Give Away

Free give away over at http://beetreedesigns.blogspot.com/ for darling snowball/snowmen embroidery done in either bluework or redwork. Just so cute....Run over right now. Ends today and she picks the winner tomorrow.

What do you do to relax???

I love to embroider. I discovered this a few years ago. It calms me, and it is so portable. I do most of my embroidery on lunch hours or while traveling. Sometimes I steal a few minutes while at home--there is always 1050 things to do besides embroider, but sometimes I choose to do this. Currently, I am working on Winter Wonderland by Crab Apple Hill. Love their patterns--love them. So far, I have made Over the River, Hocuspocusville and now I'm working on this snowman project. Heaven.

Every Heart Beats True

The past few days, I have been working on this Kim Diehl quilt, Every Heart Beats True. I've wanted to make it for some time and finally made myself do it. I'm in between projects and have been working on finishing up some UFO's and this has been fun to do in the middle of all the finishing up.

This is the quilt so far without borders. I hope to finish it up this week and move on to the next UFO. I've been having fun with this.

9 Patch Snowball...

I posted today on http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com. Go and check it out. I quickly show you how you can make your own 9 patch snowball quilt....Enjoy!

Sign up for a give-away...

If you liked the dresden plate block from my previous post, Pine Needles is having a give-away. Go and sign up. It seriously is a great project to do and very cute at that. Go to: http://pineneedlesatgardnervillage.blogspot.com to sign up for this fabulous give away.

Finishes...

This English paper piecing kit to make this sweet little pincushion was given to us at the Red Rooster Spring Retreat. I had a few minutes to relax today and made it up. It was really fun to make. I lined it with batting and filled it with rice. All done...

This is the dresden block that I finally completed. Fun, fun project and I really enjoyed making it. Now the dilema--Do I make it into a pillow? Do I add wool to the background and make it a doily? or...Do I frame it? My faithful followers, I need some input...what would you do?

Spring Break Retreat from Red Rooster...

Yesterday, April 17, we had the Spring Break Red Rooster retreat. The class I took was taught by Sandy Workman from Pine Needles. She brought this darling tote bag, which I ordered a pattern for. The project I signed up for was Dresden Garden, a dresden plate with an embroidered center. Fun class and I learned a new embroidery stitch in the class, the pistol.

This is a pattern of the project I signed up for.

This class was an applique class, teaching the Kim Diehl method of applique.

This was a mystery class taught by the ladies of Two Peas in a Pod, Carol and Connie. They really had a good time in this class--they were just a laughing up a storm and enjoying this!!


This was a Kaleidoscope quilt class, taught by Kaye Nielson.

This class, Cathedral Windows was taught by Maryann Golich. I have to tell you that the classes were enjoyed by all--the food was great, the company was fabulous and a must do for next year!!

Patchwork Friends Quilt Guild

It was a really fun evening tonight...This is my block jack block I made. The rule was to have the block in 2" increments finished, so my block unfinished measured 8 1/2" and they had to be flower blocks. Alissa won the block jack this month. The flower blocks were all so cute!!

This is a block jack from last year that Lana finished up for her trailer. So cute...

Kathleen made this quilt out of 6 inch block jacks from several years ago...fun, fun!!

Last year we did Sunbonnet Sue for block jack--Jean won 11 blocks so she did this calendar Sunbonnet Sue--so cute and adorable!!!

Show and share--would you believe this beautiful quilt of Carolyn's is cheater cloth?

Alissa has been making this wall hanging commemorating her anniversary this year.

Carrie made this beautiful baby quilt--she quilts most of her own tops and does a fantastic job!!!

Kathleen and her daughters got together and made this darling pillow. They ripped the strips and then overlapped and sewed them down on foundation. Look closely at the little tassels...

Jean made this quilt with Basket BOM done at the local fabric store, Bernina's. The picture does not do this quilt justice...

Desirae is just binding this adorable Swap Meet quilt...So fun!!!

Carolyn got her alphabet quilt back from the quilters. She echoed the letters--love it. Can't wait to get mine quilted...

Carrie made this lovely log cabin for her bedroom. I love the dramatic impact...Till next month....

In touch with the Irish...

My husband's family history traces back to Ireland. As a result, my son, 17 YOA, loves anything Irish. He is very particular on what he likes and dislikes regarding quilts and to put it gently, he doesn't like most of what I like. However, we agreed on this Triple Irish Chain, pattern found in Fons and Porter magazine, from March/April 2008.
The pattern is very easy--strip pieced and then subcut and sewn into blocks. It is a fast sew. All my blocks are sewn and are ready for putting the quilt together.
My son and I chose these green batiks. After working on this quilt, I am convinced that one of God's favorite colors is green. If you don't believe me, look around your world and look at the multitude of green in every imaginable shade. This color has been so relaxing and soothing to sew with--extremely therapeutic.
A sampling of the blocks. This is a must sew--easy, and carry's a lot of impact!!

Progress

From egg hunt, which was ever so much fun to

finally finishing these blocks for my Scrappy Flower Garden quilt, 1 1/2 years in the making..I'm so excited and pleased with how it turned out. I will sew these together and get it quilted up. The original pattern was for a wall quilt and I made it big enough for a double bed!!