Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Thinking about FALL!

The sky yesterday was that sharp, no clouds at all bright blue color that makes me see all the leaves changing immediately. It was around 62 degrees and not much breeze. Perfect day to be working on a Halloween project.

I usually don't do much with panels. Our Mom (who is doing great, thank you very much!) loves to make pillows and wall-hangings from them. But I sometimes think they are just too cute. However, last fall I found a Halloween panel that is delightful. I bought enough for 4 small wall-hangings and quickly got one quilted and on the wall before the ghosts and witches started knocking at our door.

While cleaning, always a dangerous job, I stumbled (not literally!) across the rest of the panel and decided to make another for a birthday present. I finished the simple hand quilting yesterday and will complete the binding and hanging envelope this week. Ta-da! Birthday present complete.

Tell us your opinion of panels. I finally must agree that they have their perfect use.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Surreal 48 hours!

Well, we are not on our way to Spain today. The trip to visit family and explore EVERYTHING has been postponed. Our Mom arrived Tuesday morning so we could all fly together and within 2 hours of landing, was in the back of an ambulance heading for the hospital. Within 4 hours of landing she was scheduled to have a pacemaker implanted and within 7 hours was in a hospital room starting her recovery! WOW.

We are so very blessed to have this occur here and not over the Atlantic or somewhere along the way. Recovery will be good. Coincidentally, she can't travel the same length of time we would have been abroad. Tickets can still be used and the battery in her pacemaker is good for 15 years. We are grateful.

It was fantastic to see everyone in the family rally around her. Our dad and older brother are still at their home in Virginia but everyone is working together to support our Mom. We are blessed.

(As soon as she gets her arm out of the sling, we'll put her to work stitching!!!)

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Rainy Fall day

It is supposed to be raining today and has been grey all morning. So, instead of moping around and complaining that summer is over, I have been looking at bright 1930 type colors and designs. Take a look next door at the letter F-decked out in all it's glory. Isn't this charming? Now what could it be???

Monday, September 13, 2010

Straight lines

Spent most of Saturday working on the new project. Fun to see all the fabrics and pick between them for the best arrangement. I love projects that only take about an hour to put together. Then about an hour for the embroidery (or a bit longer if I'm watching a Packer Football game!), and you're ready to do the binding and finish it all. How sweet is that?

But, you knew there had to be a but, what is it with me and stitching a straight line? Even though I check before I start and make sure I know what a 1/4 inch seam allowance is and I pin the strips together, sometimes there is still a bowed effect. I know to try to cut consistently but STILL! Of course, Jeanne can spot a line that is not straight from across the room. Sigh...little sisters are a pain sometimes.

Do you have any tricks for me to improve my straight stitching of 1 1/2 inch strips of fabric?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Working on new project

My work area is FULL of new fabrics. Crazy full and that is after I spent two afternoons trying to reorganize things this weekend. The inspiration is the idea for a new pattern that Jeanne and I are getting very excited about. It started with a Moda Jelly Roll that I bought from the Quilter's Daily Deal blog. (click here to check it out! It is my new favorite to check every morning and the folks there ship so fast! I love getting packages and they are feeding my must buy more fat quarters and charm pack additions.)

Anyway, so I got this great new Jelly Roll and that was all it took to make me start digging through every shelf I have in the studio. I found so much good stuff that I had to call Jeanne to come and check it all out. Obviously, I have been doing my part to keep the American economy going!!!

We'll be sharing more pictures and updates on this new, easy to assemble project for the next 2 weeks. Stay tuned for more! You can get a sneak peek at the project so far by checking out the photo next door in teal!