Sometimes I just luck out

So we’re away camping with the kids and grandkids at Jellystone Park near Java and Dear Hubby and I decide t take a country drive just to get away from the grandkids. As we are driving along I see a large quilt block painted on the side of a building…like those barn blocks that you sometimes see in your travels.  How cool is that.

We drive on and venture to the local TSC and Wal-Mart…your typical country drive. As we are heading back I see this quilt store. STOP!

How did I miss this on the way in? It even had the gigantic quilt block painted on the side of it like a beacon of light at sea in the worst of  storms. The shop was called Creekside Quilts in the small village of Arcade. Dear Hubby did stop and I had a quick gander through…long enough to score some Soft and Stable, which I have been trying to find forever. As well a little yardage of  Knitting Needles and Yarns…perfect to go along with the little bits and pieces of matching fabric I had of the line.

We did enjoy the country drive….

And did enjoy our time with the grandkids…

Hexie Love

I remember how excited I got when I first started working on these little 1/2 inch hexies….I was all gung hoe until I sewed about 5 of them together and realized….this is a lot of work.  Cute, but a lot of work.

I couldn’t wait to get enough pieces together to make something with them…it took forever. I did accomplish this cute little pin cushion all held together in a  embroidery hoop. The smallest I could find.

I seriously need to work on the bigger sized hexies…let’s say the 6 inch type.

My new best friend

I take a lot of pictures….lots. For the blog, for me, for patterns, for memories. I have been working with a little  instamatic camera for years. Don’t get me wrong…it’s a great little camera, takes nice pics and quite manageable for me as I’m not a techy type of person that can understand all the bells and whistles.  But what I do love are those pictures where you get the wonderful blur in the backgrounds, like the professionals do, which prompted me to upgrade my instamatic to this…..

Hopefully over the next few months I will get the gist of it and start taking better pictures …like those ones that I find so romantic and mesmerising….the ones that blur out all the crap lying around in the background …..I may never need to clean again… I can just blur out the mess and dirt….

Girl’s Night Out

I love to entertain and I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to “Deck” things out. I invited the girls that I used to work with for years over for a “Girls’ Night Out”, we always have such a good time together…..gabbing, catching up, laughing and perhaps having a glass of wine or two… many.

It’s always fun to have a unique table setting and I thought the bandanas were a perfect fun touch. They formed the place mats, folded on the diagonal,  and made a statement as the napkins tucked into the wine glasses.

You can still use your good silverware on the deck…what a great way to display your garden flowers.

Great setting, good food, wonderful friends…. fond memories

P.S I love you

Big sister’s birthday present was this quilted wallet…What do you get the sister who has pretty well everything….including tons of your quilts….a wallet.

My sister never, ever carries a purse…just a small change purse that she keeps her cash and cards in. This little wallet will help her organize those a bit better with lots of room for both.

I added a little P.S I love you label to the inside, just to remind her how special she is to me every time she opens it.

Starry mystery

Pat’s mystery quilt turned out amazing…I love the grey backgrounds with the punch of color. This Mystery Class was held at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and the pattern was by Debbie Caffrey. I could tell you the name, but then it wouldn't be a mystery for others. We wouldn’t want anyone to cheat. would we?

It’s an interesting concept…sign up for a class, pick your fabric with help from the quilt store, start sewing together pieces from clues given to you monthly, never knowing what the quilt will look like to the very end! Scary.

Love it Pat, looks amazing.

How does your garden grow?

This lovely little paper-pieced hang-up from Little Bits called Think Spring was fun to complete……time consuming, but very rewarding once completed. I used batik scraps from my stash  and was able to just squeeze out the border and binding.

I love the detail and preciseness you can get from paper piecing, but you do have to be patient……and you almost have to be dyslexic as everything is done in reverse. Once you get your head around that…it’s a breeze.

Pillow fun

I’ve been trying to utilize my stash over the last year and I am amazed with not only what I have been finding, but what I have been able to accomplish. For starters I wonder what would have ever possessed me to buy these little tapestry pillow panels in the first place, I must have been hormonal.

I finished these little pillows up for Dear Eldest Daughter. I thought they were quite funny but her new hubby thought otherwise and said that they would have to go away when his parents came over for a visit. OMG….You are married now…. and nobody thinks you’re sitting around and holding hands anymore. And putting them away when your parents come over…..I think they’ve  figured it out, otherwise how would you have gotten here. Silly country boy.

Had to throw in one more for that Diva of a Daughter….

He’ll soon figure the last one out!

50 Shades of Grey, Yellow and Black

I love the way this quilt turned out. It started with a panel from Cosmopolitan by Michele D'Amore and a few pieces of matching fabric, a few basic add ins and it turned out to be an awesome looking quilt. I started by cutting the panel into sections and then framed each with yellow setting fabric. An inner border of a mix of the few matching fabrics I had and finally a cute black with white polka dot border to frame it all.

Not sure where I’ll put it, but I do love it.

Time flies

I can’t believe how late I am for the posting of this blog story. I was going through some of the pictures on my camera and came across all these lovely Dresden plates. I completely missed them and the post should have been months ago. Better late than never I guess. These Dresden plates are the start of clocks from my Dresden Clock Class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.

The ladies were all off to such as great start. Most have only to frame the piece and add the clock hardware. I am always amazed at how different everyone’s look. Hopefully the ladies have them all completed and are now watching time fly.

Starlight, Starbright

My niece Kate was married a few weeks ago and this is the quilt I gave her to celebrate her wedding. My sister in law, MaryLynn, was describing the colors of her bedroom and I think that this quilt will go quite well.

If I can recall the fabric was from a Three Sister’s line that I had stashed away for years. While it is not a huge quilt, it measured about a 60 inch square which is a nice size to showcase the fabric.

I think Kate will appreciate it as she has taken a few quilting classes and can appreciate the work that goes into quilt making. Much happiness Katie and Chris.

Addicted

I can’t seem to stop making these Christmas placemats…I think this is my 3rd set.

I can’t believe how easy and quick these are to put together and they look so amazing.

I have a feeling everyone is getting a set of these for Christmas.

Hang Up That Phone!

I can’t tell you how frustrated I get sometimes with my phone cord hanging around and my phone laying on the floor charging. I’d seen similar examples on the web that allow you to hang your phone up while you charge it and I figured I could probably make one.
Make one…I made 2 and the pattern for Kindred Spirits.
It started with a little saying quilt block that I had picked up a while back, some scrap fabric and an idea. Add some soft and stable, binding and a grommet and my dilemma for phone on the floor…..solved.
The second sample came after asking to try my son’s phone, to make sure the newest IPhone would fit. He had a look and said, that’s cool. I asked if he would like one and he said sure, if I had time. I just happened to have fabric for his favourite pastime….motocross, and I just happened to have a few minutes of spare time. If your son loves  what you made, asks for one,  thinks it’s cool…you have a hit!

I’m half way there

I’ve finished block 6 of Penguin Cheer …so cute with the penguins under the mistletoe.

This is a wonderful BOM offered free from Fat Cat Patterns. Wonderful patterns by Sindy Rodenmayer.

The mistletoe block was the last block needed to complete the quilt 1/2 way.  It looks really great put together and went together like a charm.

Skating on Thin Ice

Another section of my Quilt Doodle Doodles BOM completed….

These maybe don’t look as much like hockey skates as I would like them to, but they will have to suffice. I think that I will probably sew some trim onto them once I have the whole quilt completed and quilted to make it look like laces.

You can find the free BOM at Quilt Doodle Doodles here

http://quiltdoodledesigns.blogspot.ca/p/bom-2014.html