Fall is on the way...

I love Fall. I live in the deep south and we rarely get much of a Fall. We got from hot and humid to cold and wet! Maybe that is why I love Fall and anything to do with it so much. (I feel the same about snow and snowmen!)

My online quilty sisters and I are having another block lottery. Here are my blocks... Fall Leaves... no doubt these, along with all the rest, will combine into a lovely quilt for the lucky winner!

I also recently purchased some gorgeous Fall fabrics from one of my absolute favorite online vendors... http://www.thousandsofbolts.com/ Aren't they lovely? I have a Fall Quilt in the works and plan to use these in it.

Hubby has been busy working on yet another fun scrappy quilt... he finds piecing these tops very relaxing. He has a job that can be rather stressful and this is a lot cheaper than therapy! Here is his latest creation.....

And last, but in no way least, I have another new quilting buddy.... Mia! A beautiful black and tan long haired miniature dachshund who loves her slightly older brother, Mac. Mia isn't allowed in the sewing area much just yet... she loves to chew fabric! She'll learn....

I am thankful that I have a machine that can operate without a foot pedal... not sure what would happen with those 2 swirling around underneath the table.

Happy Quilting! "Belle"

Catching up on Projects... New Toy....

Seems there has been very little quilting or sewing of any kind around here for a month or so. The summer has been full and busy instead of slow and relaxed!

This past week hubby and I made up for lost time. He finished up a quilt top he is making for a co-worker who is on his 2nd our in Iraq. Most of the fabric used came from an online quilting buddy of mine who recently made a patriotic quilt for her son on his return from Iraq.

Quilting buddies are great about sharing fabric!

I played around a while back with some scrap strips (2 1/2") and came up with some blocks. I took part of them and added sashing and put them into a top this week. This will go into a pile of quilts here to be used when someone is cold or to be given away when there is a need. Last year we had an apartment complex burn and 8 families lost everything they had. I so wished I had some quilts to donate to them. I am working to create a pile of quilts to have on hand for when someone needs one... or even wants one. My kids' friends hang out here a lot and many come from less than ideal family situations.

Several have said that they want a quilt all their own. If I had some made up, I would just say "Here.. take your pick." So that is part of the plan too!

Some online quilt buddies and I do a quarterly block lottery. I won the last one... gorgeous mini-bowties made from repros on white backgrounds. SO I got to choose the next block.

I picked Buckeye Beauty (easy block that has several neat layout options) and fall fabrics. We draw in August, so just in time for the winner to get some blocks for a Fall Quilt. Here are a few of the ones I made:

A couple of weeks ago I made a bit of an impulse buy... but I think I am going to be pleased I did. I have been toying with the idea of an embroidery machine. I looked at some wonderful ones, but they are way outside my budget. I decided to just let it go and look again next year. Then one night I was looking at Craigslist and came across an add for a basic Brother embroidery machine. A bit of research and I found the seller was asking $100 less than the cheapest retail price I could find. Further inquiries and I learned she was the mom of 2 children.. toddler and infant... bought it 4 months ago with the intention of learning to sew etc. Got in over her head and needed money more. So I bought it.

I finally had time to play with it today. One thing I love is that it has the applique stitch. I have a basic Brother sewing machine (you can see it in the picture too) that I love and have used for 5 years, but it doesn't have the applique stitch. I have not tried the embroidery features yet. That is very new to me, so will take a bit of time and patience on my part.

Hopefully now that summer is winding down, I can get back into some sort of routine and find some quilting time each week!

"Belle"

What every quilter needs!

I got the most wonderful Mother's Day gift.... a new quilting buddy! I absolutely love dachshunds and when we had to put down my sweet Woodrow (age 15) 2 years ago, it broke my heart. I wasn't a quilter when we got Woods.... that came later. He loved to lay under my feet while I sewed... in fact, he taught me how important it is too turn off the sewing machine when not in use... I was up doing something else and he rolled over onto the foot pedal and all of a sudden my machine was sewing air! Woodrow was a smooth coat dark mahogany red standard size dachie... my new baby is a miniature (should top out at 10 lbs)... long-haired... strawberry blond dachshund. He is soo handsome with the cutest little curls on the tips of his ears.

He has decided his favorite place to sleep when hubby or I am playing with fabric is in a box of scraps... and when I sew he takes up residency under my feet just like my sweet Woodrow.

I have no doubt you will see more pix of Mac popping up on this blog. After all, I think every quilter needs a furry quilting buddy!

"Belle"

Quilt Stimulus Package -- Great Deal!

I am on a quilting email group at yahoogroups called Real Women Quilt. One of the ladies there was telling us about a Quilt Stimulus Package. I was sure this was some cute ha-ha someone had come up with, so I went to check it out.

It is not a ha-ha at all... it is a great deal for anyone who has a ton of tops that need quilting (like me).

Joanne is offering a special deal on her long arm quilting services from March 15 - April 15... but there is a limit to the number she can quilt, so you have to act fast.

Her prices are super before the discount... which makes the discount even better. Check it out... http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/2009/03/update-on-stimulus-package.html

Barb

A Very Special Quilt

DH decided to make a black and white quilt for our son's 15th birthday (in 2007!). It turned out great... very big... but great. There is a hint of red in it also as I had one piece of red fabric that he wanted to use. It has musical instruments on it and our son is a musician. Well, this poor quilt top (like so many others here) has been waiting patiently to become an honest to goodness quilt and that finally happened this past week. DD and I were out of town... DS was busy with friends and a music GIG... so DH took advantage of alone time and quilted the quilt... bound it too! It turned out great! He used a red thread and a basic grid quilting pattern. The quilt has 3 basic blocks.. a large 1 patch, a 7 patch that uses 6 small squares and 1 rectangle to create a sort of faux 9 patch look, and then a traditional 9 patch. DS loves it! So do I!

I LOVE REPROS!

I really do love 1930s repro fabrics. Maybe it is because the quilts I grew up with were made with feedsacks and such. NO I am not that old... but most of the quilts I grew up with were older ones made by my grandmothers and one great-grandmother in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. My mother remember a large chifforobe (Southern for armoire) full of feed sacks that her mother saved over the years. Whatever happened to them no one knows.

So when my quilting groups spring block lottery was announce and I saw that it was a cute block using repros, I knew I had to play! Here are the 6 I have made... aren't they cute!?

(This is the mini-bow tie block from Quilter's Cache... http://www.quilterscache.com/M/MiniBowTieBlock.html )

I also decided to play with one of my favorite blocks.. the Churn Dash.. I have always made it with 2 fabrics... one for the background, one for the dash... this time I used 3 fabrics... solid white for the background, one repro for the HSTs and one for the rectangles. I love the look! I am certain I will be whipping up more of these blocks soon!

Playing with Scraps....

I saw a quilt in a magazine or catalog recently that was really cute and immediately the wheels started turning and I began adapting it idea to what I have on hand. I participate in a monthly 5" charm swap, so I always have plenty of those... and I also cut a lot of 2 1/2" strips for projects, so I have a lot of those in my scrap bin. I came up with a neat and easy to piece block. I will use these to create 2 more tops for charity quilts.

Here are some laid out together...

And her are some more with an added strip that will create a "faux" sashing when sewn together...

We like bright colors here... can you tell? :)

Hubby's Been Busy!

My quilty hubby has been sewing up a storm over the past few weeks. We have already broken our "you must finish one of the tops already made before starting a new one" rule.... no surprise there! We have many, many tops which are begging to be quilted!

Here are 2 tops he whipped up from scraps for the Buried Treasures Ministry....

another "coin" quilt...

and this is an original pattern that he worked out using my 5" charms and some 2 1/2" rectangles and squares. I love it!

And lastly is today's foray into creativity... again playing with 5" charms and 2 1/2" squares... this is the block he has created... it is an 18" block... (he likes big blocks and big quilts!)...

Whole Lot of Quilting Going On...

Last weekend DH (who also quilts) and I pulled out all the completed tops that were waiting patiently to be quilted. We made a nice list with each quilt top on it... the size...recipient or purpose... and then noted if we had batting, backing, label... it is so nice to be organized! There is now a list on the side of my blog of pre-2009 tops ready to be quilted (including 2 we made this past week!) This will be a year of tying up loose ends.. getting these tops quilted and to their rightful owners. It will also be a year full of quilting! There is a wonderful local charity that God has knit my heart to called Buried Treasures (the link is down below all the lists on this page). The plan is to make a slew of quilts (12 - 15) for them by next Christmas. 2 of our pre-2009 tops will go in the pile and one of the 2 tops made this past week is for them. I am excited about this project. Quilting is fun, but it is so much better for me when I am giving them to others and I love that God has shown me how to use this as a ministry.



So about those 2 quilt tops pieced at the tail end of 2008... DH has been off work since Dec 22 (vacation time) and I have been swamped! I do finances for a small church part-time, but the end of the year is my craziest and busiest time. Add to that our kids went off with the church youth group to the Mountains of TN this week and DH has had a lot of alone time. He has wasted none of it! He grabbed scraps and created a scrappy version of a Chinese Coin quilt.. he calls it Bear Coins because of the novelty fabric he used for the border.





This picture doesn't do it justice, but there will be another pix soon. We sandwiched this one yesterday and he has already started quilting it! I bet he has it totally finished by tomorrow.. binding and all!
























I also tossed together a top at year's end... a baby quilt. A friend's dd is expecting her first child.. a little girl, Allison, due in January. I have been wanting to try the Disappearing Nine Patch (http://quiltsatcs.blogspot.com/2007/04/disappearing-9-patch-tutorial.html) and this seemed the perfect project for it. I am pleased with the results. I need to get some backing fabric and once Baby Allison arrives I will make up a label and get it quilted and on its way.


We also sandwiched one of our pre-2009 tops yesterday. My Mile-a-Minute top (http://bp1.blogger.com/_rPYeZO7HnZU/Rztv8KSQ3aI/AAAAAAAAALA/LxX0-AQJcnE/s1600-h/mile+a+minute+top.jpg) I loved making this and thought I would keep it for me. But I have decided someone else will love it more.. so it will be going in with the Buried Treasures quilts. I will start quilting on it today. I am NOT as quick as DH, so it will be a while before I am done.


We have a rule for 2009... at least until we are caught up with the unquilted tops... for each new top you make, you have to finish a quilt before you can start a new one! We will see how long that lasts! LOL!

Happy Quilty New Year! Consider using the talent and gift and love of quilting God has given you to touch another life.. other lives.. there are many quilt charities online.. and you can look around your own part of the world. There are charities like Buried Treasures.. and there are individuals.. a friend with cancer.. someone grieving.. someone lonely.. wrap them in a quilt of love!




"Belle"