August will soon be over......

The heat is here in full force, but once in a while, a little miracle happens and we get the most beautiful blooms, even in the middle of August! I loved being able to sew in my room and look out the window to these lavender blossoms when it has been too hot to get outside.  Today I broke down and went to the gym because it is impossible to walk outside in the weather without feeling miserable.  The humidity has been back with lots of clouds, but unfortunately no rain.  I realize how lucky we are though, when I see all the coverage of hurrican Irene hitting the East coast.  So ok, maybe I can take the heat for just a little longer!

Some color amongst the rocks is a welcome sight!








But there are other fun things to do even when being home is the best answer to concrete so hot you can fry your own breakfast right there in the front yard! 

So I have started a new quilt, with wool applique, just for my own satisfaction!  This is the beginnings of a first block from the BOM pattern called Primitive Garden.  I'm using hand dyed wools and Valdini threads to hand applique them in place.  After the block is finished, I plan to add a few beads and buttons and any other embellishments needed to make it complete.

Here's the pattern, so you can see that I have a long way to go!  It will be a work of love in progress over the next few months.  I'm having the best time putting this quilt together!  It's a nice change.

What else have I been up to?  A little stitchery and 10 full blocks that are 13" each from my Legacy Pineapple Sundae kit I've had for well over 2 years.  I love these colors and the blocks are really fun to do too.  I never buy the color brown when I buy fabric, but this kit has totally changed my mind.  The brown in this quilt is so rich and warm. 

With ten blocks made so far, each week I have a goal of at least two blocks in between all my other work so I can finish all 30 of them in time for winter.  They are time consuming but worth it. 

It takes tons of narrow 1 1/4" strips, all used in a variety of sequence to get a somewhat scrappy look.  They are a mess to keep track of, so I use these hangers to keep them under control!  I pull out the hangers near the cutting table and just cut the lengths I need as I go along, so every block will be different..... yet look the same.

This is a little stitchery I made for my new grandson that goes with the colors in his room. 

This is a long arm job I completed for a friend recently.  It was a small quilt with lots of personality for a quilter friend who use to be called "Mrs Beige" !  Margaret can hardly say she just uses beige anymore!  Congrats Margaret!

Market work will be ready soon and I'll keep you posted, but until then, just keep quilting!

My lastest quilts in new magazines!



I just received this issue yesterday with my latest Christmas quilt in it called Trimming the Tree! I really enjoyed making this quilt from the Winterbury line by RJR Fabrics! The bow was an older block that I added a thin border to and the tree block is my own new version that I really love. I've been wanting to make a quilt for a long time with a version of the tree block, and this one is just perfect for my needs! I also sell another version of this pattern in a table runner that is now in Keepsake Quilting catalog!

I have a pic from the magazine, and I've added my own picture as well so you can see the full quilt!  I've added a close up of the quilting too.

The newest issue of Fons and Porter now has my Lover's Walk quilt, using the Berkley Square line by Benartex. This was a fun quilt to do, using only 3 blocks and rotating them around the corner stars.  See it also in Electric Quilt's blog dated Aug 2nd http://www.doyoueq.com/blog/?p=2633 using this link.

In the July/Aug issue of Fons and Porter it has another quilt I designed for Benartex from the Floral Fancies line.  It's a cute line using panel squares.

Fall market work is well on it's way, and I'll have more to share soon.  I'm also making the time to work on a favorite project with my friends for a personal quilt using the pineapple block and a pineapple ruler that makes the process so much easier.  I have dedicated myself to at least one day a week making something for myself that is not work related.  It was necessary for my own sanity and happiness!  LOL!  So TGIF has a whole new meaning for me now!  Getting together with friends, sharing and enjoying their company and learning a few things along the way, some quilting related, some not.  Life is good, and I'm so grateful for God in my life and my family and friends.  I can't leave this post without the latest picture of my sweet little grandson.  He is changing everyday-his Mom and Dad say his hair is getting lighter in color, he still has those blue eyes and he just advanced to a new size in diapers!  Now you know I'm a really over the top in love Grandma without a doubt!  Until next time, Keep Quilting!

Grandbabies are the best!

We just got home from a week in Sacramento to see all the Grandkids and our kids, including the newest addition to the family, Shane, born July 5th at 9 lbs even.  He is so adorable, and of course I'm prejudice but who can resist a cute little face like that?   We had a wonderful time and I miss them already, boo hoo.  All of a sudden, living 10 hrs drive away is feeling a little too far!   Roxy and Peanut rode with us in the car and they were so good, and played with the other dogs while we were there.  Roxy actually seems depressed at being back home where it's quiet and not as much action going on.  Everyone says a week old baby can't smile, but I beg to differ!  Grandma is so proud! 

We also got to see our twin grand daughters at their horse show, and watch them ride.  They look so small up on those big animals but they really know what they are doing.

The twins are both in this picture, Presley relaxing with a drink of water while her sister Peyton is finishing up right behind her on the horse. 

Before we left I finished up this longarm job for

the store, and I was so happy with the results.  I believe this is a pattern from Tula Pink.  They have it hanging at Quiltique right now, I'll have to go see it in the store!

I'm busy designing for Fall Market already and have started a couple of the quilts.  I'll have some fun things to show you soon!  In the meantime, I have another quilt published in the Aug/Sept issue of The Quilter Magazine showing my Making Waves quilt!

It's a fun little quilt to do, full of fish, seaweed and ocean waves at the bottom. Very little applique (fish bubbles) and the rest is easy piecing. 

With the heat all over the country, we feel pretty fortunate to have the dryness out here in Vegas right now.  But the monsoons are coming back in a just a day or two.  Sounds like a good time to go to the movies!  Kettlecorn, coke and a movie, doesn't get much better than that!  Until next time---keep quilting!

Just for Kids!

Kids are the top of the list right now--I have a new kids quilt in the latest Quilts for Kids magazine, and I have a Grandson due at the end of the month!  I'm so excited!  We have a little boy on his way soon, and we plan to travel to see him and his Mommy and Daddy (my son) in July and meet him for the first time!  His name is Shane, and my daughter held a beautiful shower for our daughter-in-law last month at her home in Calif.  The quilt that went in the magazine is a little girl's basket quilt made from RJR Fabrics line called Annabelle's Alphabet.  It is a sweet little quilt, but not quite suited for a boy, so Grandma,--umm that would be ME-is busy putting together a lamb quilt to go with his lamb themed room.  I'm using part minkie for the little lambs on the front and his colors are blues and browns.  I have a small pic for you of the lamb in question, barely getting started.  He still needs eyes, etc, and there will be several lambs with different colored wheels and a sawtooth border between the blocks.  I'll post a finished picture when it is done.  In the meantime, here is Deanna opening presents and a pic from the baby shower.

Myself, Deanna and my daughter Charlotte

lamb block in progress!

We are so looking forward to our new grandson!
And it's just one more excuse to make another quilt!

Project Complete --- Check!

Well, how good does it feel, to have a project complete and sitting there where you imagined it a year or two ago!  LOL!  I promised to show you the completed cedar chest when it was done and put in it's rightful place, so here it is!  Honestly, I'm still not thrilled with the old knobs, so I'm on the lookout for some blue glass transparent looking knobs and I hope to find them soon, but other than that, the chest if full of quilts and has a new padded top and fits into the room looking much better than it did before.  I'm so happy to have a project completed!

Speaking of projects, before I became a "professional quilter", and believe me, I use that term lightly, I had time to do so many other things!  One of which was actually making quilts for myself, but I"m trying to fit that in this year !  HA HA HA, no seriously I'm really trying to fit in some quilts of my own.  I know, I'm going to have to prove it when I get one done, but I will.  Just be patient with me! 
Anyway, what I was getting at was that I love to create, PERIOD--not just quilts, and one of my favorite things among many, was to mosaic using old broken china.  You have to hunt down the old pieces in thrift shops and antique stores, and point out the flaws in these gems to get a better price.  Tell all your loved ones that if they break a piece they need to save it for you.  I just love the look and all I have left to show you now is a simple wooden bed tray I did years ago. 

I think there are a couple of teapcups as well as plates in this design, and some of those glass buttons they use in floral vases. Truthfully I saw the idea at a little shop in Cambria, Calif. years ago.  Don't you often see something in a shop and say to yourself, "Well, I could do that!"   I also made some heart wall plaques back then but I don't have any left for me.  Don't find that happens alot, you give everything away, knowing yours will get made soon, and alas, i'm still waiting!  Anyway, these are so much fun to do, and not costly at all.  I already had the bedtray and banged up a few chipped pieces of china with a hammer, got out the grout and had a blast!  Just be sure to break china in the garage during the day.  Your neighbors may want to sleep at night!  lol!

I'm also working on a new project that just got accepted to Quilters Newletter Magazine and I am estactic!  I can't wait to see the issue because it is all about Christmas quilts, and well, Christmas is my favorite holiday.  I know Easter is coming, and I hope to have something to share with you soon for that, but in the meantime I'm on a deadline for this one.  I can only show some sneak peaks right now, and here is a block I've been working on for this quilt.  The tree panels are so beautiful, this is just one, and they are called Christmas Traditions by Quilting Treasures.  There is already a BOM I designed for this line that is just coming out.  So watch for it!

This block is simple paper piecing as you can see here, and you add 4 segments together to make the block.  It is a star with pretty points and there will be much more to it when it's all put together.  In fact I'll be working on it steady as it ships out this week.

So I'll be back with you soon, and until then I thought I'd share a beautiful sunset we had this week.  The weather has been warm in the day and cool at night.  Just love it and wish it could last longer, but I know the hot Vegas summer is trying hard to sneak it's way in!  So keep quilting, and remember those well intended projects just waiting for you to make them beautiful!

Fons and Porter Easy Quilts

I just received my issues of the latest Fons and Porters Easy Quilts, and I have two quilts in this issue to share with you!
The first is Nellie's Garden, made from P&B's 1930's line called Nell.  It is table topper size, with prairie points instead of binding on the outer edge. 

The other quilt is from a line called Word Play by Benartex.  This is made with large squares, and the centers are panel blocks.  This would also be a great pattern for machine or hand embroidery in the centers instead.  The panels make it look much harder than it really is.



Nellie's Garden



Wordplay fabric by Benartex

Remember that cedar chest I was working on?  Well, the new lock just arrived this week, and we still have to install it.  I'm beginning to think that spring cleaning has already started around here.  You know how one thing leads to another? I wanted to get the chest refinished, and it was in the closet.  Well, we pulled it out of the closet, and my husband decided it was time to finally put the new floor in the closet.  Now mind you, I love this closet, but it is so huge in comparison with the rest of the house.  I could have had a small guest bedroom for all the room it takes!  I don't collect tons of clothes or shoes, so seriously, do I really need a closet this big?  It's 9' x 13", and well, just take a look at it before it was all finished. We also put up new shelves so I'll have to save the final pics for when it is all done.  My husband has been working so hard getting it all finished, and it really has turned out beautiful.  So now I'm in the process of sorting things

out for the goodwill and the trash can.  Ummm, not THAT trash can, a much bigger one!  LOL!  So we stapled the new cover onto the cedar chest top, and finished the paint job.  I'm still looking for new knobs for the front, and soon it will be full of quilts! 

I like it so much better.  The blue matches the blue on my bedroom walls.  Yes, I know there is no real quilt on the bed!  It's in the making now, and you guessed it--blue and white will be the main colors!  Shams need to be made, all in my spare time of course.  It think that's sometime between 2 and 3 am each night.  LOL!  NOT FUNNY.  On occasion, I'm not even kidding!!

I just have one more thing to share--a sneak peak of a quilt just accepted for a future issue of Quilt Magazine.  But that's all I can show you for now!!

I just finished the long arm quilting and it is shipped.  One more project off my list, which is good because I feel market fiercly creeping up.  I have 3 boxes of fabric stacked and waiting their turn for market projects.  Have a great week, and Keep Quilting!!

What Inspires You?



A splash of deep color in nature

 I think it goes without saying that our friends and family inspire us the most, and without a doubt our God in heaven makes it all possible, but beyond the obvious, I want to share some of the things that inspire me, in little ways, day in and day out.  Sometimes it's just a flash of color, a beautiful shape, people, spaces and an atmosphere around us that let's our imaginations fly.  It promotes creativity, and without it, I would be a very unhappy person.  I HAVE to create, it is part of who I am, as I know it is with all of you out there.  Sometimes it's just fun to share.  So this week I dedicate my post to some of those things and to all of you who feel it with me. 
 

A sunset sent from God

 


A beautiful vase

 Sewing with friends!

A Mentor who doesn't know she is!  (Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill)

Wonderful publications with new insight!

 Color, color everywhere.

A workspace that''s comfortable, with my favorite things and colors around me.

And ALWAYS something quirky and cute!!!  Love those sneakers!

I took a little time to start a new project that has been waiting on me for months.  I've started to repaint and recover an old cedar chest I found for $40 at an estate sale last year.  Poor thing was so ugly and abused, but I could see it's potential, beyond the obvious one of protecting many of my quilts!  So here are some before pictures, and as soon as it is finished I will post the AFTER pictures and find this beautiful old chest in it's rightful place in my home. 

On the left is the poor old fabric that just doesn't do it for me at all.  The chest was a dark brown stain with old white knobs on the front.  I may change the knobs, not sure yet, but the blue and white fabric will recover the seat bench and hopefully give it a new crisp look.  It will attach to the lid, which by the way, I just found out has a very dangerous self locking latch on it.  We took it off last night, and the Lane furniture company is sending us a new, safe lock, preventing children from being trapped accidentally inside.  I feel better already!  It will get another coat of paint tonight, and when I have it in the bedroom under the window, you will see why the new color scheme will fit in so well!
Until then, keep creating, and keep Quilting!