String of Diamonds quilt

Here is my Strings of Diamonds quilt! This was a quilt kit that Jim had bought me for Christmas, a year ago. I made the quilt top last January/February, but then put it away, thinking I would hand-quilt it. Well, that never happened, so last month when I was going thru my UFOs, I decided to go ahead and have it machine-quilted by a gal thru the local quilt shop. She does not do custom quilting, so it is an all-over design, but I like the effect. I picked it up yesterday and put the binding on right away, glad to have this off the UFO list. I love this quilt! :o) This is the first time that I have used a sheet for the back of a quilt - I picked this sheet up at the thrift shop, last summer, I think. I think it goes perfectly with the vintage feel of the quilt!

Sandie over at Crazy 'Bout Quilts is making a vintage sheet quilt, and I am sending her the pieces I had left of this sheet - it was much bigger than my finished quilt. Go check out what she is making - it is really lovely!

Jimmy went to his pre-school screening last Monday, as long as there is state funding, he will be heading to pre-school this fall, Pre-K3, it is called. I think it will be good for him, as we don't have anyone his age that he plays with, so sometimes I think he thinks that he is 12 years old, like the trio... :o)

Thanks for visiting! I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

busy, busy... :o)

Our family has been passing around cold/flu symptoms, but I have still been busy, busy... :o) My mom asked me how I was doing yesterday, and I said "Oh, the cold/flu meds make it bearable" And she says "Moms never get a day off", and I said you are absolutely right! Since I finished Sharon's quilt on Sunday, I have stitched a total of 10 badges on 2 different Scout shirts, hemmed a pair of jeans, made 2 Dresden plate centerpieces, stitched 7 little 25" tabletoppers (using 4" squares/random pattern), stitched a large machine embroidery design that I have been anxious to try... Hhhhmmm... No wonder I am tired!

Anyways, I am happy that I am getting some things done that I had been putting off because of all that hand-quilting on Sharon's quilt. Here are my Contrary Wife blocks, for a Sarah's Sampler swap that I am participating in. I have to laugh because I chose Contrary Wife -- I bet my ex-husband would think that was me! Dictionary.com says Contrary means: opposite in nature. But I prefer their fifth definition: stubbornly opposed or willful. I don't think being willful is a bad thing! :o)


Here are what the two Dresden Plate centerpieces looked like, that I made earlier this week. I love how all the florals play off each other - makes me hope for Spring! :o)

And here is the machine-embroidery design that I stitched out today. I am so thrilled with this design! It has 25 color changes, and a little more than 66,000 stitches! I have been without an embroidery machine for awhile, and am glad to be back up and running... This might be made into a pillow for a special friend... Too early for Christmas, but I don't think she would mind! :o)

Thanks so much for visiting! It is time to clean up my workspace and figure out what to work on next... :o) Hope you are having a good week!

Happy Day!

Oh Happy Day! I am so glad to say that Sharon's Beachfront Cottage quilt is done! Here it is, on my bed. Our bed is queen size, so that gives you an idea of how large it is! It finished to approximately 93" x 105"! You can see the hand-quilting in each block, in this post.

This is the best photo I could get of the hand-quilting in the borders, it is a continuous wave design.

This quilt was a labor of love. I have known Sharon for about 6 years or so, and have made many quilts for her, that she has given to family and friends as gifts. So this is the first quilt of mine that she is keeping for herself! She bought the kit and paid me to put it together, but I told her as my gift to her, I wanted to hand-quilt it, not tie it, as she had requested. She does not know it is completed yet! I am sending it off to her today, so she will be surprised to receive it... :o)
Thanks for visiting!

Valentine Roses

I was a lucky gal on Valentine's Day -- dear hubby sent me 12 roses! They are beautiful and smell SO good! Jim is such a sweetheart! (Sshhh! Don't tell him I said that!)
Been busy around the house lately - we got a new 42" TV! Jim has been wanting one for a few years, and the time had come... :o) He is SO happy! But, getting a new TV entailed rearranging the living room - I am STILL chasing dust bunnies! (Two cats and hard wood floors are not a good mix!) And I am not good with change, so all this re-arranging makes me feel out-of-sorts! HA! But we think we have it the way we want it, he just needs to finish the custom cabinet he is making for the TV stand... :o)

Here is a pic that Jim took the other morning, the frost/snow on the trees was just lovely! Well, you know, as long as you don't have to go out in it! :o)

I have all the blocks quilted on that Beachfront Cottage quilt, and gave myself a few days break, so my fingers wouldn't hurt so much... Hopefully I will start on the border quilting in the next day or two... :o) Thanks for visiting!

Valentine swap

I participated in a Valentine swap on one of the yahoo groups that I am in, and boy, was I spoiled! Shelley sent me all these nice gifts: a tote bag, a scissor/needle case, heart pins and charms, a notebook, and chocolates! Thanks so much, Shelley! You are too sweet!


Here is what I sent to Shelley: a little Valentine block on an old-fashioned hanger, crocheted dish clothes, Valentines suckers and some heart ribbon... :o)

I only have FOUR blocks left to quilt on the Beachfront Cottage quilt! And then the border, but, hey, I am almost done! Woo Hoo!

I did finish putting the binding on this quilt over last weekend. I finished the quilt top last summer, right after the 4th of July, and had not liked how my triangles did not line up. So I added the rick-rack to the quilt top. But then the quilter at the LQS would not quilt it, because of the rick-rack. So I finally got it ready for a custom quilter that works thru the LQS and she got it back to me last week. It has stars and stipple down the strips, without messing up the rick-rack... :o) I love the old-fashioned patriotic fabric!

Thanks for visiting! I am hoping to have the quilting done of the Beachfront Cottage quilt this week. I am SO ready to be done with it and to move on to other projects... :o) Dear hubby has been at work for 24-hours straight, pushing snow, and the kids are home today, and probably tomorrow, because of the snow here. We got 4+ inches overnight, and today the wind has picked up so it is blowing around... Thank goodness for the Wii that we got for Christmas! :o)

still quilting...

I am still here, still quilting... :o) I now have 14 blocks done, out of 42, so that is 1/3rd done! Woo Hoo! :o) Of course, there is the whole outside border to do too, but that is an easy *ocean waves* design. I am pacing myself, because my shoulder and hands have been aching really badly lately. This arthritis is no fun. Had it for years, since I was in my 20s, but I ache so much worse when it is cold outside and all this stitching... But it is not like I am going to give up my hand-quilting any time soon... :o)

And then, as if I have not *given* enough blood, poking myself hand-quilting, today I went for the FIRST TIME and gave blood! I have meant to do it so many times, but Mom was going today, so I went with her. I knew it would be no big deal, they drew so much blood when I was pregnant with the trio, that it doesn't even phase me anymore...

I made sure I wore my sticker home, so that the kids and the hubby would KNOW they had to be nice to me... :o))) Hope you all are having a good day!

birthday quilts

This coming November, the trio will be turning 13 years old! How did that happen?! Anyways, this weekend, I worked on the quilt top that will be for Anna. You may recognize the pattern, as I made this quilt for a customer, just a few months ago. But it is perfect for Anna, as well. She is a girl-y girl, so it is all about the pink and purple and flowers... :o) I still have to get the backing fabric, which will be the tiny pink floral that is in the front of the quilt. Then it will go off to be machine quilted... I have a good friend that is doing custom machine quilting for me, for the quilts for the trio, and in exchange, I am piecing a couple of quilt kits for her. I could NOT be more excited about this, as her work is exquisite, and will make these quilts so perfect!

This is the quilt that will be for David. David has been in Scouts since first grade, and crossed over to Boy Scouts last year. (fifth grade.) He really enjoys it. Jim was his Den Leader, all thru Cub Scouts. I don't think I ever showed the quilt top here - I finished it in November. It is already at my friends house, to be quilted... I ordered Kona *avocado* for the backing, which is the same green as the front. Davids favorite color is green, so I thought that would be perfect! :o)

I still have to get the kit for Lizzie's quilt. She is a tom-boy and LOVES orange, and I think I found the perfect kit for her. Hopefully, I will be able to order the kit in the next couple of weeks.... :o)
I have not been hand-quilting, since Saturday. I have arthritis, and my hands have been quite sore lately. I think my old quilting needle is too dull, too, but I received some new needles from Shirley for Christmas, and I think I will switch to one of those and the stitching should go a little easier...
Here is a little sewing tip, that you might find helpful... I always do this small extra step to an outside border, at the corners seams, and if it has been pieced to make it the right length. Press the seams and then do a narrow 1/8th inch or so stitch over the seams, where your binding will hide it. This helps keep those seams from pulling apart, which you are quilting or adding the binding... Like I said, alot of you probably already know this, but I found it really helpful when I discovered this tip! :o)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a good week, so far!