Music Please

I view and visit all these wonderful blogs and wonder...how do you all do it? Where do you find things like the beautiful music, the christian sites, etc., etc. I would love to "dress up" my blog a bit, but don't know where and how to get these great things. Anyone?

New Year's Resolution

Well, it has been so long since I last blogged, but my New Year's resolution is to get blogging again and be consistent. It has been such a busy, but wonderful December this year. My husband sang in the Living Christmas Tree production at church this year. It was the 13th year for the Living Christmas Tree and I do believe it was the best ever. All the performances were FABULOUS. Last I heard there were more than 4,000 who attended this year. I helped decorate the tree this year and when I had to get inside to put in the decorations, I had a much better appreciation for the tight space and how hard it must have been for each of the singers to stand for so long. WHEW!! I know I could not have done that.

Two winners from my blog have been sent gifts for participating and I do hope they have both received them by now.

Our Prayer Quilts ministry has grown so much, it's amazing. We have completed 14 quilts, 100 military prayer squares and more than 500 pocket prayer squares since October. These women have become such a part of my life and their quilting and frienships are truly treasured.

Last, but not least, I was elected the President of our Quilting Guild for 2009. I will do my best to bring new ideas and interests to the guild and feel so honored to have been nominated. This is a great group of quilters that I have enjoyed being a part of now for more than 3 years.

So, as we begin a new year, fresh with new possibilities, new ideas, new friends and old, may 2009 be a blessed and wonderful year for all of you.

Quilt Ministry

It has been way too long since I last posted and hopefully this week I will try to catch up. We have been getting our Prayer Quilt Ministry off the ground and going and it has been a quilting, praying marathon this past two weeks. We are so excited to be members of Prayers and Squares International. We can't wait til we get our registration back and can start applying the labels to the quilts in progress.

Prayers and Squares is a quilt ministry that provides a quilt to someone in crisis. The motto is "It's not about the quilts; It's about the prayers." Our church womens outreach ministry decided that this was a good program to join as we have so many in need within our own church and community. Quilters and non quilters alike have joined together to make pocket prayer squares, military prayer squares and lap quilts for those in need. We are very excited about this ministry and where God will lead us. We have already completed and delivered two lap quilts and have two others currently in progress for prayers and then delivery to recipients.

So, this week, I shall begin designing and preparing yet another lap quilt for someone some day who needs our prayers and to be wrapped in love.

Little Slugger Quilt

I finished the binding and placed the label on the Little Slugger quilt this morning I made for a friend. WHEW!! That makes 7 labels I've finished this month and one more baby quilt.

The baby's room is baseball themed and I didn't want just an ordinary quilt to give them. This quilt is an example of how I wait until I find just the right fabrics to inspire me. I had an idea in my head, but it wasn't until I saw the baseball fabric that I knew immediately what I was going to do and this is the result. Since it's my own pattern and design, I've decided to post it on our web page http://quiltsandracks.com/ and sell this one by taking orders. I just love the way the blues and reds all came together. The picture just doesn't give it justice. I know they are going to love it as much as I do. Sometimes these are just so hard to give away, but worth it when I see the faces of the recipients and know that it will go to a good loving home.

Design Possibilities or Quilter's Dilema?

I was doing my usual reading of other's blogs this morning and found two wonderful blogs I hadn't read before. One, Marilyn at Piece by Piece is giving away a beautiful quilt that she made and if you haven't been to her site, you really should take a look at her work. There are so many wonderful quilters out there that I believe I could spend days just admiring their artistry. Some, like me, could quilt all day every day and still not have the time to finish all those quilts in our heads that we want to do.

Knowing this, I finally devised a system where I write down the ideas that come into my head, include the pattern or design I think I would use, what fabrics I want to use, and then, later when I get time to start on that quilt, I haven't forgotten what I was thinking at the time I wrote it down. Sometimes, as time passes, I find that I've discovered a different pattern or fabric that will work even better for the quilt idea.

When it's time to start a new quilt, for me, it isn't the piecing or design that slows me down, but more which fabrics will best show off the design and then how to arrange those fabrics within the design. I mull over fabrics for several days before cutting into them, as I want the most WOW I can get from my fabrics. Once I have finally made up my mind, the energy and excitement of piecing start all over as I want to finish it and see the final outcome.

My husband (my biggest fan) and very observant I might add, has commented, that it takes me more time to pick out the fabrics than it does to make the quilt. Always challenging myself to go outside my comfort zone, I try to design something new and exciting for me to work on each time I start a new project. It's the excitment, creativity, and challenge of something new and the possibilities, that continually inspire me to keep quilting and I hope that I will never lose that excitement and energy.

How about you what takes you the longest? Designing, finding a pattern, choosing fabric, or putting it all together?

Thread Painting Class

I taught my Thread Painting class this past Saturday and everyone seemed eager and excited to be there and learn this technique. I was a bit nervous at first, since I was among some very talented quilters, but it went smoothly, as they all focused on their individual thread painting samples. It will be fun to see what they decide to create from these. Other techniques taught were how to fill in blank designs. In this case, the students used a drawing of a lizard or hot air balloon; and thread sketching or thread painting over a line drawing. Their lizards and balloons were so bright and colorful. What wonderful thread color choices they all made and I do believe it was everyone's favorite part of the class.

I enjoyed the opportunity to share my knowledge of thread painting with such a wonderful group of women who were so willing to learn. This a tote I made to use as a sample for the class and yes, all the leaves have been thread painted.

What do you think? Would you have wanted to learn this technique and taken this class? Leave a comment and I will send one of my thread painted clutches to the first three respondents.

Labeling My Quilts

Well, today I have finished putting labels on six quilts. Taking the Pay it Forward challenge to complete as many labels as I can during August, I put binding and labels on two Wounded Warrior quilts for the guild, then one for a gift, one to be sold, and two that were subsequently sold. Let's see, that's six, right? Now, to continue doing what was suggested by Juliann and make the label part of my quiltmaking process by attaching one immediately after finishing the binding. It really is much easier this way. Now, why didn't I think of that? At least this way, I am closer to remembering all the information and won't have to figure it out at some later date or write it down and lose the paper. Thanks for the challenge!!

Operation Wounded Warrior

Well, today I must finish my quilt top for Operation Wounded Warrior. What is Operation Wounded Warrior? It's a VFW sponsored support group for soldiers who have been injured on the battle field. These wounded soldiers sometimes spend months in the hospital away from their familes and homes recovering. Our local VFW Riders take these quilts and other supplies and deliver them to soldiers in hospitals in Texas and California.

Our Quilt Guild Enchanted Quilters Guild supports this cause by making lap quilts. This year we are challenged to exceed the number of quilts we donated last year (I believe it was over 100). Since we are a relatively small guild everyone must do their part to make this happen and as the wife of an Army soldier, it gives me great comfort to know that I can do this one small thing for those who paid the higher price of sacrifice for our country. So, off to my sewing room to finish that top and if all goes well, I may get two finished before the next guild meeting.

Pay it Forward

I signed up for Ema's Pay it Forward and am I glad I did, because I won! Now I am so excited about not only receiving a mystery gift from Ema, sometime when I least expect it, but also giving one to someone.

So, it's your turn now to Pay it Forward. I'm just asking for three people to leave a comment on my blog and in return, I'll send you a special gift sometime in the next 365 days. Those three people agree to post the PIF on their blog, promising to send a little gift to the first three people to comment. Since I make all sorts of quilted items and special gifts, you never know what I might be inspired to send out. You too will be glad you played the game, so come on now, this is a lot of fun and even if you have already done a PIF before, wouldn't it be nice to receive another surprise in the mail? So, leave a comment and pass it on and may the PIF's keep going.

Thanks Ema!

Machine Quandry

I recently had a demonstration on the new Viking Designer Diamond sewing and embroidery machine and have to admit I'm hooked. I have a Babyloc and a Bernina sewing machine and love both of them for different reasons, but this new Viking really has me hooked. I've compared it to the new Bernina 830 and between the two, find the Viking more attractive for a couple of reasons. First, pricing is better on the Viking and it just seemed so much more user friendly and second, it was so quiet, I could sew at any time of the day or night and no one would ever hear the machine.

What are your thoughts? The first three people to leave a comment on the comparison of the two machines or perhaps even another brand/type, will receive a special gift.

Nature's Beauty

My husband's favorite bush in our yard. We first moved to the desert SW 3 years ago from Colorado. My husband had told me stories of his days spent here long ago (I do mean long ago) as a young Army soldier. He was so enamored at coming back to this part of the country that, well, quite frankly, what could a dutiful wife do, but follow her man. I mean, after 31 years of following, it was just natural.

Then, upon my arrival, I was so stunned at what my hubby considered beauty that I just knew he must have lost his mind while he had been deployed that previous year. I remember thinking, God was surely punishing me for something or had an odd sense of humor. It all seemed so colorless, desolate and bleak to me at the time, and of course, I came during the "windy" season and precious does not like her hair messed up in the wind. There were times I just new the wind was going to cause the house to implode. Ok, a slight exageration, but you get my point.

After six months of whining I finally settled into our new home with a renewed sense of purpose. If God wanted us here, then there had to be a plan and I needed to stop my whining and get on with it. Once I started letting go of my preconceived notion of nature's beauty, I was able to open my eyes and see that the desert can be a wonderful place. Why DID people love it here so much anyway?

First of all, we certainly didn't need those heavy winter coats any more and throw away those snow shovels. Where else can you have near perfect weather? Ok, the summers do get hot, but after getting through that first summer, I realized, it wasn't so bad afterall. You learn to get up early, get your shopping done and get home before the temperature rises.

Now here just over 3 years, we have found our blessings have increased over and over. We've found the most wonderful church and christian friends and discovered all the people to be open and welcoming. We've also found the beauty in the desert itself. It wasn't until recently that I personally realized just how much I do love it here. When I sent some photos to a friend in Wisconsin and she commented on how brown it was here and I found a need to defend our turf, I knew that God had truly changed my thinking. My response was that it wasn't always brown here. We have our monsoon season for sure (in the middle of it now), but when the desert blooms in the Spring it is the most wonderful thing to see. Color is everywhere!! White, yellow, lavendars, greens; it's all there if you just let yourself see it.

I'm thankful that I opened my eyes to the beauty of the desert. The beauty that my husband saw all those years ago and still does today. The beauty of knowing that not everything beautiful is green and the beauty of a more casual lifestyle. Today, I feel as if we have been here forever and belong here just as long.

Thanks, honey for convincing me to follow you once again!!

Burp Cloths

I just finished these embroidered burp cloths for a friend's daughter. I just love these animals and their cute little faces. It's from the Whimsical Kingdom set of embroidery. They go with her fabric selection of jungle animals for the baby quilt I finished for her. I'll post a picture of the finished quilt that later. Her mom was going to make the quilt, but decided it wasn't her cup of tea, so passed everything on to me and I have had so much fun with this one.

Pin Cushions

My sewing and quilting buddies here in town, frequent one of our favorite stores and it just happens to be a Bernina Center. We attend classes, learn new techniques, both sewing and quilting and just have a lot of fun getting together. One of our monthly clubs is a Sew Creative Club. Each month the owner gives us a free fat quarter for bringing in a show-n-tell. I challenged myself to make something each month from that free fat quarter and use the finished project as my show-n-tell for the next month. The gals who work in the store all have wonderfully different personalities, and laughingly refer to themselves as the Bernina Babes. So one month I decided to make these pin cushions for each of them, designed specifically around their personalities. The labels all have different names specific to each gal in the shop, i.e., Button Babe (she loves buttons), Queen Babe (she owns the store), etc. These were so much fun to make. For our next Sew Creative meeting I think I shall make them the latest project I found in my newest quilting magazine, which is a drawstring bag with pin cushion sewn inside and a needle case. I'll post it when they are finished.

Blogs

I have been looking at other Blogs lately and have been so impressed with the creativity and beauty of some of these. I've decided to add them to my blog so that others may also enjoy them. I hope you bloggers don't mind my marketing your work. I think I shall come up with a drawing on my blog in the near future as well. Ummm??? Wonder what I could give away? Any thoughts?

Binding Lesson 101

I have been asked recently, "how do you attach your bindings so you don't have extra thickness at the end or joining?" People get to the final few inches of attaching their bindings and then get into a "bind" (no pun intended) on how to finish so the binding doesn't have that bunched up appearance or extra fabric at the end.

First, let me say that this is by no means the only way to do it, but for me, it is the simplest method and requires no math. It is just what works best for me personally. I can assure you no matter which method you use, the Quilting Police will not come and get you. As for width when cutting, my favorite measurement is 2 1/4" wide. Then when folded in half and stitched, it rolls over the edge real nice and leaves a binding that isn't too wide or too narrow.

The next question is whether to cut the binding on the bias or not. Again a personal choice. I choose to just cut the strips, then crisscross them (as in the first picture above) to attach them. By crisscrossing the fabric strips and sewing on the diagonal, I have created my bias strips the fast and easy way. My daughter, who just recently learned to quilt, said when I explained to her my method of attaching and finishing bindings and sent her the pictures, that she was able to immediately understand how to do it. Ahhhh, life is so much better with pictures, don't you think? So, whenever I am asked how to do bindings, I just send the pictures and it seems to help others as well. I hope this was as clear to you as it was for my daughter.

Just remember that when you get within about 6-8 inches away from where you started, to stop, take out the piece and scrunch it up (technical term), criss cross the strips, pin and see how it works. If you need to adjust, it's better now before cutting off that extra fabric, then after you have sewn and cut.

REMEMBER, don't cut away that extra fabric until you are certain it's going to work.

A Doggie Tale

Four years ago we adopted a golden retriever/cocker spaniel mix from the Colorado Golden Retriever Rescue. She really is a good dog, well behaved and pretty mellow most of the time. She does, however, have her moments. She does not like being left home alone. After going thru obedience training and all the things you do to change bad habits, it's the one thing that just will not be changed. I believe it's that cocker spaniel stubbornness in her. Anyway, we have to laugh at some of the episodes we have had with her and in our efforts to try to find ways to be to leave her at home, we tried putting her in her kennel one day. Unfortunately, we didn't think about the positioning of the kennel and never dreamed that what happened would happen.

When we arrived back home, she was out of the kennel and the kennel was beyond repair. She had torn thru the little openings on the sides and totally distroyed the kennel - BUT, how? She managed to drag my husband's favorite quilt off the back of his chair (which was next to where we had placed the kennel) little by little pulling and tugging the quilt thru the openings on the side of the kennel until the entire flannel quilt was inside. YEP...the entire quilt and it was not a small one either. The quilt actually survived most of the ordeal with just a few areas that needed applique to fix the holes she had put in it.

We have since learned to never position the kennel anywhere near a chair or anything that might possibly be able to be pulled thru the openings and never, never put a quilt anywhere near it either. I have since made her her own quilt, which, by the way, she absolutely loves, but she still goes in her kennel anytime we leave the house.

Entrusted Treasure

I have been entrusted with a family heirloom, hand pieced quilt top, to finish for a friend. I feel so blessed to just be able to touch this wonderful work of art. This top dates back at least to the early 1800's. The friend's mother knows it was made by a great great grandmother who died in 1856. Grandma came over from Ireland and we believe brought some of these fabrics with her. The fabrics are all cottons that feel and look like old handkerchiefs or perhaps petticoat materials.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the block design is on this quilt? It appears to be a nine patch of some sort done on the bias. There are several blocks within the quilt, but at closer look, I believe she sewed it in bias rows. It full bed size and needs a border to finish the top and then of course I will hand quilt it for them.

I'm still thinking of how to quilt it, whether in the ditch on alternate rows, or perhaps thru the center of the blocks. Any ideas?

Go Green

Did you know that quilt batting has now gone green. As we all think more about conservation these days, this is a giant step for the batting industry. This soft, green batting has the same qualities as other battings, yet it's green friendly and every one pound of batting keeps 10 plastic bottles out of the landfill. For more information on going green with batting, take a look at the Quilter's Dream Batting website listed below.

Round Table Topper

I have the privilege of knowing the two gals who invented the Roundabout ruler that I used in the making of this table topper. It is so user friendly and basically no measuring when making these wonderful toppers. Just piece and trace around the ruler to get the perfect circle. If you like to make something quick and easy, you'll love these. Once you do, you'll be hooked on them and you will get great satisfaction out of making them. These gals have also published two books with patterns and I know Leslie is currently working on a new pattern. Take a look at their website sometime.