2nd Baby Quilt...

I've been going through some old pictures and found this...

my second baby quilt.

(the first one was PINK)

Machine stitched, hand applique and hand quilted.

Look at the little bunnies!
As I pack up my quilts for the big move

I'll take some pictures.

Stay tuned!

Gypsy Rose Jelly Roll...

I have 34 of the 80 blocks finished!

Woohoo!

These fabrics are sew much fun to play with.

Soft.

Gypsy Rose Jelly Roll...

Fiona, over HERE,

convinced me that I should cut this up

and play along with her

and the rest of the folks at Fat Quarterly

for the four week quilt-a-long.

(Say that fast 3 times!)

After seeing her little stack of fabrics

how could I resist?

That is why we buy fabric, right?

To cut it up and put it back together again...

like paper.

Just sayin'.

I got it a while back from

Lisa's Stitching Post.

I'm supposed to have the strips sub-cut by today.

Tomorrow we start block assembly.

Bliss Pinwheels...

I finished some pinwheels!

Check out this video...

Antique Pink Quilt...

Don't you just love this pink and white quilt!

I found it on eBay and it's a true treasure.

You know me and two colored quilts.

I just love the history behind them.

Not to mention that it's PINK!

I also wanted to tell you lovers of PINK

that my new PINK BLOG is up and running

and we are already having a blast with it.

Check it out if you have time...

you'll be surprised at all the PINK stuff we have.

Click on HERE to visit or you can also

click on the "If it's Pink" button on my side bar.

Till next time,

I'm off to have a nose in somebody elses blog.

Shabby Roses Inspire Block...

I have been stitchin up a storm!

My poor house is proof.

In just the past two days I made

7 pink churn dash blocks,

a basket block

and this cute little embroidery piece

from Jenny's Shabby Roses pattern.

While I have been embroidering for many years,

I have always used the stem stitch.

I have recently fallen in love with

Jenny of Elefantz

and her daughter Blossom.

They are amazing girls

who do amazing backstitch embroidery.

I just had to try it.

I've always used a hoop too,

and even though I always take my piece

out of the hoop

when I'm not working on it,

it still makes those little round circles

on my work.

I've never liked that.

Jenny told me about this stuff called "Whisperweft".

You just iron it on

the back of your piece and stitch away.

No hoop!

And it gives the fabric

just the right amount of stability.

I'm lovin' this.

Thanks Jenny, my friend!

Progress Report on Churned Roses...

Happy Lord's Day!

I took the process pledge not long ago.

Promising to show you my process

instead of just the finished project.

Well, I'm going make another pledge

to show you my progress too!

Is there much difference? Hummm...something to ponder.

Anyhoo, here, I have 18 little squishy piles

of what will soon be 18 churn dash blocks.

I have a feeling that this is going to be

one of my favorite quilts.

My favorite quilt block is the churn dash

and it's PINK!

***UPDATE***

I couldn't help myself.

Once I had all the little units together

I just had to stitch up a couple of blocks.

Pinking of you,

Honey Bee...

Remember the set of fat quarter's I posted a few weeks back?

The one's I didn't know what to do with?

(Here they are)

Well, I've decided their fate.

They will be cute up into little pieces

and sewn back together as Honey Bee blocks.

I saw this picture in the cover of

"The Quilter's Kitchen" by Jennifer Chiaverini

and it just made sense.

Whatcha think?

Rosey Basket #3

Two posts in one day!

I just had to make another basket in this

green pokie dot fabric.

Rosey Basket #2

These basket blocks are sew much fun to make!

This is #2 of 12.

I love the fabrics I chose for this quilt.

See the Blackbird Designs bird in the basket?

I've decided to make all the baskets first

and then applique the handles on.

Shabby Roses

The beginnings of Shabby Roses.

Rosey Baskets #1

I made a basket block today for my Rosey Baskets quilt.

I still have to applique the handle on

and square it up

but I just had to show you!

I'm using this floral for my focus fabric.

Love it!

Sandy FQ's...

I have this beautiful set of 50 fat quarters

that I bought a few years ago.

I can't decide what to do with them

and would like to hear your ideas.

My fingers are itching to cut them up

and put them back together again!

Click on the picture to get a better view.

Freedom...

With the beautiful weather here in the midwest

I have spent many hours on the deck or the porch,

iced tea in hand,

pondering life...

and the 4th of July.

Independance Day.

Freedom.

What does it mean to you?

An extra day off work.

Summer.

Parties.

Fireworks.

Backyard BBQ's...food!

And iced tea!

It's all so much fun.

But how often do we take the time

to really think about what it means.

It means that while we enjoy the parties,

the fireworks and the BBQ's,

someone else is making sure that we

also enjoy our freedom.

Unfortunatly,

how many of us don't even think about it?

Take it for granted.

I started this quilt when I found out that

we were "officially" at war with Iraq.

I always label my quilts.

They get a name,

and they get my name.

The label says who it's for if I made it for someone else.

It says where the quilt was made

and in what year it was finished.

How many times have you found and old quilt

and wanted to know more about it?

Please label your quilts.

...How often do we think to ourselves,

"We are at war!"

I know I don't think about it often,

because I'm free.

Think about it though, really, WAR!

This quilt,

I wanted to name it the number of casualties

we had suffered by the war.

All the while believeing that it was going to be

a small number.

That it was going to be over "soon".

The number was 273 and rising quickly when I finished it.

Many years later,

what is the toll now?

I don't think we even know.

I don't think we ever will.

So, this quilt has a new name.

I call it FREEDOM.

Because thousands of our

Mothers and Fathers,

Husbands and Wives,

Sisters and Brothers,

Sons and Daughters,

Nieces and Nephews

have died for my freedom,

and it's not over yet.

Please thank a soldier.

They do what they do so you can do what you do.

Dear Heavenly Father, As we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, we think of how they have followed in the footsteps of your son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Please hold our service men and women in your strong arms. Cover them with your sheltering grace and presence as they stand in the gap for our protection.
We also remember the families of our troops, and ask for your unique blessings to fill their homes and your peace, provision and strength to fill their lives.
May the members of our armed forces be filled with courage to face each day and may they trust in the Lord's mighty power to accomplish each task. Let our military brothers and sisters feel our love and support.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Secret Garden Quilt...

I've had the pleasure of attending many guild meetings

with Cindy Lammon

and she is such a nice girl.

When she wrote her first book,

"Gathered From The Garden",

of course I had to have a copy.

One of my UFO's is in this book

and I want to start "My Secret Garden".

I have just the right fabric for it!

This yummy little stack of shabbiness is

"Celebration"

by Brenda Riddle.

Is it not perfect?

Hexagons and 30's Reproductions...

I've been trying to stay busy...

I really have.

Nancy wants to see my progress.

Here it is Nan!

5 of 10 rows of the 30's reproduction quilt

and 3 little flowers for my garden.

Shabby Flower Garden...

I joined Karen and the girls at

One Flower Wednesday.

I finished just one flower this week

and it is the first of my new design.

When I started my garden I used 1-1/2 inch hexagons.

After several flowers,

I realized that they would never get done

with all of the other projects I have going on,

so I decided to START OVER with 2 inch.

Now you might think to yourself,

"How does half an inch make that much difference?"

Believe me, it does!

I'm hand piecing it and might be able to finish it

before I leave this earth.

I did some surfing too

because I just wasn't sure what pattern I wanted to use

to put my flowers together...

I kind of knew what I wanted but needed a visual.

While looking I came across some very beautiful

and interesting antique quilts.

I love quilt history

and found some fun stuff HERE at Women Folk.

I also found the quilt that I want my quilt to look like

HERE at Amish Country Lanes.

It's just what I had pictured in my head.

My original design had alot of green in it

but I'm just not that into green,

although you'd think so

should you take a peek at my fabric stash.

I also thought I'd show you my cute little storage box/bag.

I found it at Michael's and it's perfect

for holding everything I need for my garden.

It has a handle for carrying

and opens up on both sides.

One side has a plastic box

with little adjustable compartments,

and the other side has room for a few flowers.

I won't be able to keep many of them in it

but I'm going to put them together as I go,

so as it grows it will be kept in a basket.

I'm off now to see

what the other gardeners are up to!

.

Yo-Yo's and Hexagons and Speckled Eggs...

Hey everybody!

Hope your days are sunny and warm.

We haven't seen the sun in many days.

It's so dark and dreary!

And rain!

We need some dry weather

so I can get some flowers planted.

I decided to work on something

bright and cheerful

today and pretend the sun was shining.

I got out my

Shabby Antique Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

I got one flower done

and some Yo-Yo's for a scrappy quilt

I'm making too.

Remember last week

when I posted about the

little things Mike brings me from Mother Nature?

Well today when I came to get online

there was an egg on my desk.

Yep, an egg.

Of course I knew right away that it was special.

For one thing, I do keep my eggs in the frig,

and second of all...it is speckled.

Being in the country

we can usually get farm fresh eggs

on a regular basis.

I've seen brown eggs and blue eggs,

but not speckled eggs.

He found this egg

sitting right smack dab

in the middle of the gravel road...

all by it's lonesome.

It's a turkey egg!

We see alot of wild turkey around here

and they aren't usually in a big hurry.

The one that laid this one must have been though,

to leave it like that in the middle of the road!

I don't know what we're going to do with it,

but isn't it pretty!

Confessions of a Quilter...

Oh, woe is me.

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday as promised,

but I had a little dilema.

When I stitched my April block I used tea-dyed muslin.

Then I stitched my bunny in an almost white, gray thread.

It looked really cute...

untill I tea-dyed the whole quilt to make it look old.

Ha!

I should have known that the dye solution

was going to color my almost white, COTTON thread...

which it did...making the bunny almost the same color as the fabric.

So...SCRAPPERS!

YOU are going to love this...

I used my Martha Stewart, pigment ink pen, in ebony,

to color the bunny...LOL!

Talk about combining crafts.

I managed that.

I'm not happy about it but with me,

finished is always better than perfect.

Untill next time,

Embroidery Floss!

So, Nancy and I decided on a primitive calendar, BOM (Block of the Month) embroidery pattern because we gathered up our tangled messes of embroidery floss and decided we need to use it! When Mom got wind of it she decided to join us in our adventure. Nancy is going to do a whole quilt with her blocks, Mom isn't sure yet what she is going to do with them, and I am making 12 little quilts...one for each month to hang on the front door. My April block/quilt is finished but I am tea-dying it...I will post it later today. In the mean time, look at this mess! We've had these patterns for years but don't remember where we got them. If you know please tell me so we can give credit where credit is due...they are so cute and so much fun to stitch! SCRAPPERS...be sure to check out Marie-Claire at http://www.mccplg.blogspot.com/ for the current coupons, super papercrafting and BLOG CANDY!