KATHY'S FANCY STITCHING NEWS



Postings and ponderings of a quilting and knitting addict!





Friday, April 30, 2010

Colonial Ladies Quilt; Charity Quilt

How easily the promise of posting pictures in “2 or 3 days” has turned into over one week! Much has been going on and I will have more frequent posts in order to get all this info out to you.

Here is the Colonial Ladies Quilt. It is about 56” x 56”.

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The 9 blocks were made between 1954-59 by the Great-Grandmother and Great-Great-Grandmother of the customer’s wife. Some of the blocks were not embroidered but we decided to leave them that way.

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I found the PERFECT pink fabric for sashing material. It almost exactly matches the fabric in one of the blocks

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The custom quilting features feather swirls in the sashing and feather vines in the outer borders. A feather vine meander was used for background fill in each block. The ladies were outline stitched with very little stitching within them… just enough to hold them down on the larger pieces.

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Did I mention that this is a Mother’s Day surprise for her? Her husband sneaked them out of the house and brought them to me to complete the quilt. I bet he REALLY earns brownie points for this one!!

CHARITY QUILT:

Nancy at Wyoming Breezes sent this charity quilt top to me. (She does LOTS of knitting, too. If you are interested in knitting you REALLY need to check out her blog!) Her instructions were…. quilt it and find it a home. It was made with the “crumbs” from Nancy’s scrap bag, and I quilted it using the Floral Meander panto. The quilt measures about 55 x 65”.

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Today it was delivered to Taylor House, the local shelter for abused women and children. This is Dee Dee. She works at the shelter and was kind enough to give me a tour of the facility.

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I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised by the warm, welcoming environment of this shelter. Everything was very neat and clean, with lots of thought given to the needs of the women and children that would use the facility. They are allowed to stay there for a max of 45 days while they work toward obtaining other housing.

FUTURE CHARITY PROJECTS: Making small quilts to be given to the children that will stay at the facility. Can you imagine being a child that had to leave your home and move into a shelter? Even though leaving very bad circumstances, leaving the place you have called home must be very traumatic for them! I plan on making small quilts to be given to the children (security quilts) so that they will have something of their own to enjoy while they are at the shelter, and then take with them when they relocate.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN WITH ME? My suggestions are: simple patterns, large pieces. Use quality fabrics that can hold up to lots of washing. These are good scrap bag projects. I plan on machine-stitching the bindings down… much quicker and more sturdy. If you are interested in helping and need more information just let me know. It’s a small thing, that will mean a lot to a hurting child.

So, have I made up for my absence from Blogville by talking your ears off today? Be blessed today in all you set your hands to do.

I’ll check in with you again in just a couple of days with another post… I promise… I really will.. yep, I’m going to go ahead and write it and have it scheduled.. REALLY!!

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Wednesday, April 21, 2010

What I Did at Retreat…

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1.  First thing I MADE myself finish the small star blocks for the guild row-by-row quilt.  This pattern is from the Country Register and is a Debbie Mumm design.  Our quilts are going to be WONDERFUL, but I must admit that had I realized how tiny some of the piecing was I would have enlarged each month’s block some.  I am hearing some rumblings from the group about the tiny pieces… and I may even be rumbling along with them on this tiny star!!  NOW… on to the FUN projects.

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2.  I got 56 Four-Patch Posey blocks made.  This is for ME!  It will go on my king-size bed.  I love the soft colors in this, and it is a quilt that will be “user friendly” (meaning we can LIVE with it and not worry about staining the quilt).  I’m looking for just the right sashing fabric.  I found something at Quilt "’N Stitch in West Monroe, LA on my way home, but there was not nearly enough of it, so I am still searching.  There is no rush on this one since it is for ME!

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3.  I finally cut into my Kaffe Fassett fabrics and am almost done with this Coin quilt.  This also is for ME!!  This will be a lap quilt to use when I am propped back in my Lazy Gal chair.  My feet and legs freeze in the winter because I sit in a drafty area.  I plan on putting a quilted pocket to stick my feet into on the back side of this quilt.   No more struggling to get the quilt wrapped around my ice-cold feet!!  I wanted something bright and cheery, and this purple “Dimples” fabric really sets off the beautiful Kaffe colors and prints.

And now… off to quilt!  I’ll post about the Colonial Ladies quilt in a day or 2.  I’m almost done hemming and then I’ll get some good pictures of it for you.

BE BLESSED TODAY in all you set your hands to!

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Monday, April 19, 2010

What’s Going On?

I just have a MOMENT to give you a quick update on things friends and family have been asking about…

1.  NO, we have not caught the varmint that was eating my plants, but the garden plants are now all safe and sound (HAHA!) in the ground.  Now we just have to worry about deer, rabbits, and wild hogs eating them.

2.  YES, I had a GREAT time at quilt retreat in Bastrop, and I will post pictures of my finishes tomorrow… I just don’t have time today.

3.  The Colonial Lady quilt is almost done.  I have not mentioned this on the blog, but just WAIT until you see it and hear the story behind it.  One very special lady is going to be EXTREMELY surprised on Mother’s Day when she receives this from her husband!  I will give all the details later this week.

4.  Quilts are POURING in, so my blogging will be somewhat limited (HAHA!  What excuse have I BEEN using for the last couple of months when I have really been a blog-slacker?) as I try to catch up and then go on a mini-vacation to South Louisiana.

Must run… a quilt is waiting and a customer is soon going to be dropping by to deliver some quilts.

Have a WONDERFULLY blessed day!!

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Saturday, April 10, 2010

Plan B

We are still on varmint patrol (See previous post for an explanation if you don’t know what I mean by this!)  … Plan A did not work last night.    

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The critter stole the bait but the trap did not snap.   :(  And this thing is so big and stout that DH was afraid he would lose a finger trying to set it!

So….. When DH went back to the seed store today to get replacement plants for the ones that were destroyed he found “Plan B”.

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(PLAN B - “Have-a-Heart” small critter trap)

This ought to do it!  The question is…. Where do we dump the rat when we catch him???    PAULA,  He’s heading YOUR way, since I KNOW you don’t want us to use Plan A on him!  HAHA!!!

I’m heading North tomorrow to Bastrop, LA to retreat with my friends from the Cotton Country Quilters.  I KNOW we will have fun, and I’ll share pictures with you when I return, late this week.

Be blessed in all you do this week, and may peace reign in your hearts!

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Friday, April 9, 2010

Where Did They Go????

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The mystery began earlier this week.  Call Mark Harmon!!  I need his help again.   This houseplant which is kept on the back porch for winter WAS covered with leaves and branches… note that now the tops have been chewed off.  The real kicker… the branches are nowhere to be found.  There are no dead leaves lying around.   HMMMMMM!

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Getting ready for the garden requires tomato and pepper plants.  Don’t these look nice?  I went to the feed store Tuesday and bought them.  They did not have everything I wanted so I was told to come back on Thursday… a new shipment would be arriving.  So we did, and we purchased the remaining things we needed. 

Because the night temps were to get down to about 40 degrees last night we decided to bring the first batch of plants into the back porch area and we placed the ones we just bought there also.  Both flats of plants were set on top of the chest freezer on the back porch.

This morning I went to the freezer to get some okra out….  WHAT????  Where did they go????

One flat of plants was just fine, but the ones we had JUST purchased yesterday looked like THIS!

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Those bare stalks on the right are all that remains of my grape tomato plants which were very nice plants when I went to bed last night.

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My “Worlds Hottest Habanera” pepper plant has nothing left above the soil level.  Obviously only the peppers are hot, not the plant itself.

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Cayenne peppers… just a piece of one left.  Whatever ate it REALLY liked these.

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Jalapeño… 4 of the 6 plants have been topped.  And again, nothing left behind.  There are no leaves, no bits of stalk, nothing lying around to show that something sat there and ate my plants.  Something cut the stalks and hauled the trimmings away.

HMMMMM…. Do you think it might have been one of these???

You have to take the bad with the good.  I LOVE living here in the country, but unfortunately that means we get invaded by outside critters on occasion.  Perhaps we need to pen the 3 yard cats up in the back porch tonight???  Call Zoe… she’s the expert at this!

Hopefully we can get rid of the varmint soon, but in the meantime we will have to find another place to leave the plants on cool nights.

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Tuesday, April 6, 2010

SIL Retreat… the REST of the Story

Here are the other finishes for the SIL Retreat.  We had a blast visiting, sewing, eating, and relaxing at the lake camp.  We also took a trip across the river (to Hemphill, TX) to Cedar Tree Nest Quilt Shop.  And of COURSE we each found things we needed!

This is Debbie’s 4-Patch Posey.  I LOVE the lattice setting she is doing with this!!

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And she says this quilt cost her NOTHING!  You’ll have to ask HER for the explanation of that.  :)

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Aren’t the colors absolutely GORGEOUS??  And this will look so beautiful in her “beach cottage” white bedroom.

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Mary Anne finished another Brown Bear quilt.  Isn’t this just TOOOOO CUTE!?  It is a gift for a special soon-to-be-adopted little boy.  I know he will love the bright colors.

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This is going in the quilt machine TODAY.  I’ll quilt “Square Spirals” on it, and then get it back to her tonight at QTW (Quilt Till You Wilt).

For a report on what I accomplished at quilt retreat you can check out this previous post.  It was lots of fun, and I can’t wait until the next one! 

Speaking of retreats, next Sunday afternoon I am heading to Bastrop, LA to retreat with my friends from the Cotton Country Quilts for a few days.  We will stay at the lodge at Chemin A Haut State Park for 3 nights and 4 days, and do more of the visit, sew, eat, relax thing.  I’ll post a full report when I get back, so stay tuned.

PARTING SHOT:

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Many clusters of wild violets grow in our side yard.  They are one of the things that say, “Hi, I’m Spring,  and I’m finally here to visit you.”

Have a blessed day and week!

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Saturday, April 3, 2010

Night Through the Lattice

 

I have been busy as a…

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around here!  Lots going on right now with business picking back up and some of my own projects with deadlines.

Today’s quilt is called “Night Through the Lattice” (42x42”, 2010).  It is a second quilt using this piecing method. Click HERE to see the first one and learn more about how it was made.  It has small pieces of yellow and gold fabrics pieced into the blue strips to look like stars.  I started this before I discovered crystals, so that was the best way I could figure to represent stars.

(Photo disclaimer… poor lighting, playing with DH’s camera= poor pictures.  CLICK on each pictures to enlarge.)

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It features Funky Feathers vine quilting in the borders and feather sprays in each block.

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The inner borders feature 4 scriptures quilted in gold metallic thread…

“When I sit in the darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me.”  Micah 7:8

“God is light and in Him is no darkness.”                    1 John 1:5

“The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.”       Psalm 18:28

“I am come a Light into the world.”   John 8:12

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And then there is the “bling”.  I added about 200 Swarovski crystals to the body of the quilt to give it a star effect. 

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The lining of the quilt is a piece of hand-painted fabric I did in a workshop with Jamie Wallen last summer.  L-O-V-E it!!!!

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This quilt will go on the wall behind my sofa… I’m ready for a change there.  As pretty as “Feathered Cotton Candy” is, I’ll enjoy having more color (and bling) on display.

PARTING SHOT:  My very favorite thing blooming right now in the yard…           

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And yes, it DOES have purple and white growing together (2 different plants in the same grouping).

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You can just imagine how WONDERFUL my yard smells!  Wisteria is my most favorite smell.

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And not only do WE enjoy it, the bees are loving it, too!  (See first photo on this post.)

I wish you all a blessed Resurrection Sunday holiday!

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