Been quilting at the monastery again!

I had sew much fun at the retreat this week. I really did not want to stop quilting and pack up the rig to come home!  I worked on my Twisting Turning Twenty and I got the top all finished. Ta-Da! I will post a photo of the quilt top soon.  I have to get ready for work tomorrow. Blah!

Clean out and Simplify -However, some things are meant to be saved

I have been cleaning out closets and drawers around the house. I have saved some linens (tablecloths, doilies, handkerchief's, and other embroidered items) for a quilt in the future. Many of these things were my Mom's, but I have some from other places/people, too. There are some things that have survived clean outs from past decades and will likely to survive again and again.  Below is a photo of my size 8 silver Connie platform shoes from 1975.  I actually wore these as late as 1987.  I must wear sensible shoes now, but these are keepers!

Snowman Trio

Below are the three quilted snowman wallhangings I made. I got the red one and pink one done the day before the last day of winter.  The pink one I gave to a co-worker's daughter, who is a pink-aholic.  I used a blanket stitch on the fuscia hat, to make it a bit more distinct.  From this distance the print looks like snowflakes, but they are not!  But that was my intention.  Happy Spring!

Happy One Year Anniversary -Gluten Free Quilter Blog!!

It was one year ago today, that I began tinkering with the attributes of blogdom.  I must say, I have enjoyed the learning, posting photos, and info on how to do odds and ends of quilt things.  I reference the books, magazines, and patterns that I use to make my creations, although a rarely follow the directions 100%.  I like my creations to be unique. I explain my ideas. I have so many ideas and not enough time to make them all. My stash is a sure-fire indicator!  I also experiment to learn new ways of doing things.  I was looking to cheat, and use my sewing machine to stitch that hat on the snowman wall hanging, so I spent four hours experimenting with the fancy stitches on my machine. I did turn out an unexpected wallhanging, that is somewhat crazy quiltish, but I didn't get the hat sewed on the snowman. I sat down and spent 20 minutes with needle and thread and had the hat hand sewn on. Some things just need hand sewing. It looks so nice!  Here is the wallhanging that grew out of my stitch experiment.

March and Beautiful

It is March and the weather is beautiful. The Knotty Quilters are planning their road trip to the Magic Valley to view all the beautiful and fun quilts at the Desert Sage Quilter's Magic Valley Quilt Show on the weekend of April 13 and 14.  I am all a-twitter!
     Also, we had a field trip to local quilt shop that I can never remember the correct name of.  It is Quilt Expressions.  We took the bow-tie quilt top, we all made together, and wheeled round the shop gathering bolts of fabric that were candidates for the back fabric and the binding fabric.  We definitely picked two winners!  This fine bow-tie quilt is in the final stages of really become a quilt. 
     I have been hooked on the little snowman wall hanging and have two more in the works: 1) is quilted and bound and is needing the hat, scarf, and buttons attached; 2) is quilted and partly bound and is blinding pink! My goal is to get them both completed by the last day of winter; March 20th!  Wish me luck! Luck O' the Irish!

February is still Winter: Snowman Wallhanging

I have been a maniac this month! I just finished this cutie-pie snowman on Feb. 22.  I completed two mini-quilts the week of Valentine's Day. I also did an experiment with my fancy stitches on my new Husquav sewing machine. I just got it at the end of August and I don't usually use the fancy stitches. I bet I will get the binding on that wallhanging, that I made from my experiment, by tomorrow evening, at The Confab.  That makes perfect sense!  The mini-quilts can be viewed on the link to the left, titled "Gluten Free Doll Quilts."  That page has been taken over by Kirsten Larsen (the American Girl Doll turned maniac quilter).
This little snowman, I started on Valentine's Day evening. It took me 1 hour and 45 minutes from start to having it sandwiched.  The buttons and hand sewing are not my favorite thing, so those parts took me longer. Plus, I had to go out and buy black snaps. All I had were silver ones!  The mouth is black snaps, while the other buttons are from my grandma and great-grandma's button tins/jugs.  I found the "Slim The Snowman" pattern in "Primitive Quilts and Projects" magazine, Vol 2, Issue 4.  It was sew e-z it blew my mind!  I want to make another with retro-green background and another with reds and whites, but another time.   I made mine a little wider and with a shorter hat. I like to be different. E-mail me with any questions. Thrilled to answer!

Welcome to Baby Girl Roy

Baby Girl Roy came into the world last weekend. Both Mom and baby doing well. Congratulations to the Roy Family!