my idea of gardening!! 

It’s a gorgeous morning here on our island…the sun is shining, the birds are singing and the rooster is crowing!  Think I’ll head into the sewing room and do a bit of gardening!! heehee  And if anyone is looking for me, I will yell back..“I’m gardening today!”  Hey…it’s worth a shot…I’ll let you know if it works!

What about YOU?  How is YOUR garden growing?  I hope the sun is shining down on your patch of dirt… and you are making the most out of this beautiful day!! 

Have a thrilling Thursday and Happy Stitching!~P