Happy New Year!

OMGosh! It has been a hectic holiday season! But I must admit, it was totally self-imposed. It appeared the shopping was all done quickly just after Thanksgiving and the quilt I was making for a dear friend was coming along nicely, so apparently it was necessary to stir up some stress. Soooo, I heaped a couple more projects onto the Christmas "make" list. This included a Mariner's Compass (which was already started) for my step-mother and a table runner for a friend. I forgot to take pictures of the table runner which is a bummer since I thought the colors and fabrics were so pretty. But I do have photos of the other 2 projects.

First is the front and back of a quilt I made for a good friend.  We had been separated for several years and now we are friends again. I wanted to make her something special for her December birthday. She, like me, loves purple. I had purchased these stack and whack blocks from labfabrics.com and had every intention of making this for myself, but making it for Linda was a better idea!

 This is the back of the quilt..

This is the small quilt I made for my step-mother. It's a little Mariner's Compass that I started in a class with my BFF in April. It was good to get another project crossed off the list! I think that's all of 3 including my Baby Jane. Perhaps 2012 will see me getting more projects done!

Here's what's currently on my design wall... and there are 2 other quilts besides this that I'm hoping to get done very soon!

Okay, that's it for now!
I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed 2012!

Giveaway! Give Away??

Is it one word or 2?  Who knows, but my BFF is have one of them over HERE and you MUST visit for a chance to win some great stuff!

I have stuff to show you, but no time. Come back after Christmas and I'll show you the projects I've been working on. Until then, I pray you have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Thank you God, for sending Him. We would all be in a pickle had he not come, taught and sacrificed his very life for us! Thank you Jesus!

What's Going on Around Here?

Oh my, but we've been very busy! We painted the front of the house. And when I say "we," I mean mostly Pete. Here's a before picture...

I actually kind of liked that color, but it was really fading and oxidizing. Like my mother (who I am turning into), I love a pale yellow house. This color comes close, but once it was on the house, wasn't exactly what I had in mind. Oh well, by then we'd spent $200 on it and several hours of Pete's time. So we stuck with it and I can live with it.

I don't have a photo of it, but Pete has also done a great job of painting the garage door so that rusty stripe down the center is gone. And here's my festive porch.... with the new blue door that I completely love!

I also have been spending time cleaning up my plot at the church. This is a "before" picture.

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with clearing the weeds and dead stuff. As soon as that is done, then the fun part begins! I've seen deer up here, so will have to find some pretty stuff to put in that they won't eat. Any ideas out there?

While it hasn't been much, I'm grateful for the time I have been able to spend in the sewing room.  The color is off in this photo, but this is what was dumped out of the trash can in there. I love running my fingers through this stuff!

and here is what some of that is turning into....

Plus, was able to get a Birthday present for a good friend started today. Did you think I was going to show a picture of that???  Hello??? Try again!! Oh and I made a little towel for another friend today too. Didn't take a photo of that. Maybe I should....

Looking forward to a sister weekend next week with my sister Betsy! Yay!
Off to another busy week...

Autumn Wreath

My sisters and I had a crafting weekend last weekend. We try to get together once per quarter and usually sew when we do. This time, my sister, Betsy found these great autumn wreaths to make out of coffee filters of all things! They were pretty labor intensive, so I'm not sure I will do another one, but I did like the way they turned out!

The idea for these was not an original one! We don't really have original ideas, but we are pretty good at following directions! Luckily there were great directions here. Emily Jones is one talented lady! I could spend hours at her website. Pretty sure you will enjoy it too! So check it out!

The Finished Product!

Well she is done! Only the signature block remains to be done. So without further ado, let me show you some photos of my very own Baby Jane....

Note the Cancer Ribbon she put on the lavender block as a nod to my experience!

My Baby Jane was heirloom machine quilted by Sue of Summit Creek Quilts. I highly recommend her! She did such a fantastic job! Each block has a different quilting motif on it. The tiny sashing has a beautiful chain quilted in and each scallop has a feather in it. I love it!

Now, here is a darling little pincushion made by my friend Rana! OMG this is soooo darling and look how little it is! I'm thinking how great this is for taking along with  as I do applique on the go! 

Here it is next to an actual acorn so you can see what it's size is. It's really not that much bigger than a real acorn. I love it. If you are interested in this or other creations from Rana please visit her website!

We are dog sitting again. At home, Lizzy is an outdoor doggy, so being clean and hugable is not so important. But when she visits here, I just cannot allow her to sleep outside. That just seems wrong. So we needed to get this ole girl cleaned up.  Today she got a brush (several, actually) a bath, a clean collar and flea and tick meds! She was covered in fleas and had a tick stuck to her ear that was giant! Yucko!!! Now she's all clean, happy and flee-free and so are we! She smells good and is much nicer to pet! I just love this doggy!

It was a busy day and I need to go get sewing!!

The Last 2 DJ Blocks!

Hard to believe these are the very last 2 blocks I have to show you! Just the finishing touches are left on my quilt and I have to say that I really love it! But I digress, here are the last 2:

First is M-11, Rickshaw which was paper pieced and has 31 pieces.

 Last, is M-12 called Hopscotch is pieced and has 19 pieces!

I will follow with some photos of the finished quilt soon. As soon as I get the binding done and a wee bit of hand quilting...


Since finishing my baby Jane, I have finished a couple of other quilts. When you work so much on these tiny blocks with a zillion pieces, you forget how fast a regular block goes! Anyway, here's a couple photos of a recent finish.

This is a Lone Star quilt that I started in a Jan Krentz class. She was a great teacher and this was a fun quilt to make! I look forward to making more Lone Stars!

 Here is a close up of one of the corners detailing the quilting...
This is the first time I've done the little swirls in the feathers. I'm pretty pleased with it!

Hope you are working on something wonderful and fun. Please leave a comment if you would like.
Come back soon because I'm going to share a darling new fall pattern from my bff. And you will love. it!

Melanie

A few more DJ blocks

Even though these were completed back in June, they've not yet been revealed here and each one of these babies is a gem, so I don't want to leave any out!

This first one was a real bugger, but only because the pieces were sooo small! This cutie is M-4, called Stepping Stones, has 49 pieces (in a 4.5 inch block...really) and was mostly paper pieced. Now that it's done, I think it's pretty cute and I'm so glad I don't have to make it again! Even at a normal size like 10", this would still have a lot of little pieces! Can you imagine making a quilt out of this???

 This one is M-9, Fan Dance has 28 pieces and was paper pieced. I think it would be cuter with more contrast, but it's done!

 I really like this next one a lot! It is M-8, Enchanted Square, has 31 pieces and was paper pieced.

Here are a couple of peaks at The Quilt. This one is taken as I was machining the binding on. Let me tell you, nothing goes quickly with this quilt. You just have to take your time! You can see a little bit of what an absolutely wonderful job Sue did quilting her! I think this part of the process took 2-3 hours.

And here's a teaser of the back....Isn't it the most wonderful quilt? I can't believe it's mine. Even more, I can't believe I am actually about to finish it!

 

Boy, there were times when I really wasn't sure this was ever going to be finished. At least not by me. I remember when I was first diagnosed with cancer, going down to my sewing room and staring at this quilt and wondering a) would there be enough time for me to finish this quilt, b) if my time was that short, did I really want to spend it in my sewing room quilting anyway (certainly there were more important things to be doing and people to be with!), c) if I wasn't going to get it done, who should I be leaving it to that would be blessed, not burdened by it. Oh boy, thank God, thank.the.Dear. Lord. He spared me. And the least of reasons was for this quilt. But when you tackle a long term project like this, I hope you can see that it is a measure for (of?) your life to some degree. As you are plodding through the process, you are also marking times of your life. Okay, well, I'm glad I've made this quilt and I'm equally glad the process is almost over! If tacking down this binding continues at the current pace, it will be done in about 6 hours. Really.

Think there's only 2 or 3 more blocks I haven't yet shared, but will do that soon!