Design Wall Monday 5-23-11

Thanks so much to QuiltSwissy for her suggestion in my blog last week regarding Betty Alof's book "Quilt Your Favorite Photos". I ordered the book via the internet from Betty Alof's web site and received it in the mail Wednesday. The book is great. I learned that while generally I was on the right path regarding the applique wall hanging I'm planning to do in memory of my grandmother's house, Betty's book let me know I was trying to put way too much detail in the pattern.

So, I re-drew the pattern and am very pleased with the drawing now as a jumping off point for this project. I've pulled fabrics, and am ready to go.

I also have selected a series of teal fabrics in light to dark values that will eventually become a quilt for my neice. I have the idea/pattern floating around in my head - it will be a little while before I start it.

Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times is always fun. Please check it out.

Design Wall Monday 5-16-11

I'm linking today to Judy's blog at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

I've managed to get a couple of tops finished and ready for quilting this week and am preparing to start another. First, I finished The Blue Hour scrappy quilt top. It was fun to do and I'm wondering if I have enough reds, yellow, pinks, greens, etc. in my stash to make other color tops like this.

I also put together a small wall hanging for my sister. I'm calling it Sister Chicks II because I've made a similar piece for my other sister that I called Sister Chicks I. The pattern line is by Debi Hubbs and this is really called "Out To Lunch" - the original has 4 crows instead of 3 but since my sisters and I make 3, I omitted one of the crows. They still need their eyes. I'll quilt it myself. And I plan to embellish it like I did the first one - one will wear amethyst beads, one aquamarine, and the other topaz - representing the birthstones for each sister.

My next project is called 715 Ann Street and is a tribute to the home my grandmother lived in for a gazillion years. My cousin, Patricia, is a watercolor artist specializing in old homes and churches. She did this drawing and I enlarged it to about 20" x 20" and will use it as the pattern for this applique wall hanging.

Design Wall Monday 5-9-11

Since Mother Nature so kindly tended to my garden this weekend with her natural rain elixir, which in turn gave me a legitimate excuse to not mow the yard ;-), Ive had a couple of days to sew. Because of that, the Front Street Memories townscape wall hanging is ready for Lilly Lucier to machine quilt it. I'll have to take it to her and chat with her about the best way to quilt it.

I also started a blue & white scrappy quilt which I've named The Blue Hour. The final size will be 16 blocks square or about 54" square once the borders are added. The amount of blue fabrics in my stash dictated the size of this lap-size quilt. Should finish it up in the next day or two. Then I have two more applique wall hangings in the queue.

Today I'm linking to Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday - a terrific source of quilting and crafting inspiration.

Design Wall Monday 5-2-11

All that's on my "design wall" is items I've finished up this past week: the coffee-themed placemats that I talked about in an earlier post, and the bargello quilt which was returned by Lilly Lucier (machine quilter) and needed the binding finished on it.

I'm taking a break from sewing this week to work in the yard and garden while the weather is so perfect but when I pick up sewing next week it will likely be the the 2' x 6' townscape piece.

Visit Judy's blog today at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday 4-18-11

This project was featured in McCall's Quilting March/April 2011 edition. It's called Cafe Espresso and is a set of 4 placemats plus the coordinating napkins. The designer is Stephanie Sims and the fabric collection is Daily Grind Fabrics by Barb Tourtillotte for Clothworks.

The directions are perfect and I was able to cut everything out and machine piece it in just a few hours. All that is left to do now is sew the hem on the napkins, quilt the placemats (am still debating whether to machine quilt or hand quilt), and bind the placemats.

I ordered the kit from D's Sewing Center & Quilt Shop because after doing an internet search for the fabrics, it seemed easier (and cheaper after paying shipping charges) to simply order the kit.

While I love the smell of coffee, and coffee "stuff", I detest the taste of it! hahaha Still, I think they are neat looking.

Am linking up to Patchwork Times today for Design Wall Monday.

Critters - Ya Gotta Love 'Em

I feel lucky to have a 16 mile drive to/from work - no traffic lights! I pass a couple of small working farms that have critters and I get to watch them live their lives. Recently, a colt was born. His first couple of days were rather shaky on those skinny, wobbly legs, but once he was steady and his confidence increased, I started seeing him go at a full-tilt run around his pen area, kicking those skinny back legs straight up in the air. His mother gives him an exasperated "Kids!!!" look. I'll swear, if horses can roll their eyes, she did! hahaha


A pasture I pass everyday usually has a small-ish herd of cows grazing - I'd say there are ~50 cows in the herd. And a rooster. Yes, a rooster. I hope you can see him in the very center of this photo. He's been part of that herd for 3 years now. I don't know if he knows that he's a rooster hanging with a bunch of cows, or if he thinks he's a cow. But wherever the cows are, so goeth the rooster-cow. If they're taking a siesta, well, so is he. Last year there was one sheep with the herd as well, but I haven't seen the sheep yet this year. And lately they've added a lot of calves to the mix - they are so cute when they run and play with each other.

Last autumn another small farm I pass daily had a lot of baby goats - kids. Adorable! Right now that same small farm has a lot of baby sheep. To me, that farm is "the nursery".

I also pass a house everyday that has two labradors retrievers standing guard - one chocolate, one yellow. At the end of the day they await their respective masters. The chocolate lab sits on the west side of the property, looking eastward. The yellow lab sits on the east side of the property, looking westward. Maybe one belongs to the mr. of the house and the other belongs to the mrs.


And when I arrive at my burrow my Sweet Charleston's little face is looking out the window, like a ghostly apparition. I smile everytime I see it. I love his name, "Charleston", however "Casper" would have also been a good name for him. So would "Squirt" for some not-so-pleasant reasons. My cat probably thinks the name, "Skeeter" would be very appropriate for Charleston since he pesters the cat like a mosquito.

Design Wall Monday 4-4-11

The Origami Quilt - finally have settled down to work on it and am making progress. All that's left to do is sew beads onto 38 more flowers, and add the label. This pattern is from the book Fantastic Fabric Folding by Rebecca Wat. I first talked about it in my Design Wall Monday post from 11/2/10.

It has been a frustrating piece because I absolutely could not get the folded fabric flowers to be square. So I had to really work with them to get the 9-patches pieced together. So the 9-patches aren't square. And so on and so on. With the whole piece not being square, the outside border is ruffly. This is something I would never put in a show, but I'll enjoy it on my wall. I hope to finish it up this week then get it on the wall so I can move on to something else.

My hands started hurting so badly that I've had to put the sock knitting down for a few weeks - give my hands a chance to rest (arthiritis maybe?). But I did finish a couple more pairs of socks before I had to call it quits for a while.

I'll miss the next Design Wall Monday - we'll be on vacation.

Jump over to Patchwork Times to check out Judy's blog.