August 11, 2012

Wanna See Something Pretty?

I am participating in 2 Crazy Quilting Round Robins and these are the blocks that have been worked on for me.

My friend Karen embroidered the pigs for me so I used them as the centerpieces for my blocks.  I asked the ladies to incorporate the water garden with flowers designs to my blocks.  These are the first 4 completed.

These first 2 are being worked on by members of Crazy Quilting International.  If you have a love for crazy quilting and do not belong to an online group, this is one of the best groups out there!  Come see us! (you do have to register...but it is free)

Nicki stitched this beauty up for me!  I had asked for some birdbaths and the one she stitched is gorgeous!

Lauri took the water theme a bit further and incorporated a water hose to give the piggie a bath with!  I absolutely LOVE this!!
The next 2 blocks are being worked on by ladies of the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum.  There again, if you are a quilter and need a place to hang out with people of like-minds, this is the place for you!  All kinds of quilting over here plus cross stitch, knitting, crochet and lots more!  You don't have to register to read things but you do have to in order to view photos and comment.... but it is free!

Colleen has done a super job in giving this piggie a bunch of flowers to nibble on. The sunflower was already on his hiney and I love the sunflowers she created to go with it!

Jackie also gave her piggie some flowers to enjoy!

I cannot wait to see the remaining blocks!  
They will all go in to one wallhanging when they get home! :)

Thank you ladies!!!

August 1, 2012

Through The Eyes Of A Nine Year Old

My granddaughter Allie has been here for 5 weeks with me and my hubby enjoying her summer vacation!  She has been a big help in putting away a few veggies for the winter and helping keep the house clean. We bought her a bike and she has kept the yard hot riding it all over the farm, if she isn't in the flower gardens hunting lizards, toads and bunnies!  Hubby told her if she caught a bunny he would build a cage to put it in.  I asked him why he told her that and he said he knew she wouldn't be able to... and I said she just might prove him wrong...she has a "sense of will" stronger than most children.  It would be funny if he found himself building a cage before she went home. lol 

My friend Janette has a granddaughter the same age as Allie... Allie will be 9 in 2 months and Jordan is already 9.  They have been able to get together to play several times since Allie came.  They have gone to the movies together and rode bikes together... but I don't think Jordan has hunted any lizards... lol  .. I do know she helped hunt the bunny one day.  It was a site just listening to both of them with their eyes wide telling about finding the burrow and putting a stick in the hole and it having fur on it when they pulled it out.  They for sure had found the bunny den... they just knew it.  Oh to be young again!

She has one more week here before she has to go back to Alabama to get ready to enter the 3rd grade. The past several days she has been going to VBS with my sister-n-law Jane and has been enjoying herself tremendously!  Jordan went with them one night and may go back again before it is over.

Allie brought her sewing machine and table with her so she could sew some while she was here.  Jordan asked me a few days ago if I would teach her to sew and quilt like I did Allie.... so what do you do when a youngster wants to learn?... You teach them right then while the notion is hot on their little minds!

So, yesterday afternoon we started preparing a quilt for them. They both want a dolphin quilt so we went online and googled until we found a picture of one that I could draw a pattern from. Then we went upstairs to begin work on them.  Just watching them choose their fabrics was a treat...thank goodness for stashes... We are using wonder-under to apply the dolphins so they both had to iron their fabrics and then iron the fusible to it too.  I then traced the pattern pieces to the paper side and they cut them out.  I used my applique pressing sheet and built  their dolphins for them and then they ironed them to their background block.

I showed them 3 stitches each on their blocks of how to do the blanket stitch and then turned them loose.

Just watch two 9 year olds in action!!

Stay tuned for more of their quilt progress!