New Project

This is my new project. Last summer Bobbin Buzz offered these embroidery patterns for a donation of any amount. They are called breast cancer fairies, I believe that is what they are called. I donated my monies, downloaded the designs, and embroidered them out. My next step was to start collecting pink fabric that I would want to use in this quilt. I am not much of a pink person so I had to really look for pink that caught my eye. (I don't automatically migrate to pink. )Then it was what pattern to use. I decided on the pattern Bonnie has on her website, the pineapple blossom pattern. It is an easy pattern to follow and I think it will compliment these embroidered pieces well. I have four blocks done so far and will continue to work on them as the time allows this week. We are expected to have company this week so I don't know how much sewing will get done. Tonight will be spent putting the kitchen back togeather and making the house presentable. Oh well, it is to be a very hot week-end here so I will stay inside and sew. Have a great day, I must get ready for work.

Whats a girl to do?

I made this Trip Around the World, (used the pattern I mentioned in a pervious post),using fabric exclusively from my stash. I wanted it to look manly, since it was camping fabric that I used as my focus fabric. I wanted a manly pantograph but didn't have one. I didn't want to order one because I would have had to wait for it to arrive and I wanted to get this quilted now. It will be a campfire quilt, and I want to get them all done before the end of July. Sooooo what did I do????????

I made my own pantograph. I don't think I am very thrilled with the pattern but my husband really likes it. Each time he looked at it he would tell me how much he liked it. How did I make it you ask, well let me tell you.............................
I purchased this book, enlarged one of the fish pictures, traced it on a piece of paper, figured out how I wanted the panto to look, copied the pattern, taped it togeather and this is what I came up with. I do think I will tweek it abit, but for the first time and making my own( more or less) pantograph, I think it turned out okay.
After the binding is done, I will post a picture of the quilt along with a picture of the back. I am going to start triming the quilt and getting the binding ready. I will bind in dark brown.
Have great week-end.

Swinging Bridge

Well now I guess I wasn't paying much attention to how I was uploading these pictures. The top picture is of the swinging bridge I told you about in yesterdays post. This is a very sturdy bridge that spans the Kootenai River. It is a fairly new bridge, put in the the late 80's sometime, much different from the one that was there when I was a kid. As a kid it was great fun to go out and get it swinging, (that was when I was young and dumb with no fear) my how things change. It is still fun to get the bridge going but I do think my kids enjoy it more than I do. If you run across the bidge it will swing some also but not as much. There are many tourists that visit this site now so that makes it more difficult to have much fun getting the bridge to swing. Most people don't like it as it is a bit scarry.


The other picture is of the Kootenai Falls, it was taken last July. The river was very high and the water was running very fast, much of the rocks are covered with water. I just love this area. I can't wait until August when I get a chance to go again.

Not much else, just wanted to post these pictures while I was thinking about it. Have a great week.

Cooling Picture

I found this picture on the Libby Montana website. It looks so cooling on a hot day here in Portland. I just wanted to share it with everyone. This is close to one of my most favorite places on earth. The picture is of the Kootenai Falls, on the Kootenai River, just below this area is the swinging bridge. (When I come across a picture I will post). Ask any member of my immediate family and they will agree this is my most favorite place. We have to go here each time I go to Libby. There has been a few times I have missed the oppurtunity to go and my heart is very sad when I can't go.

Hope every one is having a great week-end. The kitchen is coming along. Sink is in, dishwasher can be used. I am still painting on the doors, should finish today. I can hear the paint calling me now.

Have a great Sunday.

Trip Around the World

Here is my first attempt at Trip Around the World. We all made this quilt in the quilting group I was attending earlier in the year. We have decided to take a break for the summer and will start up again in September.

Trip Around the World was our last project before the break. We used the pattern instructions by Jane C. Smith. A good pattern, gives instructions for all sizes from baby to king. I am in the process of making another and will post picture when finished.

Darcie, posted a few pictures of her trips towards the end of June. These posts reminded me to take a picture of mine and post for all to see. The colors are bright, if I would have known more about where they would land, I probably would have placed them differently. Oh well, lesson learned, the quilt is done, very warm, and someone will enjoy, as I will most likely donate to Frontier Missions at the end of the year.

Have a great week-end. We are still working on the kitchen. I will paint more cupboard doors today, put some back on tonight, DH will seat sink tonight-- which means I may have a kitchen sink that is usable again. Enjoy.

Independence Day

Here it is, my quilt I made for the 4th of July. Well actually just the top. I just finished it today. I used patriotic fabric from my stash. Using the strip twist pattern from Bonnies, Quitltville website. This is a fun quilt to make and goes togeather very quickly. One change I made was cutting the square at 8 inches instead of 8.5. This cut change made a difference on how well the quilt went togeather.

I must get busy and start painting. DH and I are very busy redoing the kitchen. We are painting the cabinets and putting new counter top down, new sink and facet. I am very excited and think it will turn out well.

Happy 4th to all.

Completed

Just a couple pictures of the completed quilts. Bullseye. I like how it turned out. I haven't washed it yet to fringe the edges. This will be my 4th of July quilt.
Strip twist. It turned out nicely. I should have used more varitey with the fabric, oh well, you learn. I should say almost completed, I thought I was done sewing the binding but found out I wasn't. Will complete it this weekend. If you look close enough you can see the small area at the top that isn't sewn down. Happy 4th.

Little house in the big woods

This is another of my first quilts. I called it Little house in the big woods. I got the idea from Quilters Magazine. The little house was my idea. I gave this quilt to my God-daughter for her 10th birthday, along with the Laura Ingalls Wilder book.

I made this quilt in 1998. The HST trees were part of a series the magazine was printing, some kind of village quilt but I decided to make the quilt look like snow on the trees, hence the white and colored HST trees and the little log cabin all by itself in the middle to signify the little house in the big woods.

I am showing another first quilt because I have not completed much on this side with new quilts. I have completed an quilt top I am unable to show at this time. I will show later when the timing is right.

I have been suffering from sinus problems also which has turned on my slow button. Hoping that will go away soon. Not much else, just wanted to post something to let you know I am still alive and kicking. Busy week, I will work 5 days this week and have a busy Saturday already planned. How does life get so full of stuff? Good eveing to all.

Oil on Water

Nothing new to show but felt like it was about time I updated my blog. This a quilt I made back in 1998. It is a baby quilt I gave to my brother and his wife when they had their second child. I did the kalidascope pattern using brightly colored stripped fabric. When I look at the quilt it reminds me of car oil on a mud puddle, that is why I call it "Oil on Water". I made this before my quilting machine, so it is quilted on my sewing machine. I can't remember how I quilted it, probably stitch in the ditch.

I have been busy working on a quilt. It is a pattern I am making up as I go along so much slower than my bullseye. I must admit that is probably the fasted quilt I have ever made.

I made one of the strip twist quilts from Bonnies blog and found I had the same problem as Fiona (Scraps in Progress-Saturday June 10). My seams were about 1/2 inch off. I am wondering if the blocks should be cut at 8" instead of 8.5". I am going to try this pattern again and try cutting at 8" and see what happens. I did not trim my squares down to 8", just made it work therefore there are pleats on some of the seams.Oh well, this is another campfire quilt. I will post a picture after it is finished. It will look much better than. (P.S. to post comment by Fiona-- it is not that I don't like the pattern, I don't like the fact I used to many of the same fabrics, the mixture is not good, and I didn't trim therefore getting tucks in the seams. I will make another using more fabrics and cutting at 8". I am not saying there is anything wrong with this pattern.)

Happy Fathers Day to any men that may stop by. Enjoy the day.

Trying something new

Just a quick post to show everyone my first english paper piecing flower. I have decided to try my hand at this.

I am still working on the strip twist. I have 8 more blocks to cut then I can sew them togeather.

I received another shipment from Rosie, just as Carolyn at Lakeside Quilting LLC, I quilt for Rosie. I really enjoy this charity and would encourage any of you with longarms out there to donate your time of 12 quilts a year. I know many already have charity obligations but if by chance you are looking you can find the link at Carolyn's blog.

I have to go, work calling. Have a great day.

Blame it on Jeanne

I finished sewing and quilting my bullseye quilt today. I am so happy with the out come I had to post a picture of it right off the longarm. As usual while working on the quilt I thought it was going to be a dud and I almost trashed the quilt. ( I would not have had any guilt as the fabric was given to me so no $ out of pocket.) I was not sure if I wanted to use my 50cent/yard fabric on the back and the batting that I just purchased. Was this going to be worth the small expense I would invest and the time to complete? I must say now that I am finished the answer is YES. I know this is not a prize winning quilt but it is so country and old looking that I just love it. Okay, enough now. Hope you all have a great Sunday. Oh yeah, the Oilers won. Yee Haw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Montana

Here it is the completed Montana quilt. I like how it turned out. It measures 65x79.5. My sweet husband helped me pick the binding for the quilt. I really like it when he does this, and I praise him for helping and making such a good choice. I smile on the inside to know he will help me with that, becoming just a bit involved in my hobby.

I have been very busy with sewing this past week-end. I completed this quilt, made two dog blankets, and started sewing on a new quilt. I also quilted a really cute quilt for a freind, she had a kindergarden class color pictures of themselves on white fabrice, then pieced these squares into a quilt for the teacher. I did not get a picture of the quilt, I guess I wasn't thinking straight at the the time. A very cute quilt though.

Nothing else to write about. I must get ready for work. I just wanted to share the final picture of Montana. Good day to all.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

I know this post is way early but the rest of the week events are going to prevent me from the oppurtunity to post. I want to tell each and everyone of you Happy Mothers Day (to those who are mothers) and those who are not, don't forget to tell your Mom.

This is a quilt I made for my Mom back in the late 90's. I was new to quilting then. Just starting and dabbling. I made dolls of each of her children (she has nine) dressed us I thought we would have dressed as kids, made a hand template and embroidered our names and birdates in each hand. The quilt features alot of yellow because this is her favorite color.

My Mom liked her quilt, she uses it on her bed. That is one of the stipulations I put on my quilt gifts, they have to be used. I know you are not supposed to put stipulations on gifts but I do with my quilts. I do not want them to sit unused to I tell people they have to use them.

If I could have changed anything it would be to have made it a bit bigger. Well I must get ready for work. I am in the process of dying my hair and it must be rinsed out. Have a great week-end and a wonderful Mothers Day.

I don't know how I got two pictures but you get a double look. One of those things that will make you laugh at me as I laugh at myself for not knowing exactly what I am doing and thinking I do. I guess these things keep me humble. Good Day

Sunday Post

Not much to post, I have been busy cleaning house and doing some outside work. Here are a couple pictures of stepping stones I have been working on the past few years. I am going to make myself a small court yard out in my back yard and am making these stones to go in that area. I will past a few pictures of them along the way. The patterns are my creations. I just play with stained glass, decide on what I want, draw out the pattern, trace it on contact paper, place the stained glass where I want, put in bottom of my mold, fill with mortar, and wait. Some turn out better than others but all of them will be used.
I was thinking of saving them and taking them to MT for use on our property there, but dear hubby says no, I can always make more.
Here is the Montana quilt loaded and in the process of being quilted. It will take a while. I am doing 1" cross hatching on the sides with free motion in the center. Hope it looks good when finished. I will post a completed picture but here is a sneak peek..Thank you for all your kind comments. Have a great day, rain here but hope you are having sun in your neck of the woods.

Stanley Cup Play-Offs

The Stanley Cup Play-ffs are in full force right now. I must admit I am not into as much this year as in the past, the lock-out last year took out some of my pleasure for the sport. I will eventually get the excitment back but right now it is just not there.

Detroit RedWings were knocked out in the first round. Boo-Hoo. I will now root for the Colorado Avalanch. This is my sons favorite team. Good thing for him because last I heard he was going to accept a job in Colorado Springs after he finishes him masters program in August. He should be able to attend a few games come next season.

I made this quilt for him back in the late 90's. I was unemployed at the time and worked on it all day, 8 hours. I finished it on a week, which did not sit well with DS, he thought I did not do a good job on it because it didn't take me as long as other quilts too. I couldn't get him to understand it was because it was because I worked on it all day instead of just a few hours each day. I offered to give it to one of his friends but he decided he would keep it. It is packed away somewhere right now but I suppose there will come a day when he appreciates this quilt.

I used his jersy to make the "A" logo and bear paws , copied the NHL logo from something, but the sticks, puck, zamboni, and Stanley Cup are all mine. I am very pleased and happy with this quilt. It is machine quilted on my sewing machine as this was before my longarm.

Good evening to all and hope to have another post sometime this week-end. I have finished the Montana quilt top but will not post a picture until quilted and binding put on it. That is when I take the final picture so that is when you get to see the final product. Good Day.

Montana Quilt

Well here is the progress on the Montana quilt that I started back in February. I think the progress is going along fine. If you remember from a post back in Feb. I am getting the concept for this quilt from the cover of Rotary Cutting & Speed Piecing. The pattern is not in the book so I am doing in the way I wanted. I think I should have made my flying geese with a longer base and not so small but that is how it is. I guess these will be tamarak trees and not tall firs.
I am just about finished with this portion of the quilt. I will write out MONTANA on all four sides using Tonya's wonky letters. As usual I will post picture when completed. Just thought I would post some of my progress. Have a great day.

Here is the last picture of the quilts that I recently finished quilting. This was fun to make. I purchased the iron-on pictures at a quilt show a few years ago, colored them with crayon, set the crayon with my iron and made this quilt. I once again used fabric I purchased in the rem bin so when I ran out I was out. I think it made a very attractive baby quilt. I haven't decided if I will keep for when I become a grandma (way in the future) or give to charity as with the others I have made. I have a friend who just found out she is pregnant so might give to her at her shower when they have one for her. I had fun quilting this one, trying differnt techniques with my stiches.

I am curious, has the increased gas prices changed your habits any, driving or buying other items other than gas. I haven't seen where there is any less trafic due to the prices. I know I have started to consolidate my trips but I did that pretty much before the prices started to sky rocket. I am beginning to wonder if we are a nation of complainers who don't put any action behind their complaints. Have you bought less comsumer goods, be it household or fabric because you have paid more for petro? Do you think twice before jumping in the car to make that trip to the store for one item you can't live without right now? Do you do like I did last week and go without onion in your cooking because you didn't want to use the gas to drive to the store just for onion. Now believe me this was a sacrifice for me, we had spaghettie -sans onion, we had fried rice - sans onion because I didn't want to drive to the store just for onion, I waited until I went grocery shopping on Sunday. This was hard, I use alot if onion, I don' think you can ever have to much in any dish, my family at times has complained about the amount of onion in the dish. If I am going to dice or cut up part of an onion why not all of it and just use it all. When I was a kid I would eat onion sandwiches, they were so good, bread salad dressing, sliced onion. Oh my mouth is watering now.

Hanne tagged me for six weird things about me, I had already done that but I guess if I were to add a few more they would be

1) as noted above I love onion in my dishes and lots of it

2) I prefer blue ink over black and will search high and low to find blue before I will write in black

3) I prefer to excercise in the evening

4) I hate talking on the phone, even to my beloved children and family members, I just don't like to talk on the phone.

5) I like sugar on my pancakes and tomatoes.

6) I prefer it colder than my husband, he would love to turn the heat on when it gets down to 68 but I can wait until it gets to 58.

Hope you all have a great evening.

Here is another picture of the quilts I recently finished. Once again the embroidery pattern is from the internet, free. I like the way this turned out and it will go to charity. I hope to donate quilts to Frontiers Missions this fall and this will be one that goes. I have been tagged by Judy at Quilting with Ragdolls, so here are 6 weird or quirkey things about me:

1) I can not fall asleep unless I have some sort of blanket on me, either a top sheet or blanket.

2) I obcess over finances.

3) My film has to be developed asap after the roll is completed, picked up as soon as ready noted on back event and people then put away.

4) I hate to shop, I love to buy shoes, but hate to shop for clothes or food.

5) I hate to cook. I think cooking and eating are a waste of time. I do it because it is an obligation but hate it. I don't have any trouble eating either.

6) I wish smoking didn't have any side effects or cost so much, I would still be smoking. I quit 19 years ago and miss it greatly.

That should do it for me. I will tag:)

Serena
Joyce
Dorothy
Leah.

I just figured out how to do links, so when I figure out how to do hyperlinks I will do that. I am slow at this computer stuff, that I guess is #7 at no extra charge.

Have a great day.

I am finally doing a real post again. I have been so busy, working five days a week, tired from my allergies, sleeping and still tired to the bone. The house is a mess, dogs dragging in dirt from being out all day, dogs and cat shedding like they maybe naked this summer. Hair everywhere, we have hardwood floors so that means sweep and mop often. This is one of the quilts that I have been working on. I acutally started this quilt two, yes two, years ago. I wanted to try an American Beauty so this is my version of that pattern. I have named this quilt" Black Hole Sun". I love rock music, and if anyone else who reads this blog loves rock music like I do will know where I got the name. The name comes from the group Sound Garden, on their CD Superunknown. This my thought of what black hole sun would look like.


I have posted different pictures of the quilt so you can get an idea of what it is like. I am really not happy with the size. I actuallty wanted it bigger, (I think it finished at 65x67), but I could not figure out how to add a border that would look good and not have to make more of the American Beauty pattern. It is a very time consuming pattern. My daughter would wrinkle her nose at the quilt while I was working on it and tell me how ugly it was going to be. I told her to have faith. She saw the quilt on Easter and was surprised at how much she liked it. I ran out of the batik fabric so that is what halted my progress and size. I picked the fabric up on the rem rack and guess what when I needed more it was not to be had. I guess thats the problem with rems but I do like the price. Enough for today. Enjoy and I will show the other two quilts in the near future.

HAPPY EASTER to all in blog land. I will be celebrating this joyous day tomorrow with my family. We will attend church then go over to Mother in Law for dinner. Hope you all have a wonderful day.