Sew Many Pieces

HaPpy New Year everyone!

2012-01-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

Yikes, time just zips by faster and faster all the time. It is so hard to believe that we are 13 days into the new year already.

What have I been up to? I made 15 mug rugs for swaps and Christmas gifts and planned on making more but ran out of time.

I knew that I would have time right after Christmas to make some more for friends and family that I wouldn't be seeing for the holidays but would see them in late January. But life has a way of throwing wrenches into our plans, doesn't it?

Hubby went in for an angiogram on Dec 28th and had quintuple by-pass surgery with mitral valve repair the next day. Another yikes. We are so blessed and fortunate that he is on the mend and alive. He could have had a fatal heart attack if a small series of events hadn't happened to get him to the angiogram. God is good and watching over us, that is for sure.

Here are several of the mug rugs I made. The 'cute ones' were made for my grand kids to use for their cereal and snack bowls as well as their glasses of milk, water, juice etc. They weren't as jazzed about them as much as I was with making them, LOL. But I don't care, they were so fun to make. And I'll make them more HA!

Warm Quilt Hugs, Sue in CA

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PostCardMailArt
http://community.webshots.com/user/wraez
http://www.eons.com/groups/group/quilters-passion

Update from Kiwi Jan

2011-11-17T01:27:00.001-08:00

Hi Folks sorry for not posting 9 weeks ago I fell and broke my Knee cap!! Lots of sitting around like two weeks no weight bearing on leg leg in a caste 24 /7 sleeping with it was not nice --had to leanr how to use crutches!!
Then next 5 weeks with a caste on and allowed to weight bear---Knee cap mended well and now its lots of therapy to re build muscles.
I did get a whole quilt handquilted -- Had made this Turning Twenty quilt a couple of weeks before the fall and its for me!!

Finnley's Quilt

2011-10-15T07:56:00.001-07:00

So.....this blog is being seriously neglected! Part of the reason I've been absent is we have a brand new grandie coming in just a few days! I posted about the plans for her quilt earlier. I adapted Brandywine Design's pattern "Hooterville" and used some of Moda's yummy fabrics from the "Sunkissed" line. I cut out a gazillion pieces!

And put together owl and tree blocks.

And it is finished...just in time!! All washed in Dreft and all quilty-crinkly!

So what has everyone else been up to!?

A bit of what I've been up to

2011-08-06T09:26:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Wow, is it HOT where you live? It is here at my house in CA.

I've been enjoying spending some time listening to books on CD while piecing blocks for a Fall block swap that I'm in. The last book I finished was great ...The Hunger Games, which is the 1st in a popular trilogy by Suzanne Collins. It is a YA book but adults have been reading it too. Nice to find a book without bad language etc and still riveting. Next book on CD .. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Above are the blocks I've been making for the swap. The pattern is on the cover of Scrap Basket Surprises. After I receive the various different blocks from my 11 swap partners, I want to make more of these blocks in batiks for a quilt for myself. The 1st and 3rd block on top row were made in the wrong direction but since each person gets only 1 block, it won't matter. But I will HAVE to be sure to piece my blocks correctly!

Do you find it difficult to find good light neutral batiks to use as background fabrics? The swap group chose to use Sunflower Italian White from the Connecting Threads batik collection and I love it. But since the swap quilt will be made using that batik I've been trying to find another light to use for my quilt with my batik blocks and haven't been able to find another light batik .. so frustrating. Any suggestions? I may have to use a standard 100% cotton in a light tone on tone with my batiks.

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PostCardMailArt
http://community.webshots.com/user/wraez
http://www.eons.com/groups/group/quilters-passion

2011-08-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Delightful wee quilt Ky.

2011-08-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

love your work, Ky! Maggie

2011-07-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Well, here is my finished quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap# 11. It isn't exactly my taste but I think (hope!) that it is exactly to my partner's taste! We'll see!

Daffidols

2011-07-25T02:56:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora --not really stitching related but had to share my from my garden --my first Daffidols July 2011

Red work pillow

2011-07-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

I stitched these wee blocks a couple of years ago then put them away-- Found them a wee while ago and thoughtthey would look good in a pillow jsut for me but my grandaughter has already ohh and ahh over it.

what I have been playing with

2011-07-23T02:12:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora again--second try--I made this fabric bowl for a challenge on another group-- we had to make something 3D. so why do the photos go above what I have written-- blogger is not playing nice for me tonight
Jan

Can't comment either!!

2011-07-23T01:55:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora all Like some of the others I also can not get my comments accepted I have a Google account -- and have managed to comment before--anyway Ky I love your French General mini Quilt-- its delightful--what size is it. and the Taupe mini quilt is going to be another stunner.

Hug Kiwi Jan
Jan Cottton
NZ

Doll Quilt Swap # 11

2011-07-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

I am so excited that I got into the Doll Quilt Swap again....Round 11...yay!! I started stalking my partner right away and had trouble with an idea until I came across a piece of information in my stalking and BINGO.....there was my plan! It's a very interesting process to "stalk" your partner by looking at her Flickr and her blog and comments she makes in the group about other quilts and try to figure out what she might really like.

I will share more about the process later, I'm afraid if I do now she might happen across the blog and find out that this one is for her!

Anyway, I have been drooling over a lot of the Japanese inspired quilts that are all shades of taupe so my mini quilt will have blocks that are taupe. Here are a few of them:

Taupe is a very interesting color.....very elusive too! It can encompass beige, grey, tan....when you ask people about taupe....they often look puzzled!

I am having a lot of fun with this mini and it has really made me see that I want to make a large taupe quilt for myself one day.

I have also been playing with paper piecing and really loving that process. I'll write mroe about that later. These blocks are paper pieced. I'll be sure to share this little mini when it is finished and let you know if my partner liked it! :-)

The French General and I

2011-07-19T03:58:00.000-07:00

I have loved the "French General" line of fabric and I made this little mini for a swap. The theme was a "True Mini". I wanted the mini to have the look and feel of an antique quilt to go along with the fabrics so I hand pieced and hand quilted it. I pieced the stars while on a car trip. I have always considered myself lucky that I can read or sew in the car without getting carsick!

Now that I have finished it, I think I am "over" the French General....it was a nice fling while it lasted! :-)

to Ky

2011-07-05T22:58:00.000-07:00

Great news, congrats on new grandchild to be.Looking forward to seeing your owl quilt! I'm still having trouble commenting directly on the feed. Any more info? Maggie

New Baby = New Baby Quilt!

2011-07-05T05:54:00.001-07:00

We have a new grandbaby due October 22nd and we are so excited! Of course that means a new baby quilt too! :-) I have been cutting out A LOT of little pieces: And putting them together to make this "Hooterville" pattern.

All the little owls look really cute! I'll be sure to show it to you when it is finished!!

Door - 4 letter word for June

2011-06-12T20:29:00.000-07:00

photo by Debbie O'Kane

Door was our four letter word this month. Friends of mine have recently been travelling in the Middle East and one of their photos was a beautiful example of a carved door, facing into a courtyard with an inner door revealed. This was my interpretation of the photo with the original.

comments

2011-06-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

I have been having trouble too. Maggie.

Comments

2011-06-06T01:51:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora all I have tried many times to add a comment and also are being asked to sign in when I am all ready signed in-- this is over the last 4 or so days--- has anybody found out whats wrong --or what one has to do to sort this-- Hope this posting will go thru
Kiwi Jan
Jan Cotton
NZ

Trouble with comments!?

2011-05-29T06:38:00.000-07:00

I am having trouble commenting on any posts! I log in and read a post but when I go to comment on it. it asks me to log in as a user? Is anyone else having this issue? Anyone have any ideas what this is about? Just when you think that you have it all figured out ! :-) Thanks!

What I am working on ...

2011-05-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Scrappy 4 Patch with Wonky Stars ... Photo was taken b4 I added the 4 patches around the quilt

Hi Everyone

I'm getting excited about quilting again and really am addicted to scraps and scrappy quilts. Last evening I finally got the top stitched together and decided I am not going to add borders but will finish it with binding and calling it done. My cousin who has been a quilt teacher over 20 years said that scrappy quilts were know not to have borders and I shouldn't feel a need to add them. I have been feeling challenged lately deciding on borders for my quilts.

I used Billie Lauder's Ultimate Scrappy 4 Patch Technique and Gwen Marston's technique for the wonky stars. Both are very addicting and I want to play with more fabrics for 4 patches and make more wonky stars.

Warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

Finished Felted wallhanging.

2011-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora I have finished my Felted wallhanging from a class at NZSymposium taken with Barbara Weeks UK--I actually made this felt myself---what fun we all had especially the throwing it on the bench to take the last of the water out!!!!

Anway I have stitched it using a running type quilting stitch lots of French knots using different sized threads and then beaded it --

The picture below was my inspiration.

Luck

2011-05-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Our word for April was 'Luck'

I decided to have an oriental theme, utilising some of those fabrics I bought at the market in Hong Kong. My birthdate makes me a" water rooster. " Evidently two of the characteristics of a water rooster are :"liking shopping" and "enjoying dressing up" so here I am displaying my feathers and crowing about my recent purchases! The symbols spell out fortune in Korean.

New Zealand Symposium

2011-05-14T01:27:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora all-- I am one who has not posted for some time-- I am still interested and do read the Blog often--
We have just had our National Symposium here in NZ in the South Island at Queenstown--called The Remarkables Symposium -- the mountains surrounding Queenstown are called the Remarkables and are very spectular. Queenstown is very pretty and has the most amazing Autumn colouring in its many trees.
.I was lucky enough to have a quilt juried in to the Symp Exhibition there were around 300 quilts exhibited --It is quite a honour to have a quilt in this exhibition and I was delighted to be a exhibitor.

I called this quilt 'Playing with the Angles' lots of half square triangles and it is handquilted.

My friend from Florida came to Symp with me and we took three classes-- One with Barbara Weeks from the UK - felting --silkpainting and putting the two together I am still working on this it is almost finished this is the wool laid out ready to wet and start the felting process watch this space.

and another class with Barbara Weeks Fragramented Landscapes using all silk fabrics provided by and handdyed by Barbara .This piece is all handstitched and called Rock Strata--The third class with a NZ tutor Allie Snow was again handstitching this time using a shape --a work in progress

Kiwi Jan

Notice to all members!

2011-04-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

We are trying to make this a more active and interesting group blog so we will be actively looking for new members and deleting some who are no longer interested. If you get deleted and you still want to be a member and plan to post more often....please let me know and I will re-instate you!! We are asking all members to post at least once every three months. Thank you for helping to make this a great group blog! Ky

Wire

2011-04-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

How hard was this for a subject!

I eventually came up with the idea of black quilting to represent the "wire" of prison or detained refugee camps with the outline of hands behind. Don't know if you can see that in the photo! I was a bit disappointed with it in the end , not like I had envisaged it in my head!

Cincinnati Quilt Show

2011-04-13T05:42:00.001-07:00

I went to visit my daughter in Columbus and then we drove to Cincinnati to go to the quilt show. She (who is not a quilter) was a great sport and we had a good time and saw everything. It is about 1/3 the size of the Houston show. Sunflowers are my favorite flower so I loved this quilt! My daughter was impressed by this one because of the way the circles went off the edges. Before this show she thought all quilts had to be square or rectangle!

I've seen this one on several blogs, it really is beautiful with both birds and the leaves being 3-D.

I have seen this quilt many times but it is so beautiful in person...I really want to make a sampler quilt with the Kaffe Fassett fabrics!

I also want to make a Valentine Quilt to hang in my school office, this one gave me some good ideas.

My daughter loves blue and brown so she loved this one. Going to the quilt show with my daughter was such fun and now she has a better appreciation for quilts or at the least she knows there are other folks out there just as nutty as her Mom!

Later she showed me a blanket she had made for her dog. She sewed large squares of different pieces of fleece together and then fringed the edges. I said...."Honey, you made a quilt!" She said, "Don't count on it happening again Mom." Sigh....well maybe when my daughters are older I'll make a quilter out of at least one of them!

No...this one was NOT at the show! Ha-Ha...this one is mine. Earlier I blogged about a Neighborhood Block swap I was in where I got 9 blocks of different houses and buildings, then I also swapped house and tree "Bitty Blocks". I put them all together to make this quilt top. Now to get the monster quilted!! Sorry for the bad picture....there wasn't anyone home to be "quilt holder" for me! :-)

Bitty Blocks for April

2011-04-04T17:41:00.000-07:00

Our theme for April is "sewing" and I made little button jars. I can't wait to see what creative things the other group members come up with!

Civil War Quilt BOW

2011-03-30T00:07:00.000-07:00

I've been MIA because of computer problems. The old one finally bit the dust. A family member got a new computer and I inherited his old one, so I've been trying to find and install my old software to make it more usable for me.

I don't have any pics but do want to share this site
http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/
I've been using whatever fabrics I come across to do these blocks. It will be a very scrappy quilt, but maybe not true civil war colors/fabrics and I'm hand piecing the blocks. I've done 2 blocks of each pattern. One for each son. I wanted them to be Christmas presents, but since there will be 56 blocks and only one block each week they will not receive them before next spring. So far the blocks have been easy to do. One of the best features of this site is the background stories she tells of each block. A new block goes up each Saturday.

It's been a productive year so far. I've been cross-stitching the ggg's and ds's ornaments and crocheting rick-rack garland for my tree as well as scrapping my photos. Let's hope I keep the momentum going.

All the projects posted are just gorgeous. And Maggie, I'm going to find a tutorial on those dorset buttons. I bet I can use them on a scrapbook layout. Thanks.

Dorset Buttons

2011-03-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of the members taught us how to make dorset buttons - weaving around metal rings. Its a very old craft - quite addictive!

Kiss

2011-03-14T22:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the four letter words continue this year. I missed the first one which was pear/pair. (February)

For the March meeting we had "Kiss". There was an ecletic mixture as usual!

I thought it would be fun to have a "Kiss Tribute"

It's finished!

2011-02-23T03:36:00.001-08:00

My Mini for the Doll Quilt Swap #10 is finished! Yay! I was worried about having enough time to put in as much hand work as I wanted so I made sure it was finished early. I like the way it turned out. Of course with "hind sight" there are always things I would maybe do a little differently. I like that the leaves go over the edge of the border a little, I think I should have made them go over even more....maybe made the tree a little "fuller". Oh well, I'm not going to take it apart now! :-) And here is the back, I wanted it to be a little interesting too! :-)
I really do love this line of Moda "Bliss" even though usually red and aqua are not my favorites. I didn't want to waste any of it so I made this little mini with some of the scraps. This one is for a Mini-Quilt swap at Swap-Bot.

Did you hear the story about the man who walked into his wife's sewing room and looked around. He said, "Wow, I bet you have a hundred dollars worth of fabric in here!" And she said, "Ummmmm.....yep!" Hahahahahaha!

Well, now I am off to make "Space" and "Alien" blocks for this month's Bitty Block committee. Our other theme is Teacups but I have an idea for those. Aliens....hmmm....anyone have any ideas!? Happy Quilting!

introducing......

2011-02-18T23:21:00.000-08:00

Dylan!

Quilts look so much nicer when they are wrapped around loved ones!

Progress on DQS10!

2011-02-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a "snow day" today that didn't bring us any snow...just a lot of ice....but school was cancelled so I got a lot of sewing done! I changed my mind on the fabric choice and went with some Moda Bliss. Here is a "sneak peek" of one part of it. I'm not ready to show the whole thing yet...I have a lot of work left to do!

And another little peek....a little door....hmmmm...wonder where it goes?

And one more. I hope my partner likes it. I'll show the whole thing soon! Ihope everyone is staying warm and quilting!

Choices, choices...

2011-01-18T16:33:00.001-08:00

So.....I got my partner assignment for the Doll Quilt Swap. I duly stalked her :-) , came up with an idea that I love pretty quickly and then went fabric shopping. I came home with some of the "Breeze" line by Wendy Slotboom. I hope my partner likes them and the design I have come up with! I think maybe I need another piece of pink thrown in there?

Yay for DQS10!

2011-01-12T03:00:00.000-08:00

The DOll Quilt Swap (they are on #10 now) has become sooooo popular that they have too many people who want to participate so they use a lottery to decide who gets to play. And...I'm in!! Yay! I'm excited! It's a lot of fun. So, I'll be posting pictures of my creation here. :-)

With a little help from my friends......

2010-12-31T09:31:00.001-08:00

In the Bitty Block Committee that I am in we traded 30's print blocks and they were so great I put them together right away. I love them even more now! Now I have to come up with an idea for quilting it. Any suggestions?

Mrs Echidna's Dilemma

2010-12-22T17:50:00.000-08:00

Do you remember a few month's back I was talking about a book called Mrs Echidna's Dilemma, by Betty Johnson? Well, I have just finished making the finger puppets to accompany the book and couldn't resist showing them off! They are going to HongKong with me for Lucas - 2nd birthday in January.

From top left: Possum; Kangaroo with Joey in pouch; Blue tongued Lizard; Platypus; Kookaburra; Galah; Echidna. All these animals feature in the story and the patterns are included in the book.

Mug Rugs

2010-12-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

Mug Rugs, aka mug mats, seem to be the rage online in certain areas.

I participated in a 1-on-1 swap in 2 groups, Eons Quilting group and PostCardMailArt, where we made a mug rug to swap with another person. I've received mine from Ellen H in PA. I emailed her a photo of my blue Hawaiian mug for guidance. Ellen made such an elegant one for me using a simple 9-patch but she did needle-turn applique and hand quilted it and did her binding by hand. It is just beautiful. I hope I don't get coffee stains on it.

For Ellen I made the orange/pink pinwheel mug rug and took a photo of it with my plain white mug. Ellen did not want to give my any specifics about her mug and told me to create whatever I would like.

For my PostCardMailArt mug rug I made the same design but used pink/blue pinwheels. This was the first one I created and had a few glitches with it, the first being that my center seam did not match perfectly so I fused the small flower over it. When I created the 2nd one for Ellen, my seam was perfect but it looked naked without the center flower, so I added one also.

I haven't received my mug rug yet from my PCMA swap. I'll post a photo when it arrives.

Warm quilt hugs, sue in CA
http://www.webshots.com/user/wraez

baby quilts

2010-12-10T15:59:00.001-08:00

I have no "four letter" word to show this month as the fabric fibre group clashed with my other quilt group , too many Christmas break-up parties! I am posting photos of the baby quilts instead. Not knowing the sex I made two,
I'm off to Hong Kong in January so probably wont post again until I'm back.
Best wishes for Christmas and safe holidays. Maggie

the pretty quilt is for a girl and the bright quilt is for a boy!

Bitty Blocks

2010-11-15T14:23:00.000-08:00

The next "Bitty Block" swap I joined is with the theme of "house" . I went with a cottage probably because I would love to have a little cottage like this one...complete with a huge tree in the yard! :-)

I need to take a picture to share all the '30's print blocks I received in trade for mine. They are really adorable. Now I am pondering a layout for putting them together.

Maggie's four letter word series. This month was 'draw'

2010-11-13T18:40:00.000-08:00

how difficult was this word! One thing I can't do is draw! .........

I decided to go with doodling as my theme. I used a template for a dragonfly and some newly acquired rubbing plates with shiva sticks. Then doodled some more with quilting.

The other girls in the group were much more inventive. One had a draw bridge. Another, a draw string bag. Another had a beautiful ring cushion with drawn thread. Perhaps the best was the fabric book with different connotations of the word.

If you want to see them you can visit our blog: gympiefibreartsgroup.

Houston Internatinal Quilt Show 2010

2010-11-07T03:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I went to the Houston Internatinal Quilt Show for the 10th year in a row! As always I had a fabulous time and saw so many beautiful quilts. I was very inspired! I took two classes and both of them were wonderful.

I took a class on bindings from Helen Frost and it was all day......from 9:00 to 5:00. Before the class I thought, "How is she going to teach about bindings ALL DAY!?" Well, she did! For one thing she told me about many mistakes that I didn't even know I was making! Ha-Ha!

She did the best thing, she gave us all notebooks with page protectors in it and every technique she taught she gave us a handout and then when we practiced on a piece of quilted fabric, we would stick that finished sample in the page protector. So now I have a nice reference tool of all the techniques we learned!

There are so many beautiful quilts at the show but one of the ones that I found the most interesting was this neighborhood quilt. It was full of "holes"! :-) If you look closely at the picture you can see that all those gaps between the houses and trees are actual holes and you can see thebackground behind it. It was such an interesting technique and one that I want to try one day. It was made by a Japanese quilter and the details are in the second photo.

Speaking of Japanese quilters.....my favorite Japanese quilter is Yoko Saito and she was there and autographed a book for me!

The second class I took was on piecing stars from Cindy Blackberg. She sells some stamps that you stamp onto the back of your fabric and the cutting and sewing lines are then clear. That helps you to create nearly perfect piecing. I wanted a hexagon star because I love hexies so much but the only one she currently has is a large one....about 4 inches and I want a 2 to 2 1/2 half inch.

It was a great class also, full of piecing tips and now I can make either 6 or 8 point stars that all match up in the middle!!

Tail

2010-10-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

This month's 4 letter word was "tail".

I was thinking along the lines of peacocks having a bit of a challenge for the hen. Lots of show and glitz - I am watching the Commonweath Games in Delhi at the moment , hence the reference at the bottom to "and the winner is....... " This was the catchcry when Sydney was named as the Olympic Games Venue for 2000. I cant believe it was that long ago!

Thought I had better explain the quilt!

Having just looked at the photo, its actually quite hard to see the writing at the bottom!

my recent quilts

2010-10-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Finally, after much too long, I got the urge to quilt, finish some UFOs and start new quilts.

The one for my grandson has flannel backing and binding. I wanted to use one of the fabrics in the quilt to bind it but couldn't find it! I liked the way the flannel turned out.

Have always wanted to create a D9P and I finally did it last week, using a batik 5" charm pack and some others from my stash. I like the way it turned out, scrappy, bright and it worked up faster than I expected. I still need to put borders on but am in the 'decision mode' .

warm quilt hugs, sue in CA

Teeny Tiny!

2010-10-03T03:38:00.000-07:00

I joined another group and this is a group that swaps little 3.5" blocks. I knew they were tiny but it wasn't until after I joined my first swap and started working on them that I realized truly how teeny tiny they are! The first swap I am in is for 1930's prints, and I do love these prints! I should get back 24 blocks from other swappers, I'm not sure yet what I will make with them...I'll have to wait and see what they look like together!

Mug Rug Swap

2010-09-17T05:26:00.001-07:00

So....I'm in a little "Mug Rug" swap and this is the creation I came up with, I thought something bright and cheery would be good.
Then I made one for my daughter to use in her office cubicle. :-)

Edge

2010-09-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

This months four letter word was edge. My thinking was "over the edge" - concentrating on what drives people to depression.

Its quite a dark piece with squares representing the inner conflicts and feelings of imprisonment which we sometimes inflict upon ourselves with feelings of loneliness, isolation and inadequacy.

The window in the top corner represents 'hope' - the 'sunshine' which can lift us up. This healing of the spirit can come from different sources.

I've never actually suffered from depression but I think anyone can relate to negative feelings at times.

Its a really interesting exercise to try and formulate feelings in fabric!

Maggie

On a lighter note, I have started on a baby quilt in pinks and greens..... coming to you soon!

Letters for Kennedy

2010-09-06T06:31:00.001-07:00

My daughter wanted to make some fabric letters for Kennedy so we brainstormed how to make them and decided to use the iron on stiff interfacing Peltex. We zig-zagged around all the edges and it worked great!

Chubby Chicks

2010-08-26T05:07:00.001-07:00

I finished the "Chubby Chicks" pattern (by Black Mountain Quilts). I really loved this pattern, it is fun and easy and turns out cute. I am not a fan of orange (I actually had to make myself buy some to have in my stash) but my daughter loves it and this was for her baby so...orange it was! :-) I actually became a little more fond of orange as I worked on it! :-)

I loved this little zig-zag chick, he was my favorite!
I changed the border up a little because I wanted it to be larger than the pattern called for, ao I added four extra chicks in the corners. That also hides the fact that I CANNOT do quilt math...sigh...so my triangles would NOT have come out right in the corners.

It is finished and we are off to see the baby this weekend and give it to her....that is the best part! :-)

DQS-9 Finished

2010-08-15T03:58:00.000-07:00

I finished my mini quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap #9. I changed my mind from my original design and went with a "Princess and the Pea" theme. The border idea is from a pattern in a book I have called "Garden Party" by Cynthia Tomaszewski.

It is pretty heavily quilted, I wanted to make sure it would hang straight!
I went with a little "stacked coins" strip on the back to show a little more of the fabrics I used.

So, it will be off to her in just a bit, I hope she likes it! I have no idea which quilt will be coming to me or even if mine is one of the ones that has been shown in the discussions. There are soooo many beautiful quilts being made in this swap, I would be happy to have any one of them!

Lap quilt and "Leaf"

2010-08-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

This was a lap quilt I made as part of a group effort for making textured quilts for Alzheimer sufferers. Did you know that touch is one of the last senses that they retain? It was really interesting to make - concentrating on the texture of the fabric rather than the colour.

This was my work for August for the four letter word challenge.

I wanted to try my hand at a black and white piece. We had a a fun session of cutting up black shapes and rearranging them on white then re- cutting them from the "blind" side. That was fun! However I didn't attempt to do this leaf blind! Maggie

Sewing Room Help

2010-08-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

This is how Kennedy helps her Nonnie in the sewing room. Of course she had to throw out several pieces to make room for herself! I don't know if you can read it or not but the scrap bin she picked to get into is labeled "Cutesy Prints" :-)

A Finish

2010-07-21T11:42:00.000-07:00

I finished my mini for the Swap-Bot Mini Quilt swap #9. I used some of Moda's "Cherish Nature" series. I just love this fabric so much, I have made three minis from it so far. I hope my partner likes it too!

mend

2010-07-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

so, I continue the '4 letter word' series with mend.

This is supposed to compare the present and the past - the old lady (at least 60!) in the painting is my husband's great great grannie known as Granny Nyberg. The modern miss, perhaps one of my daughters, doing her mending with the aid of a safety pin. The pile of quilts represents me - somewhere in between meticulous darning and slapdash mending!

Maggie

Doll Quilt Swap #9 Progress

2010-07-11T14:24:00.001-07:00

I have made a little bit of progress on my Mini for the Doll Quilt Swap #9. I finished the borders and now I just have the center to do. What goes in the center? Hmmm...it's a mystery! :-)

I would have my mini finished by now but I have been distracted by this little love. It was her Birthday and she had a great party.

2010-07-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Kia-ora all at last I have a photo of my Rose quilt to post-- I am calling this quilt Rambling Rose.
Have been working on it for two years. most of that time was the handwork on the border and the handquilting.

Its a huge quilt as you will note with some of it laying on the ground.

Changed my mind with the DQS-9

2010-07-02T05:23:00.000-07:00

So.....I have changed my mind no less than three (3! ) times for my mini quilt in the Doll Quilt Swap 9. I started out with Moda's "Nature" and then didn't like that alone so added some "Oceania" to the mix and thought that was good. Then.....my partner (who I have been "stalking" all along marked a few more "favorites" on her Flickr page. Well, one of those favorites changed my mind completely about what I should make for her. So, another trip to the quilt store, not such a burden there
:-).........and this is what I came up with. These are really awful pictures I know...I'm so sorry! Tropical Storm Alex has been dumping rain on us for several days with no end in sight so we have had nothing but gray days lately.

I have made a start, have a drawing (but I can't show that yet or it would totally give it away) and this is what I have done so far. I'm not changing my mind again! I think!? :-)

What I'm working on...........

2010-06-26T06:37:00.001-07:00

Remember when I fell in love with Modas "Breath of Avignon" line? It took me forever to decide what to do with them because I love the fabrics so much that I hated to cut them up! I decided on a pattern that left great big pieces of the fabric visible so I could continue to enjoy them. So, this is what I have come up with so far....still working on an applique border and then I will add a couple more borders on the outside.

I am also working on a version of "Chubby Chicks" pattern by Black Mountain Quilts as a 1st birthday present for our youngest grandbaby. I have to hurry because her birthday is July 8th!

And....I have been racking my brain trying to decide what to do for the DQS-9!! Everytime I get an idea and start drawing or laying out fabric....it doesn't seem right.....hmmmm....I'm going to have to think about it some more. Back to the sewing room.......

What I do with my fabric postcards

2010-06-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

I came up with these holders which are above my desk in the sewing room,so I can admire the cards I receive - usually they are spread out (bunched together for the photo).
I can change the cards in the "pockets" at whim.

Maggie

Nude

2010-06-11T23:33:00.001-07:00

As promised here are my items for our four letter word monthly challenge. This month we had to come up with something for "nude" Not the easiest subject when one can't draw!
I have depicted Mr and Mrs Gingerbread visiting the nudist beach, where they were right at home! unfortunately they stayed too long and burnt up! (Mrs G. disappeared altogether)

The above was a "frolic" with some fabric dye - great fun! Maggie

Unexpected swapping reward!

2010-06-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

I swap several different places and one of the places I swap books is at BookMooch.com . Several months ago I "mooched" a book from a swapper in Japan. (It was a book in English) When my book arrived, attached to my package was another package addressed to someone else. It wasn't from the same sender who sent my book, I think they just got bound together for overseas shipping and were supposed to be cut apart at some point and someone fell asleep at the controls! Anyway, I felt badly that this book (actually it was two books) didn't make it to it's new home so I re-packaged it and sent it off to the orginal addressee. I also enclosed a note with an explanation and my name and e-mail address.

A week later I got a charming e-mail from an equally charming older Japenese-American gentleman:

Dear Maam,

Thank you very much for sending me the books from Japan. Those are two copies of a monthly magazine I have been receiving from one of my former colleagues since 1983! Just before I left Japan for the United States permanently, he proposed that we send each other a monthly magazine of our choice. He chose The Atlantic Monthly, and I chose this one Bungeishunju (lit. Literary Art Spring and Autumn) . Now I have two big book shelves full of Bungeishunju. We are both old now, and I sometimes wonder how many more years this will go on. I am sure he does, too.

We taught at the same school for seven years in Japan, but we were not particularly close. We don’t even exchange Christmas cards. We just send and receive two copies of the magazine every two months. And I kind of like this arrangement. I hope he does, too.I am sorry. I didn’t mean to tell you anything about our strange friendship. I just wanted to tell how I look forward to receiving this magazine from Japan. I would say that the past 27 years the magazines never arrived four or five times. On several occasions they arrived in a very bad shape, reminding me how far Japan is, especially for a “surface mail traveler.” The past five years, however, I don’t think that any copy is missing from my collection. And, thanks to you, that record remains intact!

May I send you a check for the postage you paid for the magazines? Or I could just send you the stamps instead. That’s the least I can do for your kindness.Sincerely,

Well of course I told him the pelasure was mine and hearing the details of that story was reward enough! I told him I too was a book lover and that I was very happy that those two made it safely to his collection. We exchanged a few more e-mails and he asked me what books I got from Japan. I told him that I was a quilter and had a fondness for some of the new Japanese quilters. He told me that his wife was also a quilter.

Fast forward about two months to today and I got a package in the mail....a Japanese Quilting magazine that features my favorite Japanese quilter Yoko Saito! They had taken a trip to Japan and brought the magazine back for me! It is a lovely magazine and I am thrilled to have it and isn't that a nice happy swapping story!? I thought so and wanted to share it with you all. :-)

Embroidered Mini Quilt Received!

2010-06-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

I got my Mini Quilt from the Embroidered Mini Swap and it came all the way from Maria in Spain! It is really lovely and it came with a cute pincushion and chocolate that didn't melt in our heat! :-)

I'm in!

2010-06-07T03:52:00.001-07:00

I'm so excited because I made it into the latest Doll Quilt Swap! #9 Yay! I swap a lot of places and have a lot of fun at it. This is a secret swap which makes it even more fun. I'll post when I have my mini going!

New Mini

2010-05-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

I finished and sent off a new mini-quilt for a swap on Swap-Bot, I hope my partner likes it!

Time

2010-05-11T03:33:00.000-07:00

well its that time of the month again when my "odd bods" group is meeting. This month's four letter word was "time".

This had me stumped for a while then I kept thinking of the song: "as time goes by." My favorite t.v. series as well ( english programme)

I started by doing the phases of the moon quarter, half, full etc then I really got carried away and added a photo border. This is meant to depict me and my husband through the years - forty six th wedding anniversary this month so I thought it appropriate. I really am an"odd bod" or should that be "old bod"!! Maggie

Sewing other people's stuff

2010-05-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Ah, the joy when a family member got the idea some years back to make a quilt themselves for the first time. The project gets set aside as life gets busy, and after spending uncounted ages stuffed in a closet in a plastic bag, it is given to one of us, the capable quilters in their family, with a "Do something with this, would you please?"

As you can see, this one got as far as cutting out bunches of squares and laying them out, but no farther. This is the design they chose for these black and white prints. Dizzying!

Of course, as any first time quilter will, they made some mistakes. None of the fabric was pre-washed, some squares were cut to include the selvages, and not all are on the straight of grain. Add to that the solid black is a medium weight twill, not a light cotton like the rest of the fabrics. I don't know about y'all, but I've never had luck getting twills and cottons to play nice together.

Then today my mom digs in the bag of squares and finds another pile of blue/white fabric squares. Here they are in the same general style of layout as the black/white squares:

Again, none have been washed, the solid is a twill, and that triangle print feels like an old sheet that was cut up. There were even more blue fabrics in the bag, but they totally clashed with these.

I warned them that I may have to trim down the squares after I wash them, especially if some shrink more than others. I'm also going to have to pull solids from my stash to replace the twills, and buy batting, binding, and backing.

And now for the kicker. Since they're family, they don't want to pay for anything other than the materials I put into it. "Oh, you have the time to do these things," they say.

Do you ladies also find your quilting skills taken for granted by family or friends? Just wondering, and thanks for letting me gripe a bit.

--Karen in W. WA

UPDATE:

Sigh...it's my only sibling's spouse, so I can't really say no. Let's just say that there are some issues there, and leave it at that. Too bad they live three and a half hours away or I'd definitely have them help, including my five year old niece! They did make the job a little easier by agreeing with me that I can put the blues on the back of the blacks and make one double-sided quilt out of the stuff. Yay! No backing needed to buy and only one batt. I did end up washing the squares and thank goodness I did. Some shrank up to 1/2 an inch in each direction, some only in one direction. That sure would have wrecked the finished product! Besides, pressing and trimming squares is good mindless work while watching back episodes of NCIS. :) Thanks for the words of wisdom and encouragement, ladies. I'm muddling along and making the best of it.

New Mini Quilts

2010-05-01T11:44:00.001-07:00

I finished my mini quilt for the Emboirdered Mini Quilt Swap. Moda's new Nature fabric seemed perfect for it and I liked it so much I made one for myself too. :-)

Winner!

2010-04-26T08:36:00.001-07:00

All the sewing pets are adorable but the votes are in and with my vote too, Nikki's cat Dotee is the winner. I think it was her name! :-) E-mail me your address Nikki and I will send the book along to you.

Thanks for playing everyone!

Vote now!

2010-04-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, only three entries in the cutest sewing room pets, so put your vote in today. (Yes, you can vote for your own! :-) The entries are:

1. Megan's pup

2. Nicc's cat Dotee

3. Karen's two kitties.

Cast your vote!

Oh-so-helpful pets

2010-04-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here are my wonderful helpers, Jasper, and his step-brother, Cosmo. They love to help me out with my quilt block layout. You know something is seriously wrong with a quilt design when you lay it out on the floor and the cats walk around it, rather than lay on it or play on it. Obviously, they approved of the quilt I was working on in these photos. :)

Jasper is also famous for helping me choose my border fabric. Spread the quilt on the floor with two border options, and he'll only lay on the side with the fabric he approves of.

Now if I can just convince Cosmo to stop flossing with the thread that's on my sewing machine, we'd be in good shape...

Happy Quilting,

--Karen in W. WA

Last call for pet pictures....

2010-04-15T04:21:00.000-07:00

This is your last chance to send in your cute pet pictures! I know there are more of you who have a pet who helps you quilt!

Adding to the hexie pile

2010-04-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

We went to see my mother-in-law Saturday, so what do you do on a four hour car trip? You sew hexies of course! :-)

New Mini Quilt Swap

2010-04-09T14:14:00.000-07:00

Come on over to the Quilting Gallery and check out their new Mini Quilt Swap!

Hello

2010-04-09T02:51:00.000-07:00

First of all i would like to say thanks for having me :), now a little about me
My name is Nikki, I'm 30 and a pet mum to three cats, I am new to crafting and love sewing, patchwork and of course quilting. I own a Janomie embroidery machine - 350MC and a Bernina Sewing machine.

Nikki
xx

Dotee loves helping me sew! :)

Megan's Quilting Friend

2010-04-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

This came from Megan: Attached is a picture of my little one Kahlua. She's wild but she loves to lay at my feet while I quilt, sometimes even pressing the sewing machine pedal when I don't want her to. She also loves to lay on the fabric while I'm organizing it and keeps me company while I brainstorm new quilting ideas.

Thanks for such a cool giveaway!
Megan

Prize!

2010-04-05T04:38:00.000-07:00

Okay this will be the prize for the cutest/funniest pet who "helps" you quilt. It is the book "Tile Quilt Revival" by Carol Gilham Jones & Bobbi Finley. Complete with pull-out patterns, it is a great book with some lovely quilt ideas in it!

So get out your camera and take a picture of your pet helper! If you are not a member but a follower of this blog you can still enter, just send me an e-mail with your pet photo.

Nest

2010-04-04T19:00:00.001-07:00

This month's word was "nest".
This is the 'whoop-whoop' bird (bottom right!) hiding her nest in the fabled 'fantasy' tree. Can you find it? hee-hee!

Who "helps" you quilt?

2010-04-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

Most quilters seem to have at least one "furry friend" who "helps" them in their quilting. I have one such friend but it is not a cute and dainty kitty-cat who steps lightly across quilt squares with dainty paws! No...my furry friend is an 85 pound boxer who thinks he is a lap dog.

So, I thought it would be fun to hear about your "furry friends", so lets have a contest! Post a picture of your furry friend and tell us a little about them and we will all vote on whose friend is the cutest/funniest. I will post later about the prize! :-)

So, I will tell you some about my friend:

His name is General Patton and he is very spoiled!

He doesn't lie on my quilts but he will walk on them (with huge, usually dirty paws!) if they are lying around. He also has a fondness for fleece, probably because he has several "doggie blankets" that I have made for him and I have one piece of beige fleece stored on a low shelf that he keeps stealing. Every so often he will sneak it off the shelf and go lie on it somewhere and then I will retrieve it, it's going to have so much dog slobber on it that it won't be usable!

He also likes to lie on our feet, not at but on! This is a problem when you need to use the sewing machine presser foot!

Here he is sitting next to a baby quilt I finished in December. He had just been chastized for trying to get up on the chair on top of the quilt...can you tell? Then he is "telling" me how unhappy he is about it! Boxers are notorious "talkers" and he is very verbal!

So, who "helps" you with your quilting?

I feel so "accomplished"!

2010-04-02T05:35:00.000-07:00

I have finally done it! I've finished my daughter's bed quilt which should have been completed by her birthday (back in February!). But, it is now finished, washed, hung out to dry (yay-the weather is finally getting warm!!) and it is ready to be placed on the bed!

It is patchwork, with appliqued flowers.

I suppose I should have taken a close up picture, but I just love how clothes look hanging out on the line! So Spring-Like!

I need to quilt this!

2010-03-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why I am procrastinating on getting this particular quilt "quilted"! Maybe I just have not been in the mood, as I have to set the machine up at the dining room table, in order for me to have enough space to lay the quilt out!

However, on my "to do list" is getting my "Pink Quilt" quilted!

The only "real inspiration behind this quilt, was putting together variations of pink that I liked.

Mrs Echidna's Dilemma

2010-03-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Through my quilting group we went to a function this week to meet Betty Johnston who is the author of a children's book called "Mrs Echidna's dilemma".She has made two quilts and the book is based on these quilts. On one side of the page the illustrations are from the applique quilt with a simple story aimed at 3-5 years. On the opposite page the designs have been re worked in black work with more detailed information for older children. It was simply outstanding and I urge you all to have a look at her site (http://mrsechidna.com/)
I've ordered one for my grandson! its due out in June, I think. The book also contains patterns for making finger puppets for the children to make.
As a teacher, Ky, you will love it!
Maggie

I'm in love!

2010-03-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am so in love with this fabric! It is Moda's "Breath of Avignon" and I couldn't resist it, it looks so French Country. I'm not quite sure what I am going to make with it yet....for right now I am just enjoying looking at it! :-)

Little Red Riding Hood

2010-03-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

I just finished this Little Red Riding Hood Quilt and here it is hanging in my office. The kids at my school are delighted with the wolf! :-)

In the home stretch.......

2010-03-21T16:56:00.001-07:00

I have the basics done on the 9 blocks for the neighborhood block swap I am in. All I need to do now is finish the details on each one. It feels good to be in the home stretch with them!

Land

2010-03-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

This was a small postcard size picture I did for the 4letter group, the word in question was "land".

I thought you might be interested in seeing these embroideries I received for Christmas. Because there were so many of us ( 23 on Christmas Day) we had a "secret santa" this year. One gift to the value of$50 to be given to one person only. Names drawn out of the hat so you knew who you were buying for!

My daughter's mother-in-law spends half her time in Hong Kong, which is where they originated. The top one is a child's collar and the other a panel. She challenged me to do something creative with them but I think I will just frame them - they are too beautiful to be cut up or used! Any creative ideas out there?

Am I crazy or what!?

2010-03-10T05:39:00.001-08:00

So......I am actually in 3 quilt swaps that will eventually result in complete quilt tops:

1- The neighborhood block swap where everyone is creating a block with a house or store or school...neighborhood buildings. Two of my blocks are in the previous post where I obsessed over them. :-)

2- In Swap-Bot I am participating in a strip quilt swap where we each picked a theme and others are sending us two strips to add to it, one plain and one either pieced or appliqued. My theme is Christmas. I already finished the first set of strips and sent them off to my first partner...her theme is leaves and trees. But I forgot to take a picture of them first. :-(

3- The Round Robin Swap where we each created a center and then send it to each of the group members in turn and they add a "round". My center was the one also in the previous post with the yellow, red and blue 30's reproduction prints. The first center I got to work on was so interesting and nothing like anything I have ever done. It is a "Day of the Dead" theme. It came to me with the four center blocks and the orange border. I thought some big, colorful Frida Khalo type flowers would be a good addition and I loved the black buttonhole stitch around the applique.

Then after I finished I had a mini nervous breakdown! I have done a lot of swaps where I sent quilt squares or mini-quilts on to others but this is the first time I have worked on someone else's work! It is pretty intimidating to think you might not be doing what they expected or had in mind...or worse something they won't like! I posted a picture on the group page and said if the owner didn't like it please let me know right away and I would change it. Well, she said she loved it so I can breathe again! I told the group I would stop being so high maintenance....but wait until I get the next center to work on!! Ha-Ha! Here is the center the way I sent it to the next partner.

I am really enjoying swapping this way, it is so interesting to see what others come up with and to share our love of quilting this way. I also am loving the challenge of coming up with something that goes along with a theme that someone else has picked out and maybe a little out of my comfort zone! I just hope I don't keep stressing so much about it! :-)

Happy quilting!

Block # 2

2010-02-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, I wasn't all that happy with block #1 so here is block #2. I need your opinions! I thought #1 was too dark but now I think #2 is too cutesy for a book store. Arrrggghh! This shouldn't be this hard! :-) If it were just for me it wouldn't be so difficult but these are going out to everyone else in the swap so I want to do a good job. Am I over-thinking it!?

With a little help from my friends.....

2010-02-20T17:22:00.000-08:00

I am in two different swaps that will end up in new quilts. The first is the neighborhood swap that Summer Sadie is hosting. I am making the book stores for the neighborhood (every neighborhood needs book stores right!?) This is my first prototype block, I am not real happy with it....the size of the books in the window for one thing...they are huge! :-) I will keep playing with it and then go into "production" soon and make 9 of them. then I will get 8 blocks back to make a complete neighborhood of my own!

Then I am also in a Round Robin swap where you create the center block and send it off, it makes the rounds of the group and each person adds a border. When it comes back to you, if you want to leave it as it is you can sandwich, quilt and bind it and you have a finished quilt.

My two blocks are about ready to be sent off! Sort of like sending your children off into the world! Ha-Ha!

I'll keep you updated on the progress of these two projects!

Portable Mini Design Wall

2010-02-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/2010/02/tool-time-tuesdayits-like-breath-of.html

Thought this might be of interest to those of you who do mni quilts or wallhangings.

tutorial on folding fabric for storage

2010-02-14T04:14:00.000-08:00

I found this tutorial on the net today and thought I'd share. I'm in the process of moving and in the next couple of months will be accessing my fabric stashes (I'm hoping they have survived storage). While not big by most people's standards it will be large pertaining to my new space. However, it is space that's going to allow me to have my stash....ok...I'm confusing myself...lol

Here's the tutorial.
http://turningturning.com/tutorial-folding-fabric/

Ky, this may be a tutorial you might like to add to the blog. Not sure about how to get permission to do this, but generally they like a link back to the site.
Hope someone finds this helpful.

new year.

2010-02-09T02:24:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it is already February! Not a lot to show for this year yet. The first meeting of the odd bods group is on Thursday this week and we were left with the theme of rust (continuatuin of 4 letter words) Needless to say with the busy season and family visiting it got put on the back burner until last weekend. I rusted up some material (first time for rusting!) and came up with this:

Two finishes so far in 2010!

2010-01-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

We took a two part car trip that required about 17 hours in the car so I made sure I had plenty of handwork to do! I've always been lucky in being able to read or sew in the car without getting car sick and my awesome husband always does all the driving. :-) So, I finished a mini-quilt for a swap that is hand appliqued. I experimented with a different way to hang it and found some cute leaf buttons to match. I hope my swap partner likes it!
And I finished hand quilting a baby quilt for a new neice who should be born in the next few weeks. Yeah for two finishes in 2010! Anyone else care to share a finish!?

What I'm working on

2010-01-17T21:23:00.000-08:00

I've been awfully busy the last few months getting Christmas presents and such done. My first task of the new year was to clean up the chaos in my studio. Ugh, two month's worth of creative detritus all heaped up together on the cutting table.

In my spare time at my mom's appointments, I've been sewing plushies. After the first few, I began to wonder what I was going to do with the menagerie. I'm glad to say they've all found homes and for such a good cause!

Craft Hope for Haiti is a charity site that's accepting donations of handcrafted items to sell on Etsy to benefit Doctors Without Borders. I listed Roo the kangaroo rat and Toni and Tassie the elephants. They sold within minutes of being listed! Tomorrow they go to the post office to be mailed to their new homes.

I will be making more items for this super cause. When I last checked, they'd raised around $8000 and the site only started selling a day and a half ago. Crafters unite!

Beyond that, I'm working on Doll Quilt Swap #8 with the gang over on Flickr. What a fun bunch of nuts! I have a very quiet partner, so I'm still a little in the dark even though I have an idea or three that I'm playing with. I'll be sure to post pictures once I have something other than wads of fabric to show. *grin*

Happy stitching,

Karen in (very soggy) Western Washington

Having fun with fabric food

2010-01-15T05:48:00.001-08:00

I've been playing in the sewing room lately making different types of food from fabric. I am in a couple of swaps on Swap-Bot to trade also. Some are made exclusively from felt but the pie and the pizza are regular cotton fabric. I hope to get quite a collection for the "Grandies" to play kitchen with! :-)

What has everyone else been creating lately?

Rag Quilt for Part Irishman

2010-01-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

I started to make small quilts for my grandchild in 2009. I finished one with pictures of friends on it for my youngest grandson Matthew to take to nursery school. Then did one for grandaughter graduation last May with photos of her and family on it. Now my grandson will be graduating and I made him a small quilt in green and plaids with a few shammrocks on it.

I am trying little by little to increase my knowledge of quilting (being a newbie) by doing different ones. So far I do like the rag quilt but it is tedious with all the cutting on it. Here is that one for you to see.

Sad Update from Ky

2009-12-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

My Dad passed away on Friday December 18th quite unexpectedly at the young age of 69. He was loved, respected and admired by all who knew him. He served our country in the Air Force for over 30 years. Thank you to everyone who has sent me a sweet note, it is so nice to know that even here in cyberspace there are people who care enough to reach out with a comforting word. Thank you ladies of this group for keeping up with the blog while I take some time to sort things out. XO Ky

the photo that went walkabout.

2009-12-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

This is the small christmas quilt I ws trying to show with the others. It obviously wanted to check out cyber space! Maggie

2009-12-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

Have been busy using up scraps from the bag I made for my LS as per picture below. One could use this as a small purse or glass-case or whatever takes ones fancy.I rather like this myself. Kiwi Jan

Christmas things

2009-12-12T18:32:00.000-08:00

this is a small hanging made some years ago (24"square)

this is my advent calendar; cross stitch pictures under the flaps - 11 days to go

I made this last year with the group. Lucas loves ringing the bells!

Judith's stocking.

I thought I might show some of my Christmas things! We have our daughter and baby staying with us from Hong Kong. I made them both a stocking. The one for Lucas is just from a christmas panel but the one for Judith is a little bit more elaborate. The basic material is a cream silk from a dress she had for her graduation ( 17 years ago - never throw anything out!) The moitifs were from Chinese materials to do with her wedding decorations or from material we bought in Hong Kong.

2009-12-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

Kia-ora --I have been busy again this time a bag for my sister for Christmas.
My LS --short for Little sister--my little sister is 4 years younger then me and is tiny-- skinny even-- visited with us a while ago and chose this fabric for her bag---
I have outline quilted the Batik with a pink n silver sparkly thread and lightly beaded it and added some charms -- I am sure she will like it--if not aother one for my collection.
Kiwi Jan