While hubby's away, the girls will play

OMG, we had the best weekend while are hubbies and kids were away. We got together first thing Saturday morning, sewed all day and night ( I brought the meals the first day) then got up the next day and did it all again...what a fabulous weekend...I need to have my hubby go away do that more often. It was great even though it snowed and snowed and snowed. My friend Sue, made 2 jumpers for her granddaughter and she was successful in putting in her very first zipper. I even learned how to make gnocchi from scratch (Sue supplied the meals the second day). What a fab weekend, thanks Sue!

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood

My sister brought this fabric down for me to long arm for her. Isn't it cute! It's perfect for a little boy's play mat and I can envision her grandsons lying on it moving little dinky cars on the roads. She chose a bright green flannel for the back and I quilted it in my pattern Gentle Winds which looks like little roads once it's stitched....Too cute!

Patches the Wrabbit

Patches is just hopping by to say hello. This is the fourth doll I have created for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and he is so cute in flannels. His body is out of brushed cotton and his clothes are all out of flannel. He is right in time for Easter at the store and will be offered as a class in the next few weeks. I love his buck teeth and his little glasses. He looks so dapper in his Sunday best complete with a carrot tie tack. I had so much fun designing him and making him. He is quite simple to make and the face, paws and feet effects are done with simple sculpting of needle and thread.

Plowing thru Snow...Bound

I'm finally finished plowing through each of  my "Snowbound" blocks from Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill Designs. It seems appropriate that I would finish them during one of the major snowstorms this year. Seems fitting! These were the last four I had to complete .I love the way they turned out, but now I have to put all the blocks together in a fairly intricate setting design that Bunny Hill Designs provided. Maybe it will be finally complete before all the snow thaws and melts. I have a thing for snowmen so this is a real favorite of mine. 

Happy Valentine's Day

This is Block 2 for February from Little Miss Shabby entitled Birdie Stitches BOM. It is supposed to be all embroidery, however I'm not much of an embroiderer so I opted to applique it. This BOM is adorable, and I love it. The little guys are so cute and I can hardly wait for the next one to come out to see what she has designed to compliment the month. February is perfect with the little birdies obviously so in love!

I love a good Thimbleberries

This is one of my favorite quilts and it hangs proudly in the small hall separating our living room from our kitchen. The wall is quite large so the quilt is perfect to fit it and make a statement. I remember getting the quilt kit from Gone to Pieces quilt store and I remember getting it at half price, which makes it even more special. The centre piece was a panel and you attached all the pieced borders around the centre panel. It was one of the first quilts I long armed when I got my machine. I forget what the name of it is, hence, that is why you should always have  labels on your quilts when you complete them.  It's hung super easy by using a metal electric (hollow) pipe 3/4 inch which slips through 2 eye hooks at each end. All you do is run the pipe through your hanging sleeve at the back and slide the pipe into the hooks...it's invisible at the front and the pipe is quite sturdy so there is no wonk in your quilt at the top.

Purple Pizzaz

This quilt was completed by the mom of one of my students, Donna. Donna's mom is 84,  I believe, and did an amazing job of this abstract/geometric quilt. We opted to quilt it in the pattern Camellia's, which turned out very nice. Donna made two matching pillow shams for her mom to go with the quilt and she says it looks lovely on her bed. I hope I can still quilt that well at 84.  Well done!

Floral Rosebud Beauty

This is Donna's quilt that was long armed before Christmas. Donna does a beautiful job of all her quilts and they are a pleasure to load onto the machine and complete. This one was chosen by her children for her as a gift and it looks lovely. The deep burgundy and green go so well together. She lucked out with the backing as it's not from the same line, but you would never know. I love the little patchwork blocks between the sashings.

Unique Batik

While I was in Grand Cayman visiting my Uncle, I was fortunate to be there while he was having some of his art exhibited. This is a quilt batik that he did which is quite stunning. It resembles the Egyptian hieroglyphics. He did the batik cloth first, then quilted it with batting and backing by hand. It is quite unique.  He is very talented and at the show he sold five of his framed art batiks.

Tiny Town Construction Zone

It takes a lot of wonder under, scrap cuttings and time to complete all the blocks for Tiny Town...but it's done. My sewing room looked like a bomb hit it   construction zone while I was working on them all, but it feels great to have them all complete.  About 5 still need all the blanket stitch completed, but at least they are up on the design wall at the store so that students can peruse them while attending class. It was such fun to see the little town come to life!

Three Quilting Musketeers

Here are my beginners with their completed and fully quilted beginner projects.  From Left to right....Bernadette, Jane, and Kathy( she's pretending to be short Wilson from Home Improvement)...our 4th Musketeer, Liz,  opted to go on a Caribbean vacation with her children. She needs to get her priorities in place, can you imagine missing a quilting class in exchange for the sunny south? The ladies did an amazing job and I an so proud of them. I hope they continue their new found passion for quilting.

Tiny Town Residents

This is Marnie and Elaine from the Tiny Town BOM class held at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. They are faithful residents the 3rd Saturday of every month and come prepared to construct their little Tiny Town villages. They are both characters and there is tons of laughs and a great deal of fun on those Saturdays. You can see the work in progress on the table and they both mean business when it comes to getting their Tiny Towns complete each month.

One Lucky Little Girl

My friend and customer Debbie made this quilt and isn't it adorable. I almost didn't want to give it back after I quilted it. It is so sweet. It's all done in flannels and has the sweetest flower appliqued in the corner. Debbie asked me to embroider "Avery"'s name on the quilt as well. Avery is one lucky little girl and Debbie you did a fabulous job on this quilt. It is sooooo very sweet!

Liz is a whiz

At quilting that is....Liz was in my last beginner class and proved her hidden talents in quilting. Her quilt looks amazing even though she really wasn't fond of a couple of her fabric choices. I tried to tell her that it looks amazing for a first quilt, but then after it gets quilted it looks phenominal...and it does! The lonarm quilting just seems to bring a quilt alive. I quilted it in the pattern Happy Times and it suits it perfectly. I think she did a wonderful job and I hope she continues to enjoy this wonderful new distraction called quilting.

Tiny Town Tips and Tricks #1

Isn't it great when quilters share their secrets....I love it. Mary Ann who is the Tiny Town BOM club at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Store shared her secret to keeping each block nice and neat. Rather than fold them or stuff them into a container, she rolls the block around a mailing tube and then fastens it around with Velcro tabs. How smart is that. This way, if you just get the applique pieces attached with wonder under, but not sewn, you won't get pieces coming off because of wear and tear in your container or bag. You also won't have to press each section again and again as it is always rolled neatly around the tube, until you are ready to sew all the blocks together.

Sweet Baby Jane

This is my beginner student Jane's quilt. Didn't she do a phenomenal job for a first quilt. Jane was one of four lovely ladies in my last beginner class and for beginners they all did amazing. Jane is obviously hooked on quilting now and has even finished a second quilt as well. She signed up for a jelly roll class and finished it in Christmas fabric. I know this as she just dropped it off to be quilted by me and it looks lovely as well. I'll post pictures once it's completed.  It's so exciting when your beginners go on to quilt more, it makes it so rewarding to have taught them their first steps and stitches.

I better "hop" to it

"Patches" the Wrabbit is well on his way to making his debut at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. store. He just needs to pull himself together, get dressed and hop over to the store for the spring doll class. I have been designing dolls for the doll class at the store each quarter for the last year and this is "Patches" the design for the spring class. I thought it would be fun to have an Easter type bunny with the season fast approaching. He's made out of brushed cotton and dressed in wonderful flannels. Well, don't want to give away too much before he is totally finished. I'll share the little guy with you shortly once  I  he gets his ____ together.

Bernadette's Beginner Beauty

I'm always amazed at the remarkable job new beginner quilters do on their first projects. Bernadette's work is no exception and I love her fabric and color choice. It is so fresh looking and will be a lovely addition to any table come spring. I commend Bernadette for her attention to precision, she spent many an evening class carefully picking out what she considered to be less than perfection. When others may have given up, she persevered and even with a horrendous winter cold at one point. It looks lovely and I know that she will enjoy her efforts for years to come. I hope she continues with her new found quilting niche.

My Favorite Son in Law's Quilt

This is my favorite son in law's quilt that I made him for Christmas......well he's my only son in law so far so that would make him my favorite. He had been asking for a quilt for some time ( hard to believe that a man would take an interest in quilting, however he did). He did have stipulations though, one being that it had to be a hunting quilt and it had to have the "Browning" hunting logo on it. At first I thought, OMG, why would you want to ruin a perfectly good quilt, but then I tried to think how I could incorporate it to make him happy. I'm pleased with what I came up with. I used a couple of charm packs that I had stashed away, found some co-ordinating stash for the setting triangles and borders and I was well on my way. I embroidered a deer in the centre block to try and tie everything together. I appliqued the logo on two on the blocks in co-ordinating fabric. As a joke I embroidered on the back " if it flies it dies, if it's brown it's down " along with a wild turkey. He just loved it and that made it so worth while!

Beginner Beauty

This is Kathie's quilt, a beginner in my "beginner's" class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Hard to believe that she is a beginner. She had sewing knowledge and was a very attentive student and she did amazing, don't you think. The students were just to make a table topper, however Kathie had seen my larger sample, had extra fabric and went for it. I met her husband at the store after it was quilted and he said he was quite proud of her...I guess!  It looked lovely quilted in the pattern Happy Times and Kathie was a joy to teach. I hope I see her at more of my classes.

So Tweet BOM

I love this new BOM from Little Miss Shabby. Thank you so much for sharing your creativity with us. I'm hopeless at hand embroidery so I'm going to attempt to applique the blocks and use minimal embroidery. My fabric choice is Gypsy Rose from Fig Tree and I think the first block turned out OK. It should be really sweet when it's all completed. I've done a little embroidery for the details in the background and the bird tail and legs and that was even too much for me. Can't wait to see February's design!

Makes me think of Spring

This quilt makes me think of spring and how I wish we were closer to it than the end of January. I hate the snow and cold and wish the warm temperatures and weather were here. It's not as bad as in Yellowknife, where this quilt originated. Margaret periodically sends me her quilts to long arm from Yellowknife in the mail and this one arrived in the fall. It's so pretty and I love the browns and yellows together. It was quilted with Wandering Daisies and looked beautiful finished.  Hope you're snuggled up under it Margaret, I heard the temperature was  -25 C. brrrrrrrrrrrrrr

A little Birdie told me

I'm so excited to start this new BOM from Little Miss Shabby. It is an embroidery BOM, and since I'm not that great at hand embroidery, I thought I might be able to cheat and applique instead. I'm going to try and see how it turns out. I've been rummaging through my stash instead of buying new fabric.....(I really need to de-stash)...so I came across a jelly roll from Fig Tree called Gypsy Rose and I think it will be perfect. The little birdie is so tweet! Can't wait to see the whole flock finished.

Something Bunny going on

I've been designing doll patterns for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. over the last year to teach at their quarterly doll class. First there was Garden Annie, then Stitch the Witch and lastly Holly the Quilter's Angel.
Well, we are into a new quarter and guess what...I need to come up with a doll for the spring class.
I thought with spring and Easter coming quickly, a bunny might be a nice option. These are the fabrics I've chosen.  Michelle has wonderful flannels in the store so what would be nicer than a flannel bunny......He's still a surprise and I'm still finishing off the details and the pattern. As soon as he's complete, he'll hop onto the blog for you to see. 

Cutie Quilter Doll

I designed a doll for Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. before Christmas called Holly the Christmas Angel. Instead of making the same doll again when I taught the class I thought it might be nice to change her up a bit. I had this cute sewing themed fabric that I got during the summer and thought it would look sweet on her. There are 3 inch quilt blocks around the base of her skirt, 1 inch squared patchwork wings and I added an embroidery hoop with "I love Quilting". Her face is sculpted and painted with permanent marker. She has notions added to her hair and I think she turned out nicely. She stands on a wine bottle so that was a unique twist to a doll pattern.

You can never have too many cards

These are the cards I made at my January card class. They are simple but effective and with four kids the stash comes in handy. There is always one of them asking for a card for a friend, or a thank you, or a birthday and I like that they ask and that they are going to good use. These cards are made with Stampin Up materials and tools and our demonstrator Cindy is great. I love going to the class, getting creative and being able to socialize with the other ladies. It's a fun night out.

New subdivison under construction

My new subdivision is under construction and I'm really happy with how it's coming along. It's a BOM called House Hunting and I chose to do it in primary colors in juvenile prints. I'm thinking that it will look adorable on a granddaughter's bed(once I get one) ((granddaughter that is)). Each month you make a house block and 2 log cabin blocks, add in some trees and sashing and in a year it's complete. I hope mine turns out as nice as my friend Annabelle who inspired me to make one of my own.

I've gone a little squirel-ly

I've gone a little squirrel-ly with all the BOM's I've taken on this year. I hope I can keep up. There are two from last year that I'm still working on...Tiny Town and Snowbound, then this year I've started on Henrietta Whiskers, Birdie Stitches, Sunbonnet Sue embroidery, and House Hunting. OMG what am I thinking!
I love how Henrietta turned out in the Migration fabric and can't wait to see what she's up to next month.

Be still my hearts!

Easy Peasy delicious

You need 1 tube puff pastry, granulated white sugar, cinnamon,parchment paper

Thaw your puff pastry in the fridge then roll out one sheet on parchment paper to measure about 10X12 inches. Sprinkle granulated sugar and cinnamon mixture all over one sheet of parchment paper, then transfer the rolled puff pastry onto it and press the bottom of the puff pastry so that the sugar sticks. Coat the top layer in sugar cinnamon mixture as well and press firmly. Make sure the longer length of the puff pastry is facing you. Gently with a knife, score a line down the centre of the pastry, being careful not to cut right through. Begin to shape the pastry, by rolling each side tightly into the center. Place the parchment and roll onto a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes Preheat the oven to 450F. Take the roll out of the fridge and begin to cut approximately ¼ inch slices all the way down the roll. You will need to squeeze the bottom so that it looks like a little heart shape. Place each heart on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake them in the oven for about 10 minutes flipping them over at the 5 minute mark until they are golden brown and caramelized. The Palmiers can be eaten fresh out of the oven or when they have cooled down. They can be stored for a few days in an air tight container (that never happens). These would be great wrapped up for Valentine's Day for someone special. Good luck trying to resist!

Chinese Coins

Linda did it again with this lovely "Chinese Coin" quilt. She made another fabulous quilt. I think she said that she ordered it as a kit from one of the quilt magazines. It turned out lovely and I lave the colors of brown and aqua, they go so well together. She put a really sweet brown with tiny blue dots on the back and we quilted it in the panto "Wandering Daisies".

Sunbonnet Sue

This is block one of a BOM quilt I have decided to do this year. I've had the embroidery design pack for Sunbonnet Sue for a while and I think she is so sweet. I had previously purchased "30's Reproduction Fabric" for the sashing and borders and I'm trying to do the quilt in yellows. Each embroidery design depicts Susie doing something themed to that particular month. I have a good friend and sister named Sue so maybe that is why I was drawn to this. They will probably both get a kick out of it.

Thank you Anne Sutton for Henrietta Whiskers

Thank you Bunny Hill Designs for this wonderful new BOM. I very much enjoyed Tisket Tasket Baskets (finished) and Snowbound (still working on). Henrietta is lovely and I am so excited to start. Anne, this is so generous of you to share your creativity with us, thank you!  I am desperately trying to utilize what fabric I have in my stash since I have no money no retired, and I had originally slated this fabric to make a quilt for my brother in law Spike. When I started to did around in my stash cupboard I realized that "Migration" would be perfect for Henrietta and was a good match as the line is based on nature. I'm so excited, I just need to keep up each month ( that's my new year's resolution).   

I'm having trouble getting into winter mode

I'm really having trouble getting back into this winter mode. Two weeks in Cayman will do that to you. No this is not a portrait of me on the beach in Cayman....I wish!  It is an oil painting that my 85 year old mom did though. Isn't it amazing, and so is my mom. She does beautiful work and this is one of my favorite. While we were in Grand Cayman, my uncle who lives there and whom we were visiting, had a showing of his batiks. He is also an amazing artist. My mom, his sister, showed some of her work at the same art show and this was one of hers. It's titled " Just Veggin".  Makes me wish I was back lazing on the beach.  I need to get a grip, and get back in the groove with the snow and sub zero temps, if I'm ever gonna make it til spring.    

How do you spell relax....C-A-Y-M-A-N

Ok, I'm back..... relaxed, rejuvenated, refreshed , readjusted and ready to go.
Believe it or not this is the picture I took from my lounge chair while laying on my back trying to get some well needed R&R. Cayman was amazing, the weather beautiful, the beaches gorgeous and the time there needed. I went for two weeks and spent some time with my mom, sister, brother and daughter. My uncle lives there, has a place right on the beach and welcomes the company. Dear hubby stayed home and held the fort. We have 2 boys still at home and while they are "good" boys, one is still a teenager and they have been known to party. Dear hubby was just making sure that there were no open beer bottles other than his own. It is good to be back, and I'm looking forward to a new year of creating, quilting, crafting and just having 365 days of wonderful! 

I'm over it...

It's my own fault, I did it to myself...yep...I over-ed it.
I overate, overdressed, overwrapped, overdrank, overbaked, overcooked, overbooked, overbought, overdecorated, overornamented (don't laugh, it's a word). I know, I agree, I went overboard and now I'm overtired, overwhelmed, overweight, overworked, overbilled, overcome, overdosed and just plain pooped.
I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging for a few weeks and I hope you will understand as I try and recoop, regroup, readjust, recharge, recover and just plain relax.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

This is the perfect card, don't you think for quilters and sewers? My niece Jennifer made it and sent it to me for Christmas. I think she knew how much I would appreciate the sewing theme.

More snow...bound buddies on the way

Here are the latest Snowbound snowbuddies from Bunny Hill Designs, that I managed to get finished. How does she think this stuff up?...she must lay awake at night creating. They are adorable and I need just a free afternoon to finish the last 5 of them. I've chosen white with red and white with blue polka dots for the corresponding blocks that are set around these little guys. It should look wonderful when it all gets completed. Thank you Bunny Hill Designs for sharing such a beautiful project with all of us.

Best Christmas Exchange Ever

I'd say I got the best Christmas exchange ever when I received this beauty. Lori a quilter that brings me her quilts to long arm, brought me this quilt top and another with a unusual request. She asked if I would quilt her one quilt top for free in exchange for this wreath quilt top. I had never been asked a request like that before but the quilt top was beautiful and I agreed. I think I made a great trade. I quilted and finished it sometime back and it is one of my favorites. It hangs folded on my banister year round. Thank you Lori for my special trade.

What do you get the quilter who has everything for Christmas?

What about a tape measure warmer? I found these little woollen IPod socks and again my imagination went wild. What could these little lovelies hold?...Why not tape measures? I told my girlfriend Sue about them and what my plans were for them. She went right out and got some

too. She did them up for a local bazaar she had a table at and they sold like hotcakes. I added a little quilter charm to each one and gave them as gifts to my Mystery Class ladies. These are definitely for the quilter who has everything!

Snowbound Snowbuddies

I want to thank Bunnyhill Designs for her generosity in providing these lovely BOM's for everyone to share and enjoy. I've had so much fun doing them and can't wait to get them all finished. I'm a little behind as usual and I still have 4 more to finish. You know how you just need one afternoon to yourself....I just don't seem to get that and that's why I'm so far behind. I can't wait to get the last few done, it quilted and then all the lovely embellishments added. It's going to be so cute. Hope I get it finished before spring arrives and melts all the snow.

More than these marshmallows are melting!

Frosty doesn't hold a candle to this guy! (no pun intended) I had so much fun making a pin cushion out of this tea light holder. It's amazing what you can come up with when you let your imagination run wild. I really should put a leash on it and get a life like my friend Sue says. I guess I have just too much time on my hands since I retired. He is really adorable and just in time for the winter season.

How sweet it is

I love themed Christmas trees.....can you tell? This one is really sweet, literally. It's my cupcake tree and it proudly sits in my kitchen of course. I made the little Dresden plate tree skirt out of matching pink and red fabric and one of the fabrics has little cupcakes on it. It looks really sweet at night when the red lights glow and the little red tinsel tree shimmers all over. Almost good enough to eat. Yum!

His belly, it shook like a bowl full of jelly

It just wouldn't be Christmas without a Santa pincushion, would it? I love this little guy, looks like he slipped on the ice and snow. I almost felt funny sticking pins into his belly, sort of made me feel like he was a Voodoo doll.....OMG... I hope I haven't ruined Christmas!

Should I sleep on it or eat on it?

You think your hubby doesn't notice things right?....not....It's amazing what they do notice when you don't want them to. I had wanted to do something a little different over Christmas in my kitchen. I wanted to brighten up the table and add some pizazz to the room, however could not find just what I was looking for, so kind of let the idea go. Later I was rummaging around in the linen closet and came across an unopened duvet cover in red and white that I had bought years ago for about $10.00 from Ikea. It was suppose to be for one of our girl's bedroom but never made it onto the bed. As I looked at the package, I thought that it would make a really cute table cloth for the kitchen table. It was 100% cotton, there was lots of fabric cause it was a duvet so there was a top and bottom and it had been a king size cover. I loaded it on the longarm, thought why not and quilted it in a YLI variegate of red, pale yellow and pink that I had never tried before and a new pantograph called Holly Berries that had just arrived...It quilted like a dream and I love it. While I was quilting my hubby lets me know that it's time to pick up our youngest son. I tell him that I have just a half row to finish on this tablecloth and he turns to me and says "Tablecloth? looks like an old bedspread." I thought I was going to kill myself laughing with this one. He never notices anything. I could come home and change the cut and color of my hair and he wouldn't notice or say a thing....but he can suddenly tell the difference between a bed cover and a tablecloth....LOL... love it anyway, didn't cost me anything, brightens up the room for Christmas and I love my trifle dish filled up with matching ornaments!

"Santa, I've been a good Westie"

I was out shopping recently and came across this glass Christmas ornament that looked like my dog "Jock". I couldn't resist. The resemblance is remarkable don't you think. I don't think Jock was impressed, but this new little Westie will look lovely hanging around during the Christmas holidays.

Warm hands, warm hearts

I made this sometime back, but it's still one of my favorites. I especially like the fabric in the blue/green mittens because it looks like needlepoint and is so pretty. Each of the cuffs is done in chenille fabric so it feels fuzzy and looks like wool. The little heart appliques are a perfect touch.

We wish you a funky Christmas

Don't you just love this funky Christmas quilt...
how cute is this. It's hard to believe that this was the first quilt of a 13 year old teenager named Erica....wow...look at the flying geese!...her first quilt. She's a natural. Isn't it a great quilt for a teenage girl....just perfect. Erica did an amazing job on this quilt with a little help from Pam, her quilting mentor. She should continue with her quilting talent, and I have a feeling that in the future we might be hearing alot more about a girl named Erica when it comes to designing.