My New Journal

I won a darling journal from Elizabeth at Such a Sew and Sew. It is just so cute with string piecing and pinwheels. I have been sewing for years and have never written down any comments about my quilts. A friend of mine keeps telling me to keep a journal of the name of the fabrics, pattern and a picture of my quilts. Well now thanks to Elizabeth I will finally be doing that. Visit her blog, and scroll down to Monday the 28th to see how much work she puts into her journals. Absolutely wonderful workmanship. Plus she has other tutorials and interesting blogs.

Quick baby quilt

I found these cute fabrics made up as a shop sample. I love quick baby quilts. I backed it with the green print.

I like to put the baby's name on the quilts I make even tho my machine will only stitch small lettering. I have a Janome 6500. Some days I think I'd love to have an embrodery machine but I'm not too sure I'd use it enough to justify paying what it would cost. Can you see Kolton James? I quilted with wavy lines and then washed it so it was soft and cuddly.

Circle & Spin/My Head is Spinning

OK the blocks are all sewn and trimmed to size. So I laid them out on the floor. Then I had to move a couple of the blocks around because two of the same colors were too close to each other.

Then I moved a few more around and looked at it for awhile, decided to move some more and

I thought I needed to move a couple more.............................uggggg........I decided they are fine.
I sewed them together.

I laid them back on the floor to see how it looked. But then I had another idea. Since I don't have a real design wall, I hung the quilt over the cabinets with my button jars holding the top in place.

That looks a little better even tho it's not hanging very straight. And I am happy that it is together. Another UFO finished. (not counting borders)

I looked thru my stash for a border fabric. This one looks like it has lots of blue in it but it's really green & brown. It's the only large pieced I have in colors to match the quilt. Don't know if I really like it so I guess I will "have to" go to the LQS to try out different fabrics for the borders. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

What I did today

I played with my grandson!

Lime Green Flamingos

I bought this blue flamingo fabric a loooong time ago. I found it a couple days ago while searching for gold fabric I needed. I had gotten it because it was a remment on sale and thought I'd use it for the back of a baby quilt or to fussy cut the flamingos for some other project. But instead I made it into a pillowcase. The piece turned out to be the perfect size. I have a friend who is absolutely crazy for flamingos, so I'll be giving this to her. I think it turned out good, considering I found the matching lime green piece in my stash also.

4 Patch Posy

Wow I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted. I don't think I was that busy LOL. I've been working on another UFO before I finish my circle quilt. When I started this one I used a dull purple for the cornerstones. But that was too dark and I didn't like it. A friend of mine started digging thru the fabric stash and found this gold batik. So I unsewed a little to replace the purple with the gold. I like it much more this way. It really made a big difference, brightened the whole quilt. Maybe that's why I have so many UFOs. There is something that isn't quite right and I can't decide what it needs.

I took a couple photos of the individual blocks so you can see the way they turned out. This is my first 4 Patch Posy and I think it turned out pretty good. The photos aren't all the best because I couldn't take it outside (not with 3 feet of snow on the ground burrrrr) and I wonder if the metalic in the fabric made some of the photos look fuzzy.

This is the finished quilt. I laid it on the floor in the living room because I didn't have anywhere to hang it and no one to hold it. I stood on the fireplace hearth. I was concentrating so hard on getting a good picture that I almost forgot I had to step down, and ended up doing a very clumsy jump to get down. I always feel dumb when I do things like that when others are around. Have you seen the video of the lady in a mall, texting and she fell into a little "pond" , the kind that you throw coins into? Well it's been replaying on our news the last couple days. That's how I felt when I jumped....did anyone see me???

This doesn't have the last border sewn on, but I wanted to show the narrow green border I put on. I wanted something to seperate the sashing from the final border. And I think the gold flower is so cute.

trying to get my life in order

I have had some committment issues in my life lately. So I went to my therapist and she said the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start.

So for today I have finished a box of cookies, 1/2 bag of chips, the rest of the chocolate cake and some leftover pizza. And I feel better already.

But getting back to quilting.....I am calling 2011 the year of getting UFOs finished. And I am going to shop my fabric stash first. I have more fabric than I know what to do with. LOL

There is one line of fabric that I am going to buy when it hits the stores. Sherbet Pips...I love it!! I have been drawn to gray lately and hope to incorporate Pips with gray for a new quilt.

These are my Circle & Spin blocks. I took a class from JEAN awhile back. They are now all trimmed and I laid them out, changed them around dozens of times and then just let it be like it ended up. Next step, sew them together and then decide if I want a border. I'll be showing the top soon.

Yikes! I lost of picture. I had 3 when I started....oh well.

I love green fabric

And I was lucky enough to win two yards of green "Chocolate Lolipop" from Nancey at Kite & String. But along with these fabrics she sent me some other pieces of fabrics, red trim, pink lacy trim, and a bag of BUTTONS!! I love buttons. I have collected them for years, buttons and wooden spools all stored in glass jars.

And this is the picture of everything I received. How exciting when I opened the package. Thanks so much Nancey. Just look at all the fun things I received!

Stop and visit Nancey at Kite and String, here. Nancey has a darling blog along with an etsy shop you will want to check out!

Sewing machine table

This mini quilt is about 14 X 10 inches. I started hand quilting it but there were so many seams that I took out the hand quilting and machine quilted it instead. I use it on top of my table. I found this stand for an old Singer machine and it didn't have any top or machine with it so DH

had a friend of his make a wooden top for it and now I use it as a table. I set my mini quilt on it with a couple jars of buttons ( I love buttons!) along with a little Jim Shore quilting angel. Sorry it's not a very good picture, I should have waited til the sun had gone down cos the backlighting is very bright.

Here it is from the side so you can see the size of it. I really like changing the quilting things I put on it. I should have taken a picture of my Christmas display, but didn't think of it soon enough.

A Life Remembered

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky but rather openings in heaven where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy.

In Memory of Mom
Connie Kay Stinn
11-8-1931 ~ 1-14-2008
We will love you forever

Christmas stockings

I made these Stockings for Christmas, took a picture of them and then forgot to post them. Carson is my 6 month old grandson, so of course I wanted to make him one. I have for all the grandkids. But Carson's mom thought Daisy should have a stocking too. If you look at the pic closer you will see it is puppy fabric, for the puppy named Daisy! And just to be fair, I put a box of doggy treats in the stocking for her so she wouldn't feel left out. LOL

Carson is really starting to notice the puppy. Daisy runs around the room and Carson watches her and giggles. It's fun to watch them "play together" !

Animal Party

Thank you Kelly! I won 2 charm packs of Robert Kaufman's Animal Party Too from Kelly at I Have a Notion. She has a great blog, go check it out. I'll be using the charms for a nephew's baby quilt.

What would you think of a 6 foot elf

This was Carson's First Christmas. He enjoyed playing with the paper and loved the lights. But, he seems a little wary of the 6 foot elf!