I love to sew. I love to feel the fabric. I love the thread. I love to cut material into little pieces and then put it back together. Color is my friend.

Blue and white has always been a classic combination. My inspiration was the clouds slowly drifting across the deep blue sky in the summer of 2004. I was sitting in the yard while my kids were on the playground closeby, relaxing in a lawn chair, just enjoying the day. Of course I started to think about what a great quilt blue and white would make. But what pattern? Stars, of course, they are my favorite. So I picked a few and started piecing. Some by hand (the hard ones just for fun), and then my online guild started a star BOM. Most ladies did a montly theme, but I continued the blue and white.

I played with setting in EQ5 and my dh liked this one the best. It will grace our bed, and brighten up the room. I will have the local long armer quilt it maybe with light blue thread. I will take it there on Tues (closed on Mon) and discuss it with her.

BTW, the cutie helping hold the quilt is my ds, 4.

This is a small project from a kit about 13 x 15 inches. You cut out the window parts from black fabric and fuse the black to the background. Add the borders, put the batting and backing on, and then zigzag around the window panes to quilt it. Bing bang boom. Done. The very small pink line is a fancy stitch from my machine just to break up all that black.

Ok, I'm going to vent about my dog. Ready? Vent, vent, vent. Arghhh! )(*)&^%^%r^$#$$%#%_)*)(!!!!!!!!

Here is a picture my mom took while on vacation in Las Vegas. This is a casino floor. I thought it was just beautiful. Do you all ever look at the floor for a cool pattern? Makes me want to quilt something with a fan pattern.

The houses and trees in the previous post are paper pieced. They were fun to do, but then I like to piece with a foundation.

I did not find the bias edges to be a problem on the 1000 pyramids quilt. However, realizing that this could be a problem, I cut and then sewed, cut and sewed, maybe 20 triangles at a time instead of cutting a whole bunch like 200 at a time. Then I put the strips away and do not handle them until I sew one to another. I am just careful because I know this can be a problem.

*****Eureka! I have read the solution to a nagging problem. When sewing on binding it is inevitable that a seam is on the corner. A lady suggested that I cut the binding, make it shorter to change where the seam is, and resew the binding, before continuing on to the corner. WOW!!!! I feel a whole lot smarter and a whole lot dumber at the same time. Why didn't I think of that? My binding life will be soooo changed! *****

Well, hello again. It has been a long week, and it has only been four days!

On Wednesday, I took the kids to the dentist for their checkup. I mentioned I had a tooth that was kind of sensitive, and they rushed me off for xrays and fillings. Three hours later, we left the dentist and half of my face was still numb. It was not the way I wanted to spend my afternoon.

Thursday my mouth was soooo sore and my sore throat started.

Friday I babysat for the Valentines Banquet from the church and finished my part of the calendar quilt (the trees and cabins).

Saturday a friend and I finished the missionary quilt that the ladies of our church had been making. When I got home, I made some pillowcases for my kids, the teddy bear and trucks are the new ones. I also finished the hand sewing on the quilt as you go quilt, and so that is Done, Done.

Today I stayed home and slept, taking Tylenol for the sore throat and drinking warm stuff. I sewed some on my 1000 Pyramids quilt (mostly piecing by hand).

I have enjoyed reading all the blogs while I have been sick and down in the mouth. :) Everyone posts such beautiful pictures.

Another thing I wanted to share. My daughter and I went for a walk on a warmer day (about 25 degrees) and we had the greatest time watching these little finch like birds eat the seeds from the pinecones. Then they would drop the pinecones from the trees. It was a special moment.

Happy Valentines Day!

The photo is a quilt that my mom made. She sewed, I directed, as she had never made a quilt before. This is for my nephews 13th birthday. It took her almost two years to finish, but she did!! It is all flannel, and she did a great job!!! The pictures in the squares are moose, fox, fish, bears, beavers, etc.


When I made that scrappy jewel box, I didn't follow any directions to do the quilt as you go. Maybe that was the problem. Anyway, I just had a hard time with the back lining up in some parts. I guess it wasn't that bad. If I would have followed directions from a book or pattern, I'm sure it would have turned out better! But when have I ever followed directions very well?

I have realized in the last week that I am definently obsessed with quilting. I think about, do it, read about it, think about it, shop for it, look at it, search it out, google it, think about it, etc. Do people get obsessed about other hobbies this way?


Tonight for dinner we had Shepherd's Pie made with moose meat. I don't hunt but a friend does and she gives me some of the mooseburger and some of the steaks. Great friend! Moose tastes a lot like beef but with a little stronger flavor and since it is ground at home, the amount of fat in it can be controlled.

I got out of jury duty this week as the trial was cancelled. Good news. But now I don't get to work on my 1000 Pryamids (by hand) while waiting. Bad news.

I am working on a quilt that I call Happy Cabana. Little houses that I am fusing flowers and things to. Picture coming soon.

Swap Quilt Photos

so where did my photos go? I will keep trying to post them...

Ok. well I can't figure out how this is loading the photos today. So I will tell you about these quilts. I belong to the Quilters Corner yahoo group and we often do swaps. It is a very small group, like a local guild. These three quilts are made from blocks and fabric from these swaps.

The bright and black one was from last summer. We had a lottery for those big blocks. I won 13 blocks. I then added the hst border and black borders. This pattern is from quilterscache called Twelve Triangles. This top is not quilted (yet).

The blue quilt is from hst's that we swapped, light and dark blue. I had sooooo much fun arranging these blocks before I decided on this setting which in the book I picked it from is called Mosiac #5. This quilt hung in my church for awhile (they are used to block the sound). There are usually about 8 quilts in the church and anyone can let their quilt be there for as long as they want. The local lady did the long arm quilting in Daisy Swirl. It is really beautiful.

The scrappy Jewel Box is also from HST's we swapped, scrappy and cream. I did this as a quilt as you go, and now I know I don't want to do that again. Although it was nice tonight when I finished putting it together I could put the binding on and was done.

Photo one: Paper pieced baskets from Quiltmaker magazine, set with pink sashing. This hung unfinished on my wall for a year and I decided I didn't like it. So I tore it apart, and reset it .

Photo two: Same blocks new setting. Much more to my liking. Ready to be quilted!

Today I put on two bindings! A dark orange on the fall one and a candy striped one on the snowman one.
These two quilt are done, done, done!!!

Wa-hoooooo! I finished it! This was a small mystery quilt kit from a local shop called Mexican Crosses. I started it on Thursday and finished it on Sunday. It is about 50 x 60. My kiddos really like the green polka dot border, which I added, it didn't come with the kit. I really like the background fabric, it is white with little colored swirls in it by Moda. A very good thick white, it doesn't show thru.

I have had this fq hanging on my wall for a long time. I just love it. But what to do with it? I don't want to cut it up for a project. So I have just been enjoying it as a work of art.
Here is a photo of my sewing room with my new pegboard set up. I am just thrilled with it.
And this is the second set of fq's my wonderful dh got me for Valentines Day.

Ok, the calendar quilt. There are twelve of us, and each person makes a strip of blocks for January. Then we pass the strip to the next person, who makes the blocks for Feb. Etc. In December, we all receive our tops back, with some blocks from each person. It is not a row quilt as some of the months are not a row, but maybe a four patch of blocks, or an up and down strip, say 6 x 30.

This is the Mexican Cross Mystery Quilt I have been working on the last few days. The blocks are 9 1/2 inches and the quilt is 5 blocks by 6 blocks. I picked these funky greens out for the borders. I will make about a 6 inch outer border.
Here is one set of fq's my dh bought me for Valentines day. Isn't he SWEET! He actually went to the quilt store and picked them out!