Tracy's Blocks Have Become a Quilt

A while back I put some blocks that a friend from church had made into sashing and borders and quilted it.  You can see it here.  At that time she had also given me another set of blocks to make into a quilt.  Now they, too, have been sashed, bordered and quilted.

I had fun with the quilting on this one.  I played all over the quilt with freehand flowers, swirlies and ribbons.  Not perfect, but still pretty good!  Tracy did such a wonderful job of piecing the blocks that it was just a joy to put the together.  I believe she plans to gift this one to her sister.

The serial number for my Singer 201 was issued on September 5, 1940, which makes her even older than me!  I do so enjoy sewing on this machine.  She just hums along through most anything.

I made pizza yesterday, and Miss Ru and I had it for lunch out on the patio.  As you can see, there was considerable agitating by Bruno and Lady for a share of the grub.  (They were not terribly successful......)

 

I am so thankful for so many things, including you!  I hope you are having lots of fun and finding a way to help others in the process.

 

Hugs and kisses,

Three Quilts Headed to Ohio

Two perfectly beautiful child-sized quilts made by my friend Sandy.

A little glimpse of the backing on one,

and the backing on the other.  Both of these will be going to Quilts of Compassion and eventually to some of the victims of the tornadoes that ravaged the north central states recently.

Dinah has inspected and approved these two for shipment.

This third one I shared earlier in the week, also made by Sandy and quilted by me.  We are so happy to do this that we can to help those who have lost so much.  

There was cold weather here for about a week.  It is warming up a bit now and I'm glad.  Some things were damaged, but you can see these roses are still smiling!

Speaking of smiling, I am smiling that I got to put the cushions back out on the swing on the patio and enjoy sitting out there for a bit this afternoon.  Life is good!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving if that is something you celebrate.  I'm glad we have a day set aside in this country to thank God for all His blessings, but really - we should be doing that every day.  He is so good!

Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Hugs and kisses,

Hurrah! Two Quilted and Bound

This is the Christmas string quilt made from the strings I won on the wonderful Millie's blog a while back.  The border fabric entered my stash from my friend Sandy.

The backing is this fun fleece.  Got to have a little extra warmth this time of year.

A little close up of the quilting while it was still on the frame.  I just did a free-hand swirlie thing.

I quilted and bound this one made by Sandy.  It is another of those Ten Minute Block quilts.

The backing is a Jenny Beyer print.

Here is a close up of the quilting - again free-hand, and certainly not perfect, but I like it anyway.  This one will be going to the Quilts for the Northwest for those who suffered through that horrible round of tornadoes.  Here is a link to the post where Bonnie Hunter told about this particular group.

It has been really cold here.  For us, that is.  We are not much accustomed to cold weather.  Even the dogs have to be covered.  Don't they looks sweet?? And funny.

Chloe just covers her face and takes a nap.  

I am cooking in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.  We will enjoy family and thank God for all His blessings

Hope you have a wonderful time, too!

Hugs and kisses,

Lemons, Quilts and Cats

We have quite a nice lemon harvest this year.  There were near freezing temperatures forecast recently, so I went ahead and brought most of the lemons inside.  There has been juicing, and slicing and freezing happening here, and I also shared some with my neighbors.  

My next door neighbor Michelle brought us this lemon meringue pie made with some of those lemons last night!  Talk about a quick return on my generosity.  And boy, oh, boy, is it good!! 

I got a new Go! die the other day - a hexagon.  There are three sizes, and I had an idea.  I know, dangerous, huh?  I cut different fabrics just a little over half-size of the largest hexagon.  This effectively makes it a half hexagon and therefore much easier to sew together.  No "Y" seams.  It will take some planning to get the rows to work out right and you know I'm not the greatest at planning ahead, but we'll see.

The Christmas strings are coming along nicely.  Soon and very soon there will be a Christmas Coins quilt here!

Chloe is NOT happy.  Dinah has made herself perfectly at home and feels absolutely no shame about eating from Chloe's bowl.  Oh, the woes of having to be the grownup.  I feel Chloe's pain.  Isn't that the most pathetic face you've seen lately?




I do hope you're having lots of fun and not having to do too many grown up things that are unpleasant to you.

Hugs and kisses,

Actually, A Finish!

Here is the sweet baby boy quilt on the frame,

And here it is outside, finished and ready for delivery!

The backing is some of the softest flannel I've encountered.  Do you think a little boy might like these frogs when he gets old enough to know what they are?

A close-up of the upper left corner.  I used this dotty black for an inner border and the binding as well.  I just like it.  There are so many interesting fabrics in this one, I think if will provide plenty to explore for a long time.

As always, it feels good to finish one.  I passed it on to a young aunt tonight and the sweet baby boy should be getting it soon.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world!

Hugs and kisses,

A Very Nice Surprise

Today when Mr. Muddling and I got home from visiting Miss Ru in the hospital, there was a package waiting for me.  I had won a giveaway from the wonderful Millie of Millie's Quilting on Monday, and it is here!  I have been wanting to make a Christmas quilt and Millie has also given me a craving to make a Chinese Coin quilt.  Now she has given me the materials to make this a two-in-one satisfaction to both of those. Thank you so much, Millie!  It is generous, talented people like you who make blogging so much fun.

Dinah is not happy about Miss Ru's absence and is very vocal about letting us know that.  You would not believe what a voice that tiny little kitten has!

Lady thinks that every dog toy here belongs to her.  Someone has spoiled her badly and his name is Mr. Muddling.  It was inevitable though, she was so tiny and so sick when she arrived - we just are thankful she is alive and well and she really is a sweet little girl.

Bruno of course is the best dog in the world.  For me.  I am always thankful for him.

Here are a few more pictures of the 2 inch strips in Millie's package.

These, along with the 1 inch and 1 1/2 inch strips are going to make putting together one of those coin quilts very easy.

Isn't it funny to think how very close Christmas is getting?  I love Christmas.  It will soon be time to decorate, and that's one of my favorite things.

Blog friends are truly some of the best in the world.  We may never meet in person, but I love you just the same.  I'm thankful for this world of blogging that we share.

Hugs and kisses,

Houston International Quilt Festival 2013

Since I have no finished quilt of my own to show you, I thought I'd share with you a few highlights of my visit to the Quilt Festival today.  My sister in law was kind enough to go with me.  

 Rounding the corner near the middle of the convention center we came upon this woman sitting calmly hand quilting.

Looking closer we noticed that she was part of the exhibit!  Isn't she amazing.

There was a big display of art dolls, or as the sign proclaimed - All Dolls Are Art.

Aren't they gorgeous?  

Or how about a Moo-dern quilt?  Made me laugh.

This was one of the Hoffman Challenge quilts.  There were a lot of really impressive ones on display, but this one caught my eye.

And this, as you can see from the signboard below is the original quite old quilt on the bottom which is the inspiration for the new model above it.

I don't have information for this one, but it looked so architectural to me.

And this one just made me think of all the jigsaw puzzles I've helped put together over the years, and of the paint-by-number kits!  Isn't it pretty!

Miss Ru had to go back in the hospital yesterday.  Not a fun time, but necessary just the same.  Her biggest concern?  That her kitten would get so much bigger while she is gone!  Funny girl.  How I love her.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend and seeing lots to inspire you!

Hugs and kisses,