Sweet Applique" #2

Top and bottom borders are done and center of quilt are all stabilized.  SID is all done.

Now for the fun part...

Working on the background fillers today.

New Socks!

Oh my gosh, I was excited to get today's mail and find this wonderful gift from my friend Nancy in Wyoming!
Besides making Quilts of Valor, she is a prolific knitter and makes little knitted blankets for babies in need.  I had commented on one of her blog posts showing several pair of knitted socks she had made.  I innocently mentioned that that is one thing I have never had nor made (I don't knit at all!).  Soon, she sent me an e-mail asking me what color and size....

Now, you have to know that Nancy and I have never met.  When I lived in Idaho, I quilted a few of her Quilts of Valor... ...and they are amazing by the way...

I helped her to learn how to bind her quilts.  

We have remained in touch and follow each other's blog. 

I am totally thrilled with my luscious purple socks!!  

 Thank you Nancy, from the bottom of my heart!

QOV Quilters!  They are the best people on the planet~

Sweet Applique'...

Here is a little peek at my customer quilt I am just starting to work on....

Lovely needle turn applique~

Stay tuned for more as I work on this beauty...

January Wall Hanging

Better late than never~  I just finished this today!

Button Up by "Joined at the Hip"

For those of you that have been following my Mom's monthly wall hangings, I finally have 11 of them done!

You can see them all in this album: Monthly Wall Hangings I didn't get December's done because of lots of extenuating circumstances at my house November and December. But there's always next year.... 

I dug some old mismatched buttons from my button box for his vest . . .

If you look closely, you can see the tiny snowflake/stars in the blue background meander. 

For the large snowflakes, I used 1/4 inch strips of wool and just stitched down the middle of the strips leaving the tips loose to all to the 3D effect. 

Yeah, I know, he is a bit hippy, but at least he's not going to fall over!

~Here's to a Great New Year~

Joyful Tossed Posies

What a joyful, sunny and fun quilt to have on my frame!

Just the kind of quilt for a cold, snowy January... 

There are some really cool retro fabrics in this quilt and a few blocks of chenille for fun texture.  I traced the the applique shapes and used the flowers in a few of the blocks:

I used this flower shape . . . 

. . . in a few of these blocks.

I quilted this large appliqued flower in all the other square blocks:

The big square chenille blocks have a pumpkin seed pattern, that way I could use a ruler to help hold the thick fabric in place to quilt. 

The blocks are all stitched in the ditch and the remaining have wavy lines to mimic the rick rack. 

Continuous line freehand leaves in the inner border.

I used So Fine "Celery" by Superior threads.  With a black backing and so many colors,  really blends well and is not a stark as white on the back.

What a fun assortment of textures, fabrics, colors and posies~

Ho, Ho Ho!

Ok, so I have had these done for awhile now. . . 

. . . and have been waiting till my daughter in law got her mantel finished and decorated before I posted any photos. She wanted a a homespun look for her stockings. While they are not "primitive" they are made with homespun fabrics and each has a simple basic applique--perfect for their rustic fireplace.

I ironed a yard of off-white flannel and traced the pattern for the cuff 5 times onto the yardage. Then, with my purple air-dry fabric marker, I free-handed all the names in primitive stitchery letters. With black pearl cotton, I used giant stitches to make all the names.  When the stitching was done, I cut out the cuffs, and attached them to the rest of the stocking.

Each applique has a few simple 3-dimensional embellishments.

Dad's gingerbread man has his buttons and is holding a candy cane button.

These stars have snowflake buttons . . . 

My 6 year old grandson, Cam, was here the day I finished stitching on the appliques.  I was going to give him the gingerbread man stocking, but he said, "I call the tree!"

I said, "don't you want the gingerbread man?"  He replied, "No, It looks more like Dad, he can have the gingerbread man."  Of course, he also wanted lots more decorations on his tree.

Another snowflake button for a star and little ornament buttons.  JoAnn's had the cutest button assortment.

This wooden snowflake was the perfect touch for Mom's mitten.

It gently dangles from a loop of nubby yarn.

The pine cone is actually a button; the branch is not, but is sewn on by hand.

As you can see, the cuffs are also 3D and the back of each stocking matches the fabric on the front.

The stockings are hung from a rustic cedar mantel that our son made for their new house.  He also installed recessed LED lights under the mantel and electrical outlets on the top. 

~Merry Christmas~

Santa's Workshop

Here is a sneak peek of what is going on in Santa's workshop this week. 

My son and his wife moved into their new house this summer and I promised her new stockings for her new rustic mantel.

Yesterday I cut them out, appliqued them, and got them quilted--ready for the embellishments today.  Good thing I save small strips of batting.   I just cut up some chunks and mounted all the stockings on a piece of muslin to quilt them all at the same time.

Ho, Ho, Ho!....stay tuned, more photos to come when they are done!

The "Dirty Teams"

It's all about the fabric . . .

My little grandson (age 6) is fascinated with construction equipment and has been practically since he was born.  When he started to talk, he called all of his trucks, loaders, backhoes, etc. his "Dirty Teams." 

His room has recently been painted and trimmed with a "Dirty Teams" border. Finally, Granny is getting his matching quilt done.

I cut up a panel of fabric that was meant for a soft fabric story book.

 As for the quilting, it's open to let this become a comforter-like quilt.  The panels are just quilted around the main vehicle in the picture.

Construction pipes, and the grey and red bricks.  Every time he would look in my drawer to see if I had his quilt finished, he would remind me not to forget his pipes!

I had fun with the back too!  I found all this construction fabric on a road trip in Montana last spring.  I didn't have enough of one fabric for the backing, so I pieced some orange that I didn't end up using on the top.  When I decided to piece in his name, I was short on the green, so I put the rest of the blue from the top border into the green. 

Like I said . . . it's all about the fabric. . .