Bluebirds and Blooms

Not on Friday as thought, but finished minus the label. Bluebirds and blooms the Four Season's Spring quilt finished. Even though these colours and the style is so not me, I thoroughly enjoyed the process and hope that ....... will enjoy it.

I had fun playing with the YoYo makers.

Another trip to the dentist this morning, after a week of literally eating painkillers, I decided on Friday that a return was needed. Ah yes a dry socket, now hopefully fixed.

So now I'm heading into the sewing room to work on the PIF gifts.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for visiting with me.

Yummy Lunch, Scraps, and Tools

Thank you for all your lovely well wishes about my dental experience. I'm still living on painkillers, but I've down graded to Tylenol, so I don't feel like I'm living in a fog.
Today I had two lunch guests. Miss Hollie and her house mother stopped in on their way down to Dallas Christian College for the orientation day. Hollie is very fortunate to have a full scholarship to Dallas College. So I got to spend a few hours with them and was able to give them a rather filling lunch of quiche, Greek salad, stuffed potatoes and fresh grilled asparagus and strawberry fluff pie, to keep them going until dinner time this evening.
Today's mail brought a lovely parcel of scraps from Lisa, my swap partner in the Scrappy Log Cabin Challenge. Thank you so much Lisa, such lovely scraps. She also included a cute little mesh bag and a lovely fat quarter, but what I loved was the postcard of the lakes that are only about five minutes from her home. I think I'm a little green. I don't know how you manage to sew with all that beautiful water so close by.

I've been working on the Four Season's Spring quilt, and have the top together minus the embellishments and most of the machine quilting is done. Now this is probably going to be one of those moments for you where you think, "my gosh is she blond"? Answer... Yes......lol...

I decided to buy a pair of quilters gloves the other day when I was buying the fabrics for this little quilt. So yesterday I gave them a test run, oh my gosh what a difference they make. I just wish I had would have thought of them when I was making Hollie's Tutti Fruitti. My only complaint is that they don't make them for those of us who have extremely long fingers.

The other thing I decided to pull out and try was my little extender table thingy I got when I bought my machine. Another one of those "eh duh" moments. I can't believe I've been struggling with quilting for so long and not been using this little gem. Amazing isn't it, quilting for over 25 years and new to these two items. Just goes to show you, that you're never too old to learn something new.
All going well I'll be able to show you the finished quilt tomorrow. I just have a few more rows of quilting to do and pop the binding on, give it a quick whirl around the washing machine and add those little yo yo's and I can call it done.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for stopping by to visit with me.

There's one (1) spot left for the PIF if anyone is interested.

Ouch, Four Season's Spring Quilt, Another PIF

Just back from the dentist, for what I thought would be a quick visit. Ha, 13 injections later, yep I said 13, I must be a tough old bird. There I've said it, so keep your funnies to yourself....lol... I know my lip isn't swollen but it feels like I could lift it up over my nose and keep my eyebrows warm. I had huge plans for stitching today, but after that painful experience, I think I'll spend the day in a comfy chair doing handwork and let the painkillers kick in..... Hmm maybe handwork isn't such a good idea after all.

Anyway, now that I've got my whinge off my chest I wanted to share with you my little purchases over the weekend. I've made a start on the Spring 4 Seasons quilt and needed fabrics.

Yellows and oranges are colours that you won't find a lot of in my stash, so I needed to do some shopping, what a shame... I love the apricot piece that's underneath the smaller cuts, I think I'll use this for part of the border. I also invested in a couple of the Clover Yo Yo makers. Boy they are a load of fun to play work with. I have the main applique done, so I just need to trim it to size and work on the borders and start the quilting, then I can embellish it. I must admit I'm enjoying working with these colours and stepping out of my "style" box with this one.

I have PIF gifts to make for Marilyn, Jeanne and Jenny, from the last round of sign up's. I have a few ideas and designs floating through my head, so once the mouth settles down I'll get straight onto those because.

Christine is doing a PIF on her blog and just needed one more to join in. To say I felt bad for her would be a fib, to say that I'd cherish anything she made would be the truth, even a mended sock I'm sure would be a masterpiece. So I decided to join in AGAIN.

So here we are with another PIF from me. I'm sure you know the rules but just in case here they are again.

The rules are that the first three people to join the challenge on my blog will receive a gift handmade by me. I have 365 days to make and send your gift, though I hope that it won't take me that long. You in return will post on your blog inviting 3 more people to join in and receive a gift from you. I will try my best to visit your blog and make something that you will like. If you leave a comment please be sure to indicate that you are signing up for the challenge.

Now I'll leave you with a photo of JOY. I won the pattern for her from an Aussie designer and just knew that she'd have a good home here. If you'd like to read her story, hop on over to the blog and say hi.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for spending time and visiting with me.

Easter Blessings

Happy Resurrection Day. I hope your day has been filled with the love of God today. A day filled with the knowledge that Jesus chose to go to the Cross for You and for Me, He did it joyfully. He knew the joy that was set before Him, and He also knew that His death could not be avoided, so that the Scriptures could be fulfilled and so that we could have a loving relationship with the Father and with Him.

Blessings to you all.

Tutti Fruitti

I hope you all had an opportunity to spend even just a little time over the weekend to pick up your needle and thread and spend some time stitching. I spent Friday and most of the weekend stitching up Hollie's quilt. She graduates from High school in May and requested a quilt for graduation, something she can take with her when she goes to college. We went shopping months ago and she showed me what she wanted in fabrics and gave me a description of what she had in mind for the style. Totally out of my colour zone and a style which I had never tried before, and after this weekend probably a style I wouldn't be to quick to repeat. Not because I wasn't happy with it, but because it was just such a "job" to get it through the sewing machine. I decided to name it Tutti Frutti, because of the bright colours, although after stitching it I'm feeling a little like a "Fruit Loop" ........ So here it is all finished and washed, just needs a label to be able to call it totally finished, but I need to think on what I want said on the label.

(If you click on the photo, the colours are clearer)

This quilt is not only a graduation gift, but also a gift to a girl who entered a very strict (boarding) school life as a rebellious teenager and will be leaving a young woman who has allowed the Holy Spirit to change and transform her.

I know this is probably early to be thinking about Christmas gifts, but I need to think ahead as most of my gifts get sent to Australia. I think I mentioned earlier in the year that I thought I'd make Jenna a picnic quilt and matching picnic bag to hold the plates, cutlery etc. So with that in mind I found a couple of lovely ME fabrics the other day that I thought I'd use and I'll see if I can pick out some of the shades to mix and match with them.

I received a lovely new pattern in the post today, all the way from Aussie, just perfect for a certain friend. So tomorrow I'll be busy in the sewing room, stitching up this little treasure. Photo's later.

On a final note, I was asked by the Women's Ministry from church if I'd lead the ladies Bible Study group, starting this Thursday. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord opens doors.

Happy stitching, and thank you for visiting with me, I do so enjoy reading your comments.

The Winner and Other Bits and Bobs

Here we are at Thursday and as promised I said I'd draw the name of the winner for the Jelly Bag. Random number generator was my helpful assistant and drew number 7. Kim can you send me your mailing details and I'll get it into the post on Saturday, and thanks to everyone else who entered.

Thank you so much for all your wonderful suggestions for Jenna's quilt. Between all the extra comments that came through for the Jelly Bag and my plea for ideas I just couldn't answer them all, so please accept my thanks here. Many of you suggested that I just buy the doona cover and make a quilt to match. As much as that's a terrific idea the shipping costs prohibits that, but it was one of my first ideas. I'm waiting to hear from a longarm quilter to see if she can duplicate the details with quilting. If not then I'll go to plan B, which is to twist my son's arm behind his back and suggest he buys it for them and then I'll make a quilt to match.

All these lovely bright squares that Hollie chose for her graduation quilt are slowly being put together.

Probably not colours I'd normally use, but it is fun to see them come to life in her quilt. And these lovely plaids have already

made their way into a quilt top. I'm just working on the applique around the border.

I managed to get side tracked, which seems to be quite a regular thing for me with these little blocks. Melly & Me have a great little tutorial on these done with interfacing as the foundation. Having traced off half a dozen of these little blocks I thought there must be an easier way of getting an accurate blocks each time I trace.

So I used my EQ5 and drew up a duplicate block and printed it onto the non-stick side of some freezer paper, pressed it to the interfacing and hey presto a template that doesn't move while you're tracing.

There's a giveaway over at Old Red Barn (link on side bar). Dana is giving away a truly scrumptious quilt, so hop on over and add your name to the pool

The amount of lovely people who leave comments has risen hugely, and many from new to me bloggers, so I'd like to ask a question. Call me nosey, I just like to know stuff, plus I'd like to think I'm adding content that's of interest to others.

What is it about this blog that brings you here to visit?

If you're a lurker, please come out and introduce yourself by leaving a comment.

I love receiving comments and do my best to answer them all, although there are times when it just isn't possible, on those occasions I'll do my best to thank you here in a post.

Happy Stitching, and thank you for taking the time to visit with me.

Help Advice and Ideas Needed

This gorgeous couple, (my daughter Jenna and soon to be son-in-law Max) are getting married in November this year. I promised Jenna that I'd make her and Max a quilt as their wedding present. I've been trying for the past 18 months to get ideas and colour choices from them. Finally on the weekend when I was talking with her she tells me they have agreed on a colour and design.
This is what she sent me, a photograph of a ready made doona cover, otherwise known here as a comforter.

Now this is where I need as much help and advice as possible. I'm sure there must be a way to reproduce this in a quilt, but at this point I just can't figure it out. She'd like all the swirls included, in other words an exact copy. I do have a larger pdf photo if anyone thinks they can help me figure this out. I really want to make something that they want and know they'll use. So please if you can help me I'd be forever grateful.

Happy Stitching.

That Nagging Feeling

Do you ever get those nagging feelings that you've forgotten something? That's how I've felt the last few days, like there was something that I should be remembering, then the penny dropped. Did you hear it hit the floor?.....lol.....

Back in this post I mentioned that it was my 200th post and that there would be a little something for one lucky person. Well that was that nagging feeling, my apologies ladies, I'll just put it down to power surge's (menopause). I also mentioned that I hadn't decided what the little something was going to be. Well I've just been too darn busy to start anything new that wasn't planned so the prize will be.

The Jelly Bag.

If you haven't already commented and want your name in the draw, comment on this post and I'll draw the winner on Thursday, get your mailing details by Friday and have it in the post by Saturday.

Thank you for your well wishes, thoughts and prayers concerning my leg. I'm happy to report that it's starting to get better, still can't put all my weight on it, but at least I can put the cane away. I had a good pity party the other day, and got it out of my system and then decided I couldn't change the way that God designed my body, so went and played with fabric. I spent the day cutting out a quilt for Miss Hollie, (standing on one foot)....lol..... My "sweetie" caught me when he got home from work. oops .... oh well I now have her quilt cut out.

Yesterday I spent some time converting those squares into this pile.

Ready for stage two.

Then I decided it was time for a change of pace and played with some lovely plaids and this is what I ended up with, a pile of 1/2 square triangles. Ready to put together for a Christmas quilt.

It's been fun looking at all the lovely pincushions that you've been showing on your blogs. There's some very cute ones and some very loved ones...... It's also a wonderful way of discovering otherwise unknown blogs.

Time to go and play with those plaid squares.

Happy stitching, and thanks for stopping by to visit.

Two More Blocks Completed

Another freezing day here in Oklahoma, and here I was thinking that Spring was just around the corner, silly me. I think I've had enough of the cold weather and am ready for a little more sunshine and warmth and ready to put the thick bulky clothes away for another year.
I've been plugging away at the "Love" blocks in the evenings, and these are the latest two finishes.

There's only a few more to stitch up and then I can concentrate on putting them all together and make a start on writing the pattern.

Carey is having a lovely little giveaway on her blog. She has two out of print, pincushion books by Lynette Anderson that she found amongst her things, so pop on over and leave a comment. Now if you're clever you'll also leave a comment on Lyn's blog for a second chance in the draw, and if you'd like three entries then just add a photo of your most used pincushion on your blog.

Here's mine, I love this pincushion. Probably because it was a gift from a very dear friend, plus it's a great size, neither too large or too small.
Speaking of Lynette, she's uploaded her first design of her Noah's Ark free BOM, such a cutie. I haven't decided if I'll stitch this one up as I have so many other embroidery projects on the go, I don't think I need another one.

Like so many other quilting bloggers, I've caught the Civil War bug. Now this is really stepping out of my colour comfort zone. As you probably know I'm partial to the soft pastels and these definitely don't fit into that colour palette, and what surprised me the most was that I had most of these fabrics in my stash. I did need to shop for a few, but hey someone has to help keep the economy afloat.

Yesterday I had a lovely afternoon,, with four of the ladies from the churches Women's Ministry, popping around for a visit. It was so nice to get to know them a little better, and it was a good excuse to do some baking, of which my "sweetie" was extremely grateful.
I had plans of spending most of the day in the sewing room today, but I'm having an awful time with my leg. Without too many details one of the bones has locked up (just a part of having this wonderful body) and is causing me to not be able to put weight on my left leg. It kept me awake for most of last night, so I'm feeling a little like a zombie this morning. Gee that makes me sound like some old granny.....lol.... I'm sure it will fix itself over time.

This evening is the quilt guild meeting, I'm hoping my "sweetie" will be home from work in time to be able to drop me off.

While I was doing the rounds of my favorite blogs this morning I came across a new blogger Bec from Australia. Please visit her and welcome her to blogging.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for stopping by to visit.

Mail & Another Four Season's Quilt

March already, my gosh, where did January and February go? Yesterday my postman delivered another lovely parcel all the way from Australia. Tracey sent me a lovely parcel with fabrics to make my own teal towels, a little chook to fill with rice to warm away any aches and a variety of her gorgeous cards. Thank you so much Tracey, your parcel arrived at such a good time and lifted my spirits so much. The photographs she used for her cards are just beautiful, almost too pretty to use. I did say almost, one has already been included in a parcel.

Well the Spring Four Season's Swap has closed and most of us have our names by now. Unfortunately one participant of the Winter swap didn't get her little quilt, so for the last couple of days in between giving Miss Nancy paper piecing instructions over the phone, I've been putting this little quilt together to mail off to the person who missed out. It's now washed and ready waiting in an envelope to be posted this morning. My "sweetie" was a little sad to see that it was going to leave the house, so I think I see another one of these in the near future.
I've managed to get a few more blocks stitched up on the new embroidery quilt, in between catching up on swap blocks from my Red Work group. Only one block and a few stitches left in another block and I can concentrate on getting some of my own work completed.

Springs officially only a few days away, but I see signs of it already in my backyard. The grass is starting to green up, bulbs that I didn't know we had have sprouted and the birds are everywhere, especially around the feeder that I'm having trouble keeping filled.

I haven't spent a lot of time on the pc over the last few days, so if I owe you a reply to a comment please be patient as I try to catch up.

Happy Stitching, and thanks for taking the time to visit with me.