Another Blanket of SNOW !

More snow for us ! Another several inches dropped last nite and this morning, and here is what my front yard looks like ! I was able to grab this next picture just before the snowplow came down the street, in fact, if you look closely, you can see his headlights . I haven't heard how much we have, just that there has been more snow in December than we have had in the last 80 years! With all this new snow, I am in the mood to rearrange my quilting room/office and get organized ! First, though, I have 2 Quilts of Valor to quilt . . . . . . . .

Here's hoping that where ever you are, that you are all nice and snug and warm and safe ! p.s. as usual. . . I can't seem to get the pictures in order, but you can figure it out. If you REALLY want to see the snowplow, just click on the top picture to enlarge it, then look for the headlights !

Merry Christmas !

Just a little holiday post to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

This is a little wall hanging that I made a few years ago, B.A. ( before longarm ) so is not quilted. I would like to make more, and have a few ideas rolling around in my head, but I need to get all the pictures and other embellishments together. For any future ones, I think I will try to embellish more, but I do like how this turned out. This is just a little montage of some family pictures. I am the youngest, so I don't show up on ALL of them ! I am only on the 2 pictures in the lower right. I especially like the one of my brother holding his BB gun that he got for Christmas. . . it really reminds me of the movie "The Christmas Story" I wasn't around at that Christmas, but I just love this picture ! Anyway, I thought this would make a nice little Christmas "card" for you.

I hope you all have completed your Christmas projects and that you can share some peaceful blessings of the season with your families and friends !

Merry Christmas, Beth

MORE ! Easy Striped Table Runner ! !

Here is the newest Easy Striped Table Runner. I gave this one away at a Christmas party last Tuesday nite. Last Sunday I had 3 of my quilting friends over and they all did some of these too, and one was out of this same fabric, so I will be quilting snowflakes on hers, like I did on this one. I like it so much, I might just make one for myself !

Another Easy Striped Table Runner

I realized that I never shared the DIL's table runner. . . here it is, still on my quilting machine. . .and before it was trimmed and bound. It looks much better now on her table ! This is made from the same fabric as her quilt in the previous post. Click on the picture to check out the primitive stitchin' ! OOPS ! I see after checking out the close up, that this picture is before I quilted it ! Well, it has the same quilting as the border of the quilt in the last post. Next time I am at the DIL's I will try to remember to take a picture of the finished runner and post it.

I just love these snowmen though ! ! !

Birthday Quilt

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Holiday with the ones you love, we did, except for missing our son who is still in NY on base, but home from Iraq and we are thankful for that ! We expect him to be home for good, sometime next week.

I thought you might like to see a couple pictures of the quilt I made for his wife, for her November birthday. She loves primitives too, and when I saw this fabric I knew she would love it. I don't have much time to piece, especially at this time of year, so there is a one yard panel in the middle with 3 borders. Click on a picture to see the cute snowmen that I stitched in the border and in the middle of the quilt. My friend and I liked this so much that I have one to make for myself in the red colorway and hers is just like my DIL's. So I can plan on stitching this out at least 2 more times ! I backed DIL's quilt with a warm, cozy flannel. She was happy with her gift, and it goes perfectly in her primitive decorated home. It also matches the Easy Striped Table Runner that I made her last month.

I'm busy now thinking of Christmas decorating, we got some of the outside lights up before our little snow, and now I am taking count of the inside trees that need tree skirts and I will soon post on a little tree skirt project! Till then. . . .enjoy the holidays. . . .

Enjoy the View Along the Way

Happy Monday !

The sun is trying to shine here, and it always makes me look at things on the bright side.

Here is a picture of a customer quilt on which I quilted an overall pattern in the log cabin blocks and the phrase " Enjoy the View Along the Way" in the inner border. The piano key border got it's own coordinating border stitching, which compliments the quilt center. If you would like a CLOSE UP, just click on the picture !

The colors she used in this quilt were so varied, and it just reminded me of things I see when taking a long walk outside in the Spring, Summer, Fall AND Winter , so I felt that the black inner border was a perfect spot to remind one to " Enjoy the View Along the Way" !

Here's hoping your view this week is an enjoyable one !

Quilts of Valor Report !

Hi,

I just got the pictures from the QOV presentation and thought you might like to see them. I will see if I can get the text lined up with the right pictures, otherwise you might have to figure it out !

Well, they didn't land in the right spot but on the first picture is Connie from Bismarck, me, 2nd Lt. Nitschke and Sgt Aarhus. Sgt. Aarhus was wounded in Iraq in 2003. I am holding the quilt that he picked out. The second picture is some of the 40 quilts we ( Quilts of Valor ) gave to the ND National Guard which will be given out to Purple Heart recipients from the War on Terror.

It was such an honor to be able to present these quilts, and to personally be able to thank this hero.

I would encourage everyone to thank a Veteran and find a way to help out your local Quilts of Valor organization.

www.qovf-um.org

still at war. . . still quilting. . .

After the Quilt Show Post

Just got back from the ND Capitol Quilter's Quilt Show in Bismarck. Great show, and some awesome things happened too. I had the honor of presenting a QUILT of VALOR to an injured National Guard Veteran from Iraq. It was so wonderful to meet him and present his quilt and the 39 others that will be given to injured Iraq war vets. I am anxious to post pictures, but will wait until some get emailed to me. More soon.....

Not Just for Quilts part 2

Here is another garment project of mine. I really like this, except I think I might want to do something different with the collar. This does look good with a turtleneck underneath, tho, so I guess the jury is still out. I want to add buttons ( when I find the right ones. .. ) and patch pockets. This is a strip pieced ( with 2 1/2" strips) flannel on a sweatshirt, and oh boy! is it ever warm. Double click on the picture for a peek at the leaf quilting. If you would like to know how to do this, drop me a line and I will find the link.

Beth

Not Just for Quilts !

In the near future, I hope to be able to post some non-quilt quilting projects of mine. Here is my Jammin' vest, it was alot of fun to make, and to wear. Hopefully you can see all the little guitars I quilted into the fabric. The hardest part of this was picking out the vest and lining fabric ! Double click on the picture to see a close up. Do you like it?

Beth

alright, one more thing to show you. . .

Thought I would show you the front and the back of this customer quilt. . .It was pieced by an over 80 grandmother for her colorblind grandson, but he CAN see the colors orange and green. The print in the fabric on the top had stars in it, so I quilted in Stars & Loops, in orange thread, and the thread even glows under black light ! This quilt turned out so very nice, Grandma was happy, and I am sure that Grandson will think it is pretty cool too !

A Bit of Halloween. . .

T
The 2 pictures above are of the table topper I pieced last year and quilted, I did get it bound this year in hopes of enjoying it on my Halloween table, but it is currently residing where the table runner below is. . . . . This table topper is another easy piecing pattern, made from a panel. I used plain black for the backing so the pumpkin stitching shows up ! I just love these pumpkins !

Here is my table runner that I made for myself. If you look closely you can see the spiderwebs I quilted on it. Since this picture was taken, I actually put binding on it ( ! ) and instead of residing on my table, it is currently on display at a 3 week quilt show at a local bank. The last day of the show is Friday, Oct 31st ! So. . . either I leave my Halloween decorations up for a few days, or save it for next year ! The pattern is a free pattern on the internet, from http://www.ttfabrics.com/ and is called the Easy Striped table runner. Now when I enter a quilt store I head straight for the stripes ! Since I am the quilter, I don't get too much time for piecing, so I love it when I find a fun easy piecing pattern ! oops. . . I just checked the website, and it WAS the right website, but they must have retired the pattern. If anyone wants to know how to do this, just let me know, and I will try my best to explain it to you.

Happy Halloween everybody ! May your all your quilting projects finish for the correct holiday !

Beth

QOV

Now for some Quilts of Valor. . . these 3 were made by my friend, the "quilting warrior" Marge. Aren't they beautiful ? She does such a nice job. I know they will be a great comfort to a wounded soldier, and will be on their way ( with several others ) to Bismarck this weekend for distribution. She had made MANY QOV's. Some she has me quilt, others, she quilts herself on her DSM. Notice that Marge even does scalloped edges on some of her QOV's !

I have also posted a picture of our Quilts of Valor display. Our SEW DAY last Saturday was a HUGE success ! We made 23 quilt tops, with pillowcases, backing & batting, and I even was able to find a couple of longarmers to help! I do so appreciate all of the piecers and quilters. THANK YOU - THANK YOU !

Beth

Catching up on Business. .

I had better finish up about an earlier post, I mentioned that we went to JunkFest, what a great time. DIL,DH and I went and had a great time. DIL found a few things, the best among them was a large primitive blanket chest that fits perfectly in her entry. She has the best eye for primitive decorating.

I found a cute little bookshelf, it is oak, and stained black ( not necessarily my preference, the black stain, but it is growing on me) but a perfect size for neatening ( a new word ? but it works! ) my magazine problem ! here it is. . . . I have 3 spots, the women's magazines I need to catch up on, on the top left, below that are just the fall quilting magazines from this year and from some other years , the bottom right are recipe magazines and the top right are DH magazines and a dictionary. Now that I have the magazines tamed, I need to get them read ! I really like the size of this bookshelf, in fact, it sat empty for about a month while I considered the best place for it, it would have worked well as a nightstand, it almost had a place in my sewing room upstairs, or my quilting room downstairs. . . but for now is holding down the end of the couch in the living room. We will see how it behaves there, for now. Who knows where it might end up ! It certainally is a versitile piece of furniture, and is deceptively heavy !

Beth

Another Beautiful Fall Day !

We're having fabulous weather here, sunny, calm, and the colors are truely beautiful. Here is my bright spot of color still hanging in there even though our temps have been below freezing at night. Don't you just love the color of these mums ?

I sure hope they can hang around for awhile longer. Maybe I had better start covering them at night !

Beth

Time to Type !

Let's see. . . there is lots to catch up on, as it has been a super busy month ! Most notably and happily to report, is that our son, is back in the good old USA after his 2nd Iraq tour. He came back last week, and instead of taking his leave, coming home for a visit then flying back to New York to his Army base to begin processing out, he decided to stay there and "get 'er done". His wife flew out for a few days, and as for me, I am just thrilled and content knowing he is "home" and I can pick up the phone and call any old time I want. E.D.T.A. ( estimated date of TRUE arrival home ) is early December. After waiting and worrying all this time, that is good enough for me.

Also have been busy with fall yard and garden work, DH has been canning salsa, pickles, carrots, etc. while I have been quilting. I am getting ready for a QOV sew day in Fargo this weekend, and we are hosting our own QOV Sew day in our town on Sat. Oct 25th. So many things to think of and organize, and difficult because we have no idea how many quilters will be coming ! But the basics are done, have a location, have helpers, the notice is out to the papers and radio, and next week it will be time to iron out the fine details ! That is a guarantee that next week will go fast also !

Check out our QOV website: www.qovf-um.org

Did I tell you that I belong to the funnest bookclub in town ? ( Maybe I did. . .) anyway, we took a girl's weekend and went to Duluth. . . had a great time. . . scenery was beautiful. . .. . they even let me go to a quilt store ( right on the shores of Lake Superior) ! It was a great time and it would be a good idea for me to post some pictures. . . . but for now, I gotta go, there is some sewing I have to do yet before I leave for Fargo tomorrow !

Beth

just a little closer. . .

Here is a little closer view, but I see that it still isn't showing up very well. It is still on my quilting machine here, when I get the pics from the quilt show downloaded from DH's camera, I will post them.

ANYWAY, I am still practicing posting pictures. . .

After the show. . .

The weekend travels went well, had lots of fun and I will post about the JUNKFEST later, when I add the picture of my purchase !

The quilt show was alot of fun, saw lots of friends, and I have to admit, didn't get to see ALL of the quilts in the show, although not for lack of trying ! to the left is a picture of a customers beautiful wall hanging/ table topper, shown unquilted. I will post a quilted picture of it later.

( This is actually an excercise for me to learn how to post pictures and blog. . . how am I doing ? )

Things to look forward to. . .

It's going to be one of those beautiful fall weekends, and I, DH and DDIL are heading out bright and early tomorrow morning to a local JUNKFEST ( 45 minutes away ) for the morning. I hope I don't see anything I HAVE to get, I hope I only see items that will spark my imagination and get me motivated ! Anyway, I always enjoy this kind of outing, on this kind of day. . . it should be great fun ! I will put fresh batteries in my camera and start making it a habit of taking pictures for the express purpose of posting them in this blog !

Hope to be back in town around noon. . . because THEN DH and I are heading to Fargo for the Indian Summer Quilt show for the rest of the weekend. . . and you know what I will be looking at there ! And YES, he does go to the quilt show too, and he does enjoy it ! ( Aren't I lucky ? ) I need to remember to take some of my special chokecherry syrup and DH's super salsa with to share with our "innkeepers" ( my nephew, wife and their daughter ). . . where, by the news reports today, they have a wayward MOOSE strolling through their housing development. . .
wonder if he will still be around by the time I get there with my camera? Now, wouldn't that make a good post ?

later,

Beth

First Attempt

First Blog. . .

This will be new territory for me, but something is urging me on to get started with this, so here goes. Let's hope that I will improve with practice ! I really enjoy reading other blogs, and I hope this will be of interest to other quilters !

For now, I will just have to get started, and get this blog set up !

Beth