My First Photo Memory Quilt - Pug Themed

My very dear friend, Mary, had asked me to make a photo memory quilt featuring photos of her daughter and future son-in-law and their beloved pugs, for their wedding.  I had never made a photo memory quilt before, so this was a fun and exiting quilt for me to attempt.
Mary helped me with the measuring and cutting of the materials, and kept me company while I sewed the pieces together.
Once the quilt top was finished, we took it to Jannie's Quilting in Weston, WI to be long arm quilted.
Yesterday was Randy's and Courtney's wedding, today was the gift opening.  Mary text messaged me earlier today to tell me that she made them wait to open the quilt last, and that when they did open it, they both loved it, and Courtney even cried when she saw the quilt.  How wonderful it feels to know how much something like this meant to them!
So anyways...now that they've finally been given the quilt, I can finally post photos of it online!  The pug centerpiece of this quilt was purchased on eBay.  The rest of the materials were purchased at our local Hancock Fabrics and JoAnne Fabrics stores.

Above photos are of the quilt top before being quilted.

Below photos are of the completed quilt.

 

Wisconsin Statewide Shop Hop

I picked up my passport yesterday while in Wausau for a wedding.  I'm going to try and stop at every quilt shop that I can during the month of June, as this hop runs from June 7 - 29, 2013.
I've got one stamp so far... And lots more to go!
Anyone interested in joining me a day or two this month for a road trip to nail out a section of the quilt shops on this hop?
For details about this shop hop, please visit www.wisconsinquiltshophop.com

Krazy Kitties

Just for a change of pace, I thought I'd share some photos of my cats...

I've had cats all my life, and I love having them.  Although I do have to admit the ones I've got now have been a real handful...if you know anything about the Sealpoint Siamese cat personality, you'd understand exactly why I say that.

I got these boys in 2006 as kittens...they are brothers from the same litter.

Lighter colored cat is Casper.  Darker one is Jasper.

Casper is my cuddly, lap kitty, and his favorite spot is on my shoulders, as you can see in this first picture.

Jasper loves to ride in the car, so my son and I couldn't resist the couple of snapshots we took of him looking all calm, cool and collected during our move last year.

My Quilt Version of Nana's Surprise Is Finished! (...and it's FOR SALE!)

I finally got this Mystery Quilt finished and am going to sell it.

It's the perfect size for the back of a couch or to drape over the foot of your bed.

I'm asking $175 plus cost of shipping.

Please contact me with any questions!

All three photos were edited using BeFunky.com

ANNOUNCING: Christa's Quilt-Along

I will be participating in this Quilt-Along, so thought I would share it with you as well!  This should be a fun one to join...so give it a shot!

Christa’s Quilt Along 6.0 – String of Pearls Introduction

Fabric Requirements

• 12 chubby eighths of colorful prints – a chubby eighth measures approximately 9″ x 20″ or half of a fat quarter.
• 1.5 yards solid black – Christa is using Kona Pepper.
• 2.5 yards grey or neutral background – Christa is using Kona Medium Grey.
• 4 yards for backing (or lots of scraps and leftover pieces).
• Piece of batting that measures at least 70″ x 70″.

Quilt Along Schedule – links will be active at the completion of each step:

Please note, this time around Christa will go two weeks in between each step. She’d like to give everyone plenty of time to work at their own pace.

• Step 1 – Rotary cutting all the pieces (June 5th)
• Step 2 – Sewing all the “pearl” blocks (June 19th)
• Step 3 – Completing the top (July 3rd)
• Step 4 – Basting and backing (July 17th)
• Step 5 – Machine quilting (July 31)
• Step 6 – Binding to finish (August 14th)

Be sure to share pictures of your progress on Christa's flickr group: Christa’s Quilt Along. 

Harley Davidson Themed Crib Quilt & Bumper Set

Over the last couple of months I've been working on this project using Harley Davidson logo fabrics purchased on eBay, with coordinating black, orange and flame fabrics that I purchased in local stores.

I finished the quilt a couple weeks ago, and just finished the bumper last night.

 I love making themed projects, and when I was asked to make this crib quilt and matching bumper, I was thrilled!

Sharing a Photo from Facebook...

MQ6 - Finally Finished!

One of my least favorite things to do is put the binding on a quilt.  I am not very good at it, and it takes me awhile to get it right.  Maybe I should take a class sometime... LOL!

But anyways, after months of just sitting on a quilt rack in my sewing room, my MQ6 quilt finally got finished.
Here are some pictures of it with the binding on...

My Personal Favorite & Trusted Fabric Sellers on eBay

Just wanted to share some of my favorite fabric sellers on eBay, for anyone looking to buy fabric and wants to work with a trusted seller.  I know there are many more trusted sellers on eBay, but these are just a few of my favorites with whom I am a repeat customer...

• boomerfancy_nancy - one of my top favorites

• cottonroses
  
  
• glitzygirlztwinkle -  I am also friends on Facebook with this one.  I buy a lot from her.
   
• fordgt1995
• vicky4780
  
  
• silverwoods
  
  
• liveabroad - another one of my top favorites
• boneful*llc*fabrics*boutique - another top favorite
  
  
  

If any of the links don't work, you can also do a seller search on eBay using their user ID's. 

    

Completed Quilt Tops...Ready for the Long Arm!

HEXAGON GARDEN

from the book:

More Layer Cake,

Jelly Roll &

Charm Quilts

by:

Pam & Nicky Lintott

Fabric used for the hexagons:

Seasonal Little Gatherings (Jelly Roll)
Primitive Gatherings

by

MODA

Fabric used for the borders:
from my stash

The quilt top pictured below is not one of my favorites, as now that it's done I don't like my fabric choices.  Ah well, it's done now so I can't do anything about it.

This is called

Nana's Surprise

Mystery Quilt #7

from

Quilters Club of America

Star Point Quilt Guild: My Projects To Date

Recently, I joined the Star Point Quilt Guild in Stevens Point, WI...recently being November 2012.  They meet the 3rd Thursday of each month, so I attended the November meeting and joined the guild right away.

In December there wasn't a meeting due to Christmas and New Year's, so instead we had a Christmas/Holiday party at the President of the Guild's home.  There were lots of good things to eat and drink, and a gorgeous Christmas tree where we had our picture taken by.  Not all members could make it to the Christmas party, but quite a few did show up!

At the November meeting everyone was given the opportunity to take home some fabric already cut to size for making Christmas blocks...I took enough to make two blocks.  The picture below shows the two blocks I made...

At the Christmas party, everyone who made these blocks had their name entered into a drawing, as many times as how many blocks we made... i.e.: I made two blocks, so my name went into the drawing twice.  There were enough blocks for two names to be drawn...I was one of the two people whose names were drawn, so I got to take home with me 13 blocks that looked just like the two above.

Here is what I did with those blocks...

I was given a little bit of the fabric used in making the blocks, but it wasn't enough to make an entire quilt, so I pulled some holiday fabrics out of my stash to add to it and I think it came out pretty good!

The pattern I used for making this quilt is titled:

Cindy Lou Who,

and it can be found in the book:

Another Bite of Schnibbles: 24 Quilts from 5" or 10" Squares

by Carrie Nelson.

Below is a photo of those of us who made it to the Christmas party.

And this photo is just a snapshot of the name tag I made for myself, which everyone has to make one for themselves and wear it to the meetings or pay a quarter to the jar each time we attend a meeting without our name tags...

 The ribbons on the bottom represent show & tell items.

Cathedral Window Technique - A Successful Attempt!

I have always loved the look of the Cathedral Window quilts, and always figured it would be too difficult for me to even attempt.
Well, I decided to finally try my hand at it, using an awesome tutorial found here: Hyena in Petticoats
Thanks to this tutorial, I was able to make this small piece that I will end up using as a centerpiece for a pillow.  I added the buttons just because I love buttons on pillows, and they just made this pattern pop out at me.
I have to say, the Cathedral Window is not as tough to do as it appears.  For me it was just tedious and made my fingers sore.  So I don't know if I could ever make a whole entire quilt using this process, but at least I know I can do it!
So with that in mind...don't ever think something is too difficult to try.  I know from my own personal experiences that sometimes the most intricate looking details are often the easiest to recreate!

Paradise Tote

This was both fun and easy to make!

One of my monthly shipments in the Annie's Attic Creative Quilters Fabric Club, this one was by far one of my favorites to make.  The fabrics sent to me are called Paradise Fabric Collection by Art Gallery, and the free pattern that came with it was for this tote.

I started the tote Saturday, December 15th, 2012 and completed it Sunday, December 16th, 2012.

My One Year Anniversary

A year ago today I met my honey, Brian.  We are celebrating this as our anniversary since neither of us can recall the exact date when we considered ourselves in an "official" relationship...LOL!

So here we were in December 2011...

And here we are this year...
(the most recent photo I have of us together is from Sept 2012)

It's been a super fast and fun year...and we are both looking forward to many more to come!

Fabric Stash Quilt Blocks

In an effort to reduce my stash of fabric scraps, I've been busy making quilt blocks...most of which will probably be donated to the Princeton Public Library, Princeton, WI for their Quilt that built a Library fundraiser.  Any blocks donated to this fundraiser need to be 12 inch square blocks, so I am making them all 12 inches square.  I haven't yet decided if I'm donating the whirling pinwheel block yet or not...it was difficult for me to make, so I may want to put it into a quilt or pillow project...time will tell what I decide to do with it...
All the fabrics used in these blocks are leftover from previous projects I've made.  I didn't buy new fabric just to make these blocks.
Here are the blocks I've made so far in the last couple of weeks during my spare time...

The two holiday quilt blocks pictured below are for the Star Pointe Quilters' Guild Christmas Party Quilt Block Drawing, to be held on December 13th...  I recently joined this Guild out of Stevens Point, WI, and this is the first project I've participated in since joining last month.  I look forward to many more projects I can participate in, in the future!

For each quilt block we make & take to the party, we get our name entered into the drawing.  The person whose name gets drawn will win all the completed quilt blocks and pattern instructions for the quilt.  We were given the fabric pieces at our last meeting, so all the quilt blocks have coordinating fabric for the quilt.  I grabbed enough fabric for making these two blocks.