A finish and a review

Hope you are all safely arrived where you are headed for tomorrow's holiday.
I finished the batik quilt for my friend. This is the quilt by A Quilter's Dream that uses only one layer cake for the complete quilt top. It measures 46 X 59
I quilted a basketweave design on it using a Rainbows thread from Superior Threads. Hope he likes it! Sabra helped with the photo shoot :-)

And for some reason I keep wanting to tell people about this moisturizing bar that I purchased at PIQF....so I'm doing it here :-) There is no website contact but they respond through the email: ronspread@gmail.com

I bought it because I thought it smelled so good! (They also have other scents and an unscented version.) But the next day, I was kind of amazed because my hands felt so much better. Being a nurse...I wash my hands or cleanse them with this drying alcohol disinfectant way too frequently...so my hands can get pretty dried out. This stuff seems to have brought the life back to them. I have used it for the past month and still love it. So there you have it. No affiliation to the company but I'm definitely ordering more. No greasy feel and you can get right to your quilting after putting it on.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone! Find what is in your heart to thank God for. My list begins like this...I'm thankful I can have dogs and cats who bring me a lot of joy. I'm thankful that I'm almost retired (wahoo!) and I'm thankful for my God who keeps me in His Word and redeems my life.

treats and a new to me designer

Sew...still more about PIQF.
Straight into the vendor isles, my sister and I found one of our favorites at Sew Cherished and a table of half yard homespuns. As conservative as I could be, I came home with these. Perfect for some scrappy plaid quilts.

Then way at the other corner of the show with the other spectrum of beautiful fabrics, I found these

and a new to me designer.
Let me share A Quilter's Dream with you. This picture doesn't really showcase this fabric well....but the quilt I'm going to make will!
I was drawn into the booth because I was looking for a batik collection to use to make another quilt for a co-worker and well, the lime green in this collection in one of the quilts displayed called my name! My sister liked the cats and I liked the sunflowers.
We ended up purchasing these two patterns.

The first uses just a Jelly Roll to make a 55" X 55" quilt. The directions were clear and had some extra good tips of keeping this quilt well shaped.

This second pattern, called Half Baked, kind of amazed me. It uses only one layer cake. The designer, Stephanie Prescott at A Quilter's Dream uses all but a few scraps from the 40  10"squares to make a 46" X 59" lap quilt. I really appreciated the efficiency of being able to make a quick but interesting quilt using the handy pre-cut with such good use of the fabric...especially handy for gift quilts. I can pick up a pre-cut and know I won't be overbuying fabric for the quilt...even though yes, scraps are always loved.
I have one of each of these patterns sewn up using River Rock from Hoffman....but no pictures of mine yet as they are in line to be quilted. I haven't actually haven't sewn up the lime green and brown one yet but will be using fat quarters that I purchased there to sew up the larger version of Half Baked (61x71). Both versions were included in the pattern.

 

a few more quilts from the show and a happy meeting

These were some I liked

I had the fun of meeting a fellow blogger, Joy of Joyful Quilter. I enjoyed walking around the quilt show with her and her friend, Stephanie. Hello to both of you...me, waving :-)   I will hope to see them again next year! 

a little more about the quilt show

I found a small trend at the show, both in the displayed quilts and in some of the vendor booths....
New York Beauty blocks.  So here's a few that I snapped pictures of....although I don't ever anticipate making one of these myself.

back later with treasures I found to buy at the show!

Some favorites

winning is one :-)

Recent giveaways on a couple of my favorite blogs that I read, found me winning some treats! The cute Snowman Garland table topper came to me from Mary at Quilt Hollow. The snowman buttons are a very fun added touch to this Red Button pattern.  And the beautiful fat quarters of homespun were gifted by Norma at Timeless Traditions.  A big Thank You to both of these quilters!

another favorite is the PIQF quilt show...which was yes, way back a month ago!

I'm a bit behind here. But the show was busy and fun as ever. I did not find as many animal quilts as I have in the past but I still have one to show that was of course, my favorite in the show.

Nancy Brown is involved in an applique group known as The Bulbs. They sewed up this quilt with "photos" of residents from the San Francisco Zoo taking a sight seeing trip in the The City.

(sorry my own photos aren't the best...I was using my phone and well...it was Me taking the photo ;-)


 

The giraffe and the elephants were my favorite blocks.   However, Blogger, for some reason, isn't allowing me to add any more to this post grrr....so I will be back with more about the quilt show in another post!

change of plans

I wasn't moving very fast after piecing the stars for my snowman quilt. I think I'm still a bit to busy to think about an applique quilt right now. So I put it away for later and pulled out some flannel and plaids that I had "kitted" together...yikes, a few years ago! It's a pattern from McCall's Quilting April 1999 and is called Plaid Basketweave. I think I just needed to have some piecing to do.

More time for quilting here soon and next week is PIQF in Santa Clara!
Pictures to follow =^.^=

I'm reading a really good book!

«“A stunning debut, with lyrical prose and superbly developed characters, this novel is an emotional roller coaster that effectively conveys a family’s visceral tragedy.” —School Library Journal, Starred

 

«“Ehrlich’s novel beautifully captures the fragile bond shared by Chirp and Joey and their growing trust for each other in a world filled with disappointments and misunderstandings.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred

 

«“A poignant, insightful story of family crisis and the healing power of friendship.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred

 

“Ehrlich writes beautifully, constructing scenes with grace and layers of telling detail and insight.”—The Horn Book

NEST by Esther Ehrlich

 

Debut author Esther Ehrlich delivers a poignant and genuine middle-grade novel NEST (Wendy Lamb Books / On sale September 9, 2014 / $16.99 US / Ages 8–12), a memorable story about a girl, a tragic change, and the healing power of love and friendship.

 

It is 1972. Home is a cozy nest on Cape Cod for eleven-year-old Naomi “Chirp” Orenstein; her older sister, Rachel; her psychiatrist father; and her dancer mother. But then Chirp’s mom develops symptoms of a serious disease, and everything changes. Chirp finds comfort in watching her beloved wild birds. She also finds a true friend in Joey, the mysterious boy who lives across the street. Together they create their own private world and come up with the perfect plan: Escape. Adventure. Discovery.

Esther Ehrlich’s lyrical writing is honest, humorous, and deeply affecting. Chirp and Joey will steal your heart. Long after you finish NEST, the spirit of Chirp and her loving family will stay with you.

 

This review was from the publisher's office. It's really a great read!

Check your book stores or Amazon, etc.

More later...

Winning winners :-)

Thank you all for celebrating with me :-) and sharing a bit of yourselves in the comments. Autumn is a good time of year almost no matter where you are! And I would love to visit some of the places where you live. Especially if you happen to be picking apples and making pie!
I must have had a conservative number generator because the first number picked was 'two' and the second number was 'one'. That seems to have worked out well because Joyful Quilter liked the fat quarters and Sandie liked the turtles. So yea! they each get their choice  :-)
I will send them an email and mail these treats to them right away.
I have had a little time to get sewing on my snowman quilt. I must admit that some of my time was just spent fondling the fabric! I love my homespun and flannel plaids :-)  I am toying with the idea of making two of these...one to give and one to keep, so I made two of each plaid combos.

Happy Stitching y'all!
Hope Autumn brings all of what you like best! 

Giveaway!

Thank you all for following along with my rather low key blog here :-) I have enjoyed being in this quilting blog community. Sew...to celebrate 208 posts and 110 followers, I have gathered some treats that I found at the latest local quilt show.

I will pull two names so if you would like this sweet turtle pattern and some fabric to sew it up OR if you would like these fat quarters of birds and butterflies please leave a comment and tell me which gift you would prefer.
If you are in the mood...I would love to hear about where you live and what you look forward to in the fall.
I will select winners next Monday. Thank you for including me in your quilt blogging.
Last winter I started working on a flannel snowman quilt and had to put it aside. So I have pulled it out and am enjoying being deep into my plaids and flannels.
Background and the pieces for some blocks.

Happy September y'all!
 

home vacation and about that giveaway!

well...part of it was at home. I traveled north for a visit to my sister where we took in beautiful sites (and food!) in Half Moon Bay as well as a couple of movies that were very enjoyable. 2 movies about chefs...One Hundred Foot Journey and Chef. I would recommend both although the second had some rather rough language in it. The story however was sweet and the fun.
I returned home at the same time as my best friend showed up for a planned mini vacation here in Cambria that included massages, delicious dinner at the SeaChest and a horse back ride!  It has been about 40 (!) years since I had the pleasure of riding a horse. Such amazing creatures.
Here's a picture of our trail guide getting Sam ready for my ride

Here's a happy me!

And here we are at the ocean view. I could see my neighborhood from here. Such an amazing place to live!

Sew...about that giveaway! Instead of celebrating my 200th post...I'll go for celebrating the 207th or maybe having 110 followers :-)
Next post I'll have pictures and the plan. Thank you for reading along with me. Blogging world has some lovely quilters (and their pets :-) in it!

wild color post

I finished the wild color/plaid quilt. Found some less than exciting backing for it and loaded it on my longarm. I quilted one row and got the silly idea I should finally adjust my needle up/down positioner...Whaaaa! I messed something up in the process.

But fortunately, I got the right help :-)  Randy at A-1 diagnosed the problem, sent me instructions of how to make sure that was actually the problem and then sent me the parts to fix it. It took about a week to get it all taken care of but did not break the bank...which pleasantly surprised me. And then I got to quilting this wild quilt again.

I think it looks better in person but it is obviously not a fancy quilt. It is mostly about letting my friend know that I'm praying for her and her sister.
The quilting pattern I chose had dragonflies in it which is why I chose it. But although I am not a person for dense quilting....this pattern is sparse! It was fun to quilt and fast but I'm not sure I would use it again because of this.

 

Here's Elinor helping me sew on the binding...with a peek at the backing.

 

Pets on Parade 2014

The parade started yesterday (I'm late to the party!) It is a fun annual event to see quilters work with showing animal themes in their quilting...or like me, just using it to show off how cute their pets are :-)
I couldn't figure out how to make the button active so follow this following link to Pets on Parade to enjoy the quilts, the animals and PRIZES! Pets on Parade 2014
My entry is a photo dear mostly just to my own heart as I found my current goldens sitting on our love seat just like the brothers we lost years ago use to sit. Silly perhaps but it made me smile.

Luke and Sabra on Plaid Crazy Quilt

 

shout out to Julie in Texas :-)

I need to make a quilt fast for a co-worker whose sister has just had the bad news of cancer metastasis. I thought about giving the blue on I'm finishing. But these girls are strawberry blondes and their personalities are so much like sweet sunshine when they walk in the room. I need something bright.
An email from the AllPeopleQuilt group included a quilt pic that I'd seen before but never thought about because hey...I'm more into the dark side of color ;-)
So I need to go shopping right?
Looked online and found a charm pack of Kaffe Fasset but oh wait...it's not available yet. Well, I'll check my LQS on Tuesday when I have a half day at work.
Well...you could at least look in the cupboard...
Hmmm. what's that?

Oh my! look at these fabrics from the shirt scraps Julie sent me!

These are exactly what I need!
Thank you again, Julie. What a treasure :-)
















Crazy, I know...from nothing to 2 posts in one day!
more later...

buckeyes

 

 

I finished putting on the borders of another quilt last night and noticed only when I looked at the picture...there were 2 blocks I forgot to include in my count and left on the design wall. So apparently, I will be making yet another of these quilts :-)

though this is not a surprise. I apparently like this block a lot!

I use to think Courthouse Steps was my favorite or Ohio Stars but I have only made one or two courthouse step quilts and have only made a few Ohio Star blocks. But this buckeye block keeps showing up.

There's this one called Plaid Madness. It's my first time to use this block and where I learned just how much I had to learn about color value :-) and also just how many mistakes I could make in making blocks and placement! It is still my favorite quilt however...I love all those plaids in there and the pieced border.

Another was a huge king size quilt...which I can't find a picture of!

Found it...well, I thought I did but this was a smaller one I made with the leftover fabrics.

 

 

And then here's another that was actually supposed to be set differently but I preferred this..

See that gorgeous plaid backing?

This was in a Moda line. Finally someone including plaids! (back in 2006 or whenever :-)

Then the blue ones here and a few others...Note to self: organize your photos with better titles!

Anywhoo...I'm having a good time here but it's back to work tomorrow.

more later :-)

it's about time...

that I got back here with an update :-)
The past 2 months have been full. I finally got to sewing something a couple of weeks ago. I had some leftover blocks from the my blue quilt and took those as a way to get going again.
We have been working to get my mom's little house ready for some painting, etc....painted by professionals...not me! And that started today, so to celebrate I am sewing blocks into rows and am enjoying time in my sewing room again.
Looks much like the last quilt...

Today's quilt help is brought to by Marianne

and Sabra

More later...

 

 





 

pathways

 Mom passed on May 9th. We had some special moments with her that we will cherish. So very hard to say good bye to her. Here is a picture of her with her favored Ruby Dog.

Earlier in May, we celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday. Walks, cookies and stuffed hedge hogs were the main events.

And finally last week, I finished the blue buckeye quilt for my co-worker!

Just couldn't get myself to hardly sew in the past months but I finished and she was quite pleased to receive it.

I have followed scores of tips from Bonnie Hunter but I think this is the first time I have actually completed a version of one of her patterns. I love her use of scraps and hope to do more.

It wasn't till I had taken this picture and was texting it to my sister, that I noticed the lovely "humility block" on the lower right!  Oh well...humble am I.

DH and I are now embarked on finishing up the sorting and clean up at Mom's house as well as getting our own house in order. We are not speedy by any means and frankly are ok with that at the moment. There are lots of emotions to feel and process and energy levels to be restored. We are just taking it a step at a time and enjoying as much of it along the way as we can.

Yesterday we took the pups to the beach again and enjoyed watching Luke run like a horse and play with Sabra in the waves. A gorgeous day!