Let's go Sailing!!!

I can't think of a better thing to do today, than to go sailing out on the warm ocean with the breeze in my hair, watching the sunlight glint off of the water and smelling all that salty sea air. I grew up on the coast, sometimes I really miss it. The moist air, the sun on my skin, the sound of the waves and the seagulls overhead. Sounds like heaven right now!!! I found this picture today and it just took me back. Instantly. I always thought I'd like to retire in Moro Bay. They have a great quilt shop, so with all the beautiful flowers and green grass, why, all I'd need is a picket fence!!!
But since we live in the desert instead, we have great sunsets and a different kind of beauty on the mountains and on the desert floor. I like it here too, just need to see that ocean once in awhile.
The trip to St George, UT was a great success and the weather was wonderful. It was a really relaxing day which I was in desperate need of, and Roxy just makes me feel like I don't know how to relax at all! Look at her, paws were crossed before I got the camera and she doesn't have a care in the world!!!! LOL!!! But back to St George. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Bear's Paw and starting hopping from quilt shop to quilt shop and mostly just looked and admired, but I found a few things too that I had really been searching for. A great sale once in awhile didn't hurt either!!!

I found the prettiest panels by Quilt Soup, and the grand daughters have a birthday coming up, so, well they just seemed perfect. I got different borders for each (they are twins) and I hope I get them done in time for birthdays, but if not, there is always Christmas!! They will be 9 this year and the sayings were perfect.

I absolutely love Fig Tree everything, so I got their newest book and some patterns. I have so much fabric I've been saving to make with patterns from Fig Tree, and can hardly wait to get started. I promised myself I'd finish some BOM's first.

I discovered today that P&B has my Sophie's Squares quilt pattern up on the site now!! This is the quilt before I sent it off. If you go to http://www.pbtex.com/ and click on free patterns, it is one of the first patterns there!!! This was such a fun little quilt to make. Cheerful colors.

Like I said before, I promised myself to to finish up some work. I actually spent time this weekend working on a quilt I've been trying to finish for over a year. I'm getting very close! I hope I like it when I get it all put together, as there is alot of green going in between the blocks!

These are some of the green panels that go with the blocks! Amazing, they don't even look like they belong to the same quilt!!!

Tomorrow there is much to do, and darn it, sailing is not going to be on the list!!! But I hope to get alot done and get one step closer to finishing the work for Spring Market. More fabric is also on the way, so I'm going to do my best to take it one day at a time!!! Famous last words. So happy sailing and keep quilting!!

Sneak peaks at new market stuff!!

Well, I got two tops completed today, and they are ready for the longarm room. Roxy and Peanut were helping me out today in the sewing room, and they had plenty to say about what was going on in there! The wind was blowing like crazy today and they stayed inside for the most part! Usually their backs are turned to me while they look out the window to see who's walking by!

I have some sneak peaks of blocks to share with you, the blue with the African ladies are doing their wash, and this is the cutest line called Labor of Love by Quilting Treasures.

I have a couple of blocks to show you from the Sketchbook collection by P&B Textiles also. These blocks are easy, and would work great with any line, but I love the bright colors of them. You know me and color!! I love pastels, but I always seem to go stronger and stronger in my fabric choices.

This next picture shows a beautiful quilt made by my friend Karen, and she asked me to longarm quilt it for her. That fabric was just georgeous and I love the Storm at Sea blocks. She added sashing, so I tried to make each block stand out. Isn't that border fabric just to die for? And blue and white ALWAYS works!!

Tomorrow I am headed to St George with friends to eat, shop, visit and just get away together, imagine that, a real day off!!! Should be fun. I'm anxious to see what's new in the quilt shops right now, and enjoy good food with friends. I'm saying my prayers also for my dear friend, whose husband is having major surgery tomorrow. I pray that all goes well, and she knows who I'm talking about. So on that note, I will end this for now, and talk to you soon. I saw a really great quote today that I will share with you,

"Any day spent quilting is a good day"

Spring Weather is here.

It is suppose to be in the 80's by tomorrow and I have all the doors and windows open to enjoy the great fresh air. Here are the slackers of the household, enjoying a beautiful spring day, snoozing. Hmm, that use to be my quilt, but then who's really noticing that?!!! Roxy is getting older, which really hasn't changed her puppy ways too much, but she does enjoy a nice afternoon snooze!

Peanut doesn't want to feel left out of course, so she decided to join in on a rest from the tough dog life she leads. Are we spoiled or what?

I'm sure many of you know about the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, which of course I love and have read all four books twice so far. Yes, I did say "so far". This is her latest book out, called "The Host". I love her writing, but I have to warn you, it is tough getting started on this one, but once you get through the first few chapters, this book will hold you like a vise while you read. I am about 3/4th of the way through, and I'm enjoying the story so much. Very suspenseful love story, but nothing so far like Twilight. The Twilight DVD comes out this Sat. I already have one ordered. I use to tell people I never read anymore, but Stephanie's writing just grabs me and won't let go. Have any of you read it yet?

Well, in my last post I said I want to make a table runner once a month. So far, I have the fabrics and the ideas, just no sewing in the works yet for me. Lots of company projects are just getting in my way!!! I planned to sew this weekend, but the weather was just too nice, and I couldn't stay inside. This line is the new Fig Tree line, and when you go to Moda Lisa, listed to the right on my favorites, you can get this free pattern, which is the one I'm going to use for this tablerunner. The line is called Pastierre, if I spelled that right, and I love the colors as usual. Joanna at Fig Tree just has a way with color, doesn't she?

This is a border print I discovered in a shop last month and I decided to make a simple table runner out of it using the border stripe to do all the work for me!! I love the bee hives and birdhouses and these colors will look great in my great room, no pun intended there!! LOL!!!

Do you remember those watercolor quilts we all use to make? I loved those things, they were great for scraps too, but took a long time to lay out. I think it was worth the effort though. This is one I did that I love to have out in the spring. It suppose to look like a flower box under a window.
Years ago when I thought I couldn't quilt, because of my RA, and I didn't know about longarms back then, I taught tole painting classes and this is one of the few pieces I have left. I brought out some of the Easter decorations since Easter is less than a month away!

I tried again, to turn this pic, but with no success, so forgive me for the sideways glance, but these are wool felt eggs that I machine embroidered for Easter. They were alot of fun to make, and if you have any embroidery software, you can come up with your own designs and just stuff an egg!!!!

Yes, Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill, I do love bunnies too. This is an old favorite that comes out for Spring. It just wouldn't be the same without her!!!

Until next time, keep quilting!

Free Patterns!!

I have been working with Benartex (http://www.benartex.com/) for almost 2 years now. I just discovered where they are hiding alot of my patterns on their website!!! I always thought they would be under projects, but instead you need to click on a fabric line and they have projects under each line. I wanted to share with you this free pattern for the Samara line, called Victorian Paisley. Here is the link:

http://http//db.benartex.com/storelocator/FMPro?-DB=invimage.fp3&-lay=internet&-max=15&delay=no&-op=eq&-Format=quiltcol.htm&-sortfield=primarysort&-sortorder=ascend&-sortfield=recordid&directory=49Z&quiltgal=quiltgal&-sortorder=ascend&-find and here is the quilt! This was easy to make and I love the combination of the light blue with black in the fabrics. When you click on the link, you can download a PDF file with a much better image of the quilt. I will post a new quilt for you in my next posts, so you can see some of the new designs I have done and new fabric lines that should be in your stores by now. This one is the City Blooms line and is another free pattern when you click on that line of fabric on the website. This one is great for beginners.

I have a close up of some of the quilting too.

I received a box from UPS yesterday, and thinking it was another fabric line that is ready to be made, I didn't open it before I went to my Dr. visit. When I got home I finally opened the box to a huge surprise. My Victory Garden quilt was in the box, and I was so excited, because this is the first quilt of mine ever to go into Fons and Porter magazine. I just love this quilt.

I think I showed it to you before, that was a long time ago, so for anyone that hasn't seen it yet, here it is in red,white and blue.

It was in the Fons and Porter Dec 2008 issue.

I love table runners, and I have given more of them away than I actually own. I don't have one for Easter now, so I want to do at least one tablerunner a month, just to do something for me. I learned the hard way, that working hard is fine, but you have to balance out your time with some time for yourself once in awhile. I thought this would be a perfect way to keep on track because I tend to just keep working, and the break never comes, because after all the work is done, more work finds you!!!

The flowers are starting to bloom outside and after a little chill, we are going to have 80 degree temperatures by next Tuesday!! I hope to be planting the annuals this weekend. The yellow jasmine is already in bloom and my african violets too!!

I got the picture a little blurry!!!

My favorite thing to do, next to being with my family and quilting, is gardening. In Vegas, I have found it to be a real challenge. And with Roxy dog, who loves to bite sprinkler heads off, and eat the flowers it is even more of a challenge. I will really have to work with her this spring to teach her to stay off!!!

She is the sweetest girl you'd ever meet, but still very much a puppy. She wants to please but gets bored very easy, and Peanut just doesn't want to play much lately because sher hurt her leg. She is getting better and Roxy and I go on walks without her until she feels better. Long walks also keep Roxy from getting so bored that she chews on things, and I give her lots of rawhide chews too which she loves.

Hope your weather is warming up. I'll be back soon, until then keep quilting!

Is Spring here?

Well, my plum tree in the front yard sure seems to think it is Spring!! I love the beautiful blossoms and they fall off all too quickly, but I sure enjoy spring. The skies have been clear and blue, and the temps vary from 58 to 76 degrees these last few weeks. I love Spring, it all feels like a new fresh start and it isn't hot in the desert yet. The dogs like it too, it is getting warmer for walks and now Peanut is enjoying the walks with Roxy and I. The SPCA called us about 2 weeks ago to ask how she was doing, and here is a great pic of her, just before a nap. She has put her weight back on, and she plays with Roxy and is a well adjusted happy girl again. She has the sweetest personality and we are glad she is a member of the family now.

More fabric shipments are on their way, and soon I will be fabricating more quilts for Spring Market. As soon as I am able, I will share my new ideas with you.

I have just finished this block for a quilt I am making called "Forever Flowers" by the Quilt Company. I have another pattern set from them with bird houses all over and sunflowers in the borders. I love these patterns and I really enjoy picking out my own fabrics instead of buying kits! I think after this is quilted and finished that I want to embellish it with beading too. What do you think? There are still 5 more blocks to complete, and the border is very involved with pieced tulips, etc, and I can hardly wait to get this together. The only thing holding me up is the time it will take to applique all the blocks. One down, 4 more to go! With the borders on it, the block measures 20 inches!!
I have sent more finished quilts off to Benartex for Spring Market, and this is a sneak peak of a quilt for the Flora and Fauna line.

This one is an upclose of a quilt I designed and shipped for P&B Textiles. This one is easy for beginners and uses almost every fabric in the line. It's bright and Spring looking!

Along with all the good, sometimes there are a few tough spells and recently I had an episode that landed me in the hospital. I am fine now, and working as always, so I am thankful for that. The same week we learned that my kids Grandmother passed away and it has been difficult and we miss her.

My daugther was born in the Spring, the month of May actually, and she was born at 8:45 in the evening. I remember waking early and looking out the window the next morning to a beautiful Spring day, as a very happy new Mother. Sometimes her birthday lands on Mother's Day, and it couldn't be more fitting. The good things in life definitely outweigh the bad. I'm really thankful for my children and my family and friends. Enjoy Spring, and keep quilting!