A little stitchery...

The wonderful free projects that can be found online especially on blogs lately is amazing. There are some really creative people out there that enjoy sharing. I found this project recently and decided that since I have completed a quilt UFO and have the next well underway, I would allow myself to start this stitchery BOM that has just start this month. I was able to stitch up the first block in just one evening and it was great fun. Here is the results of my first month of Noah's Ark...


If you are interested in this adorable little project, you can find it at Lynette's blog. This designer is new to me and I am really loving her stitchery projects. Go on over and take a look...

Fobbing again.....

To keep my momentum up, I grabbed another of my UFOs and started working on it. This one had already been well on its way with the hand quilting. I had two rows of blocks quilted. I am giving you just a glimpse of this one so far...


I based the entire quilt around this adorable storybook fabric I bought. It reminded me of a vintage 1930s or 40s children's book. I fell in love with it and came up with a block that would show off the various scenes on the fabric. It is also very pink as this quilt is for Zoe and pink is her favorite color.


I decided I wanted to do some fobbing again this afternoon. My beads are still spread out all over the table as I am planning another necklace again. I wanted to first decorate the zipper of a tapestry purse I was given a couple of years ago by a friend. I use this for my stitching. It is fun to dress up things with fobs!


Here is a closer look.....I used the colors in the purse as well as the theme of flowers by adding purple, green and gold to the fob and using a bee and flowers as charms. Even the purple bead has flowers on it. Enlarge the photos for details.


This dragonfly fob is a gift. I hope the person it will be mailed to this week will like it.

Celebrations.....

The work week has started after a long Easter weekend and I have reasons to celebrate. I finished my UFO I had been working on yesterday. I am really happy to have completed one of the projects in that stack I told you about here. As a matter of fact, I have decided not to let the momentum go and grab the next project today to start working on. I will let you know what I decide on for the next UFO...


This project is not totally finished for me until I get the quilt tunnel and label made. I have an idea for the name of the quilt but am not sure yet so I will think about it for a while. I always name my quilts.


The fabric for the back of this quilt is something from my stash cupboard. I am really trying to use my stash this year so it must all come from there. I think a pretty backing is wonderful although I do sometimes choose for a muslin backing too. Muslin does show off your quilting stitches so beautifully.


My other reason to celebrate today is that a good blogging friend is having her birthday today. I met Carolien when she started to leave comments on my blog. Later, she decided to start a blog of her own. I have so enjoyed getting to know her that I feel like her birthday gives me a gift ~ her friendship. Happy birthday to you Carolien!!!

Almost a dozen eggs.....

We are home this weekend since Jos is painting the trim in the living room. It gives me a long weekend to work on some gifts I need to finish off. I will share photos of these items when they are received. In the meantime, I wanted to share a fun free online paperpiecing pattern. I used this for a project for my quilt group a number of years ago. It is a pattern by Christine Thresh and can be found here. It is a simple little quirky quilt to make for Easter.


This come out the size of a placemat. I use it with some of my decorations on my dining room table. Things like this are fun to play with quilting. As you can see, I quilted tiny chicken feet all around the border. Or maybe that naughty little chick did it when I wasn't looking?


Wishing you all a Happy Easter!

Confessions of a fabriholic!

You have maybe heard me mention the absolute mess that is masquarading as my quilt studio. At the end of last summer, I started getting a creative whirlwind which turned into a creative tornado. I was busy working on Christmas gifts and when I happened to drop a stack of fabrics from my arms, I left it thinking I would go back to clear it up later. Then I started throwing more and more alongside it to also clear up later. Well, I have shocked my friends who know me and have seen my room as it is out of control.

I am a fabriholic. It is a terrible disease! This is my floor to ceiling cupboard that holds part of my stash. I have cut myself off from buying any fabric until I use up much of my stash. The problem is when I do get space in this cupboard, I already have stash laying around ready to take its place. How did I ever get this out of control when it came to buying fabric. As a quilter, you see a fabric and just have to have it even if it is only a fat quarter. So I have pretty much gone cold turkey. I say pretty much as once in a while I still cannot resist a fat quarter here or a half meter there. But now I have decided that not an inch of fabric is allowed in this house until I have cleared the stash to one cupboard. GULP!


I am taking time each day to sit on the floor and go through stacks. As you can see there are many stacks. Some are projects which need organizing but some are stacks of patterns or stitching charts. I want to be ruthless and say to myself that if I don't love a pattern, I won't use it so pass it on. This is not an easy thing to do as most of you addicted to stitching or quilting will know!


Today is my mother's birthday and you can read more about her here. Wishing you a very happy birthday mother!

A fun afternoon fobbing!

This afternoon my friend Sonja came over so we could make some gifts for our friend who's birthday is in April. Since she never looks at the blogs, I can share the fobs we made. I ordered scissors from France. These are the art deco style scissors and I think she is really going to love them.


We decided to make four fobs for her from both of our bead and charm collections. We feel like we had a gift ourselves in the fun of creating these. We love doing things like this together.


When we were done, I suggested to Sonja that we make her a new fob. She wanted to make one for her cell phone. Look how cute this is!

Thanks Sonja for a fun afternoon and lets do it again really soon!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone! Are you wearing green???

My six word memoir.....

I was tagged by Becky over at Sweet Cottage Dreams for this new MEME game ~ the six word memoir. It has taken some real thought to do this one. And I have been tagged for it on my other blog also. I am finally ready to reveal mine. I wanted this one to be about my life as a needlewoman...

With my needle ~ I see beauty!

While I was pondering on this tag, I realized I was making it more difficult than it needed to be. I feel that these six words say it all for me. I really am grateful that I have learned to use a needle throughout my life and for the places it has led me and the people I have met. It has been a gift to me through which I really do see the world.

My photo for this memoir is a glimpse again of my UFO quilt I am hand quilting at the moment. I hope to share this finished quilt with you next week.

Here were the rules for this tag:
1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible, so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere

4. Tag five more blogs with links

5.Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I tag the following creative ladies.....
Nancy at Fete et Fleur
Roberta at SimplyStitchingInTheGarden
Rhondi at RoseColoredGlasses
Susan at MyPeacefulValley
Jeanne at Spiral

Tickled pink!

I made some things lately with my pink beads. First I am creating scissor fobs for all seasons and holidays. Here is my Easter fob. I used a series of pink beads and an Easter bunny charm.


Isn't the charm adorable? I could not resist him when I saw this. I just had to turn it into a fob.


Monday evening, I had my monthly get together with my lacemaking friends and Jannie went home, Sonja and I dug out my bead collection and we starting playing. I wanted to make a necklace and used some of my pink beads to create this one.


I thought this will be a nice one to wear in the summer time. It was my first attempt at making a necklace. I will be trying another one again soon.


I was also tickled pink by a box of goodies Joni sent to me for my birthday. I have not shared them with you before now. She sent me an Ohio sampler which will be added to the charts I will be using to create an Ohio sampler wall. I just love it and did not have this one. I now have 6 or 7 charts waiting to be stitched to create this sampler wall. She also sent me a bag of threads, a primitive Easter tree, which I love and is sitting out on my table, two scented candles and my two favorite kinds of American chocolates ~ York peppermint patty and Reeses peanut butter cups.


My nickname is Miss Pickles and look at this adorable birthday card she found! I am saving this card. Thanks for spoiling me Joni! Only I wonder why those candy wrappers were empty?

More medallion quilts.....

These are the photos of the quilts that had the second assignment completed from my quilt group. The second assignment was to create the first border using an influential person in your life as inspiration. It was a really special evening being able to see these quilt tops being laid out to share them and their stories...


Hanneke ~ Her first border is a symbol of her mother who is always with her. Her mother is always telling her that fabrics cannot be put together like she does which is represented by the 9~patch blocks in 9 different red fabrics.


Miep ~ Her border is a representation of her husband who has passed away. She placed two black triangles to show the two years that he was ill and in a nursing home. His favorite pastime of fishing is shown in the fabric in the corners and the gold fabric is a symbol for all the good times they had together. The many straight lines between these triangles show his straightforwardness in life and the outer fabric is all the same representing his constant good character.


Joke ~ She has used the Storm At Sea pattern as her border to show the storms in nature around their vacation home but also the storms she has withstood in life. The small red triangles in each corner block are the strength, intensity and sometimes rage of life.


Jacomina ~ This quilt was not shown last time as she was using a piece of fabric for her center block. She used a piece of toile fabric with a little boy and girl as she has entered a new phase in life becoming a grandmother to twins (a boy and girl) for the first time in life. Her border is Broken Dishes blocks to symbolize the harsh winter of 1962~63 in Holland. At the time, she and her mother walked across the built up ice floes on the seas just over the dikes. She remembers this vividly along with everyone being so alarmed that they took this dangerous walk on the ice. She used not only the pattern to show this fragile ice but also her choice of fabrics.


Elly ~ Her border has hearts in the four corners to represent each of her four children. She says her children knew without being told which heart symbolized which. The star of David on each side represents her traveling with her boyfriend to Israel recently while the corners leading out to the heart blocks show the other parts of the world she has been to on vacation with him.


Bep ~ There are 12 blocks built up around her middle block which are a symbol of the members of our quilt group. It shows the warm and cold side of each person in the color variation from red to yellow.

These quilts are all very unique and made special by the stories they tell.

Turning life into a quilt ~ part three

Phew! I left this next border go until the last minute, but it is finished. Our next quilt group evening is tonight and I just completed the next assignment to show the ladies. I had started a border and it just did not 'connect' for me so I worked on a new inspiration. Here are the results of which I am really satisfied...


The second border is a representation of my family members. If you enlarge the photo, you will be able to find the various blocks. First, I made 3 red blocks representing my mother and 2 brothers. I choose red as they are the only remaining members of my immediate family. For my nieces, I choose colors to bind their own families together. My oldest niece Kristy and her family are shown in the 4 green blocks. My younger niece Mandie is shown in 2 pink blocks for her and her daughter and a beige block with green and pink flowers for her husband. Thought I would spare using pink for him. *grins* I created a beige block with pink little squares on it for our pets, past and present, and beige block with green and pink leaves for all the other members of my family ~ my stepfather, aunts and uncles, cousins. There are 4 light beige blocks scattered among the other blocks. These blocks represent the 4 members of my family that are very special to me but have passed away. I made these in light beige to show how their shadows or spirit are still very much there among the family. Those blocks are symbols of my father, sister, grandmother and aunt.

If you have not read the other parts of this quilt project, you can find them here and here.

I will share photos of the members quilts with you tomorrow.

Just call me Hunca Munca

The best laid plans.....once again I did not achieve my goals this week. We are too busy each evening working on the house and my stitching and quilting has suffered. I had promised a few friends to share a photo of my progress (well lack of it at the moment) on my Beatrix Potter sampler. I had set a goal to have two more motifs sewn but it has remained at the start of one as I have set this aside just for a while. We feel like the two bad mice ~ Tom Thumb and Hunca Munca ~ as we seem to be making more of a mess than anything. Why is it that things get worse before they get better when you are decorating???


My quilt group is coming again this coming Wednesday and I waited until late to work on the next border. I just did not have enough inspiration. Here is a sneak peek at the border. I am still busy sewing the blocks now that I know what I want to do. I will show you the results and the story behind this border next week.


This is the reason that I put my sampler aside. I am hand quilting this quilt. I really like the old~fashioned look to this one. It has a number of Civil War reproduction fabrics in it. I am packing it up to take to Cranberry Cottage this weekend. I hope to get a good deal of it done.


Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

Elly ~ Sorry I never got around to calling you yet. We are so busy that this week has flown by. Can you bring your agenda to the quilt evening?

Nothing like the feel of bobbin lace.....

As promised yesterday, here is the bobbin lace that was lurking under that mass of pins.....


This piece was made very quickly. I only worked on it for 3 evenings and it was finished. I want to make various widths of lace and think that I will need about 4 pieces total for the pinkeep. I am off to search for the second pattern. I want to make a wider strip of lace this time.

I love the feel of the bobbin lace when you take it off the cushion. I am enjoying making these strips with a specific purpose of them being sewn onto the pinkeep.


I have been honored with a couple of awards lately from two bloggers who I enjoy reading and being in contact with. I am honored that they have passed these awards on to me.


First, Suzann over at From The Porch Swing gave me the You Make My Day award. I know Suzann through one of my Yahoo lists and she started blogging too. It is fun to be able to keep up with each other through our blogs. Thanks for thinking of me with this award Suzann.

I would like to pass this one on to:
Carolien who is becoming not only an online blogging friend but also a real life friend. I love visiting with her and wonder if I talk her ears off???

Nancy who I also know through my Yahoo list and started blogging. I have had fun talking with her a couple of times on Skype. She is a fun and wonderful lady with an eye for making beautiful stitching.

Nancy who happens to be a very special lady. Why? Well, she is my mother. I am giving her this award because she always swore she would never start stitching but what did she do? She started stitching! And it looks like many of us can be envious as she is really quick too. You can see her first project on her blog but her second is well underway as she emailed me a photo already.


This second award, the Excellent bloggers award was given to my by Vee over at The Broken Needle. Vee is also in my Yahoo list and she does some beautiful handwork. If you have not seen her blog, you should go over and take a look.

I am going to pass this award to Becky at Sweet Cottage Dreams. Becky has been so creative lately and makes not only beautiful tote bags but also the most amazing cloth dolls. She and Doogs are always there to share wonderful tales (tails) of their lives. Thanks for all you share Becky and woof to Doogs!

Elly ~ I don't think we will wait until I have a UFO done or it will be some time before you can come over to have a cup of tea and chat. I will call you next week with my agenda in hand. I am still cleaning up and sorting the UFOs. Oh my! There are so many!

I wish you all a creative and inspired weekend!

Cleaning and sorting between making lace

Sometimes it takes a mishap to get us started on a chore we have put off. Mine was sorting through my UFOs in my quilt studio. I wanted to get something from a shelf in the room and knocked over a rack full of UFOs. Well, that was what I needed to get started. I am sorting them out today into three stacks ~ those which the patchwork is not finished, those needing sandwiched and hand quilted, and those in the middle of hand quilting.


My banister in our hallway is becoming a temporary quilt rack while I sort. Here are the first 12 of my UFOs hanging out. This is what happens when you teach. You don't get the projects finished as you have to move along to the next idea to have it ready. I have some quilts which are partially complete as they were samples to show during lessons. I also have quilts I was doing just for myself but never got completed as I needed to devote attention to lesson quilts or group projects.

Now that I no longer teach, there are less projects being added to this stack but I really want to work through each of them now in 2008. I must admit that I will never get to them all as this is only part of them. I will do my best to reduce that stack dramatically! I have to continue to work on my medallion quilt throughout this year which means I can only work on these items in between.

Can you keep reminding me that I promised myself to get as many as possible done this year? Thanks!


Do you remember my lace pinkeep? I started the bobbin lace strips for the lace side. I had our monthly lace evening with my friends and started on the first one. At the moment it is not visible through all the pins as you can see.


I have to tie off the ends and leave it 'rest' a little while on the cushion before removing the pins. I will show you the results tomorrow...


I don't remember ever being so spoiled as this year by my online stitching friends. I received these goodies in the mail from Britt in Germany. She bought me some chocolate hearts, some Zweigart antique white Belfast linen and this adorable little pinkeep she made herself.


It is sitting out on my coffee table at the moment so I can enjoy looking at it! Thanks Britt!


I was touched to receive this pretty handmade bookmark in the mail from my good friend Barbara for my birthday too. She has been dealing with a very sick husband and still took the time to send me this. You are a dear Barbara and I keep Wayne in my thoughts and prayers!

I hope to get a bit of time later to stop by your blogs. I am behind on my visits with all of you this week. I can't wait to see what you are up to. I am sorry I have not been by to visit lately but you are all dear to me and never far from my thoughts.