Blossoms of Blue

The last time you saw a bit of this hanging was back in November ’07 when it was just a top showing the nine patches and I had hinted at doing some appliqué.

Sure makes a difference with the appliqué on it. The blue flowers were left overs from my Blue Buds quilt and were just waiting for a chance to be used up. I still have a bit more of those flowers and one day they will be showing up again in another wee hanging.

My DH suggested that it should hang at this level and I love it this way. :o)

In my stash, there are odds and ends of rick rack and I was just waiting for an opportunity to use it. Do you see how much this braiding changes the whole look of a circle? I’ll be doing that again, for sure.

Have a great day!

Prezzie from Down Under

The day before I left to head north to deal with family matters, I received a parcel from Peg. Peg was my partner for the SSCS swap and she sent me some Australian quilting and crafting magazines in return. :o) They were gorgeously wrapped up in a fat quarter and I almost didn’t want to break open the wrapping. That feeling lasted all but a couple of seconds as I was eager to see what she sent me.

In my haste to find out what was wrong with my Mom, I forgot to post about my gift. My apologies, Peg and what a gracious lady, you are! :o)

You bet they were browsed through quite a lot during my stay and there are a couple of hangings that I’m just itching to make up.

I am back home for a week, then will head north again for a couple of weeks.

Have a great day!

It has a home!

Well ...... just want to let you ladies know that 'Winter Trees' has found a home with Anne Ida in Norway. Visit her to take a peek at the finished quilt. :o)

I'm still away dealing with family matters. My 89 yr. old Mom is in hospital with fluid on one lung. I'll be here for the remainder of this week and will post again when I'm back in Toronto.

I've brought hand quilting projects with me and have one finished and another one well started. Will have something to show you next week.

Have a good week!

Falling Snow

A new hanging, but it’s not finished …. yet! There will be quilting and embellishments to be added before I can call it complete.

There are family issues to deal with, so I will be away from blogland for a week or so.

Have a great day!

Just a pile of sticks

Back in September, you saw a pile of sticks and some of you wondered what I was going to do with them.

The time has come to reveal my plans for them. That’s right …. they are in a vase and are my table decoration for winter. Do you see the snow in the bottom of the vase? At least this snow won’t melt. It is a quirky display, but I love it.

I’ve been tagged again for ‘You Make My Day’ award! This time, Peg nominated me. I think we should all be nominated. Why? Because we blog and we all have something interesting and inspiring to say and we make someone’s day, somewhere in this wide world that we live in.

Have a great day!

Patched Rail Fences

Since I purchased my stippling quilting foot, many moons ago, I have wanted to try free form quilting but never got up the nerve to just try it on scraps. I gave you a wee peek just before Christmas and here is the quilt that was being worked on.

I had a blast doing the stippling and will definitely be doing more experimenting.

This quilt went together very quickly using strips of material sewn together and cut into rail fences and 4 patch blocks. I bought 1 metre of black and it is all gone now. The black was used here as well as in my Mom’s purse. Black seems to be popping up more and more in my quilts lately and it’s not a colour that is in my stash. Do you see a shopping urge coming along? :o)

Also, this is the first time that I have used the 100% cotton batting in a quilt. This quilt was dried in the dryer and it shrunk quite a bit, but love the effect and my quilting just seems to pop up more and looks old fashioned. My border is wonky as there is just not enough quilting there as compared to the inside blocks. I’ll have to play with different border quilting other than just straight stitching. It’s not my best; but it’s not bad either. :o)

I’ve been tagged again for ‘You Make My Day’ award. First tag was by Loulee and now Anne Ida. Thank you ladies and you two make my day as well! :o)

Have a great day!

Trees of Winter

Small squares and blue trees seem to be on my mind these days. What is it about the blue spruce that fascinates me? What a thrill it would be to see a stand of these trees in the wild.

You’ve seen this same pattern that was used for the tote bag for the SSCS swap, just different colours. This time around, this quilt is being made for the 4 Seasons Winter Swap and needs to get finished by the end of Jan.

Jeepers, I wonder who is going to get this wee quilt …..

Have a great day!

Stipple Fun and tagged!

I've been awarded with the "You make my day award" by Loulee . The awards rules are to“Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on.

Well ……. I’m naming Loulee 10 times back! :o) Loulee is a new quilter but just dives in and comes up with such creative items. She is the one that has inspired me to just try free form quilting. If Loulee can do it …..well, me too!

You know that I’m a huge fan of hand quilting. Without question! For this section of my Winter quilt, I started hand quilting and didn’t like what was coming from it. So, all that work got ripped out and I turned to machine quilting and love what I’ve done. This is my third piece where I’ve done stipple machine quilting and am in love with it. So ….. Loulee, you are the reason for my new inspiration and fun.

Squeaky Snow ...... what do I these words mean? When the temperature dips to very cold, the snow squeaks when you walk on it. I just love to hear that noise when outdoors in the winter.

Have a great day!

A Gift Purse

Mom wanted a black purse for Christmas. Not just any purse …. a quilted purse and she wanted me to make it for her. This is my first purse and it was a learning experience. I didn’t have a pattern, but just looked at my own purses for guidance.

The flap and bottom have two layers of cotton batting to give it more stability. The body of the purse has just one layer of batting. The next time, I would use a firmer batting so that it doesn't sag anywhere.

The floral material the purse is laying on was used for the lining. I wanted something nice and bright so that my Mom could easily see what she is looking for at the bottom of her purse.
The flap, bottom and sides all have, what I call, crazy stipple. I started doing just an overall stipple pattern then added more and more stitching on top of the stipple for a pebbly effect. Sure do love the look.

I can see myself doing more purses and be very creative with the look … perhaps using beads and such.

RESOLUTIONS … haven’t made any in a long, long while; but will make an exception for this year. I resolve to do MORE QUILTING so that you will have lots of goodies to see on my blog! How’s that for a resolution? :o)

Happy New Year and let’s all be creative!