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.