Fun with Barb

Join the Jubilee!

2012-02-09T11:09:00.001-05:00

After posting about my new project here, several friends and readers have shown an interest in making their own Jubilee quilts! How wonderful!

Lori, of Humble Quilts, and Regan, of Floating on a Quilted Cloud, are also turning 50 this year and will be starting their own Jubilee Quilts.

We are planning to have a Jubilee Quilt Project blog and letting anyone working on this project post updates of their work. Lori already has several readers interested in joining the fun.

The main idea of the project is to make a quilt by you and for you. You don't have to be having a big birthday this year, you can be jubilant about any milestone in your life, past or present.

Email me at barb.vedder@gmail.com or leave a comment. Even if you responded to Lori, let me know too. The more the merrier!

This is a test, this only a test........

I recently purchased 2 bolts of moda bella solids from Thimbleanna for an upcoming red & white project for my daughter.

I did a pre-wash test and here is how it went:

don't be alarmed, I always wash my quilts in regular detergent.

I used warm/cold, as you never know who will wash it one day.

I used 3 of these. They seem the same as color catcher.

All together now...

I like to buy a cyclamen every year about this time at the grocery store. The best $10. value. They bloom for weeks.

I purposely let it sit for a while overlapping each other. I was really testing it here....

I pulled it out and it looked good! the color grabbers grabbed a little of the red, but not much.

Into the dryer with 1 sheet of bounce and set on medium.

and Viola'! After pressing, it look exactly the same as the fabric on the bolt.

Great news for me, as I would much prefer to piece with unwashed fabric! Hoooray for Moda Bella Solids!!! I give you an A+.

Think about a Jubilee Project, there isn't a deadline to join us and you don't have to have a blog either. Just drop me a line.

Land Ho

2012-02-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

Most of me is back from my Caribbean vacation, but it's going to take a few days to stop looking for the Lido deck.....

Before I went away, I sent this Birthday gift to my friend, Sheila in Illinois.

It was one of those "big" Birthday's so I decided to make a red and white in remembrance of her visit to the exhibit, just about a year ago.

Here you can see the scale better. The blocks are 4" finished and there are 70, hhhmmmm, coincidence?

I used this red and white toile' on the backing and apparently it goes with Sheila's dining room.

My favorite home away from home: Holland America Line.
We were aboard the newest ship: The Nieuw Amsterdam.
It was beautiful.

Top picks from the trip:

The Crow's Nest, we came everyday after breakfast, and then for team trivia. The views are beautiful.

On Grand Cayman we took a submarine tour - it was incredible. We went 115 ft. down, and hey, I didn't even have to get wet :)

There are some bright blue fishes near the bottom of the shot.

Here is a hut that we "owned" for a day at Mahogany Beach, Honduras.

One of our favorite activities on board is sitting on Deck 3, Promenade deck, and watching the ocean go by....

And now there are dishes to do, laundry to fold and a dog to be walked. I guess I'm back in Jersey all right!

Hope you all had a great week and I look forward to catching up on my blog reading.

Sailing away with my Sailor

2012-01-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday Everyone!

I finished the first of the four princess feather blocks for my Jubilee Quilt. There are 69 stuffed berries. I've gotten the hang of them now and they are going much faster.

Part of my Jubilee year, includes celebrating 25 wonderful years with my husband. We were married at the Chicago Yacht Club on a blustery, stormy night.

February 14, 1987 (yep, Valentine's Day)

February 14, 1997 - vow renewal

Andrew (10) and Hanna (4). It was so fun to have them be part of it.

July 21, 2011 - Greek Island Cruise

We're going on a one week cruise - alone. It's our first week long trip without our children since our honeymoon!

Here's what I'm taking to work on. Berries, lots of berries...

I'm going to force myself to finish this on this cruise. I only have 2 rows to go for heaven's sake!

Let's try it again. Last summer I took my machine in while I was away and it was there 6 weeks and wasn't cleaned or fixed. I took it to a different shop and have all the confidence that it will be.

And last but, never least, coco finally had some snow last Saturday to play in!

I'm gong where colorful umbrellas adorn the beaches and the drinks ;)

Hope you all have a fun week!

2012 UFO Challenge

2012-01-24T09:45:00.000-05:00

Giants Win In Overtime - Superbowl XLVI
just had to get that out.

I met last week with Jill and Susan and instead of starting a new challenge project, we've decided to finish some UFOs this year.

We are also going to swap flying geese units every month. We've decided to use bright, fresh fabrics and solids for fun. I'll post when I've made my first sets.

Here in her own words is Jill's UFO project:

After Barb introduced me to English paper piecing, I have fallen in love with it, the accuracy which I could never attain otherwise and the relaxation of whip stitching together the prepared pieces. Of course it is additional steps, with the basting and paper removal, but I enjoy the results very much.

I started this "star" project some time ago and picked this as my UFO for this Barb/Susan/Jill quilt-finishing deadline! I have yet to come up with a nice setting design, so I am not sure how many star blocks I need. I am thinking maybe six and as you can see, I only have two finished, almost three. I had better "put a fire under it"...lol.

I also want to do a setting where the multi-colored stars seem to "float" on the black background and I also hope to come up with an appliqué design to add to either the center of the quilt and/or the border. I love the combo of pieced and appliqué...my favorite.

Barb thinks perhaps the appliqué will be too busy, as it is already pretty colorful. So I am rethinking that. Right now I want to finish the six blocks, put them on my design wall and try to finalize a plan.

Here in her own words is Susan's UFO project-

It was easy for me to pick my UFO challenge. This quilt has been on my design wall for months....and months....waiting for the border.

"POTUS 1789-1901" is a quilt I designed with the quilting in mind. It is a two block quilt. The president block looks odd, silly really but placing a wreath stencil on top to show what the quilting will look like gives a better idea of where I am going.

The president images are from an old Windham line. I thought there was a misprint at first because one president had two images. A check of the facts showed that the printing was correct. One president served two terms but not consecutively. I love making quilts that include little bits of history.

And here is mine -

I started this quilt in 2009 to commemorate (again) the 2008 Summer Olympics. I loved that the opening ceremony was on 8-8-08. It would be great to finish this one before the 2012 games open in London!

I put this away when I started working on my Mother's Garden quilt and other projects for the quilt show last November. I have posted on this quilt before and you can find them by typing "olympic star" in the search box.

I have the quilting area you see on the upper left hand side, then binding and labeling.

here is a close up of some of the quilting.

I will reporting back on these projects. Our deadline is set for mid-April.

Are you currently finishing last years (or the last 5 years) projects? It seems every year we quilters try to finish our UFOs. Why is it so much more fun to start them?

Ding Dong

2012-01-20T16:15:00.003-05:00

Barb calling--

I took a drive out to Pennsylvania on Wednesday to visit my blog buddies Sujata and Kelly at Sujata's lovely home.

It was their regular small bee meeting and I was lucky enough to meet the group and see some of their work. What nice and incredibly talented ladies. Thanks for making me so welcome!

Kelly brought her calendar project. She is making 1 block a week for year. It was great fun to see them all together.

As per my usual, I was so engrossed in talking, asking questions and generally being inspired that I didn't take nearly enough photos!

You can see a lot more at Kelly's Blog here, and Sujata's blog here

I decided to make a little treat to bring. This is a recipe from an Illinois quilter friend, Pat R. of the Piecemakers.

It is simply called Orange Toast. Sorry I don't have a "beauty shot", but this is what they look like.

Here is my little work station. They are quick and easy and it's very hard to eat just one!

Orange Toast

(I'm giving a 1/2 recipe as I find it's the one I use most, you can double it)

1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 T. Orange Peel (you find it in the spice isle at the grocery)
1 loaf Pepperidge Farm Very Thin sliced bread.

Cream together ingredients and spread on bread.
Cut bread slices into thirds.
Place on cookie sheet (I lined with parchment)
Bake at 250 degrees for check at 1 hour. Should be golden.

They are good with Tea, Milk, Coffee and oh yea, wine :)

*******
Hooray, Hooray!! I ordered 2 bolts of Moda Solids from Thimbleanna. She is so speedy and nice to work with - thanks Anna!

My plan is to make a quilt for my daughter each year she attends Miami University. How lucky am I that the school colors are red & white? She wants to be surprised, so I can't post until she receives it in May -

Household problem - SOLVED

Every morning before walking coco, I would have to dig around those 2 baskets for the right scarf, gloves, hat, etc.

But then I thought about how I "file" my flip flops, and viola'!
So I bought a shoe caddy and now we can see all our winter accessories easily.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm hoping for snow.

Go Giants!!

p.s. I have added the "Search this Blog" at Kelly's suggestion. So if you want to find related posts, just key in a few words.

this, that, the other (again)

2012-01-17T11:36:00.002-05:00

Thank you all so much for positive comments and encouragement on my Jubilee quilt. It means so much to have a cheering section!

Several people commented on my Eagle quilt so I thought I'd review this quilt that I finished in 2008.

It's called "Obama For President" but I had to change that to "Olympic Eagle" (to be non-political) for the Vermont Quilt Show. It is, to this day, the only eagle quilt I know featuring black eagles. I named the quilt just after he spoke at the democratic convention...

It's a pattern from "antique quilts and how to make them".
I started it during the opening ceremonies of the winter olympics in Turin, Italy. Another commemorative quilt? yep. I guess it's one of my thangs.

I put an Olympic ring in each of the beaks and one of his tallons.

Here is a photo of me at the Vermont Quilt Show, 2008. It was awarded a blue ribbon - very exciting!

So, what am I up to?
A little (more) of this-

A little bit of that-
Lori's Quilt Along - This is my 4th quilt along with Lori and they are so fun! I'm running behind, but I'll catch up.

And some of these-

And finally, how fun is this? Beth is having a pincushion parade! My pincushion cup runneth over! Thank you to all my friends who have contributed to this collection.

Have a fun week!

My Jubilee Quilt!

2012-01-11T14:38:00.001-05:00

I've decided to make a "Jubilee Quilt"" to celebrate turning 50 this year instead of the Hawaiian appliqué.

Here is the partially finished first of four blocks:

I was inspired by a quilt that I saw at the Newark Museum during a December visit with friends. All three of us were inspired and are considering making a version of this beauty.

As you can see I've changed it a bit from the original antique quilt. Instead of the mariners compass blocks, I'm doing a ring of berries.

I really like that there are only 2 fabrics. The red reproduction print was given to me be my friend Jill who had it in her collection -thank you Jill!! The other fabric is just a unbleached muslin. I feel this gives it that good soft, aged look, not unlike myself ;)

I'm also changing it into a 4 block appliqué. Here is a neat trick; make a color copy of the inspiration and cut or fold it into your size or version. I also marked out the 4 blocks to get an idea of placements.

I designed the berry ring around an eventual hand quilted feathered wreath that I will be doing. I don't think I've ever seen this done before, making design decisions based on the future quilting design. It is a great way to ensure a good circle and enhance hand quilting. I'm excited to see how it works.

To challenge myself, I've decided to stuff the berries. I know I will love the look, but it is challenging. I'm making the berries as I usually do, (click here to see my method) then stuffing them and sewing them to the pre-marked circle to ensure a good smooth circle when appliquéd.

Here is a diagram that I drafted as an early road map.

Some of the early sketches for the princess feather.

The final choice:

And here is a photo of this same quilt that I found in my files. I have no idea who did it or at what show I saw it. Isn't it funny how we are repeatedly drawn to something?

Barbara Brackman just did an article one the Princess Feather on her blog here. Ann Hermes also just blogged about this quilt and you can see that post here. Isn't it funny how the quilt muse works. I often find the coincidences amazing!

Amaryllis update: After constructing some "Suess-icle" looking scaffolding, the Amaryllis is still going strong!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this project. Your support means so much to me and often keeps me going on these long term projects.

I hope you have found a new and challenging project for 2012!

Happy 2012!

2012-01-06T09:10:00.000-05:00

Just popping in to say Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a peaceful (and pieceful) holiday season.

I'm enjoying a bit of a blog break while my birds are in the nest. I look forward to catching up with all my blog friends and seeing what you are all up to.

My latest quilt was for my son's best friend, John. He was surprised and thrilled.

Based on the photo, the size fits him perfectly.

My pal, Mary, popped over on Christmas Eve for our traditional fruit cake snack and champagne toast. It was so great to see her and catch up.

I was welcomed home from Illinois by my blooming amaryllis. It's a beautiful pink! Thank you E for the lovely gift, it was well worth the wait.

This morning there were even more blooms. It is a double, which means I'll have 8 blossoms. What a lovely way to start out the year.

So now I'm wondering when the elves will come and pack christmas away.....good thing there is still a bottle of bubbly in the fridge to help me with the job this weekend :)

I'm working on my new long term applique project (not the Hawaiian as planned) and look forward to sharing it in my next post.

Happy New Year Sewing to you all.

We Need A Little Christmas

2011-12-21T09:21:00.000-05:00

Holiday Greetings!

I know how busy I've been, so I can imagine how busy all my friends are too. I hope you finding a little down time to enjoy the season.

Just popping in with a Christmas post before signing off for the year.

Last year I went on a Christmas tour (click here if you want to see over the top christmas collecting!) and was inspired to start my own White House Historical ornament tree.

This began in 1981 and each ornament comes in a beautiful box with a booklet telling the story of the ornaments historical significance. Here is this years:

I've replaced the ribbons with these Christopher Radko gold hangers.

Here is a daytime shot

and a night time shot

and two of my favorites, The Madison's and my man, Abe.

It's been so fun to collect these (thanks ebay!) I have only 3 more to go.

Here is my sewing room tree, with vintage red and pink ornaments and Janet's (Quiltsalott) doll quilt swap:

The cupcake group got together for food, games and presents. I won LCR again - lucky me!

We actually had sing during this game. so funny.

Susan and her husband make a beautiful wooden gifts each year. The white mice collection has grown to 4, aren't they wonderful?

Jill made this beautiful hand quilting sewing kit:

Pre-threaded quilting needles all ready to go.

What a nice surprise! Sujata (The Root Connection) sent these wonderful mug rugs.

Believe me, it's no accident that coco matches the new FR furniture!

I'll leave you with a couple shots of my Dickens' Village. I placed tiny lights underneath this year and it's a magical effect.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas filled with laughter and cheer. I hope that the New Year is filled with comfort and joy.

I'll be heading out for the farm and will be back in January to share a new year long project that I've started.

Elfing Around

2011-12-15T13:08:00.000-05:00

Greetings!
I've been busy with all the usual holiday stuff, but I finished my gift quilt and wanted to share it.

I used Jay McCarroll fabric and pieced the back, and pieced the batting, and made a scrap binding. Waste not, want not.

For the quilting, I stabilized the block then added the wavy lines and also quilted the circle centers.

How wonky is that? So funny. The large print was not really on grain, so the whole back got thrown off. I'm okay with it.

No peeking until Christmas.....

I really liked these colors and thought they were an unusual combo, until one day while looking at my inspiration board I saw all of these. They are of similar color combinations.

I've finished 2 more stars -

What a nice model. Thanks Coco. She'll be turning 2 on Christmas Day. What a good girl she's turned out to be.

I'm prepping a couple of more. I'll be making 12 in all.

And finally, I'm having twins! I received this amaryllis as a hostess gift and it was asleep so long, I thought it would never get going. I'll post what color it is when it blooms.

Kids are coming home tonight! Hope you are having fun with your family and friends during this season.

Going Hawaiian!!

2011-12-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday!

My friend, Sujata, of The Root Connection guessed right! Go check out her wonderful Christmas quilt.

I'm using a chocolate brown background for my red Hawaiian quilt. Here is my small sample that I finished.

I treated myself to a Bella Solids fabric swatch card from Anna of Thimbleanna. She always has something fun going on.

I can really see what the solids look like. It is just too hard for me on the computer.

I was really able to study the reds and browns.

I also decided to do a little inventory of my solids. Well, I guess I don't have to buy red for a while, lol. Or cheddar for that matter.

It was so fun reading what my readers and friends guessed for the red applique' that I decided to do a little comparative test. I just used a raw edge cut out of the little sample and changed the backgrounds. It's been dreary here, so I had to use indoor light, not the best, but you get the idea.

Green was guessed by Karen, Dawn, Mayleen and Rachael.

Purple was suggested by Karen and Maureen.

Orange was guessed by Kate, Meredith and Sandra - you ladies know me too well!

White was popular with Lori, Karen & Anna. Sorry it's fuzzy, it did not want to photograph, it kept coming out almost black.

Rachael guessed this - she is a hoot!!

Blue was Janet's pick.

Yellow/Gold/Cheddar was guessed by Kelly, Terry, Donna & Regan.

Quilt Sue guessed black.

Fuchsia/Hot Pink was guessed by Jan and Never Bored.

Lime Green/chartreuse was suggested by Linda and Jan.

(sorry Shirl, I didn't have turquoise).

This was so fun to study. It is interesting how the value of the red changes when you change the background.

I think this would make a great quilt, actually.

Thanks for playing with me it was Fun!

New Beginnings

2011-12-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

I've started 3 new projects and I'm sharing them here today.

First, a special Christmas gift for a dear friend of the family.
Can't tell you who it is yet as it is a secret....ssshhhh

Here are the blocks. They are a simple square in a square. These are Jay McCarroll's fabrics. You remember he was the first winner of Project Runway.

Here is the layout in progress. I just finished the top and will share it next time - I love these colors for a man.

Here are stars that I'm english paper piecing. I was inspired by an antique quilt I saw at the New England quilt museum.

I have one more finished, and another started. They are addictive!

I'm trying to push myself to use interesting colors and patterns. I'm always so inspired by the women in Australia and they inspired my color choices.

And finally, a first look at half of my Hawaiian quilt project.

The clover white pen worked great on this! It's very fine and removes with the iron. This is a test block which I'll probably make into a doll quilt.

I will send a surprise to the first person who can guess correctly what other color fabric I'm using for my Hawaiian.

I'm hoping to Deck the Halls this weekend and do a little sewing too.

Have fun!

Brownstone Quilt Show - Part 3

2011-11-27T08:20:00.000-05:00

With the dishes done, the decorations collected and the leftovers nearly gone, it's time to return to quilting!

Here are the last few photos from Brownstone Quilt Show 2011.

As part of our Patriotic display, Berniece shared this quilt "My 9/11 Flag Quilt". It is really spectacular! I have encouraged her to get in touch with the 9/11 museum, as I feel it should be shared with the world. It even includes a memento from the restaurant at the top. The blue represents the brave police and firemen and it's torn and ravaged, as our the many lives following the 9/11 tragedy.

This elegant and beautiful quilt, "Cranes in Flight" was made by Elizabeth O'S. It is a gift and is hand quilted, and includes sashiko.

I love the softness of this quilt, made by Bea.

Here are the 2 mini quilts I won in the auction.

I was thrilled to win this one, as my boys are sailors. I think I will matt and frame this, the stitchery is lovely!

Here are some of my purchases. Already made - score!

One of my favorite vendors is Joe, of Lancaster Traditions. I bought this piece of 19 century double pink - my Favorite!!

And also two yards of this glazed cotton. I don't know what I'll do it, but I just had to have it.

I was so excited to buy this from Antique vendor, Dana, of Material Pleasures. My home town, Chicago, Worlds Fair Hankie, 1893. I'll frame it with this gold fabric.

And how sweet is this calendar print from 1899? I guess she is training the dogs as they are surrounded by whips.

Who could resist these faces? Not me. I will frame this also.

Lastly, I tried to take a couple of photos of my Passage to India quilt to show the crystals. It is just not possible, but there are over 600 on the quilt. The boys suspended raking to give me a hand - thanks guys!

The pieced backing.

I used a practice piece for the label. Waste not, want not.

Thanks for sharing the show with me!

I've started a few new project and I'll be back to share them next time. In the meantime, I hope you are having fun!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-22T08:53:00.000-05:00

I interup this quilt show report to wish everyone (in the USA) a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Some random photos of my stuffed turkeys and other decorations--

The turkey on the right started it all...I made it about 15 years ago.

For years I have collected vintage postcards. My rule for Thanksgiving was it had to have a turkey.

I found this spun copper colored, glittered metal nest at Homegoods this year. I have big Homegoods love.

I've been collecting Fair Winds china for years. I also pick up the occasional non-matching brown transferware. The George Washington covered sugar bowl is a favorite.

Homegoods, again....Spode Thanksgiving transferware and other misc.

This is my family room mantel. I feel bad that I don't have an Native American couples, must work on that. Aren't those portraits kitch-alicious? They are painted on plywood. I got them at a garage sale years ago.

These turkeys are only temporary by the hearth. coco would have them gutted in 2 seconds.

This year we will have a one child returning to the nest, and the other on the wing.

Whether your celebration is large or small, I wish you a festive and Blessed Thanksgiving.

I'm giving thanks to all the nice friends I've met through this blog. Every comment encourages me to keep posting. So Thank You all!

Brownstone Quilt Show 2011 - Part 2

2011-11-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

Here is part 2 of a 3 part report on the recent quilt show.

Enjoy!

The Lincoln quilts were a challenge that I did with my 2 friends, Jill and Susan McD. We celebrated the 200th anniversary of his birth. It was such fun to have a themed challenge, I'm ready for another!

Jills, "And Malice Towards None" (not judged).

Susan's "Lincoln blogs" (hand quilted, and that is his signature)

and my, "Remembering Abe".

This is Jill's fabulous quilt, "Circa 1880".

I love what she did with the border edge here - very cool

This is a stunner! Look at the edge - beautiful!

Susan H's Wickersham quilt called "Stella" (hand quilted)

What lovely story. Susan Z. made the top and gave her to her best friend, Barbara B for her birthday (a big one). When Barbara opened it at a guild dinner she cried, we all did! It is lovely and titled "A Gift of Friendship".

Margaret's (our quilt show chair and hero) beautiful quilt, "Down on the Farm".

My completed "Passage to India". You can't see it here, but it has over 600 Swarovsky crystals and embroidered mirrors. To my great honor, it received Margaret's quilt show chair ribbon award.

My "Whooville" quilt. How nice that the judged recognized liberated piecing and ribbon matches the quilt :)

And finally, I can't resist adding this photo of me and Susan H. In some odd way her shirt matched my skirt, sort of

So, I have a new profile photo because I had to send a photo of myself with a quilt show entry. I have one word to say about setting up and taking my own portrait; awkward.

Have a fun weekend and I'll be back with part 3 soon!

Brownstone Quilt Show 2011 - Part 1

2011-11-14T15:45:00.001-05:00

Greetings! Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes for a good quilt show. After 2 years of planning and many hours of work, it was a Wonderful Show!!

I'm excited to share some of the quilts with you. This was a judged show, but I'd just like to say that I'm grateful for all the wonderful women who entered quits and shared their passion and talent, regardless of judges recognition. Far too often wonderful quilts are passed over because of Judging bias (just saying).

Best in Show -

Best Use of Color-

Best Machine Workmanship - (this also won viewer's choice!)

And in no particular order some of my favorites-
Donna's - Give Peace Another Chance.

Susan's, Blueberries and Cheddar

Pauline's - Floral Charm - Note: the squares are Hand Appliqued on the background!

Nancy's - A Leisurely Trip Around the World. (incredible hand quilting!!)

Renata's - My French Garden

Maureen's Red and Green Album

Our Vintage Revisited Challenge (previously posted here)

The mini auction, which is such a hit with the visitors to the show. I won three this year, hooray. Susan and Barbara took this over from me and did a fantastic job!!

That's all for now. I'll be back with more quilts to share.
In the meantime, I have a lot of blogging reading to catch up on.

Thanks for coming to the show today, I hope you had fun.

Quilt Show Countdown

2011-11-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

Our guild is in the final week of our quilt show, which opens on Friday and runs through Saturday. It's a busy, busy week.

You can find all the information about the show here on our website: Brownstone Quilters . If you come, be sure to say hello!

I pulled out this quilt that I finished in 2004 for the fall season.

Here and There Churn Dash.

I swapped churn dash blocks with my friend, Diane, of Persnickety Quilts. Maybe she will post a photo of the quilt she made. We used shirting prints and civil war reproduction fabrics. Here is a close up of some of the blocks.

I machine quilted it with a feather border.

Plain small print backing and my label.

We were inspired to make this quilt when we saw this in Quilters Newsletter Magazine Jan/Feb. issue in 2002.

I'm continuing to make rag balls. It's really easy when you trim away the batting and backing after attaching the binding. I also find it's a fun little "journal" of quilt backs. My Abe quilt backings are the 2 on the left, and the pink one is from my Mother's Garden quilt.

Here is a new pile from my recently finished "A Passage to India" quilt that needs to be rolled and glued.

Saturdayday is the big drawing for our Raffle quilt, Friendship Garden. I can't wait to see who wins this beautiful guild quilt.

I'll be back soon with photos from the show. In the meantime, have a fun week!

p.s. I never did get the "you might also like" button to work, but if you click on a label subject you will see the related posts.

Tricks on Trees

2011-10-31T17:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween (sort of)

We'll we survived Snowmagedon 2011. Just when the trees were starting to look pretty here in Northern NJ, Snowmagedon hit on Saturday.

We heard the first "Crack" of falling branches in the early afternoon and were hit with a power outage about 3pm. Our neighborhood was hit very hard. Luckily we have a wood burning fireplace, so were able to keep the Living Room somewhat warm. Power resumed Sunday afternoon (thank goodness).

This morning we restocked the fridge and bought a chain saw.

The Lumberjacks, my son and his best friend.

Poor trees

This is about a third of the tree you see standing on left.

Big Daddy came out to show the boys how it's done. They are really happy with the new toy.

the carnage

It's been a long standing tradition for me to make Sue's Stew and Tom's bread on Halloween. When the kids were little it was an easy and quick way to get some dinner in while answering the bell and before they were totally sugar loaded.

The boys were very happy to sit down to a hot meal after the lumber hauling was over.

Happy Halloween! Back soon with Quilting.

Here are my recipes - they take about the same amount of time, so it works out great. Enjoy!

Sue's Stew (Sue is my sister-in-law)

1 lb stew meat
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 onion, wedged
2 cans beef broth
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
4-6 red skinned potatoes, cut into chunks
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" slices.
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces.

Dredge stew pieces in seasoned flour. Brown in a dutch oven with a little olive oil and butter.
Add onion, beef broth, bay leaves and tomato sauce. Simmer 90 minutes.
Add potatoes and carrots and simmer 30 minutes.
Add green beans and simmer until beans are done, about 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

This is a basic recipe and you can add corn, peas, sweet potato or other root vegetables.

Tom's Bread (Tom was a family friend who did the cooking on Rich's family boat)

1 Package dry yeast
2 cups hot water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs butter
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour

Combine hot water, oats, honey, butter and salt and let cool slightly.

Proof yeast according to the package directions.
(1/4 cup warm water, 1 tsp sugar and yeast, until foamy)

Add yeast and whole wheat flour to the oats mixture. Add and knead in remaining 3 cups flour. Knead about 5 mins.

Spray large bowl with Pam and add dough and cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled (at least an hour) in a warm place.
Punch down and let rise again 1 hour.
Divide dough into 2 loaves and put into bread pans sprayed with pam. Let rise 30-40 minutes.
Bake at 305 degrees for about 45 minutes or until its done and gold brown.

We like it best with butter and honey - yum!!

Sweet Little Baskets

2011-10-24T12:28:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my Remembering Abe quilt. I so appreciate it when you take the time to leave me a comment!

Here is a quilt I made in 2005, Sweet Little Baskets.

Jan of Be*mused showed a photo of my friend, Sheila's, quilt on her blog and hinted that I had made one too.

A few of use traded 3" baskets for awhile and each made a quilt. Sheila made a large one. Mine is quite small, only a throw. As you can see, I made it larger with gigantic borders.

Here are some baskets blocks closer up.

I organized my baskets in a similar color groups. It was fun!

This will give you an idea of scale and size, thanks coco.

On the back I used this large scale print of roosters. It was around this time that I started using "statement" backings.

Simple cross hatch machine quilting and a nice label.

I had forgotten to share this on my Abe post. I used Superior Kimono Silk #100 thread to machine quilt Abe. It was wonderful to quilt with and the drape is lovely.

I treated myself to the color card available at Superior Threads.

Here are a few things that really changed the quality of my machine quilting (and it's still not where I want it to be yet)....

I have shortened my stitch length (on the vicking it's 2 1/2.

I have slowed down - so hard!

I'm using silk in the top and the bobbin.

I'm using a good quality, new sharp needle, 70/10

I'm using a self threading needle to bury the starting and stopping stitches.

I watch Mad Men, Oh, Donald Draper you are a bad boy.

And lastly, I've put a book under my feet and raised my sewing chair so I have a better downward view.

I'm hoping to figure out a better solution, but this working for now.

Do you have any great machine quilting tips? I'd love to hear them.

Have a fun week!

My Man Abe

2011-10-18T15:13:00.000-04:00

Finally, I have finished my Abe Lincoln Quilt!

This was a challenge with my friends Jill and Susan. It was commemorating his 200th Birthday in 2009. Sorry for the duplicate showing to my guild friends....

A couple of close ups so you can see the quilting.

Here is the back.

Kind of funny, on the back one side of the script is upside down. I wanted to use the smooth cut edge to piece and it and didn't even think about the print - then when hurrying to make the sleeve, I attached the toile' upside down to the other printed fabric.

I accepted my personal foibles with a laugh a long time ago and anyway, I am what I am.....but it is pretty funny.

Coco had her first day at camp last week. She had to have a behavior interview (you can imagine my nerves in the waiting area). She had a great time with the other dogs.

This is the best shot of her trying to sit by her certificate, lol.

She got so frustrated with the whole thing, she sat and sulked.

And last, but funnest, my friend and reader, MB in Illinois made 2 coffin needle books!! Aren't they terrific? She told me she didn't have halloween fabric, so she painted the skeleton and made the spiderweb - super talented!!

Have a Fun Week!

p.s. help! How do I get the "things you might like" thing to work??

No Trick - Just Treats

2011-10-14T07:32:00.000-04:00

Winners!

Rich picked two random numbers and the winner are:

Melinda won the Swatch Buddies kit

Rachaeldaisey won the Coffin Needle Book

Please email me your home address and I'll get your prized to you right away! Thanks to everyone for entering. The coffin pattern is on a tab at the top of the blog.

Thought I'd share some of my Halloween decorations this year.

These are glittery wall sticky bats that I got at Pier I Imports this year.

Love these folk arty looking skeletons (Homegoods a few years ago).

This is a Martha Stewart mantel skirt, that I hung in my entry way to the Living Room. I bought it at Party City a couple of years ago.

Here is a little quilt wallhanging that I made in 1993.

My Living Room mantel. I used a minimal approach this year, and didn't unpack 2 of my tubs.

Unrelated to Halloween, my pineapple quilt looks like it was made to match my chintzy chair.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find time to sew. I'll be back next week with my Abe quilt - finished~

"Great" Little Pumpkins!

2011-10-12T08:43:00.000-04:00

You still have time to enter my double giveaway on my last post. Just leave a comment on that post and I'll draw 2 names on Friday morning - good luck.

I hosted a little sewing day last week and we made these cute little wool pumpkins.

From the left is Pauline's (love the white pumpkin!), then mine (which I enlarged slightly) and Susan's.

Nothing I love more than a table full of sewing supplies -

The Pattern came from the bo0k, Pumpkin Patch, that I won on Kelly's blog, Pinkadot Quilts. She always has something fun going on there!

Here is a close up of Susan's.

Of course we made a little time for lunch and a slice of green apple pie. I love to bake apple pie because it makes the whole house smell good this time of year.

Here are the 2 that I completed.

I have added a tab under my header for a free pattern of the coffin needle book. It is about the same size as the pattern I drafted, but it changed slightly when we added it to blogger.

You can print it and make it any size you wish, or I can send you a pdf file by email.

I'd love to see photos if you make one these fun needle books.

A Tisket a Tasket a Fun And Spooky Casket

2011-10-06T15:22:00.000-04:00

So Fun it's Scarey! I'm hosting a double giveaway!

My friends at Swatch Buddies have generously supplied me with a Swatch Buddies kit to offer my friends as a give away! Thanks Swatch Buddies!

Check out their website: Swatch Buddies To learn more about this great product. They have a link to my blog under their Press section, thanks guys!

The cupcakers got together to make this funny little coffin needle book. We had more fun picking different fabric combinations.

Here are the cardboard inserts. We had to do a little adjusting here and there, but we got it together in the end.

My workstation, what a scream, right?

And here is a display of our little coffins.
The fronts-

The fronts and backs opened and face down so you can see the combinations.

The inside, with 2 little leaves of batting for needles.

Here are the three that I made.

My second give away is this coffin needle case.

He's a jolly skeleton!

To me the back looks a little like a coffin out house, he he.

To enter just leave a comment on this post. I'll draw 2 names next Friday, October 14th.

I am hoping when my son comes home for dinner this weekend to have him help me make a pdf page with the templates so you can make some for yourself or for your gobblin friends.

I was the luckiest ever last week! I received 3 prizes in the mail and want to say thank you to:

Christine (Once Upon a Quilt) for the lovely pattern -

Beth (Love Laugh Quilt) for the fun license plate cover -

And to Kelly (Pinkadot Quilts) for the halloween giveaway. I love that fabric! Stay tuned to see what me and friends make.

Good Luck in the giveaway~

p.s. I know these aren't caskets, I just couldn't rhyme coffin :)

Doll Quilt Tryst

2011-10-03T09:18:00.000-04:00

Did you ever just want to take a little break from your work a day quilting life?

Well, last week I did. I made 3 little quilts.

This first doll quilt I'm calling "Butterscotch Beauty". It's very simple, but I added the elegant urn fabric to make it more of what I call an "elevated doll quilt".

I machine quilted it in a one direction, double then single line pattern.

Here is the back - sorry for the weird shadow effect and the crooked hanging job.

This one is made from leftovers given me by my guild friend, Sally, who sat near me at the retreat last spring. I admired her batik scraps and she gave them to me!

I am donating this to the guild for the mini-auction at our quilt show in November.

Here is a close of up the quilting.

I made this doodle in January of 2010 and I finally put it into a quilt. I really love it and intend to use it more in the future on my more modern quilts.

Here I've practiced it on a scrap.

For the back I used this fun folk art print.

With the leftovers from this one, I made a little sister mini, which I intend to gift to a guild friend. (hint)

I've grouped them around my feather weight, so you could get an idea of the size and scale of them.

I found this beautiful empty nest after the hurricane and feeling a kinship to it I brought it home and dried it out. These birds made such a nice home which included a piece of balloon ribbon, cassette tape, and white bundling twine.

And lastly, poor coco. She is having some major adjustment issues with the kids gone and me sewing so much. I'm going to look into a doggie day care so she can spend time with her own kind once a week.

Have a great day!

Missed Seminar and Miami

2011-09-27T15:40:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the American Quilt Study Group's seminar and it was in my backyard.... and I missed it.

This is a great organization if you like to study and learn about antique quilts you should check them out. This year they held their seminar in Cherry Hill, NJ. The next seminar is in Lincoln, NE. HHmm, great steaks and quilts, what could be better?

While I was not able to attend, some of my handy work did.
Along with my cupcaker buddies Jill and Susan, we supplied the seminar with the centerpieces.

We made the oak leaf and reel into a table topper about 14" square.

I made 13 of them.

I used a reproduction rubber stamp and a fabric ink pad to make the labels on mine. Yes, they are fused on. Kind of a cop out after hand stitching all those bindings... (or maybe because of it).

We did the quilting and the stitching at the same time.

It was fun laying them out. It would make a lovely quilt. Since we redrafted and made the pattern, I think I may one day.

coco gave them a spin and liked them.

The other component to our center piece were canning jars with 4 FQs of reproduction fabric in different color families; red, blacks, yellows, etc.

Now there are only a few things that would prevent me from going to a great quilting event; Rich, Andrew or Hanna. Last weekend I got 2 out of 3. Thanks, Andrew for watching coco!

The building of her (current) declared major.

We were lucky enough to be there for a broom ball game. Her team are "ice holes" pretty funny. A sport that is a mix of ice hockey, field hockey and soccer.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Jolly Good Show!

2011-09-21T09:33:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday and Fall!

Before I share the show photos, I'd like to share with you a great new product. If you thought my photo purse was a good shopping aid check this out!

It's called Swatch Buddies -

The kit comes with a key chain, and plastic pallets. They provide double sided tape to affix your swatches. On the back side you can attach labels with all the fabric info.

They are nicest people and I think they have a fun and useful product. Here is their website: www.swatchbuddies.com
Wouldn't they make great gifts for quilty friends?

And now on with the show.....
Best of Show-

Sorry, couldn't get a full view - too many admirers. Has anyone else noticed that the winners for the past few years have almost all been diamond in a square style quilts?

John Flynn quilts -

I really want to do a storm at sea - maybe next year.

Beautiful quilting -

A few from Pepper Cory's orange and black exhibit -

Since I'm working on an India quilt myself, I really enjoyed this one-

I like the way she quilted this -

I thought this was a very cool piece-

I hope you enjoyed the mini-show - have a fun week!

"Bee" Happy

2011-09-16T08:52:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday!

I was getting out some fall quilts and I found this one that I made for the 1999 at Gwen Marston's Quilt Retreat.

The theme was string quilts.

Each of the five years I went I made a signature quilt and name tag to match the theme. The name of retreaters are on the muslin strings.

I hand quilted it with a honey comb pattern.

Here maybe you can see the quilting on the back-

and my name tag -

Hooray! Tomorrow is my bus trip to the Pennsylvania Quilt Extravaganza. If you see me, say hello, I love meeting readers and other bloggers.

If you see me, you can buy a ticket for this quilt for $1.00.

I have prepared a simple photo purse to help me shop.

I don't know where I first saw this, but I think it's brilliant!

Fabrics I need to match

Shopping list -

And lastly, my machine is safely home. Not repaired, not cleaned but after 8 weeks; home. The small shop is dealing with a serious illness and I wish them well.

Thank you, Jill, for lending me your machine and to my other quilt friends for offering their machines. You are the best!

See you next week with quilt show photos.

Have a fun weekend!

Tuesday

2011-09-13T17:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Tuesday -

Today I made a block for Amy, Mrs. Schmenkmans Quilts, who recently lost her husband. Sarah Fielke is organizing the blocks and hopes to make a quilt for Amy and her daughter, Anabel.

Here is the block that I made. She is asking for Kaffee fabrics and the design is to resemble a base line on a stereo. Amy's husband, Dan, was had a passion for music.

You can email Sarah for the full instructions, or you can leave a comment here and I'll forward Sarah's email to you.

I don't know Amy personally, but I do know that quilts can offer comfort when it is need it most.

Last week when I visited Boston, MP and I scooted up to Lowell to see the New England Quilt Museum. What a treat!

The exhibit of Maine's Heritage Project was Wonderful!! sorry but no photos allowed. I sketched a couple of things and I may be doing a new english paper pieced project inspired by a quilt we saw, right MP?

The have a wonderful library and they were having a little sale. So I picked up this sales brochure of the Jinny Beyer commemorative Discovery line from 1992. I was able to purchase 1 few pieces of it a couple of years ago so it's nice to have this.

I didn't realize the backing fo my Moby Dick quilt is part of that line. My friend, Diane, gave me that backing, and it was perfect for Moby.

I also picked up this interesting 2 piece set.

It's a book and pattern set form Women's Day. It encompasses all different needle art forms and it's really interesting to study for inspiration.

Have a fun week!

Freedom!

2011-09-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

New York City has been very busy getting ready for the 10 year memorial of September 11th. We lived in Chicago in 2001, but after living here 8 years, we feel the sorrow of the tragedy each year with our fellow Americans.

I thought I'd post this Patriotic Quilt that I finished in 2009.

A Fine Feathered Fourth: (a pattern, not original, I gave the pattern away - sorry about the credit omission.)

The feathers refer to the quilting. There are fans, and the rest is pretty much feathers.

I used a lot of Americana prints throughout the quilt.

Here you can see the quilting. I used gold (non-metalic) thread.

The backing fabric is a collage of vintage Patriotic postcards.

Last weekend I went to Boston for the first time! What a beautiful city!

I met my great friend, MP, from Chicagoland and we walked the Freedom Trail.

This is how it looks, a red line on the pavement, sometimes brick, sometimes paint. But, beware! if you are gabbing and looking around it's easy to loose! We lost it about 5 times.

It took us to Paul Revere's House. Isn't it charming?

Surely this wins for the best Starbucks coffee signage ever!

This is what brought us to town. MP's eldest son, K, plays football for Northwestern University in Evanston, IL.

I was honored to be in the parents section and to attend the tail gate party.

We even got our photo taken with the "Wildcat"! How fun! Here we are, MP is behind me and her friend M on the left.

I've known her son since he was 4 years old. Our daughters have been best friends since they were 3. We've shared so many parenting years togehter, so it was so fun to share this empty nest "freedom" together~ thanks again, MP

Hooray, we won! 24-17 and K made a great late game play. Here is the team singing the NU fight song to the parents. Choke me up? You bet.

I wish everyone a wonderful weekend with the simple Freedoms that we all enjoy - and a little sewing too.

Down To Business!

2011-09-07T15:30:00.000-04:00

Thank you all so much for your input on my queries! I've decided to "skip" the quilting stitching going forward, but I will not be taking any out (go figure).

I called the sewing machine service shop and the poor man has pneumonia, so really, how can I be mad? Seriously. I am still waiting to hear if I can just pick the darned thing up and move on with out my "back button".

In the meantime, the old one came down from the attic and got to work. It was a bit "clunky" at first, but she's doing fine now.

I've decided to use a super fine invisible thread and a tiny zig zag stitch. Here I practiced on some scraps. For my older friends; I know right, me practice? I'm older and wiser now.

Here is a piece (I only have half elephants left) where I did not use a stabilizer. It warped and was difficult to work with under the needle. It may be because I used Steam A Seam Lite.

Here is a piece where I used a medium stabilizer, much better

The back before -

And after I removed the webbing. I little difficult, but not impossible.

I purchased a small sample of this Sulky product and I really like it. You iron it on, so it really stays put - and no pins.

I seriously don't know who they are giving this information to. I read it, but I didn't get it.

Finally, this is the perfect time of year to make roasted vegetables! My friend Mary B taught me this.

I chop up assorted veggies. Today I did zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, baby bella mushrooms and egg plant. I spray the pan with pam, then I drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh pepper. Into the oven at 400 degrees for about 40 mins - but check and toss every 10 mins or so.

I got to reading blogs and mine got a little dark, but I like it that way.

Ways to use your roasted vegetables:
Toss with hot pasta and add cheese.
Top a ready made pizza crust and add goat cheese and bake
Fold into an omelet
Make a veg sandwich with lite cream cheese
eat as a nice side dish

I'll be back soon to tell you about my Labor Day weekend in Boston -

A Complaint, Advice and a Querry

2011-09-01T15:49:00.001-04:00

Hi - thanks for visiting, despite that dubious title. I really try not to complain, after all I don't call this FUN with Barb for nothing.

It's official: I'm an empty nester. It's true. Happened on Tuesday when Andrew moved into his dorm. Rich flew out to LA Monday for the week, so it's really empty!

Who knew in June, when I made this little quilt how soon it would be true.

The only thing more disappointing than 2 cluttered, dirty kids' rooms are 2 clean, empty kids' rooms.

I took advantage of the newly cleaned out fridge (thanks, Irene) and the empty house to attack my diet with this. It is not easy, but it does work.

Complaint:
My machine is STILL at the shop. It's been about 7 weeks.

Advice:
Ask more questions than I did. How long will it take? What if it needs a part? Can I have while you wait for the part? When did you order the part? Are they making the part? You get the idea. All they tell me is "We're waiting for the part, there's nothing we can do.....". I could tell them what to do.

Question #1 - Hand Quilting:
How do you handle flowers and other stems off the main stem when outline stitching?

Skip it like this:

Or stitch it like this:

Skip?

Stitch?

I've tried studying old quilts, but it's just too hard to see. It's probably an opinion question, but I'd love to know your opinion. My Mother's Garden Quilt is half and half now.

Questions #2 - Machine Applique'
After fusing:
What do you use? invisible thread? matching thread?
Do you use a zig zag, hem stitch, or button hole?
Do you stabilize. With what?

When I get my machine back I need to get going applique' my elephants down on my Passage to India quilt.

When I say empty nest, well not quite, coco is here for company. She looks thrilled, doesn't she?

So, is this my fault because I left my open sewing box unattended? Or coco's because she couldn't help herself?

Have a Fun Weekend Everyone! Thanks for any suggestions!

Goodnight Irene and Good Riddance!

2011-08-31T10:43:00.000-04:00

Thank you so much to everyone who sent me such nice and supportive comments. I really appreciate each one!

We are survived! While gathering candles and flashlights, I found this one, how funny is that.

We lost power at 2:45 Sunday morning - but awoke to no flooding and little tree damage. We were quite surprised.

A few more limbs came down in the wind after Irene had moved north.

It pays to have sailors in the family! Rich, Andrew and I took a walk Sunday morning during a lull.

This photo was taken 3 blocks (downhill) from our home. The brook is usually 12 feet UNDER that white wooden bridge.

The water has filled the gully, filled the parking lot, filled the parkway, and filled the street - incredible!

This was a drive by shooting of the football field at the high school. Can you say Maroon Lake?

Hooray - Andrew and I played all these games on Sunday.
Andrew won Careers, Sorry, Monopoly and Life. I won Battleship, big deal.

Thank goodness for a gas range. We had a lovely dinner of spaghetti, bread and wine. This is with the flash.

This is how it actually looked.

We are so grateful that it wasn't worse. We know that many people suffered flooding and property damage. When the power returned Monday 6am, we were shocked to see how bad it Irene really was for the East Coast.

Thanks again everyone for your concern and thoughtfulness!

Now, back to quilting.....

A Real Hum-Dinger!

2011-08-26T17:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday -
What a week here in NJ. First the earth quake and now a hurricane? crazy times.

On Tuesday shortly before the earthquake, (yes, I did feel it) a hummingbird flew into my family room through the open back door - what?? No-way.

I tried guiding it out but he only wanted to fly up, not down and over to the door.

I finally gently put my hands around him and then released him. It was amazing. Especially for a bird person like me. What a gift.

I'm sharing a quilt and story today that I made years ago. Yes, the machine is still waiting for a part, so only hand quilting at the moment.

I named it Bird Lady - see next photo

The backing fabric is beautiful birds. After completing this quilt, I felt it was looked too new, so I threw the whole thing in the washer with a box of taupe rit dye. They were out of tan. I thought my quilt buddy Jill was going to have a heart attack when I told her that.

This is another copy cat quilt. Here is the original "Evening Star".

Here is a close up of some of the fabrics I used. I collected large scale florals and fruit for quite a while to make this.

Look at these modern fabrics, asian coi and little red riding hood. All I can say is, I thought the color and scale looked right.

Here is my favorite cable machine quilting that I did on the border print.

It was awarded "The Governors Award" at the New Jersey State Guild show in 2007. I was presented with a hand signed letter from Jon Corzine, the governor at the time. I have put it in a very safe place, and now I can't find it...ever do that?

Making this quilt was destiny for me. I found this oversized calendar page of it in 1990 while living in Illinois.

Then I took this picture in 2003 on a historical home tour in Indiana.

Then I found the photo in my favorite quilt book. It finally dawned on me that I kept admiring this same quilt over and over.

When I finally made the quilt in 2004, after moving to New Jersey, I learned that it was made in Summit, New Jersey. Destiny, right?

Here is a photo (of a photo) of a smaller version I made with left overs for a non-quilting friend. Notice; less blocks, wider border ;)

I have an entire file folder of quilts based on this simple star pattern. I've made many versions, including my recent baby quilt. The possibilities are endless with this timeless block.

Wish us luck with Irene! We're going to be battening down the hatches tomorrow for her.

Splendor in the Grass

2011-08-21T17:11:00.001-04:00

Do you ever talk about doing something for years and never do it?

Well I fixed that last weekend. We finally, after 8 years, went for a picnic in New York's Central Park.

The runners went for a nice run on the bridle path (over achievers)!

Then it was time for lunch! It was a simple affair.

It was really fun to stretch out and relax and people watch. Here is Hanna reading her summer book for college. We moved her in last Thursday and she's very happy. Me? Oh, I'm fine....really.

So, what's this quilt you ask? It's my best copy cat quilt, I think. One of my guilds did a project where we chose quilts from the New Jersey Heritage book to make. We could replicate it, change it, reinvent it, etc.

Here is the original:

Here is mine. I named it: Elegant Migration.

It's a little hard to see, but I used several muslins and tone on tone lights.

Here is the back. I love this Jo Morton fabric. Don't you?

Here you can see the machine quilting.

How funny is this? Doritos has reissued this original bag for their taco flavored chips. This chip was introduced in 1967 - hence my little troll friend. Anyone remember watch Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, etc and munching these chips? How about with an RC cola?

Have a fun week! Keep your fingers crossed that my machine comes home this week!

What's Up Doc?

2011-08-12T09:06:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!

I thought I'd do a project update. I definitely hear the clock ticking down the time for my guild's October 11th quilt show.

Here are 3 projects that I hope to finish in time for the show:

Mother's Garden - quilting a little everyday

It's hard to capture, but the center, top and side outlining is done.

Abe Challenge: just pin basted it. My machine is in the shop and has been for 4 weeks now. I need a new button board and they are waiting for the part :(

Here is my four patch posie. This quilt really took an interesting turn. I've ordered over 600 crystals for this one, so stay tuned.

Here's what I've done on the tumbler doll quilt since the cruise - Nadda, nuttin', zilch...

I'll take it next week when we take Hanna to school. I do, however, love my "free with purchase" cosmetic bag. It's perfect for holding the entire project.

Update on gardens - after a little rain and cooler weather, they have perked up a bit.

I'm really happy with my Home Depot pots this year. They filled in nicely.

And just for fun:
I was sending a Birthday gift to one of my best friends and I used this Asian newspaper for wrapping. I've seen free newspapers at Greek, Asian and Mexican restaurants, so keep your eyes pealed.

Final days of summer for my kids. Playing some sort of horribly violent and loud game on PS3

Have a Fun Weekend!

Pie Maker, Pie Maker, Make Me a Pie!

2011-08-09T08:04:00.007-04:00

Before I went away, we had a visit from Mary! So the cupcakers were united for a lovely afternoon on Jill's porch.

Jill planned a little project for us. Pie pin cushions - so cute!

**added on Friday: Pattern Credit should have been given to "Chitter Chatter Designs". Here is their website if you are interested in the pattern: Chitter Chatter

First step was to make circle that would fit our little tins. We made lattice topping with pre-sew strips.

Look at this handsome devil! It's Jill's new Golden-doodle, Carson. He is such a good boy and so friendly.

How luscious to sew on the porch. Here is susan doing a little machine work, so serious, lol.

I love this photo of us all doing our thing - I wish I could remember what was so funny!

Lunch break-

What a lovely simple lunch for a hot day - thanks again, Jill! Best pasta salad - ever.

Here are my watermelon decorated cupcakes on Jill's super cute cake stand. She has a wonderful collection of these. I just used colored frosting and mini-chocolate chips.

We made little muslin pouches to hold the walnut shells. You can see Jill cinching up hers. Before stuffing, we added a little gathered flute of fabric to represent crust.

Susan getting some serious Carson love -

Here is our best Country Living pose -

Just for fun - I picked this up at Bed, Bath and Beyond.
He is a "hub man". So now I can keep the ipod and both camera USBs plugged in. Look how happy he is to be helping me :)

I hope you have a fun day!

http://chitterchatterdesigns.com/

Dream Vacation

2011-08-06T06:18:00.000-04:00

** I interrupt this quilting blog for a travel post, quilting fun will resume as soon as possible**

I've finally finished working on my photos of my recent trip. I don't pretend to be a great photo journalist, it's more like, Oh! I should take a photo of this.

I get really caught up in what I'm doing and seeing, but here are some high points of my trip.

We're here! In Rome wait to go to the ship.

I must say again that the 4 year wait for this one was worth it!
The MS Noordam (we cruised on her 7 years ago in the Caribbean) is a lovely ship. Our home away from home.

The first sea day they had a tour of the kitchen, one of my favorite things. This is the Pasta kitchen - look at the size of those pots!

Fruit and vegetable carving - I love the photo food maps that are posted - everything is plated very beautifully.

Our first port; Dubrovnik, Croatia. We loved it.

We had a wine tasting here after our bike ride at a private winery.

We took a 5 mile bike ride to this Monastery. It was beautiful.

This is Ancient Olympia.
This cruise became knows as the "Hot Rocks Tour".

The original Olympic stadium - the original. The kids and I ran it for fun.

Andrew Zorba Dances at lunch

Beautiful Santorini. This a town called Oia.

It's hard to see, but this is the mule trail. There are 3 ways to get up and down to the port; cable car (our choice), walking, or riding a mule.

Turkey! I'm very excited to add Asia to my list of visited continents. Turkey is beautiful.

We visited Mary's Chapel. The Virgin Mary lived out her life here on a mountain top in this 3 room home. The 2 most recent Popes' have visited it.

Ephesus was my favorite place. The ruins (hot rocks) are incredible. Cleopatra walked the same marble streets. It was an incredible place.

My favorite; the library - remarkable!

You know you're not in Jersey when you see this guy...

A pretty display at the dessert extravaganza.

The Parthanon on the Acropolis (hotest rocks of all)

This temple with the Caryatids is my favorite thing here. Love those ladies.

Deck 3, Promenade deck was our meet up place in the late afternoon.

Hanna and I loved dressing for the formal nights. Hooray, she got to wear her graduation dress again. We look like salt and pepper shakers, lol.

This is a Clock Tower at the Cathedral in Messina, Italy. It is the largest mechanical perpetual clock in the world - It shows, day, time, year - but also the constellations, the phases of the moon, the biblical year, etc. It is incredible!

Thanks for visiting and taking the tour.

Whether you have been traveling or enjoy the summer at home, I hope it's been great. Now I'm ready for fall, how about you?

Quilting by the Sea

2011-08-03T07:48:00.000-04:00

Hello - and thank you all so much for your well wishes before I left!

I'm back, well sort of. It's hard to re-enter the reality atmosphere. Even when I engage my deflector shields, it hard not to get burned.

I keep going to the kitchen when I'm hungry and nothing is prepared....no matter how many times I leave my bedroom, that bed never gets made. I'm in denial, clearly.

I actually did a little stitching on this cruise. I usually take it and never do any.

Here we're sailing from Athens, Greece to Messina, Italy.

This was a great take along project, small and compact.

Here I am at one of my favorite spots: Deck 3, promenade deck. This where I head late in the afternoon after I've enough sun and fun for a little rest and relaxation.

Look at that concentration; have I mentioned I hate hand piecing?

This is why: wrong, barb - again!

I should stick to what I do best on holiday - celebrate my family!

I'm still working on my photos, but will be back before the weekend with "Barb's Top Ten" of my cruise.

I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone's projects. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and finding time for some sewing.

All My Bags are Packed (and my quilting too)

2011-07-18T06:48:00.000-04:00

Last week the Cupcakers, including Mary, got together for a little sew party and luncheon on Jill's porch.

When I return I'll tell you how this:

Became this:

After four years of saving, and many months of planning, we are finally on our way tomorrow!

We're flying off to Rome tomorrow then boarding a cruise ship and heading for: Croatia, Curfu, Santorini, (Greece), Turkey, Athens, and Messina (Italy).

I'll be taking my tumbler doll quilt to hand piece on the plane and on sea days when I'm not playing Bingo (obsession on cruises).

I must be strong today and drop coco off at a boarding facility in upstate New York. They have dog pools and open play and frozen yogurt. I must be strong.....

See you again in a couple of weeks! Until then, I hope you have fun!

Dog Day Afternoon

2011-07-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

Sorry, quilters, this one is all about my puppy; coco.

On the spur of the moment, we decided to visit the family farm in Illinois for the 3-day weekend of the Fourth of July. Quite a radical decision, since it's 850 miles away and takes 14 hours by car.

Three us drove and Two of us flew.

My FIL was an "Ad Man" in Chicago and purchased Illinois farm land about 35 years ago. It really has become his legacy. We are so grateful to have Pioneer Farm in our lives. Here are the living areas, which were built over many years.

Pioneer Farm -Main House

Loft House

Annex (garage with apartment)

It is a dog's heaven~ no leash, a pool, and lots of room to roam.

Here is coco's visit:

She learned to swim in the deep end

She learned to float

She learned to wait for us on walks

She inspected the tractor

She wandered through my MIL's prairie

She inspected the corn fields

She did an in-depth inspection of the flooded areas of the soy beans

She helped do the dishes

She enjoyed a bone in the front yard

She contemplated life on the front porch

Then she slept all the way home

I wonder if she thinks it was all a dream.

Good girl coco!

Catching Up

2011-07-08T11:57:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!

Just catching up on some of the things I've been up to while away for the Fourth of July.

Before I left, I won a great antique button give away from Sandra of Cumberland Island. She put the buttons in a stationery box. How cute is this? And it's one of my favorite subjects; birds :)

I love that it looks like a book!

It's magnetized, so it makes an excellent sewing project box. I love using stationery boxes this way.

I brought this little hand piecing project with me. I started it about 10 years ago. It was before I did paper piecing, which would be way, way easier.

It will be for my little antique dolly bed. I'm about half way there.

So it's back to marking and cutting new pieces. I'll be taking this on our cruise in about a week.

Yea, I finished the little baby quilt for my friend. I like the way it turned out. I like to do minimal quilting so it feels soft.

I just have my name on the label and my friend will fill in the baby info.

We had a great trip to our family farm in Illinois. Coco in particular had a great time being a country dog. I'll be back with photos next time.

Hope you are having a great summer and finding time for a little stitching!

A Sad, Glad Grad was Had

2011-06-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

Hanna's Graduation quilt "Tropical Breeze" revealed:

The quilting was fun to do and I love the look.

Here is the back. It's a new Kaffe fabric. Her childhood friend, Katie, has the same fabric on the back of her college quilt. How lucky that I was fabric shopping with Mary Pat in March so we could make this happen!

I tucked a $20.00 behind the label for a "pizza emergency" (beer).

The Sparrow.

As soon as I can figure out how, I'm going to add a Tab with a free pattern if you want to make your own version of this quilt.

It's been an incredible month for my Hanna. Here is a quick review:

Memorial Day Run - her first 10K race.

She attended senior prom:

She turned 18:

She and I went to Ohio for her College Orientation.

She attended her last day of High School:

She Graduated!! here with her proud dad.

A group of her high school friends:

I guess this was in lieu of a wave? Her brother was taking the photo.

It's been a tradition at her high school for over 100 years for the girls to wear white formal dresses and carry a dozen roses, while the boys were white jackets and black pants with a rose boutonniere.

It's usually held on the sports field, but alas, we had a flash flood and it was sort of thrown together on the hill in front of the school. This photo was taken standing on tippy toes and holding the camera as high as I could (Hanna last girl on the right). I mostly saw the back of the heads in front of me.

While it lacked the pomp and circumstance it usually offers, it happened without rain and summer has finally arrived!!

Have a great week!

Happy Summer!

2011-06-21T16:37:00.000-04:00

Thank You All So Much!
Just wanted to say thank you for all the wonderful comments you left for me about my Sparrow story.

I'm working on a baby quilt that I promised a friend a couple of months ago. It is for her first grandchild and the parents are in the Army, so I decided to use red, white and blue.

It's about 44" square, perfect for the car seat, the floor, the playpen, the stroller. This is the size I used most with my little ones.

It's being displayed on my Christmas gift, the pull down design wall. I love this!! It's hung over my sliding doors in the sewing room.

Here is the back.

I always try to have a secret stash of these in my sewing room. The kids kept raiding the carb drawer I would miss out.

There is a new treat in town! Skinny Cow (don't you love that name?) dreamy clusters. There are 6 of them and they are really yummy, small, but yummy. I try to take 2 bites per.

This arrived today - it just cracked me up. We do all the paying, she has all the fun. As it should be, I suppose.

Today was the big Butterfly Release 2011. Hanna received a butterfly kit when she was 4 or 5 years old. We've continued the tradition the past dozen years.

We had a good crowd on hand, including coco, who was quite interested in what was going to happen.

We turned it this way and that to try to get them to fly out

She had a real close encounter with this one -

We had four beautiful painted lady butterflies.

As usual they all flew out and headed straight for the neighboring yards, lol.

This is the look of bafflement and disappointment.

I hope you had it great First Day of Summer!
Graduation is Thursday, I can't wait.

The Sparrow Story

2011-06-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

Warning: this post is long and contains many photos - I hope you like my story, it's almost 20 years in the making.

It all started with a fat quarter pack that I picked up in 1996. It was at the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show and I was with my dear friend, Mary B. We were traveling and quilting together quite a bit at that time. I'm not sure how she'll feel about these photos from 2009, but I like them.

Here are the blocks I made with the FQs after adding in some other fabrics.

There is an odd assortment, like this one with spiders. Many have that weird gold embossing on them.

I was not sure what to do with the borders. I had only been quilting about 5 years, but I had attended a Gwen Marston retreat, so I was already thinking about how to create my own personal quilts.

While driving along one day listening to my favorite musician, Paul Simon, I heard the song "Sparrow". My mother, Cathy, had died in 1990 and was still grieving the loss of her. The words spoke to me and I decided to design the borders based on the song. (sorry the lighting isn't great on this)

I also like the Biblical references to the sparrow such as
Psalm 84:3
"Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine alters, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God"
and
Psalm 102:7
"I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top"

I've included the lyrics and psalm 84 on the back with the label.

I like the sparrow, she is humble and simple. I wish I was more that way.

I researched the lettering in the library. I sat on the floor and combed over many calligraphy and alphabet books. This is in the days before "fonts" on my computer. I settled on an 16th century Italian script alphabet.

I entered this quilt into the AQS show in Paducah and to my utter delight and surprise it was juried into the show in 1998.

I included the sparrow in a challenge for the Gwen Retreat the following year and my great friend, Mary, suggested that I include the sparrow in my quilts as a personal icon. And since I do everything Mary says, I have included it in many (not all) of my quilts.

Here are the some of the quilts where I have appliqued them:

This is on the back with a label.

I can't wait to see this one settled in her quilted nest.

Here are some that are quilted-

This one is in a coffin in my Moby Dick quilt - it's Queque's coffin. That quilt is another story...

Thank you to everyone that expressed their interest in this story, I hope you enjoyed it!

I'd also like to say a special thanks to coco, who watched all the quilt pulling and photography to make this post possible. Good Pup!

Bird in the Berry Tree

2011-06-08T14:46:00.000-04:00

Hi -
Here is the third and final challenge quilt of this year. It is for my guild, The Brownstone Quilter's show which will be this fall 11-11-11.

The challenge rules were this:

Circle was the theme and needed to be represented

You needed to use the challenge fabric, i used it for the branches

You needed to represent 11 somehow in the quilt

The quilt could not exceed 22 (2x 11) on any side.

I have 11 of each of the berry colors, which are also circles.

I quilted circles.

There is that sparrow again - I really do promise to tell the story soon.

Nothing too flashing on the back of this one.

Okay, I have a new man in my life. But it's okay, my husband bought him for me. I have a thing for vacuums. It's true, there, I said it.

They say the first step is acknowledging that you have a problem. Mine comes in the form of balls of brown dog fur. The solution; my new man.

I'm in love. I call him Dyson, isn't that dreamy?

As I've gotten older and softer, I find that I'm way more picky about undergarments than I used to be. I purchased some wonderful new undies and the tag said it all.

Thank you Warner - seriously, for the underwear and the tag. I love when life hands you what you need and makes you laugh out loud at the same time. (Kohl's, and don't forget your coupon.)

Playing in the Dirt

2011-06-01T11:08:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm late and I'm not done yet, but I've been working on this years garden plantings.

First, I'll give you a couple of sneak peeks at Hanna's college quilt. Can't reveal it until after graduation later this month.

What do I hate more than pinning? trimming! But I love this self-retracting blade of the Fons & Porter rotary cutter :)

Here are my practice pieces for machine quilting. I use scraps and then test the stitch every time I first start and after any needle or bobbin changes.

Seriously? After measuring.....seriously???

Okay on to the gardens. The white garden is getting some pink and blue this year. It's year 3 so the roses (and all the perennial plants) look great! This one has a sweet scent.

Peonies look and smell good too. The white bleeding heart is fading fast, but it was good this year.

The knock out roses took a hard hit with the ice storms and coco this past winter. She actually chewed on them over the winter - duh, why? I cut them all back except one, now I wish I had cut it back to - next year.

Just planted the area around this tree this morning - it's magenta coleus and mixed impatient.

I picked up this pre-planted hanging shade basket for $30. A little pricey, but I got a second basket at 1/2 off and this one is chocked full of great plants.

Hooray - after about a three year shock rest, this gigantic lime green hosta is looking great. Look at the pansy for a size comparison -

This is the garden I can see from the dining table in the family room. I think I may have something like 60-80 hostas. I haven't counted, but I did a rough estimate.

Leaving the yard on the side.

I didn't get a photo of the azaleas, which are hot pink, but the side yard looks good. I planted this from total scratch about 4 years ago. Me and home depot. The ivy is totally grown in now.

This is the back of the garage, and I wish it was a koi pond - I really do. It will get a shot of color in the next couple of days.
I like inserting pots of coleus and impatient in these shade beds. In the front of the photo there is a bleeding heart that self seeded and grew between rocks in the wall - a nice surprise.

Herb garden, waiting for more herbs.

These are my new pots for the front of the house. We destroyed 2 with the car this past winter in the garage. They are the light weight ones but I think they look like the real deal.

They have tall yellow daisy like flowers which better start producing again or they're out.

Thanks for coming on my garden tour! Have a great week.

Garden State Show Part 2

2011-05-27T06:54:00.000-04:00

I'm having a little trouble with Blogger which accounts for the delay.

Here are some other quilts from my guild's recent show-

This quilt has everything I love in a quilt! great colors, lots of movement and that lightening streak. Very fun Deb!

I love this pattern and since my husband and my son love sailing, I'd really like to make it one day -

Here is another one, this one is really small - no offense ladies, but the ribbon has impeded my view ;)

I found this quilt mesmerizing! I love the contrast of the colors.

An other great color and form study.

what a wonderful hex quilt - love it Barbie! and the quilting is fabulous.

And what a delight this piece is. It reminded me of a doll house. Very cute with the details.

Well, th th th that's all folks.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Garden State Quilters 2011 Show!

2011-05-23T08:57:00.000-04:00

Garden State Quilters put on quite a quilt show this past weekend!

As usual most of my favorite quilts to see and study are not chosen by the judges for ribbons. But they are real winners in my book!

Here are some of my favorites in no particular order - please, I'm lucky to get them uploaded and centered :)

Hooray! this is my cupcake friend, Susan's Lincoln Challenge quilt - isn't it awesome? I love it, Susan and congrats on the ribbon!

Wow - isn't this great? Love all that color

This is Barbie's version of a Bonnie Hunter quilt - it is beautiful!

I loved this modern, graphic quilt. I went back several times to look at it.

This is Debbie Krakowski's quilt: "Counting Crows" I was so busy admiring it I forgot to photograph the story card - doh! Love it, Debbie - great colors and technique.

This quilt just glowed with silk. So lovely!

This is Dawn's amazing quilt. It has won many ribbons and I've showed it before, but it deserves another look.

My good friend Lori's - I love this one! Congrats on the ribbon, Lori and a great show - again!

I was mezmerized by this beauty! Love it, Alicia!

This quilt was made by a reader that I met at the show - love your Baseball Quilt!

Another quilt by Susan McD - I love the setting.

I had several recent quilts in the show, and my Eagle quilt won a 2nd place ribbon. You've seen them so I'd rather show you my friends quilts.

I'll be back for part 2 soon. Have a great Monday.

Spring Quilt Festival

2011-05-15T11:32:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Amy at Amy's Creative Side, the Spring Quilt Festival is on! It is always fun to see what other quilters have been creating.

This spring I decided to show my guild, The Brownstone Quilters, raffle quilt. I re-designed Florence Peto's "Calico Garden" quilt. All the members of the guild helped to create the blocks for this quilt. Member, Cheryl did a stunning job quilting it.

The Brownstone Quilters is raffling this quilt during our quilt show which is 11-11-11 and 11-12-11. You can see all the quilt show information by clicking here.

Enjoy the Festival and thanks again, Amy.

B&W Revisited, Circles and Stems.

2011-05-14T10:34:00.000-04:00

Today I thought I'd share an older quilt. This is a challenge quilt that I made with my Wednesday group, the Needlers' years ago.

About 20 of us exchanged squares of Black and White fabrics. I decided to do a modern twist on a traditional block, Whig Rose, and here is the result.

I approached this challenge by first separting the fabric into these categories; mostly black, mostly white and 50/50. I used the mostly white for the background of the center block.

I used the mostly black for the stems and leaves.

I used the 50/50 pieces to make these hourglass blocks for the border.

Here you can see some of the machine quilting I did on this one. I have many little sparrows on this quilt. I add the sparrow to almost every quilt I make and I'll have to share the story with you someday.

Jill surprised me Monday night with this super cute new tote bag! I love it! The tape measure handles are my favorite part. Thanks Jill and Joann fabrics, I needed this!

And now a few words about stems. I was recently asked me how I applique' my skinny stems. Well, first I prepare them with the Clover 1/4" bias maker. But I think the real trick is in the prep. Isn't always?

I pin baste the stems into the placement I want.

Then I re-pin them horizontally with very fine pins. Then I machine sew baste them down, using a baste stitch. I'm sorry, I forgot to photograph this part (too anxious to start sewing :)

Happiness is appliqueing the stems without the pins. Here they are finished. I can not share the rest of this piece because it is a challenge for my Brownstone guild's upcoming quilt show in November.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly, The Garden State Quilters are having their bi-annual quilt show a week from Saturday!!
Click here for all the information. I hope you can come!

Northern Star Quilters Shine Again!

2011-05-06T06:19:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday!

Last Sunday I took a drive with my friend, Pauline, to Somers NY for the Annual, yes, Annual Northern Star Quilters Quilt Show. These ladies put a show on each and every year and I say hats off to them!

They hold it the weekend before Mother's Day, or the first weekend in May.

Here are some of my favorites:

Very pretty color scheme and wonderful quilting.

This is such a graphic and striking pattern, especially from a distance.

Beautiful feather quilting here

What a pretty basket quilt, I love the 2 sizes.

Yea, a selvage quilt!! I looks like she painted the letters on. So clever and super fun!

I love the sense (cents) of humor here, ha ha pun. She has affixed token of all kinds to her "token art quilt". So funny and well done.

There was also a display of several antique quilts, which was a treat. This is a great GFG, I think.

Of course, I love this nine patch beauty with the streak of lightening setting. Great fabric study!

This was a very happy and colorful quilt

As part of my Cinco de Mayo menu last night, I decided to try the Skinny Girl Margharita. I have a 2 word endorsement: Oh Yes!

Whether you are gardening, sewing or spending time with family or friends, I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.

**p.s. added after publishing:
Barbara Brackman did a post on my 2 recent Civil War themed projects. I was very honored, as she is the leading authority in all things related to Civil War era quilting . Click here to see it.

Crafts and Carnival Lunch

2011-05-03T06:45:00.005-04:00

Hooray! I was able to get together with the cupcake girls last week.

We made potholders! These are the potholders that I used to make as a girl. I still have my original red metal loom from the late 60's.

****After publication this morning, due to early interest, here is a website that carries good, sturdy looms and cotton loops for making these wonderful potholders. Have fun!**** http://www.kitkraft.biz/home.php?cat=214&gclid=CPacnuHoy6gCFaNd5QodDR3rpA

They are still my favorite potholders to use. They sit patiently atop a covered pot, have a nice grip for carrying pots and they also make great trivets.

We started with a little sustenance. Jill made these beautiful homemade lemon and poppy seed scones. They tasted as good as they looked.

Nothing pleases me more than a kitchen table covered with crafts.

Here is one that Susan was working on.

And one that I made.

This was my favorite on the day. Jill's potholder looks like a four patch.

For lunch I decided to make junk food. Hot Dogs with Saurkraut, Sweet Potato Waffle Fries and Root Beer Floats for dessert.

Carnival food is one of my favorite things. If it's sold out of a brightly colored wagon, I love it.

Coco exhausted herself by jumping all over the girls when they arrived and then stealing a tiny chocolate bunny from Jill. What a dogs life.

Still busy with 2 projects that I can't share yet. I did go to a local quilt show and I'll share the photos later this week.

Have a great week!

Easter Review

2011-04-27T06:33:00.000-04:00

I received the most wonderful thing in the world yesterday. An unexpected gift for no reason at all:

This is a little quilt that I admire at my friend, Mary B's, house every time I stay with her. There is just something about it that I love. Don't you?

This will give you an idea of how small and sweet it it. Here it is with my little scissors and my thimble.

On Sunday, Rich made his Danish pancakes, aebleskiver, as part of our Easter breakfast. They sort of look like eggs. I tried a new topping for mine this year, fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar - yum!

It was such a beautiful day, we decided to attend the New York City 5th Avenue Easter Parade. Here's a mad hatter:

A trio of sweet little ladies:

Here is my favorite - the house from the movie "Up" -

Check this one out - wow! You can see St. Patrick's Cathedral in the background. Unfortunately there was a mass and we couldn't fit inside to see the flowers this year. I never will get used to seeing TV screens down the aisle in a church.

We walked over to Rockefeller Center to see the flowers there.

And the skaters in their shorts - how fun!

On the way back to the car we saw this little soap shop called "Rain". All their products are made in Southern Africa. The displays were lovely. It looked like a candy store.

See you soon with an update on the quilting on my "Mother's Garden" quilt. I hope you are enjoying lovely weather where you are and pretty spring flowers!

Hip 2 B Square

2011-04-22T09:25:00.000-04:00

Happy (or somber) Good Friday!

I'm working on a college quilt for Hanna that I can't share yet. Instead, I decided to show you the college quilt that I made for my son, Andrew.

I think you'll notice right off, that this is not my usual style of quilt making, but I do love to make modern quilts too.

It is a free pieced square in a square. The fabrics were guitars, music, wild prints and black and whites.

Here is the back. Looks like a face book fabric.

I quilted simple wavy lines

I have a nephew, Nick, who is 6 weeks older than Andrew. The boys get together a couple times, as they live in Seattle. I inked this from a photo of boys taken at the family farm. They looked so funny wearing the wife-beater t-shirts and shades....

Here is another quilt that I made Andrew when we repainted his room. As you can see it is also free pieced and made of black, white and gray fabrics.

The back. I love this weird "eye ball" fabric.

This one I quilted with a different pattern in each area. It was a large quilt and took a lot of TV time to finish!

The label

And here is a quilt I made him on his "golden Birthday" He turned 7 on April 7th and it was also Easter Sunday (hence the 7 gold Easter eggs) It was an occasion that I thought deserved a special quilt!

Happy Easter Weekend Everyone! It was fun to share these older quits with you today.

Bunnies! and a cake

2011-04-20T10:52:00.000-04:00

A tour of the bunnies living in and around my place.

On the hall table under the carrot tree. I made these bunnies years ago.

Here is a close up -

The Living Room mantel. A little more is more theory going on

A few of my vintage and antique post cards

Hooray! I won these oil lamps at the recent retreat in the white elephant. The best part? They were my friend, Margaret's. Love them!

Bunnies under glasss-

The family room mantel including 3 old beenie bunnies-

Bunnies in the front step patch.

Funny folk art bunny and wagon that I picked up at a garage sale last year with one of the several pots of pansies around here - love those sweet pansies!

Best Cake - It is the Orange Crunch Cake from the Bubble Room in Captiva Florida. I made it for Andrew's birthday recently. Click here for the recipe. The only thing I changed was that I made home made butter cream frosting instead of the chemical loaded tub of flavored lard (not a fan).

I'm working on a secret quilt project for the Miami of Ohio bound college girl. Next post I'll share the 2 most recent quilts I made for Andrew. I think you may be surprised.