Doncha' just love you some Bali Pops?? and other odd items ...

 First of all, check out the INFO SITE AND YOU-TUBE FAVORITES over at the right ... over there ... I have the best you-tube of all time there, the "You Can Quilt that Out" song.  I LOVE that song!  When I'm in a tough place, I just play it and sing along ... always helps with the attitude!  Check out the other items ... you never know what you'll find.

I have been drooling over the new Bali Pops that came out last month, and decided to treat myself one Pop at a time ... so for the last month I've been picking up one here, one there ... and now I have three delicious Pops all for me! (OK, thought I had 4 of these beauties but one has wandered off somewhere ... and if you saw my studio right now you wouldn't ask why...)  What will I do with them, you ask?  Hmmmm ... do I have to DO ANYTHING with them?  LOL!  If you are a fabri-holic like me, that is such a silly question!

I covered up Max today because I needed to spend some time tidying up the studio before I really get into another big project.  I almost resent having to stay away from quilting, but I realized that I would be a candidate for the Hoarders show if I didn't spend some quality time organizing all this stuff.   Isn't is a sad picture?  Poor Max ...  btw, that's an old bed ruffle that I discarded last month, but decided to keep it as a Max cover.  Aren't I the clever girl?

Quilts Delivered

Patsy Ruth came to visit today and I gave her Michael's quilt (Hunker Down, Dawgs!) and her Batik Squares quilt.  Michaels quilt was one of the 1600 inch quilts and it turned out awesome.  I did the good ol' Swirls on it and that design just softens up a very structured quilt like these 1600 inch quilts.  He is going to love it!  

Her Batik Squares quilt came out great.  Some of the batik squares have dragonflies on them, so I decided to go with a dragonfly pantograph.  I think I was able to get a picture of the dragonfly on the front and on the back.  I love Patsy's choice of colors for this quilt.  She has a real eye for color.  Way to go, Patsy Ruth!

It's a Great Day {wide grin ...}

I'm posting two quilts that I finished this week.  

This one is what I call Pam's Wonky Triangle Quilt and it is just way too cute!  The colors are so bright and the triangles are so off-plum ... love the whole quilt.  I did an Edge-2-Edge on this because it is so fun.  And I used a Magna-Glide thread which added some sheen and shine.

 

And the next quilt is my friend Patsy Ruth's quilt for her son Michael, who is ... wait for it ... a GEORGIA fan!  Can you tell?  Patsy did the 1600 inch jelly roll quilt for him and it looks wonderful!  And I love how that Circle Lord swirls design just softens up the quilt.  And she added a paisley binding which is so cool!  And as Patsy says, "Hunker down, hairy Dawgs!"  Good job, Patsy!  On the last pic, I pulled the back over to the front to show that GA Bulldog backing!  Woo Woo!

A Pep-Talk in Every Wrapper

I'm a little old lady.  Really.  You know what I mean ... I have such a fear of getting a coughing attack in church that I don't leave the house on Sunday mornings without a bunch of cough-drops in my hand.  Ok, so they also are my early breakfast ... anyway, I sit in church and have a cough-drop or two or three.  And I've noticed that they are wrapped in these neat Pep-Talk wrappers.  I opened one this morning and this wrapper is what I unwrapped.  Isn't it neat?  There are times, even in quilting, where I just don't have that loving feeling, where I feel like I just need to power through and just get 'er done!  So reading "Nothing you can't handle", "Power Through", "Push On", and "Be Unstoppable" really hit home.      Funny story ... one Sunday morning someone nearby coughed and 3 of us leaned over to offer her a cough-drop!  So I'm not the only one ...  harrumph ... old lady indeed ...

That Beautiful 1600 +++ Quilt!

Several months ago i taught my church quilting group how to 'do' the 1600 inch jelly roll quilt.  We had a great time!  The first week we spent cutting up 2 1/2" strips - I man-handled my Studio cutter (named Phil Collins for Stu-Stu-Studio) to the church and I must have spent 4 hours cutting lots and lots of fabrics.  The next week we all came and sat and stitched these wild and crazy quilts.  It is just so much fun with us all working, laughing, chatting.  The ladies have made some fabulous 1600 quilts and I have some of them here that I'll be quilting in the near future.  Anyway, my daughter Emily recently told me of a friend of hers who was a student at SCAD and discovered that she has some sort of cancer of her kidney.  She had to move back to Florida to be with family and deal with chemo treatment.  And she is only 19 years old.  Emily asked if I could make her a quilt, and my 1600 inch unfinished top came to mind.  So I've spent the last 4 days finishing it up for her.  And it's now off of Max and ready to finish the binding - I actually sew the binding down to the front as I'm quilting, so all that needs to be done is the hand-sewing to the back.  These pictures are of the quilt draped over Max ... big big big quilt!  I used the Circle Lord Swirls on this beauty.  And the strips run north/south.  I think I used more than 1600"!!!  And the back is pieced with fabric I had on hand.  I'm really liking a pieced backing!    

I actually used all my own 2 1/2" strips from my strip box.  When I finish a project, I automatically cut 3 1/2", 2 1/2", and 1 1/2" strips from the remnants and throw them into my strip boxes.  I just pulled out what I thought would look good (mostly florals and pastels) and started sewing.  And I know I used a great deal more than 1600" of fabric.  I just kept sewing until I thought I had enough for a good size quilt.  Sometimes I'll be piecing a quilt just for the fun of it, with no thought to whom this quilt will go ... and somewhere down the line, God will speak through that quilt.  And by Emily's request, I knew that this would be Rebecca's quilt.  When I can, I'll get full on pictures but for right now just enjoy this marvelous quilt and say a prayer for Rebecca. 

Zen Tangling

I was out of town this past weekend and while visiting daughter Emily in Savannah, we made a trip to the local college bookstore.  I love a good bookstore!  I picked up some Micron pens and a couple of books of heavy weight paper and started 'doing' some Zen Tangles.  Have you tried this art?  It is just so interesting!  I first heard about this art form while attending a quilting retreat this past summer with Deloa Jones and Jamie Wallen.  They both recommend "doodling" with Zen Tangles as a way to open up your eyes to the beautiful forms and shapes in the universe.  My artistic side is starting to come to life, and working with the Zen Tangle doodling is an eye-opener.   I thought there would be a lot of pressure to "do it right" but there isn't!  You just doodle and when it's finished, it's finished!  I bought the book Zen Mandalas and the book Totally Tangled  to start the Zen Tangling thing.

Here's a picture of my very first Zen Tangle ... 

All the Pretty Pumpkins Sitting in a Row!!!

Booooooo .....

It's my favorite time of the year ... and I was given these cute pumpkins to quilt.  Aren't they the coolest thing ever?  Pam did these in batiks and her color selection is spot-on.  I just love these little fellas.

I used Magna-Glide thread on top and bottom and it just popped.  Meandering pumpkins and vines and loops around the pumpkins and then more pumpkins in the outer border ... vines and loops on the smaller border.  
 
Click on each picture to enlarge it.   


Thanks, Pam! 

Quilts of Valor Day

 

 The 3rd Tuesday of every month has been designated QOV day at our church quilting group.  Several of us will stay until 3 or 4pm and work on our QOVs.   We are a very small group, but the stitchers really put out some gorgeous work.  This is one that was completed several weeks ago and I quilted it up this past week.  Trying to balance a thread color with the very sharp red, white, and blue was tricky, but I came up with a soft grey which didn't stand out TOO much on any of the colors.  It's a beautiful quilt and I know that there is a service person out there who will love this quilt.  Good job, Eleanor!

 

Flannel and Minkee

 This is Kathy's cutie-pie child's quilt that she pieced for a soon-to-be granddaughter!  It is sooooo cuddly!  And quilting the Minkee was a breeze.  The flower design shows up great on the Minkee back.  I loved quilting this quilt! 




I used Fil-Tec Magna-Glide thread both top and bottom and it just sinks so much into that Minkee leaving a wonderful design.  The Magna-Glide thread and Delights pre-wound bobbins are great.  I have never had an issue using this thread.  It's not for every quilt, but for those quilts that just cry out for some "zing!" - give it the Magna-Glide touch and glisten!

Are you looking for "Licensed" fabric?

I was looking through the newest Quilt magazine (Dec/Jan 2012) and found an ad for this site:

www.funfabrics.com

One of the discussions I had with a quilter this past week concerned "licensed" fabric such as Disney fabs, and how they are hard to find.  Wish I had run across this ad earlier!  They appear to have a huge selection of specialty themes and children's fabrics.

Check it out.  It might have what you're looking for.  Just a thought ...

I'll post it over to the right under Info Sites and You Tube Favorites.  


P.S.  I have not ordered from this company so I'm only pointing the way ...