Quilter Jan

Rainy Day Quilts

2012-01-25T08:44:00.004-06:00

It's raining here in North Texas and that makes most of us happy, I think, because it is enough rain to start filling up the lakes again. Nice day to stay in and quilt or read a book---I have some cleaning done already, so I'm going to quilt and later on read a book!!!

Have two quilts to show you this morning--I need to make a trip to McKinney to the drop off quilt store----Happiness is Quilting, have quite a pile accumulating!

The first one I called Polka Dot Raggedy Ann and Andy. It is a Yellow Brick Road.

The second one is a Drunkard's Path set into circles. I had never done a Drunkard's Path before and wanted to try one. I cut it out on the Accuquilt GO! and what a difference that made! The cut fabric was perfect and there was even a notch cut out of each middle on both pieces to line up the pieces. I'm not affiliated with the company at all, just a satisfied customer!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Here We Go to Project Linus

2012-01-11T12:21:00.008-06:00

The first picture is a PL quilt that I called Flame Thrower. It has race cars on one fabric and flames from a race car on another fabric. Made me think of those fast race cars (whatever they are called) that shoot out flames as they put their petal to the metal! This is a bigger size Yellow Brick Road.

The next picture shows one I saw on the wall at the quilt store in Arlington, "Quilt Among Friends". They had run out of patterns, but still had the fabric.. So they let me take a picture and I bought the fabric and tried to copy the pattern. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I called it "Pretty Burgundy Flowers."

The last two pictures show the BOM Chirpy Birds that I did last year all put together with a close up of the February block. The picture is very light and I hope you can see it better when you enlarge it. It was a very fun series to do. The last link is here and will link you back to the rest of the series. Thanks to Little Miss Shabby. This one I am keeping for myself!

Hope you are enjoying nice weather where ever you are. It is nice here, but cold is coming! Such a mild winter we have been having!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Happy New Year!

2012-01-04T16:37:00.008-06:00

Starting the New Year out right with some Project Linus quilts and an afghan.

The afghan is again a variegated pink, yellow and lavender mix.It reminded me of the song from "Fiddler on the Roof:" "Sunrise, Sunset" for some reason, so that's what I called it. Guess I'm getting melancholy this time of a new year starting and our grandkids are growing up so fast!

The next one has what I call "Starfish" so I called it "Did you Catch Anything?" Love those "Starfish."

The third one is called "Lime Green John Deere." and the fourth one is called Double Wonky Pinwheels." If you look real close or enlarge the picture you will see the Double Pinwheels. They were a bit fussy to do, but they turned out fun looking.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Drawing for Post 500!

2011-12-27T12:30:00.003-06:00

EDIT: This drawing is closed. I used a random number calculator:

This program will generate a random number between two numbers
of your choice.
Enter a lower limit: 1
Enter an upper limit: 23

Random Number: 8

And the WINNER IS: ALLIE

Congratulations Allie! If you will send me you addy, I will get your jelly roll in the mail to you

Well, I'm one post early, since this is really number 499, but I couldn't wait, because I'm excited, so here goes.

This is the prize for my 500th post drawing: a Jelly Roll of Dandelion Girl from Fig Tree Quilts!

The colors are muted yellows and greens with some bright spots of muted red roses and blue flowers and yellow roses, with muted green leaves. It is very pretty, IMHO and somewhat hard to describe!

Please spread the word around about my drawing! I'm sorry I don't know how to put a link on the side with a picture to copy. But you can cut and paste and do a hyperlink, I think and get a link that way.

To enter the drawing, leave a comment on what quilting goal you have set for yourself this year: I know I want to learn to do a scalloped edge quilt. What have you wanted to do or learn to do, but have been putting off?

Be sure you have an e-mail, so I can reach you (if you don't have a way for me to reach you then you won't be in the drawing, sorry) and no anonymous comments will be added to the drawing. The drawing will close at midnight on Saturday, December 31 , 2011. I will draw on New Year's Day, January 1, 2012 sometime in the morning.

Good luck to everyone!

My hubby, Maynard and I had the terrible flu that seems to be going around, over the Christmas holiday, so didn't get to go anywhere and didn't get to go see the grandboys in Austin. But we are on the mend now and will go see them soon, after we both gain our strength back!

Hope everyone's holidays were happy ones and Happy New Year!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

GREETINGS!

2011-12-23T11:40:00.001-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Not a Creature was stirring not even ........

2011-12-16T14:21:00.004-06:00

four mice!!!!!! These little mice are so much fun to make and then give away! Everyone loves them because they are so little, I think! The pattern/tutorial is on Polka Dot Pineapple. They are a bit fussy to make, but always turn out so cute!

Do you have snow yet in your part of the country? No snow here, but some much-needed rain! We showed 3" in our rain gauge since last week, so we are very happy about that.

Coming up on 500 posts since July of 2007 for my blog---can hardly believe it, think I will have a drawing on that day -- whatever day it turns out to be---I'll leave you in suspense---have to think of something good!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Brrrr! Winter has Arrived!

2011-12-07T09:38:00.006-06:00

It's a cold day in North Texas, but a good day to stay in and quilt or crochet. I've been working on the blocks of a BOM from The Quilt Company called "Little Red Barns" and have almost 2 blocks finished. I'm behind on every one of my BOMs and hope maybe I can get caught up before the end of the year, although it's not looking good!

"Look Ma, Polka Dots" is a quilt for Project Linus. Also, here is a picture of the snow people wall hanging I made for Debi for Christmas this year. I gave it to her already, so now I can show it!

And the first picture shows one of the princess pillows I made for the grandgirls for a surprise for when we visit in January for Ilena's birthday!

We had a wonderful Christmas party at the quilt store in Arlington called, "Quilt Among Friends" last Saturday. Lots of sewing and gabbing, and eating and games with prizes. It was so much fun getting to know some new members! Got to meet Julie from the blog Julie K Quilts. Such a nice thing to meet her! Thanks Debi for planning another great party! Debi's new 9 week old grandson Reed even made an appearance!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus Quilts Again

2011-11-23T08:23:00.006-06:00

Three more quilts ready to go to the pick-up place for Project Linus. Because the kids in the squares are showing off braces and teeth, I named this first one after the old commercial (Look Ma, no cavities)...."Look Ma, Polka Dots."

The second one is named after Trix cereal because it is bright colors and reminded me of Trix! I called it "Yellow Trix."

The third one is called Blue Yonder. It's a Log Cabin from a layer cake. Those are fun ones to do because you use every bit of fabric in the layer cake!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday of the year! Remember to think of at least one thing you are thankful for!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

What I've been working on........

2011-11-16T10:29:00.002-06:00

Sorry to have been neglecting my blog lately, but I have been working on a Christmas present and couldn't show it here because "someone" might see it!

So here is something I have been working on, too. A magnolia flower embroidery set off with little one inch squares. I have all the little one inch square alternate blocks done, but still have at least half of the 40 flower blocks to go. I am using Sulky Blendables thread and it is great! The flowers are fun to do. I have made a couple of Project Linus quilt tops, too and need to get them quilted---that's the part I tend to put off! Maynard's been too busy to help me out on the PL quilts, so I have been quilting them on the Bernina. I've grown afraid of the Little Gracie Pro II for some reason and don't like to quilt on it----afraid I will mess it up. But the Bernina works great for quilting the smaller quilts.

Also in the middle of putting together a quilt from the "Farm Fresh" line of fabric. Maybe can show that one soon!

We have been getting some "teases" of rain here. How about in your part of the country?

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Good Monday Morning!

2011-11-07T08:42:00.004-06:00

It's Monday morning and I decided to take a break from my cleaning chores and take a break. I only have one quilt to show this morning. It was already to quilt and was donated by my lovely friends at Quilt Mercantile Quilt Shop. Isn't it a cute one. Everyone seems to come up with such different ideas for alphabet panels---so much fun to see what they include! Some little boy or girl will enjoy this one through Project Linus.

Supposed to get rain for next couple of days. Hopefully get enough to help with drought a little bit. The lakes are so down. Good weather to snuggle down and work on quilts!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Friday Afternoon Quilts

2011-10-28T17:01:00.008-05:00

It's a beautiful, although chilly afternoon here in North Texas---just the right temperature to do some quilting. You can pretend you haven't got a care in the world and you don't have to cook supper or empty the dishwasher or any of those "do every day chores" and just sit and quilt!!! But soon the clock catches up with you and there you go! Ah well, it's still been a lovely afternoon! And I finished off 5 quilts and an afghan for Project Linus! I just had the binding to do on them, but my machine has been at the shop for it's annual cleaning and just got back yesterday evening. None of my other machines have needle up and down on them and I am truly spoiled to have that and miss it when I don't have it, so didn't set up any of my other machines in the Bernina's absence.

Anybody know why Blogspot is putting in the extra spaces after each paragraph?????

These quilts are all different sizes and cover a range of sizes this time. The pictures are above!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Monday Quilts

2011-10-17T13:36:00.005-05:00

Three more quilts ready to go to kids in need somewhere. This time I jumped out of the box of Yellow Brick Road, only did one with that pattern) and did 2 different patterns. The first one is Warm Wishes. This is one of the first patterns that Quiltmaker magazine published for the Project Linus projects in 2000. Then every year since then they have written a pattern for Project Linus. They are very cute patterns.

The second one is one that I tore my hair out over, so I'm not going to share the pattern because it was wrong. I didn't even keep it and can't remember the name of it. I did get it figured out though. Sorry the color is so bad---there is supposed to be a gold star in the center, but the camera didn't like that color.

The third one is the good old stand by---Yellow Brick Road in polka dots.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

New Member of the Family

2011-10-12T08:08:00.006-05:00

We have a new member of our family----a seven year old Llhaso Apso dog named Chloe. We got her at the no-kill shelter in Carrollton. She is a special needs dog and needs meds every day. She is a sweetie and already housebroken and comes when she is called (most of the time!!!) We are glad we got her and she thanks us daily with lots of love and licks!!!!

The other pictures are quilts that I am sending to Project Linus. One is called Doggies in the Park and is a Yellow Brick Road pattern. The other is a Clermont Farms charm pack+ and is a Chinese Coins pattern. I did it at retreat. A good charm pack pattern, if you are looking for one!

We are finally having nice fall weather and even a bit of rain----such a welcome change to this part of the world!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Retreat!

2011-10-05T09:21:00.007-05:00

We went on a retreat and it was so much fun. Got a lot done. There were only three of us and for awhile there were only two! Debi's grandson made his appearance on Friday and she didn't arrive until 8:00 pm. Congratulations to the new Mommy and Daddy and the new Grandma! All are well and doing fine!

I worked on my flower quilt alternate blocks until I ran out of fabric and had to put it aside. So then I decided to work on the embroidered flowers and also on some Yellow Brick Roads and a small Chinese Coins made with Clermont Farms line of fabric---I really like that line of fabric and it turned out quite nicely. I have one more border to put on that---had to purchase the fabric!

The pictures show first, Marje's "Witch Is In" wall hanging-----------she liked it so much that she made two of them!!! Second, Marje working and third Debi working. We went to the Quilting Gals retreat house in Azle, Texas. Nice place and very reasonable.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Fall is here--I wonder where the coolness is?

2011-09-23T11:24:00.006-05:00

It really is fall according to the calendar, but still getting temps in the high to middle 90s. Although some days it teases us and is in the 80s. Boy, that sure is nice. We even had a couple of rain showers to let us know what rain feels like again! Need a couple of days of nothing but rain and we might start filling up the lakes and reservoirs again! Be good to get this whole summer behind us!!!!

I made two more quilts for Project Linus---the first one is called "Marching 4 Patches" I don't remember just where this pattern came from, but it was fun to do.

The next one is a Yellow Brick Road from Fabrics that my BFF, Debi gave me (thanks Debi!) and I call it "Sunny Days are Here" I really like the fabrics--they remind me of the "Origins" (Basic Grey) line that Debi likes so well.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Lots of Quilts!

2011-09-14T16:49:00.008-05:00

Doing Yellow Brick Roads and other patterns assembly line style yields a lot of quilts all at once. Therefore, I have lots of quilts to show you today!

The first one is not a Project Linus quilt, but the rest are. This first one was one I started back in 2008 and am just finishing now. I tried to quilt it by hand since I had pieced it by hand, but ended up taking out the quilting. I tried to be very careful, but ended up stretching it. So the only thing we could do was to put it on the big quilting machine to "coax" it into shape. And it turned out pretty good.

The next quilt is called "Window Kitties" and is one of four that are that pattern---they only differ with the last border, so I only posted one picture. This was a pack of 5 yards of material and I was able to get four quilts out of it. Picked it up at the Dallas Quilt Show.

The next happy, bright one is named "Lucky Charms." It has ladybugs on it and is my favorite because it is so bright!

Next is a western theme that I hope some little boy will like. I try to find things for boys and sometimes that is hard to do. We called it "Boot Scootin' Again."

The next quilt has a theme is color crayons, so we named it "Color Me Happy." I had help naming some of these because I was at retreat when I made the Yellow Brick Roads and my fellow quilters were helping name them! What fun!

The last one is a bigger one and is one of the 5-yard quilt kits. I called it "Pink Peonies."

Nice weather today---it is cloudy and temp has not gotten above 95 here--hurrah!!!Maybe the hot spell has broken for awhile!

Thanks for stopping by!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Chicken Quilt for Grandsons!

2011-09-03T15:26:00.004-05:00

This is the chicken quilt done from the Buggy Barn pattern that I think I probably showed before, but this time it is all finished! The grandboys, Evan , who will be 8 tomorrow and Nathan, 4 had three chickens----but, alas, one succumbed to the terrible 112 degree heat of last week in Austin. So just two in the coop and free ranging now. Hopefully this heat will end soon and the stress will be off.

Had fun yesterday with a friend from Sit and Sew group, Ruby. We went to the Grand Opening of the new JoAnn's Super Store in a town near here. It was crowded, but lots of fun to look at everything. Lots and lots of fabric and other things you didn't know you needed till you saw it!! HA! HA! I got more backing fabrics for the Project Linus quilts on sale which is the way I like it! We had lots of fun discussing things we'd like to do this and that! Thanks for a fun time, Ruby!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Back From a Fun Retreat!

2011-08-26T12:32:00.006-05:00

Spent the last 3 days at a very fun retreat with the girls from my Sit and Sew group. We laughed and sewed and ate and laughed some more! Very much fun indeed! I managed to get quite a lot of little things done-----one more block ready to embroider in my BOM "Leanne's House", 3 Yellow Brick Roads tops for Project Linus and a 5-yard quilt top using a new pattern. The pattern was just called 5 yard quilt pattern and was kind of hard to follow, but I muddled through. I'll show you each of these as I have them quilted and ready to go.

The pictures show some of the quilts that some of the gals did---sorry I did not get pictures of everyone's quilts. But there was quite a lot of sewing going on!

A fun time was had by all and we were planning our next one before we left this one!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

It's Too HOT!

2011-08-19T15:53:00.007-05:00

My thermometer says 111 degrees in the shade. Don't know what the official temperature is, but I know it is HOT! The Air Conditioner is trying hard to keep the temperature down and so it is relatively comfortable in here. But it's so hot the dog doesn't even want to go outside!!!! Can't say that I blame him---he is black and comes in from being outside so hot! He doesn't stay out any longer than he has to!!!

Made these 3 quilts for Project Linus.....three are Yellow Brick Roads and one is a Big Pinwheels pattern.

Try to stay cool wherever you are----or maybe you are having nice weather now----I hope so!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Dance Ballerina!

2011-08-17T10:38:00.003-05:00

I made this from a panel. The litte girl is so sweet. She needs someone to help her tie her shoes in the first pictures and in the second set of pictures, she is already to go! Hope some little girl will love this! The color is really pink, not orange as the camera shows---my camera is off color for some reason and we can't seem to fix it---too hot to try to go outside to take a picture!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Grandkids Pictures!

2011-08-11T20:55:00.007-05:00

First one shows Isabel and Ilena getting ready to play "Pinkalicious" Scrabble on the "Scrabble" Quilt that Maynard and I made for them. It really was fun---We played the Junior version and had a good time. Amy reports that they have even used it for Sunday School and had good reports on it from there, too!! Always nice to hear that quilts are being used!!!!

Second picture shows the girls with the little quilts I made using their pictures they had drawn for me as patterns. They understood the concept and thought they were really neat. Ilena asked if I put seeds in the ground like she did---I hadn't seen that part, so we had to add those with a marker.

Last, but certainly not least, is the picture of Ilena and Isabel wearing the t-top dresses that BFF Debi made for the them. Didn't Debi do a wonderful job---they loved these and didn't want to take them off, so I knew they were comfortable, too!
Thanks again to Debi!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Miscellaneous Quilts...............

2011-08-10T20:47:00.006-05:00

First two quilts are for Project Linus and the first one is called "The Electric Blue Chicken." I didn't realize that the color blue I had picked out was so bright until I was actually sewing them up. Hoping that some kid will think it's cute!

The second quilt I called simply "Fall Leaves." It reminds me of Fall. Oh, that it would be fall and all this hot weather would be behind us!. Just a few more weeks to go and my wish will come true!

The last two pictures show one quilt---right-side up and wrong side up, guess you pick which ever side you want to be the right side! This was a Karen Combs pattern. I didn't pick the colors with enough contrast for the yellow one, so it doesn't show up as well as the others. It was easy enough to piece, but my color choosing could have been a bit better, I think!

Going to the Plano, Texas Quilt Show with BFF Debi on Friday. Should be fun to see the quilts and the vendors-I hope there are some good ones!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Back from Vacation.....

2011-08-05T14:42:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful vacation away from the triple digit heat into 90 degree heat and humidity. But we were able to stay in most of the time, so that was a good thing! The pictures show face paintings: Isabel with a kitty, and Ilena with a puppy. This was at a camp carnival that we attended. What fun---it was hot, so everyone drank plenty of water! The kids didn't care about the heat!

It's always fun with the girls and their parents. We played Scrabble on the new Scrabble quilt that we made them. This was Pinkalicious Scrabble---I guess that made it better??? They loved the little quilts I made them that I had used their pictures as the patterns for the quilts.

It was fun to go and visit, but it is good to be home,isn't that always the way it is?!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Chickens Quilt Top Finished!

2011-07-20T13:52:00.006-05:00

The Chickens from Buggy Barn are finished as a quilt top and now are ready to be quilted. My multi-talented husband will do that job on our Little Gracie Pro II with Juki machine. He does such a good job, when he has time. The outdoor jobs are taking a lot time this summer, so he's not getting many minutes on the machine. It's so dry and no rain, so he's trying to keep everything alive with watering them.

I feel so sorry for the people in the mid-west---they don't all have the air-conditioning, I don't think like we do in the South. They were talking about Heat Indices in the 120+. That is awful. Hope it will end soon. Our temps here in Northern Texas have been 100+ for many days now and we need rain so badly. Heat Indices in the 100 - 105+ range. Maybe higher!

Hope you can stay in where it is cool!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Electric Blue Chicken

2011-07-14T13:26:00.004-05:00

Here is the Electric Blue Chicken and Friends. This is still just the top and needs to be quilted yet. These chickens were done with the pattern from Buggy Barn from the book called "Certifiably Crazy." Once I caught on to what we were doing, I was fine, but it took awhile to wrap my head around it. Out of the box for me!!! But now they are going right along. I did eight for this quilt and will do 8 with stars and 8 with hearts for the quilt for me. Yes, I'm going to keep one for myself and add it to my room that is overflowing with barn and chicken quilts! What fun!

Is everyone having this terrible heat? We keep hearing about the Northeast having temperatures as bad as we are having here in Texas---Is that old saying true then? If you have a bad winter, then you will have a bad summer. Seems to be holding true here.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Buggy Barn Chicks

2011-07-07T15:44:00.003-05:00

This was way out of my box, probably into the next county---but I had to give these chicks a try because they are so cute..............so here are the first two "practice"ones that I made yesterday and today----they took me awhile to figure out, but I think I finally got it!!! YEAH!!!!! This was definitely a different way to do blocks, but it was fun after I figured it out and I'm still not sure I'm doing it just right!! LOL! I used scraps from my stash to do these first blocks as practice blocks.

The pattern is a Buggy Barn pattern and is called "Barn Chicks" and is in the book "Certifiably Crazy." Don't know how many practice blocks I'll do------maybe a couple more so I feel very comfortable with the pattern.

Our heat wave is still with us---our outdoor thermometer has been getting up to 105 degrees every day for the past week now----------just plain too hot, even with the A/C running, IMHO!!! LOL! The weatherman says no rain in sight, except a couple days of a 10% chance of scattered showers!!

Everyone stay cool, if you are in a hot place, too!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

New Adventure in Quilting!

2011-07-04T16:14:00.005-05:00

Tried something new this week and it was fun! The grandgirls had sent us pictures that they had drawn and I decided to try to make mini quilts out of them It was an adventure and fun at the same time. I used their pictures as patterns and there you go..................

The top picture shows Ilena's picture. She is 5 years old and drew a picture of a rain storm with raindrops and all and a rainbow----that was quite a challenge, I used a quilt stencil for the baptist fan for the rainbow. It worked quite well!

The second picture shows Isabel's "quilt" picture. She is 8 years old. Her Art teacher got them started making "quilts" by just drawing a grid for them. Some I made into 2.5" squares. Others are 3.5 x 4.5" rectangles. Some I had to add to to make them the right size---I just played with them until they were right. I used all bright and happy colors. This one was lots of fun to do!

Hope you all had a Happy Fourth of July and remembered the soldiers that give of themselves in service to this country that we can remain free! Thanks to all of them!

Let quilting help you give someone a smile!

Jan

2011-06-29T13:06:00.005-05:00

Two new ones for Project Linus-------------two that were very fun to do. As always, Yellow Brick Road is fun . This time with batiks and my pile went down a little bit. Somehow I had built up a drawer full of batiks---they are nice to have, but I'm not used to using them in my quilts. I do like the way the 2 of these quilts turned out though.

The first one is Batik Pinwheels. This is a neat pattern from Fons and Porter that is really fun to do and easy, even though it looks hard. I'm sure it's in one of their books or magazines somewhere, but I got it from a magazine flyer that came free in the mail. They called it Pointy Pinwheels.

The second one is Batik Bright. I thought these batiks were especially pretty.

Everyone have a happy 4th of July. Don't get too hot and sunburned!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

No melting here!

2011-06-27T13:37:00.002-05:00

No pictures to show today, but I just wanted everyone to know that I haven't melted yet! Temps in upper 90's and 100 degs. for many days and still counting! I do my walking early in the morning and the humidity is still high!

I've been working on several things and have completed a couple that I can't show yet because they are gifts and I can't give away the surprise. I'm hoping to start soon on a Buggy Barn pattern of Chickens. Hope to be able to do it when I can really concentrate on it because it is a new technique to me. The people who have done one say it's fun!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Don't need this hot weather!!!!

2011-06-17T17:02:00.009-05:00

This yarn was varigated and came out as striped with a ripple effect! Cool!!!!

This is "Flag Day. The colors don't show up as Red, Tan and Blue, but they are. The one looks a little pink!

I named this one "Batik Sunset" because that's what the colors remind me of----seems like almost all batiks go together---they are fun colors to work with!!!

" "A Tisket, A Tasket" a red and yellow basket." I thought some little girl would enjoy this quilt.

This one, with lots of turquoise in it has VW's and robots and some space ships in it so I thought a fitting name would be: "Robots and Slug Bugs."

It's really too hot to have a quilt on your lap and be machine quilting, even with the A/C on, but I did want to finish up these last few quilts, so I turned the fans on and put the petal to the metal and finished them!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Many quilts!

2011-06-13T08:15:00.009-05:00

I decided to go through my stock of quilts and well, take stock! I picked out a few that are bigger and I thought a teenager might like, so here they are. There are six of them in no particular order. Not all are the bigger ones, there's some smaller ones included, too.

The names I gave them are: I Love Music; Twisted Star; Fairfax County Fair; Red, White and Black; The Happy Farm; and Chocolate Is.

Hot and humid again today. It's summer like weather and it's not summer yet!!! WHEW!!!

We went to a wonderful 50th wedding anniversary party on Saturday and it was so much fun! I have never been to such a relaxed, sweet gathering! We celebrate our 43rd this week---only 7 more to go and we will have our 50th!

Yesterday I worked on a surprise for our granddaughters for when we see them in July. Can't show you anything because my daughter reads my blog!!! But it's something I hope they will enjoy!!!! Maynard finished quilting it yesterday!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Old Glory and PL Quilt

2011-06-06T09:11:00.004-05:00

This is yet another Yellow Brick Road---you'd think I'd have it memorized by now, but I don't!!! I called it Lavender Blue. Anybody remember that old song that went, "Lavender Blue Dilly, Dilly, Lavender Green, You'll be my king, Dilly Dilly, I'll be your Queen."

"Old Glory" is a kit from Keepsake Quilting and I have the top put together. It was very challenging to get the blocks put together so they all matched up. I see I still got some of the same blocks top to bottom in a line. I learned that you need to use the same machine all the way through the whole quilt. I used the Bernina for part and the Featherweight for part and the seams were enough different that I had trouble with the blue part and had to do some "constructive" seaming to get it to come out right. They both have 1/4th" feet, too! But I'm happy with it and the quilt police haven't shown up yet so I guess it's all right!!!! Going to be quilted with shooting stars edge to edge.

We are having summer-like weather now----temps in high 90's. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Thank you God for the A/C.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Mystery Quilt

2011-06-01T13:08:00.008-05:00

This shows the gold blocks in place as you first sew the blocks together. I used 5.5" charms for this part.

Cut diagonally on the gold blocks. There are three cuts.

Putting the puzzle back together so that the gold half blocks "frame" the quilt top.

The finished quilt.

If we will admit it, there are some quilts that we just don't care for as we are doing them, but we persist and finish them, I will have to admit that this is one of those quilts. It sounded like a plan when I was thinking about it--------------lavender and gold squares, with the gold squares as the "frame." But as I worked on it, I disliked it more and more, but what the heck, I was committed to it now and thought I would finish it. Maybe there's a girl somewhere who really likes purple and will like it!!! One never knows, does one???!!!

The pattern is the "mystery quilt." It is put together as squares with the gold (in this case) being placed in certain places. It is then cut apart and rearranged and sewed back together and the gold blocks turn into the "frame." This process is what I tried to show in the pictures.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Three IS the Number!

2011-05-23T14:49:00.005-05:00

Three more quilts for Project Linus! The first one I called "Sunbursts." I don't know the real name of the block. It is a pattern from the Accuquilt GO! pattern book. I cut everything on the Accuquilt GO! Cutter except the strips for the 2 sashings. It cuts really nice half square triangles---even cuts off the "dog-ears" which I find very helpful when sewing them together. (Disclaimer: Not a salesperson or affiliated with Accuquilt Go! Company, just like the product, ya-da, ya-da.)

The second picture shows the quilt I named "Blue Red Flowers." Almost all of the fabrics have turquoise in them. The pattern is my old stand-by, Yellow Brick Road. I never get tired of making that pattern. Something to pick up when you have a few minutes and you can get quite a bit done on it.

The third one is a border quilt. It's called "School Buses on Parade." You have to look closely to see the buses, but they are there---all lined up in rows. This is in the M'Liss Hawley book "Fast, Fat Quarter Projects for Baby." This is my challenge book for the year---going to try to do all the quilts in the book by the end of the year, if possible. I'm making a good dent in them!

Hope you are all staying safe from the storms. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost so much.

Jan

Another Trio of Quilts

2011-05-14T14:45:00.006-05:00

Here are the last three of the pile of 6 quilts that needed to be quilted and bound. One is seed for the next pile because I took a batch of 15 to the drop off point in McKinney this morning.

Debi and I met for breakfast at IHOP there in McKinney and ate breakfast and chatted until it was time for the quilt shops to be open and then a-shopping we did go!

We first stopped at The Quilt Asylum. They have all kinds of nice brights--------so much fun to shop there for Yellow Brick Road quilts. Plus they had a bunch of fabric for sale, so I stocked up on backings for PL quilts. Then we drove over to Happiness is Quilting, which is located downtown. They have nice brights, too. Can you tell I like bright fabrics? LOL! McKinney has a wonderful downtown with all kinds of little shops---a great place to wander around!

So we shopped there, too and found some more bargains in the 50% bin for PL backings. Such fun!

All in all another great adventure with Debi! She made me the cutest frame out of fabric. Thanks Debi! Now I need to look through my pictures and find the perfect picture for it!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Trio of quilts

2011-05-13T14:24:00.005-05:00

Have any of you ever posted and then your post disappeared the next day-----------that is what just happened to me----------------blogger must not feel like playing nice today!!!

So here are the pictures and names of my last three Project Linus quilts: "Spinning,"---more pinwheels which are fun to make--these look like they are spinning around and around!

The next one is "Blue I Spy." For some reason I have ended up with two boxes of I Spy fabrics and I even took the box and passed it around at Sit and Sew one day! It still grew more instead of less!!! Go figure! Have to make some more I Spy quilts, I guess!!

Last one I called "Camping at Night." The fabrics seem dark and some of them are--they all show camping and fishing and north woodsy kinds of things. Hope some little boy gets this one!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Pointy Pinwheels Blocks

2011-05-06T10:20:00.002-05:00

Finished a Yellow Brick Road top that needs to be quilted, but couldn't wait to see what this block looked like so I started making these Pointy Pinwheel blocks instead of quilting. Do you do that, too???! I really like these and they are fun to do. I found the pattern for free with a mailing that came from Fons and Porter many moons ago. I'm using batiks that I have gathered over the years and the pile didn't go down at all. My friend JoAnn at Sit and Sew gave me a pile of batiks, too and I wondered what I would do with them and here they are!! I may have to do a couple of these quilts!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!!

Jan

Chubby Chicks

2011-05-02T16:00:00.005-05:00

It's rained all day today---------a good day to stay in and sew. So I finished up a couple of quilts and here they are: Chubby Chicks and Borders, Borders.

Chubby Chicks comes from Black Mountain Quilts-------I knew I had to do it as soon as I saw it---I just love those little chicks----they look like they are running here and there with no place that they really want to go!!!! I used 30's repros for this one.

Borders, Borders is from the Accuquilt GO! quilt patterns book. I didn't have some of the dies, so skipped those sections----------it was plenty long enough anyway. It was fun to do and I really like the AccuquiltGO! (Disclaimer etc, yada yada)! I was given the Accuquilt GO! by a very dear friend and I am so grateful to her. Along with the machine, she gave me a bunch of dies. What a sweet friend!!! These quilts will both go to Project Linus.

Hope you are having a great day wherever you are today!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Picadilly Baskets

2011-04-28T06:57:00.004-05:00

Here's what I am working on now----first picture------"Chubby Chicks"---they are just too cute---love the pattern! They all have personalities plus! When I get tired of chicks, then I work on an Accuquilt GO! pattern that is a border quilt---what fun using the Accuquilt GO! machine. (Not affiliated yada yada!!!!)

The other quilt that is finally finished is called Picadilly Baskets. It is done in 30's fabrics. I'm glad that is is finally finished because I think it has been at least 6 months plus getting this one done, could be even a year!!! I hope you can see the embroidery on each flower-filled basket.

We are having some cooler weather again and it feels good to put on a sweatsuit again. Sure have been praying for the ones caught in the storms. It has been a bad year for storms and when I hear the total for tornados it makes me sad, so many lives lost and so much damage.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two and Two More Equals More

2011-04-25T13:35:00.005-05:00

Two more Project Linus quilts and a small wall hanging for me! The first picture is the houses wall hanging---it was a little kit that the LQS had for sale and I thought it was cute. Very easy way to put together the houses, so I was happy about that!

The second one is a PL quilt that I called "Raggedy Anne and Andy." It is a Yellow Brick Road and you can see the dolls if you look closely. The other print is in the same colors, but is of balloons. Very happy quilt!

The third one is called "The Flowers at Night" because the flower blocks are sashed with a dark green fabric that looks black in the picture. This was the second quilt pattern from M'Liss Hawley's Fat Quarters for Baby Quilts that is my challenge book for the year. Fun and easy to do.

Again the storms and rain have passed around us and today they are doing the same thing! We need a nice day long soaker rain, but hasn't happened yet! Maybe one of these days! Sure feel sorry for all the people getting the tornados and wind damage.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Here We Go for Two More

2011-04-23T21:20:00.005-05:00

Thunderstorms are rumbling through as I type this out tonight, so I may not stay very long at the computer. We certainly do need the rain, so I hope the thunder is not all empty promises!!!!

The first one is Michael Miller prints and I just couldn't bear to cut up those fabulous flowers, so I left the piece whole and put borders around it of fabric from the same line. I dearly love Michael Miller's fabrics! I like the way this one came together---very simple, but pretty. I hope some little girl likes it! I called "MM Flowers."

The second one is called "Zig-Zag Sports." This was the third option from the pattern: "3 hours, 3 yards, 3 fabrics." This was another fun one to do!

Hope you are staying safe from the storms where you are!

Let qulting help you make someone smile.

Jan

A Little Birdie Told Me.......

2011-04-20T15:09:00.008-05:00

.....that Spring is finally here. We have been having nice weather, but no rain. The storms have passed us by. I'm glad the bad storms are passing us by, but we could sure use the rain clouds. Especially in western Texas..............the wild fires are terrible. Please pray for the people out there. So many acres are burning and homes are being lost. Last night an entire town was evacuated.

I like to be kept busy doing something, rather than sitting around and fretting and I can pray while I sew. So sewing is it. Making more quilts for Project Linus and a block of the month from Little Miss Shabby with the precious little birdie. That's the first picture and the birdie is all decked out in his Easter eggs and he's even decorated himself!!!

The second picture is of the afghan. The yarn is called "Banana Berry." So that's what I called the afghan. These go so fast and are so much fun to make---mindless crocheting!!!

The next quilt is called "First Steps" and is from M'Liss Rae Hawley's book Fat Quarter Baby Quilts . This is the book that I am challenging myself to do all the quilts in by the end of the year.

And the last two are identical panels------one I put blue side borders on and one I put pink side borders on. That's why I named them " Pink Floral ABC" and "Blue Floral ABC."

Hope you are staying safe from all the spring storms!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Monday Quilts

2011-04-11T15:56:00.005-05:00

Tried some new patterns this last week and they were fun! The first one is another one from the pattern of Quilt, Stitch and Sew. I called it "Exploding Star." It is a nice and bright one! I'm not sure it is quite like the pattern because I had trouble following the diagram and the colored copy was hard to follow, too, but I do like the it turned out!

The second and third ones are from Fast Fat Quarter Baby Quilts by M'Liss Rae Hawley. This is the book that I have decided will be a challenge book for me this year. I will try to do all the patterns for quilts in this book. The two quilts are the first pattern called "Baby's Windows." I named them "Dinosaurs" and I Spy, Too." It is a nice pattern, too. In the first quilt with the dinosaurs fabric, I want to thank Jackie from Sit and Sew for the Dinosaurs fabric-----she was kind enough to give it to me. I still have some left, so I might make another one!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus --Count on Three More

2011-04-07T14:59:00.005-05:00

Still turning out the Project Linus quilts and loving it! Trying out new patterns and making up one of my own design! The first one in the line-up is called "I Spy with my Little Eye." That's what my Mother-In-Law used to call the I Spy game when she played it in the car with my girls when they were little. You can barely see the middle of the blocks where the fussy cut blocks are. Enlarging might help. The pattern is called Patchwork---PDQ. It goes really fast. You can leave the fussy-cut blocks out and just use any fabric and arrange them any way you want---really goes fast that way!!! The pattern is from Swirly Girls. I don't see it on their website, but you could contact them about it I'm sure. Not affiliated, but like the pattern!!!!

The second quilt is all about sports, so I named it "What a Lot of Sports." I designed this myself. Came across some blocks that had different sports on them and one corner started on snowball blocks. So I used them the way they were and just put them together! Maybe some little boy will like this one!

The last one is called "Topsy Turvy Kitties." This pattern is called "Quilt, Stitch and Sew." It says 3 yards, 3 hours, 3 ways. It's very fun to do. I want to try out the other 2 ways soon.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Time for more Project Linus!

2011-04-06T08:01:00.006-05:00

It always feels so good to do more Project Linus quilts!----I have 2 more to quilt---

The first one is called Ritzy Crackers-------I kept trying to see Ritz Crackers in there, but I think they are referring to the kind of crackers that you pop on New Year's Eve. Took me a long time to figure that one out!!!! And you get the info for free here!!!!! It took 2 charm packs that were identical and background fabric---really a fast and fun one to do. It is found at the

Moda Bakeshop---a very fun blog with lots of free patterns.

The second one is called Sleepytime Stars and is found a very bright and cheerful quilt. The stars are yellow and don't show up in the picture very well---sorry about that. I think next time I will use a darker color so they stand out better. This is from Black Cat Creations.

The third picture is of a varigated yarn afghan. I called it Pink Cotton Candy. These afghans are sure fun to do--------but I better hurry up and get the crocheting out of my system, because hotter weather is on it's way and I sure don't feel like crocheting them!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile.

Jan

Three New Blocks for "Old Glory"

2011-03-31T09:01:00.004-05:00

My newest project is a quilt called "Old Glory" and here are the first three blocks. It is a kit from Keepsake Quilting. I liked it the first time I saw it and so I asked for the kit for Christmas! I'm just now getting to it. It is quite an interesting quilt and is fun to do. The blocks finish at 6". Not too small, but just right, I think! You make 3 blocks of 13 different blocks. Should be an interesting pattern.

We went back to some cooler weather, but now today is supposed to warm up, so will get back to the walking again, I hope! Sure do feel better when I walk-----how about you?

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Four Before the Week-End!

2011-03-25T10:27:00.007-05:00

The first quilt I called Children Behave because the main fabric is children doing all kinds of kid things--even pouting babies in high chairs, but it is all in fun! It is a Yellow Brick Road.

The second quilt is The Classsics Two. Classic colors and a design called Cheaper by the Dozen that I made two quilts from one quilt kit.

The third quilt is the same pattern and I called it Classic Brights Two because there is another one almost like it using the Cheaper by the Dozen pattern, too. Fun pattern.

Last, but not least is the quilt pattern called Bricks and Stones. What a fun pattern to do and used lots of scraps.

The weather has turned so nice here, but along with it have come the pollen and itchy eyes and sneezes and coughs--------bet there are lots of others who suffer, too. Soon enough the hot weather will come and then maybe the pollen, etc will go away and then we will complain about the hot just like we complained about the cold----------LOL!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus--Twice!

2011-03-21T15:34:00.006-05:00

This pattern is called "Cheaper By the Dozen", but I tweaked it so that I made 2 quilts for Project Linus out of 12 FQs. The size seems pretty good-----could be for an older kid. Measures 45 x 57". I have two more that I haven't quilted yet. They are like these, well, maybe a little bit different---the settings are never the same. They go together quite quickly!

The first one I named "The Classics One" and the second one I called Classics Bright One" I also have a Yellow Brick Road and a Bricks and Stones ready to be quilted and finished. hope to get those done this week.

It's lovely outside, but the pollen is playing havoc with my allergies---oh my, they say it is a bad year for them---great, just great!!! Hubby mowed lawn yesterday and I had to reach for my inhaler! Not fun!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Another Barns Quilt, Project Linus Quilt and More

2011-03-15T10:40:00.007-05:00

I did the Here Chick, Chick from an old magazine that was on the trade and swap table at our Christmas party for Sit and Sew. Log cabin chickens and little beady eyes---I have always thought chickens had little beady eyes---didn't take them long to look at you before they pecked you---hard!!!

The second quilt was an free BOM. The little blocks were hard to do and in some instances I just did a similar one that I thought was easier to do! The barn that is hard to see was a barn done at night. As a little girl, I always thought the barn was scary at night, but once I got inside, I was fine. The sleeping cattle always made me feel safe, for some reason. But this was 55 years ago, so who know what I was thinking!!! LOL!!

The afghan again was done with varigated yarn. These are so fun to do as I watch TV in the evening or want to pick up some quiet work in the afternoon. Still cool enough to hold them in your lap!

The last one is a Project Linus Yellow Brick Road I named May Flowers. It is somewhat brighter than it shows in the picture. Just can't get enough of that Yellow Brick Road!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus Quilts---Three

2011-03-09T14:34:00.001-06:00

Here are three more for Project Linus, two are Yellow Brick Roads and one is from the latest Quick Quilts magazine (anyway I used it as an idea---it's not exactly like it!!!)

The first one is called "All Roads Led to Somewhere," the second one is called "Red, Yellow and Black", and the last one is called "Dedicated Chaos."

Trying to use up my stash of packs of 6 fat quarters that I have in a basket. It's not going down fast enough for me! Have to make more Yellow Brick Roads!!! Not a problem!!!!

Beautiful spring day here except for the cold wind, but the sun is out and that makes it nice! The pear trees and some of the bulbs are blooming---I hope it stays nice enough for them not to get frosted!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Table Runner

2011-03-05T10:21:00.002-06:00

Here is the picture of a Table Runner that I made as a housewarming/going away gift for our next door neighbors who after 18 years are moving to the country. We will surely miss them for they are such good neighbors! It is from Connecting Threads and is called the Apple River Table Runner Red Kit. I tried to pick a color that would go with any color. I hope I succeeded!

The weather turned on us today after several days of lovely sun and mild temps, today is chilly (high of 48 deg) and very windy! Good day to stay in by the sewing machine or head to the Home and Garden Show in Dallas. Haven't decided about that yet! Would be fun to see the flowers that they bring in to show off in the exhibits!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

MINE!

2011-03-02T12:21:00.008-06:00

Finished two quilt tops and just couldn't wait to show them--they still need to be quilted. The first one is from the Turning Twenty gal---Trisha Cobbs and is called Sunday School Singers. It is all different songs that we all have sung in Sunday School I'm sure, plus a bunch of cute kids singing them! One little boy is even standing on his head with excitement---------I remember a few of those in the kindergarten class that I taught many moons ago!!!! I posted a closeup of the singers and one of the songs so you could better see them. I'm going to hang this one somewhere, just don't know where just yet! I did the embroidery by hand, although she does offer an embroidery CD.

The second quilt is the wall hanging size of the Quilt Barns quilt from Eleanor Burns. I have shown this as I have gone along with it, but now it is all together. As I have said before her patterns are so nice to follow because she writes them so clear and concisely.

Now I am starting on a table runner from Connecting Threads. It is called Apple River Table Runner Red Kit and is in their current catalog. I'm making it for our good next door neighbors, who after living next to us for the last 18 years are moving to the country. We will miss them so much but wish them well in their new home.

So I'd best get off the computer and get busy with the table runner!!!! Right??!! Spring is here today and it's hard to stay indoors. Buster the dog and I already took our walk and it was so nice.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

One and Two for Project Linus

2011-02-25T13:39:00.004-06:00

These are both Yellow Brick Road by Terry Atkinson quilts. I have to say I think I am addicted to that pattern! I've lost count of how many of them I have done. I like the pattern because it only uses 6 fat quarters, it goes really fast and I can usually work around a theme as I did in these two quilts.

The first one is called Motocross because the main theme pattern has motocross bikes in it, at least that's what I think they are. I may be wrong about that----not up on those things because our grandboys are not old enough to have things like that yet!!!

The second one is Baby Hoot Owls. I just love that line of fabric---those owls are so cute. One owl even has a bib on! Too cute!

I'm also almost done with the embroidery on the Sunday School Singers quilt---have one more song to embroider and then can put it together! Hope to finish it tomorrow. We are having a sew day with the DFW Gang, so will get lots done then! It's always a fun get-together.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Sewing Room Make-Over

2011-02-24T11:57:00.010-06:00

Hubby Maynard helped me and we did over the sewing room. I had converted the dining room into my sewing room a long time ago, but have changed it around several times. This time all we did was removed a fold-out part of the cutting table, that I never used and put more storage drawers underneath and it gave me a whole other look and space to the area! The two before pictures are on top and the two after are the last two. Gives me a whole other outlook on life. Funny how little changes make a big difference, isn't it? Or am I the only one who feels that way?

I'd love to see your sewing room. Maybe you could post a picture on your blog.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Birdies and Barns

2011-02-20T15:50:00.007-06:00

The Birdies from Little Miss Shabby are done for February and January. The white doesn't show up very good in the pictures, but it does show up better in person. I just love that little bird so much! This is a block of the month.

Finished the barn blocks for the Quilt Barns quilt by Eleanor Burns. The pictures show the 6.5" blocks---there are 4 of them. And then there is the big barn with the silo for the center. I still want to put some animals of some kind in there. I did find a bichon-friche to put on one of the blocks---that was the kind my Cleo was. He died 2 years ago. I sure do miss him. He lived to be 18 years old---He lived a long, good life. My mini-poodle, Buster is 16.5 years old and still going strong. The vet says we must do something special to our animals that they live so long---we just give them lots of love and I guess we spoil them, but not with food, if we can hold out with the dog biscuits, never table scraps!

Nice weather again today---up to 65 degrees! Very windy though! Hope it is nice where you are.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Friday Afternoon...

2011-02-18T16:09:00.008-06:00

It's Friday afternoon and another busy week has gone by, only this week was a lot nicer weather wise than 2 weeks ago----warm temps and some sunshine---much appreciated!

I finished 3 more Project Linus quilts and a crocheted afghan! The first one is Spring Flowers in Texas. I always thank Lady Bird Johnson for all the lovely flowers on the roadsides because she was instrumental in putting them there and oh how pretty they are every spring!

My DH gave me the name for the second one---Empty Flowerpots---even though they are Tumblers. Debi cut these on the AccuQuilt GO Cutter---it works great! She gave them to me to make a quilt and so I did! Thanks Debi!

The third one is called Show Me the Money---one of the Fat Quarters used in the Yellow Brick Road has bills and coins on it----hence the name.

The last one is an afghan and is called French Country. I'm really enjoying doing these afghans---good TV work!

How are things in your neck of the woods? Is winter coming to an end? I'm sure ready for spring to come and stay!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus Afghan

2011-02-09T08:50:00.003-06:00

This afghan was made for Project Linus and I called it "Camo" because the yarn is called Desert Camo. Another varigated one---I love seeing how these crochet up and what they turn out to be. Sure nice to cuddle with while working on this one because it has been cold here---even if the temps went up a bit, the wind was "bitey" --(I doubt that is a word, but it sure describes how the wind felt!!) Another storm now this morning with ice and snow on top of it. I'm beginning to feel like I'm living up north again instead of northern Texas!

I also finished another quilt that is for a contest on the Quilting Bee Forum for Project Linus, but I can't show it yet, because the contest hasn't started and it would give away my quilt. No one is to know who they are voting for. It was a fun and challenging contest---we were each given 1/2 yard of 2 fabrics and were to make an approximately 40 x 50" quilt from that---we could add fabric as needed. It will be fun to see what everyone comes up with!

Everyone stay warm now. Spring will be here soon, I hope!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two more for Project Linus

2011-02-01T15:39:00.004-06:00

Stayed in today because we had a sleet/ice storm, so I quilted and finished the binding on a couple of quilts---only 26 degrees outside, so a good day to stay in under a quilt and work on another one! My little dog Buster snuggled up beside me wanting to stay warm, too!

The first quilt is called "Summer Breeze" (just what we need right now!) It looks washed out, but that's just the camera playing tricks on me---it is a light pastel and the fabric is called Kashmir IV. The quilt is a little bit bigger than some I make, so I'm hoping some teenage girl will like it.

The second quilt I called "Little Boxes in Big Boxes." This one was fun to do and went fairly quickly. Now there is only one quilt left to quilt and Maynard is going to do that one on the big machine.

So now I'm working on the Quilt Blocks on Barns blocks from Quilt in a Day. I have one more barn to make and about 7 more blocks The blocks are small, since I am doing the smaller size quilt, they are 6" finished. The blocks that go on the barns are 1 1/2 - 2" big. Those ones are a challenge for me. The best way I have found to do them is to make them bigger and then cut them down to size. Of course, that doesn't work on all blocks! One of them had 27 pieces and she suggested using a fuzzy-cut quilt from fabric---that was a great idea to me!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two Project Linus Quilts

2011-01-31T09:04:00.005-06:00

2011 is going to be about tying up loose ends and finishing projects I have wanted to do and/or have started! So here are two quilts that fall in that category! The first one I called "Show Me the Money" because there are pictures of money on one the pieces of material----although you'll probably have to enlarge the picture to see it!

The second one reminded me of the commercial that shows the pig in the back seat of a car hanging out the window with his pinwheel---that's why I picked this name. I laugh everytime I see it!

Supposed to have a big ice storm and snow tomorrow and into Wednesday, so I've made sure I have lots of yarn and fabric (goodness, I'll never run through all that stash!!!) to work with through the storm!! Everyone that might be in a storm, please be careful!

We had a wonderful day on Saturday. BFF Debi and I drove to Ponder and met up with Brenda, Sally and Carol, plus Shannon (Debi's DD) and Kaye (Debi's cousin) to have a sewing day---what fun we had. We always have fun together and even manage to get some sewing done, along with the talking and laughter! It's about an hour and a half drive for Debi and I, but the time goes by so fast with all our talking!! Good way to catch up with everything!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Pinwheels wheeeee!!!!!!

2011-01-27T08:44:00.001-06:00

Love the look of these pinwheels and I have a dark purple to set them with. This will be another Project linus quilt and is a fun one to do. I have all the pinwheels made. My BFF gave me the 5" charm pack called Hoopla-------------------thanks so much Debi!

Also still working on the Quilt Barns quilt from Eleanor Burns---she writes such clear, concise patterns-----------they are nice to do, if you follow her directions precisely, you can't go wrong! Well, maybe I should hedge on that a bit---sometimes things go wrong for me, like sewing a piece in upside down, but that is fixable!

Are you in the Northeast and reading this?---My sympathies to you-------------I used to live in the snowbelt (lake effect snow) area of Indiana and I know snow. We are having really nice weather for the next few days-----------so they say and then a wintery mix is coming in, but unlike up north it will only stay a few days.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two to Give and One to Keep

2011-01-21T15:56:00.006-06:00

I'm giving two to Project Linus and keeping one for myself! The first picture shows the one I'm keeping myself, which is the Aunt Bea's Parlor pattern that I did once before in colored embroidery and this time I did it in redwork. I did it long and narrow to fit on a special wall----but when I went to hang it, lo and behold, it doesn't fit there---it's just a few inches too big! So in frustration, I folded it neatly and put it in the big basket of quilts that I have in my bedroom. And it does look nice there! Guess I should have measured more carefully!

The first one for Project Linus (second picture) I called "Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?" You probably can't see the fabric very well unless you click on the picture to enlarge it, but there is a little girl tending her garden in one of the fabrics.

The second quilt of PL (third picture) is from the fabric line called "Baby Genius Grows Up." I really like this fabric line and have made one quilt from this fabric line once before. It is so bright and happy!

We're back in the deep freeze with our weather, so I'm crocheting another afghan with some really bright yarn this time. It has yellow, orange, blue, turquoise, hot pink, green and maybe other colors in it---need sunglasses to look at it. I'm hoping some child will like it. I'm thinking of trying some camo fabric---they even have it in pink! What's the consensus on that, fellow quilters and crocheters?

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Watercolor Afghan and Birdie Quilt Block

2011-01-18T08:50:00.005-06:00

The first picture is from Little Miss Shabby's blog. This is a BOM and this is the first block. I just love that birdie. Several people are doing this one and everyone's is different---so fun to see what different people come up with!

This is another afghan that was made with the varigated yarn from Coats and Clark that was called "Watercolor", so that's what I named it. I does look like the quilts that are put together that way a little bit and it does look like water, I guess. Another fun one!

Our cold temps have gone away for a couple of days, but will be coming back. It is dreary outside---I remember my mother saying, "We'll have to make our own sunshine!" I used to think that was so silly, but now I sort of agree with the phrase. We can only make ourselves happy, can't we?

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Quilts and Afghan

2011-01-12T16:59:00.007-06:00

Today I have 2 quilts and an afghan that I crocheted. The weather has been so cold here that it has been nice to curl up by the fire and crochet while watching TV! The yarn for this afghan was varigated and I like how it turned out--it is fun to use the varigated yarns and see what it turns out to be!

The next picture is the backing for the There's a Puppy on my Quilt which is in the third picture. It has kitties on it------so far they seem to be getting along pretty well---haven't heard any fighting yet!!!! This was quite a challenge to put together getting all the 9 patch blocks in the right place. The pattern is from Billie Lauder and was very well written.

The last quilt is from "Scrap Basket Surprise" and I named it Red Buzz Saws. It was fun to do, too. Maynard quilted that one with an over all star pattern. The quilting turned out very nice.

Everyone try to stay warm now!!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Churn Dash Top

2011-01-08T13:16:00.004-06:00

Have been wanting to do a Churn Dash pattern for a long time and so I did! This is a gift that I got for Christmas from my youngest daughter. She drew my name in the Christmas drawing and gave me the money for the quilt shop (The Glass Thimble) and then took me there! She played "I Spy" with the grandgirls and they were SO good while I shopped and picked out these lovely Civil War Reproductions for this quilt. The pattern is called "Reproductions." The guys went to the camera store while we went to the quilt store, so everyone was happy, then we all went for ice cream, so the girls were happy, too!! All around a very nice afternoon in Columbus, Ohio!

Our weather has been so nice --- temps in the 60s during the day and cooling down at night, but an Artic Cold Front is due tomorrow and maybe even some snow will fall as will the temps---we have been spoiled!!!

I have been crocheting some afghans for Project Linus, too and if it gets cold, I can snuggle down with those! I am finding the nicest varigated yarns by Coats and Clark---they all make up differently---some even make stripes! Fun to see how each one makes up!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Three Project Linus Quilts to Start the New Year!

2011-01-03T09:39:00.006-06:00

Off to a flying start in 2011 with 3 finished Project Linus quilts and a Star quilt for myself that hubby just finished quilting and I bound. Hard to tell what year to count them in because the quilt top was made last year , but the quilting was done this year, so that's when I counted them!

The Star quilt is one of my favorites and was quite a challenge for me, but I did it and I like the way it turned out. I have it hanging in the living room over the sofa.

The second one is from JulieK, a blogging friend---I quilted it and bound it. Isn't it pretty? Thanks so much, Julie! I called it "JulieK Red and White."

The next one is called "Flowers on Noah's Ark." I think it is a Yellow Brick Road.

The last one is called, "Baby Genius Grows Up," after the name of the fabric line.

There are 6 more in the pile to be quilted, so someday they will be done. Time to do some more quilts for me!!! For Christmas, I got fabric for a Church Dash using Civil War Reproductions from my daughter and a flag quilt using different quilt blocks in the stripes. Here is a picture from Keepsake Quilting.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!
Jan

A Happy New Year to All!

2010-12-31T14:21:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year everyone! I hope your year is blessed with good things!

My friend and fellow DFW Gang member, Sally made this quilt top and I quilted and bound it today. I called it Sally's Mickey Mouse. This brought my total for the year to 92 quilts for Project Linus! Yippee Skippee!!!

And I just had to show you a picture of the quilt top by designer Billie Lauder, "There's a dog on my quilt." It was quite a challenge to put together, but I was able to do it. I like this one! Now to figure out how to quilt it!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

A Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T16:10:00.007-06:00

What a fun Christmas it was for our family here in Texas! The grandboys declared that whatever gift they were opening was "just what I always wanted!" and just loved it! What fun to see the wrapping paper flying and the squeals of delight!

Nathan was a Wise Man in a robe that his mother had gotten him when she was in Sweden in September for a conference. He looked just great in it! Their church has a wonderful Children's Christmas Eve service where the kids get to participate as shepherds, wise men, angels, and bell ringers. They then, help tell the story of Christmas. It is just a great time for all!

After eating a delicious brunch prepared by our daughter, Anne, we played games and spent a pleasant afternoon together. A great Christmas Day. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Sit and Sew Christmas Party

2010-12-20T13:27:00.005-06:00

It was a fun day of games and laughter and eating lunch and goodies and did I say laughter----we all need laughter in our lives! We did do a little handwork, but this day was more about fun! What a great group of women! These 14 ladies are the core group of this Sit and Sew group and have seen each other through sad times and rejoiced with each other through happy times! There were many gratitude prayers said during our prayer time before lunch---what a special time! Truly I feel blessed to be in a group of ladies like these!

We did a gift exchange where you can steal from one another and that proved to be a highlight of the afternoon also---------I came home with a wonderful baptist fan quilting stencil that Linda's husband, Dennis had made and what a good job he did, she had included some other goodies, too. A fine gift!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Trip To See Grandgirls!

2010-12-15T14:44:00.007-06:00

We just returned home after trip to see our dear Grandgirls! They are Isabel, age 8 and Ilena age 4. What a great time we had! We put up the Christmas tree, went shopping, played in the snow, played games, read stories, played Barbies, and Littliest Pet Shop and had just lots of good fun! We even had a Snow Day and stayed in all day---that was fun for us Texas folks!

Got the fabric for a new wall hanging for Christmas from my daughter while there. We visited two quilt shops (fun, fun!). The wall hanging is Churn Dash done in Civil War reproductions. It is so pretty.

We are having the nicest weather here---temps in the high 60's and may reach 70 today--go figure!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Colorful Baskets Project Linus Quilt

2010-12-08T09:20:00.003-06:00

Here is "Colorful Baskets" quilt for Project Linus---nice and bright! Hope some little or big girl will like it! It was part of my challenge that I gave myself to do all the quilts in the book by Karen Snyder called "Bundles of Fun." I think that is the last one from the book and challenge! I made it by the end of the year!!!! YEAH!!!!!

The weather has turned a little bit colder here, but the sun is shining most days and so if you bundle up some or layer the clothing, it's still good to go walking. I try to walk a half hour every day--------my little poodle, Buster sure likes to go walking--he's 16 years old, but still walks like a trooper!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

DFW Gang Christmas Party

2010-12-06T14:35:00.006-06:00

There were only 5 of us, but we had a great time at our annual DFW Gang Christmas Party last Saturday. Lots of time to sew, and talk and laugh and exchange gifties (how wonderful those were) and play games and eat! Not necessarily in that order! We always have such a good time together and to think we all met online at the Quilting Passion forum (now at the Quilting Bee forum.) Shown in the picture from left to right are: Debi, Brenda, Sally, me, and Marje.

The second picture shows a tote I just finished that is made with the selvage edges from different fabrics. It was fun to make---several of us in my Sit N Sew group have saved them, so we have quite a stock pile to choose from and two of us have made the bags. You have to leave about 1/4 - 1/2" fabric with the selvage edge in order to have enough fabric to make them pretty when you sew them down, some of mine just show the color dots and printing, which is fine too. You can really do whatever you want with these! That's part of the fun! The pattern came from a recent McCall's magazine.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two More Tops---One for Me---One for PL

2010-11-29T13:22:00.004-06:00

Here are two more tops---one for me to keep----the redwork baskets and one for Project Linus---the bright, cheery one.

The Redwork one is the same baskets (Aunt Bea's Parlor) that I did in all different colors and 1930's fabrics. This time I did them in reds and ivory. The wall hanging is made a specific size to hang on a certain wall in a certain place. It does look like a funny size. But fits very well where I want it!

The PL one is done with the pattern called Patchwork PDQ. It does go quite quickly and each block measures 15", so is fast to put together once you make the blocks.

Been having cold fronts moving through bringing cold, windy weather, but then it warms back up into the 60's and low 70's for a few days and then cold again with a little rain. Funny weather, but we'll keep those 60's days as long as we can! What's it like in your corner of the world?

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:20:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, my favorite holiday of the year! We will travel to Austin and spend the day and Friday with our oldest daughter and her hubby and our grandsons, Evan 7, and Nathan 4. Their other set of grandparents will be there, too from Ohio. Looking forward to a great day!

I hope your Thanskgiving Day will be a blessed one--we all have so much to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Bento Box Blocks

2010-11-15T15:22:00.004-06:00

These Bento Boxes are the start of a quilt from 2 jelly rolls from Connecting Threads called Cottage Blooms. They actually go quite fast and aren't hard to do. I got the pattern from Mary Quilts. You do 80 Bento Boxes and then sew them into 20 blocks of four. The setting is 4 blocks x 5 blocks.

I found a new pattern to work on ---so far all I have is the pattern and the white fabric for making the blocks. It is called "Sunday School Singers" and is by Trisha Cobb, who wrote the "Turning Twenty " books. It is done in embroidery and colors. Should be lots of fun! It has the first line of all the songs I used to sing with the kids Sunday School class that I taught many moons ago--------what memories! I bought the pattern while at Sit N Sew and opened it and our table sang all the songs---------we had a ball remembering all those fun songs!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

One New Project Linus Quilt

2010-11-08T15:28:00.005-06:00

Here is a little quilt that I made for Project Linus. I always wanted to make a Tumblers quilt and I finally tried it because it was so easy to cut out on the Accuquilt Cutter GO! System. It cut the nicest tumblers with the "rabbit ears" trimmed off so they were so easy to match together when sewing. It's hard to tell from the picture, but thosse are all thirties prints---it's scrappy, so I made the binding scrappy, too!! Just having too much fun here!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two Quilts

2010-11-04T14:15:00.005-05:00

These are two quilts that I just finished for Project Linus.

The first one is "Red, Red Roses" and is, I think, the Easy Peasy pattern. The blocks are 16" and it goes together very easily. It's been awhile since I made it and I just can't remember the name of the pattern for sure---guess I need to write all these things down---then I would probably forget where I put the list---LOL!!

The second one is called "Amy Butler Bold." It uses 6 fat quarters of her fabric and is very bright and colorful! I hope it finds some child who really likes bold things!!!!!

It has cooled down for our part of the country---temps in the 40's at night and 60-low 70's in the day----nice fall weather. We had some rain too and that is nice.

We planted winter pansies. They last most of the winter and it is so fun to see their bright, shining faces sometimes through the snow!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

A Flimsy and a Quilt

2010-11-03T10:30:00.006-05:00

A flimsy and a quilt-----------sounds like a country western song!!!! LOL!!!

The flimsy is called Summer Breeze and is from the book "
Scrap Basket Surprises." You are probably tired of me talking about that book, but I sure do like it! I have made several of the patterns in it. The fabric is Kashmir IV and I love it! It is such peaceful, pretty fabric. Reminds of a soft, peaceful summer breeze, so the author named it well!

The quilt is one for Project Linus and is named "Braided Colors". It is from the book "Bundles of Fun." It is one that I challenged myself to make all the patterns in the book. I think there is still one more to quilt from that book and I will have them all done. Getting to the quilting has taken a long, long time! My helper has been unable to do any on the big machine because of his work commitments. So I have slowly been doing them on my Bernina---the bigger ones are a challenge! But I'll keep plodding along.

Been having true fall weather here and so it's nice to sit and sew on projects or crochet on an afghan. Yesterday, at our Sit N Sew group, we got to see lots of new things from Quilt Market. Such an array of such nice things! Saw a pattern I definitely want to do, but will have to save up my pennies for that! I need a new handwork pattern, since I finished my last one a couple of weeks ago.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Grandson's Birthday at Krispy Kreme

2010-10-27T08:57:00.006-05:00

This was a first for me and lots of fun-----------youngest Grandson, Nathan held his 4th birthday party at Krispy Kreme Donut Shop. We had fun eating donuts and watching them being made---wow---- they make a lot of donuts at one time! Even the adults were impressed! Nathan even had a donut cake which was enjoyed by everyone. Everyone especially liked the ones with orange and black sprinkles.

Then, since it was my birthday, too I chose to eat at my favorite Mexican place, Chuy's----we had a great time there, too. The boys are troopers and acted like gentlemen.

Also, here's a picture of my latest barn block-----------this is a 6" one, so that tells you how little the blue and yellow quilt block is. In fact, Eleanor Burns' pattern was written so that you made two at one time and then told you to pick out the best one---------I thought that was such a great idea!!!!

Hope you are having great days where ever you are!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Quilt Barn Block One

2010-10-21T15:49:00.003-05:00

Quilt In A Day Block Number One shown here from the book by Eleanor Burns called Quilt Blocks On American Barns. Her directions are so clear and nice. If you really follow step by step, you can turn out a nice block. Which I still ended up making a couple of mistakes, which tells you I overlooked a couple of steps--------oh, woe is me! But the block still turned out nice, I think!

Our weather has continued to be very nice, but every day they forecast rain and storms, and we don't get them, so I think our Indian Summer will be coming to an end soon! I will miss it! Even though I don't do much outside because of severe allergies, I still like to see the sun streaming in the windows and cheering everything up!

Hope things are sunny where you are!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus Foursome

2010-10-17T11:53:00.007-05:00

"I get by with a little help from my friends" is my song today!!! Two people contributed quilt tops to the total of Project Linus quilts today. I quilted and bound them and they are now ready to go!

Sally made the first two and I named them "Sally's Striped Alphabet." Thanks Sally! They are great and nice and bright and cheery!!!

The next one called "Circus Peanuts" was made by my friend Jackie from the Tuesday Sit and Sew group. She didn't want PL to miss out on any quilts while I was laid up from my surgery, so she made this wonderful quilt!!! Thank you Jackie, you are a true blue friend!!!

The last one is one I made with a little kit from the LQS. I called it Candy Land because it reminded me a bit of the game of the same name!

With the help of my friends, that brings the total of quilts to 86 for the year. This might be another year that we break 100!!!! Wouldn't that be great?!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Two New Flimsys

2010-10-15T12:34:00.005-05:00

The first quilt is called "Barbed Wire" and is from the book "Scrap Basket Surprise." That is the best book---I have made a lot of the quilts in there! This was made with all scraps from my stash. That made me feel good!!!! I liked the secondary pattern of the little pinwheels!

More fun with the AccuQuilt GO! I used the 8 1/2" Tumbler die and made a Tumbler quilt. It made the cutting of the blocks so precise and the corners were rounded off, too. This is the first Tumbler that I have made and I found that I liked it! I evened off the sides and put a border on.

This was all from scraps in my stash, too. You'd think my stash would be going down, but it's the same old story--it's fluffed up and looks like more!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

AccuQuilt GO cuts a Rag Quilt

2010-10-14T07:05:00.010-05:00

Cut strips of fabric 9 1/2" wide. This shows fabric ready to run through the AccuQuilt GO! Cutter. I placed 2 fabrics wrong sides together so that they would be ready to sew after they were cut.
Block cut out and ready to use (Two blocks wrong sides together) You can see the fringe.
Sewing an "X" on each square (2 squares wrong sides together)
Sewing a seam together. Seams are to the front and are 1". The fringe doesn't get in the way.

Three blocks sewn together. I made this quilt with 8 1/2" blocks and made it 6x7 blocks. It is about 37" x 44".

All fluffy after washing and ready to go to a child at Project Linus! The pattern for this quilt can be found here.

Again I want to thank Debi for giving me the AccuQuilt GO! machine that she won in the contest and so many dies-------------I'm having a ball with it. Next I plan to do a tumblers quilt. I have 120 tumblers cut out---I wonder how big that quilt will be??

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Quilt Barns With Quilt Blocks

2010-10-11T14:15:00.004-05:00

I finished the Quilt Barns with Quilt Blocks that is a free BOM that is available until the 1st of November. Some of the quilt blocks were too much paper piecing for me, so I substituted my own ideas for blocks! It was a fun one to do! Barns have always interested me and I love to see them when driving in the country. The one square is so dark because I made that barn to look like a barn after dark----the sky material has a dark sky and stars and a crescent moon in it. It doesn't show up as well as the others.

I've been playing with my Accuquilt GO machine and have cut out quite a few different kinds of blocks. The rag quilt one is especially interesting because it cuts the fringe for you!!! How great is that! I took some pictures and when I get it all around and get the little quilt finished, I will post my first tutorial!!!

We had rain this morning and more expected this afternoon, so this is a great day to stay in and sew. Just have to be careful how long I stay on my mending foot!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Tiny Tote Bags

2010-10-08T09:09:00.003-05:00

These are some tiny tote bags that I made for my grandkids just in time for Halloween. they weren't made with trick or treating in mind, but rather just for a little something from Grandma and Grandpa. They were lots of fun to make and you can find the directions here. You can make 4 small bags from 2 fat quarters. They are tiny, but oh, so cute! They are easy to make, too. I had a lot of fun with them!

I'm out of the boot now and walking carefully on my own! Feels so good! Have been back to Sit and Sew twice now and that feels wonderful! So much fun to see what everyone else is doing! I feel at loose ends here though---don't know what to start on next. Doing some odds and ends now. Will probably start on the Quilt Barns quilt by Eleanor Burns. I have all the fabric, so it's just a matter of starting in with the cutting.

I'm so excited about this truly wonderful thing that my BFF is doing for me----------------------she is giving me the AccuCut GO that she won in the contest that she entered on JulieK's blog----she says that I will use it more that she will----I'm getting it tomorrow. I am truly blessed to have a friend like that! For I know that I will really use it and I have wanted one for a long time. I am doing a truly happy, happy dance to say the least! Thank you, Debi!

She had it at the retreat and I used it to cut stars and hearts and tumblers and it was awesome! I had the most fun with it! It is a remarkable machine!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Wonderful Quilting Retreat!

2010-10-04T11:45:00.009-05:00

What a great quilting retreat the DFW Gang had this last week-end! Even the weather was beautiful----fall has arrived and it couldn't be nicer outside! Five of us packed up and went to Quiltin' Gals retreat in Azle, Texas. The pictures show some of the quilts we made----we got a lot done and were very tired when we got home on Sunday night, But what a great time we had: lots of sewing and laughing and visiting and laughing and show and tell, and laughing. We even had time to go to a quilt store near there, Cabbage Rose-----that was having a sale-----made a serious dent in their sale that's for sure!!!! What fun that was! Went for lunch at Olive Garden, which was such a treat for all of us! All in all just a perfect week-end!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Good Monday Morning!

2010-09-27T09:13:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm in the orthopedic boot and my stitches are out and all is well in my world and I can drive AND I can go to Sit and Sew tomorrow at the LQS!! This is a big deal---I've been gone for almost a month now!!! Having withdrawls!! It will be wonderful to go back and see all my friends and maybe do some stitching---probably do more talkig and looking at fabric than actually stitching!!!! LOL!!!

My hubby is in PT for his muscle pull in his leg and it is helping him a lot--now it's my turn to wait on him----very carefully though---I'm not going to do anything to set myself back!!! Old age isn't for sissies that's for sure!!!

On the quilting side---I'm finished appliquing the sheep and flowers and now need to decide how to quilt it---it doesn't need much, so I may just stitch in the ditch and call it good. Then bind it and sew their eyes on and it will be finished. Maybe I should sew their eyes on now before I quilt so the stitching doesn't show through to the back----bet that is what I supposed to do----if all else fails I should read the directions----right?!!!

It has turned to Fall here temperature wise in the high 70's and low 80's and it is lovely. Hope it will stay like this for awhile. Just makes a person feel good!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

End of Recovery Period in Sight!

2010-09-22T22:35:00.003-05:00

Doctor says no more wheelchair after Saturday---have to wear orthopedic boot and take it easy, but I can manage that, I'm sure! Doing a happy dance ---in my head----ha! ha! Got the stitches out today, too and that always feels good!

Received the fabrics for the quilt barn quilt and hope to be able to stand for long enough to cut a little bit at a time to start on that---have to take it slow pokey for awhile and enjoy the process!

Hubby says that we are the "walking wounded" here at our house because he is in Physical Therapy for a pulled muscle in his thigh that he did when he pushed himself too hard during a bike ride. If it isn't one thing, it's another when you reach a certain age, I guess!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Redwork and Wool Applique

2010-09-20T10:21:00.004-05:00

Still mending here with the wheelchair and unable to put full weight on foot------------I can sure emphasize with anyone in a wheelchair! The back on one hand is black and blue due to ramming it into doors as I try to go through with my wheelchair!!!!

But I have still been able to work on some redwork baskets and wool applique. I have all the sheep done and some of the flowers---I have them basted on with the washable basting glue that somes in a little tiny bottle---I really like that stuff! I'm sewing them down with tiny stitches of matching thread. I couldn't reach my embroidery floss, so am settling for doing it with thread. But I am liking the way it is turning out.

I haven't done all those baskets in this short of a time, but have worked on one basket since I have been laid up----LOL!!!

I'm anxious to get back to my quilting---especially the Project Linus quilts!!!! I ordered fabric yesterday for the Quilt Barns quilt from Eleanor Burns---I'm excited to get to work on that one. I like Eleanor Burns instructions---she is so clear about everything! The book is lovely. I'm going to make the 6" blocks size, that way it should fit on the wall I have picked out for it!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Surgery Goes Well!

2010-09-16T16:38:00.005-05:00

Got through my surgery in good order and now am in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks. Thanks for everyone thinking of me! I haven't had a lot of pain and I am very thankful for that.

I have also learned that our house is not wheelchair friendly!!!! But I'm making the best of it and coming of with new ideas for moving around!!!!! My dear husband has become chief cook and bottle washer and is doing a splendid job. Our neighbors next door, great neighbors that they are, have brought in a great deal of food and we are happily eating that!!!! Thank you to our dear neighbors. Other friends from Sit and Sew have sent gift cards to restaurants in town---isn't that a nice thing to do--------many thanks to them. I've gotten so many nice cards and phone calls from friends, too. Everything means so much to me-----------thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I've done some handwork---redwork and some wool applique. But mostly have been reading and napping. This morning I tried some time at the sewing machine and sewed together the blocks for a Wicked Easy quilt, but I got awfully tired from just that little bit, so I went back to reading. But it was fun to be at the machine again!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Party Time!

2010-09-09T09:08:00.006-05:00

Our second oldest grandson turned 7 this last week-end and had a Pool Party to celebrate! What a great time they all had. And what a bunch of tired kiddos when they finally got out of the water!!! What a great place to have a birthday party!

My surgery went well and now I'm in a wheelchair for who knows how long---the doctor said that it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be so that is good news-----the recovery time will be shorter!!! Hurray! I'm trying to be careful and not run into too many walls!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Four Ready for Project Linus

2010-09-02T12:50:00.007-05:00

These four are the last of the quilt tops that I can easily quilt on my Bernina---there are 2 more for Maynard to do on the Lil Gracie Pro II, but he has been so busy with work that he hasn't felt like quilting lately. So with my pending surgery where I will be non-weight-bearing for 4-6 weeks, I am going to be doing hand work for awhile, I think. Have to get some more redwork traced off and maybe some wool applique, too. Have to be ready for whatever I feel like doing----maybe I'll just feel like napping--------who knows!!!! LOL!!

The quilts are: "Big Bricks," "Butterfly Whirl," "Scraps of Sunshine," and "Zig Zag." The Big Bricks is a free pattern online, the Butterfly Whirl is from Terry Atkinson (she calls it Butterfly Flip), Scraps of Sunshine is in the book "Scrap Basket Surprise" where it is called "Summer Breeze" and Zig Zag is a log cabin setting.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Three to get Ready for Project Linus

2010-09-01T07:56:00.006-05:00

And four to go! I hope to get all caught up by the time I go for surgery on the 7th of September. I have to have surgery to repair a torn tendon in my right foot. So I will be non-weight bearing for a few weeks and on crutches. I'm hoping I will feel good enough to sew, but I just don't know how I will feel. I do know I'm ready to have it over with!!!!!!

These quilts today are all Log Cabins that I did with a layer cake of the Portugal line by April Cornell. The first setting is Pyramids, the seconds is Straight Furrows and the third is Sunshine and Shadows. I've said it before-----------I really like Log Cabins because there are so many ways to set it----------and each one is pretty! I love this line of fabric, too!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Retreat was Great!

2010-08-26T09:46:00.008-05:00

Back from retreat and it was great! There were twelve of us and everyone got so much done! There was lots of time spent visiting while we worked and a good amount of time laughing, too!! What a great bunch of women, I am proud to call them friends! The food that everyone lovingly prepared was wonderful and quite a few new recipes were shared.

Above are some pictures of the "goings-on!" The ladies pictured froom the top are: Linda, JoAnn, Jan A., Jackie, Elaine, and Deborah. I was unable to get other pictures because my camera battery went dead and I had to recharge for a time, so was out of commission when some of the quilts went up. Sorry about that!

Now I need a rest time!!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Three Go Again!

2010-08-20T14:19:00.007-05:00

Here we go with three more quilts to Project Linus! This time they are called "Highlight on Sports,"" Seeing Red," and Four Square Flowers."

The first one is a Snowball type of pattern that someone gave to me, but I can't remember the details. Sorry about that! Sports represented are football, basketball, and soccer.

The second one is an Easy Peasy pattern---------it goes together really fast!

The third one is a kit that I got from Connecting Threads--------------the center of the blocks is a four square kaleidoscope block. The fabric made interesting designs.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Project Linus---Here Three Come

2010-08-19T08:37:00.006-05:00

Getting caught up again on quilting the Project Linus quilts and will have a huge pile to take to the drop off center this Saturday in McKinney. Yippee!!!! It always feels good to get caught up. I think I have 3 more to quilt and there is one more in Maynard's pile, plus three of mine.

The names of these three quilts are: Tumbling Tumbleweeds; PlayStation Trains; and Charming Butterflies. The first one is one of the challenge quilts from my challenge way back when. The second is a panel. The third is a charm squares mystery quilt. You start with the yellow squares in certain positions and then cut along the diagonals, sew back together and they magically appear along the borders as triangles. Really neat!

I've been busy cutting out fabric and getting my own kits made, to have them ready to sew at a retreat that I am going to next week----3 days of sewing, and visiting and laughing and don't forget the eating. We have divided up the meals, so only have to worry about dessert for one meal on one night----I'm making banana pudding. Yummy! This is such a nice way to do the food. Everyone is one their own for breakfast and then we share lunch and dinner and everyone brings snacks to share. We eat VERY well.

The retreat center is just so nice. It is called Create-Away Cottage and has everything just perfect for a great quilt retreat. The lighting is the best and the rest of the accommodations couldn't be any better. I'm so looking forward to it!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Six Quilts for Project Linus

2010-08-12T12:30:00.008-05:00

Some of these you have seen, but I'm posting them again as a way for me to keep track of PL quilts---you can just skip over them, if they are repeats!!!

The first one is an Alex Anderson pattern called "Popsicle Treats." This was a fun one to do!

The second one is called "Nautical and Nice" and was a Charm Pack given to me by my friend Debi---thanks Debi! I used the pattern 4-9 or Disappearing 4-9 Patch for this one.

Third is a log cabin in the setting of Zig Zag, fourth is log cabin in Sunshine and Shadows setting, fifth is Star setting and sixth is Furrows setting. Log Cabin is so much fun because there are so many settings for it.

I made these log cabins out of a layer cake of "Awesome" fabrics from Sandy Gervais. I got 80 blocks and so the settings were 4x5 and I got 4 quilts out of the one layer cake. (I added tan background fabric and borders.) It was really fun!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

More for Project Linus Today

2010-08-10T06:46:00.007-05:00

Here are some more quilts that I put together and quilted for Project Linus. They are now in the pile for delivery to the drop-off which is the LQS in McKinney. That pile is growing and now has 13 quilts in it with more to come. I got quite a few tops done and am now in the quilting stage. Maynard is helping me with the bigger ones by doing them on the Little Gracie Pro II machine. He has another train one on there now.

The first one I called "Yellow I Spy" ---each block in the middle of the block has a cute picture square. The second one is "Red and Flower Strip"---lots of florals in this one!

Third one and fourth one are very similar, so I called one "Black and White and Lime Green All Over" and the other one "Black and White with a Touch of Purple."

We are still getting the hot weather---I think the weather man said this is the 11th day with temps over 100 deg. Our thermometer read 109 one day last week---too hot for me----------I get hot even with the A/C running just knowing how hot it is outside. I feel sorry for the workers that have to be outside!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

And the Winner of the 400th Post Give-Away Is.....

2010-08-09T13:02:00.002-05:00

GARI!!!!

My husband did a random number generator and came up with the number 9 out of the 12 entries (Debi asked not to be in the drawing.)

So GARI, I will send you an e-mail and you can send me back your address and I will mail you your prize! CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I hope you enjoy your prize!

Thanks to all who entered!!!!!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Disappearing 4 to 9 Patch

2010-08-06T12:38:00.006-05:00

This is a new pattern I found strolling around Blogland! The pattern tutorial is here at Sew Wonderful's blog. The pictures show what I did with a scrappy one----I used a charm pack that Debi gave me called Nautical and Nice and added some lights to it. It was fun to do and I hope to have a picture soon of the whole quilt. I am making 30 blocks and will set it at 5x6 blocks. The first picture is the 4 patch block.

Next is the cutting apart of the block. You cut one inch on all 4 sides of the center seams. I used a turntable cutting board and it made it very easy to do! Then you rearrange the center blocks as shown.

Sew the block back together and viola, you have a finished block that has an entirely different look than what you started out with.

Don't forget to sign up for my 400th post give-away!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Three Quilts for Project Linus!

2010-08-05T13:58:00.005-05:00

Here are three more quilts for Project Linus. Maynard quilted all three of these on the Little Gracie Pro II over the weekend and I just got the binding done on the third one today. Two of them are about trains, so I hope 2 little boys find them to be fun!

The first one is called "Aquamarine Jewels" because that's what the colors reminded me of. It's a Yellow Brick Road pattern. The second is "Take 5 Trains" because I used the pattern called Take 5. The third is "Big and Bold Thomas the Train." I used the Big and Bold pattern for that one. My pile of tops is continuing to grow at an astonishing rate-------I'd better get busy and get some of these quilted!!! LOL!!

Be sure to sign up for my 400th post give-away while you are here! Good Luck!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan