Remember.............

On this special day, take time

to pause and remember those

who have, currently are, and will in the future 

serve our country

making it the great land it is!

Road Trip!

We are headed for Toronto, Canada

for a family function!

Have a great weekend,

see you Monday night!

Spotlight on my Thimble Collection!

My mother in law collected thimbles

from her travels all over the world.

She started a collection for me as well,

and now I add to it whenever I travel.

I love to look at them,

and revisit places I have been!

Cameron's pillowcase

Cameron is Coby's sister, whom I made

my first pillowcase for last week. 

I wanted to get an idea of what Cameron would like.

She is almost 7, and is a big purple fan!

Her request was for Jewish stars.

As soon as she said it, I remembered that

I had this fabulous fabric in my stash!

I hope she loves it as much as I do.

I think it is awesome, just like her!

More Searching at the Fabric store...

Another Anna Marie Horner Bohemian print!

See my link on the sidebar to my Etsy Shop!

No time for sewing today :(

I ran a ton of errands today.

Whatever extra time I did have,

I spent perusing amazing quilts from the 

Blogger's Quilt Festival 

Bohemian by Anna Maria Horner Designs for Free Spirit

Don't you just love this fabric??

I bought some the other day,

and went back for more today.

I will be listing some on Ebay and Etsy

over the next day or two!

My Black and White Selvage Zinger!

Today is the beginning of the
Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Click on the link above, grab a drink,

and be prepared to be amazed at the talent!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Black and White Selvage Zinger!

with quilt back showing:

The quilt label:

Some close ups:

I love how colorful it is, and can look at it

and find something new to "read" every time!!

A special thanks to Susan Losapio at Mouse Creek Quilts

for her incredible work on the longarm quilting it!

It all started in June 2009,

when I ordered Karen Griska’s book

 “Quilts from the Selvage Edge”

I became so inspired by this “new” way of quilting!

I love the color and variety that is achieved by

“making” your own fabric with selvages.

I set to work, first by cutting the selvages

off my entire stash. Next, I investigated other

ways to obtain selvages. The great women at my LQS,

Mouse Creek Quilts began saving selvages for me.

I bought them from wonderful people on Etsy and Ebay.

But my favorite story is how I got my

"library selvages"

proving that it never hurts to ask!!

Fast forward, and I have made a Black and White Selvage Zinger,

Selvage Placemats,

Selvage Cornices,

recovered a chair in Selvages,

and a Selvage Tote Bag!

I still have one unfinished

Selvage work in progress,

a selvage circle that will be a bread cover.

A tremendous side benefit has been having the honor

to be featured on Karen Griska’s Selvage blog many times!

I even discovered a

Selvage Misprint!

Along the way, I have met many wonderful women,

now friends, who have sent me amazing selvages!

My playroom/computer room has become my

Room O' Selvages,

and it makes me smile every time I enter it!

One of my favorite experiences was bringing the completed

Black and White Zinger to show it to the women at the library.

They took such delight and pride pointing out all “their” selvages!!

I am also so grateful to Amy for the Quilt Festival.

Last fall, I thought, why not start a blog so I

could participate, and I have enjoyed blogging so much!!

Coby's pillowcase!

The finished pillowcase!

supplies: click to enlarge for detail

full pillowcase:

Ever since I read about the

 million pillowcase challenge

I have wanted to make some.

I wanted to make one as a trial before I donated any.

I was at a local fabric store and saw this fabric,

which shows basic sign language words and pictures.

I immediately thought of Coby,

a friend's son who is on the autistic spectrum,

and uses signing to help him communicate.

He is a delightful child, with an absolutely

fantastic personality, as well as an infectious smile.

He underwent successful open heart

surgery as an infant, and this week

marked the fourth anniversaryof his operation.

My friend and fellow quilter Doris sent me this link

Pillowcase demo video

and it was terrific.

Have you made any pillowcases yet??

Fun In the Mail from Jenny!

Jenny, who purchased some

Heather Ross fabric from me on Ebay,

sent me some selvages!

She is so creative in the way she packaged them!

She laminated the selvages into a package!

My favorite?

The bottom selvage

futue-ella by Alexander Henry!

Jenny, you are a ROCK STAR!

Thanks again for the selvage treat!

14 years later and finally hung on the wall

FACES!

15 years ago, we were walking our kids-

in their stroller-

thru a mall with my in laws.

I noticed this needlepoint canvas,

and remarked that I liked it.

My wonderful mother-in-law

bought it for me!

I finished it not too much later, and

then never got around to framing it.

I finally did, and just love it!!

I've been thinking...

about turning my living room,

that we NEVER use

into my sewing studio.

I would need to have overhead lighting installed,

but otherwise it would just mean outfitting the space

as I would if I moved my studio to the basement,

which I am also considering but would

rather be on the main floor of the house.

My wish list so far:

• Design Wall
• Oversized Ironing Board
• Counter High Cutting Table
• Fabric Storage
• Sewing table with drawers for storage of supplies

I bought Studios magazine for inspiration.

Now, I am turning to my

wonderful readers to ask:

• what do you love about your sewing space?
• what would be your must haves?
• any product recommendations?
• what you'd do differently if you were designing your sewing space again?
• Any book recommendations on studio design?
• anything else you care to share?

I appreciate any coments and suggestions you have!

Sunday at the Mouse

I stopped by Mouse Creek Quilt Shop

today, just for a quick hello while I

was running my errands.

They had just gotten in this awesome

Robert Kaufman fabric, part of the groove collection.

I had to get a FQ!

They had it dispalayed with this coordinating fabric,

which I already had purchased in Lancaster!

Fantastic Ebay Find!

Eyes Wise by Luella Doss and Robin Fleming for FreeSpirit.

click to enlarge

I got an amazing price for these 14 half yard cuts!!

They are not my usual palatte,

but I love them!

Sew-Steady has been ordered!

Hands down, the Sew Steady was

the recommended machine extension unit.

I ordered it yesterday, and have

decided to wait until it arrives to

machine quilt Sophie's Quilt.

I hope to finish up some other

unfinished projects in the meantime.

Have you wordle'd yet?

I have blogged about this site a while ago,

I spent a few minutes there today.

I entered my blog URL

and this was generated.

So much fun!!

http://www.wordle.net/

Quilt Sampler X 2!!!

I bought the latest Spring/Summer issue today,

and hope to read it cover to cover tonight!

I won the final issue I was missing-

Spring/Summer 2005 on Ebay today as well-

Once it arrives, I will begin reading

them in order of publication date!!

I have only read the most

recent 2 years up until this point.

Dots!

I needed a small piece of this fabric

for a project I hope to start soon.

When I went to my LQS, it was gone!

I had just seen it a day or two before!

Lucky for me, my friend and fellow quilter Doris

offered a scrap from a project she recently made.

Quilters are the BEST!!!

It's all about the Moms....

Wishing all the Moms a wonderful day

surrounded by those you love!!

Mail call!

I won the Fall/Winter Issue 2006 of Quilt Sampler

on Ebay, and it arrived today.

I onkly need one more issue-

Spring/Summer 2005

and I will have them all!

Hours of entertainment!!

It's all about Marisa today!

Here I am with my beautiful, amazing daughter Marisa

before she headed to her Junior Prom!

Sewing Machine Extension Table

My husband and kids told me today that

they will be getting me the sewing machine

extension table I have been thinking about getting

 for a few months as a Mother's Day present!

Now to narrow the choices down and decide which one I want.

Choice A:

Sew Steady Custom Made Portable Clear EXTENSION TABLE for Freearm or Flatbed Embroidery, Sewing, Quilting, Serging & Craft Machines by Dream World USA

http://www.allbrands.com/products/abp03522.html?ppc=cjpdt

Choice B:

Add-A-Table

http://www.quiltersrule.com/tables/addatable.html

These are the two I have seen so far.

I have a Kenmore sewing machine; they don't

make an extension table for their machines.

I would love feedback if anyone has one-

brand, model, size, pros and cons, etc.

Also, do you find you use it and that it is helpful??

I welcome any and all comments and advice.

I ask you....

could you have left the fabric store without this great fabric?

I could not!

No garden gloves for me...

I got alot of comments that

people found gloves to be hot.

I was at Joann's the other day, and found these

Dritz Machine Quilting Finger Grips.

Hopefully, I will find time to test them out later today.

These are a few of my Favorite...

 BLOGS!!

I was "talking" to a fellow blogger the other

day about "seeing" each other on some sites.

She found some new (to her) blogs recently

and when she signed up to Follow, 

she saw that I was already there as a follower.

I guess we hang around the same places!

I replied that I see a lot of the

same people following where I go.

It made me think I wanted to ask for everyone’s

top 5 sites WITHOUT repeating.

I bet it will be quite the list!!

 

I'll go first!

 

It should come as no

suprise that my #1 is

The Selvage Blog

 

#2 is

Creations by Melinda

 

#3 is

The Patchery Menagerie

 

#4 is

Exuberant Color

 

and #5 is

Canton Village Quilt Works

 

What are your favorite quilt places to "hang out" on the Internet??

Leave a comment telling your favorites!

 

I will compile a list at the end of the week with links!!

Noveau Letters by Michael Miller

I won a yard of this fantastic fabric

on Ebay last week, and it arrived yesterday!

She even sent along a sample

of how it can take color beautifully!