Machine Monday…

It was a great weekend…both machines are now busy…I have this one on the mid-arm…and another TWIN waiting in the wings…YES, I had enough fabric to make TWO identical quilts!

And then I stumbled across these blocks in the UFO cupboard!!  (I now have an official UFO cupboard which is NOT a good thing!!)  These blue and white blocks have been dogging me for over 10 years…it’s TIME to use them up!  The original plan was to make a Winter SNOW Quilt but hey…these blocks looks like water too…

So I’m thinking another baby quilt…and I have these sweet little yellow duckies waiting for a watering hole …yup! Found these in that SAME UFO cupboard!!  They too were designated for another quilt but I am going to use them up!!

It’s all good! I can feel my feet itching to do a Happy Dance…!!  BUT I need a finish for THAT!!

Have a Magical Monday and Happy Stitching!~P

Up to Her Old Tricks…

Yup, that’s our Betty!  She’s been up to her old tricks, banging off charity quilts left, right and centre!  I swear our Charity Quilts are stacked high because of this quilter!

Check out the three Scrap Happy Quilts that she shared last week!

This one I love and had the joy of quilting it…albeit it, not doing it the justice that it SEW deserved!!  But it still remains a very pretty quilt worthy of any royal baby!!  :o)

These next two were quilted by Hazel and man, they were spectacular!!  Love the rainbow colours in this one!!  This quilt is on my bucket list!  Sew pretty!

And this one was lovely in these scrappy blues!  Like an ocean wave…

How this quilter is able to make so many gorgeous quilts every week is beyond me…I bet she doesn’t spend a lot of time in front of her computer…?

Hmm…I wonder what would happen if I unplugged the computer for a week? 

“Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”  What was I thinking!! :}

Have a sunny Sunday and Happy Stitching!~P

Better LATE then Never!!

I was cleaning up my camera card when I stumbled onto these pictures…our stop in Springfield, OR on our way home from Snowbirding!  As you can see it is pouring rain…(when we were here in December they had just had a big snowfall and the roads were terrible!)  What a difference a season makes!! 

Hubby needed gas and he figured I needed a walk about…so he dropped me off at ‘Something to Crow About’…ahhh bliss!

Ahhh SEW much better than a Rest Stop!!

The lady was playing behind the counter…they had just received this new stack of fabric…beautiful linen like cottons!  Man, she has a tough job…

When I was here in December, the shop was decked out for Christmas.  It’s fun to see how the shop changes with the different seasons!

A modern Jaybird pattern made out of Civil War fabric!!  Now you’re talking!

*LOVE* this quilt!!

Tons of eye candy in this shop!

I found this in their classroom…ahhh to be a student here!

They also had a huge wool section in the shop!

Hope you liked stretching your legs as much as I did!! If you find yourself barrelling down the I-5 Freeway heading towards Springfield, Oregon, then pull on in…it’s 5 minutes off the freeway and there’s plenty of parking!  It’ll give you “Something to Crow About”!! :O)))

Till next time…

Have a FUN Friday and Happy Stitching!~P

A Special Quilt for a Special Girl!

I can’t believe that the end of June is almost here…YIKES!!  Now how did THAT happen?  I wish it was possible to slow down time…maybe if I could, I would get more done around here!!  Having said that…progress is being made…albeit slow…;o)

In the meantime, here is what my friend, Sandy has been working on…you may remember Sandy working on this at the Clubhouse down south this winter…well it is almost FINISHED!!

It’s a special Birthday Quilt for her daughter, Christine!!  A true labour of love!

Christine is going to LOVE all of the family photos scattered throughout the quilt!  Seriously, she is going to flip when she sees it!  The top picture is of Christine as a bride’s maid at her big brother’s wedding!

Hazel quilted it for Sandy and did a beautiful job…lots of hearts scattered here and there!!  Perfect!  A very heartfelt gift if ever there was one!

Here’s a baby picture of Christine…yup, time sure does fly!  Christine is turning 33 this year! 

And on the back of the quilt, Sandy put soft and cuddly, Minky! 

Sandy is BIG stitch quilting around the pictures and then stitching the binding on!  I hope that she is able to share the finished quilt before the Birthday Party which is in early July! 

Thanks, Sandy for sharing your project!!  I’m sure it will inspire others to create a much loved treasure for someone they care about!

Before I go I need to share a FREE pattern that was sent to me by a blogging friend (thanks Karen!)…it’s dang cute!!  In fact it’s adorable!

 

If you live in the States you have plenty of time to complete this by July 4th…but you better hurry…the clock is ticking!!  You need to go HERE for the pattern…it’s call “Miriam’s Buttoned Up Flag” and it’s put out by Marcus Fabrics!!  So thank you Marcus and Miriam!!

Have a Wicked Wednesday and Happy Stitching!~P

Simple and Sweet…

YAY!!  The blocks are together…now I just need to stitch the rows, give it a good press, sandwich it with backing and batting and put the bidding on!! 

The good news is… that the baby, who was born last week, may actually still be a baby by the time he receives this quilt!!  I have to say the quilt is going to be dang cute!!  Simple and SWEET!!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Stitching!~P

One Step Forward…Two Steps Back…

I could kick myself!  I am always saying to myself “measure/check twice, cut once” and it has always worked for me!!  Always…so imagine my surprise when this happened…

WHAT THE….???  These blocks should be the same size!!  My first thought was..there HAS to be something wrong with the pattern!!  I, after all, checked the measurements TWICE!  Nope the pattern instructions were correct…it was the cutter at fault :o}! For some reason I got it into my head that the finished size of the block was the size of the inside block! 

It could have been worse!!  I could have cut the blocks too small..now I just need to rip off the outer borders and cut the block smaller…a little detour on making the SIMPLEST block in the world!!  Shheeesh!!

Yup…that’s better!

Oh and ‘clever’ me decided that this was such a fast, easy and cute quilt that I would make TWO quilts… so yes, I have DOUBLE the blocks to pick out and resize!!  Looks like I have a date with Jack tonight…maybe even two dates with Jack… the Ripper!! Grrrrr…

How did such a simple baby quilt turn into such a huge project…?  And yes…I have a new rule…Measure/check THREE times and cut once!!  And maybe make one quilt at a time…

I hope your Friday Date is more FUN than mine…and happy stitching/ripping!!~P

JUST Junk? Nah…

It felt great to get back into the sewing room yesterday…and although I got a lot accomplished, I have nothing blog worthy to share!

BUT don’t despair…I can show you what I snagged at a Thrift Shop on Monday…check it out!!

I know it may LOOK like a bunch of junk but picture it painted with Annie Sloan’s chalk paint and wax…and becoming unique props for my daughter’s wedding…can you see it?  No…?  Trust me, these are TREASURES!!

Stay tuned…I am off to put on my paint coveralls and trade my sewing machine in for a paint brush…It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it!!  :o))

Have a Wacky Wednesday and Happy Stitching/Painting…!~P

This Vintage Quilter….

My back is FINALLY on the mend…thank goodness!  This is the first morning that I have gotten out of bed with a spring to my step…and not like Father Moses, all hunched over, moaning and groaning!! 

For the last two weeks I have done NO sewing…it hurt to stand and it hurt to sit!  I remained on my back… reading!  It’s a good thing I love to read…SEW…I plowed through a stack of books…and THIS magazine!  Ahhhh yes, THIS magazine…

I love Quiltmania!  I mean really, just LOOK at the quilt on the cover…how could you NOT love this issue!!  Doesn’t it look like a vintage quilt?!  It was designed by Karen Styles and she hit this one right out of the baseball park!!  I might have to break my vow never to do hexagons again…:o))

And then there was THIS one…I love the way Quiltmania shows a full on picture of the quilt…no guess work here!!

Plus they also have a staged ‘in action’ quilt picture…another vintage looking quilt!!  Swoon…(designed by Anna Griffin…)

Laurie Simpson (of Minick and Simpson) designed this beauty…which also has a vintage flair….

Do you see a pattern here…I seem to be going through a VINTAGE stage of life right now…and NOT just in quilts!!  When I look in the mirror I definitely see VINTAGE…yup…everything is fading, the batting has shifted…and then there are those wrinkles!!  But vintage is good…right??  RIGHT?

Hmmm… I wonder when a quilt goes from being vintage to being an antique?  Man, I’m not even going there….

With those thoughts in mind, this Vintage Quilter is going to leave you…who knows, I may even head into the Sewing Room today…with a slight spring in my step…! 

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

Going to the BIRDS?

Yup…we are indeed going to the birds…thanks to ANNE and her wonderful bird quilt!

Anne shared this darling quilt several weeks ago…and I’m sure she gave us a lot of valuable information about this quilt…it may have even come with a funny delightful story…but you know ME…I can’t remember what I did yesterday, let alone several weeks!!  Sorry Anne!  It LOOKS light it was a great story…

Isn’t it the sweetest quilt…love the plaids and the quilting!

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…or as quilters like to say “A FINISHED bird QUILT is worth two UFOs in the cupboard…”        

***GROAN***

Yup…I know, I know…time to get out of town!

Have a SUNNY Sunday and Happy Stitching!~P

Hop to it…

I confess…it’s been awhile since I have been in my sewing room…what with gardening, visiting company and back trouble…yup…that dreaded back!!  Just too much gardening for sure!  Gardening is NOT good for your health! I better stick with quilting and forget about the garden…hey, that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!!:o))

SEW it felt good yesterday to plan out and start cutting the fabric to make a baby quilt!  The first-time-parents have chosen not to find out the gender of their baby early…they want to be surprised. So I needed to come up with a gender neutral quilt appropriate for either sex…is this fabric not perfect?  It’s a Debbie Mumm print called ‘Hip Hop Garden’ and features Frogs…lots of frogs and polka dots!

I want to showcase the froggie prints by using big blocks…I came across this pattern in my Baby Pattern Binder…and it was FREE!!  Whenever I see a Free Pattern that I like, I print it off right away and put it into a binder…and am I ever glad I did because it’s no longer being offered on Henry Glass’ Free site!

Having said that…Henry DOES have a lot of great NEW FREE PATTERNS worth your perusal!!  Remember…if you should see something that you like, print it off now and put it into a binder because these patterns are not there forever!  Besides it’s nice to be able to flip through patterns…check and compare what you have and what you need!  Binders are a good thing! 

My fingers are crossed that you will find me in my sewing room for most of the weekend…I’m hoping to see you there!?

Would you believe that it’s Friday…again!!  The weeks are flying by…and June is almost half way gone!!  Now HOW did that happen?  It’s going to be Christmas before we know it…and this baby will be born before I can say “Let’s GET HOPPING!”  So…I better get HOPPING!

Have a FUN Friday and Hoppy Stitching!~P