Winter...it's for the birds

This is a little mini 12X12 quilt I designed to fit the Ackfeld tabletop hanger. I like it lots, reminds me of when my mom hung clothes on the line outside. The fabric for the mittens looks like knitted wool which is really cool and I used blanket fleece for the cuffs. Since I'm rather lazy when it comes to hand embroidery, I machine embroidered the lettering with my machine. All done and just waiting for the snow to fly!

It's not a mystery to me

A new season of mystery club begins at Kindred Spirit Quilt Co. This is the fourth year I'm teaching this monthly quilt club. It's a mystery quilt offered by Border Creek Station and the quilt is called Quilter's Journey. Students have a choice of "travel by day" or travel by night"color option. I chose the travel by night version. Students do not know what the quilt will look like and they come each month to get their clue sheet instructing them what to cut and sew. Each month the mystery unfolds and they get closer to the reveal. I decided to make mine as a Christmas quilt this year as I don't have one for my bed and I thought it would be rather nice to indulge myself for a change. The fabric line is Makin' new Friends by Deb Strain for Moda. It's gonna be a beauty and of course because I'm teaching it, it's not a mystery to me!

Paper, scissors, glue...oh my!

These are the latest cards I made at my monthly Stampin Up Club class. I have so much fun at this class. I love the techniques we learn and the choices Cindy makes for the paper and co-ordinates. It's a great way to have a social night out with the girls, be creative and accumulate a good selection of cards for giving.

How sweet it is!

I just love this little cupcake tape-measure! The pattern for it is from Betz White and you can order on the Internet and have instant download which is fabulous if you want to get going on these right away. I made mine out of recycled wool sweaters which I felted. They are so cute and the perfect touch are the little sprinkles on the top stitched from beads. They were simple easy to make and a great gift for your quilting friends.

Hey guys...Christmas is coming!

Holly the Quilter's Angel

This is the latest doll in a series designed for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. for classes at their shop. The first was Garden Annie, then Stitch the Witch and now Holly the Quilter's Angel. Each doll has been designed with quilters in mind. Holly has patchwork wings and 3 inch blocks bordering her skirt. Her face is lightly sculpted and painted with fine tip permanent markers.
She doesn't necessarily need to be made in Christmas fabric, she could be done in sewing themed fabric and given to a quilting friend to watch over her while she quilts, making sure 1/4 inch seams are perfect and all points match. Patterns are available for purchase. If you're interested, just drop me a quick e-mail and I'll provide you with details.

They sure don't quilt like beginners!

This is Bernadette, Jane, Liz and Kathie....they are in my beginner class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.....but they don't quilt like a beginner. I am so impressed with them and they are all doing wonderfully. It's a great size class, just the four, which gives lots of time for individual attention. They are making a table top or wall hanging from Eleanor Burns' book, It's Elementary. Their blocks are turning out wonderful, all measuring 12.5 inch square which is phenomenal for a beginner. I'll share their finished projects as soon as they are done.

Pretty in Pink

This is a customer quilt that I completed using the panto Camellias. It turned out quite nice as the quilting of the flowers really showed up great in the plain pink blocks. This was a monthly BOM that she had put together after the year was finished. It looks lovely with the pink and green fabrics together.

Pretty Homespun

I had a customer bring me this pretty little homespun quilt to longarm. I love the pastels and it was so soft and cuddly, it almost felt like flannel. It turned out gorgeous quilted in the Angel Wings panto as you could really see the quilting and the little wings seem to pop. She made it for her grand daughter who I know is going to just love it.

Measure twice...cut once

I've been playing around with those retractable tape measures that you can throw in your purse and take with you. I can't tell you how handy they are and how often I've had the opportunity to use them. I've been playing with my embroidery machine to create little circles which I then sew around the tape measure case. I always like to have a few little giveaway things that are unique for my quilting friends. These are a few that I've been trying out to see how they look. Lot's of work so not sure if I'll continue. I'm the kind of crafter that likes to get r' done.

Two cream, one sugar please

My daughter was married 3 years ago and the theme of the wedding was "Love is Brewing" . We had teapot centerpieces filled with flowers and the gifts for the women were these lovely little teacup and saucers that held a tealight candle. Needless to say, I have about a dozen of them left so I was thinking what could I do with them. Bingo...pincushions. This is just the first prototype, but I think they will turn out nice and be great little giveaways for some quilting friends.

Witches...not them...the dolls

These are the ladies from the Stitch the Witch doll class I taught showing off their finished creations...how cute and each one was a little different. I designed the doll as a fun project at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and geared the pattern to include some quilting features. "Stitch" had prairie points around her skirt and a little pocket that reads " I love quilting" as well as a little strip vest. The ladies did an amazing job and they were finished just in time for Halloween. Here they are stuffing body parts and sculpting hands and faces.

What came first?...the chicken or the egg

Who cares....as long as I get something to make another pincushion out of...This was a metal candle holder that I picked up at Homesense quite a while back and I thought I might be able to utilize it as a pincushion...and I was right. It's really heavy because it solid metal so you can put it right at the edge of your machine with your pins in it and it's not going anywhere...love the little red felted cushion and the red leaf pins...she's a keeper.

Another mystery solved

This is Carol from my Mystery class with her finished quilt...and then some. This was the Border Creek Mystery class that I taught at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. over the last year. We have so much fun at this class that is held once a month. We have giveaways and the ladies always get a special food treat with recipes included. So far we've done cakes, tarts and loafs...this year they want cupcakes! Carol did a wonderful job on her quilt, even though she had never done applique before. She just about freaked when she saw how much applique was required and I was concerned that she was a little intimidated by it....LOL...look what she ended up doing!....two matching pillowcases. Good for you Carol, you did a fabulous job and everything looks beautiful.

Bite me...Halloween's over

It's sad that Halloween is over with today and Dracula here has to be put away for another year. He's so much fun sitting on the front porch and the kids get a kick out of him when they come to Trick or Treat. He was super easy to make. I think the pattern was from a craft magazine a few years ago. He's made out of clay pots in various sizes that are painted with acrylic paint. His cape is made out of sparkle felt and I always manage to get a cool grass plant for his hair. Thats an owl roosting in his top pot. I hate to put him away again, but we need to get on with our Christmas stuff now....only 54 days and counting.

Three Ghostly Musketeers

These 3 musketeers graced the garden on Halloween night and they looked amazing from the road as you drove by. They are made from white felt and the mouth and eyes are from black felt. I'm pretty sure that it was a McCall's pattern from a few years back. I made them when my kids were small, but even now that they are grown and out on their own, they still enjoy them when they come to visit. The felt ghosts are placed on metal tomato plant cages that are wrapped in white mini lights...So easy, but so effective.

BOO-hoo, they're all gone

Yep, it's so sad...all these ghosts are gone....all 80 of them. I make these with a great Land O' Lakes sugar cookie recipe and they turn out fabulous. They are my son in law's favorite and he is always asking for them. My mom and daughter came over and helped me ice them, cause that's what takes the time, but we have it down to a science because we thin the royal icing and then pour it into a plastic tipped bottle and the royal icing just flows onto the cookie perfectly. Before you flow the icing you have to pipe a firmer royal icing rope around the whole cookie and let that dry completely. All that is left to do is dot the eyes and mouth on with black icing gel. I barely get them onto a plate before they disappear.

Never met a cupcake I didn't like

These are some of the cupcakes I made for my grandson Ayden's 1st birthday party. Rather than have a cake, my daughter asked if I could make cupcakes. They were easy and simple and looked great at the party. The kids thought they were wonderful and everyone had a few laughs as well. The mummy ones are quite simple, just frost your cupcakes with chocolate icing then using a flat edge piping tip, pipe white icing over the chocolate using long strokes. Leave holes for the eyes and mouth. The eyes are piped with blue icing dotted with black. So simple but such a great hit. The spider webs are just orange frosted cupcakes. You make four circles of black icing starting at the center and working out to your largest one. Take a toothpick and pull through the icing eight times, evenly around the cupcake. Top with a spider made out of a sugared jube candy, legs are made from licorice strings cut up. The eyes are of royal icing. Skeletons are fairly simple, but take some prep before hand. Use 3 yogurt covered pretzels for each and with a sucker stick placed through the back of each pretzel, royal ice the stick in place . Lay them out on a parchment sheets til they dry completely. With an edible icing pen, draw your faces on a large marshmallow and stick onto the end of the sucker stick. Holding upright poke your sticker stick into your iced cupcake and voila....

Haunted House for Sale...inquire within

This is the centerpiece cake I made for my grandson Ayden's first birthday. It was a Halloween themed party so a haunted house cake was the perfect choice. I had such fun making it and it looked adorable. You make the spooky trees by melting chocolate in a zip lock bag and then squeeze out your tree pattern onto parchment paper. The cupcakes are trimmed in chocolate sprinkles, the windows are made from rolled out tootsie rolls and the windows shutters, door and gravestone are from Oreo cookies cut in half. The turrets are chocolate wafer ice cream cones with malt chocolate balls stuck on top and I was able to pick up candy bone sprinkles at Michael's. The creature eyes are made from royal icing.

This spider tastes yummy!

My grandson Ayden turned 1 on Friday and on Saturday the family celebrated with a Halloween Birthday bash. It was great fun, everyone dressed up in costumes and Ayden was a skunk. My daughter wanted him to have his own cake to celebrate with so keeping with the Halloween theme I made him this spider web cake, complete with spider. The first thing he went for was the spider of course. Once he figured out the icing was sweet, that was pretty much the end of the cake. You can see what ensued once he got a taste of that sweetness.

If I only had a brain...

This is the scarecrow that graces our front yard during the fall season. I just love the way he looks with his cowboy hat and his denim shirt. His head is an upside down painted maple sap bucket and it works well. I have little corn husks tied around his neck and a great big orange plaid scraf draped over his shoulders. I'm gonna hate when the snow flies and I have to put him in storage for another year.

Ghoulish quilt

A few posts back I showed the runner I made from the leftover panel pieces from this quilt. I made this quilt for my grandson so he could enjoy it at Nana's house when he comes to visit. There are all this lovely little ghoulish creatures doing spooky, scary things all over the quilt. I thought that he would have fun looking at all the little bugs and creepy monsters on it. It was set in a wonky block pattern and has a boo print for the outside border. He's only turning 1 this year so it might be a while before he really enjoys the Halloween ghoulish guys on it.

She's so BOO-tiful

This is a pattern from Bunny Hugs called Millie and BOO. She's suppose to be holding a cat, but since we have a Westie, I made a little dog for her to hold instead. Our dog's name is Jock, so across the bottom of her dress is embroidered....My Jock and me we welcome thee....

I just love getting all this little guys out over the Halloween season for everyone to enjoy.

Ghoulish table runner

I made this little table runner from leftover quilt panel pieces. I originally picked the panel up at Patchwork Porch during a shop hop a few years back. I finished a quilt of them and had a few left over to use for this runner. I love the creepy things in the beaker jars, the ghoulish little creatures hiding out and flying around. I set the panels in wonky blocks and it turned out quite effective. It's a fun piece to display over the Halloween season.

I can't believe it's not butter!

When we visited Orillia this summer, I was in the
greatest little kitchen shop on the main street and came across this little butter dish. I thought it would make the cutest little pin cushion and I was right. I stuffed the cavity where the butter should go with a felted piece of sweater and it looks so sweet... another one to add to my
collection.

Pumpkinhead

This little beauty is a pattern from Little Stitches
called We Three. The pattern called for a Styrofoam ball with Paper clay over it but that seemed like too much work so I bought this little pumpkin head at Michael's and drew the face on with permanent marker. She is so cute and so much fun to put out at Halloween.

If the broom fits, fly it

This sweetie is a Bunny Hugs pattern called Trick or treat...how sweet. I made her a few years back and love that with the Halloween season just around the corner, I can bring her out to enjoy, She has her very own treat bag and ghost.

Purr....fect

This was the purr...fect little vintage find at a local store. The scroll design down the cat and around the base is wonderful. I added a felted wool ball for the pincushion and dressed it up with these lovely leaf pins from Joann's. I'm getting quite a collection of these pincushions now. My husband says that if I get anymore, he'll leave me.......sure gonna miss that man!

Sweet.......Treat Bag

This little bag was offered a while back from Moda. Isn't it adorable. It's made from 10 Honey Bun strips and sews up in a jiffy. My sister-law received this one for her recent birthday. You could use it to store your quilting tools, you can use it as a travel bag or even a gift bag. I added a little handle to it, tied on with ribbon so you can use it as a small purse. Gotta make some more of these with the holiday season just around the corner. It's a great gift when you just need a little something for that special someone.

October..Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This quilt was sent to me to longarm from Yellowknife from my customer Elizabeth. It is a beautiful quilt and has special meaning for her. The quilt is called a hokey pokey quilt -- her friend sent her the pattern. She decided to do it all in pinks for a friend and colleague of hers who is fighting breast cancer. She is in her late 30's with 3 young children. Elizabeth sent out cut out hearts so that people can write a message to her and she plans on hand appliqueing them onto the back of the quilt. She has raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research and is presently participating in a study out of California since there is nothing else that can be offered her here in Canada. I quilted it in Angel Wings as it just seemed appropriate that someone needs to be watching over her during her difficult fight.

Stitch the Witch

Meet "Stitch the Witch", this is a doll I designed for the Halloween season. She has been offered as a doll class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and the ladies in the class are doing a wonderful job of recreating her. She is perfect for quilters with her prairie point dress, strip vest, I love quilting pocket, spider pincushion, button hair, spool shoelaces and tape measure belt. Her body and face are of batik and are slightly sculpted.

Here she is visiting the local quilt shop...Patterns packages "witch" include the hair and boa for her neck are available for purchase for $15.00. Postage will vary, depending where you live. If you are interested just add a comment with your e-mail and I will contact you.

Batik Beauty

Linda, one of my favorite quilters and customer, brought me this beautiful batik quilt to long arm. The colors are so vibrant and it looks phenomenal quilted with "Happy Times". The quilt is a pattern called Pinwheel Pirouette from the book Strip Clubbung. This quilt is for Linda's niece for Christmas.....lucky girl .

The Seven Year Stitch

I had promised myself this year that I would finish off some of the UFO's I had stashed away. I am slowly working through my promise even though it is so difficult. I want to start new projects, but I have kept my word and am working at getting them off my list. ( I have started new projects, but they are the samples for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co.). I thought I would get going on this one, it had been in the cupboard for ages. I had it all complete except the outside 2 borders and with the autumn season in full swing I thought it would be good to finally get r' done. I had started this years ago at Gone to Pieces and it had been part of a Thimbleberries Club. You made 4 seasonal quilts and I had only finished one of the 4...how sad is that. The greater sadness was when I was trying to jog my memory as to how long I had tucked this baby away...to my shock...the sheet of instructions was clearly marked 2003....now that is sad...7 years to complete a wall hanging. Thank goodness Thimbleberries never go out of style.

A different kind of stash

Once a month I attend a Stampin Up Club.....it's so much fun and you come home with some terrific cards and little projects that you make in an evening. It's a great way to build up a stash of cards for all occasions. It's nice to have them available when a birthday or anniversary comes up that you've forgotten. It has saved me many times. These are last month's projects. Two Christmas cards...it's never to early to build your stash of these, and a lovely congratulations card...so much fun to create

Mystery Solved

The mystery is solved. Last month was the final installment and final clues for the Border Creek Station Mystery Quilt monthly class held at Kindred Spirit Quilt Co. Some of the ladies in the class had figured it out on their own without the final clue. I received a few calls at home trying to coerce me into divulging a clue before the class to confirm their findings. Shame on you ladies. All the quilts will be gorgeous when they are complete and I'll make sure to take pictures and post them as each one is very different.

When I drink, I loose my head

I've been designing and teaching doll classes for the local quilt store, Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. First there was Garden Angel Annie, then Stitch the Witch and now I'm working on a Christmas angel. This class is a little more complex than the last two with the face being sculpted and painted. I have yet to work on her body, dress and wings. Hopefully I'll get to that tomorrow. Her head will be attached to a body that sits on this wine bottle so the angel will stand nicely. I think she turned out quite pretty and can't wait to get her finished.

In the Doghouse

This puppy was a vintage find at a local thrift store.

It was very simple to give him a makeover into
a pincushion with a little stuffing, felted wool

and the trusted glue gun. I love the little pink heart pins that match the pink in the pincushion and front door.

Shopping, it's hard work but somebody's gotta do it

This would be the perfect little town to live in...3 shops side by side and what could be better than a deli, a quilt shop and a knitting boutique. You could have lunch at the deli, build up your strength to carry all the fabric stash that you purchase from the quilt store. Then it would be off to see the lastest wools and patterns at the knitting boutique. Now that would be an afternoon well spent. This is Block 5 of Tiny Town BOM by Bunny Hill Designs. It's being featured as a class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and we have quite a few quilters signed up. I guess everyone loves it as much as me.

My Frank

I am really partial to this little guy. With Halloween just around the corner it's fun to get these treasures out to enjoy. When I first saw the pattern for this fellow I just had to have it. My hubby's name is Frank and that might be short for Frankenstein and I can sort of see the resemblance ...along the hairline.

NYC trip...Brooklyn beauty

These are the most beautiful stain glass windows I have ever seen. Absolutely breathtaking and then were on display at the Brooklyn museum. The windows are called Dawn in the Woods in Springtime and Sunset in the Autumn Woods and they were the works of art by Tiffany Glass Company in 1905.

NYC trip...only in New York

When we visited Little Italy in NYC we found that they were celebrating the Feast of San Gennaro. Mulberry Street was blocked off with the festival and vendors had shops, booths and restaurants set up. You could taste just about anything Italian. How much more Italian could you get than fried oreos??.....they coat the oreo cookie in batter and deep fry it, then dust it in powdered sugar...major low cal. But it was to die for...it was so good. Here the picture of the lovely little Italian lady making mine up fresh. They were only $1.00 each, so a bargain as well. I did the math when we got home...you can buy a package of oreos for $2.99 and you get about 30 in a package, that averages about 10 cents a cookie...it was $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00, but my hubby put his swelled foot down and wouldn't let me get the half dozen! I have a deep fryer, I think I'll try them at home.

NYC trip....Bad Hair Day

If you've ever been to New York City you know that they have a
wonderful subway system that can take you virtually anywhere.
Even with such a phenomenal system, as a tourist, you still walk and walk and walk. After about the 4th day of dragging hubby all over NYC, his leg and ankle started to swell up and he could barely walk. He rarely ever complains about anything so I new he was hurting when he did mention it. He was in agony. The last 2 days of the trip were spent with his leg up in bed trying to ice it to get the swelling down. ( once home and up to the doctor, turns out it is gout). I had a list of things yet to do in NYC and while I love him dearly, it's not much fun in the hotel with him watching the swelling go down. I had wanted to go to the museum of Natural History uptown, however we were staying in Brooklyn and he didn't relish the thought of me going all that way on the subway by myself. I found out that Brooklyn has a museum of it's own, and he was comfortable with me venturing there. I spent a nice afternoon exploring and came across this sculpture in the contemporary art section of the museum. It's Nick Cave's Soundsuit exhibit, but I laughed when I saw it cause it just reminded me of a really bad hair day.

NYC Trip...What do these all have in common?

What do all these things have in common? Well if mommy agrees to go to the Yankee game, and mommy agrees to go to the New York Islander game, then daddy agrees to let mommy visit The City Quilter and mommy gets to buy stash. It's all about compromise and we're getting really good at it after 30 years of marriage. This is what I picked up at The City Quilter while we were visiting NYC last week. I've been looking for just the right yellow 30's print for a Sunbonnet Sue quilt I'm planning on doing. It's a quilt with a combination of machine embroidered BOM Sunbonnet Sue set with sashing. This yellow was perfect. The little pink apple buttons are for the trees in my Tiny Town BOM I'm working on. I've only ever seen the apples in red, so the pink ones will be perfect for that project.

NYC Trip... The City Quilter

My hubby is always accommodating when it comes to visiting quilt stores and NYC was no exception. We took the subway from Brooklyn uptown and located The City Quilter. Nice shop in the midst of all the chaos, it almost seems out of place amidst the skyscrapers. It's a lovely little shop, well stocked. The had delightful NYC fabric and had just received a line of fabric in depicting Times Square. The shop was surprisingly busy with a good group of people attending classes during the day when I visited. Hubby was patient so I had lots of time to browse, touch the fabric and ogle at the patterns and books. I was good, only bought a couple of things...

NYC Trip - Mile High Pie

We were just blocks away from this fabulous bake shop and restaurant in Brooklyn when we visited NYC last week. It's called Juniors and it has some of the best food in Brooklyn. Breakfasts were to die for along with their baked goods. Get a look at those mile high pies in the window.....Lemon meringue....When we got off the subway at night we'd pop in and pick up a blueberry and cherry turnover for the morning with our coffee. Each turnover could have fed a family of four, but what the heck we were on holidays!

NYC Trip....Martha

OMG, There's me at Chelsea Studios in NYC, with Martha.....I love Martha, I'm her biggest fan. Don't get excited, cause that's as close as I got to her. I entered the web thingy and tried to get tickets for the week we were going to be there. You were suppose to get a response about 3 weeks before the show date you had picked...and of course we got no e-mail telling us we were selected. The website also said that you had a good chance of getting standby tickets if you arrived the days of taping by 8am. Before we left on the trip, I checked the website and it indicated that she taped on Thursdays. On the Thursday morning I got my hubby up at 6:30am, we were showered, dressed and on the subway from Brooklyn by 7:15. We walked over to the studio and were there by 7:45, and I thought OMG this is great, were bound to get standby....my hubby says "look no line up yet so that's good". Not knowing exactly where to stand in line, cause there wasn't one, we asked a fellow that was near the studio entrance. He looked at me as if I had 2 heads..."she doesn't tape today, she taped Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week"...........!_#$^&@*_~@&^~^# So this was as close as I got to Martha.