Help Me Help You

I'm sorry to inform my blog readers that I was not chosen to give away an AccuQuilt Fabric Cutter. If I had more followers, I would be considered again. SO if you are reading my blog and just haven't taken the minute or two it takes to become a "registered" follower, please do so. Help me help you have the opportunity to win this fabulous tool.
My offer was to give one away for my 200th post, and I'm getting close. SO, if you'd like to win one of these amazing tools, please be a follower and I will reapply once my number is higher.
**I will be MIA for the next few days. Innovations and Stevenson WA quilt show will fill my days. Check back for some great eye candy and a few stories from the road.
Many thanks
Sharon

Fresh and Feminine

Disclosure: This is not my quilt. I would never pick such feminine, romantic, fresh fabrics. Don't get me wrong, I love this quilt. That's the joy I get doing longarm quilting for other people. I get to work on quilts that I'd never make in a million years, not because I don't like them, just because they are not my style.

My customer and this quilt are a perfect match. By looking at this quilt you get an idea of the person she is. I think that's the beauty of quilting, a little or a lot of our personality shines through in our projects.

Just a couple more pics.

I kept the quilting fresh and floral. She's going to hang this quilt on a wall. You can't help but feel good when you see this quilt, it just makes me smile!

Here is my progress with my baskets. I was selling tickets yesterday so I got 2 or 3 more stitched down.

I have a long list of things to do, it's raining today, but I'm going to turn on the US Open mens finals, Go Rafa! He's so cute! Plus I can get another basket or two stitched!
Sharon

My Mailbox Runneth Over

Some times I get a little bored and start looking at fabric on line. Then I shake my head and click off the site, as I'm trying very hard to stay on my fabric diet. It's kind of like walking through a bakery or chocolate shop when you're trying to loose a few pounds. Then I start looking at books, I need to go on a book diet too, but that's another whole challenge I'm not about to undertake right now. This is what arrived this week.

I paid a little more than the cover price on this through Amazon, but it's a book I've wanted since I discovered Gwen Marston and her quilting ideas. I especially wanted it for this quilt picture.

How exquisite! I've been on a kick lately about vintage appliqued quilts and the hand quilting on the old quilts is something to be admired. This one falls into the catagory of "I aspire to quilt something like this before I die". Hmmm, I hope I live to be 108! I'll need all those years.
The next day this book arrives, I've bought the second one to this but this one is absolutely amazing. If you love old quilts and red/green applique, this book is the best.

Look at this hand quilting. Whenever I look at these pictures, I try to imagine the daily life these women had. No conveniences like a corner grocery store, no OTT light over their shoulder, no blue washout pens and pre made plastic stencils. And yet they have created the most amazing pieces of work.

I am finding these vintage samplers and appliques to be very liberated, just in a slightly different manner from Gwen. The quilts aren't perfect, they didn't miter their corners, every flower isn't exactly the same. But that's what makes these quilts shine. And the amount of hand quilting, well, it's just fantastic.

The authors Terry and Nancy have been so gracious and shared this detailed pattern of some amazing quilting. I will definitely give this a try!
And if you are still with me on this long winded post, here are my pumpkins, basking in the early morning sunshine.

Now I'm off to sell raffle tickets at the local grocery store. We are getting the team closer to their $2300 each and the 3 day / 60 mile walk is fast approaching! Click the team link to make a donation!
Sharon

A Few Finishes

Wow, I have a Christmas project completely finished, OK, it needs a sleeve, but it's finished enough to pin on the wall or fold over a chair. I started this project in 2010 and finished it in 2010. Usually my Christmas projects are a few years in the making. I get excited and decide to start a new Christmas project.......in October! That doesn't make for a finish that year.

This was designed as a tree skirt, but I just thought it was too nice to be hidden. My gal pal Muriel made one too, and since I had hers on the machine and had a big back piece of fabric loaded, I decided to put mine on right behind hers. I copied hers, but she copied me, but we swapped red and whites so I guess we are even!

I always try to learn something when I make a project. What I learned with this was that using creams and whites wasn't the best choice. The creams really looked cream once I got it quilted, even to the point when I showed someone they asked what I got on it! (non quilter). But if I was to make this again, I'd definitely keep it scrappy, I'd probably quilt it the same, but I'd be more careful with my whites selection. And then I'd gift this one and keep the second one!
My next big finish is from my garden. This will be the last harvest of these. Thank goodness my co-workers like zuchini and are not gardening.

Only a few branches are bearers of fruit on these trees. I'm not sure what type of apples these are, I'm not even sure they taste good.

The last bounty from the garden will be my Cinderella pumpkins. The plant has taken over my back yard but I'm ok with that, it's going to give me two pumpkins for my front steps next month!

I've Been Bitten

I couldn't take it any more. After Ann posted her basket quilt, then I see this blog post, and then Karen's blog...well, I just couldn't take it anymore.

I've been bitten by the basket bug. Say that five times with pins in your mouth! So the plan. Well, cream backgrounds and red baskets, and maybe some brown baskets, and some striped ones. Who knows. Mabye there might even be some plaid ones! If it feels right, I will stitch it. I've got a tin started for this project, it's nice and portable and can be done with a few minutes caught here and there.
I'm practicing my needle turn applique with this project. There are no quota's on how many blocks I'm going to make, it might be a 9 patch wall hanging or a queen size quilt. Not! One never knows the destination when we start some of our journeys.
What is that old expression? Going to *ell in a hand basket? Not to worry, my butt is way too big to fit into these baskets!
Sharon

Rug Hookers

Recently I posted pictures from the Needlework entries at the NW WA fair. One picture was of a hooked rug and Liz from quilterie been asked to expand on this topic. First off, I've never made a rug, nor have I even ventured into this craft. Honestly, I'm afraid to! If you have any info/advice on this subject, please feel free to correct or update my limited info. 

There are so many beautiful projects going on in this area and Bellingham was an excellent group of hookers. This is the first one and I've shown it before. I love how the background has been put in so it has a definite pattern to the solid blue, almost like quilting stitches define a setting triangle.  The use of value is the same in rug hooking as in quilting.

When I walked by the area that the rugs were displayed, I just scanned over this one.  After going back a second and third time, I was mesmerized by the detail of this.  I think it got overshadowed by the following one, which was so striking it demanded your attention.

This was the division winner, and rightly so. Simply spectacular! Sorry, I have no names of the artists who made these rugs.
So if this has prompted you to want to know more about rug hooking, check out Minick and Simpson. The very best in Americana designs.
I found this link to a group of video tutorials, but I have not viewed them. The Painted Quilt, Kaaren, did a wonderful post on her adventures getting started with rug hooking. Read about it here.
With a bit of searching online, I'm sure you can find everything you need to get started on this beautiful craft.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Sharon

Recovery Mode

I think I'm finally back to myself after last weekend. It was a big job putting on an open house, but it was so worth it. What a terrific feeling to open your home to your friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Although I did my best to ask for "no gifts", a few managed to slip into my yard. The birds now have a bath in my back yard, I've got a few new fall mums to plant in my garden, a lovely rain gauge that is in my garden and these fabulous solar lights.

I had them opened, put together and planted in my walkway Sunday a.m. before my dad even got up out of bed!
I've been checking my mail on a daily basis, I've been waiting for my tax refund. Yes, I do know it's Sept, but the IRS has been double checking and auditing any returns with the "first house" refund. Finally it arrived. I was thrilled to see the IRS envelop but I actually opened this one up first.

I kept trying to figure out what I purchased online from Australia, and for the life of me, I just couldn't remember poking any buttons. When I opened it, this is what was inside.

How fabulous. This package came from Kate at Empty Field. She was trying to name her new Featherweight and gave all the commenters a gift! How terrific is that, so a big "shout out" to Kate Down Under!
Thank you, these are my favorite colors!
I don't have much to show for progress because I decided it was time to finally fix this project. The quilt was finished in 06/07. I loved this quilt. It's from Four Paws Quilting, it's called Surrounded and I love this pattern. I've made it in reds and whites, and then purchased all these greens while on a road trip to Jackson Hole with my gal pal Paula. Then came the final moving day from OR to WA. We were moving my longarm machine. Someone I rented a U Haul, the 12ft kind, the ones that are really 11 feet inside. No problem, I have a 10 ft table. Ya, that's 120 inches of quilt, not counting the outside bars on the table. Opps! So we needed to take a few things apart, and in my stress and haste, I threw this quilt at the guys and said "use this"! So they wrapped some poles with this quilt and by the time we got to our destination, the quilt had a few holes in it where the metal rubbed all the way on the trip. Here was my solution.

I'm putting a few more than necessary on the top, but the flowers that are covering holes will have flowers appliqued on the back. The others will only be on the top. Now I'll be able to use this quilt this winter, and I think the flowers really add some punch to this quilt. This is when being creative is a necessity!
One more work day. Here's Annie after our 1.7 mile walk tonight. It's exactly how I feel!

Have a great Friday, it's a long weekend!
Sharon