Primitive Giveaway Winner!!

Sherry won the wallhanging!!  Congratulations!  My email is on my profile so just send me your snail mail addy and I'll get that out to you in the morning. Thanks, everybody, for putting your names in.

Quilts Without Corners...

I'm teaching a class on these round quilts by Cheryl Phillips.  These are the simplest designs in the books and are the shop samples.  As you can no doubt guess, the top one in batiks is mine and the calico is Sandy's.  Nice to see how the same pattern turns out in different fabrics. These still need the centers "installed" and quilted up.  The technique is super easy and very fast.  Just a few hours and you have a quilt.  I am planning on making a baby quilt from another of her patterns and I'm also playing around with a tree skirt.  The round quilt would look sharp as a medallion on a bigger quilt, also.  Lots of possibilities.
 

Sleepy, today, and movin' slow.  It doesn't help that it's dark and pouring rain.  "How do you know it's raining cats and dogs?  When you step in a poodle!"  Juvenile humor is always better in the morning.  I see chicken and dumplings in my future so I need to get it in the pot!  Have a great day!

counter-clockwise: Laurie, Joe, Paul, Bekah, Abe, Eva, John, Jacob, Dan

Shoulda posted this on the last one...

Every one of my children with their feet under my table(s).  Very good feeling. (I think a couple of them were laughing at me climbing up on a chair.) 

Last day to get your name in for the drawing on the primitive wallhanging.  Your odds are pretty good with under 10 names in- I can't wait to see who won, tomorrow morning!  

Just some random pictures...

I was browsing through my pics and come across these with no real home, but the memories make me smile.  The picture below are two dear girls wearing the scarves I made them.  I have three kids that love green and when I was searching through my green fabs for my applique project, it was slim pickins.  Laurie has a notebook on her lap that I made a cover for. Not exactly green, but I did the embroidery in green so maybe that'll do.

Mary and Laurie

Dan always claims that this part of the state has to be 10* colder than any other!  He says Maine in February isn't as cold as it is here.  Might be the wind.  So, Dan and Jessica (an exchange student) are warming their hands over the candle.  Pitiful.  You'll notice she's still wearing her coat.  Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen her without a coat... There isn't much Jessica can do about being cold as she is definitely from a warmer climate(Brazil) but if Daniel would just eat more... every time he comes home I say he looks thinner.  I refrained this time (even though I thought he did!)  I just got a box out to him with some fattening snacks so maybe next time he won't look quite so emaciated- but he's ripped.  I had to say that or else I'd never hear the end of it.  Ah, the life of a bachelor.
  

Candle- doubling as a hand warmer

Evabeth and Laurie

My sweet girls love to read- these are the oldest two.  Yeah, they're wearing hoodies.  But it was a little nippy.  Not so now.  The kids have been playing outside in their shirt sleeves- no coats.  Sunny skies and temps in the upper 40's.  Bizarre weather for the middle of January.

 Friday Giveaway!

Guys, I'm so sorry I didn't get this posted in December.  It was my original plan to do so, but guess what?  I was kinda busy.  So if you're still interested...  Primitive wallhanging, complete with rod casing.  It measures 24"x28".  The applique is all machine, though I did do that little bit of stitching on the flag by hand.  Quick!  Somebody grab the smelling salts- Sarah N. just swooned!  I had fun making it.  The lightest gray is some fabric I dyed.  But it sure won't fit in with my house of "cottage industrial" so maybe you know someone it will suit.  I think we'll keep the drawing open until next Friday. Get your name in the hat and it could be yours! 
      

My New Years Project...

Sandy always starts a new project at the end of the year and she said I needed to do that, too.  So here ya go.  I found it in an Australian Quilter magazine.  I think they have pretty applique.  You'll notice the pieced background... things are pretty bad when you don't have 4 blocks 17" of neutral.  And I call myself a quilter.  Need to do something about that.  I clawed through my neutral bin and couldn't find any pieces big enough so the scrap bin came to the rescue.  I can just say I planned it that way.  So I'm appliqueing for awhile.

Some of my projects...

These are the Zippy Strippy bags by Atkinson Designs.  Great pattern- very easy to follow directions and a fun project to boot.  The construction of the bag itself takes maybe 20 minutes.  It also takes about that long to make the front and back panels according to her direction, but of course I didn't do that so mine took a little longer. The designs on the front of my bags are different from hers, but I have a longarm and her patterns are for a quilt-as-you-go design. Which would work great... but this worked fine for me, also. I made several of them from blocks that were sitting in a drawer already sewn up.  I don't normally do zippers- avoid them like the plague.  I just can't get them as neat as I'd like.  Passable, but they bug me.  The method Terry uses is so easy and perfect, PERFECT- every time.  I think that might be why I kept making them- I, yes I, put in the perfect zipper.  Repeatedly.  The crowd roars!   Quite a monumental feat. I have plans to make a whole lot more- you know how compulsive I can be once I find a project I like.  (Did I ever tell you about the 13 quilted jackets I made one winter?  I have some of my Aunt Isobel in me.)  This is the medium-sized bag- there are three sizes.  And they hardly cost anything to make- the zippers are about a buck fifty and off ya go! I'm thinking you should look them up.  I'm pretty sure a whole lot of your friends would be real happy to get one and you can point out to them the perfectness of the zipper!   

Heart attack on a plate...

Jacob came into the quilting room a couple weeks ago- proud of his culinary accomplishment.  It's a double cheese burger with bacon and eggs.  I had to get the camera.  When I commented that it would be too big to fit into his mouth... well, obviously, I was wrong.