A Winning Week

Wow, what a week for "Winning"

(and I'm not talking about Charlie).

Biggest Loser

Dancing with the Stars 

American Idol

Celebrity Apprentice (yeah, John Rich)

and 

ME.

Yes, ME!

This is the box I received from 

Madame Samm (Sew I Quilt).

Filled to the brim with goodies.

I won her give away last week. 

I can't wait to use my new I-Tool

and cover me some buttons.

Thank you so much Madame Samm.

Like she said,"You are only as good as your tools"!

Which brings me to my give away winner.

23 comments were left and #10 

(Karen, Nana Girl Quilts )

is the winner.

Mary Engelbreit goodies headed to Florida.

 

 

 We are off to Milwaukee this morning to celebrate

the Memorial Day weekend with the grandbabies.

There's never a dull moment with all six of them. 

 On Monday, we will attend the 

Memorial Day Service

held at the Veterans Hospital.

To remember

those who have died in our nation's service.

Stay safe.

Left Overs & A Give Away

Don't ya just love left overs!

Whether it be food or fabric.

 Does this red work look familiar?

 In March
Debbie at Busy As Can Be  
offered this free embroidery pattern.
I stitched it on a tea towel
only to discover that it was waaay 
too pretty to get dirty.
(Picture grandson, running in, wiping his
cute little dirty-grubby hands on it).
So, I cut the tea towel and used my leftover fabrics
from my red work quilt to make this table topper.
It measures about 25" and so cute on my table!

 There was even enough left over 
bias binding to finish it off!

Thanks again Debbie for the pattern!

And speaking of cute......

 

 Mary Engelbreit's 

Bowl of Cherries fabric with polka dots.

 

 And cook book.

Just leave a comment and 

I'll try real hard to draw your name 

and send both, 

1 yard of fabric and the cookbook, to you.

P.S. I'll draw Saturday morning before I head out of town!

Quilt Show Highlights

Rockford, IL "Memories of Mom" 

Quilt Show.

A beautiful pieced and appliqued quilt

took Best of the Show.

Her detail work was exquisite.

Oh, the time it took to make this one.

 Love this bright "candy wrappers" pattern

 and the curved cross hatching!

Look at all the curves & points.

And ribbons!

I've never seen this layered star pattern before

have you?

Sew cute in the reproduction prints and buttons.

The show theme was "Memories of Mom".

A great quilt and story.

And here's my entry. No ribbon.

Looks pretty "vanilla" in comparison to the other quilts.

I was just thrilled to see it hanging straight.

I was nervous putting on the sleeve

with the scallop edges.

Customer quilts from the Rock Valley Quilt Show.

 It's hard to see the "bling" Sue added.

And Barb's quilt, "Footprints in the Sand". 

Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it

hanging in the show.

 Pat's "Winter Wonderland"
took a 2nd place ribbon.

My entry

"Snowbound".

With a ribbon....Yeah!

Here are my purchases.

A cookbook and magazine.

Wasn't I a good girl!

 

Off to the quilting machine.

I'm sooooo inspired. 

2 Quilt Shows This Weekend!

Two quilt shows on the same weekend.

Is that great or what!

Plus, it's my Saturday Sew Day with the guild.

I'm in quilter's heaven. 

I want to show you my entry for the Rockford IL show.

Redwork Vintage Baskets 

 The pattern is called Aunt Bea's Parlor

designed by Judy Reynolds for

Black Cat Creations

 

I love the nostalgic embroidery basket designs.

 It took me most of the winter to 

hand stitch the 20 blocks.

 Of course, I used a different setting 

than the pattern called for. 

And I scalloped the edges.

The scallop edge really gives 

the quilt a quaint feel.

And quilted feathers complete

the look.

Have you ever scalloped the edges of a quilt?

It's not as hard as you think.

A little math and

You Tube.

The binding must be cut on the bias,

(not straight edge).

Here are easy to understand 

visual directions for

bias binding I've ever-ever found.

Print the pdf file for reference.

File it away.

One day you'll thank me.

OOO, I want to leave you with this darling

new quilt pattern and line of fabrics

from Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet.

 The pattern is called

"Vintage Dishes"

the fabric

"Sew Cherry"

 Photos taken from her site.

Take a peak.

 Don't ya just love the rick rack border

and scrappy binding!

Can you tell what I'm going to be 

on the look out for in those vendors booths?

May Basket Lotto

At our Friendship Stars guild meeting

next week we are having a

May Basket Lotto.

Have you ever participated in a 

quilt block lotto?

It's FUN!

Here is my finished 12 1/2 inch block.

Our lotto lets you make any basket design you'd like.

Because we have a lot of beginner quilters

in our group

I wanted to post an easy block with instructions

for those that need help.

Here is how I drew it out.

I'm no artist, as you can see.

You need to cut:

Background fabric

5- 4" squares (1/2 sq triangles)

5- 3 1/2" squares

 

Floral Print

3- 4" squares (1/2 square triangles)

Basket Print

2- 4" squares (1/2 square triangles)

1- 3 1/2" square

Using the 4" squares

make 6 half square triangle units 
of floral/background fabric

and 4  basket/background fabric.

Trim to 3 1/2" square.

Lay blocks in order shown below.

Stitch into rows 1 thru 4 and

Press row seams in opposite directions

so seams lay flat.

TaDa! 

Wasn't that easy?

The more blocks you make 

the more chances you have to win all the blocks!

Enough to make a quilt!

Doesn't it sound like fun?

A Happy Quilt

Check out this HAPPY quilt.

It brightens my day just looking at it!

Wish the sun would cooperate and shine 

so I could take decent photos.

This is my customer's original design.

Raw edge applique and lots of

open spaces for quilting

and "bling".

I'll be sure to share the "after bling" photos 

with you.

Feathers, fill, and cross hatching

my favorites.

The solid pink backing really shows off the quilting.

I'm working on my show entry this week.

Going to make bias binding and scallop edges.

Wish me luck.

Went to see the movie "Water for Elephants".

Pretty good.....

of course, the book was much better!

I'm reading "Union Quilters" now

by Jennifer Chiaverini.
I love period novels.
And this one isn't disappointing.

Send some warm weather my way

would ya?