Birthdays Past and Future, Those Little "Houses"

Bear with me; this is going to be a long post. That's what happens when I don't post for days weeks on end! I celebrated yet another birthday this past week. It was a perfectly wonderful day; Mr. Goodneedle took me out to breakfast and then on to an athletic shoe store that generates a 3-D model of your feet for superior fitting. I tried on three different pairs of walking shoes from there and settled on these new ones. They're probably the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn right out of the box!


We had dinner out for the next two nights, too; the celebration lasted for a full forty-eight hours. Our son and his family had a special birthday dinner in my honor on the second night, complete with a beautiful handmade birthday banner and a very special strawberry cupcake!

Yesterday we made a quick trip to the Capital City to celebrate Lucy Ann's upcoming birthday this week. She'll be nine years old. We brought a furry beanbag chair for her room, I believe it was a hit! Our daughter called to tell us that long after we had left and returned back home she was still in the chair!

We had a fun birthday lunch with her (and her family who were sitting on the other side of the table).

She was delighted with a piece of birthday cake that easily fed our entire table (with some to spare)!

So, those "Little Houses" that I teased earlier weren't actually houses under construction at all. But, rather, square-in-a-square blocks. I made fifty-four of these 2" block units. Why?

To border "Frank"! Isn't he handsome? He is a door banner measuring 17" X 44". "

Frank is a Country Threads pattern that can be ordered through the hyper link here until 10/31. 

I got carried away  consumed with details on this small quilt. The name tag was created from a downloaded name tag photo which I printed out onto Printed Treasures* and fused onto his jacket. The pieced border was my own idea too. I was auditioning solid color outer borders and couldn't quite come up with anything that got me excited until I decided to piece a border using colors from the shirt and jacket, I felt it pulled the whole thing together. Yes, I can turn even the simplest thing into a career move! All in all, it was so worth it; I absolutely love the final result! As you can tell, these are LOUD colors, perfect for Halloween and October decorating; almost time to bid September good-bye. And sew it goes. 

Life is Good!

* Printed Treasures are printable, paper-backed fabric sheets. This is the product that I use to make all of my quilt labels; I buy the sew-in sheets. I heat-set mine, face down, with the iron after printing and have never had trouble with them not being permanent after washing. They may fade a bit, over time, depending on how many times they're laundered with the quilt. 

Up next: the perfect, quiet, antitdote to all that garish color overload; a low volume remedy. 

Dogs In Sweaters

I finally got the quilting done on that retreat project that consumed me last month; Elizabeth Hartman's Dogs In Sweaters quilt will soon be hanging in my studio in all its canine glory! I am truly in love with this little quilt. I chose to quilt it with a pantograph called Bauhaus by Patricia Ritter for Urban Elementz, it had just the right feel. I didn't want to quilt it too densely because I had a time with the fabrics laying flat. This is constructed entirely (except for the back and binding) from Essex Linen and cotton flannel. For some reason the flannels "grew" a little and required some steam and coaxing to behave in a straight and square manner before this one was quilted. It all worked out extremely well.

Is this not the cutest thing? This quilt measures 45" X 60"

Here's a detail shot with the back folded up so that you can read the most perfect backing fabric.

The binding got an extra shot of color with some red and black print piping, added before stitching the binding on but after the quilted portion was squared and trimmed. I originally bought enough materials to do the entire full sized quilt and then realized that it was too big to hang in its designated spot, over the loveseat. I will use those leftovers to make a sofa cushion with from a single block (16" X 26") and add the eyeglasses to that one as it will be a pillow to sit and read with. 

Picture from pattern envelope

I loved using this pattern, the cutting directions are not for wimps, but once that's accomplished you're good to go! I have two more of hers to tackle this summer: "Penguin Party" and "Cuckoo", they're on my to do list! 

Have you done any of these patterns? 

Which ones?

Life is Good!

 

It's Coming...

I am posting this today as a reminder of what is just around the corner; especially for my family and friends in New England who are currently finding themselves under a think blanket of snow. For some reason, every time I look at this a certain song (click) runs through my head, over and over. 😉

Don't despair, it's coming... 

Life is Good!

Pattern from Kim Shaefer's Calendar Quilts

Happy Valentine's Day!

Life is Good!

Hand Embroidered, Machine Finished

Heartland ~ 49" X 56"

The quilting is finished on this little beauty. My mother hand embroidered the blocks, perhaps fifteen years ago. She discovered them last year and set them together into a quilt top, I volunteered to bring it home with me and take it from the flimsy stage to a full-fledged quilt; I am grateful that she trusted me with it. If memory serves, these embroidery patterns were published by Bareroots. I had a set too, mine were different though, blocks instead of hearts. Mom and I bought our patterns when we were together one time, at a cute little shop in Massachusetts. I remember finishing mine as a wallhanging in 2003; it hung in the studio for a few years.
I discovered it when I cleaned out the stash closet a few years ago. I'm glad that these are both done at long last, they look so completely different! Mom told me that she's naming hers "Heartland" after the Canadian series on television that we both love, a most fitting title.

Heartland; detail.

The back's cute too!

Life is Good!

Journey's End

At long last, "It's The Journey" is completely done and hanging in the studio. This wallhanging, measuring 47" X 60", was a little over a year in the making; it's history can be found  here, here and here. 

"It's The Journey" quilting detail.

The journey ends here; that final step was realized with installation onto the wall over Snowbird.

Life is Good! 

In Order... Alphabetically!

I've had fun keeping up with the "Little Letters" tutorials, two weekly, over at Temecula Quilt Company's blog. I'm using all "Grunge Basics" by Moda as my fabric pallete. The blocks finish to 4", this project will end up as a little quilt or wallhanging, but what it lacks in size it more than makes up for in charm... I love it! If you love it too, it's not too late to begin; all the tutorials are free and online here. It's as simple as "A - B - C"!

Life is Good!

How Do You Know...

...that you're in a quilter's home? There are even quilts hanging in the guest bathroom! I cannot express how happy it makes me to have this wallhanging done and installed, I planned this Swiss-themed bathroom when we built our home, in 2001, around it! Wow.

Speaking of bathrooms, we bought new rugs for in front of the vanity in our master bath. I was cutting the tags off this morning and read the attached warning: "this item is flammable, do not expose to, or use over, an open flame." I'm relieved to have read the fine print; there go my plans for a big, roaring, bonfire in there.

Life is Good!

Swiss Baskets, The Reveal!

Swiss Baskets ~ 53" X 53"

This quilt, begun in 1999 and finished this week is, at long last, completely complete (see previous  post)! I based the design of this one on a pattern  "Aunt Boppy's Baskets" from the book The Joy Of Quilting (© 1995) by Joan Hanson and Mary Hickey. I was inspired by that pattern which incorporated antique lace doilies into the baskets and wanted to create a similar effect using handkerchiefs collected while living in Switzerland.  Using a method known as "channel (reverse) applique" I added the lettering to spell out Switzerland in the three languages I heard on a daily basis while calling that country home for three years.  I have recently acquired a box full of handmade, antique doilies and may make another, similar, wallhanging... hopefully in less than fifteen years! The two photos below depict the quilting in more detail, show the dimension of the baskets and represent the quilt's colors much more accurately. 

Life is Good!

Audition

Sturbridge Strawberries ~  56" X 68"

I decided, on a whim, to remove this quilt top from the "waiting to be quilted" queue and audition it (stick it up with masking tape) on an otherwise bare wall in the family room; I never had really given too much thought as to where this quilt would end up. I finished the piecing on it back in 1997; hey, it's already a classic! Well, the audition went well... so well, in fact, that Mr. Goodneedle suggested putting a sleeve on it and hanging it right away; he didn't realize it wasn't quilted yet! I guess I already know which quilt is next for a date with Sundance!

Life is Good!

In Preparation...

Tomorrow is Gregory's birthday! In preparation for the big day, and one of his gifts, Nana and Sundance have been very busy. The quilting is complete, the sleeve is attached to the back and the binding is cut. As far as I am concerned this bird needs to have his name changed to "Nick", as in: just in the _____ of time! I will finish the binding over the weekend, while on retreat in the mountains, and present it to him on Sunday at his party. There will be two button-on strips that attach to this wallhanging; one with his name and the second one with his birth date, they will be added to the blank space beneath the question. I will spend today preparing those, getting my other projects (vintage UFO's) together to take along; as well as gathering sheets, clothes, food and a sewing machine, chair and all the necessary tools packed up and into the car! No one ever said that having fun was easy.

Let the good times roll...

Life is Good!

Feathers Are Flying...

... in the Strawberry Patch, but I'm managing to get them stitched down! Who doesn't love this bird? My grandson does, and so does his Mama (birds of a feather)! I timed this post especially for today, my daughter-in-law's birthday, because I knew how happy this would make her! I've been planning this since he was born and spent yesterday getting all the components together for Gregory's wallhanging. I just laid the buttons in place (for the photo, above) because the white eyeballs by themselves creep me out! The button pupils will be attached later. See the quilt's layout and chosen fabrics below, I couldn't resist the pink and orange stripe: Big Bird's LEGS; I knew it had to be incorporated into the borders the moment I saw it! Big Bird's stitched "portrait" will occupy the large white square in the design, the striped fabric will combine with the blue, orange, green and red for the pinwheels.

I'm not sure that I will add the character appliqué, it has become my project muse; we'll see. My plans are to machine applique a few circles in the lower left and upper right and to attach a button-on band with Gregory's name and birthdate under the words (see layout photo) "Who Loves Big Bird?" There's nothing like seeing a plan come together, and what a happy plan this one has become.

Happy Birthday, Leigh Anna!

Life is Good!

Mealtime Mantra

Almost a year ago I posted about this idea for a wall quilt for our eating area in the kitchen after playing around with EQ6. All good things become reality in their own time and that time has finally arrived! This was an oft repeated phrase at our dinner table when I was growing up. It was fun to watch this idea take shape as it grew and ripened on the design wall. I really enjoyed filling the "jars", and placing each one accordingly. I think that Mason, as well as future grandchildren, will appreciate this conversation piece and will delight in identifying all the varieties of fruits and vegetables contained, finding matching jars and learning the Mealtime Mantra from my childhood!

Now, to figure out how I'll quilt this one... hmmm.

Life is Good!

Mealtime Mantra ~ 54" X 74"

Wanna Peesa Peetza?

Snowy days can provide some down-time and fast finishes, I can offer up this pizza wallhanging as evidence! "Wanna Peesa Peetza?" measures 25.5" square and will cleverly disguise the breaker box panel cover in the kitchenette of our converted attic space. Another pattern from Ami Simms, our "peetza" is of the plain cheese variety, I was all out of fabric "toppings"!

Life is Good!