Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

May each of you have a wonderful and loving Valentines Day!

Woke Up To The White Stuff!

We woke up to snow this morning! The white stuff was coming down so pretty. We never get snow and this time we did. Not much but enough to give everything a good coating. About two inches worth for us, while my oldest daughter who lives in Atlanta has eight inches so far and it has only been snowing in her area for a couple of hours. She called me around 5:30 our time to let me know. She was really excited about the snow, but it will keep them from coming down this weekend. She asked me if I would take Payton a valentine out to the cemetary today since she cannot get here. My son, dad and I did go and spent a little time there. It was so peaceful and the snow so pretty. Below are some pics of the snow in our yard. Now we have to worry about the ice this will cause on the roads here especially the bridges.

Coy at the cemetary

The snow at the cemetary added to the peacefulness of the area. I made several photos for her and have emailed them to her. She said she was having a good day today and just knowing that his valentine had been placed there made her feel better. This is the first week she has not been able to come down and go to the cemetary since we had the funeral. Please continue to keep her and her family in your prayers.

Mike has worked up to 30 steps in the last few days! All this is with a walker but good progress! We are so blessed. He said he was ready to get on with life and is taking it a day at a time.

Almost forgot my brother in Mobile Al said it snowed there today also! He lives about a mile or so from the beach.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Yes Two Posts In One Day!

I was going to do this post on tomorrow, but my mom called with some great news about Mike so I just had to post this for all those who have followed his story over the last few months since the accident. He took his first steps today which was eight. Months before the dr.s thought that he would! We are so happy and know that God is speeding his recovery. Eight steps may not seem like much, but they said it would be April or May before he was ready to put weight on his ankles and legs. Eight small steps is a great hurdle in his recovery. We thank God for the progress that Mike is making.

Now for the crafty part of this post. I had blogged about a special quilt project I am working on for my mom for her birthday in August. It is a blue basket quilt as that is her favorite color. Well there have been several people in blogland that has sent me blue fabric to help me out since my blue stash is super limited. This week has been a great mail week for me and some really great blue fabric has made its way here to be cut into blue baskets for the quilt. Below is what has come in the mail thus far. A big heart felt thank you to all those who have donated fabric for this project, I thank you. First up is from my friend Beena, she was my swap partner in the Spring Mini Quilt swap this past year and she is a great person who I have become friends with. She not only sent this wonderful blue fabric, but also the panel that she designed below it. She has created some great panels you should go on over and check out her site. She is here: http://bbsquilts.blogspot.com/

Here is the panel......Isn't this great! It is a whole cloth quilt panel and will be gorgeous when quilted. Thank you Beena for my gift and the blue fabric.

Next is the fabric that Debra sent. You can find her here: http://debraspincicdesignstudio.blogspot.com/ you should go visit her on her blog. She is also spearheading Operation Pillowcase for the troops in Afgahnastan. Go check it out here:http://operationpillowcase.blogspot.com/    Go sign up to make some pillowcases for the troops. They are easy to make and bring cheer to our soldiers who are putting their lives on the line everyday. They take less than an hour to make a set of two, they will take as many or as few as you are willing to make.

Thank you Debra for all these lovely scraps that will become beautiful little baskets for mom. Next up we have more lovely blue scraps for the basket quilt. These are from Karrin and you can find her here: http://karrinscrazyworld.blogspot.com/ I love them all. Look at the cheater cloth. What a cute basket that will make. These are going to make some great baskets. Thank you Karrin for your generosity.

Last but certainally not least is the blue fabric that has traveled all the way across the big pond from Australia. These blue fabric scraps came from the very generous Esther. You can find her here: http://estheraliu.blogspot.com/    She is the creator of Red Delicious BOM from last year. You should check out her blog and see all the wonderful quilts and such that she creates. She also creates and sells her patterns. They are absolutely gorgeous. Thank you Esther for the beautiful scraps that you sent to become little baskets in this quilt. I love each of them that you sent.

Each of you ladies have blessed me by responding to my plea for help in this special project for my mom. In essence you are and will be a great part of the making of the quilt. I have decided that each person who sends in scraps to be used in my moms birthday quilt her/his name will be put on the label. That way mom will know how many people contributed in scrap fabric to her quilt. I could never repay the kindness of you sending me the scraps and this is just another small way I can say thank you and give you credit for your part in my moms quilt. Thank you! Now to go and cut some baskets out.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Valentine Box Arrived

I have my Homemade Valentine Swap Box. My swap partner Karen really sent a jam up box and should be proud of herself. She sent me some really great things in my box. She even added to my milk glass collection. I did not have any candle holders and she sent one along with my other goodies all of them are great! A big thank you to Karen for my great gifties. She does not have a blog yet so hopefully soon she will take the big leap and join the blogging world. She made the greatest box for me, this will hold fabric postcards in the future.

This is what it looked like before I opened it.

Look at all those little wrapped goodies just waiting for me to open!

And this is what was inside! Look at all the wonderful items in my box! I love everything she sent. She also sent some spices for a great dip. And of course the chocolate was wonderfull too. It was consumed with all speed!lol I did share of course.

Of course anyone who reads my blog knows that I crazy quilt. Take a look at the note cards she put in my box! They are so cute, below is a closeup. They are crazy quilted! How neat is that.

If you ever want to participate in fun swaps you should try out those on Heidi Devlins blog. She is a great hostess and her swaps are always fun. This is the fourth swap I have participated in with her and it is so much fun each time. And of course my swap partner Karen was the greatest of all!

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

A Great Giveaway

Hi everyone, I just wanted to pop in and let you know about this great giveaway that Debbie found here http://debbie-mylife-myloves-mystuff.blogspot.com/ is having in celebration of starting her blog. Go on over and give her some bloggy love and leave a comment on her blog for a chance to win. Take a look at the prize: a stash enhancement!

Better Pics of basket blocks

Ok I made new pics of the basket on the two background fabrics. There is no glare this time and the colors show better in the pic. At this point I am still undecided which I like the best. But I am trying to make my choice based on my moms likes also. Anyhow, here are the better pics. Made these this morning outside standing in the cold! Had to come back in and grab another cuppa to help warm me up. Here is the blue on blue........

And here is the blue on white with no glare...........

I am so in love with this basket quilt! I have enough novelty prints to do an "I Spy" baby quilt from a swap several years ago. I also have squares from another swap that represented each state that I have not put into a quilt that would also make a great baby size quilt that will most likely find themselves turned into little baskets.........after this project of course. I have been making a list for future quilts using these little baskets. My bucket list keeps growing!lol Thanks to all of you who have already commented below and a great big hug and thank you for those who are sending blue fabric my way. Well gotta run and cut out more baskets.

Almost forgot, during all the trauma in the previous months I missed my 200th post somehow. So I will be waiting until my 300th post to do some kind of drawing so stay tuned maybe it will not take long to make it to 300. Especially since I will be documenting my progress on moms quilt every week.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Trying to Decide

A big thank you to those of you have responded for my request for blue fabric. Thank you so much I really appreciate the help with my request and it means a great deal to me.
Well, the blue fabric for the foundation squares for my moms quilt is here. I still like it but was thinking maybe white would be better. So below is two pics. One with the white as the background and one with the blue that I originally wanted to use. What do you think, is the white better? It has a more crisp clean look than the blue. As I will be using all tpes and shades of blues will the white be better than the blue for the colors showing at their best......I thought I had settled this in my mind but now I don't know. I am going to sleep on it and would appreciate any advice concerning the two. What are your thoughts.

The White Block

 The Blue Block

this is a doodle page out of my art journal

Note to self use darker ink for photo's as the purple does not show up as well. This is a page that I doodled a few days ago while waiting for clothes to dry. Well off to bed I have an early start on tomorrow.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Pillowcases and More

This guy fabric has turned into five pillowcases for soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. I have had the star wars fabric for a while as I was going to make a quilt for my son, but then he discovered dragons and that was the end of that. So I decided to make these pillowcases for the service men/women who are serving our country and putting their lives on the line for us to have all this wonderful freedom we enjoy. It is a small thing to do and I am so glad to be able to do something for them. My dad is a former seaman who served during the Korean War. This is my way of saying thank you to those who serve. I will be making more of these as time allows. I have posted previously about this project that Debra Spinic you can find it here: http://operationpillowcase.blogspot.com/ is spearheading and she has even set up a blog that you can go to and check out all the other pillowcases being made. While there sign up to make some and know that you are bringing a little bit of sunshine into a soldiers life.

Next up is this wonderful needle case that is the second gift of my prize from Cheryl over at "Willowberry Designs". The first one she made never made it here, so she was kind enough to make me another one. She also sent this great doily with the needle case. I will be using the doily in an upcoming crazy quilt block, maybe the "Peacock Tails" block. Anyhow, a big thank you to Cheryl for the needle case redo.

Look what finally came in the mail! I have been admiring these blocks on several blogs that are making this quilt. I fell instantly in love with this quilt and just knew that I had to make one. I finally got the information to order me a book and it has finally arrived!

Ok so now I have decided that not only am I going to make myself one but I am going to make my mom one also (hers will take precedence over mine at the moment as mine will be a swip). My mom will be turning 76 this coming August and I want to make this basket quilt for her in blue. Those of you who read my blog knows about her having a stroke in Oct. of this past year along with her congestive heart failure. We are so happy just to have her with us and I wanted to do something special for her. She loves blue in all shades so I am going to make the baskets in blues. I am also going to ask those who have some scraps that you may be going to be getting rid of I would love to have them if they are in shades of blue. If you want to donate some stash to this project you can email me at stitchduchess2@yahoo.com and let me know. My stash is very limited on blues so I will be purchasing blue along the way. I have a really pretty blue mottled fabric that I will be using for the background. As soon as it arrives I will post a pic of it. In the meantime I will be gathering blues for her quilt and cutting out baskets. I need 300 baskets for this project so lots of cutting in my future. I figure if I do 20 basket blocks a week it will take me 3 1/2 months to piece if I do so by hand then another month to quilt by hand. So if I start at the beginning of Feb. I should have this quilt finished and ready for her at the beginning of June or middle of July at the latest. That is what I will be shooting for as a finish date. Then I can wrap it and it will be ready for her birthday on August 26th. This will give me a little bit of room if for some reason I do not get 20 baskets done in a week. They are 6" blocks so I should be able to whip them out fairly easy. That would be 4 blocks a day if I have the baskets all cut and ready to go every week. So when the block fabric gets here I will cut out all 300 blocks and then that part will be done. Until then I will be cutting out the baskets from the blue fabric that I already have in my stash. I don't know how many baskets that will be, but it will be a start. And of course if I have them ready and basted I can keep some in a bag to take with me to Dr. appts and such. My hands will be very busy the coming months will this quilt and the rrs that I am participating in. I will post pics of basket progress each week and this will help to keep me on my schedule of blocks. Some days I might be able to do more blocks which will be ok too. As I said earlier in the post mine will be a slow work in progress and I will be doing mine in batiks I think. I should have enough batiks in my stash to do this quilt in a king size for my bed. I don't know what kind of background for mine as of yet maybe black.........or white I don't know yet. I know there is more than one of these in my quilting future because I love the pattern so much. Maybe a wall hanging and table runner..........the possibilities are endless with this pattern.

Happy Stitching Everyone,

Wendy

Another Block: Now "Peacocks Tail"

Remember the peacock fabric that my swap partner from the "Homemade Christmas" swap gave me. Well today I made up a block with it. This will be framed in a shadow box to go in my peacock room. The block is 17x17 inches a really good size block. When I pulled the fabrics for this block I tried to use colors that were actually in the fabric. I think I did pretty well with it. All fabric was shopped from my stash so I did not have to buy any. This block will be encrusted when finished as I love the look of all those beads and goodies that you use when you encrust a block. I really enjoyed the making of this block. I flipped and sewed some and some I hand pieced such as the fans. I also tried the method that Amy Munson uses to piece her fans you can find her here: http://in-the-fold.blogspot.com/  She is very talented and she had shared on CQI how she pieced her fans.  I have always pieced my like I do when I paper piece in traditional or sane quilting. Since crazy quilting is all about thinking outside the box I used a different method this time. I think all four of the fans turned out well and will see how I like them when they are embellished with thread and such. I am not sure I like the raw edges at this point but I am willing to try new techniques. I love the colors of the block and the great thing is I still have some of the fabric so I can make something else as well. Maybe a tablerunner for the room.......stay tuned and see what I make with the remaining fabric at a later date......... Anyhow below is a pic of my block. I will be working on this as a slow work in progress and hopefully it will be finished by the end of summer. That is what I am shooting for as a finish date for this block. Well time to do some reading to relax. Oh I just thought.....I need to come up with a name for this block.........hmmmmm will have to think about it for a little bit........

I just love that peacock fabric.  Some pillows for the room would be nice........okay I'm out of here until tomorrow.

Edited: Thanks to Beena the block now has a name "Peacocks Tail"

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Quilting Gallery Winter Mini Quilt Swap

Quilting Gallery is having sign ups for the Winter Theme Mini Quilt Swap. The registration for this swap closes on January 31st with the mini quilts being mailed out to your partner on March 1st for overseas and March 8 for domestic.  Your partner information will be emailed to you on Feb. 2, 2010.

I have great results from the swaps with this group. I have always recieved great little quilts. If you want to be a part of a fun group and meet new quilting friends then you need to come and join this swap. You will not regret it I promise. Loads of fun is just waiting for you so go on over to the "Gallery" and sign up for this great swap.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

A Redo of Some Gifties

I participated in the Secret Angel Swap again this year and the lovely lady that I sent to never recieved her goodies. I guess they went swimming while crossing the ocean and maybe the whales decided to keep them.lol Anyhow, I have been working on replacing them for her between all the things that happened in the last month or so. They are now ready and I am  sending them out to her and am showing a small peek of what I am sending. I am not showing the main item yet..........because I want it to be a suprise for Jacqueline. It has lots of hand stitching and is in her favorite color of red and is for her kitchen. That is all I can say about it at the moment. The other two are very different and I hope she will like them. I could not get anymore of the original fabric that I used since I shopped my stash. So I made these two items keeping to the rose theme. The kitchen item is not of the rose theme but I know she will like it as it is in her favorite color. Here is the pic of the smaller items sent out to her.

I will post her main gift after she recieves it. Hope you like you gifties Jacqueline.

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

What I've Been Up To

I have been piecing blocks for several RR's and have them all ready. I usually hand piece my blocks but this time I decided to flip and sew. I don't particularly like this way of piecing but sometimes change is good. This was one of those times. Over the next few days I will be posting pics of the blocks that I have made recently for the RR's. Todays blocks are for the "Encrusted" DYB over at CQI. They will finish at 6x6 inches when sewn together. I always start with an 8" block to account for shrinkage during the stitching. I am glad that I do this and especially this time as the blocks will be encrusted which causes more shrinkage than normal I have found. I am really excited about this rr and have wanted to do one for a long time. I finally decided on my theme and chose Mardi Gras. Its fun and I can use all my favorite colors. I found some really fun fabric that I used for the centers of each block. I really need to go back and get more fabric to make a sane quilt with the same fabric. I like it that much. Anyhow enjoy the eye candy.

The pic does not do the colors justice on these blocks. They are very fun blocks and I can't wait to see how they come back home all encrusted and beautiful.


edited: the really dark patches on the lower blocks are a really nice blue, the same as the blue in the upper right hand side on the uppper right block.. And the Green on the lower left is actually the same green as the block next to it. I don't know why the colors showed so dark in the pics.
Happy Stitching,
Wendy

First Finishes of 2010

These are my first finishes of the year. They are small but still finishes. I have made 12 postcards and have sent them out. They are all in the mail on the way to their new homes.

I have more coming this next week stay tuned. I have started working on the black and white blocks. And I am working on something very special and will have details on that later also.

On another note Debra from here: http://operationpillowcase.blogspot.com/ is aksing for help in making pillowcases for soldiers. She needs 50 pillowcases by the end of Feb. I have signed up how about you. If you would like to be a part of this great effort go on over and sign up. While there you will want to go to her regular blog and look at all the creative wonderfulness over on her sewing quilting blog. She is greatly talented and does awesome work. Her other blog can be found here:  http://debraspincicdesignstudio.blogspot.com/ 

Happy Stitching,

Wendy

Black/White Blocks Finished

Well all of the blocks are finally all pieced! I was undecided on the handle for the center fan for a while but finally decided to use black instead white and I like it much better. I had wavered between the two for a few days and finally decided that the black velvet looked much better than white satin. I could not find any white velvet around here anywhere and now I am glad. I am happy with the results of todays sewing session. Now to embellish the rest of the blocks. Take a look see.

Closeup of the center block

Happy Stitching Everyone,
Wendy

Progress on Black/White Crazy Quilt

I am making progress on my Black/White crazy quilt. I am almost finished piecing all of the blocks. I made four blocks on yesterday and need to finish two more small ones plus the big middle block. I hope to have it all pieced and ready to embellish by Monday am. I love the black/white combination together. Six of the blocks are from an RR that I just completed on CQI. The rest I will be working on over the next month or so. It has taken me forever to decide on the center block, but finally I have drawn the pattern for the centerpiece onto my muslin. I decided on a central fan and four corner fans for the quilt. I finally came up with a center fan that I am pleased with after many drawings and fussing with the handle I have decided I am happy with it. All the blocks finish at 8" except the center block and it is 17" x 17" and will finish at 16". I was going to piece all the corner fans differently but as you can see from the lower left block and the two upper blocks that I have changed my mind. I am going to go with the upper blocks and will have to redo the outer fabric on the fan on the lower left block. I like the upper fans because they bring cohesiveness to the blocks. The outer fabric is in each of the other blocks as well. Below is a pic of my quilt in progress. I will post again when the other two blocks are finished, the one block is corrected and the center block is complete.

Now back to the sewing room for more work on these blocks. Hopefully I will have these completed in the next day or so. Until then Happy Stitching,

Wendy

I have joined One Project A Month Again This Year!

I enjoyed myself so much last year and was able to complete so many projects that I decided to join in again this year. If you want to join you need to hurry on over as the space is limited this year to 150. You can click the button on my sidebar and it will take you to Kris's place at http://tagalongteddies.blogspot.com/ so you can sign up. Last year I finished projects that I thought would be wip for a long time. So now we begin a new year and I am looking forward to the challenge. I plan to finish a few bed quilts this year along with other projects.                                                                    

Happy Stitiching

Wendy                                      

Great Giveaway

Sue over on Alderwood Quilts is having a 100 followers giveaway here: http://alderwoodquilts.blogspot.com/2010/01/100-followers-and-giveaway.html  Gone on over and check out her blog. The giveaway is some great batik fat quarters and a pattern by Ricky Tims. Of course I hope to win since I love batiks.

Happy Stitching,
Wendy

Project Update

Hopefully I will be finished with this shawl sometime during the next week. I like the look of this shawl but crocheting it would have been quicker for me. I guess in time you get faster with knitting as you do more projects. I sure hope so. I can say it has been a relaxing project for me and I will post again when finished. There is actually more done than shows in this photo. I just wanted to update this project as it will be my first finish for 2010.

Happy Stitching Everyone,
Wendy

Photos of Some RR's and Swaps

I am having trouble sleeping so I thought I would write up this post that I have been needing to get up. I am tired but not sleepy and I hope I do not misspell any words. Especially since blogger no longer has a spell check. Or maybe it is just mine that does not work anymore. Anyhow, here goes with this post.

With everything that has went on in the past month I have not been able to post about some RR's and swaps that I have been in. I have one swap that was lost in the mail and had to redo the gifties. They are now on the way to their new home and I will post as soon as it arrives at my swap partner Jacqs home. It is traveling across the water to a very cold place in the Netherlands. Hope it arrives soon Jacq.

First up is Marci's Flower Fairy block and this is the last block for me in this RR. I am now finished working on all the blocks in this rr and they are on the way home to Marci. I had a lot of fun working on each of the blocks in this rr. So much so that I joined another Flower Fairy RR that will be starting soon. I hope Marci likes what I have done to the block. This was a DYB which means each person makes six 6" blocks and each person in the rr finishes one whole block. This one is done in purple and blues and I really like the combination.

Next up is the final block in the Black/White RR and this block belongs to Simona in Italy. She had added a red center to her blocks and wanted only the seams finished with red thread. I enjoyed working on her block as well and hope she likes the seam treatments I completed on the block. I actually used some new to me seam treatments, one of which is the snails trail. It took some practice before I was able to get it right but finally it came together and I was able to put it on the block. The other stitch was the blanket stitch used like the feather stitch. It was easy and I will be using this style of feather stitch again. I will be mailing out Simona's blocks to her on today.

Next is the Christmas swap that Heidi hosted called a "Vintage Christmas". My partner was Tanya  and this is what I sent to her:

All wrapped up and ready to go...........But wait.........I just have to put in one more item........

Remember this lapgahn........Well I just had to put it in her box as well. I love to make these and wanted to do something extra special for her.  So I decided to take this out of the shop and give it to a special someone.

This is what she sent to me:

This stocking is gorgeous and the photo does do it any justice. I absolutely love it! She also sent vintage buttons (I can use these in my crazy quilts), vintage textile wash, a gorgeous piece of peacock fabric and a log cabin ruler that I so wanted for Christmas.  There were also some wonderfully creamy candy that went really fast! And some thread. I love all of it and will be using the fabric in an upcoming project. Below is a better photo of the stocking hanging on the wall.......Isn't it wonderful!

I will be posting more pics as soon as the one swap reaches its home. I also have some photos of coming up projects and another swap that is due on the 18th and will post pics of that as soon as the quilt arrives at its new home.

Next is the prize I won from Willowberry Designs. Only one of the packages arrived and here it is. The other one was lost in transit............I guess it is taking the scenic route.lol Anyhow I wanted to show you these wonderful patterns and the fabric and goodies that did arrive at my house.

I don't do the whole new years resolution thingy, but I will be sharing what I would like to accomplish over this next year in the next day or so. Well I am finally getting sleepy so I will say good night or good morning where ever you are. I am off to get some much needed sleep.

May Gods' peace abound in your life

Happy Stitching

Wendy

2009 In Pics

                                                           
A year in pics! These are some of the things I did in 2009. Some were my personal projects, some rr's, some for swaps and gifts. Each item represents time spent stitching and creating. Some are new to me crafts such as knitting and beading. I hope to have even more this coming year.