Here I Am!

A couple of really nice gals recently emailed me to tell me that they missed reading my blog - how sweet! So I decided I better write a post to do a little catching up. Our move went just fine. We still have a lot of boxes to unpack, but we're getting there and it's starting to feel like home. Here's a picture of the new place taken this afternoon when it was dreary & wet. We hope to get a yard in this summer - hubby is a landscape architect so he has the plans all drawn up already.

Did you notice those two windows above the garage? That's the bonus room which is my studio. I've gotten my quilt fabrics organized and put on shelves - and found the perfect place to display my collection of vintage toy sewing machines. In fact, I think I can use a few more of them!

My very first project is sewing a lap quilt - here it is on my design wall below. My dad died unexpectedly in January and when I was talking to his wife a couple weeks ago she told me how hard the evenings are for her because it's so quiet with no one to talk to. I asked her to send me his cotton shirts and I'd make her a lap quilt out of them - she can wrap herself up in it when she's watching TV or feeling sad. It's been kind of therapeutic for me to handle the fabrics that he wore - funny that there were no stripes in his closet - only plaids, solids, and one Hawaiian print!

Here is the carnage leftover from disassembling the shirts on my family room floor.

I just finished reading a really good book - the author has a new one out so I'll get it from the library soon and read it too. I highly recommend this one.

I attended one of my monthly rug meetings a couple weeks ago and have a little show & tell to share. Myra had this darling apron - the flower pots are sewn from fabric and the flowers are painted on - what talent!

And she was working on this happy rug with the same bright colors.

Nancy had finished this cute rug since our last meeting - it all started with the star flower she had seen in a magazine and grew from there. I love that one of the borders is different.

A few months ago at my quilt group, we learned to make our own wool dryer balls using yarn - mine were pretty tame, but Jayna really took off and made a gazillion of them for Christmas gifts that she embellished with fun designs and colors. They look so nice nestled in her old wooden bowl.

Hopefully tomorrow I can catch up on reading some blogs - it's been weeks since I visited with my internet friends!

Dibs & Dabs

I have finished appliqueing the wool pennies onto these blocks, and I've got them all sewn together. Now I need to add more pennies at the corners where the blocks meet, and find a good fabric for the border - I don't seem to have a piece that will work in my stash - imagine that! Guess I'll have to go shopping! LOL

I met a gal who makes and donates small quilts to her local Ronald McDonald House in Texas. I have sent her blocks before, but last week I made a couple of scrappy tops to send. I found wonderful fabrics on clearance for the backing & binding to accompany them - she will layer them and quilt them and deliver them. Such a good project! If any of you are interested in sending orphan blocks or tops or supplies, I can send you her address. She prefers 10" blocks so the backing doesn't need to be pieced.

I have discovered a new author that I like thanks to the suggestion of my friend Terri. These are murder mysteries and feature London police officers who are married to each other, as well as their friends, family & co-workers. I haven't read them in order, but that would be the best way to do it. Maybe you'll like them too!

On occasion I've been working on a new denim quilt. I'm in love with hexies, and this is a version of one that's new to me. I put the word out to my kids asking for old denim jeans, so as I receive them, I cut the hexagons and then cut larger hexies from homespun plaids. There is no batting in this - the edges are folded over and stitched. Then the hexies are butted up next to each other and joined by a decorative machine stitch. Not sure how large this will end up, depends on how quickly I tire of it!

I'm getting close to a finish on my 20" hit & miss mat. Only about 2" left to go on one side.

On Tuesday I met with my group of hooking friends and there was some great show & tell! Sharon had finished this small mat - she will back it with a nice piece of wool.

Sandy is filling in the background on this Susan Quicksall floral design - lovely colors!

Coralee is also working on the background of her Cranberry Gobbler.

Tonia has made arrangements with an antique dealer to make this rug for him in exchange for some nice antiques - it's looking great! It depicts the Kirkland Temple.

And the two bicycles below are SO fun to see side by side! This is a Polly Minick pattern. Jeanette is staying true to the original with an Americana color scheme.......

.....while Kim is switching it up by omitting the star border and doing her own color planning.

It was decided that at our December meeting we will exchange wooly ornaments - either hooked, or appliqued, or even needle punched. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with! Hope you all had a nice Halloween - our trick-or-treaters were nearly non-existent this year - only 4 small groups came to our door - much different than it was when our children were small and we handed out hundreds of pieces of  candy!

Quilty Stuff & Books

I recently tried Bonnie Sullivan's technique of sewing Leaders & Enders to make a quilt. I got all the blocks made, but wasn't really thrilled with the process so doubt I'll do it that way again. But here's my start at assembling the quilt top.

It's a really simple quilt made from a free pattern designed by Kathie Holland that I received from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine several years ago. This will be about 60"x 80" when it's finished - just right to snuggle under while watching TV - not that snuggling under a quilt sounds good right now in the 100* heat we've been having. UGH!

Most of you who are quilters have heard of Jenny Doan and the Missouri Star Quilt Company. I was fortunate to attend one of her trunk shows in May when she was in SLC for the Home Machine Quilting Show and I discovered that she's an adorable, down home, sweet lady. Today I stumbled upon this TV segment filmed by a BYU production company that shows a behind-the-scenes look at her business & family & operation. I thought it was SO informative - and actually very touching in parts. Perhaps some of you have a few minutes to watch it too! Enjoy! I tried to embed the video here, but can't get it to work, so you'll have to copy and paste the link below.

http://www.byutv.org/watch/bf7e0de7-69e2-4aaf-a538-5605e64a350f/turning-point-the-missouri-star-quilting-company

A couple years ago I discovered the author Louise Penny and the series of novels she has written about a small town in Canada called Three Pines. The characters are delightful & it's been amazing how many murders have been committed in this place! LOL I love to listen to the stories on audio while I'm sewing or hooking - the narrator has a wonderful voice that adds a lot to the experience. I haven't read them all in order, but that would probably be best if you're just starting. This is the most recent one I've finished - we also 'read' one on our vacation - a wonderful pastime while spending hours driving in a truck.

Not Much to Share

I haven't been doing a LOT of stitching lately, but do have a little bit to share with you. I've joined Cheri Payne's Friendship Group on Facebook and have been sewing the quilt blocks that she has posted there. Here's my progress so far. I'm sure there will be some wool applique added at some point - she never fails to disappoint with her designs. These are 4" blocks.

Someone in that group shared a photo of a simple little quilt that I've tried to reproduce below without a pattern. The wool applique makes for good stitching while watching TV in the evenings. This quilt measures about 15" square.

I'm also following along with the Temecula QAL and my blocks are shown below.

I found a backing fabric for my daughter's quilt that she likes. The loud floral is a fun counterpoint to the strict geometric shapes on the front. I have all the layers pin basted together now and it's ready to be quilted.

Last weekend we helped my son & his family move back to our area after his job disappeared in the oil fields. So happy to have them close-by again. Haven't had a hook in my hand since finishing the chicken rug so I need to get busy and decide on what I'll do next. Just finished reading this new book by Kate Morton. She's become one of my favorite authors and this story didn't disappoint!

New Aquisition & A Gift

Last week I stopped by a local antique store on a whim - not very hopeful that I'd find anything that called out to me. But SURPRISE~! That's exactly what happened! I have wanted a vintage wooden shoe rack for years and years but all the ones I've seen were too big and too expensive. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this item near the end of my loop through the store. It was just the right size and just the right price. I paid for it, then drove home to get the truck while the employees dismantled the display that was on it. I got it in the house and found the perfect spot for it, then threw on some of my wooden bowls, trays and quilts to decorate it. I love my new treasure and am so happy I found it! Kinda funny, because hubby still hasn't even noticed that it's there! LOL

My brother is getting married in a week or so. They are combining two complete households, so I knew there was nothing I could buy them for a gift that they would actually NEED. So I decided to make them a quilted table runner for the dining room.

Dresden Plate blocks are always fun to make - these have 20 blades and it was a treat to choose the different colors and prints to use for them.

I changed thread colors for each section as I quilted it - don't know if that's how the professionals do it - but it worked for me on this small project.

I know that my future sister-in-law likes copper so I found this pretty bowl at another antique store and bought it - then added the ball of artificial greenery for a splash of color and texture to complete the gift.

I found a pretty basket to place everything in and will wrap it with clear cellophane and tie it closed with strips of fabric & lace to make a nice presentation.

I actually added a label to the back too - ran muslin through my printer - then went over the lettering with a fine line Sharpie marker. It was pretty easy to do and I need to do it with ALL the quilts I make. Sure hope they like it when they receive it!

I'm not a huge fan of mysteries, but I just read this book and enjoyed it.

Sneak Peek

We've had a very rainy week where I live and it was absolute heaven that I was able to spend two cozy days tucked up in my studio listening to an entire audio book and making a small quilt. It's a gift and just needs to be quilted and bound - should be ready in plenty of time to give in October.

I stitched up the first part of Lori's SAL at Humble Quilts - I always enjoy the projects that she shares with us because they're usually on the small size and very doable in small steps!

Twenty years ago, hubby & I tore up the linoleum floor in our kitchen and the carpet in our dining room - then we laid down 8" ceramic tiles. The tiles have held up well, but after all this time and three kids, the grout was starting to become very dark and dingy looking. I read great reviews on Amazon about a product specially designed for painting grout, so I picked up a bottle and spent two days last week on my hands and knees - OUCH! I started out using a small foam eye shadow brush, but it was way too tedious so I eventually switched to a small paintbrush. After the paint dries for at least 30 minutes, you spray it with water and simply wipe off the excess that overlapped onto the tiles.

Before and after pictures below show the results of my hard work. I think I like it!

Read a good book titled Girl Underwater.

The rain has let up so today I'm venturing out to run some errands and see the quilt show held in conjunction with the Utah Quilt Guild's Quilt Festival - an annual event that's being held only 10 minutes away from my house this year. I didn't sign up to take any classes, but I always enjoy shopping the vendor's mall and wandering around looking at people and things. I'm bound to run in to a few people I know and that's always fun too!

Eye Candy

In my last post I shared a penny rug that I worked on during a recent road trip. This little quilt below was another bit of handwork that kept me busy on the same outing. I got all the hexies basted and stitched together while traveling. Then I sewed them onto the backing fabric and added the appliqued flower when I got home. It's quilted and bound and I'm enjoying it in my home now. Measures about 8" x 10" total.

Last week I met with my rug group and they had some great show & tell. Leisa was working on her poppy rug during the meeting, but she pulled out this wonderful quilt to work on during the ride home (she was a passenger for a one hour drive). I LOVED the story behind this quilt and she gave me permission to share it here. She made this quilt for her husband's 50th birthday and every bit of it has significance. The background was made by printing important documents onto fabric - things like his Air Force discharge papers, his wedding certificate, his diploma from medical school etc... She then added the wool tree which has a wool leaf for each of his 50 years. The birds nestled in the branches represent their family (children & grandchildren).  He raises bees - hence the bee skep. Because he was in the military, they moved a LOT through the years and each of their houses is depicted in the border. He's an avid fisherman so that is depicted by the water and the fish. The fabric on the back of the quilt was printed with world maps - perfect! This is a one-of-a-kind quilt that will become a priceless heirloom to her family - kinda makes me cry when I look at it!

There was lots of other great eye candy to see at our gathering. Sandy brought this finished rug that has a nautical vibe to it - she plans on using in in front of her bathroom sink - nice to sink your toes into on a chilly morning!

Her Maggie B. bee skep is completed and looks SO nice!

She also had this cute baby quilt that she made for a niece.

And she hooked this cute little sheep while she was with us - ran out of wool and could quite finish his tummy....

Kim has been working on some 'draft dodgers' for three of her windows that let the cold air in during the winter. The background is unhooked linen and adds a nice touch to the project. These two are finished with snowmen & trees, and she's currently working on a third with mittens on it.

Her mom recently died and she showed us this darling little quilted pillow of entwined hearts that two of her dear friends made for her - such a special gift!

Victoria is nearly finished with this apple harvest rug - just a little bit more to do.

Coralee is hooking a memory rug that shows her life on a farm in earlier years.

Jeanette's colorful turkey should be done in time for Thanksgiving in a couple months.

And Sharon's old looking floral rug is so pretty - there will be two of them that are very similar in color and design.

I just sat and visited the entire time - didn't even have a project to work on - and that was just fine with me for once!  Here is a book that I read recently - it was a good  story set during the Blitz in London.

In my next post I'll share the finished baby quilt that I made for my new grandson. He's not here quite yet, but should make an appearance very soon - we can hardly wait!