Bag Lady

This is a cute young girls purse that my sister-in-law, Geri, made. I have a granddaughter that is called Katybug so I thought this little purse covered in bugs would be perfect for her.

This is a bag that I made using lots of my black and white fabric from my stash. It is quite big for me. Originally I made it to carry on the plane but it is sooo big that it gets quite heavy if I load it up. Also, I really didn't want to sit it down on the dirty plane floor. I added the bows on the side to hold it a little tighter and as you can see I haven't put the button on yet. Right now I carry it to our Quilt Bee since I can fit everything except my sewing machine into it. I'm thinking it needs a bright pink or red button.

It's a .................................

Yesterday my daughter, Nicky, and her husband Patrick called to say that they were having an ultrasound to find out if they were having a boy or a girl. Of course, I said, Tell me, tell me tell me! They said "NO". (Picture my frustrated face!) They wanted to come down in person to tell us face to face! (Now picture my husband and I waiting not so patiently for them to arrive) They live in Logan, about 1 hour and 45 mintues away so we had to wait until about 8 p.m. to find out.

When they got here they had a large box and told us when we opened it we would know. As the box was opened.....out floated pink balloons with "It's a GIRL" printed on one of them. We are so excited. Now I can really concentrate on what to make and what to shop for in PINK.

Since they had to be to work early this morning they only stayed about an hour and turned around and drove back home. But we got to see pictures and the ultrasound. Those are pretty amazing. Certainly nothing like that when I was having babies. We are all very excited and looking forward to June.

Gotta get down to the sewing room and start planning more stuff! Lynda

Mrs Moen's Mystery off and running!

Are you participating in Mrs. Moen's Mystery? I've cut and marked my fabrics and ready for the next step. I'm using lots of scraps. Oh the suspense!!!

Quilt Bee day.......finally!

Stash buster quilt: Today I got to go to our Quilt Bee that meets at the Stitching Corner fabric shop. This quilt was hanging over a quilt rack and we decided to take a picture of it for future reference. I really like the use of all the scraps and the 4 patches in the outside border too. The back was made from probably 8 different fabrics also.

This is Claudia working diligently on red work from a project that she has had for a couple of years and decided she needed to get busy on. She has some red fabrics from another unfinished project that she will put with this red work to make a quilt.

Suzanne appliquing leaves and flowers on a beautiful quilt. She also brought a wonderful Fall colored quilt that she wanted our opinion on the borders. In the end we decided on a narrow light gold border, followed by a pieced strip and then a rich red fabric outer border (you can see the red fabric on the table behind her). Suzanne does beautiful applique work that I quite envy.

And Ina putting the binding on a Young Women's Values quilt. She makes them for each of her granddaughters. This one used a coloring technique that was outlined with embroidery stitches. There are also cute little 3-dimensional flowers. Ina says no dull fabrics for her....she prefers bright cheerful fabrics.

Here is the 3rd Christmas quilt for the year that I was working on. I was so sure I would get so much done that I brought 2 sets of blocks ready to machine applique and I even brought the fabrics for Mrs. Moen's mystery quilt so I could get them cut out. With all the talking I only managed to complete the blocks for 1 quilt. I'm not complaining tho because it is just so much fun to see these women that I have missed so much. Thank you to them for changing their meeting day to work with my day off from work. Only 4 of us came today but hopefully more can make it next time.

As I was sewing away I noticed that my machine is sounding a little clunky and had a slight whistle or something. It is really time for a tune up for sure. How can I live without it for a few days tho????

Happy quilting to you all. Lynda

Christmas Quilt 2 ready for the quilter

I fell in love with this border fabric by Moda called Crazy 8 that I talked about in my last blog. Found lots of fabrics that matched, not all of them Crazy 8, and here is the finished quilt top. It went together quite easily and quickly. It always amazes me that I can put all the blocks up on my design wall, mix and match and move and change until I'm sure it is perfect. And then.....when I sew them together and lay it out on the floor I find all kinds of like fabrics next to each other! How does that happen? My friend, Janine, and I laugh all the time about how careful we are in positioning each block and still they come out the way they want. I do like this quilt tho and can't wait to start on the next one.

Oh, my quilt bee that I haven't been able to go to for the last year or so (because they meet on a day that I work) has changed days and now I can go again. I am so excited. I have missed getting to talk and laugh with this fun and talented group of women. I've already got my sewing project ready to take so I can sew, sew, sew while enjoying their company.

Have fun quilting. Lynda

Busy, busy, busy

Here is what I have been working on the last few days. I thought I had purchased enough fabric for the next Christmas quilt or maybe even 2. But.....I have cut out enough for 3. I cheated a little on the pattern (which I saw somewhere in some quilting magazine but can't find now). Instead of cutting the fabric and sewing it back together I decided to just machine applique the squares or rectangles in place giving the same "look" as if I had done all that cutting and sewing. These are the blocks done for the first quilt and the rest of them are sitting at the back ready to be put together. It is going fairly quickly and I am so excited that I will probably have 4 of my 8 Christmas quilts done by the end of January. Woohoo!

I tried my hand at making a purse. I really like the fabrics used, like the pattern o.k. except that it isn't quite big enough for me to use, and I used too stiff of a liner in it. I made this one and a black and white one. They were just for practice so I didn't put a closer (wish I had now). I like the magnet ones. I gave the black and white one to the young granddaughter of my friend, Janine, and she seemed to love it. However, if I make it again I will make it about half again bigger. I can barely fit my wallet in it at this size. They were very easy to make and I did learn a lot about what not to do next time.

Happy quilting to you all. Lynda

Saturday Block of the Month

Several years ago a new concept was begun here in Utah Valley. A quilt store in Heber called Whimsey Cottage started a once a month Saturday quilt. It cost $5.00 to buy the first block pattern and fabric. If you brought the block back the following month all completed you would get the next pattern and fabric for free. If you didn't finish the block, or you couldn't attend that month, you would have to pay for the next one. It lasted for 12 months.


Most of us made all 12 blocks for just $5.00! Of course, it was a good way for the store to make money also since car loads of women would swarm the shop on that Saturday and you know what happens when a bunch of women go into a fabric store.....yes....they buy, buy, buy! Anyway, the last month we could also buy the fabric and pattern for $30.00 that would be for rest of the quilt top. I think there were 2 fabric color choices. I chose the brights because at that time I was doing most things in pastels or country fabrics.

This quilt was so much fun to make and I loved all the different blocks and, of course, the challenge to complete the block each month using fabrics I wouldn't usually use. Since that time most of the fabric stores around here have a Saturday block club and there are many opportunities to be a part of this fun way to make a quilt top.

Each of the 12 blocks are regular quilt patterns and the flowers, frog and butterfly are paper pieced. Putting it together was a real challenge for me trying to get everything cut the right size and put in the proper place following what seemed like a very difficult jigsaw puzzle, but I am so happy with the fun bright quilt I now have.

Just so you know, I have not been sitting idly this past couple of weeks. I have finished 3 quilt tops that are ready for the quilter and have started cutting out my next Christmas quilt! Oh I love this momentum.

Happy quilting to you all. Lynda