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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

July NewFO - Disappearing Nine-Patch

Lookie what I got!
My sweet sister, Laurie, picked up this really cute license plate cover for me, and of course I just LOVE it!!!  Almost as much as I love her :*)


And speaking of Laurie, her daughter Raney is leaving for her first year of college in a few weeks! 


We are all so proud of her!!! And of course my niece MUST have a fun, bright, happy quilt to take to college with her, right?  So I asked Laurie to send me some paint chips to be sure I picked out the right colors...


.... and this worked great! I took the samples to my favorite shop - AKA My Stash! - and had a ball picking and choosing enough different pastels to make an interesting Disappearing Nine-Patch.

This, my friends, is why I enhance my stash!!! (Well, yes, in addition to the fact that I love fabric and can't resist it LOL!!!)


There's nothing more fun than going to my own fabrics, pulling what I like, auditioning the fabrics together at my leisure, and then happily digging into a project - all in my pj's! 
Stash organization in progress.... to be continued .... LOL!!!
No driving around to 3 different shops to find the right color or print ... no pressure to hurry and pick something before the shop closes ... and the price is always right because most of my stashed fabrics have been purchased on sale! :*)


Look at the sweet variety of fabrics I was able to pull together....

I love that there are a lot of bright happy DOTS in this collection!  I chose the dark purple as my Zing fabric, which will be sprinkled throughout the quilt. All the pastels will dance around it and hopefully play well together. I'm looking forward to coming up with a name for this quilt - something fun and light and joyous, just like Raney!


The Disappearing Nine-Patch design is one I have wanted to try for a while now, so I'm excited to get started! It's supposed to work up pretty quickly, which is a good thing since I don't want Raney to be receiving her quilt at graduation!!! =^..^=  I'll share pictures of the quilt in progress soon.

Have you started anything new or tried out a new pattern lately? Why not join the NewFO Challenge fun at Cat Patches? Barbara is the "hostess with the mostess" for this linky party and you might even win a prize!
NewFO2012


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Monday, July 30, 2012

DWM - A Little Progress Here & There

I've finally worked on another block for Vintage Valentines... 


This is block #7 - don't you just love that scalloped heart?!? And all these sweet little details....





My husband thinks this quilt is old-fashioned, but then he doesn't like anything "flowery or frilly." What is it about men and flowers? Good grief!!! I told him the quilt is ROMANTIC!!! That every woman in the world would love to own this quilt! He just rolled his eyes at me and went back downstairs =^..^=


I also started working on my NewFO Challenge project for July. About time, right? LOL!!! Here are the fabrics I am using. 

It's not often I work with pastels, but every now and again I enjoy digging into those, sweet soft colors :*)  And that dark purple is really going to pop nicely with them!  I'll post more about this project tomorrow, so stay tuned!


I finished up my little Blue Pineapples for the Scrappy Rainbow Challenge.  I'm going to miss the Blues *sigh*  .... but I'm already looking forward to seeing what the next color is going to be!  Can you tell it doesn't take much to make me happy? :*)


The final piece on my design wall is one that I can't share yet because it is my block for the Dots on Dots Blog Hop coming up in September!   Madame Samm and Quilt Taffy are working hard on putting this fun event together for us.  You can learn more about it by clicking HERE or on the cute little button on my sidebar.


This is going to be a really FUN blog hop!  After all, who doesn't like Dots???  Is there a quilter out there who doesn't get a little "dotty" every now and again?


I'm thinking another giveaway might be a good idea, so be sure to check back and find out the date for my post and what I might have to share with all my bloggy friends! =^..^=


So what's on your design wall this week? Share it with us at Patchwork Times!


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Slow Quilting & Stash Enhancement

What a fun combination!!!


I love Kathy's new Slow Sunday Stitching linky party!  It's a fun new place to encourage and show off our hand stitching.  A few weeks ago, I blogged HERE about the peaceful stitching view at my son's house while visiting them in Carolina.  So last weekend I was visiting with my daughter and had the pleasure of sitting on Sunday morning for several hours on her wonderful front porch and again enjoying the beauty of God's nature all around me....






.... while stitching happily on my current Promises and Borders block. 




Progress is slowly being made, but that's exactly what this linky party is all about - taking it slow and enjoying the journey!


Ahhhhh! How peaceful and refreshing!!!


On the Stash Report front, there are enhancements this week!


The Quilters Path got in several new batiks last week, and we all know how much I love batiks, right? So I hurried on down to Mt Juliet to see what goodies I could acquire for the stash :*)  Oh my, at the lovely batiks! She has a lot of new oranges and blues!!! Several that have nice big designs too for border treatments! 


But in the end, these are the ones that came home with me....




I got half a yard of this beautiful blue. It will sparkle up any quilt, whether it is a focal print in a small quilt or scrappy in a large one. It will sing!!!




And anyone want to venture a guess at how much I got of this AMAZING black/cooper/gold stripe? FIVE YARDS!!! 


Close-up of design...
Yes sirree! This is just a gorgeous batik and it will become the background in something very gorgeous and batiky someday. I can't wait to find out what, can you? LOL!!!


I also learned that I WON the Connecting Threads Light & Bright fat-quarter Sampler from my friend Connie over at Quilting by the River!!! 




OMG!!! I am SO excited about this win! I'll show off the fabrics and report them in my stash when they arrive.


This is my report for this week:

Used this week: 0 yards
Used YTD 2012: 83.25 yards
Added this week: 5.50 yards
Added YTD 2012: 166.50 yards
Net Used for 2012: -83.25 yards

Notice anything here?  I have added EXACTLY twice as much fabric as I have used YTD - too freaky!  LOL!!!


How about your stash? Have you added anything new or scored a finish this week? Share your report at Patchwork Times!


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

A New Addition to the Stable...

Yesterday I brought home Miss Eliza Sophie!




Isn't she a beauty? She's an 1851 Wheeler and Wilson No. 9, and she's in wonderful condition for her advanced age. Hardly a mark on her :*)









I have wanted a treadle machine since I began quilting back in 2006. Every time I saw one at a flea market or yard sale, I looked to see if it was "The One," but so far none were able to come home with me. They were either in terrible condition or the owner wanted too much money for them. I even tried to have my grandmother's old electric Singer converted to a treadle, but our local treadle expert in these parts told me it had a "potted motor" which made it impossible to convert.


Then my friend Amie sent out an email to everyone in the Music City Guild that she had one in great condition that she wanted to give away! Really? For free???  Could this be the one? I called her so fast my head is still spinning and told her I wanted it! On my way home from my daughter's house yesterday, I stopped off in Murfreesboro and met this little lady for the first time. It was love at first sight! 




We have to tighten up her belt a little (apparently she's lost some weight recently - maybe it's the heat?), but Amie says she sews beautifully. I can't wait to get her in her permanent spot and try her out :*)


I looked up the most popular names in the 1850's, and I really wanted to name her Eliza, because she reminded me of black gabardine dresses and all the stuffy, no-nonsense proper-ness of ladies in the Victorian era. But she kept arguing with me and telling me No, her name is Sophie. Saucy little minx, isn't she? Apparently she's not as stuffy or proper as appearances might suppose. (It's really not a good sign for me when she is already winning our battles!)


She has these accessories with her....




I just simply find it amazing that they made such inventive accessories that early in the machine era!  And frankly, I think some of them look more like instruments of medieval torture than innocent little accessory feet.  I'm anxious to look them up and see what they will do.  And Amie included 6 new needles which I understand are pretty rare themselves and very hard to find.




There's even an Original owner's manual.  Price - 5 cents!  LOL!!! I think I may really NEED an owner's manual for this little smarty-pants, don't you?


Thanks so much Amie for my new lady! 

And Welcome Home Miss Sophie!
 I'm so delighted you decided to come live with us:*)


Linking this post up with a new Linky Party over at Live a Colorful Life:  
Live A Colorful Life

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Anna Maria Horner is in the House!!!



 Anna Maria Horner

Piecemakers Guild in Lebanon is a small evening guild, and we like things really laid back and kind of casual.  Most of these members have not yet retired, so no one wants more rules and restrictions after being at work all day!  We don’t often bring in a celebrity, but on Thursday night we were treated to a delightful evening with Anna Maria Horner as our Guest Speaker!

Anna Maria is very well known as a fabric designer for Free Spirit, but if you are not familiar with her work, you really should go HERE to her website to see some of her wonderful fabrics and patterns!  She is just an amazing designer!!!  Her fabrics are full of life and unexpected color combinations.  The designs are fun and lively and fresh!
*** Picture taken from AnnaMariaHorner.com website ***
She began the evening by sharing some of her history with us, beginning with her fledgling efforts at about 8-10 years old when she began to make clothes for her Barbie Doll.   She got frustrated when she couldn't get the results she wanted with a needle and thread, so she talked her mom into letting her use the machine and learn by trial and error -- even though she put the needle through her finger more than a few times!  (Her mom must have been a much braver and calmer woman than I was when my children were growing up!) 

Like many of us, she graduated to sewing all her own clothes as a teen, and even made her own prom dresses.  I won’t go into all the details of her rise from young mother of six children to famous fabric designer, but her story is very interesting, and if you ever have the chance to hear her talk, GO!!!

These are some of the gorgeous quilts she displayed at the meeting.  I don't remember the names of each one - I know, BAD job of reporting!!!  I was taking these pictures from the other side of the room too, so some of them are not the best shots.



These feathers are all fabrics from her newest line - Field Study



Just LOVED this one!!!
Look at the circles for a really cute border treatment!

She showed one really cute quilt that she named Log Mansion, which was one big Log Cabin block - “Because,” she said, “who has time to make a lot of little cabins?”  She was a real hoot!   And make a note - It is a free pattern on her website!  Sorry, my picture was really blurry, but take my word for it - it was cute :*)

Anna Maria also has a line of ribbons that are just gorgeous, as well as ready-made bias bindings from some of her more popular fabric designs.  Imagine buying the fabrics and then having the option of buying a binding already made and ready for you out of that same fabric!!!  

She also has bag and clothing patterns, in addition to her quilt patterns.  And she recently introduced a new line of needle arts projects.  One of her new fabrics has cross-stitch designs stamped on the fabric so you can stitch the designs in your favorite colors for purses or blouse bodices – really cute!  She has two new tapestry pillow projects coming out very soon.  I didn't want to put too many pictures from her website here, so you can go HERE to see these little lovelies for yourself :*)

I purchased the most wonderful set of perle cotton embroidery threads from her collection!

Then these are the fabrics I came home with…


Yes indeed – STASH ENHANCEMENT!!!!  But only 6 fat quarters – 1-1/2 yards.  I do think I did very well considering the yummy fabrics there for the taking, don’t you? :*)


Look at all the wonderful action and color in this one.... YUM!!!  These are from her LouLouthi line.

That's it for additions this week.  No finishes – as usual.  That’s beginning to sound like a broken record, right?  LOL!!!

Used this week: 0 yards
Used YTD 2012: 83.25 yards
Added this week: 1.50 yards
Added YTD 2012: 161.00 yards
Net Used for 2012: -77.75 yards

I’d love to hear about your stash adventures!  I'm linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Saturday, July 21, 2012

I’ve Got the Blues!!!

But it’s the GOOD kind of blues!  

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color this month is BLUE, which is my favorite color (just in case you wanted to know :*) – and so I am having a ball making up more little tiny paper-pieced pineapples in my favorite color!


For this project, I always use my tiniest crumb scraps, which makes me feel great knowing I am using all of my fabrics up and making beautiful things out of even the smallest crumbs!


As I shared in THIS POST, I was not happy with having all these little pieces just dumped in a bucket, so I purchased enough jars to have one for each color so I could get all those crumbs out of this messy, disorganized bin….


And separated by color into their own glass jar.  


See how lovely they all look?  Oh yes, I’m a happy camper!  =^..^=

No more digging for the right color pieces!  I just opened up the jar, poured out my blue fabrics...


.....and away I went, sewing up a storm on my little blue pineapples.  


I’m not finished yet, but you can see they are going to be SEW cute!!!

Be sure to go over to SoScrappy and see how everyone else is handling “the blues” on this Scrappy Rainbow Saturday!

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Giveaway Winner & A Cute Story

It's time to announce the winner of my giveaway for the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop -- 

Mr. Random Generator picked a winner for the patriotic fabrics & pattern!   Here's a reminder of what was up for grabs....


So who won????


******  Drum Roll please!  ******


And the winner is:

Cheryl’s Teapots2Quilting!!!  Congratulations Cheryl!!!  An email has been sent to you so you can forward your snail mail address and get your goodies quickly =^..^=

I really want to thank Madame Samm and Jane at Jane’s Fabrics & Quilts for putting together the Red, White & Blue Blog Hop!  I hope you all had as much fun as I did seeing so many creative ways to celebrate America in quilts :*)

I still haven’t gotten a chance to get into my sewing studio and get anything done since before I left to visit family in Carolina last week!  No sewing for me for way too long!  I did buy some new toys for my studio today though, and all at 50% off too - gotta love a sale :*) ….


Jars for my scraps!  Angela at SoScrappy inspired me with her crumbs in jars separated by color which looked so pretty!  Right now I have all my small scraps in this bucket…


They are all jumbled together and it's really difficult to find anything.  In order to work with one color, I have to dump everything out and dig through it.  No more!!!!  I bought enough jars to have one for each color.  Now, on Rainbow Scrappy Saturdays, I can just pull down the jar with that month’s color and get to work creating, instead of spending an hour digging through my crumb bucket for the right color scraps – I love it!!! 

I have larger pieces in bigger bins and I don’t think they will all fit in the jars, but we’ll see.  It will be fun getting this part of my sewing room organized :*)

The other thing I bought is also to help organize me.  

It’s a lazy susan tool organizer!  


Doesn't it look smart sitting there next to my machine?  I had these tools spread out in different places before, most of them in this blue partitioned basket.  It worked okay but I couldn't get everything in it, and it left a little to be desired in the looks department if you know what I mean :*) 


But now I have all my tools together in one place, and right at hand as I’m working at the machine.  Perfect!!!  I’m hoping it works out as well as I think it will.

I also set up my Jo-Lite over the machine, and I am very happy with it!!!  


By the way, I got quite a few requests for more information about the light, so I dug out my card and checked to be sure it was okay to share the info with you here.  Willie Prazak is the designer of the light, and he was delighted that you are interested in his wonderful product!  He designed the light after watching his wife (a quilter of course!) try to get the proper amount of lighting in her sewing area.  She told him the many different ways each light fell short of what she needed, he took notes, and voila!  Next thing you know, he had designed a light that met all of her needs in one compact and versatile package!  You can see more about the light on my post HERE.

If you’d like to contact Willie, here is his contact info:

Willie Prazak
Giles Creek Productions
Phone: 615-355-9564
Cell:     615-427-2746

And now for the Funny Story.....

Before I finish up this post, I’d like to share a funny story from the other day.  Remember I went to the TVQA Assembly Day event last Saturday?  And I told you I had to be at Walmart, ready to be picked up by the bus by 5AM?  Well, when I got there, one other girl was there and neither one of us could see the bus anywhere.  We were concerned because it was only 5 minutes before time for it to be leaving for the next pickup stop, so it should have been there.  I pulled up beside her, rolled down my passenger window and talked to her through the window about what we should do since the bus was apparently not there yet.  We decided to go ahead and park further out to the back of the lot and wait for it.

Once we got to the back of the lot, we were able to see the bus!  All the way over on the other side of the lot where the tractor-trailers park!  We hustled over there and made it just in time!  I grabbed my stuff, made double-sure I had locked the car up, and hopped on the bus.  It was going to be a fun day and I was happy!!!

And yes, indeed, as I shared in my last post HERE, it was a fun day!!!  However, as I dragged myself into to my car at the end of the long bus ride home, I glanced over at the passenger seat and noticed something strange.  The jacket I had left on the seat was sopping, wringing WET!!!  Oh no!  I had left the window down!  I was in such a big hurry to make the bus and never even gave that open window a second thought.  And on the worst day possible too, because we had about 3 inches of rain that day, torrential downpours all day!!!  The passenger side of my car was soaked!  I actually sat there for a few minutes not sure what to do.

All the way home, I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to tell my husband that I was stupid enough to leave the window down.  I knew he wouldn’t be mad at me – he’s the most understanding man in the world.  But damaging a car is a big deal!  When I walked in the door, he was sitting at the computer and knew immediately by the look on my face that something was wrong.  I spilled the beans, waiting for his reaction. 

And then he actually smiled at me!  I was dumbfounded to say the least.  He said, “I’ll come out and look at it in a minute, but first I need to tell you a story.”  It seems, he had been putting new brakes on our other car earlier in the day, and left it in the driveway when he was done.  He went inside when it started raining and spent several hours working on a few projects in the house.  When he went back out to the car to run an errand, he realized HE HAD LEFT THE WINDOW DOWN!!!   LOL!!!  Both of us did it, and on the same day!!!  So instead of being upset, we both had a great laugh and got busy drying out our cars.  =^..^=

Know anyone who would like to buy a used car cheap?  Hahaha – just kidding!  Both cars seem to have come out just fine with no damage - thankfully!!!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=
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