All Kinds of Goodies in Today's Mail & Other Stuff

Look what I received in today's mail.  My Itty Bitty Swap Gift!

It is a Notions Purse, Needle Book and Thread Catcher made from a fat quarter of Moda fabric designed by April Cornell from the Portugal Collection! 

I have had 3 fat quarters from this collection for quite awhile, 

but I never could figure out what to make with it.

This will be great to take with me on trips or doctor's visits and etc. I can take my Redwork in it and have a place to store my needles, embroidery thread, thimble and a place to discard the end pieces of my embroidery thread. 

Look what else came in today's mail. A Bunny Hill Designs Pumpkin Pie Pattern! It is a gift from Quilt n' Queen from the Quilters Gallery Blog Hop Party! 

Somehow I missed her email messages telling me I was a winner. How cute is this!

The last and final  package was a darning foot that I had ordered but unfortunately it is broken so I am hoping the vendor will replace it. It was an ebay purchase.

I am celebrating a Finish!

I finished the silk pillows for my son. David had given me a silk drapery panel last August so I told him I would make him pillows with it since the color didn't work in my house. The best I can describe this fabric color is that it is olive green with silver gray. Fortunately, Mary Jo's Cloth Store had a trim that matched perfectly.

They have a wide selection of decorative trim but there were only two out of all this that would have worked well color wise with these pillows.

Mary Jo's Cloth Store Has a Phenomenal Selection of Cotton Fabric!

Of course I had to touch and feel all the quilting fabric. Here is a picture that represents only a fraction of it. Would you believe that this visit lasted several hours?

Morning Began and . . . .

it is almost time for bed. Where did my day go? I started off by taking two pictures for this post preparing to sit down and write in my blog when my husband popped his head in asking me to help him. I could hardly not disagree since he drove home from Raleigh leaving 4:00 a.m. to come home to Charlotte  bringing a 50" flat screen television given to us by David, youngest son. Can you imagine how tickled we were when David told us he was giving us this flat screen?

We  had to carry this monstrous and heavy thing up a flight of stairs causing our hearts to beat hard and fast, taking time out for a few breathers! Next order of business was to rearrange  furniture so we could position the flat screen in place and scoot another heavy piece of furniture down the hall so the flat screen had something large enough to sit on. After getting all in place we then decided to haul the extra TVs, one from the bonus room and one from the guest bedroom down a flight of stairs and into the SUV to donate to Goodwill.

Once everything was settled I could now focus on the financial reports, preparing the deposit and others tasks having deadlines - I work at home - which if I haven't stated earlier  - I love, love, love working at home for a wonderful ministry that helps pregnancy centers throughout NC.

At 1:00 p.m. I had to rush to take a shower for an appointment hubby and I had with a local group home.  Once that was completed we ran errands - bank, post office and grocery store. It is now closing in on dinner time and of course we are going to have to eat our meal in front of our brand new flat screen. I picked up my redwork project and would you believe I actually fell asleep with my needle in my hand and hoop on my lap.

Now that  I am refreshed from my short nap I thought I would finish what I began early this morning by posting pictures of my most recent projects.

This is one of 8 or more, I haven't actually counted the number of winter scenes in the Redwork Quilt I am preparing to make. It is the smallest of all of them. Isn't my twitter sitting on his pine cone with snow falling adorable? Next scene I am working on is the large whimsical snowman with the twitters all about him with snow falling in the background.

Do you like the nifty postage stamp border around the twitter scene? Last evening I happened to come across Clover Lane's blog about making banners for blogs and etc., and learned some new things about how to use Picasa and pic nic to jazz up photos. Sad is that Picnik will not be available after April of this year, just about the time I found a free website where you can do some creative things with photos. Anyone know of any other freebies that will do the same?

This weekend I was focusing on my WIP/UFO and New Project 2012 Challenge. The first order of business was to make the pillows that I had promised David I would make from a silk drapery panel from Restoration Hardware. I have been procrastinating and decided it needed to be done now!

Fortunately, I was brilliant enough to cut the pillow panels using pinking shears. Anyone ever work with silk? It frays easily. There was fuzz everywhere. I covered each of the pillow forms with the lining from the drapery panel and wrapped the each pillow form with more batting to give the pillows more body. I made a quick trip to Hancock Fabrics looking for the perfect trim for the pillows. I was not successful since I forgot to bring a swatch of fabric with me. The clerk was kind enough to cut me a sample to take home with me. There were too many shades of green and decided it was best to come back. Actually, Hancocks has a limited selection so now that gives me good reason to make a trip to Mary Jo's Fabric Store, a huge warehouse of the most wonderful fabric, trims and etc.

Now I know this picture isn't the most exciting since it is not a completed project. BUT it is important that it is in the works of being completed. So Tah Dah! so far.

There is a page describing Eons Quilters Passion's Quilting Resolution and Challenge UFO/WIP Challenge going on at Eons Quilters Passion Group.  Check out my 2012 goals.

I am looking forward to what tomorrow will bring!
Good evening, I am going to hit the feathers.

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He know how we are formed." - Psalm 103:13-14

Craftsy Block of the Month - Chocolate and Turquoise

Fun, fast and easy! Amy Gibson demonstrated via video the Craftsy January Blocks of the Month - The Asterik and the Wonky Pound Sign. Here are my rendition of them using fat quarters from my local quilt shop. Each block is 12 1/2" square.

I started my morning by working on my first Redwork Winter Twitterings Block by a cozy fire. It was too cold to do anything else. He is such a cutie - don't you think? The quilt pattern has various whimsical pictures of different sizes. Now I have something to work on while sitting in front to the television. I just need to keep my hands busy!

I added a couple of beads to jazz up the prairie points!

Stay warm!

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; 

I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8

My Week in Pictures

Jan's FMQ Challenge with Embellishments

January's Free Motion Quilting 2012 Challenge with embellishments - folded star with beads and prairie points with decorative stitching and one that is lined.

An evening with my family! It was great fun and wonderful food last Friday. 

Beginning on the left side:

• Tyler - oldest grandson
• Parker - youngest grandson
• David - youngest son
• Caleb - middle grandson
• Mindy - Ty's girlfriend
• Ty - my oldest son
• Joanie (me)

I traveled to Raleigh to spend a few days with my family. Thursday David and I ate dinner at the same restaurant above where we shared Chicken Parmesan and Sea Bisque at Bruno's Italian Steakhouse and Seafood. On the house was an order of shrimp and grits and a chocolate martini.

Friday David and I shopped and picked up a few items. I purchased buttons and thread so I could repair his slacks. Friday evening was a planned get together with the family at Bruno's. Appetizers - Classic Oysters Rockefeller, Black/White Sesame Crusted Tuna, Shrimp Scampi and Clams Casino. Dinner - Kobe Steak, which is not on the menu, with mashed potatoes and green beans. Dessert - Chocolate Martini. My sons threw out the red carpet for my visit. Wow!

David and Caleb

Saturday, David, Mindy and I drove to Wilson, NC to visit Nowell's Antiques and Furniture Store. Lunch was at Chilis. We dropped Mindy off at the mall and David and I returned each taking a nap to regroup for an evening at Ty's. Below are pictures playing a competitive game of Catch Phrase.

Parker and Lauren High Fiving During Catch Phrase

David's mountain high of slacks needing repaired. 

I did get them finished in between all the family and shopping events.

David's table became my workspace while working on his slacks.

Before leaving for my long weekend with my family my sewing studio turned into an office/mail room. I mad dashed to complete the mailing before deadline.

I added more pictures to pinterest, well let's say a ton more pictures.
This is getting addictive! Check out my pictures!

Free Motion Quilting Challenge & Heart Quilt Has Borders!

Second Heart Shape Trailing Leaves

 
I have done two samples of the Heart Shaped Trailing Leaves. I used the same fabric on both. The difference in color is the exposure. Frances Moore did the presentation. You can view the video by clicking on the Free Motion Quilting icon being held by SewCalGal. Frances suggested that we draw our design first before FMQ. I have a sketch book where I will be keeping a journal on the FMQ designs and any notes that each presenter will offer. It will be handy to pick up when preparing to FMQ a quilt.

First Sample of Heart Shaped Trailing Leaves FMQ Motif

Other differences between my two samples are the color of thread used and the type of darning foot used. The one above I used an open toed foot that does not hop. The stitches were more to the inch and did not glide quite as well as with the hopping darning foot that was closed and smaller. I used Mettler 100% Poly Sheen thread #40 on the top and a #50 Star white cotton in the bobbin. I used a size 16 needle. The larger needle made the back stitching look better. I also placed a magic bobbin washer in the bobbin case to cause more resistance. I was fortunate to win a pair of "GrabARoos" gloves at the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild's December meeting. They were wonderful for keeping a grip on the fabric. I used a Free Motion Supreme Slider as well.

The other difference between the two samples is the spacing of my Trailing Leaves. The second one is more open and has larger motifs and the first one is the opposite. I had gone back to review the video and realized that I filled in more space than what Frances Moore did in her video. I like both and will most likely will use the tighter leaf background for the quilt I will be making out of my samples. I will be adding decorative touches to each one. Each section will be a different size. This will be the largest section which is 12.5" x 16.25 inches. This will be a quilt as you go project and the end result will be a wall hanging 42" x 24." I am using Nature-Fil Bamboo batting.


Do you pile your quilts on your bed during cold spells? I do!  I crawl in bed and proclaim to my hubby, "I love my quilts!" There is something special about being under the weight of them and seeing all the colors and various block designs. Fortunately, the weather has been cooperating so that I can have several quilts piled on high, but it isn't going to last. Today it was in the 60s.  Is this winter? The closest to winter I am going to get is looking at this winter picture for awhile.

 I am looking forward to my RedWork Book that should be arriving in the mail in a day or two which happens to be winter scenes. The snowmen designs are so cute! It has been many years since I last did any embroidery work.

Friendship Heart Quilt

This evening after eating Chinese, hubby was so sweet to pick up dinner on the way home from work, I completed adding borders to my friendship heart quilt.  It would be nice to have it finished by Valentines Day.  

While working on it  I watched a couple episodes of "The Quilt Show". The  guest on the first show was Camille Ross Kelly. I love her wonderful fabric that she has designed, especially Ruby and Vintage Modern both in colors of red and aqua. It is quite yummy and fresh looking!


The second show featured Susan Cleveland who has won many awards for her quilts. Her demonstrations were about mitering corners on blocks in a manner that gives great appeal. She also makes these fantabulous prairie points! 


Good night all! It has been a full day and I am looking forward to crawling under the quilts!
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, 
that we should be called children of God! 
And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1