Look at those crossed back legs !
Couldn't you just eat her up ! ? !
Couldn't you just eat her up ! ? !
Monday, October 29, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Blogger's Quilt Festival -- Fall 2012
Hey everyone, it's time for the newest edition of the greatest little virtual quilt show you've ever seen !
I like it when this time comes around twice a year.......
so much eye candy to enjoy for us quilting addicts !
And I always manage to find a couple of new blogs to follow, and, sometimes, I even get a couple of new followers.
My favorite quilt that I have made this year, and, thusly, my entry for the festival, would have to be my
Blushing Bloomers ! Entry #329
This quilt is not an original design of mine........I found directions for it on Moda's Bake Shop, the quilt having been designed by Natalia Bonner. It was a really easy quilt to make, even though I didn't use jellyrolls for the fabric requirements. I pieced and machine-quilted this one, as I do most of my quilts, on my old Singer model 15 sewing machine, Ernestine.
These fabrics were mostly ones that my dear friend Jo Ann has sent to me over the last 3 years.
Almost anytime she corresponds with me by snailmail, she throws in a few fatquarters that she has picked up on various shopping trips. After 3 years of this, I found that they were starting to coordinate, and I decided that making a quilt for myself out of them would let me be reminded of JoAnn's generosity on a daily basis.
A few years ago, my husband suffered a massive stroke, and he found that, although he recovered quite a bit, he could no longer lie flat in a bed. So we got a hospital bed for him, and I downsized to a twin-sized bed of my own. Trouble was, all the quilts I had made over a lifetime were either too small or too large for a twin. So I made him a quilt, and now I've made this newest quilt for my own bed.
The finished measurements of Blushing Bloomers are approximately 72 inches of width by 90 inches of length, as I added two rows to the original plan of the quilt, and I added small side borders as well.
If you look closely, you'll see that I used the remainders of my fatquarters to make scrappy borders AND binding.
I even had enough fabric to make this little coordinating Orange Peel quilt that measures 27 inches square. It is hand-quilted, but machine-appliqued.
The backing is a happy polka-dot, and the batting is a light-weight polyester, something that I haven't used in a while, but that makes me very happy with the finished quilt. It is both practically weightless AND warm.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing this quilt.........I had kept a picture of the original on my computer for a couple of years, hoping to make it someday. I think that I probably ran across the original pattern during a past Blogger's Quilt Festival. I'm glad that I actually, finally, got around to making one of the many quilts that bring me inspiration while browsing the web. I hope you find one that you just have to make your own ... maybe even this one.
*Special Techniques used -- Hand-appliqued and free-motion-quilted flowers
Many thanks to Amy and all the other sponsors of this festival. Such a huge endeavor, and so much fun, I know that many, many people appreciate you all !
I like it when this time comes around twice a year.......
so much eye candy to enjoy for us quilting addicts !
And I always manage to find a couple of new blogs to follow, and, sometimes, I even get a couple of new followers.
My favorite quilt that I have made this year, and, thusly, my entry for the festival, would have to be my
Blushing Bloomers ! Entry #329
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| Measuring 72 x 90 inches, this quilt fits my twin-sized bed. |
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| Some viewers have been surprised when they realize, from this photo, just how big the flowers are in this design. |
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| Ernestine, cartoonized courtesy of BeFunky.com |
These fabrics were mostly ones that my dear friend Jo Ann has sent to me over the last 3 years.
 |
| Fabrics sent by JoAnn |
Almost anytime she corresponds with me by snailmail, she throws in a few fatquarters that she has picked up on various shopping trips. After 3 years of this, I found that they were starting to coordinate, and I decided that making a quilt for myself out of them would let me be reminded of JoAnn's generosity on a daily basis.
A few years ago, my husband suffered a massive stroke, and he found that, although he recovered quite a bit, he could no longer lie flat in a bed. So we got a hospital bed for him, and I downsized to a twin-sized bed of my own. Trouble was, all the quilts I had made over a lifetime were either too small or too large for a twin. So I made him a quilt, and now I've made this newest quilt for my own bed.
 |
| Finding a beautiful, still Summer day, I basted the quilt in my backyard. |
The finished measurements of Blushing Bloomers are approximately 72 inches of width by 90 inches of length, as I added two rows to the original plan of the quilt, and I added small side borders as well.
If you look closely, you'll see that I used the remainders of my fatquarters to make scrappy borders AND binding.
 |
| The flowers are hand-appliqued, and free-motion quilted. |
 |
| Coordinating Orange Peel wall quilt |
I even had enough fabric to make this little coordinating Orange Peel quilt that measures 27 inches square. It is hand-quilted, but machine-appliqued.
 | |||||||||||||||||||
| You can see the zigzag stitches. |
I hope you've enjoyed seeing this quilt.........I had kept a picture of the original on my computer for a couple of years, hoping to make it someday. I think that I probably ran across the original pattern during a past Blogger's Quilt Festival. I'm glad that I actually, finally, got around to making one of the many quilts that bring me inspiration while browsing the web. I hope you find one that you just have to make your own ... maybe even this one.
Blogger's Quilt Festival Stats
*Quilt Measurements -- 72 inches wide by 90 inches long
*Special Techniques used -- Hand-appliqued and free-motion-quilted flowers
*Quilted by -- myself on my Singer Model 15-90 cabinet model machine
- *Best categories --Entry #329
- Favorite Bed Quilt,
- Favorite Scrap Quilt,
- Favorite Home-quilted Quilt
Entry No. #329
Many thanks to Amy and all the other sponsors of this festival. Such a huge endeavor, and so much fun, I know that many, many people appreciate you all !
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Little Orange Peel........
......finished !
Here are a couple of shots I managed to get today.
The little quiltie finished at 27 1/2 inches square. I backed it with the same polka-dots that I used on the Blushing Bloomers quilt. These are the same fabrics that were used in the top of that quilt, also.......I cut out 5 inch squares at the same time that I cut the other quilt pieces. I then drew the peel shape onto the squares, placed one over a light-colored 5-inch square,
and machine-zigzagged over the drawn line. At that point, I trimmed the top, colored fabric right up against the machine-stitching.
Because I had leftover triangles from making the border on the other quilt, I started stitching those triangles together today, based on an idea I got from Wanda of Exuberant Color. I love the idea , but it's all I can do not to stitch them together into bigger pieced squares ! I need to MAKE myself put them away so that I can add to them, but I trimmed them down to 2 inches square, and I don't know if I'd EVER make enough of that size to make something substantial. It would really be neat-looking if I could stick with it though.
Here are some of the ones from today.
Here are a couple of shots I managed to get today.
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| Shown on a twin-sized bed |
The little quiltie finished at 27 1/2 inches square. I backed it with the same polka-dots that I used on the Blushing Bloomers quilt. These are the same fabrics that were used in the top of that quilt, also.......I cut out 5 inch squares at the same time that I cut the other quilt pieces. I then drew the peel shape onto the squares, placed one over a light-colored 5-inch square,
and machine-zigzagged over the drawn line. At that point, I trimmed the top, colored fabric right up against the machine-stitching.
Because I had leftover triangles from making the border on the other quilt, I started stitching those triangles together today, based on an idea I got from Wanda of Exuberant Color. I love the idea , but it's all I can do not to stitch them together into bigger pieced squares ! I need to MAKE myself put them away so that I can add to them, but I trimmed them down to 2 inches square, and I don't know if I'd EVER make enough of that size to make something substantial. It would really be neat-looking if I could stick with it though.
Here are some of the ones from today.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Covering my bets !
Just IN CASE I don't win that giveaway, I did a little bit of fabric shopping online where I ACTUALLY paid for my choices.........Ha !
I cancelled Fabric.com's emails back when I dropped the internet for awhile. Previous to that, I received regular emails from them announcing sales and offering coupon discounts......which I LOVED !
Well, when I starting getting internet access at home again, I re-subscribed to their emails (several times now ), but they have never started re-sending them and I very much miss their coupons !
So, tonight I've perused their clearance fabrics and found fabric for backing this quilt
and I added enough half-yard cuts to the order to qualify for free shipping. I hope that this new order will encourage them to start sending the specials to me again.
Here's the fabric I chose for Seth's back........
and here are the other four goodies I can't wait to get.
I'm hoping to collect blues and greens for a soothing all blue and green quilt........
And these dots look like great fabrics for making bindings, don't you think?
I finished the orange peel quiltie for the kitchen wall, but don't have a good photo of it yet.
Today, hubby and I marked off a section of the yard for an actual vegetable garden we'd like to plant next Spring. I tilled up about a 3-4 ft width times the length of the thing (have no idea how big we've made it.) I'll have to do a section every once in awhile, as the vibration from the tiller makes my hands feel all crazy.
I cancelled Fabric.com's emails back when I dropped the internet for awhile. Previous to that, I received regular emails from them announcing sales and offering coupon discounts......which I LOVED !
Well, when I starting getting internet access at home again, I re-subscribed to their emails (several times now ), but they have never started re-sending them and I very much miss their coupons !
So, tonight I've perused their clearance fabrics and found fabric for backing this quilt
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| Seth's quilt-top |
and I added enough half-yard cuts to the order to qualify for free shipping. I hope that this new order will encourage them to start sending the specials to me again.
Here's the fabric I chose for Seth's back........
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| Gone Fishing Ribbit Geo Navy--Fabric.com |
and here are the other four goodies I can't wait to get.
I'm hoping to collect blues and greens for a soothing all blue and green quilt........
 |
| Chains Black/Blue - Fabric.com |
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| Timeless treasures Mechanical Genius Hexagon Navy - Fabric.com |
And these dots look like great fabrics for making bindings, don't you think?
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| Pocket Full of Posies Bubbles Red - Fabric.com |
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| Pocket Full of Posies Lime - Fabric.com |
Today, hubby and I marked off a section of the yard for an actual vegetable garden we'd like to plant next Spring. I tilled up about a 3-4 ft width times the length of the thing (have no idea how big we've made it.) I'll have to do a section every once in awhile, as the vibration from the tiller makes my hands feel all crazy.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Last debate !
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| HE Loves Me........ |
I have some BIG stuff going on early next year, and WHICHEVER way it goes, I'll be starting over, in a manner of speaking, and maybe quite literally. So, I've chosen Daisy fabrics, because they're one of God's purest, freshest blooms, present and welcome in my Springtime garden each year now.
And that's what I'm clinging to, ....... my fresh start, .......... paid for by the precious blood of my Savior, Jesus Christ !
Check out the rules for this giveaway, here, if you'd like to enter, too !
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Day by Day
Life goes along, quietly. Praise God !
A couple of days ago, I spent many hours doing some cross-stitch that was printed on a couple of towels (accomplishing very little). I must say that counted cross stitch is a much better project. The printed x's do not line up with the weave of the fabric, making it a much slower process to try to make nice even stitches.
So yesterday I roused myself to go OUTSIDE and work in the sunshine while the ground was at a good stage for tilling
I started the day with taking some photos of the beautifully colorful trees on my land.
And I snapped a shot of my Rhododendrons that I finally got replanted in this big pot. I love the beautiful red color that the leaves have changed to.
And this Spirea is really pretty right now too.
My big surprise was when I found that my Elephant Ear was blooming........I have never had one do that before, and didn't even realize that they COULD bloom !
I got holes dug for my new plants, including another Rose of Sharon shrub that Rose offered to me.
I also tilled up some beds along my boundary line, and planted the Irises that were leftover when I thinned the ones that were growing along the front of the trailer. I get such pleasure out of that little tiller......so glad that I made (and was ABLE to make) the purchase.
Today was my yearly female exam, which went well, with NO mammogram, thank God !
I've spent an hour or so hand-quilting this evening, but there's not enough new progress to document with another photo yet, so I'll leave off for now.
I surely do miss my Kelley, Tim, Zoe, Timothy and Seth.......hope they're having a good week !
A couple of days ago, I spent many hours doing some cross-stitch that was printed on a couple of towels (accomplishing very little). I must say that counted cross stitch is a much better project. The printed x's do not line up with the weave of the fabric, making it a much slower process to try to make nice even stitches.
So yesterday I roused myself to go OUTSIDE and work in the sunshine while the ground was at a good stage for tilling
I started the day with taking some photos of the beautifully colorful trees on my land.
And I snapped a shot of my Rhododendrons that I finally got replanted in this big pot. I love the beautiful red color that the leaves have changed to.
And this Spirea is really pretty right now too.
My big surprise was when I found that my Elephant Ear was blooming........I have never had one do that before, and didn't even realize that they COULD bloom !
I got holes dug for my new plants, including another Rose of Sharon shrub that Rose offered to me.
I also tilled up some beds along my boundary line, and planted the Irises that were leftover when I thinned the ones that were growing along the front of the trailer. I get such pleasure out of that little tiller......so glad that I made (and was ABLE to make) the purchase.
Today was my yearly female exam, which went well, with NO mammogram, thank God !
I've spent an hour or so hand-quilting this evening, but there's not enough new progress to document with another photo yet, so I'll leave off for now.
I surely do miss my Kelley, Tim, Zoe, Timothy and Seth.......hope they're having a good week !
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Sidelined.......
......until I can obtain fabric for backing Seth's quilt, I picked up another little project.
Today I basted the little orange peel quilt that I'm making for the kitchen wall.
It's funny......I machine-zigzagged the blocks so that I could hurry the project along, and now I find myself hand-quilting it. But it's a small project after all, and I'm enjoying the handwork now that the sun goes down early and leaves me hours when I can't be fooling around with my flower gardens.
In fact, the biggest problem I had was getting my quilting chair away from Lottie-dah !
Today I basted the little orange peel quilt that I'm making for the kitchen wall.
It's funny......I machine-zigzagged the blocks so that I could hurry the project along, and now I find myself hand-quilting it. But it's a small project after all, and I'm enjoying the handwork now that the sun goes down early and leaves me hours when I can't be fooling around with my flower gardens.
In fact, the biggest problem I had was getting my quilting chair away from Lottie-dah !
Monday, October 8, 2012
Brought To You By The Letter, 'S'
I finished piecing the top just now, and after snapping a photo of it on the clothesline, I noticed that I had not trimmed the bottom left corner border.
This is one big quilt for a 3-year-old boy ! He hasn't even moved out of his youth bed yet, and this one hangs well over the edges of a twin mattress. Oh, well, he can grow into the quilt, right?
I usually wait until the quilt is quilted to share a full shot of the quilt, but I liked my border treatment so much that I wanted to share it now. My plan had been to do the left and top borders in blue, and the right and bottom borders in green, or something like that.
But looking at the little stack of cut-off pieces of blocks, I decided to alternate the two fabrics, adding a skinny cut-off strip between the joins. I like it. Hubby likes it too, although at first he told me that the borders were "too much fabric". I told him that he's always wanting me to make my quilts "big enough", and this was all the fabric that I had for blocks or borders so it would just have to do. Once I added the strips, he thought it looked good.
When the quilt is on the bed, the color orange pretty much takes over, due to my shaping out the letter 's'. right in the center of the quilt in the different orange fabrics. I hope it's not too intense in the long run.
For the record, today's temperature is in the 60's and we're expecting our first frost in the state tonight. Maybe not our area, but parts of East Tennessee will probably have frost tomorrow morning. I heard, in a weather report, that Oklahoma City had their earliest hard freeze ever, last night.
This has been such a strange year, weather-wise, I don't know WHAT to expect from this Fall and Winter ! But God is still on His throne, so praise be !
This is one big quilt for a 3-year-old boy ! He hasn't even moved out of his youth bed yet, and this one hangs well over the edges of a twin mattress. Oh, well, he can grow into the quilt, right?
I usually wait until the quilt is quilted to share a full shot of the quilt, but I liked my border treatment so much that I wanted to share it now. My plan had been to do the left and top borders in blue, and the right and bottom borders in green, or something like that.
 | |
| The bottom border is not skewed........it's just the wind | blowing the quilt-top. |
But looking at the little stack of cut-off pieces of blocks, I decided to alternate the two fabrics, adding a skinny cut-off strip between the joins. I like it. Hubby likes it too, although at first he told me that the borders were "too much fabric". I told him that he's always wanting me to make my quilts "big enough", and this was all the fabric that I had for blocks or borders so it would just have to do. Once I added the strips, he thought it looked good.
When the quilt is on the bed, the color orange pretty much takes over, due to my shaping out the letter 's'. right in the center of the quilt in the different orange fabrics. I hope it's not too intense in the long run.
For the record, today's temperature is in the 60's and we're expecting our first frost in the state tonight. Maybe not our area, but parts of East Tennessee will probably have frost tomorrow morning. I heard, in a weather report, that Oklahoma City had their earliest hard freeze ever, last night.
This has been such a strange year, weather-wise, I don't know WHAT to expect from this Fall and Winter ! But God is still on His throne, so praise be !
Saturday, October 6, 2012
I've named Seth's quilt....
........it's called,
and you can see the inspiration in this sneak peek of the top.
I got all but the borders done today.......a simple job, but I had to forbid hubby to put the foot out on his recliner, so that I could come and go past his chair as I lay the blocks out on the living room rug.
And totally off-subject, have any of you been following the quilting of this quilt . Check back through the previous two posts for some really beautiful shots of the quilting in progress. Outstanding quilting ! Kudos to Jenny of 'Sew Kind Of Wonderful' ! She has a separate blog, for her machine-quilting business............SO worth perusing !
"BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE LETTER, 'S' "
 |
| I know that the photo is dark.......that's part of sneaking a peek! |
and you can see the inspiration in this sneak peek of the top.
I got all but the borders done today.......a simple job, but I had to forbid hubby to put the foot out on his recliner, so that I could come and go past his chair as I lay the blocks out on the living room rug.
And totally off-subject, have any of you been following the quilting of this quilt . Check back through the previous two posts for some really beautiful shots of the quilting in progress. Outstanding quilting ! Kudos to Jenny of 'Sew Kind Of Wonderful' ! She has a separate blog, for her machine-quilting business............SO worth perusing !
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Slow going on a simple quilt
Somehow, life just keeps interrupting this quilt.
It's a very simple design, featured on Connecting Threads website, sold as a kit made up of the Mastermind line of fabrics. I wanted a larger quilt, and didn't need a pattern, so I just ordered extra stacks and fabric for borders.
I finished piecing the blocks.......I simply cut the 10 inch squares at 3", 2", and 5inches, and switched out the middle piece for each block.
Today I trimmed the blocks down to 8 1/2 inches each. I had thought that they would finish at that measure AFTER piecing the quilt, but lost more than I expected in the piecing. So the quilt is going to come out a bit smaller than I had figured, but it will definitely be usable on a twin-sized bed. Seth is still in a youth bed, but I've made bigger quilts for Zoe and Timothy, so I wanted Seth's bigger quilt to be the next one I send to them.
I'd love to make a quilt for Kelley and Tim's green bedroom, but she's sized me out by getting a king-sized bed. I just don't make quilts that big. I already don't know where I'm going to lay Seth's quilt out in order to see a good color placement of the blocks!
This fabric collection is so vibrant and out of my usual range/style. The finish on the fabric is soft and silky, and I really like it. I'm not prewashing the fabrics for the borders, since I didn't want to wash all the 10-inch precut squares. It's a rare thing for me to buy a collection, but Connecting Threads makes the choice so affordable, especially when they go 40% off !
It's a very simple design, featured on Connecting Threads website, sold as a kit made up of the Mastermind line of fabrics. I wanted a larger quilt, and didn't need a pattern, so I just ordered extra stacks and fabric for borders.
 |
| Not my design.......adapted from a kit seen on Connecting Threads, just adding blocks and changing the border coloring |
I finished piecing the blocks.......I simply cut the 10 inch squares at 3", 2", and 5inches, and switched out the middle piece for each block.
Today I trimmed the blocks down to 8 1/2 inches each. I had thought that they would finish at that measure AFTER piecing the quilt, but lost more than I expected in the piecing. So the quilt is going to come out a bit smaller than I had figured, but it will definitely be usable on a twin-sized bed. Seth is still in a youth bed, but I've made bigger quilts for Zoe and Timothy, so I wanted Seth's bigger quilt to be the next one I send to them.
I'd love to make a quilt for Kelley and Tim's green bedroom, but she's sized me out by getting a king-sized bed. I just don't make quilts that big. I already don't know where I'm going to lay Seth's quilt out in order to see a good color placement of the blocks!
This fabric collection is so vibrant and out of my usual range/style. The finish on the fabric is soft and silky, and I really like it. I'm not prewashing the fabrics for the borders, since I didn't want to wash all the 10-inch precut squares. It's a rare thing for me to buy a collection, but Connecting Threads makes the choice so affordable, especially when they go 40% off !
Monday, October 1, 2012
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