Beads and Bugs

I just finished a wall hanging that I designed. I started out using my new tumbler template.

Then I cut out flowers, stems and leaves from wool and placed them.

 Added beads & buttons to 1st flower.

 Made 2nd flower a little fancy.

3rd flower I kept simple.

Added some bugs.

Ready for binding and hanging sleeve.

Something Wooly

Last year I joined a Block of the Month offered by one of my local quit shops. It took me 3 trips back to the booth to make the leap to join. My first thought was "it's made of wool, i have never worked with it except for a small wall hanging i got for Christmas" but the kicker was the Thistle that is in the center of the wall hanging. Now that it is finished I can tell you that I am hooked. I love working with wool and using Valdani Threads. Now I have to hand quilt and bind it.

A Sisters Request

My very talented sister asked me if I could make her something to hold her crochet hooks in. I did a little digging on the web and found this great blog by littlebirdiesecrets which had a great tutorial for what I wanted. With a little modifications I added velcro, a yo-yo with a button and a little metal lable from Joann Fabrics.
By the way: she loved it.
Bad news: I have to make her more because she has a ton of hooks.

Getting Scrappy Again

So I am still on my mission to use up my ever growing mound of scraps and I came up with a few ideas.
I came across a pattern for pin cushions and make a few for Christmas gifts and they went over very well for my sewing buddies. So I decided to pull out some of my scraps and make a few more. I added some buttons, ribbon and some rick rack.
I used bedding for lizards that you find at the pet shops (ground English walnut shells) which keeps your needles sharp.
Made the top by either sewing the top and layering it with muslin and a very thin batting. The bottom is felt to keep the shells in and also to keep it from slipping off your table.
Give it a try, they are easy, quick and now you have something to store your pins in.
Hint: I divided the big bag of shells into small sandwich bags so if the bag gets a hole in it I dont' lose the whole bag, just a little one.

scraps and more scraps

What do you do with a tub full of scraps?

Spend a weekend making 10" String Quilt Blocks and a ton of Mug Rugs that will be Christmas gifts for the office and friends.

Problem is I don't think I made a dent in the tub-o-scraps.

Oh well there is always next weekend.

Home of the Brave

In a previous blog of mine "In memory of our servicemen and servicewomen" I wrote about my involvement with the project "Home of the Brave."
I am so glad to say that on Oct 20th my friend and the Ohio coordinator Janet Alderman presented the parents of a local fallen soldier their quilts.

Here is a great story and photos (which was covered by The News-Herald).
I cannot explain to you the feeling I had standing at the memorial with about 100 supporters of this Marine's family listening to the bagpipes playing Amazing Grace.
When we presented the quilts both parents hugged me and it really brought 3 years of closure to me. I hope that these quilts will help the family heal the hole that has been left in their soul with the loss of their son.

So many connections were made that day. Janet found a way to contact one of her missing soldiers and the next day we found another. My thanks to everyone who made this possible esp the quilter Nancy in Erie Pa who quilted both quilts and also to my dad, from heaven, who I am almost certain helped me on my way to help the families heal.

Meeting Joshua

My day started out bad with spilling coffee on my phone but ended on a high note on my lunch break. I walked out of my local Marc's store and standing there was Joshua McKinley - Project Runway Season 9. I love Project Runway and watch it every time it's on. So imagine my surprise to actually meet him in person. Just sucks that my phone was in my car dead as a door nail so I didn't get a photo.

 Can I tell you how much that made my day?????

Lake County Fair 2013

The Lake County Fair is one of my favorite summer pleasures and I love coming on Tuesday to see what fellow crafters and quilters have entered into the fair. It is always exciting to see if anything that I entered into the fair won any ribbons. I was not disappointed this year.

This is an embroidery that I bought from Olive Grace Studios. It uses a technique involving coloring with crayons, embroidery and bead work. The frame I bought from Michaels. I painted it with Acrylic Paint "Blue Harbor," water washed it and when it was dry I used sandpaper to stress the paint. I really liked the way it came out. Plus I got 1st place.

This is one of the 1st quilts that I made. The pattern is Court House Steps. Thanks to my mother-in-law who helped pick out some of the fabrics to go with what I had. Not bad for a quilt that I made 7 years ago. BTW my quilt buddy Bonnie won 1st place and Best in Show for her "Brick & Mortar" quilt. It's on Girl!!!!!!!

I had this pattern for about 6 years and finally decided to give it a try. It was a challenge to transfer the embroidery designs onto the black fabric until I found this wonderful product by Sulky. It is a water soluble stabilizer that you can put into your printer and print your design onto it and then it sticks to your fabric, you just wash it away when you are done. I also decided to give some techniques that you use in Crazy Quilts to decorate the seams. Very excited to get a 1st place ribbon for this.

This is my favorite entry, this is a wall hanging in memory of my dad Charles Prentice. When he was in the army he was a Sharp Shooter and when he passed i got quite a few of his patches. Having them for 3 years I finally found the fabric I wanted to use to make a wall hanging. The photos of him are printed onto fabric that can be used in quilts and I top stitched some of his patches and attached some of his pins onto it. Note: I have to make 2 more for my sisters. My hubby (who hates fairs) came with me that night and made a bee line to it to inform me that I won 1st place in the patriotic category. This was the entry I was most proud of.

Wondering what I will think of for next year's fair.

A bag of Suprises Part 3

These are some of the blocks that my grandmother and great grandmother did, I can tell that her (my great grandmother's) eyesight was going by then, cause they are kinda wonky. Gotta dig the color combinations!

A Bage of Suprises part 2

Another gem from the bag. Quilt top already done, just needs borders. Has a very spring like feeling and i love the colors. but what to use for the borders? Taking all suggestions. Quilt top was probably done in the 60's to 70's so kinda need to keep the colors and patterns in mind.

This was also in the bag. It is already quilted. Gonna square it up and put a binding on it and use it as a wall hanging. What you think?

 

 

Quilters Newsletter published my 300 Words about Quilting: Awareness Quilts essay on their website as part of their June/July 2013 Web Extras. My story was about my quilters group making blocks for the "Home of the Brave" which gives quilts to the parents of fallen soldiers. WOW!!!!!!
Here is the link
http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/articles/300_Words_about_Quilting_Awareness_Quilts?bc=c

A Bag of Suprises

Amazing what you find in a bag that your mom gives you, not sure if my great grandmother, grandmother or my mom did this quilt. It's all hand sewn and hand quilted. the yellow flower fabric were scraps from a dress that I had. Didn't even know I had this quilt. Think it was on my grandpa's bed at one time.

 

Quilting Around Chautauqua 2012

Surprise trip from my hubby for our 6^th wedding anniversary

My Hubby, Sean, gave me a great surprise recently for our 6th wedding anniversary - a trip to The Chautauqua Institution for the annual Quilting Around Chautauqua 2012 sponsored by Millcreek Sewing and Fabric. 

We started out by going to Mayfield Heights to check on a Christmas gift and our next stop was to head to the Geneva Grape Jamboree. We took the back roads and what a treat the day turned out to be. Beautiful fall colors decorated the trees along the way, along with blue sky and white, puffy clouds.

When we got to I-90, the line of traffic to get into Geneva was so long that we decided to forgo the Jamboree and head to Erie to spend the night at his mom’s.

We did some shopping and decided to eat out. I made a joke about the size of my sweet potato and the three of us starting giggling, causing the patrons around us to wonder what the joke was. We headed back to my mother-in-law’s, house to settle in for the night before we got up early for the trip.

Rain was in the forecast for the day, but I kept telling myself that it was not going to rain. We had blue skies and the dark rain clouds were out over the lake. We were treated to beautiful fall colors along the way to get my mother-in-law and I in the “Quilting mood.”

We got there at 10 a.m. and started out at the Welcome Center checking out the Northeast Quilters exhibit, where Lynne, my mother-in-law, knew just about everyone. I thought to myself, “Great, this is like going to a quilt show with my buddy Bonnie, who knows everyone, so this is gonna take forever”, but it didn’t.

Sean saw a small Christmas tree wall hanging that we wanted me to get, he’s the Christmas guy in our house. Good thing Lynne knew the lady to ask, so now it’s been ordered and will be here soon.

We decided to walk to Bestor Plaza to check out more quilt guild exhibits at the Hultquist Center. Then some hot coffee and to the Athenaeum Hotel for the vendors, which is my favorite thing to do. Finding fabric and patterns that I have not seen around here is my favorite part of the trip. I was not disappointed. I found a Christmas gift for Lynne, found a few patterns and got some great ideas for some wall hangings. Lynne bought a sewing chair. It was quite comfortable because the back of the chair hit right in the lower part of your back to support it. We had to come back around 3 p.m. to get it so the vendor could sell more of them, she opted to bring it home instead of having it shipped. A few of my local shops were there and I ended up getting a pattern for a Mondo bag. I've already made one using my Halloween fabric scraps. I then found a pattern for a coat for my mom, the base of which is made from a sweatshirt.

On to Smith Wilkes Hall for some more vendors and a few more familiar faces and a few more items to make. We then caught a bus to the other side of the institute for more vendors. The bus rides thru the institute are kinda like taxi rides thru New York City, small, one-way streets, people walking in the streets and alley ways so tight that you think you are gonna take the siding off of a house.

We headed back to the Athenaeum Hotel to pick up Lynne’s chair and then headed home. All in all we had a wonderful trip. A big thank you to my hubby.

Quilts, Totes and Ribbons, Oh My!!!!

Getting ready to show your crafts or your baking skills at a county fair can be quite nerve wracking. This year was not the case for me, I even went on vacation with my hubby to Frankenmuth 4 days before i was to register and turn in my entries.

I finished my Pumpkin Seeds Quilt in time to get it back from the quilter to put the binding, the label on and wash it before I went on vacation. Thank you to Rebecca Silbaugh for doing such beautiful work on my quilt.

 My wall hangings were done and just needing hanging sleeves and label's. the 2 tote bags were already done and the table topper had just gotten finished.

The day after I got back I went to the fair office to register my entries and was told to pick up my tickets that night. Friday morning was putting the final touches on before turning my babies over to the fair volunteers.

Monday was the day to drop off my Bread & Butter Jalapeno Relish. Unknown to my General Manager, Brian, he was the test subject for the relish, good thing he liked it.

Tuesday was opening day and it was all I could do to keep my mind on work before i could leave to see the parade and to see if I had won any ribbons.

If you have ever enter anything into a judged show you know the anxiety and the thrill of seeing ribbons attached to your entry. I was not disappointed this year.

One of my guild members won 1st place on one of her purses and my crazy friend Bonnie won 1st place with her grandmother's Sue Bonnet quilt. This is her getting ready to march in the parade.

 If you ever get a chance to enter anything into your local county fair, do so. It's a lot of fun but beware it is very addicting. I have 4 picture frames of the entries and the ribbons I won in the past years and my sewing wall is getting a bit crowded, kinda like my dining room.