November 20, 2013

A Birthday and Albino Roosters


Today is my birthday!!!  Happy Birthday to me!  My hubby surprised me with these beautiful roses yesterday!  A day early... hmmm... Now how can he top that today on my actual birthday? :)










This is a wallhanging that I made with the Radical Rooster patterns.  I just love the look of these  albino roosters... and they turned out really awesome all done up in white on white fabrics!


I wanted to put them on black fabric to really show off the albino part of my idea and I added a moon to add to the illusion of it being nighttime.  The border fabric came from JoAnns and is perfect for this quilt with its silvery irridescent moons!  I fussy cut the fabric so the moons surround the quilt evenly. Perfect finishing touch!

I took my quilt to a neighbors who had a chicken coop to get photos but the photos did not turn out so when we got home, hubby put the quilt on the side of our corn crib.  I cropped a rooster out of the other photo and transplanted him on to my photo. :)

I am in a quandry as to what to name the quilt.. I like Moonlight Serenade but I also like Moonlighting In The Barnyard.  Which one do you like best?... or do you have any other ideas for a name?  Any and all ideas will be welcomed!


November 11, 2013

For This Man of Mine!

I was in Walmart back in 2006 and spied a blue flannel fabric with pink pigs on it.  And if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know our love of pigs is pretty big.  Well, I bought that flannel and came home, quilted it up, and surprised my hubby with a couch throw.  At first he was kind of put out that it had pink on it but as time waxed on he grew kind of fond of this old quilt.  Even with all of the ribbing my brother has given him over it, he still loves it even now.... and trust me.. my brother can rib pretty hard.

As he has spilled chocolate ice cream on it, coffee, and anything else in his hands.. it has had quite a few washings.  And what does flannel do when it is washed?...it shrinks... So now he has a hard time keeping his feet covered. 

He has complained a few times that I needed to make his piggie quilt longer but as hard as I have tried, I could not find any more of that fabric.  So I decided to make him a new quilt!

Now he is as happy as a little pig in the mud!  You can see how much longer this new quilt is and it is wider too. And this quilt is perfect for a middle aged man... Warm colors, brushed cotton, boxy pattern design, nothing fussy... and critters in the quilting design.


I made the new quilt with brushed cotton fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop which feel and look like flannel....they also quilted up like flannel.  One thing for sure, it is going to be a very warm and cozy quilt for hubby this winter!

My quilting design is frogs and lizards with stippling in between.  I used a  pantograph which had the frogs and lizards and other bugs and armadillos on it as well but it would have been ultra dense and most likely would have come out stiff as a board.  So I chose to skip those elements and only quilt the frogs and lizards.  Perfect for this man of mine!  He loves bugs of all kinds!

I have put a white square around some of the frogs and lizards.  Can you see them?


I asked him what he wanted to do with the flannel quilt now that he has a new quilt and he promptly said, "I want to put it in the cedar chest and keep it" ha!  I figured he would say give it to someone but he wants to save it for Miss Allie one day.  Isn't that sweet!!

We did threaten in one of our conversations way back to send the pig quilt to my brother if I ever made him a new quilt.  The amount of ribbing that my brother gave him over having a pink piggie quilt would serve him right to open a package from us with the quilt in it.  I know my brother... He would shake his head and say "good grief". lol

   

November 10, 2013

Quilted Finishes!

I am ready to mail the Love Is Wicked and the Our Wicked Family Tree off to their new owners come Tuesday morning.  (Monday is no mail - holiday).  I had a lot of fun quilting these 2 little quilts.  Hubby liked the family tree so well, he wanted me to keep it.  i told him too bad... it was already promised. :)  He didn't actually really like the cats... because we don't decorate for any holidays... he just loved the quilting... So I told him I would quilt another wallhanging that had a lot of background to it and do the same kind of quilting on it.  I think that made him happy. :)

So here goes... I love the texture...Enjoy the picks..






I did the blanket stitch applique once this mini quilt was loaded... and how cool are their tails!



November 8, 2013

Creating Smiles ~~ One Child ~~ One Quilt At A Time!

How do you make a child smile?  Present them with a quilt!

Many of the ladies from the  HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum participate in sending fabrics, quilt blocks, quilt tops, finished quilts and funds to help see that the children at the Masonic Home and the children of the Central Children's Home, both here in Oxford, NC, are presented quilts from time to time.  I have also had a few bloggers send in to help with this project as well.

My friend Marie and I were able to get an appointment for today and we presented 5 quilts to some fine young men and 4 quilts to some beaming young ladies.

We are now down to 1 finished and ready to go quilt in the charity closet and it is a baby quilt. I take the baby quilts in to town with me when I go for groceries and I have seen women bring babies out of cars with hardly any coat on in the really cold temps. I walk up to them and ask if they have a quilt for their little one and when they say no, I ask them if they would like one. You can tell by their facial expression, just how much they appreciate these quilts.

They are in awe when I tell them about our group and how the quilt came to be. These quilts have stories to tell and the story only continues when the recipient knows where they have come from. Can you imagine the chatter between these mothers and their friends when they show the quilt they received from perfect strangers.

Here are the photos from today's presentation.  Faces are hid due to privacy laws.



October 21, 2013

1 Scissor - 2 Scissors - 3 Scissors More


Carol of Just Let Me Quilt posted a photo of her scissor collection a couple of days ago and it has inspired me to show mine off!  I went in search of all my scissors and I was really taken aback at how many I actually have!!  Mind you, I have only purchased a dozen of these pair of scissors... the rest have been gifts!

I would start with the very first pair of scissors that I used in Home Economics if I still had them. I am sure my mother had them at one time but I have no clue where they got off to. So instead, I will start with the first pair of scissors I used after I got married and started sewing full time in 1979.  My late ex-father in law gave these  Ginghers to me.  They belonged to his late wife, the grandmother to my girls.  One day I will hand these down to one of them.


These Ginghers were the very first pair of scissors that I purchased for my very own.  I was so proud to walk out of Ken's Sewing Center with these in my hand.  This was somewhere near 1982.


Ken gifted these Wiss pinking shears to me when I traded my first New Home machine (purchased from them in 1980)  in on a brand new one.  I literally burnt the motor up on the old one because I sewed so much!


Ken's son, after much debating, gifted these Ginghers to me when I purchased a brand new Janome from them.


These Gingher's were also a thank you gift from Ken's Sewing Center for yet another machine purchase! They are loving me by now! :)... Seriously, they are just plain good folks to do business with!  They are my "go-to" machine dealer!


These 2 pair of 9" Ginghers were gifted from Ken for the purchase of my Brother 10 needle embroidery machine and my granddaughters first Janome!


These brand new Ginghers were sent to me this week from Ken's son Jeremy for sending them a brand new customer who purchased 2 machines last week!!


These 2 little pair of Ginghers are so precious!  One was purchased at JoAnn's fabrics and I won the other pair with the scissor fob from a blog giveaway!

 

Can you tell what brand of scissors are my favorite!! Ginghers cannot be beat!!...  and neither can Ken's Sewing Center !

The next 5 pc collection of scissors came from Mary Jo's Cloth Store.  They sell used scissors and I snagged these for 1.00 a pair!


I purchased these scissors from McKenna Ryan. I am working with some continuum patterns that I purchased from Willow Bend Creations and these are perfect for cutting around these designs!  They pivot on a dime!!  ... and I cannot say just how perfect they are for cutting lace motifs from lace yardage!

These 2 little pair of Westcotts were sent to me as gifts from friends.  I have been in a few secret sister swaps and I love finding things like this in my packages.


These came with my embroidery machines.


I purchased this set of  Fiskars because I had heard so many good reviews on them. They are ok but give me my Ginghers any day.


The pair with the red inside the finger holes were purchased to cut dear hubby's hair. The other 2 were gifted by friends.


This pair came in a gift from a friend.


These also came from friends.  Although not technically scissors but they do cut.


These were gifted by a friend during a secret sister swap.  I smiled real big when I opened these babies!


I love the color blue so when I spotted these at Walmart, they had to come home with me.  I was going to use them as an alternate pair of scissors to cut hubby's hair but my fat fingers get hung in the holes!  Can we say ouch!! By the way, these are perched a'top my grandfather's barber shop mirror.


This 3 piece set of scissors was in one of my monthly secret sister packages.  I use these for paper cutting so I am not inclined to use my Ginghers.


Were you counting?? If you were, if you came up with 32 you are correcto mongo!!!  YEP! I own 32 pairs of scissors!  And this is not counting the 2 pair in my kitchen drawer... and the 2 pair in my hubby's bathroom drawer for his personal use.  Can you say that I am scissor poor!!





October 12, 2013

Purple Batik Churn Dash headed To Texas!

Another finish! yeah!  This batik treasure is headed to Texas on Tuesday!  My friend Susan is the recipient of this one!  I do hope she likes the way I quilted it.


I love the texture from the fern feather!




One shot of the back although it is difficult to see much.


I am linking this up over at Karen's and Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party and over at Connie's and Linky Tuesday!

October 4, 2013

There Is A Rooster Flying West...

and his name is...

I donated this quilt to a fundraiser that benefited the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  My good friend Carolyn won the quilt and has been very patiently waiting for it's arrival.  I am happy to say that it is ready to fly west to California!



I quilted a lot of texture in to the body.


I love the bamboo treatment on the tail feathers.


The border has a sun in all 4 corners.  If you look real close you will see the words "Suns up Get up" quilted on the inner part of each sun.  My nephew Jordan used to run in to his mom's bedroom when he was little and holler this at her.  With the bold background in batik I thought this saying suited the quilt perfectly.




Would you like to make Rob Roy for yourself?  Visit Florine Johnson's website and grab you up a pattern!  She has 12 to choose from!

I also finished another customer quilt this week.  It is going to my client's granddaughter this weekend for her birthday.  It is a shabby chic gingham quilt just perfect for a little girl.



I love the texture that line dancing gives to a quilt.


I am linking this post up over at:

Flaunt It Friday
Inspiration Spotlight
Fancy This Fridays