Old Man Winter

Winter is still officially a week away, but it has decided to visit us early. We were hit with a lake effect snow last week that left us 10" of snow, and yesterday it started up again. Rain, ice, and snow last night, and now the county has declared a level two snow emergency this morning. I'm so glad I don't have anywhere to go. The lake effect machine has started again, and we're supposed to get upwards of a foot. The snow belt will get double that! Gotta love Lake Erie!

If you need to find me, I'll be in the studio finishing up those Christmas quilts!!

He's at it again....

The big guy is at it again. It's a gift, so I really can't say much more. Tune in at a later date for the big finish! It's going to be beautiful!!

A New Baby on the Way!

My oldest niece Jessica is having a baby!! The little bundle of joy is expected to hit the shores of Lake Erie some time in February. We are all excited for her.

At last count, this will be my mom's 7th great grandchild! Hopefully, I didn't forget anyone!

Here is a picture of the quilt that I made for her. It was an American Jane Pattern, and the fabric line was called "Punctuation", by Moda.The quilting pattern is moon and stars, which I have nicknamed, "Sweet Dreams". I've always told my children that if mom isn't near when you need her, take your quilt, and wrap it tightly around you. You will then have a hug from the momma.

So, just to make sure this new precious one has enough hugs, I've also crocheted an afghan for him. (Yes, we know it's a him. I'm bummed about that. There are so few surprises in this world, I think that the gender of a new baby should be left to find out for the special day!)

May the Lord bless you and keep you Jess, may His face shine upon you, and bring you peace!
I know the joy is on it's way!

.....and the cow jumped over the mewwwwnnnn!!!

They say that life is but a vapor, and I'm really beginning to believe it. I've known Sierra since she was a newborn. Now she's all grown and having a baby of her own. What could be more perfect for a new born than a comfy log cabin quilt. I just love the simplicity of it. They have always been one of my favorites. There's a story behind the quilting pattern. When Sierra was a toddler, she loved to recite the nursery rhyme, "Hey Diddle Diddle". When she was about to finish, she would end it saying, "...and the cow jumped over the mewwwnnn!" The facial expressions were the best. She would crunch up her whole face all the while. Just precious. When I saw this pattern from One Song Needle Arts, I knew I had to use it. It's a cow jumping over the moon!

Sierra, my the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you, and your little one.

A Quilt from Bubba & Blogger's Quilt Festival

Welcome to Blogger's Quilt Festival. To celebrate the big show in Houston for those who can't attend, Amy has done a wonderful job of gathering together a vast number of blogger's to hold an online quilt show. Click on the link on my sidebar, and you will find all of the info there. There are lots of great prizes to be won too!! The quilt I'm featuring today was not pieced by me, but I quilted it. It was made my John's, (my DH), Bubba. She made a lot of the clothes that his dad, uncles, and aunt wore, as well as ulitarian quilts for the family. She died a little over 25 years ago, and John's aunt was holding two of these unfinished quilt tops. The quilts were made with home dec fabrics, and she even left some of the paper with fabric descriptions attached to the squares.
Since I am the only one that makes quilts in the family, John's aunt gave the two tops to me. I quilted this one up, and gave it to DH for our anniversay a few years ago. I have yet to quilt the second one. I chose a flannel for the back. I just love the softness, and warmth that flannel brings to a quilt.

Have a great time at the festival!! Thanks for your hard work Amy!!

Whooo Loves You

This quilt pattern is called Remember Whooo Loves You, by Acorn Quilts. My customer Sue made it for her granddaughter. I've seen it done in quite a few colorways, and it sure is a fun quilt no matter which you use. If you look closely, under the owl, I quilted in the words, "Whooo loves you". Lots of freehand feathers and swirls. Hope the little guy doesn't fall out of the tree!!

Rainbows, Blocks and Babies

Yesterday we had a couple of storms blow through here, more wind than rain, and definately not as bad as the good folks in Chicago. After it was all over, God saw fit to send us the most awesome rainbow I have ever seen. Thought I'd share it with you! The Bee Balm block exchange has started up again for another year. Elaine, from Texas, sent me some wonderful 5" charm squares. She wanted a disappearing four patch. Well now she has two!

Just wanted to share two of the cutest faces you'll ever see!! ;>)
Willie...

.....and Juice!

Coming Soon!!

I'm really excited about this new adventure. Stay tuned for details!

Grampy's Run

It's almost a year ago that one of my dearest friends lost her man due to complications from diabetes. In honor of his life, their daughter Holly has put together a poker run on Saturday, October 23rd, and all proceeds will go to the American Diabetes Association. You can register at Killer Creek Harley Davidson,
and you can find all of the info on Grampy's Run facebook page.
The quilt below was made from Harley t-shirts to help with the fundraising efforts.

Liberated Quiltmaking Classes

Join me on November 14th and 21st from Noon 'till four, at Anna's Sewing Center, 24357 Lorain Rd., North Olmsted, Ohio, where I will be teaching a class on Liberated Quiltmaking. This is a process oriented class, as opposed to a project oriented class. We will cover the ins and outs of free from piecing, soft curve piecing, and angeled cuts. Call 440-716-8884 to sign up.

Court House Steps or Log Cabin....You decide

This was a beautiful quilt from Elaine. She sewed her amazing batiks in a courthouse steps fashion, but decided to frame each square in the block, rather than make it look like steps. When I quilted it, I used a pattern that had a feather on one side, and a leaf vine on the other. I placed the quilting patterns in such a way that it would look like a barn raising pattern. That is a pattern usually reserved for a log cabin quilt setting. It turned out wonderful!

Here's a close up of the quilting pattern on the block and border.

Six in Six

My oldest son has graduated from college this year. He has also moved back home, (until he finds gainful employment, of course). Being the most organized one in the family, he has decided that my studio needs, to put it mildly, a bit of an updating. So, for the last couple of weeks, he has been coming down here with me, reorganizing, throwing away, putting away, and going through my projects. He told me one day that I shouldn't start anything else until I get all of the ones that I have started finished. I suggested a compromise. I told him I wouldn't start anything new until I finished a few. So, I have decided that I am going to finish six projects in six months. I was going to go for the 12 in 12, but that just seemed so far away.

The first set of blocks are pretty much finished. I won the patriotic hearts in a guild block of the month. I decided to put them all together using a twisted log cabin pattern. I actually won enough blocks to make two quilts. The first top is finished. That one just needs quilted.

The second project is almost finished, it is a take off on this pattern that I saw at a quilt is nice . I use hand dyed fabrics that I purchased from Liberty Homestead . They are most beautiful. I have decided that this one is going to be for me! That's the plan for now anyways!

The third set of blocks is part of a kit that hubby bought when we were in Alaska last year. We went on a cruise of the Northwest Passage, and there was a quilt shop in every port. Bonus!! I want to finish this one for a show that the metro parks hosts every year. The quilt has to have a nature theme to qualify, and this one is perfect.

The fourth picture is a set of blocks that I started for project improv quilt.

The fifth picture is the one block wonder quilt that I took the class for last year. I've got all the hexagons cut out, but need to add some cubed blocks.

Awhile back one of my customers gave me a quilt to finish for her with blocks that looked like these. Can't remember the name of the pattern. I really liked the quilt and thought what a perfect way to use up my scraps. I also used it for my bee balm block, just to make the finishing process go a little faster! Thanks gals!! ;>)

I figure that if I blogged this, it would make me accountable. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for visiting!

Linda

Sweet Sixteen & The Eagles

Sixteen years ago today, the Eagles, (the greatest band in the world, JMHO), were scheduled to perform their "When Hell Freezes Over" concert in Cleveland. One of my girlfriends wanted me to go with her. It was my dream to see The Eagles in concert. I was pregnant with my fifth baby, and it was due on June 20th. I had a feeling it wasn't going to happen because all of my babies ended up being born well past their due dates. She begged me to go, thinking I would have already had this baby. I declined thinking that even if I did have the baby, I really wouldn't be in good enough condition to attend a concert at an outside stadium. Anyways, I thought there'd be another farewell tour sometime! :>)

It just so happened, that on that dark and stormy Friday night, the night of the concert, my little angel was born. I often tease her about making me miss the concert. She just smiles, and knows that I would have rather been no where else that evening.

Happy Birthday my little angel, I love you so.

Story Cloth & Willie Nelson

I am taking an e-course by jude hill. She is the author of a blog named Spirit Cloth . She does most of her work by hand, and her works of art tell all kinds of stories. The name of the class that I am taking is called Story Cloth. We have learned how to create a base, and add components for stories of our own. So far, this is the base for my story. We learn by asking lots of questions. I was having a hard time coming up with a story, so I began to write prompts in my journal. Like...what if my flowers grew faster than the weeds, or what if my Morkie was a miniature polor bear, (that's another story.....ha!), or what if the moon decided to come out and play with the sun! It's a beginning. This little guy is Mr. Willie Nelson, (no realation to the other one!). He is the newest addition to our family. He's no bigger than a minute, and as sweet as can be.

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2010

Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival is always a good place to get your creative juices flowing. She's at it again, so grab your laptop, a cup of tea, and check out all of the amazing quilts. Her list of participants is up to 486. To get started, all you need to do is click on the link on the side bar, and all of the sites are listed. This quilt is for my big, little guy. When he was nine, I made him a cozy, flannel and homespun quilt, something close to 54 X 54. A few months ago he brought the quilt to me and said, "mom, did doesn't fit anymore, I need a bigger one". (He's now 6'2") I figured I just make another cuddly quilt with the flannel, then he also adds, "I don't want one of your 'old lady' quilts, I want bright". I told him about the stack of batiks I had, blues, greens, and purples, you know, nice "guy colors", and he said, "Well add some hot pinks, and yellows too!"

In March, I went on a weekend retreat with my quilty friends to get this thing started. I took my batiks, the black fabric, and with no pattern in mind, I cut 1 1/2" strips, and 2 1/2" strips of all the colors. I started piecing them together randomly until I got a 14 1/2" block. It was easy when I started off with the 2 1/2 square. The combinations just flowed. I thought I could come up with the correct size finished block by starting with the 1 1/2" square, but it couldn't be done unless I added a 3 1/2" strip, so I made the four smaller blocks, and sewed them together to get the 14 1/2". Worked like a charm. I finished the blocks that weekend, but didn't get them sewn together until recently. I let my guy arrange the blocks to his liking, and then sewed them together. I asked him to choose the quilting pattern, and the thread. He wanted lime green, I told him the I had a reputation to uphold, so we compromised. I ended up using a varigated thread that had greens, blues and purples. I used some of the leftover strips to make the binding, and finished it up yesterday. He's a happy guy!! He has another hug from mom.

On a side note, he throws the discus for his track team at school, and took third place at district finals. He'll be going to sectionals later this week.

Another finish

I bought the fabric for this quilt approximately three years ago. Cut the quilt out, pieced part of it, but didn't finish it until last spring. (2009). In October, I went on a weekend retreat with 4 of my quilty friends.......

....and made the backing. I used all of the left overs I had from the top, and only needed to purchase another yard. Two weeks ago, oh maybe three, I finally got it on the machine to quilt it. Binding is on, and it is finished! Thought I would leave it in the living room, and put the snowman quilt away for the winter, but my little peep has already confiscated it. Guess I'll have to make another for the living room!

Happy Mother's Day!

This email has circulated for years, and it gets me every time. Happy Mother's Day Ladies!!

A Newborn ' s Conversation with God


A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow,
but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

God said, "Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don ' t have
to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you.
And you will feel your angel ' s love and be very happy."

Again the small child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand
when people talk to me if I don ' t know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words
you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will
teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach
you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach
you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth
could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave
now, please tell me my angel ' s name."

God said, You will simply call her, "Mom."

Electric Quilt 7

Btw, just in case you haven't heard, Electric Quilt is releasing EQ7. The new features are amazing. You can check it out here!

Kate's Quilt

So, a little more than two weeks ago my son Dan says to me, "Hey Mom, I want to make Kate, (his girl), a quilt for her birthday, will you help me?" I say, "Sure, when's her birthday?" He says, "April 21st!" Now, I know I might look like wonder woman, (that was supposed to be funny!), but I guess we can try to pull this off. He sends me a picture of some quilt blocks on my phone. They were stack 'n wack blocks that looked easy enough, and I thought okay this won't be so bad. I send him to the quilt shop to pick out fabric, then he came home with his bag of goodies and sketchbook. He had drawn pieced blocks to alternate with the stack 'n wack blocks. I thought, "Ummmmmmm, how is this going to look?" Well, we got busy. We worked for three nights, into the weeeee, and I mean weeee hours. The pieced blocks were two-color blocks. A white tone on tone, and a brown fabric with polka dots. The fabrics he chose for the other blocks needed a little brightening up, so I sent him to my studio to pick out some batiks, and brighter fabrics.

I wasn't pleased with the way the stack 'n wack blocks looked against the pieced blocks, so we decided to cut them down to 10 1/2", and frame them with a 1" border. That really kicked things up a notch! One of Kate's favorite characters is Tink. Dan bought an applique, so we added her to one of the blocks. I probably should have turned her to make it look like she was flying, instead of her looking all cheesecake here!!

The night before her birthday, Dan came home and we handstitched the binding on together. It was a striped fabric that I cut on the bias. I like the way that looks on a binding.

We got it done in time for the big day. She loved it. Included in the card he gave her was the story that I've always told my kids. Whenever I gave them a quilt, I told them that when mom's not around, and you need a hug, just wrap that quilt around you, and it will be as close to mom as you can get at the moment. To them a quilt is a hug. Don't you just love it!

The Quilts of Gee's Bend

Windham Fabrics has come out with a line of fabric celebrating the quilts of Gee's Bend. They are gorgeous hand dyed cotton solids featuring amazing colors. Debby Kravotil has reproduced patterns from the Gee's Bend quilts featuring these fabrics. Currently there are four kits available from various sources:

This particular quilt is named "Lazy Gal Variation".... This beauty is named "Housetop Blue"....

this one, "Housetop 4 Block Variation"....

..and Strips & Strings.

I've heard that there may be more kits/patterns available this coming fall.

I was lucky enough to sit on the board of consultants when the Gee's Bends quilts came to The Cleveland Art Museum. It was an exciting time. We were able to meet and talk with the quilters, some of who were unforgettable characters.

It was a no brainer when it came to quilting these quilts. Having the museum catalog to fall back on for design ideas, I chose to use the most simple of quilt designs, not to take anything away from the quilts themselves.

I have purchased many of the fabrics from this line. As I had previously noted, they are hand dyed cottons with minor variations in their colors. In my area, they can be purchased at Anna's Sewing Center, located in North Olmsted.

I'm looking forward to see what the new patterns will look like. These quilts are great inspiration for those improvisational quilts many of us are working on. If you can get ahold of the museum catalog, it is another source of great inspiration.

Birds and Baskets

My sweet friend Nancy could be a one woman show. Her house is so warm and cozy. It is filled with quilts. The walls, the bed, the couch, everywhere. Most of the quilts she does are primitive, and she does a wondful job. She has a spot in her kitchen that she likes to change often. Below is the newest addition.

I love the challenge of quilting a quilt of this style, and I had a lot of fun with this one. Clouds, trees, sun flowers, and holly hocks in the background.

A Wall of Quilts

This is an original design by my friend Pam. Each "quilt" in this quilt was quilted differently. Some were done custom/heirloom, and others had edge to edge patterns.
You can almost imagine the reactions on the peoples faces at the bottom of the quilt. I think she did a great job!