April 2015 Blog Posts (37)

slowly picking away at the giant list of projects i need to complete. 

https://prairiecharm.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/oh-baby/

I was looking for an alternative tied quilt option and came across this Decatur Knot.  

Is anyone familiar with this method of tying quilts?  I was wondering if the knots held.  I like the idea of no tails, but I'm a little obsessive about making sure the knots stay tied.  It aggravates me to no end to tie a quilt and then have them come out in the wash or loosen up over time.  I've taken…

My sister remembers my mother making a quilt for her son when he was born.  Now her son is about to have a new baby and wanted a quilt like the one my mother made for him.  Only the new baby is going to be a girl.  This is what we came up with.  We are personalizing the clothing with baby's name and stats.  I will finish the bottom clothes (just patterns showing in the…

I had a fabulous time on my trip. Yes, the days on the bus were long but not awful but... the show was Fabulous!!! OMG I'm so glad I was able to go. Besides the show we went to the museum (which is worth the trip by itself). And there were other venues with quilts scattered around Paducah. Too much fun!

On our way home we stopped in Omaha, on a Sunday, and the wonderful people at the university showed us quilts from their collection and showed us around their the amazing quilt…

Recently, I have been decorating a guest bedroom for foreign exchange students with a series of projects in a neutral palette. I recently wrote about a modern Yo-Yo wall hanging I completed. To read about the construction and see the finished project, please click…

The owner of a local antique shop knows I love sewing machines.  John called me during the winter and said I have another Featherweight, however, it isn't a gem like the others.  After a few more snow storms I finally made it to the shop, and of course, said I'll take it!  I have oiled it and had the pedal wires changed today (thank you Andrew) and have decided that this is the Featherweight that I'll have custom painted.  Thinking green.  Any advice or suggestions from quilters who have a…

The first one is this little coverlet which was appliqued and embroidered by my mother-in-law in 1934 as she awaited the birth of her first child.  Regrettably, the baby was not to be, and it wasn’t until 1943, when she and my father-in-law adopted my DH as an infant that this coverlet finally was put to the use for which it was intended. Unlike a quilt, this coverlet is just two layers of cotton with no batting in between. The blocks were machine pieced and the top was closed after turning…

Thought I would let you all know about the Ziggy Table Runner blog I wrote for last Friday on Notions. The project was a small runner for a secretary/dresser in a guest bedroom for foreign exchange students. I've been making projects for the room in a neutral palette. Please click …

As I have been boring you all this month with my entries at a local quilt show, I thought I'd just give you a brief note on the results.

The show was wonderful -- so much talent in the neighborhood!  There were more than 200 entries and the big barn of a building at the fairgrounds was filled to overflowing.  I have never seen so many really excellent quilts in this show!

The competition was stiff, and I was fortunate to get a First Place for Cranberry Bear! (see my post "Quilt…

The weather has warmed up a bit, and our bulbs are emerging.

We also have daffodils, as do our neighbors. The ski resorts closed after Sunday's operation. Soon they will gear up for taking mountain bikers up the hill to ride down. DGD1 brought home her snowboard and boots to store until next year. The trails are drying out, as the snow line…

I know this isn't quilt related but I see other post other things so thought you might like to see what I have been working on.

These three journals are my samples for the Christmas in Paris (Ontario) sale in Nov.

Two of them have thread painting on and the other I tried my hand at felting a little sheep on the…

Hi, Well I haven't been posting for awhile because the projects I was working on had a hard fast deadline. Who has time to take pictures and updates a blog when a deadline looms? I did get done with both of them just in time!

Here's the Walking…

Guess my darling hubby and I must be getting too big for our britches and needed a wakeup as to what is important in life. LOL. Last Friday we went to the gym and met with our individual personal trainers for the second week of our "going to get healthy, do it right, or bust" mantra for the new year. Now keep in mind that we have been going to the gym off and on for the past two years we've been here in Florida and all without a problem. Ray has gone more than I have due to my spinal surgery…

Everyone was so nice with my request for advice here. So I thought I'd share what I just finished with an embroidery project. I haven't embroidered in years. This is a gift for my best girlfriend; she gave me the dish as a Christmas gift one year and it inspired my idea to do some embroidery. I'm quite happy with it. I padded the embroidery with a bit of batting, so I couldn't fit the glass back in the frame, but it still looks nice.…

I am a co-owner of the Piece Around the World group.  Last year 7 of us participated in our 1st row robin.  I choose a beach theme and am just tickled pink with the rows that everyone made for me.  I finished adding the borders to it this morning & here is a pic of it.  I hope to have it quilted, bound & labeled before the end of summer.…

So I need some advice. I made a quilt back, but I like it too much to be a backing for that particular quilt! I want it to be a front. So I have it laid out (a little sloppily, sorry) with a piece of fabric I'm thinking of using as a backing.  I know backings don't necessarily have to match the front, but do you think this looks good at all? It's CT fabric, called Soaked.  The patchwork is done in CT's Urban Odyssey, which goes back to 2012 at least. I hope this is a good enough picture to…

The April Sunshine Socks are finished and on my feet.





The pattern is "Sunshine" from Sock Innovation by Cookie A. Yarn Regia 4-fädig in "00017." I plan to make most of the socks from this book.



Not one to let grass grow under my feet, or DH's, for that matter, I…

Tomorrow (Saturday) I begin my trek with my BFF to Paducah for the show. It promises to have a few endless days on the bus followed by THE BIG SHOW and then a few more endless days. I 'm so excited! We will be on a bus with 35 other people who speak our language. I'll have do work on the bus (deadlines wait for nothing) but not in Paducah. And, I don't have to shop for groceries, cook, clean, etc.  I hope DH will remember to bring the plants in at night so they don't freeze.

And, if…

I have been sorting precut left over pieces. My goal was to get rid of one  30 gallon container. The goal is close to being made into four super scrape quilts. Another is in the making, but I am not getting too excited yet. I did stuff a pillow case and sorted the pieces while on trip back to Missouri last week. Just about now after four days of sewing have gone through the bag and trying to make the last quilt. It is so odd in colors and pieces I can see why I have UFO of started scrapes…