O Christmas Tree!!!

 

So, yesterday we went on our annual Christmas tree hunt. As gloomy as it looks, it was actually pretty nice. We have gone tree hunting in snow storms, rain, freezing rain, mud, you name it, we've done it.  We weren't having much luck.

Either the tree was too fat,

 

 

too thin,

too crooked,

 

or, too tall! Actually, way too tall!!

 

 

We must have walked for 45 minutes before we found it. A beautiful blue spruce. It seems lots of the trees looked good on the outside, but the insides were pretty much dead. This one had no bare spots anywhere. It was perfect. The trunk didn't even need to be trimmed down to make sure it was straight.

 

 

Juice made the first cut...

 

 

 ....and the lumberjacks carried it to the truck....

 

 

 

......to be continued.



She said Yes!!!!!

 

 Well, the big guy is at it again! Dan made this quilt based on a quilt in the book called "Modern Quilting", by Jacquie Gering and Katie Pederson. He prefers to work improvisationally, and this particular pattern gave him that opportunity. Included in the quilt are "ghost crosses".  All that means is that the crosses are made from the background fabric so you really cannot see them. I would have preferred to quilt it differently, but I needed to get it done in a hurry.

Below is a photo of the back of the quilt.  Dan sent his gal Rachel on a scavenger hunt throughout town. Each stop was a place that had special significance to their relationship. There were pictures, letters, ballons and a gift. Besides the ring, this is one of the gifts she found.

 

 She said yes!!



 

The quilt measures 64 X 64, so I would consider this a throw size. Actually, I consider it a "love" quilt, but aren't they all?  

 

By the way, you can check out more great quilts at Amy's Creative Side. This week is Blogger's Quilt Festival. It's for those of us who can't make it the Houston Show. Check it out by clicking the link!

Works in Progress

This quilt is going to the Valley City Street Fair to be raffled off.

Every year Sandy donates a beauty!

 Here is a peek of one that I'm working on for the guild that I belong to. It next year's raffle quilt. Some one is going to receive quite a treasure for $1!

 This morning, Victoria posted on facebook about her tree quilt. She inspired me to take mine out of the hutch. This is a round robin quilt that was started a long, long time ago. I made the tree in the center, and it was passed around to five other gals across the USA. Still as yet, unquilted.  I liken myself to the shoemaker, whose children don't have any shoes, or the carpenter whose house is always in a state of unfinish.

 I make these quilt tops, and unless I have a purpose, I don't quilt them!

I think I'm going to have to do something about that!

Quilts & a Hummingbird

 Stella made this throw for a niece's wedding. After I gave it back to her she was having second thoughts about giving it away! Do you have a hard time giving your quilts away after you make them? Do you deem some people as not "quilt worthy"? :) That subject has come up many times with my customers. You put your time and hard work, and yes, sometimes blood into the quilts you make, and they end up in the dog bed. I've learned that when you give them away, you've got to let them go!!

 This is what the back of that quilt looks like. I enjoyed

 quilting this one.

 Angie made this one for her mom. Another fun quilt. The fabric designer is Tula Pink. She has some fun, fun, fun fabric designs. You can check out some more of her fabrics and patterns here.

 Sharon chose some great fabrics with this one! Juice came downstairs while I was quilting it, and her reaction was, "Wow, that's cool!" I get all kinds of reactions from my kids about the quilts I do. I just love that they even have an opinion!

This is a little hummingbird that paid a visit. Juice and I were sitting on the front porch a couple weeks back and a hummingbird flew right up to her. She was wearing a pink tshirt. I thought to myself that I should buy a butterfly bush, and just maybe we can get more sightings. Well, the following weekend there was an art fair in town on the square, and a couple that owns a little farm were selling perennials. I found this butterfly bush and brought it home. It was still sitting on the side porch, and I went outside to go to the car, and thought a bee was buzzing around it. After taking a closer look, I realized that it was a hummingbird about 1½" big.  I got a few great shots of it. What a gift!

Thanks for visiting, and have a great day!!

Linda

Linen and a Winner!

I've had it in my head for awhile that I've wanted to do something with linen. This was my first attempt. It was a bit tricky to work with. That extra strip of fabric on the side was not in the plan. I felt like the more I trimmed the top to make it straight, the more crooked it got. After botching it up, I decided to add that strip down the side, actually ended up liking it. One of those "happy accidents". I plan on quilting this one with horizontal and vertical lines. I'm thinking gray thread, but then adding some hand quilting in between a few of the lines using a varigated embroidery thread. The color I want is in my head, the tricky part will be to find it!

I was a bit concerned about quilting it. This fabric doesn't have the body that cotton fabric does. Cotton fabric will stay where you put it, and this linen moved if a fly flew across it. My worries came to an end after quilting this one below. Linda made this quilt for her daughter. She wanted the whole top made out of linen, top and backing. It loaded up pretty easily, and quilted beautifully. I used a 100% wool to get some loft.

The winner of "Sonoma Rose" is................

Thanks for visiting!!! Have a blessed day!!

Giveaway: 100 Posts and Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini

Jennifer Chiaverini returns with a Prohibition-era novel about one woman's courageous journey to save her family, and her self

Sonoma Rose

I've read quite of few of Jennifer's books, and I must say I've enjoyed them all. Her Elm Creek Quilt Novels feature comtempory, as well as historial fiction, and her characters, no matter from which era, have a way of capturing your heart!

I have been given a copy to give away, so leave a comment, and tell me which one of her books is your favorite!! Make sure you leave me your email address so I can get in touch with you.

This quilt shown below is one that I quilted for one of my local quilt shops just yesterday. The fabric line was designed by Jennifer Chiaverini. The line is called Caroline's Collection by Red Rooster fabrics.

Simply beautiful!

Love is in the Air!!

Bridget commissioned me to make this quilt for a friend of hers. She took the plain white squares to the wedding shower, and had the guests decorate them. Some wrote notes of encouragement, and others drew pictures.

I kept the quilting fairly simple. Hearts was the theme of all the quilting patterns, and SID around all of the blocks. I also added a sleeve incase the bride wanted to hang it on the wall. What a fun way to celebrate a special event! I've made them for baby showers, and graduation parties also. There are so many possibilites. Bridget wanted to keep this one simple.
A perfect Valentine's wedding gift!

Congrats to the Bride and Groom!

Create

I love the idea of these wonky letters. No patterns, and no rules to speak of. It's like writing with fabric. I have a list of words that I like, and I'm going to use them all in my word quilt.

Baby Elam

About a week and a half ago Baby Elam came into this world. He belongs to my cousin and his wife. Cute little guy! Here is the quilt that I made for him! I bought the panel at a shop near Cleveland called Quilter's Source, and she has all of the coordinating fabrics to go with it. It has a precious little prayer for baby around the animals!! I normally don't do "cheater" panels, but this one was really cute. I like to do piano keys for my borders. I decided not to cut them all the same width this time. It worked out fun! We have three more babies coming into this world this year, so I need to get busy.

Blue and White

Have I ever told you my all time favorite color? Well, it's blue. I've always imagined having one of those "decorator magazine" bedrooms, with 3 or 4 blue and white quilts on the bed. Blue was Dad's favorite color too, and when he moved in with us we painted his bedroom blue. Wanted to make him feel like he was home. Well, Dad's been gone for awhile, and I'm thinking that the room is "too blue," if you know what I mean. I'm thinking that I'm going to paint the room white, and have blue accents. This way, when I get to changing my mind, as I'm prone to do, I can add some other colors. This year I've decided that I'm making a blue and white quilt for ME! I've got lots of blues in my stash, way more than are in the pic, (see below), and it's going to happen! I figure if I do a few of these units a week, by the end of the year I can make this happen.


I like using triangle papers. I have a CD called "Triangulations", and I can print out lots of different size templates for half square triangles. That's my fav way to make them. No trimming once they are cut. Accurate beyond a doubt. Yes, I have to tear away the paper, but I can do that while I'm waiting for blogger to upload my photos! :)

He's at it again!

I'm beginning to lose count of how many quilts this guy has made. This one is for his little cousin, Makayla. After finding out from her mom that her favorite color is purple, (imagine that!!), Dan was off to the fabric store. He came home with way more fabric than he needed, (a true quilter), and realized that they all didn't look so good together. He hit my stash, (I really need to find a new hiding spot!), and was able to fill in with what I had.

I like the way the teal pops....

..........and who doesn't love a striped binding on the bias!

Great job Dan!
<3

Butterflies in January

Working on some butterflies and freehand quilting.

I've been in a "blue" mood lately.....and that's a good thing!

Happy New Year

A brand-new year... to live; to believe; to give; to receive; to fall in love; to share a smile; to walk an inch; to run a mile; to dive into sunsets; to forgive; to forget; to love where you’re going; to embrace where you’ve been; to take a deep breath, close your eyes... and begin. May the new year be filled with love, adventure, and dreams come true.





A friend of mine shared this today, I couldn't help but pass it along.