Confetti Quilt

I had a quilt top that I made from a kit. I made this last year, it was called Confetti. I really liked it but it didn't have any personality. I found the perfect border fabric for it and bought it. Now, I think this little quilt is complete and I love it. I'm going to let a Longarmer friend quilt this one and bring it to life...I think I'll call it Confetti Dreams.

Tablerunner

I quilted on my earthtone Braid tablerunner Sunday afternoon and got it finished. Last night I put the binding on and finished it completely. I think it turned out pretty good and will make a nice little Christmas gift for my MIL. Here's a pic...

Up early and ready to sew!

My body woke me up this morning at 5:00. My back hurt and my bladder was full but, (Yay!!!) my headache was gone. I got up, let the dog out, went to potty and came back to bed. I laid there and started thinking about everything but sleep. I soon realized that sleep was not happening, so, I got out of bed, ate some cheerios, made some coffee and headed upstairs. I made another friendship block, this one is for Anna and her quilt is called Hugs and Kisses. She's wanted pastel colors...Pastels aren't really my thing but I did find enough fabric in my stash to put together this sweet block.

Here's a hug for Anna:


Then, I pulled out this red Christmas fabric that my sweet MIL gave me and decided it was just the thing I needed for my 9 Patch Christmas quilt. I looked at Christmas fabric yesterday but decided I would use what I had on hand instead of buying....
I put this red fabric on for the border of this dull Christmas quilt and I like it alot better now. What do you think? I think it really helped this quilt and now if it's quilted in red thread, I think it will look great. So, here's the finished Christmas 9 Patch flimsy.



I'm going to drink another cup of coffee, visit with my husband for a few minutes and then, decide what else I want to work on. More later...

Embroidery class

Yesterday, I went to a machine embroidery class. The class was hosted by our LQS-Thomas Sewing Center, and the guest speaker was Walter Floriani. This class marked the end of a week long series of classes celebrating Christmas in July. It was very imformative and interesting. Walter Floriani is a very vibrant man and speaker. He is very charming and worked his magic on the crowd of women and men alike. He comes from a long line of embroiders starting with his Great-Great Grandfather and his skills as an embroiderer were seen over by his Father and Grandfather. I was very impressed with his antique lace that his ancestors made. Lovely pieces of lace. It was a long class but we took a few breaks to shop and have refreshments. I was tempted to buy his Embroidery Software but decided not to. I already have a program and don't use it. I sew and quilt more than I embroider and I was sorely tempted but didn't think I would benefit or get my money's worth out of it. I really shouldn't have bought an embroidery machine again. I already had one and I used it alot for embroidery when I first purchased it but...Maybe, later on, I will start doing embroidery more but for now, I'm catching up on my sewing and quilting projects.
Aren't you proud of me? I'm trying really hard to stay on my sewing budget and I have done really well this month. I did make the Placemat bag and bought fabric for the lining plus I have two more to make and I purchased fabric for those. That has been my only purchases of fabric this month. I am making these as gifts for Christmas so I really don't feel guilty about that at all...
After class, I ran some errands for my husband and son and I did not get back to sewing at all yesterday. I still had my headache all day. Just not a good day to sew....
We went to dinner and I had an allergic reaction to the avocados that were in my salad. I took some benadryl and along with the headache pills I had already taken, that knocked me out. I went to bed about 9:30 and I was out!

Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi

Ok, last night was Friday night sewing time. I came in and started working on the friendship blocks I needed to do. I got three done and had to stop and search for fabric because one packet was short. I thought I had some of the background fabric in my stash and lo and behold, I was lucky. I did have the fabric and it was enough to make the block. I had a small amount left over and I cut it up for my scrap bin.... Here's the 4 blocks that I made.


This one is Bev's block. It is the Card Trick block and it was really easy and fun to make. I don't know where Bev got the instructions but this was the easiest card trick block I've ever made...I hope she likes it. I can't wait to see all of her blocks put together. This is a 9 1/2" block.



This next one is block 11 of the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. Only one more block to go and this can be put together...



Two blocks for some friends:





I made some 4 patches and put on as cornerstones for this Quilts 4Kids quilt. This is the one that didn't have enough fabric for the borders. I'm not real happy with this one but it's done and ready for a quilter to work on.





I put together one more row for this Floating 4 Patch quilt. Then, I sewed the 4 rows to the other section I had ready. I now have 8 rows on this little quilt and I love this. We only have two more months of exchange left. I was just going to make a small quilt but I'm liking this one so much, I'm just going to keep adding to it and make it bigger into a full size quilt. This will be an on-going quilt for awhile. This is such a happy quilt and it has been fun to see the colors come together on this one.



This morning, I have a class to go to at the LQS. It's really a demo and I don't have to take anything or do anything but sit and listen. It's a good thing too cause my head is pounding. I'm going to jump in the shower and take some tylenol. Have a good day and I'll update you later about the class. Now, go sew...

Friday night sewing

Tonight is sewing with Heidi and Bobbi. I came home and decided to work on some friendship blocks.

So far, I've done 4 blocks and I'm still sewing....I'll post some pics later.

Sunday afternoon sewing and an incomplete kit

I put together the middle part of this little quilt for kids quilt kit and started putting the borders on. That's when I discovered there's not enough fabric cut for the borders. I've already sewed on two sides. I went to measure the fabric for the top and bottom and that's when I discovered the problem. Argggh, I hate it when this happens. Now, I'm going to have to take off the two sides and find some different fabric to put on this quilt. What a waste of time.... Oh well, I didn't like the border fabric anyway...

Saturday Sewing

Saturday, I met with my ASG group and we worked on making bags from placemats..We all brought salads and had a great time...it was so much fun to sew with all the girls at the great sewing barn.

Here's the bag I made. It was so easy and fun to do. I plan on making alot more and giving as Christmas gifts. This one will probably go to my older sister...

Friday night sewing

Friday night, I went over and sewed with some friends at the church. I got the little quilt for kids quilt done that Mr. Ripper and I worked on during lunch. It went together just fine this time.




I sewed up some floating 4 patches and made 3 rows.



We had alot fun at the church and ate some great cake.

Small Group meeting, Covers for Kids and some of our projects

Last night was my small quilt group meeting, Sew What's. We worked on Covers for Kids quilts and we had a pretty good turnout. We had our meeting first so we didn't get alot of sewing done. I brought home the little top that we didn't finish. I'll work on it tonight. I also brought home another kit to work on too. These are pre-cut kits and go pretty quickly. That is, if you don't sew them together incorrectly like we did last night! It does help to READ the directions sometimes...You would think that 4 experienced quilters could get a simple pattern together. Too much laughing and talking and not enough brain power at the same time! Anyway, after Mr. Ripper and I have a discussion today at lunch, I'll be able to put the last row where it should go and finish up this little top. We don't have to quilt these ourselves, we are just doing tops. I'll turn them back into the guild and they have longarmers ready and waiting to quilt these. We had show and tell and had some great projects shown last night. Here's some things my talented group has gotten done this month.

Nancy's Little Butterfly top


Nancy's Carpenter Star for her carpenter husband.







Linda'a Piano Quilt for her Songleader at church


Peggy's Cover for Kids Quilts







Sharon's Wool Applique Block


Judy H's Schoolhouse Quilt. She did this one by herself, she was not in our exchange.


Judy B's quilt for her niece



Friendship blocks for Joyce


Ruth's 54-40 or Fight Quilt


Ruth's Leaves

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Ok guys, I am a big fan of anything that Jerry Bruckheimer does...Add in Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina and you have a very powerful combination! I stopped on the way home and saw this movie. I gotta tell you- I loved this show. I'm ready to go back and see it again. Very entertaining. I am a Nicolas Cage fan and he did great in this one. He's done some things I havent't cared for in the past, but I think this one is a winner. I might even go back and see it tomorrow, no wait, I can't do that, I have a guild meeting. Hmmm, maybe this weekend, I can drag my husband with me. He was envious that I went today. I got a big tub of popcorn and a great big diet coke and watched the show. Due to this lethal combo, I had to get up and run to the bathroom about 20 minutes before the end of the show...When I go back, I plan on sitting all the way through and not miss anything. Gee, I wanted my remote control so I could run it back. DVD's do have advantages to them, don't they? Oh well, gotta go for now and sew...

July 11th is a special day, Rally Day, Quilts and some blocks to show

Today is July 11th. It is a special day. Ok, it's 7-11 day and you get free slurpees all day but besides that...I met my honey 32 years ago today. We always play a game to see who remembers first. My hubby said it first this year about 5 o'clock this morning when I had to get out of bed. I have not felt good today and I got sick this morning first thing. What a way to start the day, huh....Anyway, he was sweet and gave me a lovely little card too. He didn't give it to me then, he waited til later! I never get him a card for this and he always kids me about that. One of these days, I'm going to surprise him and get him a card. I always tell him, it's not our real anniversary, I don't get you a card for this, but he always still wants one.



Now, as far as yesterday goes, Rally Day was wonderful. The guest speaker was Cynthia England and her quilts were unbelievable and she was a hoot too. She is very entertaining and energetic and is a wonderful speaker. She does some amazing pictorial quilts. She seemed to be real down to earth and friendly too. I never thought I wanted to do any quilts like this until I heard her talk. She made it sound easy. I guess that's what they are supposed to do, right? So, they can sell their patterns and books but I really believed her, so, I bought her book. I might try my hand at this. Nothing major, maybe just a little wallhanging. I'm putting this on my list of future things I want to try....



She did say that it's better to see a demo on this and she has some on her website with some free patterns...Here's her site, if you want to check into it. http://www.englanddesign.com

There were over 450 people at Rally Day. I do not know how many guilds were represented. Some of the guilds were selling raffle tickets for their quilts and had them on display. I guess there were about 20 quilts on display for that. All of them were beautiful. I did not take pictures of all of them because there were too many people in the way. I think I bought tickets for nearly all of them too. You never know when you might be lucky. Here's a few pics of the two quilts I could get pictures of...




A Texas Quilt, all of these blocks were made by members for a challenge. I don't know if any of these were originals or not but it was a lovely quilt.
Click on it and you can see it closer. The little lady at the right hand side says something like, There's a new sheriff in town...very cute.
Of course, there's armadillos, bluebonnets, boots, cowboy hats, oil derricks, horses, cactus, the yellow rose,the Texas Flag, the Alamo, more armadillos on this quilt, so it truly is a Texas quilt.




Close ups of some of the blocks






I wish I could have taken pictures of all of them but there was no way. They were on display in a hallway on both sides. The hallway was about 12 foot across and when everybody was in the hallway, you could barely pass through.

The church where we met was wonderful. We have been at this same location for three years that I know of and it is great. Lots of room to move around in except when everyone is let out...

Everyone was given a goody bag and some people won door prizes. I was lucky and won a door prize. Here's what was in my goody bag.
Some fat quarters, a pattern, a pencil, some sticky notes, a little needle case, a name tag for totes, a little ruler and a tape measure. It was a nice little goodie bag. They give us goody bags each year. Everyone gets one and that way if you don't win a door prize, you still get something. Oh, did I mention that the Rally Day is free. That's right, if you are a member of a guild that is a member of TAQG, you get in free. If you are not a member, the cost is $20.00. Lunches are available for purchase at the guild meetings. You have to pay for these a month ahead to get them. I forgot and had to bring my own lunch. This is a great thing to go to and it is well worth guild membership just to be able to go to this.



Here's the doorprize I won: 3 patterns, 1 included fabric too. 3 fat quarters and two pieced of flannel kitty fabric. I will keep one of these and give the others to my guild to give away. I'm going to keep the one that had fabric. It has the two little kitties on the front. It's a small wallhanging. I thought I might make it and give it to the guild for our mini auction next year. Anyway, it was fun to win a doorprize too.



I went with two of my friends and we saw alot of our other friends there too. I enjoy going to this because this is one place I see friends I haven't seen all year. You don't get alot of time to visit but sometimes it's enough to catch up a little and make plans to have lunch together later. I love Rally Day!

I got home and was able to sew a little bit too. I finished my block. The Marti Michell block I was going to work on Friday night...here it is:


Here's the other one I told you about. The big Broken Dishes block:



Here's the sweet pattern that Cornfield Quilter sent me: It's a country star...This is on my do it soon list. thanks again, Carol!



I also made my blocks 9 and 10 of the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. Here they are:

Block 9:



Block 10


Now, to watch some TV and tat a little. Til next time, happy sewing...

More Marti Michell blocks, a surprise gift and Quilt Rally Day tomorrow.

I worked on two more of my blocks last night. I got one completely finished and it's called Broken Dishes. This is the biggest broken dishes block I have ever made! I worked on the other block and was on the last few pieces and was getting ready to put it all together and noticed I had sewn the outside pieces together wrong. I turned off my machine, grabbed Mr. Ripper and the pieces and came downstairs to unsew. It was quitting time for me. I unsewed the pieces and they are now ready to be sewn properly and the block finished. I try not to ever leave an error in my sewing when I stop. I try to always unsew it and sew it properly or get it ready to be sewn the next time I start. That way I'm not ending on a bad note and I won't forget to correct it when I start sewing again. These blocks are easy blocks with the Marti Michell templates but there are alot of pieces so they take awhile to do...I'll take pics later and today and show you my finished blocks.

I received a nice little gift in the mail yesterday too. Cornfield Quilter sent me a little surprise gift. It was a quilt pattern and it has a star on it. My favorite thing! She sent me this because I'm such a nice person...Actually, that's true, but she sent me this little surprise because I signed up to follow her blog and I was her 100th follower. Thank you so much, I will enjoy this little pattern!

Tomorrow is TAQG Rally Day. For those of you out there that do not live it the big state of Texas...TAQG stands for Texas Association of Quilt Guilds and is an organization made up of Texas Quilt Guilds. These guilds get together once a year in July and have a meeting with a national guest speaker and play all day long. This year's speaker is Cynthia England. She is amazing and I am really looking forward to this. Here's her website. http://www.englanddesign.com. If you haven't seen her work, go check out her site and you will see some of her work. Pictures do not do these beautiful quilts justice. They are so wonderful in person. I first saw her work several years ago when she won Best of Show at the Dallas Quilt Show and I have paid attention ever since. One of these days, I'll do something with her methods.

My electricity just came back on from a spectacular lighting storm and I have been sitting in the dark for 2 hours. I didn't do any sewing or anything tonight. I'll finish my block tomorrow night and show them to you then. Take care and have a great weekend.

Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi

The Friday Night Sewing night this month is July 23rd. Go sign up on Heidi's blog and join us for some sewing fun.
Here's a link to get you there or click on the title and it will get you there. If you sew with them on the Friday night and post about it the next day, your name will be entered into a drawing for some prizes. Plus, you get to send out some good quilty vibes too.

Jill's having a great giveaway!!!

Jill over at Ramblings of a Fabric and Yarn Obsessor is celebrating a major giveaway. She has been blogging for 3 years and has 1000 blogs. Go congratulate her and comment and you will be entered into her fabulous drawing...Click on the box and it will take you there. Way to go, Jill!

Trying to finish projects with some Marti Michell Blocks

I have been trying to finish projects lately and I pulled one out that I have been thinking about. I could have sworn I had done all the blocks on this one but I guess I didn't. I have 3 blocks and some connecter blocks to finish. I did two of those blocks today. I really love the fabric on this and wish I had bought more of this when it was available. I enjoyed working on this BOM last year but was so busy, I didn't get to finish the whole quilt...I am going to finish this one now and get it off my list. Here's the two blocks I cut out and worked on today. These are Marti Michell blocks and go together so well. I used her templates on these and I love them because they are so precise. If you haven't used these before, you have got to try them.

Block 8 - Star of Fortune



Block 9 - Rosette

A Christmas Giveaway and a pincushion giveaway.

Ok, I hope everyone is enjoying the July 4th holiday. I know I am. I get to sew another day, woo hoo!!!! I ran across a giveaway and since I'm working on Christmas, this is perfect for me. If you aren't working on Christmas yet, this might just be the perfect kick in the pants to get you started! Monica over at Diary of a Quilt Maven is having a Christmas giveaway. She's celebrating two milestones-her blog anniversary and 100 posts too. Go tell her congratulations and you can be entered in her giveaway...Here's a link to her site for your convenience.

Also, go check out a Bee in My Bonnet. She's got a cute pincushion tutorial and you could win one of them too if you comment. Click on the button at the sidebar and it will take you there. Good luck...Ok, back to sewing. Have a great day!

Happy 4th of July!

Here's wishing you all a Happy and Safe 4th Of July!





I was hoping to have this flag finished by today but it's taking alot longer to tat than I thought. This is about 14" long. I hope to be entering this into the State Fair. I'm not sure how I'll be doing the stars yet. Any suggestions? I need help...

Amy BOM

I was able to sew up my three blocks for Amy's BOM this rainy afternoon. I love these blocks and I'm so glad I'm sewing them today. They have put me in a patriotic mood. I did not start out to make a patriotic quilt but it's turning out that way. Here are my blocks for this month.

Block 1- July 4th



Block 2 - Star and Pinwheel



Block 3 - Two Star



Happy 4th of July.