Sewing Weekend at a Friend's Home

Fire engine panel quilt made by my friend Kim

Desert Bear made by my mother

Crazy Eights quilt made by Kim and me (and Mom, too!) (pattern by Bits N Pieces)

Kim is tying these two fleece throws together (sorry about the upside down dogs)

My husband is starting to machine quilt (you might have to click on this one)

Purse I made--from Grids & Grommets pattern by Indygo Junction


It was a great weekend of quilting, sewing, eating, and visiting.  We got plenty done and solved many of the problems of the world--if others would just do what we suggest.  

Mom is making progress on her bear quilt project.  My husband is just learning how to machine quilt and I think he's doing great!  He already has several offers from friends and family to quilt their projects.  He says he's not ready yet.  I think he is.

I'm already planning for our next sewing get-together day.  Hmmm . . . which projects should I take along?

What crafty or other get togethers are you doing with friends and family ?

Mom Finished Her Quilt!

Mom was very excited when she stitched the last bit of binding on this beautiful, colorful quilt on Monday.  She instructed me to call the newspapers.  And then take pictures.  It was afternoon, so the lighting isn't the best, but I usually do what my mother tells me to do . . .
 
Off and on, it's taken her about two years to complete this quilt.

 It's very special to her and to me because many of the fabrics used in the quilt came from scraps leftover from her mother's (my Grandma Lucinda's) handmade dresses.   Can you tell that Grandma Lucinda liked floral prints?

The modern fabrics are the backing fabric, the diamond print in the corners of the borders, the striped sashing, inner border, binding, and backing.  "Dusty rose" was Grandma Lucinda's favorite color.  Mom included shades of this pinkish color to remember Grandma's favorite. 

The fine quilting, emphasizing the lines on this quilt, was done by Shirley Pratt of Cowgirl Up Quilts in Benson, Arizona. 

The pattern was designed by Pamela Goecke Dinndorf and appeared in Quilter's Home magazine here. 

Mom loves this quilt, especially now that it is DONE!  I think it will be out to be enjoyed regularly.  It is a great reminder of Grandma Lucinda and all those pretty fabrics. 

Mom--good job!!

Quilts in Progress

I've been crazy busy for the last several weeks, so blogging has been sporadic.  However, others are busier than I am and they're still blogging.  So here goes!

I'm showing some of my sewing and quilting works in progress over the last several weeks.

Here's the Fantasia quilt in progress:  

Here is the Charlie Pirtle memorial quilt that I made for the Becoming an Outdoorswoman in New Mexico workshop.  It's a raffle quilt for scholarships for women to attend the workshops.  It's in honor of our dear friend and outdoorsman Charlie Pirtle,  who died in 2008. Here is the blog post about the finished quilt and Charlie. 

Here is the Shadowbox quilt.

Baby quilt getting basted--Crazy Eights by Bits 'n Pieces

Fire Escape quilt

The Charlie Pirtle quilt (at the top of this page) is finished and at home with its new owner.

The others all need to be quilted.

The baby quilt might get quilted this weekend.  After all, this baby is due within the next month!  Best get with it!

I love making the quilt tops.  I love quilting them, too.  Sometimes, though, a deadline such as having a class sample in a shop by a certain date prevents me from getting the quilting done.  Other times, a quilt with a more pressing deadline (such as a gift) gets put ahead of a quilt that is ready for quilting.  That causes some of my quilts to stay unquilted.

I feel so good when it get one quilted and bound and done.  I always have mixed feelings about finishing a quilt.  I feel relief and happiness to have it done.  I also feel a little sad to see the project end.

I love the process.  I also love the finished product.  When one goes away, I have a twinge of sadness.  I hope it gives joy to the recipient.

Now--off I go to my sewing machine!!

Charlie Pirtle Memorial Scholarship Quilt

This is part of the quilt that I made to be raffled in memory of our friend, Charlie Pirtle, who passed away in August 2008.  Charlie was a real gentleman who loved the outdoors.   He loved sharing his knowledge of the outdoors with others.  He taught at the Becoming an Outdoors Woman in New Mexico workshop for many years.  His students loved him and fellow instructors loved to be around him because we could still learn so much from him. 

Photo courtesy of Dan'o Miller at Semper Fi International

This is the third quilt that I've made in Charlie's honor to be raffled off at BOW-NM.  A woman from the Albuquerque area won the quilt this year.  She and I both had tears in our eyes.  She never met Charlie, but I'm sure she felt the love and friendship that I tried to sew into this quilt. 

The pattern is called Sweet Sixteen Patches designed by Kaffe Fassett and published in Quilt Magazine.

Here are the two other quilts that I made for the Charlie Pirtle Memorial Scholarship raffle.

This was for the 2009 BOW

For the 2010 BOW

I'm honored to be making these quilts in Charlie's memory, but I'd rather not be making them.  I think of him (and Sara) all the time I'm working on these quilts.  I think of them often even when I'm not working on the quilt.

My husband, who loved Charlie, too, already helped form the idea and the plan for the next quilt.  It will be an old fashioned pattern.  Made in an old fashioned way.  I think Charlie would smile and nod about that with his grin and that twinkle in his eye.

And Charlie--I'd take pocket change from you for that T-Bolt.  

Happy Holidays!!

Christmas ornament by Hammermann

How do you celebrate the holidays at this time of year?  Do you have a big gathering with lots of food and hubub?  Do you do a quiet few days?

These days we spend our Christmas pretty quietly.  We do a little decorating such as displaying a couple of Christmas quilts.  One is here:

We usually spend our Christmas holidays with family.  No one gets too carried away with decorations.  Once in a while, we get a bit out of control with gifts (last year I made out like a bandit!). We visit and eat.  Then we open gifts and have some snacks.  Then we laze around and fix a meal.  I think you detect the trend here.

Holiday stocking by rikrak

It's a great quiet time.  It's a relaxed time that give us time to think and plan.  We enjoy the winter weather (usually from inside) and the time away from everyday life. 


Christmas is a time for love.  It is a time to love the ones you value most, think of the loved ones who have already gone, spend time with family and friends, and be content.

Enjoy good company and laughter and seek out contentment and joy.  Thank you so much to those of you who have provided me with great companionship, laughter, and happiness.  I look forward to more time and enjoyment with you.

Merry Christmas Chickadee by NatureMandalas

Summer Photos--Camping, a Farm Visit, Weaving, Backyard Visitors, and Quilting

On our 4th of July camping trip to Rustler Park, Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona. 

It's still seriously summer here in southern Arizona, so I'm hoping to get some more great summer photos in 2010.  For now . . .

Apple Annie's produce farm near Willcox, Arizona. 

We spent part of a morning at Apple Annie's, a you-pick or they-pick produce farm and orchard. 

I'm not so good at this farming stuff and I don't like squash, but I think this is a squash plant of some kind.  The flower and greenery are pretty.  And it was cooler there than here at home.  Could it be all the water and plants?

And then I treated myself to this loom.

I made this checkerboard looking piece of woven "fabric."  I haven't decided what to make with it yet.  Perhaps a bag.  I'm making another "panel" just like this one.  This came from Jennifer at CraftSanity.  Her loom shop is here. 

I also made this dress for my Mom.

And this quilt for a friend and customer.

* * *

Living out in the desert means we get some other desert dwellers stopping by for a visit.  Before our monsoon rains really got going, I think they stopped by our gray water tank overflow to get a drink and checked around our house for small wild animal hiding places.  Um . . . you can have ALL the pack rats!  Except for me, that is.  I'm a big one. 

Anyway, the photos of visitors.

Bobcat.

Coyote.

We think we've been seeing the same three coyotes lately.  We think two younger ones (this one above is one we think is one of the youngsters) and an adult.  They hunt smaller critters around our place where many hiding places abound.  My man saw that the older coyote had success with one of the smaller furry critters that didn't make it into our fenced yard in time. 

Then . . . once the coast was clear . . .

Ummm . . . gotta go!!

Me, too.  I hope to have more summer adventures posted before summer's over!!  Please let me know what you're doing this summer and post links here in the comments to your photos online.

What's Next? How about some Threadplay?

Well, you know, you finish a project.  Then you need another project.  Me?  I have plenty of unfinished projects.  I mean PLENTY.  We won't be counting those because it would be very embarrassing. 

Anyway, here's my plan for what to do next (among other "next" things):

This is a project that I started in Libby Lehman's class called Two for One Threadplay.  The class was presented at Quilting in the Desert in Phoenix in January.  It was WAAYY too much fun.  I wanted to try all the techniques that she showed us and I wanted to try all of them NOW!! 

We did satin stitching.  Then some free motion satin stitching (that's the stitching that looks like it's having a bad hair day in the above photo).  Then some decorative stitches to go around the edges of the applique fabric.  Then some bobbin work by putting perle cotton or Razzle Dazzle thread by Superior Threads in the bobbin and stitching from the back.  Then I couched some funky yarn down using monofilament.  What a great class that allowed for a whole day of just experimentation.  The time just flew by!!  

So here I am on my own now to try some more of these techniques.  Here's my satin stitching using King Tut thread, also by Superior Threads.   

"Now is a good time to do something you've always wanted to do. Being a little impulsive is a good thing." David Critchfield, owner of Mission Peak Soap.

So, what are you trying these days?

FINISHED!! Baby or Toddler Quilt

A while back I showed photos of this quilt nearly done.  Well, now it's really done (except for the label)!  Isn't it about cute!? 

The fabrics are Woodland Wonderland by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit and Westminster Fabrics.  See it here.

The pattern is Rectangles from Fons and Porter Easy Quilts Summer 2008. 

It was a nice pattern.  I just love it when measurements are accurate and instructions are clear.  I also love that for most of the patterns in the Fons and Porter magazines, they give several size options.  While I could figure it out for myself, it's so refreshing to have had someone else do the math for me! 

The fabrics are fun and whimsical.  And so not my style!  I loved working with them, though.  I loved the colors and the cartoonish designs grew on me. 

If you like this quilt, too, it's for sale now in my etsy shop here.

NOW WHAT TO DO!!??

Sewing Day and Baby Waiting

My mother and my friends and I have this great sewing day get together.  About once a month or so, we get together at someone's house for a sewing day or weekend.  We work on our own projects or we work on something together and eat, then sew some, then eat some more and, well . . . you get the idea. 

Our friend Sue is expecting her first grandbaby any day now and we were a bit nervous about having sewing day at her house this past weekend.  But baby waited and still hasn't arrived yet.  But friend Kim and I got into the baby mood with this project. 

Sewing rectangles.

Sewing more rectangles . . .

This goes together quickly when two are working together!  By the end of the afternoon, this is what we had.

It will get some borders (more white) and four patch corner blocks.  Duck fabric for the back and blue binding.  We think it's very cute.

It's a pattern called Scratch by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  The fabric is a Moda fabric designed by Sandy Gervais called Objects of Desire.  We cut up charm packs to make this quilt.  We took out all the high heeled shoe fabrics since we don't know whether this baby is a boy or girl. 

The grandmother to be was working on this project:

And my mom was working on this pretty purple pillowcase (try saying that three times fast!)

And we thank the baby for waiting on us to get this far . . .