Birthdays Galore!

First, Today is my oldest granddaughter Kara's birthday. She is 13...WOW! Seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little bundle. Have a wonderful birthday sweetheart!

Today also marks the 25th birthday of my nephew Chris, Mary's oldest son. Hope you have a great day Chris!

And Saturday was my nephew Brian's 25th birthday also. Brian is my brother Kevin's oldest. Hope your day was fantastic too Brian!

Boy, my siblings sure are getting old! Glad I'm not ;-)

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The Red fabric

First, to today's mail. Many of you know we have a little postcard exchange going in my family. Well, one of my cousins (Mary Ann) has 2 young girls, who decided they wanted to be a part of this exchange too. So we added them to our exchange list. Well, I received this today. The theme for September was work. This is Ashley's card depicting her 'work' which is going to school. Now isn't that just too cool! Thank you Ashley, I love your card, but mostly I love that it is from you.
Then to the fabric I mentioned last night. This is the most gorgeous red I have seen in years, The photo does not begin to do it justice...in fact, the color in the back beside the bin is closer, but still not right. But as soon as I saw this fabric, I had an idea. You can see part of this idea in the photo.

This is going to be one dramatic quilt, in color at least! Have a great night!

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Where to start....

I have been very busy...I can hardly catch my breathe! So I'll try to catch you up a little. First my online class is keeping me busy. And then there are all those quilts waiting to be quilted.



I thought I was almost done with Mary's quilt. I took it off the frame to turn it for the last 2 borders. All I saw was the gold thread I used in the top and bottom border. Now it is a red with gold metallic Cristmas print...I thought the gold metallic thread would be very pretty....well it is pretty, but overpowering....that's all you see! Ugh!! So now, I am frogging those 2 borders; and when that's done I'll re do them in a Red So Fine thread...like I should have done from the beginning. Lesson: Always trust your first instincts.



And I have been very tied up with guild responsibilities of late too. Our Biennial show is coming up in February, so there is plenty to be done.



And, speaking of Christmas, I started my quilted postcards for the family exchange....yes I skipped Oct. and Nov.----don't worry, I'll get to them.

And then, I got this from Mother quite a while back and forgot to post it. Isn't this clever? The photo is Mother, me, and all my siblings from last December.

And then work....well this was panto week....7 all together. This is Debra G' s ocean critters...can't remember the name off hand, but if anyone wants to know, speak up and I'll go look.

This is leaf pile.

And this also is leaf pile .

And there were 2 others exactly the same that I did Debra G's Hibiscus on. It seems I had a run on pairs.....

There were also 2 others I didn't photograph...one was done with popcorn, and one with splash..both Jodi Beamish patterns.


And my only custom this past week was this oriental lanterns.
I always struggle with oriental theme quilts...not my forte. But I SID'd the lanterns, pumkin seed in the gold border, bead board in the black outer border and my I used my Circle Lord Ginkgo template for all the motifs. Just a medium stipple in the background, as the customer didn't want anything too tight.

I think she was happy, so I was happy.

The rest in waiting are all custom, and hopefully I'll get in some work on my own thrown in there too.

And speaking of my own,I started another quilt....yes I know I have several in various stages of undone. But, I bought this GORGEOUS red fabric...6 yards. Pictures soon...of the fabric at least.




And with that....have a great night!

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I really have been working/quilting!

Really, I have! And here is the proof, in reverse order. This one I finished today. I quilted this one for my Mother. She made it for my sister Ann. Mary quilts most of Mother's quilts. She must be busy right now, so that's why I got this one to do. I used Fairfield machine blend batting ( they sent me a sample of this last year. It really is a nice cotton/poly blend) and Superior "so fine" thread.
In this photo, it looks like the 2 inner side borders aren't quilted...they are..it's just the light.

And this is a customer quilt...beautiful, bright batiks. Quilters Dream "Puff" batting and Superior" so fine" threads.

And closer...

And the back.

And this is another local guilds' raffle quilt. I used my circle lord to make the circles, and then embellished them.


Again, Quilters Dream "Puff" batting and superior "bottom Line" threads...top and bottom.

They wanted no background quilting, and those of you who know me, know that was a hard thing for me. But, I muddled through.

Word is that they were pleased. Lets hope it make them a lot of money.

My choice of course, would have been to do a tiny background fill to really bring those circles and butterflies forward. But, that as they say, was not in the cards. Oh well.



Still effective, I think.

They like it and that's all that matters.

So, you see I have been busy....not just loafing about!



Have a great night!

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New postcards, inchies and a fun surprise!

I've not posted much lately, been busy with customer quilts and getting the finishing touches done to my class that began today at MQR. So, now I think I have a tiny breather so I thought I'd try to catch up the blog. First of all I need to show the great postcards I received today and yesterday. These are all from the MQR exchange..."Gone with the Wind" it always thrills me to see all the different interpretations of a theme.

This one is from Yvonne...So cool , and perfect fit for the theme. Thanks Yvonne!
This is from Helen-Mary..her interpretation is of time flying...specifically the millennium 8 years ago. Thanks Helen-Mary!

And this from AnnMarie...a quote referencing how a walk in nature "blows" away worries and cares for a short time. Wonderful AnnMarie, thanks!

And this is from Kay...the wind blowing spent petals...a metaphor for life? Kay used old pop cans for her petals..recycling at it's best! Thanks Kay!

And Gretchen's imagery of time blowing away....who ever has enough time? I know I don't. Thanks Gretchen!

And this is Janet's..a more literal approach to the literary "Gone with the wind" Scarlet's dress made from Tara's green parlor drapes. Just terrific..thanks, Janet!

And then you may remember a while back I told you of an inchie swap I was a part of. Well here are the results. I got them today.


And included was a special 'holder' made by Carla, who organised the swap. All those incredible inchies and a piece of Carla art too! How grand!! I just love my Carla Birdie! Who else but Carla would have a bird laying 'inchie' eggs!

And a special note to my friend Suzanne.....


Look! it's a chicken taco!!!!! ROFLOL!

And with that, I'll say ...Have a great night!

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The latest postcards

The latest MQR postcard swap theme is "Gone with the Wind"  I posted my card a while back.  These are the ones I have received so far.   This one is from Lily.

And this one from Becca


And this is from Shirley.
Thank you all, they are all just wonderful!

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Great Mail day and IKE

First, I had a great mail day! A couple weeks ago Barbara posted these cute quilted baskets she had made and was thinking of selling. I just loved them, and knowing I would never make them, I asked her if she'd be willing to make some for me to purchase. She agreed, and they arrived today. I had ordered 4 in a kitty theme. They are so cute, and the yo yo detail adds even more charm. Purple
green

orange

and blue.

Thanks Barbara! I love them, and their final recipients will too!

And on to IKE. All day long we've had rain and wind from the outer bands of IKE. Mind you though, I am not complaining! We dodged the bullet again....looks like IKE is headed to Texas...sorry for those of you in the path. I know only too well how awful these beasts are.

The map below is for you, June...lol!

Have a great night!

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