OOPS!

Well, I didn't notice the photo of the daisy quilt was upside down! Here we go again!

Doll Quilts

Well, I know I am starting to sound obsessed with doll quilts (I am) but I received not one, but two in the mail yesterday!

The first lovely southern belle sunbonnet sue's are from Kathi in Utah as part of the doll quilt swap III and the second is from Linda in Oklahoma for the Summer Four Seasons Quilt Swap. It is lovely pink daisies on a green scrappy background. They will both look lovely on my doll quilt wall. I just have to hide them from thieves! My Dad and his girl friend are here visiting from Florida and she is coveting SBS and my daughter thinks the pink daisies will look great in her room.

I really need to post more often - will have to set a goal to post at least weekly in July and maybe build up from there. Right now I'm a pretty boring blogger!

They come and they go!

Well, it seems like I am quickly becoming obsessed with doll quilts. I received a beautiful green, burgundy and beige one patch quilt from Ann-Margaret in Montreal for the Miniature Booty Swap. The colors are beautiful and match my family room and I love it! It will look great on the little quilt wall that I am starting in that room.

I made a broken dishes quilt for my partner - at last check it hadn't arrived yet but I'll post a picture of the front. I had never made this pattern before and really enjoyed it. I used the Easy Angle ruler and boy was that a great tool! I'll be using it quite a bit in the future! I also convinced myself that the little quilt should be hand quilted. My first hand quilted piece - not that spectacular looking, but I must admit I enjoyed doing it and can see that practice will definitely help. I hope my swap partner doesn't mind my practicing on her quilt!

4 Seasons Spring Quilt Swap

My quilt arrived on Saturday from Leah ( pugglelogic.blogspot.com) in Australia. It's a lovely applique flowerpot and is handquilted with echo quilting! It is lovely and will look great with the others that I am collecting for my miniature wall in the family room. She also sent some fabric with acacia plant on it. She tells me that this is the first plant to bloom in the Australian spring. It is really a small world because I had this plant in my front yard in my Florida home!

Quilt Show

I went to a quilt show in Denver today and it was great fun! I actually got to see my first Baby Jane and boy am I motivated to start now! There were a lot of art quilts there - more so than traditional. I took a few photos of some that I really liked & of course I went by to study Jane twice! I didn't do too bad as far as purchases are concerned. Some lovely hand dyed merino from Cheryl Oberle to make a gorgeous shawl that she has posted on her website www. cheryloberle.com under "favorite things". She sells the merino on her site - it is so soft! I also bought a "few" fat quarters to add to my Civil War repros so I can start my own Dear Jane journey!

4 Seasons Quilt Swap

Well, the semester is coming to a close and I am finally coming up for air! I can't believe I haven't posted for over a month. I have been busy with little projects though. I just put the label on my little quilt for the 4 seasons quilt swap. The only hint I can give is that it has a bit of a journey before it gets to it's new owner & I sure hope she likes it. This little basket quilt is made from a pattern that I had from a 2006 copy of a Quilter's Newsletter Magazine's Scrap Quilting edition. The pattern is by Gwen Marston and is one that I have wanted to make for a long while. Gwen's version is subdued with mainly solid fabrics. Mine is a bit louder because I chose the floral for the background. honestly it turned out a bit louder than I intended! It is far from perfect and is the first time I've made basket blocks. They were fun but quite tedious with 19 pieces per block. My points definitely leave something to be desired!

Doll Quilt Swap

I just realized I forgot to post a picture of the lovely doll quilt that I received in the recent swap I participated in. It's a beautiful pink civil war repro sawtooth star pattern and is hand quilted! The little gem was made for me by Ginger at http://www.paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com/. Ginger was the hostess for the swap and did a lovely job on my quilt.

I've been off of work this past week and have enjoyed it. I didn't get much done on the quilting front though. I have made 6 blocks for the star quilt I'm making for QOV to send to Alycia at http://www.alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/. If you have a chance check out her blog & see if you can help her in her effort to collect 400 quilts by May for QOV.

Quilts of Valor

Just a quick post about QOV. I live in Colorado Springs and come in contact with quite a few people in the military. Also, many of my students are military wives whose husbands are in Iraq or have been to Iraq. Anyway, there is a blogger here in Colorado who dedicates a lot of her quilting to QOV. She is trying to bring 400 quilts to Fort Carson in May for wounded soldiers. I am off next week and am going to make a quilt for her to bring. Can anyone else help? Regardless of how you feel about the war, these soldiers are over there doing their job FOR US. anyway, if you are interested, her blog is http://www.alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/

Dear Jane & Doll Quilt Swap II

I mailed my little doll quilt this am. I sure hope the recipient likes it! I managed to make enough 4 patches to make one for myself but haven't made the half square triangle blocks yet. I only thought I would work on both of them at the same time! This little quilt would have looked better hand quilted, but I was out of time and I am still practicing my hand quilting stitch - I hate to send out something that looks bad! I put the binding on in seperate pieces and I will never do that again really didn't care for the end result! Oh well...next time.

I joined the Dear Baby Jane online group and am ashamed to say I am already behind! I was sure I could manage two blocks a week. Anyway, I 'll have to try and catch up this week.

Doll Quilt Swap

I finished my quilt top today for the doll quilt swap. I love how it turned out and would hate to let it go, but I made enough four patches to make one for me. I don't have enough of the blue and pink to use those fabrics on mine, but I'm sure there's something in my stash of Civil War repros that will work! I would love to hand quilt it , but I've been practicing and I don't think my hand quilting looks very good. I may just machine quilt this one and keep practicing my hand quilt stitch for the future. I sure love making these little quilts!

Four Patches and Visitors

I didn't seem to get as far today on my little quilt for the doll quilt swap as I had planned, but I am pleased with the results. I made many (25+) little 2" four-patches out of Civil War Repros (my favorite!). There is an alternate block to be made, but even though I searched through the boxes many times, I could not find a ruler I needed. Of course, this is pure laziness, because there is an alternate way to make the blocks, but I kept searching for the ruler anyway! I made more than enough four-patches because I want to make myself a quilt also. The last time I participated in a doll quilt swap I regretted not making one to keep.

We had four deer come and visit us this afternoon in the backyard. A couple were grazing, but one was lazily lying down and enjoying the temps in the 50's. The photos include the deer, four-patches and my little corner of the den.

Mennonite Mosaic

Several quilters have posted about the quilt by the name of "Mennonite Mosaic" on their blogs. A group of quilters were making the quilt at the same time and several have finished theirs. I happened to have the magazine the quilt is published in and gave a copy to a good friend of mine in Florida at Christmas. So, I started teasing her about two weeks ago that we should make the quilt also. Well, she took me up on it and has pulled the fabric from her stash and is working on strip piecing it this weekend. So, I had to go out and buy fabric for one of my own (likely excuse!). I plan on making my strips bigger than those in the picture because I would like the finished product to cover my king sized bed. So, my strips will be 2- 1/2" cut and 2" finished. My fabric has been washed and needs ironing, but first... I need to make the top for the Doll Quilt Swap II on quilting forum. I've cut my strips and am ready to sew - but first, since it's dusk here, I think I'll dig around in the boxes in the garage and look for my sewing lamp!

Moved!

Well, we are officially in our new home! The movers came last Wednesday and moved the big items and we are steadily working on the boxes. It amazes me how much "stuff" we can collect. When we left Florida in August I thought I had gotten rid of most of the unwanted items but it seems some of them have followed us here to Colorado!

I'm supposed to be sharing the den with my DH for my sewing room and putting "Bessie" my Pfaff Grand Quilter and New Generation frame in the basement, but the more I look at the boxes of fabric and "PIGS" (projects in grocery sacks) the more I think I may need to negotiate more basement space from my girls - hehe!

Anyway, no pictures today - I'll post some when things get more organized and look a bit better!

Warm Weather!

We're having a bit of a warm spell here in southern Colorado - it's 60 degrees! My girls are ecstatic! I must admit it feels really weird. Looks like it will only last through tomorrow though! I've been busy, but don't have any pictures to show. I guess I need to get better with the camera - I'm always conning one of the girls into taking photos for me.

Anyway, I've finished Step 2 of Carolina Crossroads and am working on Step 3. I got waylaid by bug jars though! I'm in the jar swap for Quilting Forum & they need to be postmarked by Feb. 1st. I've made 24 jars and have 6 more cut out to finish. I actually have 3 more bug fabrics, but doubt I'll be able to get many more done because I have a crazy week at work. I had to restrain myself from agreeing to take part in the Superbowl Sunday Bargello that Bonnie of Quiltville is organizing - I think I'll sew all day (both DH & I hate football!) but on the Carolina Crossroads quilt. Also, I'm in the doll quilt swap on quilting forum, will be getting my partner info tomorrow. I llove doll quilts - I made one over the holidays for me niece's little girls birthday next month - need to post a picture of that too! I hope to hand quilt that one - I've never handquilted before and would really like to try it - I think a two year old won't notice the imperfections - LOL!

On the house front, we are buying a beautiful multi-level home here in Colorado Springs. We close on Feb. 8th, but won't be actually moving in until the 13th. Can't wait to get out of this apartment and get my sewing stuff organized again - and my Pfaff Grand Quilter and frame setup! My goal was to have Carolina Crossroads done and quilted by a longarmer in the area in time for the move, but that's not going to happen! I'd like to purchase templates for Baptist Fans, so maybe I'll wait and quilt it myself.

Accent Nine Patches

As usual, everything takes longer than I think. I worked on these yesterday and again today, but only have 28 totally done. I have more that just need the third accent row sewn on, but suspect I only have about 80. Will need to cut and sew more strips over the next few days. I think I'll sew enough to work on Step 3 also. I hate feeling so far behind and have not let myself peek beyond Step 3, but so many of the blogs that I read regularly have pictures that I have a pretty good idea of what's coming up.

I haven't decided yet what to do about the name of my blog. Don't forget to vote!

Changes

Well, it's official. The house on the Banana River on my header is no longer ours. I spent New Year's week in Florida visiting family and we received a contract on the house while I was there. Isn't that too funny? We've been trying to sell the house for over a year now and I was beginning to think it would never happen! So, we closed yesterday and we already have a contract on a new home here in Colorado Springs. Guess I need to change that picture, eh?

On the quilting front, I am so far behind on Bonnie's mystery http://www.blogger.com/www.quiltville.com that I fear I'll never catch up. One of the things that I liked about this (besides the fact that I adore all of Bonnie's patterns) was getting weekly installments. I tend to get overwhelmed with all the steps of a quilt and give up somewhere in the middle. In this case I never made it to the middle - unless you want to count the middle of step 2 as the middle -- ha, ha. So, I know what I'm doing this weekend!

I've added some pictures of the house, view, and sewing room that is no longer mine. I suppose I need to change the name of my blog. What do you think? Maybe I'll try to put up one of those surveys??