Beachy Throw

I'm almost finished with my bedroom. I bought  solid color aqua bedding because I couldn't find the exact set I wanted, and I didn't want the room to be too busy. It needed something, so I found some cool fabric at Brickhouse Fabrics and made myself a throw.

Because I wanted to personalize it a bit and add more sea life to it, I used my trusty embroidery machine and added seahorses, starfish, and a few little crabs with some seaweed for movement.

I also added some script to it honoring the sea....

It's the perfect weight since I only combined it with flannel for the back and no batting.

And since it wasn't quite as large as I wanted, I added a sand colored border. All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it, and glad to have it done.

The only thing left is a cute little pillow I want to make....or two or three. We'll see. :)

Neon Seas

I finally finished a labor of love made from Jason Yenter's Return to Atlantis fabric line. I have named it Neon Seas for obvious reasons.

The quilt top is roughly 70x80 and even though I REALLY want to get to quilting it, it must wait a little while. I have other pressing projects to get out of the way so I can settle in and take my time with quilting this one.

The pattern I used for paper piecing was The Stained Glass Star I found free at eQuiltPatterns.  I meant to miter the corners but made a tactical error and had to rethink that. I paper pieced the corners similar to the inside body and I think it turned out just as well.

I have another project I finished and I'll share that in a different post. It's good to have something to share on the blog, since I've neglected it for so long.

My First "In The Garden" BOM Block

I told myself I wasn't going to add anymore quilt alongs to my list for a while. But that was before I saw In the Garden.  And here is my first block.

Some of the tree fabrics were a little light against the background, but I'm sure it will look fine in the end. I used scraps and when you do that, you use what you have. The only fabric I intend to buy for this is the background. I'm looking forward to all this fun paper piecing. Speaking of which....

I did a trial run of a paper pieced block using Jason Yenter's Return to Atlantis. Unfortunately, as you can tell by the photo, I'm going to have to change it up a bit. I only did a quick trial, and didn't even try to make it all fit right. I just wanted to see the fabrics together.

I have had this fabric for over a year, waiting on a decision about how to use it. I'd take it out and pet it from time to time. I will be adding something else to the mix, to make sure there is some contrast. Like this, it all runs together and you can't appreciate the beauty of the fabrics. I'll update later.

Other odd things in the works, but nothing close to being finished. I just wanted to pop in and say hello.

A New Paper Piecing BOM

I've been working on a paper pieced BOM with my BQB Janice. It's all kinds of birds and I enjoy doing them very much.  I'd made a decision not to add any more BOMs to my to-do list this year, but something caught my eye while I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Vrooman's Quilts. Sharon always has something fun going on, and lots of cool links on her sidebar.

Anyway, on her page I found a link to this:

 Janeen van Niekerk of Quilt Art Designs

The picture jumped out at me from the get-go, and then I saw that she designs paper piece blocks. Ohhhh, be still my heart. And better yet, she's doing a paper pieced BOM for 2014! Yippee!! When I saw the first few blocks I was hooked!!

So now, I will add her button to my side bar, and do my best to follow along and have some fun. Yes, I have several tops that need quilting, and yes this will add to that stack, BUT how much fun will this be?!!!

Catching Up

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted something. I've been busier than a one armed paper hanger. Quilts, monogramming, reorganizing....and then there is the whole holiday thing.

Today I have a couple of things to show you. First, I quilted a third memory quilt for the victims of the Moore, OK tornado. The top was put together and sent to me to finish. Two of the blocks are actually mine, and one belongs to my BQB (Best Quilting Buddy) Jan.

I think it turned out lovely and I'll be glad to know when all the quilts are delivered. The top middle, and bottom middle are my blocks, and the right middle is Jan's.

I finished up the binding on it this morning and then proceeded to revamp my sewing room. I'll never have a marvelous space like you see in all those lovely ads online, but it's a good space and I'm happy to have it.

Aesthetics are important to me, but it doesn't do much good if things are unhandy. So, I moved a shelf to the corner and filled it with thread, buttons, rulers and the like.

I put the quilt ladder in the shelf's former spot, and that gave me room to push my ironing board over and as you can see, I now have room for a design wall if I decided to make one. I made a new cover for my ironing board while I was at it, with fabric in my stash that I'll never use otherwise.

I really need a new chair, and will be on the lookout for something that is much more ergonomic. For now, the folding one will have to do.

 As you can see, I have my trusty Quilt Mate Pro right there.  I love that thing!! Holding my tablet for me, I can listen to music, get email updates, look for tutorials and view them as I sew, all hands free. It's perfect. I don't know if you can see it, but the temp showing on that thing is 20 degrees. It's been a cold cold day here in the south.

There's a little chair for you to relax in as you sit and visit with me while I sew. Come on in and make yourself comfortable!

That's been my day. I'll try to post some of the things I made for Christmas gifts if I can find where I saved the files. Couldn't post them until after the holidays you know!!

And It Begins

The process of decorating for Christmas has begun. I normally take a day and do a lot at one time, then fill in as needed in the days after. This year, I haven't the energy, having been fighting an upper respiratory thing for almost two weeks. So, it will be spread out a little more than usual.

Here are all my newly made stockings, and the hanger I created from an idea I saw on Pinterest.

One of these days, I vow to have an actual mantle to hang stockings on. Until then, this will do nicely.
The shelf in my dining room is ever changing. I use the same things every year, but I rearrange them and do it up a little differently each year.

I wish I could get my tree up, but that is a major undertaking and I'll need a whole day to devote to that. Maybe Monday.....

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Thanksgiving 2013

While I continue to work on Christmas projects and gifts, I'm taking time to stop and express my thankfulness. My God is and awesome God! Praise be to the one who created all, gives all and is all! Amen!!

I hope and pray your Thanksgiving is a blessed one.