A "Tranquil" Nursery

So many of you left comments saying how much you liked the baby quilts I recently made for some sweet, sweet little grand-babies .... THANK YOU SO MUCH for all those kinds comments!!!  (If you missed them, you can click HERE)

I thought you might enjoy a few pictures of these quilts being gifted during my visit home for Thanksgiving last week in North Carolina.

Here is Anna (my DIL) happily showing off Tranquility at her baby shower!  What a blessing it was to be able to be there for that event!  I miss so many of these things living so far away :(

Tranquility is the rag quilt I made for Cooper, our newest grandson who is due the day after Christmas.  Anna & Josh absolutely LOVED the quilt!  I drew a deep sigh of relief, considering all the things they wanted me to consider while making it (read about their ideas for the quilt HERE).  (Short recap - my son is a hunter, and he wanted to recapture the tranquil feel of the forest for this little one's room - nothing "cutsie" or "babyish" for this little guy!!!!)

And we were all delighted with how well it goes in the new nursery.  Here are a few pictures of their "Tranquility" nursery for Cooper.....  did they nail "tranquil and serene," or what????

What baby wouldn't be happy in these sweet, gentle surroundings?  
(Yes, my son painted those stripes!)

One little corner all ready for some sweet times of rocking and smiling into innocent little eyes :*)
Anna has chosen the perfect sage/brown/cream plaid drapes for those windows

I hope Cooper learns how to Dream Big early in life!!!!!
(Did you notice the little John Deere piggy bank?  
And teensy, tiny deer antler plaque in front of the monkey?)

They even have a deer-antler light switch!!!!

Everyone I know would love to have one of these soft cuddly rag quilts!  

I've even got ideas for making another one for me =^..^=

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As for the presentation of Miss Genevieve's Banners quilt .....

.....  I think she was more impressed with the tissue it was wrapped in LOL!!!  But her mommy and daddy loved it, and I'm sure Genevieve will too when she gets old enough to enjoy it :*)  She's right at 8 months now, beginning to stand and doing her version of a crawl, which her parents call "crawking" - it's too cute for words!!!

Here she is with her Grandpa - I think she was pretty impressed with him too, wouldn't you say?

Once again, thanks for all your sweet appreciation for these two love-filled quilts :*)  I have to get busy now with a few Christmas gifts - time is growing short!!!

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Just a reminder - come back for TWO GIVEAWAY POSTS during this upcoming week!!!!

Tomorrow - December 5 - I'm joining Jacquelynne Steves for her.....

And then Monday, December 9 - I'll be joining Terri Stegmillar's Blog Hop ......

Paws in the Garden - by Terri Stegmillar
Photo Courtesy of Terri Stegmillar Art Quilts

Great giveaway items on both of these Blog Hops....

So ya'll come back now, ya hear????

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Sharing a Few Finishes!

I'm definitely doing the Happy Dance around here!  

I've got FOUR finishes to share with you - whoohoo!!!!  Yes, I have been a busy little girl these past few weeks!  Thanks to my friend Joanne letting me use her longarm, I finished up two UFO's that have been burning a hole in my UFO closet ...

Christmas Geese

This is my FIRST Christmas quilt!  Yes, I have been quilting now for 7 years and this is my first full-size Christmas quilt ... *hangs head in shame*.....  It is a Miss Rosie pattern called Toulouse - apparently there is a type of goose in France called a toulouse..... who knew?????  You can read my post about this quilt's beginnings HERE if you are curious.

This was the first quilt I blogged about when I started the blog two years ago :*)  I fell in love with the pattern, bought it at a LQS, and then held on to it until I could decide on the fabrics I wanted to use.  When I found this lovely background oriental print on sale, I knew it would become a Christmas quilt.

On the longarm.....

Below is the design I chose to quilt it with, called Joyful Holly by Willow Leaf Studio.  

I love it!!!!

The quilt is trimmed and the binding - a joyful red and white candy-cane stripe - is all prepped and ready to apply....

I'll be sure to share a final photo when that's done, but for now I just have to get a few little projects out of the way first :)

Next finish ..... another long-time UFO - Fall Pumpkins Sampler!

This quilt started out as BOM blocks at a local LQS in 2008!  In January, they provided the pattern and fabrics to make either Fall or Christmas sampler blocks for just $3 a block.  Then if you brought the completed block(s) back on the first Sunday of each month, you got the next block free - what a deal, right? Of course, you could do both Fall and Christmas if you wanted - and I did :*)  At the end of the year, they also offered setting kits for each quilt.  I loved the addition of the pumpkins as an alternate block in this setting!  I chose to use my own stash fabrics, however, rather than buy a setting kit.

This quilting design is called Wave on Wave and I really enjoy the play of design on fabric....it was quick and fun to do too :)

I totally LOVE this binding fabric!!!

It was such a sunny day when I took these pictures, and the colors are a little washed out here....it's really a very vibrant quilt - lots of eye candy :)

A HUGE THANKS again to Joanne for helping me finish up some of these treasured UFO's!!!!

Of course, both of the Baby Quilts are now finished, as well, and ready to be gifted .... (read more about them in my previous post HERE)

Cooper's rag quilt Tranquility is all washed & dried....
SO cuddly & soft - perfect for our new Little One!!!

And I just finished quilting Genevieve's Banners on my Janome 6600P..... (you can click on the quilt name if you want to learn more about how I made this quilt)

I used the background fabric as my guide for the quilting design on this one - soft, happy daisies everywhere.... connected with lazy little loops..... gosh this was FUN to quilt!!!

I wanted to add a rose design in the heart - for our little Genevieve Rose of course!  I traced the design onto tissue paper, then pinned it to the quilt and quilted over it - worked perfectly I think!!!

Here it is ... all trimmed and bound and ready for Miss Genevieve :*)

Thanks for sharing these finishes with me!!!

It's always so much more fun to enjoy our quilts with friends, isn't it?

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Baby Quilts Everywhere!

I was delighted when my daughter-in-law picked out a rag quilt design for our newest grandchild's baby quilt!  These are fun to make and sooooo much easier than a traditional quilt!

All ready to toss into the washer and dryer to get that lovely rag quilt look & feel!!!

My son, of course, has some very particular ideas about what is appropriate for a boy-child of his!  Nothing "girlie" or even "babyish" is going to go in Mr. Cooper's room - No sir-ee!!!  He made some very specific requests for this quilt.....

1.     Only sage greens, creams and browns
2.     No animals or anything else "cutsie"
3.     Only stripes, dots and plaids allowed!

Wow!  That was a challenge, let me tell you!  My son is a hunter and loves the peace and tranquility he finds in the forest, and he wanted that feel for Cooper's nursery.  After working with these lush, calming colors, I decided to name this quilt, Tranquility.  I think that best describes the feeling my son tells me he gets when sitting in the woods in the crisp early morning hours, just him and God and the perfect sounds of nature all around them.

I know - some of you are saying, "How could he kill Bambi?!?!"  I said that too when he told me he had taken up the sport.  But it is not just a sport for him - he has the meat processed and they use the venison in many of their meals.  Then a few of my loved ones barely escaped with their lives after accidents with deer, and I learned about how even all the deer suffer from lack of food sources when their population gets out of hand.  Then my son shared the joy he gets from his time alone in the woods with God, so I shut up and began to thank God for giving him such a wonderful way to meet with Him so often.  The benefits have far outweighed my squeamish tender-hearted misgivings.  (And much to my son's dismay, the deer actually don't show up very often LOL!!!)

So.... back to Tranquility.....I was fortunate to have enough of the colors and designs in my cottons stash for the top.....some of them were even pulled from my scraps bin!

I loved adding that gorgeous plaid shirt on the right!!!
It's so hard to find plaids in yardage.

I only purchased one half-yard of this piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric to add some brightness to it.....

For the back, I had planned to use this pale, pale, pale sage green dots print to give it a nice light ruffle on the front between all the blocks.....

.....but after deciding on the size and number of blocks I wanted, I realized there wouldn't be quite enough of this fabric.  I had 2 yards and needed 2-1/2!  Of course, I only realized this after I had cut it into 8" strips!!!

It's an older fabric, so I didn't even try to find more.  I thought about doing some sort of a design on the back, like adding some darker blocks spelling a "C" for Cooper in the middle, but I just couldn't fall in love with that idea.  Then I remembered a flannel in my stash that I bought when Hobby Lobby sold off most of their fabrics.  I think I paid $2-3 a yard for this piece :)  Here it is, playing very nicely with the other fabrics..... don't you just LOVE those rich, chocolatey browns.... YUM!!!!

And I love that it now has a flannel backing!

This soft cream animal print works perfectly with the theme of the rest of the quilt :)

I chose to use a Thermore batting, which I have used in all my rag quilts.

This thin polyester batting washes well and doesn't add too much weight to the finished quilt.

Tranquility on the Design Wall, choosing placement......

All the blocks were quilted together individually.... gotta love quilt-as-you-go designs!!!

I finished up snipping the seams last night :*)

I'll be tossing this in the washer and dryer today - yippee!!!  Cooper is expected to join us around Christmas-time, so I'm delighted to have his quilt, done and ready for his arrival!!!

And since I started this project this month (even though I finished it too), it is my November NewFO Challenge project......

Click HERE to see more!

Next up, I'll be quilting Genevieve's Banners quilt this weekend.  You can read more about her quilt HERE.

It's all sandwiched and ready to go.  I'm planning a very light quilting design, so hopefully it won't take too terribly long to do.

Looks like I'll have TWO baby quilts to deliver at Thanksgiving....

something to be very thankful for, am I right?

Wishing everyone a delightful weekend!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Linking up:
Cat Patches - 2013 NewFO Challenge
SoScrappy - Rainbow Scrap Challenge
Patchwork Times - Design Wall  Monday
Freemotion by the River - Tuesday Linky Party

Moonglow Won!!!

It's been hard getting back to "ordinary" life and blogging.  

I worked practically non-stop for over 2 weeks on the quilting for Moonglow so I could enter it in the local Oktoberfest Quilt Show, and I am happy to report that I made it!  I skidded in just 1-1/2 hours before deadline to register both Moonglow and Rainbow Pineapples.....  and they both took 1st Place ribbons in their categories!!!

 This event is sponsored by Wilson Bank, and they provide the ribbons 

which are all the colors of the bank - burgundy and gold.

I'm so Happy!!!!

I'll share more about Moonglow and the quilting process with some pictures later this week.  

The first day after I finished, I worked as a scribe for the Judge, so I was able to be there and hear her comments about both quilts.  She used a 1-4 scale, with 1 being "Best", 2 being "Very Good", 3 being "Good", and 4 being "Fair".  Moonglow scored a "1" on all points - Color & Design, Piecing/Applique, Quilting, and Binding.  Woohoo!!!!  Looks like all that hard work and focus really paid off :*D  There are things that I might have done differently if I had had more time, but overall I am very happy with the quilt and will very much enjoy seeing it on my bed every day.

Rainbow Pineapples scored a 1 for both Color & Design and Piecing.  She gave me a 2 on Quilting because she said it was just "sufficient" for the quilt.  She was right.  I really didn't do a lot of quilting on it because it is small and it's a wall quilt, so it didn't need a whole lot.

The second day after I finished quilting Moonglow .... I did NOTHING!!!  Seriously, ya'll... I didn't do anything at all.  I was whooped!  I piled up in my recliner with my cuddly rag quilt covering me and started a new pair of socks.  And I watched 4 episodes of Revolution in a row LOL!!!  It's been a low-key weekend for me, but yesterday I began to get my energy back and spent a good part of the day in my sewing studio straightening things back up after the quilting marathon and getting it back in order.

Then today I started a new project!  

(Getting that October NewFO taken care of instead of waiting until the last day - LOL!!!)  

One of the blogs I love to follow for her amazing eye candy is Terri Stegmiller - an amazing artist and fiber art quilter!  You can visit her wonderful Blog by clicking HERE.  You can also find her on Facebook HERE, and she has some absolutely gorgeous things for sale in her Etsy shop HERE!

Not long ago, Terri put out the call for a few pattern designers.  I know!  I have SO MUCH going on!!!  But I'm telling you, Terri's designs are so marvelous that I just couldn't resist throwing my name in the hat!  And just in case that doesn't convince you, would you believe the designs had cats in them?  Yep, resistance had no chance at all!!!  :*D

"Paws in the Garden" by Terri Stegmiller

Once I saw Terri's "Paws in the Garden", I just had to play with it!  Don't you love the expressions on these cuties' faces?  The lids on their eyes is a genius touch - it gives them so much purrsonality :*)  I spent a few very happy hours today working with the pattern to get it to the size I need for my planned project - what fun!!!   Of course, Terri is a mixed-media artist, so her rendition of the pattern was done with hand-died and stenciled fabrics (that she did herself of course), and lots of embellishments.  Mine will be a little tamer, but I think it will end up being just as beautiful in its own way - I hope it will, anyway :*D  Terri wanted us to do "our own thing" so she could get different looks for the designs, so I'm just doing my thing and having a ball!!!

As for the rest of my Design Wall, it is currently empty.  But of course that doesn't mean I don't have lots of things in progress.  For our upcoming visit to family in November, I'll finish up Genevieve's Banners baby quilt, as well as a new bib for her.  I found this pattern while at Runaway and couldn't resist making one for our little girl, who is now a big girl at six months old!

I'm having a hard time deciding which one to make, so don't be surprised if she gets more than one LOL!!!

I also want to take some hand-sewn gifts for my daughter-in-law's baby shower for our newest baby boy on the way around Christmas time.  Among the items I hope to have for the shower will be some over-sized flannel receiving blankets from some fun fabrics I've been saving in my stash for just such an occasion ....

Aren't they cute????  I think Anna will like them, and I'm pretty sure Cooper will enjoy their cheerful color in his new world :*D

I also have several gifts I'm making for other loved ones that I just can't share right now.... you know how that goes, right?  I'm going to give my October Get It Done list a good look-over to see if I need to adjust anything so I can focus on these things right now.

What are you focusing on in your sewing room?  Is your Design Wall full of fun things, or is it empty like mine?  Please join me in sharing your current projects at Judy's Patchwork Times linky party!  I'll see you there!!!

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

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Design Wall Happenings!

Last week I told you I'd be AWOL from Blogland because I was going to Runaway Retreat -
      Well, I'm back!!!

And I had a wonderful time!!!  I'll share more about the retreat in a few days, but for now, I'd like to share some of the things I worked on while there.  It's exciting to see projects taking shape.  I have a combination of new and old projects going on .....

New.... Bargello Tree Skirt

Two sections of this hexagon-shaped skirt assembled.

I was TOTALLY excited when I got these two sections sewn together and saw a glimpse of just how amazing this tree skirt is going to be!!!  It is not an easy project, and I was worried that the sections would not line up correctly.  I had to get two complete sections done and trimmed with the oversized triangle template I had prepared before I could tell for sure that it was working - so you can imagine how delighted I was when they lined up perfectly!

When I put it up on the design wall at retreat, everyone said it is too striking to be stuck under a tree and that it needs to be a wall quilt.... hmmmm..... that's definitely a possibility - we'll have to see! :*D

My original intention was to make this in blues and whites to look like a snowflake, but then I went shopping for fabrics and fell in love with this focus print.....

It is a Jason Yenter Wintergraphix print and I just loved the colors!  I added in a wonderful bright blue, a nice spectrum of greens, and some golds......

 But then I ended up taking out the lightest gold and adding in the black instead, and I think it was a good choice.  You can really see the black add some definition in the first picture above.  The light gold was just too mushy and died out when put in the bargello spectrum with the deep colors.

I've had these fabrics for this project for quite some time, but as usual, the project got pushed to the side for more urgent projects.  Then as I shared in THIS POST, I decided that I really want to get some of my Christmas UFO's done so they can decorate my house rather than a UFO box this Christmas.  I joined up with Needle, Thread, Happiness for her 2013 Christmas QAL in order to have some accountability to get them done :*)  This will be my second UFO I've tackled so far.  The August project - Midnight Runner - is complete - quilted, bound, and ready to be proudly displayed this Christmas!  Yoohoo!!!  You can click on the quilt name if you'd like to read more about it's progress :*)

So far so good!

I also began another NEW project while at Runaway - a small quilt for my mom to fit in her tabletopper frame I gave her last year.....

She asked for a Vintage Valentine block to switch out with the Sonshine sunflower table-topper quilt I made for it last year, so I got it all ready for stitching down while at Runaway.  All the button-hole stitching was completed at retreat, so I just need to quilt and bind it, and then add the little hanging sleeve for the frame.

I hope to have this ready to take to her when I visit at Thanksgiving :*D

As for OLD projects on my design wall, I still have to get Genevieve's Banners sandwiched and quilted....another project that needs to be ready to go with me at Thanksgiving!

and I'm hoping to get the appliqued border for Amish Beauties applied and stitched down soon....

And don't forget....
              Today is the first day of the Crazy About Wool blog hop over at Pieced Brain!!!

My day is Thursday so be sure to come back and see what I'm playing with.... here's a sneak peek....

Hmmm..... what could it be?

Here is the Blog Hop schedule for today:

CJ Stitching and Blooms

Negligent Style

Sweet P

Reluctant Quilter

Racie Baby

Patchouli Moon Studio

The Raspberry Rabbits

Hope you have a marvelous week!  Here in Nashville, we are enjoying fall-like weather and it is gloriously cool and crisp - yum!!!  I don't know how long it will last, but I plan to enjoy it while I can.  Mornings will be pleasurably spent on my side porch with a little stitchery =^..^=

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Linking up with ....
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times
Christmas QAL at Hazel's Quilts
Tuesday Linky Party at Freemotion at the River
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced