Finishes, prizes, surprises

My friend Jan with one of the pillows she finished for daughters. She started these at the retreat in September. Well done Jan!

I received this wonderful mug rug from Cathy in Australia, in an exchange with an online group I belong to.

A finish for me!  I won this cute paper pieced pattern from Marsha Hodgkins in a blog hop. Last evening I finished putting my "dodads" on it.  I think it turned out very well.

I finished these two autumn themed mug rugs.  I have been practicing my straight line quilting.  I made these while I was visiting with my friend in Michigan last week. (That is another post!)

Working at the computer, and using my new mug rug.

I received these lovelies from my Dear Jane secret pal.  Love those fabrics. Aren't those stripes wonderful?

Check out the prize I won from Madame Samm. I received the new book by Jill Finley.  She is the author of the pattern we will be using in November for the Holiday Day Lane blog hop.

Progress on my Halloween table runner using the Schnibbles pattern, Full House.

New patterns.  I started a thimbles (tumblers) quilt while was gone.  Now if I could only find the plastic template! I seem to have lost it. I sure hope it is amongst my projects from last week!

You know me. If I use one pattern and like it, I made more then one!  Just could not resist one more bowls quilt!

I was gone again last week. This time to visit my friend Pat in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I'll post about that wonderful trip,soon.  (We did a lot of sewing!)

Have a great weekend. Happy sewing!

Mary

More finishes for month

Earlier this year there was another signature block swap for the Dear Jane group and I decided I would put the two years together that I had participated in.  All done! More on it later. 

I really like making those zipper pouches.  Here are 5 more.  Great way for me to use up some of the thousands of buttons I have.  The buttons are a lot of fun to pair up on the pouches.

Done! My Patches and Pinwheels quilt from the Bonnie Hunter workshop I took in May.  I have washed it and now it is residing on our bed.  I made it a bit longer to make sure we had enough to fit our queen bed.  I love it.  There is nothing like a new quilt to sleep under.

At Thursday sewing I got 4 pillowcases made.  We needed a present for a wedding we were not able to attend, so thought I would make the pillowcases and then add a check.  This fabric is perfect. All about wedding, love, romance, by Michael Miller.  How perfect.

Off to do more sewing.  I am going on another retreat next week. I need to get my things together to work on.  What UFO should I finish this time!!

Have a great weekend. Sew on!

Mary

Finishes for the month

At the beginning of the month I was busy sewing, at the end, not so much! Lots to do taking care of my Dad's things, and organizing everything.  I even got a little of the house cleaning done that has been much needed. 

Our sew days at the quilt shop are a great help in working on those projects that need finishing or even ones that need to be started!

This month I made these 2 pincushions from a Moda pattern using hexagons.  It looks like a cute little pattern. Guess what these puppies are huge!  They will hold a lot of pins!  Why do pictures make things look cute and petite and they turn out a lot bigger?  As you can see these are sitting on the end of my ironing board, and are 6 inches across.  I did say 6 inches across!  Imagine if I filled these with sand (actually crushed walnut shells).  I would have weapons I could use on the dust bunny invasion!

Finally got the shamrock wall hanging done. It is 26 x 28, and just needed quilting and binding.

These are 3 laundry bags that I added binding too.  Lori from Bee in your Bonnet, had written about doing these, which can then be purposed for a gift, or used as a project bag.  Great idea!

This is a project folder. ( Sorry, I can't remember where I saw this.) I did follow the instructions, and used Steam-A-Seam for the holding of front to insides.  It makes noice when you use it.  I think a pellon interface would have been a bit nicer.

Inside there is room on the left to hold the project. On the right is a place for needles, and the bottom has been divided for scissors, ruler, or pencil.  Oh, the left side could also be used to hold a small cutting board.

The twister pumpkin is also finally done.  As you can see I hand stitched the eyes, nose and mouth.  I quilted and bound it, too  Now I have a new Halloween wall hanging.  It is 21 x 21.

Here are two "older" projects I got done from scratch.  I have a calender quilt that was started in 2007 and was missing 4 months to be completed. Now it is only missing 2.  Here are September and July.  If you look closer, you can see I am practicing my machine echo quilting.  I am pretty pleased with how these turned out.  Just happened to have a few 4th of July type buttons to add for embellishment.  Oh, these two are about 13 by 12.

Now these are oldies but goodies!  Would you believe these have been sitting around, basted, but not quilted, probably from the 1990's.  I decided I would again practice machine quilting them. The one on left is 11 1/2 x 13 1/2. The one on right 11 1/2 square.
I am learning a lesson, it is a good idea to put binding with an unfinished quilt top, no matter what size.  I had no trouble finding the binding for the one on the left.  The one on the right, no way could I find fabric.  I did find 2 small strips, and I mean small, that I could sew together to create the mini binding.  It is the same pink in the quilt. 

Last but not least was another hexagon pincushion, tool holder.  This one has been sent to my secret pal, from the Dear Jane yahoo group, for July.

I do have the blue triangle quilt top put together except for the borders.  We finally determined what colors to use for the 3 borders that are going to go on it. Now to work on it.  I have picked up 3 quilts from Wendy, the lady that I have quilt my quilts.  So will by busy getting those done too.  I am working on my bowls project as well.  Oh, the ideas I am having for that.  I think my day to show the finished project is August 16. So stay tuned.

Have a great rest of the week.  Happy Sewing!

Mary

Busy Week!

Tuesday was Shipshewana day!.  United Airlines, Mainliner Club, sponsors a bus trip to Shipshewana every year. The bus leaves the reservation office in on O'Hare's grounds.  7:00am sharp is take off time.  We make a pit stop about an hour out from Shipshewana.  The driver lets us off at the entrance to the Tuesday Flea Market.

I immediately head to Yoder's to see what new and exciting things they have.  They have expanded their fabric department, and seem to be adding new things all the time.

The Cotton Corner, is a fairly new addition of fabric and sewing machines.

At the Davis Mercantile, in downtown Shipshewana, where Lolly's Fabrics is, was this beautiful quilt on display.
We arrive back at the reservation office about 9:00pm, after a full day of shopping and food.

Harriet Hargrave was the guest speaker at the Pride of the Prairie Quilt Guild on Thursday evening. WOW! what beautiful machine quilting she does. She gave us insight on using different types of batting, and types of thread to use when we use our home sewing machines for quilting.

This is the quilt on the front of her book, and was done on her home machine.  It is incredible.

Here is a sampling of her quilts.  It was a great evening.

This week a made this little Sunbonnet Sue quilt.  My friend Linda, in Elgin and I had cut these on her Baby Go, back in January.  She got hers done right away, but not me.  I was a bit afraid, as this was all machine appliqued and machine quilting.   Don't look close on the machine quilting.  I had to twick how this went together. It does lay flat!! Yea for me.  I need to work on the backside tension, but  all in all I thought I did pretty good. Definitely learned a few tricks.

Got this pincushion finally done.  It is from Kansas Troubles Club last year. I had gotten the wool sewn on the top, but no buttons, and not completed.  I had carried it around with me for a couple of months with the idea of putting the buttons on so I could complete it.  Did not happen until this week.  Another project done!

Monday, when my friend Jane was over is when I worked on Sunbonnet Sue, and the pincushion. I got these two zipper bags done as well. Liked how they turned out, too.

Like to work on hexagons when I get the chance.  These are great take along.

Sharon and I at our Thursday sews made these hexagon pincushion, tool caddy. They turned out a tab bigger then we thought they would.  Now I want to play with a couple of different sizes.  This one is using a 2 in hexagon.

This is one of the things I have been working on with my little hexies.  Now to applique and quilt this. Another great take along.

Treasures from my trip to Shipshewana.

It has been a great week. The weather was in our favor. Warm with a light breeze.  It has been great having the windows open  and letting the fresh air in.  The reports are that we are in for a hot week.

Have a great weekend. Happy sewing!

Mary

May was a busy month,

May was a busy productive month.  This is my first finish for the month.  Kris at Dandelion Quilts had a small quilt swap.  This is what I made for my partner, Carol at, Carol's Crafty Creations.. I liked how it turned out.

Saturday, May 12 was the walk for ALS.  Here is Kerri Anne and my son Andrew.  Kerri Anne did walk the first mile, the second she had a little help from a lot of friends.

Saturday night my sister Linda, arrived from Maine to visit with Dad and I for the week.  We enjoyed a wonderful brunch with Dad at Alden Gardens, where he lives. 

My husband drove to Elma, New York, to spend Mother's Day with his mother.  He did surprise me with this beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Linda and I went to IKEA one day. What a cute way to move your lunch.  We each could not resist a few wonderful things from this great store.  Linda does not have an IKEA up in Maine.

Dad and I one day.  Have to check out the wildlife. No baby swans yet!

Then I went to the lecture and workshop with Bonnie Hunter.  That was so good.

I purchased these cool magnets from Bonnie.  As you can see I used mine for sewing, Linda on the other hand is not a sewer, so she attached her corkscrew to hers.  Now she was ready for anything! Have corkscrew will travel!

One the way home from the airport after dropping Linda off for her flight home, we stopped in Wheaton to check out the Farmer's Market!.  What a wonderful stop.  The flowers and produce was looking so good.  I bought all sorts of fresh produce.

Then I started on projects I wanted to finish.  In all I made 17 new zipper pouches.  I have a variety of zippers that have wanted to play with fabric.  The pouches became all sorts of sizes.  I love making these.  They are always great for quick gifts.

Finished these 2 needle keeps.  About time.  They have been sitting in a partial state of finish for a couple of months.  Sometimes all things need are a few stitches and they would be done.  Why do I wait?

Another pouch.  I love how this one turned out.  The patchwork are all Japanese linens. It is just so cute.

I put together a small quilt top. These are siggy blocks from the last 2 years Dear Jane siggy swap.  Can't wait to show when this one is done.  I took it to be quilted today.

Here is the workings on Bonnie Hunter's. Patchwork and Pinwheels.  I am really enjoying using my scraps for this quilt.

Here is progress on Patchwork and Pinwheels.  I think mine is going to be pretty colorful.

Another finish.This quilt is from  a yahoo group I belong to.  The center of all the blocks are signed by members.  The block is called Prairie Flowers.  I received this one back from the quilter, Wendy, and got the binding on and it is done!! I like how it turned out.

This is the wonderful quilt I received from my swap partner, Carol.  She used the big stitch method for the quilting.  I absolutely love it.   It is just my style.

3 more of the pouches I made this month.

Last but not least, "Cottage Garden Path."  This was a project I started in 2006,  It is a pattern I found on the internet, Jeanne rae crafts.. It came out monthly.  This was another quilt top, that I found out all the pieces were there, they just needed to be put together, then quilted.  I got this one back from Wendy, and now it is done.

So, like I said it was a busy month.  I hope I can keep up the momentum for the next couple of months.  I have 3 more quilts that need to be bound and finished.  Plus, I really would like to get this Bonnie Hunter quilt done. 

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week. Stay happy and healthy.

Mary