Sewing Days

My local quilt shop, The Quilted Cottage, has scheduled three days to sew quilts for the victims of the Oklahoma tornadoes. Since I can't be there on those days, I made my top this week. The pattern is called Simply Strips by Fran Morgan. It was fast to cut, sewed up quickly and only used three yards of fabric for the top and binding.

I will use this pattern again. It would make a cute baby quilt.

Small Project Finish

Do you use Best Press on your fabrics? Here is a cute tutorial to make a cover for the 16 oz. bottle. You can find it at Atkinson Desdigns here.

My prayers go out to the people in Oklahoma. It's difficult to comprehend such destruction of properties and loss of lives.

Dimensional Bow Ties

I took a class from Jackie at The Quilted Cottage on Friday on how to make dimensional bow tie blocks. They are fast and easy to do and make a perfect hand project while watching the Tigers play ball.

I'm linking up with Kathy for her Slow Stitching Sunday.

At guild last week, we had a tea party. The tables were decorated with table cloths, flowers and candies. Each table had a variety of teas and cookies which we enjoyed while viewing special vintage quilts that members brought to share. Many gals wore hats for the occasion, also. One member brought her Eugenia Ewe along (all dolled up). It was a fun evening!

Back to Easy Street

Last week my Easy Street blocks became a top! I still haven't decided on a border or if I will add a border, but it's a good feeling to have all of those little pieces sewn into one big piece. Thank you, Bonnie Hunter for another fun mystery.

The cherry tree was loaded with blossoms this year. The birds will be thrilled as they seem to get most of them.

My last two applique blocks for guild this year.

Slow Stitching Sunday

Yesterday I had the urge to cross stitch a Christmas ornament. When the desire is there, I try not to argue with myself This is a Prairie Schooler pattern I bought the other day. Their patterns are quick and fun to do. I'm linking up with Kathy for her Slow Stitching Sunday.

Things are blooming every day now that the weather has warmed up. Here are some of my daffodils, tulips and grape hyacinths.

Saturday update

If I don't get busy writing a post, I'll be 0 for May in no time. Where does the time go?

I did get a couple more pillowcases made for Motts Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. I bought these fabrics while at the retreat in Shipshewana last month.

The tulip wall hanging I made for my friend, Sally. It's been on my 'to do' list for quite some time, so it felt really good to get it finished and delivered.

April 30th, Jim, Connie and I went to Kalamazoo, picked up JJ and were off to see "Wicked" at Miller Auditorium. It was wonderful.  The next day we had breakfast at The Garden Gate in downtown K'zoo. They had the cutest flowers in their window made from cupcake liners.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the past few days. A gal could really get spoiled.

Tonight the Tigers are beating up on the Houston Astros 17-2. Lots of cheering going on in my livingroom.

0 for April

I'm batting 0 for April with my blog postings, but will try to be more consistent. (If you're a long-time follower, you know that I'm a die-hard, loyal fan of the Detroit Tigers. It's April in the "D"!)

Last week was the spring DJ Retreat in Shipshewana. The weather outside was horrible, but it couldn't dampen the wonderful atmosphere inside "The Farmstead Inn Conference Area" where about 80 Dear Jane quilters gathered to sew, laugh, share ideas and snack a bit.

Helen, Connie and I almost finished our Eugenia wool pin cushions. They just need their feet. Cindy gifted them with these cute chairs.They also got comfy in an Amish buggy.

We also worked on our Smores quilt making square in a square blocks with Jo Morton fabrics.

 

The Show and Tell was amazing, as always. I came home with too many new ideas.

Robin Sighting

Yesterday I finally saw my first robin of the season. It was scampering across the roof of our garage and looked pretty plump. Today we have the sun shining and the temps are a bit warmer. I'm thinking spring may actually get here.

I was the lucky recipient of a 'fat chance' bundle of batiks at our guild meeting last Wednesday. So pretty!

Last summer, I made the eight 4 1/2" blocks for the Summer Stars Sampler at Temecula Quilts. They waited in a bag while I contemplated whether a ninth star was needed. I decided a little cheddar would be a positive addition so I made the extra star block in the bottom left corner. Not sure how I will put them together yet, but it's getting closer to a flimsy.

This is the chocolate bunny from Jim Shore's Easter selection. Doesn't it look good enough to eat?

Only three more days until the Tigers open the year in Minnesota! I hope they don't get snowed out.

Quilt Show Online

Our guild quilt show from last week-end is now up at this link. Even though being there is the ultimate thing to do, I hope you enjoy viewing the pictures.

To satisfy the 'picture in every post' idea...my husband bought these cutting boards last week. The red is for meat, the green for vegetables and the yellow for chicken. Cute and easy to remember!

Success!

We had a wonderful quilt show! Our co-chairs organized everything so well and there were many able and willing volunteers. Our "Needful Things" booth was a great success! We were very pleased. So many generous quilters donated and/or bought items. Thank you! Here's Helen, Connie and myself waiting for buyers.

Best of Show was made by Joyce Jones. It was so beautiful! We've watched her stitch those leaves one by one. A photo doesn't do it justice.

More ribbons on these next quilts. Connie's lovely "Bow Ties" from Pam Buda's Prairie Women's Sewing Circle, Journey One.

Connie's "Christmas Presents". The pattern by Kate Spain using Flurry fabric was adapted for a charm pack by LuAnn Krug from  Loose Threads blog.

The pattern "Lilies for Connie" was a must make for Connie using gorgeous repro fabrics.

Helen's beautiful "Venetian Tiles" was taught in a class by Lana at The Quilted Cottage.

Helen's striking "Nan's Harvest" was made using a Thimbleberries panel and their Autumn Sunset fabric line.

This is my "Spinning Flowers" made from a Humble Bee Quiltworks pattern.

"Starstruck" I made from a Bonnie Hunter class taught for our guild in the fall of 2010. I love the blues and cheddar.

These are my two little entries made from a Lori Smith Quilt Squares pattern. I was really surprised to find ribbons on them.

Our guild website will have all of the quilt show pictures up soon. I'll share when it's ready.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Needful Things Booth

Connie, Helen and I were able to finish the set-up for the Needful Things tables yesterday in time to have a birthday lunch for Connie afterwards.  We were blessed with many donations.I hope we have many 'needy' buyers tomorrow and Saturday.

We're Having A Quilt Show!

Tomorrow is the take-in for quilts that will hang in our show this Friday and Saturday. The location is Celebration Hall on Wheeler Road in Saginaw. Friday hours are 10 - 6 and Saturday 10 - 4. Connie and I are in charge of the "Needful Things" booth which consists of items made and donated by guild members. Yesterday was pricing day. It's not easy to put a value on someone's donation, but we did our best. If you are within driving distance, come and see all of the beautiful quilts!

Here are four more Farmer's Wife blocks. Still using my scraps. (I consider a FQ or smaller a scrap.)

Honey Fork Fabrics had an ugly fabric challenge. They would send you an 'ugly' fat quarter and all you had to do was make a 12" block and return it to them. The blocks would be assembled into quilts. It sounded like fun so I sent my address. The yellow floral fabric is the challenge print. I made a couple of blocks and they are now on their way back.

The photo also shows a couple more of the envelope bags I made for the 'Needful Things' booth.

While at the grocery store today, I saw this on an end cap and wondered how many of them I would need to house all of my stuff!

It's March!

I was so thrilled to turn the calendar page this morning. March sounds much more like spring.

Have you see the Mondo Bag pattern? You can watch a video about it here. There are quite a few being made around The Cottage. Here is mine. I used only strips from my stash. The pattern uses four rectangle grids to which you iron your 2 1/2" squares. There is also a smaller size which is even cuter. Of course, anything smaller is cuter in my eyes.

Easy Street blocks are being sewn into diagonal rows. It's not easy (no pun intended) to sew without furry interruptions. Here is Jasper 'helping' me lay out the blocks.

Once a month I attend a group called Lunch Bunch. The very talented Sandie
is in charge of this and always has a project or two to share with us. Yesterday she showed us how to make an envelope bag. You can make them any size you choose and use them to hold jewelry, hand sewing, make-up, etc. I'm hoping to make a few for our guild's sale table at the upcoming quilt show on March 15th and 16th. I'm working on a few others made with double-sided quilt fabric. I bound the edges and then the assembly is the same.

Tomorrow our Farmer's Wife Club meets. It's fun to see the blocks made from so many different color and fabric combinations.

Tuesday

Yesterday we had a Farmer's Wife sewing day at The Cottage. The tables were full of gals cutting and sewing with all different kinds of fabrics. I set up my machine and had all of the necessary tools ready and couldn't find the six blocks I had cut out the night before. Did I leave them home? Yes, I did. Luckily for me, my husband delivered the missing baggies to me at the shop and I was all set. He's a keeper. I managed to finish four blocks and parts of the other two.

I mentioned before that our guild was doing easy applique blocks for the year. Last month I was fortunate to win a set of snowman blocks.The guild supplies the background and pattern. Here is my heart block for February.

During the last storm, I tried to take pictures of the snow flying in the air. Can you see the tree in the photo? I thought that turned out kind of neat. I love the mornings when I wake up to scenes like this outside.

Sleep At Home Retreat starts tomorrow. I need to get my things together so my husband doesn't have to make any 'emergency' trips to the shop.