Binding and Antitude

I just wanted to post a couple of things I have been working on. Don't want to show you too much of the quilt I just put the binding on for my friend Janine since I have a couple of quilts just like it and, of course, they aren't ready for binding yet. This quilt is bright pinks and lime greens and was so much fun to make. She is giving it to a young granddaughter this weekend. When I get mine done (hopefully in the next month) I'll post them so you can see how cute the quilt is.

I purchased this kit called Antitude by Chitter Chatter Designs about 2 years ago. The fabrics and pattern came in this cute wire basket. I started right away transfering the pattern to white fabric so I could start the applique process. WHAT WAS I THINKING!! I don't even like to do applique unless it is by machine. But it was soooo cute and I just had to have it. So I plugged away at the center block and started working on one side. As you can see I have not even finished the one side yet. I did start putting in the embroidery (which I find I'm not that good at either). Then I put it away until yesterday. Got it all out again, figured out what needs to be done next, and I'm starting tonight. I'm hoping that my applique and embroidery will improve by the time I complete this project. I think I may put on the label that it was made by a 12 year old beginner so 100 years from now people will think it is pretty good for a 12 year old.

I Glow!

A few years ago I watched way too many decorating shows. We decided to recarpet the upstairs so I decided it was time to paint the walls upstairs too. My bedroom ended up with 3 stripes horizontally around the walls....top stripe is golden yellow, middle stripe is pumpkin and the bottom stripe is ripe apricot. Blue seemed a nice complement to all those warm colors. This quilt is one of my favorites too. It is machine quilted. It was fairly easy to make. I love the border in the top picture and it is more true to actual color. I used navy blue drapes with the same golden yellow color draped scarf over the top. You probably can't see but there is a deep maroon paisley swirl in the quilt so I had a friend make me a huge box type headboard that I covered in the same deep maroon color. To top it all off....the bed is in the middle of the room! Yes, I told you I watched way too many decorating shows. The room is pretty large so the bed in the middle looks good. Behind the headboard is a big dresser which gives us a dressing area close to the bathroom. My friend, Janine, calls it an "orange" bedroom but I always have to correct her and say it is a warm pumpkin. I painted the bathroom walls pumpkin also. When the light shines in through the window in the morning.....I glow! Makes me look good....for awhile.

Pink Toenails

Ladybugs across the tops of the beets. (I know there is a way to move these pictures into the right order but for the life of me I can't remember what Nicky told me to do....something about click and drag but nothing dragged! How can something be so easy for the young and yet so difficult for the more mature....like me?)

This small quilt was made a few years ago as a Bee exchange. We each chose a vegetable and made several ( I think there were about 10 of us that made this small quilt) and exchanged with each other. It was quite fun to see the quilt come together. There are small black ants walking through the carrots at the bottom. There are other bugs throughout the vegetables. It has been so long since I made this wallhanging that I am not sure which vegetable I made! Maybe the corn.

Woohoo! I figured out how to download the pictures from my camera to my computer. Believe me that is nothing short of a miracle. Don't know if you can see the flowers on my toes and Nicky's toes or the spiders on Krista's toes but they are there. Krista opted for bright orange polish, Nicky for deep purple and me bright pink. Don't you love the little flip flops they give you to wear? Of course, they are paper thin so you don't want to wear them very far for sure.

Thanks for stopping by. Lynda

A New Camera...Bright Pink Toenails....Table Toppers

This small quilt or table topper is for Valentine's Day. The hearts were from an exchange we had in our Quilt Bee and the small one is called Hugs and Kisses that we made at one of our quilt retreats.

I enjoy using Table runners for the different holidays. This one is very small with raw edges and a green floss running stitch holding it together around the edge. There are shamrock buttons and fur mustache.

This one is for Easter. The rabbits were paper pieced. I put a small white basket full of Easter eggs in the middle. As you can see, it has been put away folded and needs to be ironed before its next use. My daughter, Nicky, says she doesn't like the pink eyes, thinks they should be black I guess.

Sometimes it is such fun to just make a small runner or quilt that is finished in a couple of days and I can quilt myself. It satisfies a need to create something to enjoy right now.

By the way, the rumor of me getting a camera for my birthday from some of my children happened yesterday even tho my birthday isn't for a couple of weeks. A big Thank you to my children!! Two of my daughters and I got together for a mother/daughter day. We went looking for a good camera while the 3rd daughter was on the phone with us and on the computer helping us find the best one for me for the best deal. It was fun. Now I have a very nice Canon that probably does things I don't know yet. My first pictures were of my daughters and me getting a pedicure. It was a first for me and I quite enjoyed it. When I figure out how to put the picture on the computer...I'll show you a picture. I really enjoy our Mother/Daughter vacations together and look forward to whatever we do together. Having us spread out from Utah to Oklahoma and Illinois makes it difficult to get together often but we sure have fun when we do. Any of you who haven't had a pedicure before, I recommend that you do. This is probably the first time in 50 years that I have had bright pink toenails with white daisies on them!

Thanks for stopping by. Lynda

A Sunny Day in the Garden

Several years ago, (can't even remember when now or who the teacher was), I took a paper piecing class with a few friends and we ended up with this darling garden wall hanging. It was so much fun sewing little pieces of fabric onto a paper pattern and after folding, cutting and pressing we would end up with a slice of watermelon or a wheelbarrow. The vegetables on the left side are buttons. The grapes and cherries were appliqued onto the background fabric. The only really hard part was the hanger...I bent a piece of wire to fit the curve with a loop in the center and hot glued it onto the back. Not very clever but it works. I have this hanging in my sewing room where I can look at it every day so when it is cold and snowy outside it is always sunny in my sewing room.

Welcome Autumn

I have mentioned before that I really miss being able to go to my Quilt group now that I work full time. I miss the laughter, sharing of ideas and lives, and close friendship that is developed between women who have quilting in common. I really look forward to retiring in a couple of years so I can attend again. I still try to take time off of work when we have a retreat so I can catch up on their families and all their quilting projects.

Several years ago one of my quilting friends, Laurie, and I went shopping for the fabrics for this quilt. She helped me pick out fabrics because at that time I felt like I wasn't very good at that process. Since then I have learned that I need to pick out the main fabric and pull all the colors from that for the rest of the quilt. We found these Moda fabrics and it only took me a few days to complete the quilt top. The pumpkins and vines are machine appliqued on the borders. This quilt is a table topper from September through November in my dining room.

Welcome Autumn.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs Everywhere!

I've mentioned before that I don't have a camera (yet....rumor has it that some of my kids are talking about getting me one for my birthday soon....oh happy day!). Anyway, I didn't have anymore pictures of quilts to add to my blog until this past weekend. Nicky and Patrick came for a visit and brought their camera and took lots more pictures so I'll have more to add to my blog.

We had a busy couple of days taking pictures, canning 3 batches of blackberry jam, 28 quarts of peaches and even cleaned out a storage room taking a trunk full of stuff to DI (Goodwill) and throwing a bunch of stuff in the garbage also. The storage looks so clean and neat and organized now. Thank you Nicky!

The quilt above is about the 4th Bug Jar Quilt that I've made so far. I love them. Every little boy should have a bug jar quilt. Each one gets bigger and better. The first one was baby quilt sized, no applicued extras and quilted by machine by me. This one is about 68 x 80 inches and quilted by a professional long-arm quilter. I don't know if you can see the great quilting....it is done in yellow thread and is lots of bugs and flowers. Ants are marching around the whole outside border too. It was quilted by a great quilter at the Corn Wagon Quilt Shop in Springville, Utah. There are appliqued bugs, lizards, snails, frogs, spiders and a mouse even. This one is for Nicky's future son. I have a daughter-in-law, Katy (Gary's wife) who has put in a request for one too. Guess I'd better start looking for a few more bug fabrics.

Happy quilting to you all. Lynda

I WON! I WON!!

A couple of weeks ago I entered a blog contest from Tina Craig of Seaside Stitches. I actually won! Yea, ME. You can find all her cute things at www.tinacraig.etsy.com. A week ago I came home from work and there on the table was a package for me. You can see most of it above. What's missing? The bag of Savannah taffy. My husband decided that the sweets were for him. As you can see, I got a Savannah thimble and pen and cute suitcase tags and a pin made by Tina. The fabrics are so bright and cheerful I know I'll always be able to pick out which suitcase is mine on the conveyor belt. The pin is only an inch and a half! Can you believe that? It is so cute and I love the colors. Thank you, Tina, I love my gifts.