The last day of 2010 !

I can hardly believe it.... where did this year go? Busy year! What will next year bring? I guess we will see shortly !

Thought I'd post one last time this year, since I can now reach my keyboard with my mending shoulder! I think I will be starting PT next week, but am still wearing my little "strightjacket" !

In the meantime, I'll post a couple of pictures for the season.....

Above is a little table runner I made using the Easy Striped Table Runner pattern and a 60 degree ruler. I love this pattern and the first thing I usually look for when entering a quilt shop are and striped fabrics !

Here is the back, with the snowflakes I quilted on it. It's nice to have the table topper be reversible... I should work on something for Valentines day.......If you know of any cute Valentines stripe that I can use, send me the name of the fabrc, will you? Then I can start the hunt to see if I can find it. Sometimes the funnest part is the 'hunt' !

Next I want to show you a customer quilt that I just love..... I really like evergreen trees, and have a couple patterns that I want to make into quilts. I don't know the name of this quilt pattern, but if you do, please let me know !

Here's a little close up of the pinecone stitching........

Another pattern I found on my travels this weekend ( I'm in Minnesota for the New Years weekend....) is the Thimbleberries Trees by Starlight. It is the first pattern of their 2010 BOM. I had actually seen the block before, but hadn't seen it made into the quilt. I saw the quilt this weekend made up in Brainerd, Mn. and now want to do the full quilt sometime. Another wish for my wish list.

2011 should be a stash manicure year for me.... not sure if I am ready to commit yet.... I do, however need to get the stash organized. That is probably where I should start.

Well... I had best go now... we are heading out to a fun New Years weekend at the farm near the lake.... expecting another snowstorm...and a nice big bonfire tonite if the weather lets us.

Here's wishing you a safe and wonderful New Years !

Beth

It's gonna be a plain, simple Christmas this year....

They say that if you want to exercise your brain, use your non-dominate hand more often. well, I will be exercising my brain alot . Family & friends, hope didn't have your hearts set on something quilty for Christmas. I did have some grand plans, but the only plan now is PLAN B.

I had been having some shoulder problems in my right shoulder, and after exams & xrays, it was determined that I could come in and have some minor surgery done, removing some irritating bone spurs. That was to be a 45 min. surgery. 2 hours later, they were done fixing my torn rotator cuff (which had been damaged for years, they noted), and I get to NOT USE my right arm for awhile! Not what I had been planning on, didn't have much ready for Christmas, no baking either.... but I did get the tree up before the surgery, so we will just scale back on the plans. I am in a couple Christmas Swaps, so hopefully they won't mind if they are a little late!

Other than that, I think I will take it easy on this arm and not worry what didn't get decorated, didn't get baked or didn't get made! I hope the rest of all you busy people out there don't overdo it, and enjoy your own little Christmas in your own way!

New Blog Hop

In case you haven't heard, there is a new blog hop happening. . . and it looks like it's gonna be a fun one ! Head over here....... I think you will be glad you did !

Fall into Fall Update......

I am a little slow ( read as busy. . . .) in updating, but I am happy to announce that the winner of my giveaway is Irina from Ireland ! I have mailed the goodies to her, and have enjoyed getting to know her through our emails. I sure hope she enjoys the prize ! Hopefully she will send me a picture if she makes something out of the panel and fabric that I sent.

Thank you all so much for entering the giveaway, I enjoyed all the comments and welcome to everyone who decided to follow my blog ! Thanks !

The Prizes. . . .

Well, I hope the giveaway prize was worth all the wait. . . what I really wanted to do is whip up a table topper or runner and quilt it up, but I have had a custom quilt move onto my machine and I don't forsee me being done with it any time in the next few days ! I will just have to make something up and save it for the next giveaway. So, in the photo below is the prize, 2 patterns, one of which is by "ME".... now it calls out for the Moda Holly Taylor Lakeside panel and 2 charm packs, I did check on ebay and there are some there, but it also would work with any charm pack, with a few minor modifications. Next up is a couple local dip mixes ( delish ! ) and some lip balm - gotta promote the state you know. . .. Then is my favorite quilting notion. . . . flower pins ! Love those !!!! and to round out the selection, are 4 Halloween fat quarters and a Halloween panel from my LQS ! I hope the winner will like these, and as I will be out of town this weekend, we will do a random drawing when we get back, and will notify the winner here, and through email! There's still a few hours left to enter, so good luck to all of you, and THANKS, Debi for organizing it for us !

A LITTLE FALL EYE CANDY

Hi. . .

Just thought I would pop in and tell you all that I am getting a KICK out of how you all are enjoying my "MYSTERY" giveaway. . . and to think it all started out with my not being organized enough to know what I would give away ! I fully intended to post a picture of the gift ( when I figured out what it would be. . .) but now, maybe I will have to play along with it and make it a mystery. Well, I promise you it will be a nice one, and I will post a picture towards the end of the contest.

In the meantime, I will post a picture of some fall eye candy. . . my friend Kathy's quilt ! I was thrilled to find a quilting pattern that complimented the pattern in the fabric, and it was alot of fun to quilt ! Enjoy ! p.s. don't confuse this with my giveaway prize, it will be nice, but it won't be THIS nice ! LOL.

FALL INTO FALL QUILTY GIVEAWAY !

Welcome, and thanks for stopping by !
I'm excited about this giveaway and if you leave a comment, I will enter your name in the drawing, and if you are a follower, I will enter your name a second time! I am working on a fun prize for the winner. . . and will have it posted soon. Be sure you enter and then maybe check back if you have time, to see what prizes I find for you this weekend in my travels ! International visitors welcome !

Fall is here !

I'm thinkin' Fall is my favorite time of year. . . and just to get things moving, I'm going to participate in Debi's FALL INTO FALL giveaway ! Watch for the scarecrow button. . . .


In the next few days I will figure out what I am giving away, and will post it on Oct. 1st. Come on back here and enter my contest and then click on the scarecrow button to find all the other bloggers that are participating, and then enter theirs too ! In the meantime, I'm heading to the Indian Summer Quilt show, and for sure will be looking for some good ideas for a fun, fall giveaway gift !

I really am here. . . .

Yes, I really am here, it's just been a busy summer ! That, in turn must mean I have plenty to blog about. . . so I will give it a try. I'll start with some of the special customer quilts that I quilted this summer. Enjoy Georgia's quilt, look at all the beautiful work she did, and just look at all the piecing in this quilt, isn't it fabulous !


Here is just a corner of the quilt. . . look at all the different teapots ! Notice all the teacups and ribbon in the border below:



Close up of the teacup border below: each teacup rec'd a flower motif, and in the border above the teacup, I quilted the steam that all those teacups generated ! In the blue with white dot border is row of quilted teacups. . .in the green, a row of flowers and leaves.

I couldn't resist quilting some special stitches on the seams of this crazy pieced teapot. Of all the pretty teapots, this one was my favorite !

Each teapot is cuter than the last !

I hope you enjoyed this little quilt tour. . .stay tuned for more !

Well, I finally did it. . .

I checked off one more thing on my very own "bucket list". . . I designed a pattern ! I will post some pictures below. It was really fun to design, and since I use AutoCad in my real life job, it made writing the pattern fun, and easy to sketch with.

So, here is the pattern. . .

And here is another picture of the quilt. . it is made with a panel, 2 charm square packs and yardage. If you look closely, there are a couple pictures of outhouses in the quilt. . . I have a fondness for outhouses. . . so in the next picture, you can see my quilt label, which is an outhouse, and, yes the door has a little handle and opens ! and inside is my label. I also digitized the outhouse border quilting. That was also a line item on my "bucket list"- to digitize a quilting pattern. Thanks to my Statler Sibling Janice B. for some technical help on getting that to work, and it sewed out beautifully.

So. . . easy quilt, easy pattern, but it sure feels good to have accomplished a couple of my bucket list items !

Now. . . I need to kick it into gear this afternoon and pack. . . the band and I are heading out to Medora, ND for a gig. . . .. Bluegrass and Ribs. . .. Spiritwood Creek Bluegrass Band is heading WEST ! sounds like it might create something to blog about next time !

Ugly Betty Continued. . . . .

Hi. . . well the saga continues. . . . The Ugly Betty Pillow shams are done

and the bazaar and quilt raffle are over. Isn't life interesting ????? Altho neither LaRae or I drew for the bazaar raffle, Ugly Betty the Quilt, was won by our friend Betty ( yes, really ) the quilt shop vendor. We were all at the same quilt retreat the weekend before the raffle and LaRae sold Betty a ticket. Life is funny sometimes ! So, we are so glad that our friend won this quilt. She deserves it, she has helped us out so much with our Quilts of Valor projects ! Will post about our quilt retreat soon. . . . . . .

UGLY BETTY

Hi Everyone. . .

What can I say, I've been BUSY ! Trying to play catch up here, not sure if it is working ! But, since my friend, LaRae, already did most of the writing, I will just post this.

This is the story of Ugly Betty. LaRae called me ( she lives an hour and a half away from me ) and wanted me to quilt this quilt that she was piecing for her local church raffle. She said she disliked the colors strongly ( not really the way she put it but you get the drift. . .) and she was tired of the colors, tired of the stars, and could I just put a quick overall stitching on it and send it back ? "Well, of course!" I said, and the next I knew, Ugly Betty was on my doorstep. Well, now LaRae and I could almost be twins, because we normally ( well, perhaps normally really isn't in our vocabulary ) like the same things, right down to pulpy orange juice. If I show her a pattern, she's already got it. If she shows me fabric, I like it too. Well of only a couple things that are different about us and our likes and dislikes, is that she is a pink person, and altho I might admire pink on others, it does not feel good on me. So I was shocked when Ugly Betty came to visit and I opened up the box and brought her out, and I just loved her ! I loved the colors, loved the fabrics, and I thought UB needed a good old custom quilting "spa treatment" so. . . she got one. Below is what LaRae had to say about UB and some pictures. Hope you enjoy her too !

quote: "Had to share a story with my friends and relatives about Ugly Betty...........................

Once upon a time there was a quilter who wanted to help out a local church with their bazaar. She wanted to make a quilt for the Englevale church so she said, "What do you want and what colors do you want?" Well, one of the church ladies said she had a perfect pattern. So the quilter went to the store and bought the pattern and had the shop ladies pick out all the fabric for it. The quilter sewed and sewed and sewed...all 1833 pieces! But the quilter was very sad...the colors were not her. She was more of a bright pink, purple, green person and now she was sewing on down to earth colors of gold, rust, browns and blues and it made her blue to even sew on it. She forged on and got it done but was very upset with it and all along was calling it "Ugly Betty" It lacked luster and beauty. She decided to let her fairy Godmother, Beth Cole, the quilting lady, have a go at it. Well, Beth worked her magic and turned it into a beauty! Here is the result of waving her magic wand and applying beautiful quilting stitches! You should see it in person! There are pillow shams to match also.

The Good Shepherd Church Bazaar is April 26th and I believe the time is 7pm to start but I can find out for sure. Hope you can make it and buy a ticket or two. There will be lots of things to bid on and lots of home baked goodies.

LaRae"

That was such a nice letter that she wrote and sent out. . . No WONDER she was sad about the quilt, EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE PIECES ? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? well, let me tell you, LaRae did an absoutely BEAUTIFUL job of piecing this quilt, and I would be thrilled to be the owner ! I have some tickets to the raffle so I hope I win, and I really think we need to rename her. . . . .

Don't forget that you can click on the pictures ( or maybe just some of them ) to have a closer look !

Oh my, it's Feb. 5th already, where did January go? I'm feeling better, esp. these last few days, finding it easier to get around, but still not enjoying any low seating ( like sofas ) so that makes it kinda hard to curl up with a good book or movie. I only used the walker for a couple days, never have used the cane in the house, but I do use it outside. Not ready for long walks yet, but am happy to walk out to the mailbox pain free for a change.

However, I have been quilting ! I don't have a big picture of Julia's quilt, but a couple small ones I will share. . . and maybe I can coax her to take a picture of the whole quilt and email it to me and I will post it later. She did a beautiful job of choosing the colors in this batik quilt, and her piecing was fabulous. I would say perfect, but she will not like that ( and guess what, Julia. . .I just got to "imply" that the piecing was perfect without getting into trouble ! ha ha ) You know how us longarmers like to look at a well pieced top, and how we REALLY love working with a top that lays flat ! ( just ask any longarmer ! )

Another Get Well gift !

Here's a couple of my friends that visited me in the hospital last week with their "get Well " gift.

I have to admit, it is pretty handy, it has all these pockets that I load up with my cell phone, the house phone, the remote, a bottle of water, pain pills. . . . . . . . . . .( really, though, things are going pretty well ! ) Pretty clever friends, if you can click on the picture to enlarge, you can see what they had to do to alter this. You can also see what I get to put up with. . .

Gettin' a little stronger each day !

Yes, I am getting a little stronger each day. . . been doing the steps ( and I have 3 flights of them ! - probably why, after 33 years of living here, that I needed a hip replacement ! ) and been finding the chairs in the house that I am able to sit on. I saved up a couple sit down projects, one of which was to finish my "Joyful Scraps" quilt binding and make and apply the label. It should have been in the mail yesterday, to arrive today, at the quilt show in Mandan, ND this weekend, but hopefully I will be granted a little leeway ! I would like to be taking more time with my labels and making them special, so I started with this one. I will definately have to plan ahead better if I want to get doing fancier labels ! So, the pics above are of "Joyful Scraps", hope you enjoy ! Sorry about the duplicate picture, now I can't figure out how to get it off of here !

Not Quilting or Bluegrass. . . . .but a little nostalgia

Not quilting or bluegrass, but I had really better post this year ! I have a few quilting projects to post about, and maybe will get some time to do that, so check back. But as for now, I am getting ready to have hip replacement surgery tomorrow so am busy at home here today tieing up loose ends.



Not that I am THAT old ( as I need a new hip) , but I will show you this cute little picture of me and my friend, Debbie taken probably about 1958 or 59 ? Debbie is the dark haired little beauty, and this is taken at her grandparents home, Jim and Cora's. We were probably there because our parents and grandparents were having a card party. I always had a good time at these get-togethers because Cora had a minature kitchen set up in her basement for us kids to play with. It was set up next to her rug loom. She made the most beautiful rugs out of rags, and I still have some of them, which I treasure. Something else I remember about her home, her living room carpet was made completely the rugs she made, many of them stitched together to make a wall to wall carpet. Now, how cool is that ? If you look at the floor, you can see it, and also check out the sofa and the woven covers she had on that. She also had the most beautiful flower garden !

Now you can see that I had long hair back then. . . I guess I still owe a picture of the new short haircut, so when I get a good one, I will post it. I am afraid any pictures in the next few days won't be too flattering, so I will probably wait a bit ! You know, I really should talk to my Mother about my bangs back then. . . . .

Anyway, looking forward to a pain free future shortly. . .( finally ! ) and then I can get back to some more quilting, bluegrass, and the other little things that make life fun !