The children are nestled...

All snug in their beds. And it is almost time for Christmas. I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the magic of the season, count your blessings and hug your lived ones.

Merry Christmas to all and best wishes for the coming year!

Quilt Alliance Quilts

Okay, so I woke up early this morning and since I can't get back to sleep, this seems like the best time to get back to posting. And I really wanted to share with you the Quilt Alliance Quilt that I bid on and won!

My quilt is by Gayle Simpson from Thousand Oaks, CA and Coeur d'Alene, ID. It is just the coolest quilt and had some special things on it that I didn't even see when I was bidding on it. A pleasant surprise for sure.

This one was called "All Homes Need Quilts" and has her special vintage chairs in the design.
Wonderful applique.

There are lace curtains at the windows too.

And I wish my picture was a little clearer but the stitching in the window boxes look like flowers!

And the best is the sewing machine in the upstairs window. Perfect! You can see more of Gayle's work on her website at Gayle Simpson Some pretty amazing work.

Now you can try for a quilt of your own by going to Quilt Alliance Quilts  They are all so unique and hard to resist. One of the quilts is over $1,000!

A good night...

The Good Enough Quilters met this week and I really enjoyed sharing my finishes. I usually am admiring everyone else's but thanks to my quilter I have three Christmas gifts ready to go. 

My first share was the top for a baby quilt I made. I re-used a pattern I used before. I love the pattern and the bright colors in this one. I have to quilt it now and have it ready by January.

This is gift number one. It is a hundred wishes quilt with 100 different squares of fabric. I love the backing on this one too. And the quilting that Ruth did for me. She is a master.

Below is quilt number 2. I think I may have shared this before but not upright. And I'm just so thrilled to have it finished!

The companion quilt which is also another gift. Aren't these fabric colors wonderful?

We met at my house and everyone just had to admire the great apple quilt that Lynn had given me when I retired. Don't you love it!

Cindy was sharing and asking for advice. This is a wonderful and very colorful batik quilt she made but can't decide how to finish. Everyone had an opinion and we were pretty much in agreement on the choice. Can't wait to see it really finished.

Laura shared her baby quilt top. The six flowers are appliqued and the edge is ruffled. So cute and girly!

This was Laura's other share. It is a huge bed quilt and oh so pretty. We almost didn't have room to share it.

Lynn's finish was her daughter's graduation quilt. We all loved the colors in the quilt and even though you can't see it, the straight line quilting she used is perfect. Vanessa is one lucky girl!

I really enjoyed having things to share. Hope this puts me on a roll!

Pick up a quilt and some fabric too.

I was only going to the quilt shop to pick up my finished quilt. And you know what that means! But first the quilt. 

Here it is. I love the bright colors and the best thing is now it is finished.

I tried a close up to show the quilting. Ruth, my quilter, did a wonderful wave throughout the quilt. It looks great.

This is the back of the quilt. Two views. When I made the backing, there wasn't enough of the fabric but then I just used some stash fabric. I'm so proud!

When I have it quilted, I also have her do the binding. She has a wonderful binding that she does with piping added. I tried to show you a close up of that so I hope you can see it.

And my true confession, here is the fabric I encountered as I walked in the door. How do you say, product placement. Just loved the individual "seed" packets, all related to sewing.

And these fat quarters are part of the line. See the tape measure. Wonder what I will do with this? The line is called Tidings of Great Joy for Quilting Treasures. Not sure how that fits. Maybe when you have a finish...

Now, heading back to work on the baby quilt for this weekend. Pressure!!

We're off to see the quilter...

I'm doing the happy dance right now. My two quilts are all set and ready to go to the quilters! Quilt top, backing, piping and binding are ready to be delivered.

I think I know what I would do if I won the lottery. I would continue quilting and then have every one of my quilts quilted by someone else. What a wonderful luxury that would be.

Oh, and I would hire a cleaning lady too!

What would you do?

Love those strips!

I started with these fabrics a few days ago. I cut them all into 2 1/2" strips and now I have...

 this one...

and this one...

I am a bit under deadline. These are intended to be Christmas gifts and I promised to get them to the quilter by the end of the week. Have to love those deadlines to get me moving!

More about these later!

Best Intentions

Where does the time go? I had the best intentions to get back to regular posts on this blog. Hmmm. And now the busy time begins. I woke up at 4 am and started thinking... Always a mistake. It is October 17 and I was thinking of all the things I must do before Christmas! And we start to set up for the Christmas Market in Philadelphia in 4 weeks!

I have no sewing to share, yet, but can show the other sewing that was brought to our last Good Enough Quilters meeting. Cindy shared her embroidery project. I love the look of this and know it has a special name but now can't remember it. Cindy? Looks like it would be so relaxing.

Fran showed us her find! She bought this for a song at a yard sale. It is so nice and we were all really jealous.

A finish for Lynn. Don't you love those pinwheels. Front and back it really looks good.

The quilt below is one that was made from fabric that was donated. I know there is more to the story but I waited too long to tell it. Lesson learned about posting quickly.

Now, I'm happy to say that I have some time in the next few days and really hope to get back with a sewing report. Fingers crossed!

Have a good day. Sewing perhaps?

Jelly Roll Race?

The Good Enough Quilters met tonight and our plan was to make the Jelly Roll Race quilt. And to actually race. That changed quickly since we were all at different points in our sewing. Some had  made their strip chain already and some, like me, hadn't done anything but get the jelly roll! Plan B went into place. Start sewing and just enjoy. Which we certainly did.

Peggy finished hers first but to her dismay, she only had 21 strips in her jelly roll which made quite a difference. This allowed all of us to help her with some problem solving and we all thought she should cut in half and add a cute border for a baby quilt. Very disappointing.

 I went with a 21 strip jelly roll but just thought it would be smaller. Hmmm, doesn't work that way. The fabric, which I love, was Delighted by Riley Blake. After I saw how the other, larger quilts looked, I went online and lucky for me! I found another Delighted jelly roll and ordered it! This was so easy I may just make a new half right away and then finish up this quilt for me! A first, for sure.

Next was Cindy's. She had what she called a random jelly roll but we all love the finished product. Great colors.

Laura was proudly showing her pink and green quilt. Not sure if you can see them but she put little blocks between her strips. So very cute since she fussy cut the blocks and they're all hearts. And she already has a sweet little recipient in mind.

Don't you love all the soft greens in Debbie's quilt? So calm and relaxing.

Fran's was next. Her red, green and tan Christmas quilt looked great. She already has some coordinating fabric for the backing.

Lynn chose batiks for hers and it seemed that there were none repeated. So very bright and colorful.

Poor Dru hit some glitches and she was the last to finish. She graciously endured our teasing and worked steadily to finish her lovely quilt which she proudly displays below! Don't you love the spots of gold in the quilt?

We had a great time doing this and loved seeing the differences based on fabric choice. I think we all thought we would make these again. So easy and quick! Once you know what you are doing, that is.
There were a few more things shared but I'll include them in the next post since this one is already full.

Have a happy sewing day!

October 1st

It's hard to believe that it is already 0ctober 1st and there are still flowers like this in bloom. I took this picture at the Pearl Buck House just yesterday. Looks like the grasses below it have gotten the message about the change of season.

While the red flowers blooms on one part of the property this garden is quickly taking hold to celebrate the start of fall. As I was driving to work there this morning I was thinking about the difference in the seasons. Changing seasons is one of the best things about living in the northeast. But you do give things up when the weather turns crisp.

I will miss -
         sandals
         cropped pants
         windows open on some of those perfect days
         flip-flops
         going without a coat
       

I'm looking forward to -
         crisp fall days
         gingerbread
         the colors of fall
         snow days
         hot chocolate
         pumpkin anything!

And of course, the changing foliage. I was coming back from Pittsburgh on Thursday and the leaves in western PA are amazing. I'm expecting to see more change in our area in the next coming weeks.

   The lists are just a start. What are you thinking as the seasons change?       

Half-finished

I have a half-finished little quilt to share. These were blocks I may have shared as I finished each one. The design is lavender and sunflowers and I decided to put them together for a friend who has a home in Provence. I want to give it to her now but then it will be taken back so I can finish it! You know we love that giving a present twice.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! 

Off to see the quilter...

As I mentioned the last time, I took the quilt to the quilter. Here it is before I took it. It was actually an I Spy kit that I changed a bit to make it more boyish. The back really helped to do that. I really loved the vehicles I used on the backing.

Hope to post more soon. And the finish in a month or so. But in the meantime, I'm singing "Off to see the quilter..."

A little sewing...

Yes, I did finally get to do just a little bit of sewing. Nothing too exciting but it really felt good.

I am sending a quilt top out to be quilted and of course, the backing isn't big enough. I tend to go right to the edge for that and it doesn't work for my quilter. Luckily I had fabric that would work to extend out 5" on each side.

And here is the picture to prove I sewed. Just adding to two sides of the backing and then on its way. Can't wait to see what she does with it. Maybe I'll show pictures before I take it away.

Before I got back to the machine I even sorted and organized my stash a bit. Just a bit, nothing to go crazy about but it had to happen before I could even think about sewing.

What are you working on right now?