Dresden Girls

These are the Dresden Girls....dolls and class participants...There's Barb, Andrea, Gladys and Barb with their completed sweethearts. See the eyelashes all sewn by hand. So sweet and we had so much fun during class. I was astonished to learn that Barb was a glue gun "virgin"...oh the things you learn at class.

Mascara would have been so much easier

These are the ladies in my "Dresden Girl "doll class, tediously sewing individual false eyelashes onto their Dresden Girl's sculpted face. Each eye gets a total of five eyelashes which are each sewn on one at a time. Do you know how tiny those things are!  She is lovely when she's all complete, and I promise to show you all their final girls complete. I am really inspired at how well they have done with creating the doll as they are all new to doll making , except Barb who is an avid bear maker. She has also taken another doll class with me. I think they have all done fabulously!

I could handle a "trip around the world"

This is Donna's "Trip around the world" quilt...I want to try one of these, she says it was fairly easy. She brought it to have quilted and it's so neat to look at it from a distance. I had a perfect place for it, alas, she came and picked it up.

Love at first block

Look at these amazing ladies and their first "blocks"....perfect!  Here are Linda, Shelly and Anne...the ladies in my beginner class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. You can see how pleased they all were to have the block finish to a perfect 12.5 inch square. They have been having so much fun and so have I, watching them learn to love the art of quilting.

7 fat quarters to the gallon

 How cool is this! This is the "Quilt Car"... a custom  car quilt  designed and made by the members of the Niagara Heritage Quilt Guild. It was on display last weekend at their annual quilt show held at Niagara College. It was amazing to see all the unique blocks and fabric that went into the making of it...truly a work of art.

Here's more pics including my friend Sue having a good look. We had a fun afternoon at the show and just hanging out together.

I have the Blues

This is Carol Ann's lovely Scrap Basket Blues quilt that she made for her son. She brought it to me to have quilted and I can tell you that I didn't want to give it back. It's from the book Scrap Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett. Carol Ann chose civil war prints and it looks amazing. I just have one question....I have this book...how is it everyone but me is getting their quilts completed? I have yet to get mine started...I have the fabric for about 4 of them, and not one done yet or even cut. &*$!)&!$)(&$

City planning at it's best

Just love the way this tiny town has come together. It's a BOM offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and it;s just so sweet. My samples are all complete and the ladies in the class are doing well with theirs too. It should be fabulous when it's all complete.  I must try and get one of these design walls at home. This is the one that is at the store and it's so useful and handy and great to see everything together in once spot, rather than on the floor .

"I'm an empty nester"

Well, they finally flew the coop. My little newborn morning doves, grew like weeds, and before I knew it they were out of the nest. It was fun to watch them grow ...close up.  They have continued to grace our presence in the front yard and now my dear hubby is getting pissed   annoyed because they are crapping all over the brick on the front of the house.

Summer's almost here

I can't wait...we've been working on the garden, getting our weeding done, putting out the deck furniture and trying to dress up the ugly shed. What can you really do to make your Costco special garden shed more presentable. God I hate this shed. These little wreaths help a bit... I was over the river with my mom a few weeks ago...we do the rounds at TJMax and Homegoods, Michaels, Joanns, AC crafts and my favorite...Christmas Tree Stores. This is where I picked these up for $5.99 each and they do make the shed look more homey and inviting so I'm happy!

Waste not, Want not Lil Twister Table Runner

This is Kathie, writing down the final instructions for the Waste not Want not Table runner. It's made from all the scraps you have left over from your Lil Twister Layer Cake quilt, once you have cut it completely. There are square shapes left in between each cut and triangle shaped  pieces from the outside cuts....it would be a waste not to utilize them. I came up with this runner to use all the leftovers. You cut 42 -4.5 inch squares, 20 setting triangles, 4 corner triangles, set them all on point, add a 2.5 inch border and you have a really nice size table runner.

"Howdy Neighbour...feel like twisting"

This is Kathie, she's always camera shy and in a secret life played Wilson on the TV show 'Home Improvement'. Ok...she's just short and has to hold it that high to get the whole quilt in the picture. She is a quilting wizard...finished the final borders, had her backing sewn and started on the matching table runner...all in one night's class. This little Twister quilt is wonderful, I love the colors. It's the new line Dragonfly Summer. It's from a layer cake and you use the Lil Twister ruler to cut your blocks once you have all your layer cakes sewn together. Really stunning..great job Kathie.

Mystery Quilt coming together

We are finally starting to see the quilts take shape at the Mystery Quilt Class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It's been a long seven months to get here, but they are really taking shape. I love Audrey's quilt for her niece...the colors are wonderful together. Barb is making hers for her grandson in flannel and is picking out perfecting her seam joins. This is Border Creek Station's Mystery Quilt..Travel by Day/Night. Only one more month till we have all our clues and the final quilt is revealed...so exciting!

Measure Twice, cut once

That's one of the first tips I teach to my beginner class.... Measure twice, cut once. Here are Linda and Shelly concentrating on getting their cutting down pat. We are teaching the beginner class with Eleanor Burns Beginner book. Linda is working with batiks and Shelly chose wonderful spring fabric just new at the store. Look at the concentration in these ladies faces. So fun teaching beginners...they are like sponges... and haven't developed any bad habits yet...either.

If you think no one cares you're alive, miss a couple of mortgage payments

This is Block 4 from House Hunting. I know it's month 5, but it was done in month 4...I am keeping up. I opted to use juvenile fabric in vibrant colors rather than the country look that the pattern uses. I thought it would look great in a child's room and that they could have lots of fun with all the prints and house shapes. It's turning out really sweet and it's been so much fun each month putting the houses together with different prints to give them each there own "curb appeal"

Knock Knock...who's there

Look at this little bastard guy...the nerve! Chewed his way into what's suppose to be a birds house. This is a bird house at my mom's and the other day I was over and noticed this little guy peering out of a larger than normal bird's entrance. Look how big he made the hole to get his nuts in. Then he had the nerve to stare me down while I was taking photos!

Betcha it's warm and cosy in there. I left him a note that the rent is due.

It's not hard to twist, it's all in the wrist

These are my Lil Twister quilt ladies....the Twister Sisters. Look how hard they are concentrating with their Lil Twister Rulers. There's Liz, Jane and Kathie focused on getting the job done. These are such fun quilts to make and the class is being offered thru Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. I'll share the students' next steps with you after next class.

Thank heaven for little boys

I have a wonderful little grandson named Ayden who is just about 18 months. They've just moved into a new house and my daughter wanted a quilt for his new "big boy bed". She picked up the fabric at Ikea when they were picking out his bedroom set. It's so cute with the cars and trucks on it. I picked up fabric to go with it at Joann's and I can't believe what a good match I got. I put a border in the blue, all they way around and made him 2 matching pillow cases to go with it. I used the pantograph Seaside to quilt it.  The room looks so sweet...now if they could only get him to sleep in it!

Come on let's twist again like we did last summer...

Here's the Twister Sisters again with their blocks and borders together. Looking good. There's Kathie, Jane, Liz and Linda, and they are such good girls to have their homework complete for class. These Lil Twister quilts will look fabulous when complete. I'll keep you posted with pictures from our next class.  Liz is too funny, she said she couldn't be photographed cause she was in the witness protection program.....too bad Liz, looks like they're comin after you.

Town Center Star

This is another nice BOM club at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. It's such a great deal. You pay 30.00 to start and that gets you a wonderful Quilters BOM calendar, a fabulous fabric Kindred Spirits bag and the first month's block fabric. You pick your Saturday of the month, complete the block and come back and you get the next month's block fabric free.  You could potentially get a 12 block quilt for $30.00. Wow! If by chance you don't get your block done, you would have to pay $8.00 for the next month's block fabric, so there is incentive for getting it done in the time allotted AND staying on track. The club is called Crazy 8's.

"Home is where the dog hair sticks to everything but the dog!"

My little Tiny Town by Bunny Hill is almost complete. This is block eight of nine. This is the sweetest of all quilts, with each block representing something you see around town, across the street or in your neighbourhood. Bunny Hill Designs has put so much detail into this pattern that you just gravitate to it and you feel at "home" with it. It's a BOM offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. and the ladies in my group are so much fun...I'll miss them as we are almost done, just a few more blocks to go.

Bird's eye view

It's amazing how quickly these guys have grown. The mom must feel more comfortable leaving them, as today when I went to take a picture, she wasn't home. They're not all downy anymore and their feathers are well developed . When I took the picture, one even raised his wing and gave me a disgusting look like....Take a flying leap will you...excuse the pun

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to all those moms out there. My mom is 85 and will be coming to have dinner with us this Sunday. I'm a mom and all four of my children will be coming to dinner as well, along with my daughter who is a mom to my first grandchild and another on the way. It doesn't get any better than that does it?  Thought I'd share this about mothers....

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;
They don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils
Are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors,
Filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough
Doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what
The vacuum just sucked up...
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'
And get their answer when a little
Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth
Is not measured by height or years or grade...
It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother.....

"If you run you'll only go to jail tired"

Every town needs a police station, even Tiny Town. This is block is number seven in the series. My youngest daughter has already spoken for the quilt, the minute she saw the pattern. Originally this block has a fire station as apposed to a police station, however my daughter asked if I could adjust the pattern to the latter. She's a police officer, as is her husband, so it was only fitting that we try and tie that in. Didn't really take much adjustment, just the bars on the window and Police as apposed to Fire, embroidered.

Before and After ..from Frumpy to Fab

A little fabric goes a long way! What a difference a little paint and fabric can make. I'm lovin these and wish I had scooped them up myself. My daughter salvaged them from her sister and asked that I reupholster them. We tracked off to Ikea and bought this fabulous fabric...only $5.99 per yard so that in itself was a steal as it was 60 inches wide and wonderful upholstery fabric. First I repainted the legs black, put extra batting around the seat to cover the piping and measured it up. I bought a power staple gun as well so it would be easier  and quicker to get the staples in. I managed to pick up black upholstery tacks at Home Depot and used them to finish off the backs of the chairs. They look great and match perfectly. Took a little bit of work to figure out when to tuck and turn,but overall they look quite smart. My youngest daughter loves them and they look like she spent a fortune on them. Funny eh...everything that goes around comes around...those old chairs from the 50's are right back in style now.

World's Ugliest Chairs

These are by far the world's ugliest chairs. My daughter however sees life in them, and has asked me to reupholster them for her. These were my mother in law's 100 years ago some time back. Probably from the 50's I would think? They were passed to her daughter then to my one daughter who had slipcovers over them. Then salvaged from one sister to another and have been sitting in our garage for the last six months as our youngest daughter wanted them redone for her new house. I said I would try, but I'm not a miracle worker  professional upholsterer. I'll share the finished project tomorrow.

Bird's eye view

Amazing how quickly mother nature does her work. Just a few days ago, these were two tiny white eggs. Now they look like twins. The mother morning dove was out of the nest and I was fortunate to get this birds eye view of the new additions.  I'll keep you posted as they become feathered friends.



Taking shape

We are finally making headway on the Quilter's Journey Mystery Quilt class. Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. is offering the monthly class this year and it's starting to take shape. We are at month 6 and this is Audrey's quilt in the making. No one knows what the quilt will look like when it's finished until the very last month, which is half the fun. The mystery quilt is offered by Border Creek Station Pattern Company. By the looks of things, it should be quite pretty.

Nesting

This is the newest picture from my bird's eye view...remember that morning dove that had set up nest in my winter basket arrangement. She and her nest, along with eggs got gently transferred to the spring basket arrangement. Nothing seems to bother this little mother. You can go right up to her and have a look and she doesn't move a muscle
feather. I don't bother her, other than to get a new pic to see how things are progressing. I'll keep you posted, cause the eggs are still just eggs.

Chicago is not the only windy city

We had a terrible windstorm in Niagara Thursday with winds at 100km. Highways and bridges were closed, power was out for hours and much damage. This is our next door neighbour's house with the siding ripped off and my poor Mom's front yard with her beloved tree destroyed. We count our blessings here as nothing can compare to the horrific weather and loss of life which has affected our neighbours to the south. Our little damage here, even though upsetting, pales in comparison. We can't imagine how awful it must have been for families in the states.

Too close for comfort...

OK...I have to get my act together next month, cause this is way too close for comfort. I know me....and I know what happens...I get behind a month, then 1 month turns into 2, then 2 to 3...you know  how it goes...next thing, I'm trying to finish the backlog of projects in December cause I procrastinated from May til November. I promised myself I would stay on track. So far so good...finished Little Miss Shabby's BOM for April but not til the very end of the month. I love this little block. The series is suppose to be embroidery, but I'm no good at that so I opted to change the design a little and applique instead. I'm really happy with it so far, but each month seems to get a little more challenging to switch to applique as her embroidery design is getting more detailed as well.  

Just under the wire...

Well I've managed to finish Henrietta Whiskers BOM for April, just under the wire. In my quest to try and keep my projects up to date, I carved out an afternoon this week to catch up. Not that I'm behind, but I was starting to see the pile get stacked higher and higher. My goal is to stay on track with all the BOM's that I signed up for this year, and so far so good....but it was really tight. See it's almost the end of the month and it's just gotten finished. I love this free BOM from Bunny Hill Designs. Great designs, great fun to put together and should be a great keepsake once all complete.

April Showers bring May flowers

And I hope that they do cause it's done nothing but rain for the last month. I see things starting to green up, but long for the flowers of summer to be here. This is April's BOM for my Sun Bonnet Sue Quilt. All the blocks, January thru December are embroidered on 8X8 dotted swiss fabric. I have lovely Sun Bonnet Sue fabric for the sashing picked out and a great vintage print in yellow for the outside border. These take about 30 minutes each to do on the embroidery machine but it's time well spent, cause I love them. It all will look so vintage when it's finished. So glad I managed to get April's done in April...I obviously need to start these monthly BOM's earlier in the month to ensure I get them done on time.

Good things come in 3's

These turned out really nice. I love my Stampin Up Card classes. I always come home with the most beautiful cards thanks to Cindy. We meet once a month and make 2 or 3 projects using the latest techniques and stamps. These 3 are my favorite so far. The Mother card came in handy this month as my mom celebrated her 85th birthday.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

You have to love the spirit of women who find the strength at such a difficult time to support, love and give hope to their friends who face the challenge of breast cancer. I am always touched when I'm asked to quilt a friendship quilt of hope for a customer. To read the sentiments of hope and love they give to their friends in need is so inspirational. I have a family of quilters, who bring me their works of art to long arm (Barb, Deb and Leigh)...Grandmother, Daughter and Granddaughter. Their own lives have been challenged with cancer and now Leigh's friend Michelle is facing breast cancer head on.  Leigh and her family, made this wonderful support quilt for Michelle and had friends write their special messages onto hearts that were appliqued onto the quilt. I know Michelle will read each message and find strength in her battle through their thoughts and wishes.   

Better than Chocolate

I haven't done home baking in so long. Easter seemed the perfect time to make sugar cookie cutouts. They happen to be my son in law's favorite.
They turned out quite nice and I love the sprinkles in the Easter color shades. Couldn't resist adding a fluffy tail to finish them off just perfectly. They are always a hit, whether it's at Christmas or Halloween. There is never a bad time for sugar cookies is there?....and even better than chocolate. Here's the no fail recipe.
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F . Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Easter Egg Hunt

I recently decided to switch up my outside decor for the Easter holidays as local nurseries had some wonderful Pansie arrangements available. I should have taken down the winter evergreen arrangements from the hanging baskets long before now, but procrastinated as usual. With my new Pansie planters in hand I proceeded to take down the hanging basket at the front porch. Nearly gave me a heart attack as I moved it because a morning dove had taken up nest in it and let's just say she was less than impressed when I disturbed her. Once she got her ass out  feathers less ruffled, I was able to take the arrangement down to find a little nest with one small egg in it. I felt horrible, but decided to take out the evergreens and put my Pansie pot in place anyway. I was worried about the fact that I had heard if humans touch a nest the mother won't come back to it as she smells the scent of people. I carefully took out the nest, put in the flowers and gently replaced the nest, egg intact. A few days later I thought I would have a look to see how things were going and low and behold there were now two eggs. Guess that thing about the human touch is a myth. I'll keep you posted as these little guys develop over the next few weeks. Should be fun to watch as I have a " bird's eye view".

Funny Bunny...what's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture?
Don't you just love Mr. and Mrs. Rabbit. I fell in love with these two a few years ago and bought them on the spot. I proudly put them out every Easter cause...well....they are just so darn cute. Trouble is when you have boys living at home....shit happens  it's wonderful, however sometimes accidents happen. Boy's are boys. These bunnies sit at the front door on a table and I guess that one of the boys accidentally flew  came in and knocked Mr. Bunny off the table cracking his ears off. Rather than have me lose my shit get upset, when I got home from work, my darling hubby took the initiative and glued the ears back on. When I got home, no one said anything about the mishap and I was non the wiser. A couple of days later, my daughter was over to visit and as soon as she came in she said...Mom, what the heck is up with this rabbit, his ears are on backwards.  With all the hoop-law that ensued, dear hubby confessed what happened and that he was trying to help by fixing it.  After 30 years of marriage I do know that my dear hubby is not a "stickler for details" kind of person, but come on.....the ears are on backwards!  
I've left them as is, cause it's just too funny.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. This little goodie holder is so sweet and so easy to make using supplies from Stampin Up. We made this cutie patootie at my card class this week. It's going to be a perfect treat for my grandson who is eighteen months.  I can't believe the fabulous ideas crafters come up with... truly amazing sometimes.

I wish it was still a mystery

I wish it was still a mystery, cause now I know how much work is yet to come with this quilt! Behold....160/208 (lap/double) half square triangles and 320/416 1.5 inch squares completed and packed away in their mystery bags. These are just a few of the installment pieces for the Quilter's Journey Mystery Quilt class at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. This mystery quilt is from Border Creek Station Pattern Company and the ladies in my class are doing well and keeping up quite nicely. However, I've seen the next month installment and it's all downhill from here. Just kidding! It will be a beauty when it's complete.

Bah Bah Black Sheep

This is cute as can be. It's a class being offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. from the book Paper Pieced Mini Quilts by Wendy Vosters. The store will be offering a little boy version as well, complete with a John Deere tractor instead of the sheep. This would look adorable in a little girls room. It was super easy to make, just photocopy the paper pieces pattern, cut your fabric pieces, sew on the line, fold back and do it again. I stitched a row of decorative stitches along the fields to resemble a fence with posts and stitched in the ditch to quilt it together.   

Ready for the Islands

Doesn't this little bag remind you of the islands. I love batiks and how they remind me of the Caribbean. I had a few 1.5 inch strips leftover from a previous project and saw this bag pattern on Moda Bake Shop. I thought it was perfect for the fabric and I could envision myself carrying  it on our vacation cruise to the Bahamas. I managed to finish it before we left and it was perfect for the trip. We visited Key West, Nassau and Freeport on Carnival out of Charleston and had so much fun. The pattern is posted on Moda Bake Shop and is called the Gadget purse by Nichole Willmore. It was super easy to make and I love the little bow that ties in the front.

I feel a Summer Breeze coming

I lucked out with this vintage fabric purchase. Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. just had their 1 Year Anniversary sale and I managed to pick this all up at 50% off. I love the pattern Summer Breeze from the book Scrap-Basket Surprises by Kim Brackett and this will look delightful in the pattern. The container is a mix of rainbow vintage 2.5 in strips so the quilt will be very colorful. I love when you get a great buy, makes the quilt even more special.

Can't afford gas..

OMG the price of gas. See how the truck is just parked by the pump...that's because I can't afford to put gas in it at these prices. Guess I'll just have to stay home and quilt instead...too bad eh!  This is block 6 of Tiny Town BOM offered at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. store. Each month the block is sweeter than the month before. The ladies in the class meet the 4th Saturday of  month to work on the current month's block. They are all doing wonderfully and their little villages are coming along quite nicely.

Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. Store

These are a couple of the classes that I'm teaching at Kindred Spirits Quilt Co. in St.Catharines Ontario. The Lil Twister quilt is so much fun and looks fantastic when you complete all your pinwheel pieces. So easy to do, but so effective. Patches the Wrabbit class, just finished but he is available at the store in pattern or kit. He's just in time for Easter as well. Michelle has the store well stocked and there are so many new fabric lines that just came in. I need to stay out of the store, because every time I go, I can resist something new that has arrived. It's wonderful to teach, but horrid on the pocket book as you are always at the store and it's just too tempting.  

Twister Sisters

These are the ladies from my Lil Twister class trying to arrange their layer cakes into a pattern that is pleasing. We ran out of design wall space at the store, so we had to use the floor. There's Sue, Liz, Kathy and Linda. Jane is busy sewing cause she decided to make a charm twister instead and it was much easier to layout. I'll share the progress of the quilts as the ladies continue to twist away.