So Many Irons in the Fire

Thank you so much for all your wonderful messages and well wishes on my last post!  I so appreciated them.

Busy, Busy, Busy but getting little accomplished.

Here is are project updates -

waste not, want not.  I had to piece 2 sections of batting before I can baste my Abe Lincoln quilt.

What a good helper -

Here are sneak peaks on 2 different small quilts, one a challenge and one a swap  - can't tell you which is which....

 Making slow progress on my Mother's Garden quilting.

Gathering up about 3o quilts to take to a local quilt guild to present  a trunk show on Wednesday night.



all under the watchful eye of you know who.

Hoooray!  My son, Andrew, received an acceptance letter from Ramapo College for next fall.  Great job, Andrew!  We're waiting to hear about housing (fingers crossed).  We may be empty nesters next fall.

Have a great week.

Be Mine!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I received this lovely Valentine in the mail from my friend, Jill.  We were both married on February 14th.  Isn't it lovely!!  It is everything a valentine should be trimmed with buttons, lace, fabric, and a little sparkle.  Thank you Jill and Happy Anniversary!

The envelope is a work of art.   I love the stamps and the script fabric.

The pattern credit goes to Karina Hittle who had the pattern in a 2006 Jan/Feb issue of Love of Quilting magazine.

How fun is this?  My fun and thoughtful daughter ordered each of us customized chocolate bar.

Here is ingredient list for my son's.....yes, bacon.....

This is the company if you ever need custom candy.

So here I am with 3 of my 5 maids getting ready for my big day.  Dresse with red satin butt bows and matching shoes, how 1980s can you get?

Wow, were we ever young!  After 24 years, I'd marry him all over again.

xoxo to all my friends and readers on Valentines Day!

Thinking Spring

The groundhog says that spring is coming.  I have seen the signs.  It is light out until 5:00 pm and this morning I heard birds chirping and coco didn't just sit on the back steps, she laid down.

I hosted a sew day last week and my friend, Pauline, brought me this lovely yellow primrose.  I popped it into an empty tea tin for a instant little display.

We decided to get together and make this "pin minder".

It's from a book called "Bird in Hand" by Renee' Plain.  It has wonderful projects.

Here are the leaves and berries, cut from hand dyed wools.

We had a wonderfully sunny day to work.

We each completed the cylinder part and we'll get together again to finish it up.  Isn't it funny how with the same pattern they each have their own little personalities?

From the top it's mine, middle is Susan's and Pauline's is the red bird.  She is originally from South Africa and finds the Cardinal amazing when she sees them at my feeder.

I'm currently working on 2 challenge quilts and a doll quilt swap, so I can not share those at the moment.   I'm finishing up marking my Abe Lincoln quilt and hope to start machine quilting it this week.  I've chosen a different design for each round.

I hope you are enjoying fun quilting projects while you wait for spring!

Snowed in Again!

Yep, snowed in again.  My poor Chicago-land friends are really taking a beating today.  I made the most of it by sewing.

Thanks MB for sending me this fabulous fabric I just love it.



I received it yesterday and it has all my favorite "down home, Chicago" themes on it.  I used it on the back of my Midnight Stars, Quilt Along from Lori's Blog.  


The colors were just right for it.



I loved Lori's idea of doing hanging diamonds, but I was engrossed in Iron Chef and turned it wrong and ended up with dropped diamonds.  Doh!  I really wanted to try it her way, as I usually do it this way - next time!

I didn't mark it and just let the lines fall where they may.  I agree with Lori, it gives it an old fashion - devil may care look :)



Doesn't that black fabric look like a bacterial virus?  I used this funny little black cat, like my Luna, and the computer for the label.

Happy Birthday to my friend Sheila!  She received this quilt for her special day.  I quilted it with cross hatches - my favorite no mark method.

I've also made more rag balls - I just can't stop.  After I trim off batting, it must be rolled and covered with homespun -



Lastly, my daughter received an acceptance letter from her 1st choice college today, Miami of Ohio.  She was home to receive it and be the first to know - it was a thrill and I was grateful for the chilled champagne on hand!  Congratulations Hanna!