A small finish is better than no finish at all...

Finally!  A Christmas finish to share (never mind that it is only 4 inches square...but it is hand-appliqued and hand-quilted). I love the back fabric on this ornament...the Santas are perfect and they came from my stash, which makes it even better.  Any time I see good, "concentrated Santa" fabric, I pick up a little.

The idea and pattern came out of this book by Nancy Halvorsen.

I was also inspired by my friend Julie Hacala's beautiful Christmas tree to make this silly little ornament.  I was careful this last week to crack the breakfast eggs VERY CAREFULLY so I would have some nice egg shell halves to paint.  I used a high gloss red craft paint and yellow pom poms.  I wish I had used smaller beads for eyes, but this is what I had on hand.  Thanks for the inspiration, Julie!

 

They aren't very Christmas-y, but they sure were fun to make!

I made these ornaments for our annual Sit & Stitch potluck and ornament exchange, which was held yesterday at The Quilting Season (thanks for the group picture, Ellen!).

 

We had a smaller group than usual due to illness, etc., but those of us there had a fabulous time.

 

Ellen, Beth, MaryLiz...

...Ursula, Margaret, Barb, Margit, Cheryl...

 

...Marilyn, Debby, Mary, Judy and Chris.

The pot luck food was awesome and the ornaments were all secretly stashed in identical plain brown bags in anticipation of us drawing numbers and playing our little selection game.

Lucky me!  I received a lovely reproduction log cabin ornament, made by Margit...

...and this cute Santa Claus, so cleverly made by Ellen.  I look forward to this ornament exchange all year, and I love putting up my tree and seeing all the handmade ornaments from years gone by.

Two or three posts ago, I showed this beautiful quilt made by my friend Mary Jones.

A few of you asked about the source of the pattern.  I dug around in the quilt cave (finally!) and found the right Nancy Halvorsen book..."Tidings."  Sorry for the delay in answering your questions.

The Christmas season seems a little "off" this year to me...anyone else experiencing the same thing?  We finally decorated our big indoor family tree last Sunday night.  After years of harvesting our own fresh tree, we bought an artificial tree last year.  It didn't seem right, but we suspect I have an allergy sensitivity to live trees.  This was the second year we struggled to put the 9-foot monstrosity together.  Finally, by 9:00 PM that Sunday night, the ornaments were on and everything all cleaned up so that we could just turn the lamps off and enjoy it.

Something didn't look quite right after about on hour. It looked like we didn't fluff the limbs enough or something. As I started fussing with things a little, I noticed a gap had developed between the middle and bottom tree sections.  Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the limbs had either broken or stretched the plastic that was supporting them.  I have a lot of ornaments on my tree, but they are mostly lightweight.  The plastic was almost stretchy...what a crappy tree!

Monday it was worse, and on Tuesday, I "undecorated" the tree to reveal this:

The lower, splayed branches were "pancaking" and sagging toward the floor.  We bought this tree because it wasn't very dense and could accommodate lots of ornaments, all through the tree.  So I drove to Plymouth to buy a NEW artificial tree...one with METAL HARDWARE and a WARRANTY.  I came home to a message on my phone that the store had loaded the wrong tree in my car and that I needed to come back for a swap.  I came home a second time, removed the rest of the ornaments, and kicked the old tree to the curb.  The old tree had LED lights that were too stark, the lights were only at the branch tips and they didn't have the charm of the older lights.  The new tree has more traditional lights and also has a slimmer profile, so it fits in our house better (still 9 feet tall!).  I ended up driving 140 miles to get the new tree, return home, get again and come home again, and I spent the rest of the day trimming the tree...again.  It's funny...now.

MUCH better!  I had never heard of a tree actually failing before.  The branch-looking things at the top are sprigs with leaves and red jingle bells...ho-ho-HO!

It just seems like everything is harder this Christmas...schedules are harder to pound out and coordinate, small tasks are taking a long time to accomplish, people are grumpier and some people are downright SNARKY!  I hope things get better for the last 2 weeks before Christmas.  When out in public, I'm trying to smile more, be more patient, open doors for people, put more money in the "red kettles," and try to "pay it forward" as much as possible.  I think the bad economy and uncertain times are affecting everybody.  I think we all need a big "group hug!"

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

New Quilt Shop in Ann Arbor!!

Welcome to Quality Quilting of Ann Arbor, Michigan!  Owners Jim and Rhonda Loy are excited to add this store to their already thriving machine quilting business that has been servicing the Dexter/Ann Arbor area for many years.  Ola, Mary, and Sabrina are looking forward, along with Jim and Rhonda, to meeting you and helping continue your ongoing quilting adventure.

The shop is conveniently located near the intersection of I-94 and State Street in Ann Arbor, 625 State Circle (State Circle is the first street just southwest of I-94 at State Street - just a few buildings down on the right).  Just inside, you are transported to a beautiful world of

inspiration.

This area features seasonal selections and new lines of fabric. 

In addition, the main room also features baby and kid prints, a color blender wall, and other lines.

Fabric, books, patterns, thread, notions, batting, kits,...it's all here...everything needed from start to finish.

The reproduction room is to die for...an entire room dedicated to the fabric of a time gone by, along with books and patterns.

 

And there's a room dedicated to stitchery and related arts, complete with a big table to stitch around.  

Lots of patterns, floss, trims, pearl cotton...and they carry Cosmo embroidery floss!  Crabapple Hill, Anne Sutton, Bird Brain...all your favorite pattern companies (and a few surprises) await you!

There is a wonderful classroom with good lighting, both natural and not.  I just arranged to teach two classes in January...hand-applique and hand quilting.  Give them a call and sign up...I'd love to see you there!

Here is co-owner Jim Loy, looking forward to meeting you and setting you on the path to quilt happiness.  He and his wife Rhonda bought the business that used to be Wendy's Simple Stitches in Howell.  They are excitedly ordering fabrics, etc. to add to and blend with the existing inventory.  And of course, you can drop off your finished quilt tops here for excellent machine quilting.  They also offer machine binding (can you imagine??).  Soon I would like to get pictures from their quilting facility in Dexter to share with you...there are no words for the excitement felt while standing in a room where 4 quilting machines are going!

Ann Arbor quilters are lucky to have great shops so close:

Quality Quilting - 625 State Circle, Ann Arbor, 48106, (734) 929-5169
The Quilting Season - 7025 E. Michigan Ave., Saline, 48176, (734) 429-2900
Leubu's - 1960 S. Industrial, Suite C, Ann Arbor, 48104, (734) 663-3033   (where I bought my fabulous
          sewing machine this year...)
Ann Arbor Sewing Center - 5235 Jackson R., Ann Arbor, 48103, (734) 761-3094
Jennifer's Quilt Shop - 147 N. Howell, Pinckney, 48169, (734) 878-6188
Lake Street Mercantile - 15 E. Lake Street, South Lyon, 48176, (248) 486-4411

Grab a buddy or two and take a road trip.  Make a day of it!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

"Crock Pot" quilt project...

Happy Monday!  I've been slowly finishing these Blackbird Design hand-appliqued baskets.  This is my "CROCK POT" project - it is a SLOW COOKER!!!  (get it?!?)  This quilt was inspired by the book "When the Cold Wind Blows" from Blackbird Designs.  I keep a number of the blocks prepped and ready to go in my magic box, along with thread, scissors, etc.  I work on them in meetings, in the car waiting for my daughter, and in small cracks of time.  The finished ones were piling up, so I decided it was time to soak the glue out, press them dry, and trim to the final unfinished size of the block, 5.5 inches...

...and COUNT them...

...I've finished 126.  I don't really know how many I am going to make.  I am going to make a bed-sized quilt.  I think the one in the book has about 300 blocks in it.  I'm encouraged that I had to fill my tables more than twice to photograph all of them.  I've been at this a while, and I will be at it a bit longer, it seems...

I am using only reproduction fabrics - basket fabrics appearing only once, each neutral featured more than once.  I started out cutting brown baskets, then gold/cheddar baskets, then black ones, then red ones, then green.  I've got more red, green and black ones prepped, then I will start cutting out blue baskets, then maybe the pinks and double pinks.

The quilt in the book only featured gold/cheddar, brown and black baskets, but I thought I would expand the pallet a bit.

I so love the fabrics!  I figure this quilt will be a snapshot of my repro fabric stash at this moment in time.  I love scrappy...it ALL works and I don't have to make any fabric decisions.

Thank you for all your suggestions on the free-pieced scrappy hearts that I posted about last time.  I've had a little computer trouble and not responded to your comments...I hope to do that soon now that things are working again.  I hope to devote an evening this week to putting the hearts together with my log cabin blocks to birth a completed quilt top.

I've also been making more blocks of the scrappy bright and black flip-and-sew project.  Don't you just love the fabric with the woman's head on it??  I think that was a Jo Morton fabric...

And "Boxer Rebellion" (a.k.a. the underwear quilt) is nearly completely hand quilted! 

Baby steps...

Lots of baby steps...on EVERYTHING!  Quilt projects, stronger lungs/health every day, return to the walking program and weight loss, original quilt pattern drafting...it's a good thing I am a patient person, in for the long haul.  Nothing in my life is accomplished quickly these days.

As much as I love the holidays, they are difficult on many levels.  There is a lot of need for fabric therapy in my life right now with the Christmas season and some difficult issues ongoing in my extended family.  But I'm sure I'm not alone and the only one thinking this way.  I'm trying to focus this December on the things about the holidays that make me smile...children singing, outdoor Christmas lights, handmade ornaments, jingle bells, seasonal music, candlelight, random acts of kindness, hot homemade soup, my daughter and husband, and my cat scheming to get the ornament with the peacock feather on it (I won't be smiling if he climbs the Christmas tree to get it...).  Me-OW!!

In stitches,
Teresa   :o)

Be still my crazy-patched heart...

Well, I've been messing around with strippy, free-pieced hearts.  I have 120 green/neutral scrappy log cabin blocks that I am putting into a quilt for our bed.  I thought adding hearts would personalize it a bit so it wouldn't be just another log cabin quilt.  And, after all, it is a gift for my better half.  (And no...not an apology for the snarky underwear wall hanging...)  The blocks are 4 inches square and will finish 3.5 x 3.5.

I like the idea that they are scrappy and haphazard at best.  Sort of reminds me of the human heart...our hearts are constantly broken and re-made as we go through life, stronger and stronger as we grow older.

                

Have you seen the movie "How to Make an American Quilt?"  When making a block to represent 'where love resides' in her life, Marianna made a crazy-patched heart and talked about love being represented by a "multitude of patches."  I loved that...

These are a little doinky and pointy on the sides, but once they are seamed in, that will 'round' them up a bit.

The thought of making enough of these to go around a queen/king quilt doesn't appeal to me.  So I made 18 hearts- one for every year we've been married.  Now I just need to figure out how to incorporate them into the design.

I'm thinking I will arrange them vertically, nine on the top left, nine on the bottom right...need to think more on that.  I need to piece those 120 blocks together...ugh.  I think that is my least favorite part of quilt-making...sewing all the blocks together into the top.  Because they are scrappy, I need to lay the the log cabins out and make sure I like the distribution of the scraps.  That takes up a lot of space, and this is going to be a HUGE quilt.

The first Valentine's Day card Steve ever gave me had a saying that I really liked and kept all these years..."Very fine is my Valentine...very fine and very mine."  I'll have to put that on the label.  (Or maybe letters in the borders????  I may NEVER finish this quilt as I add more and more stuff!)

In stitches (and still in love...),
Teresa  :o)