come tarry with me

some lovelies and my iPad cover

2012-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with these before Christmas and, so, bought myself a prezzie, or three or five, of these
and I made this iPad cover for the iPad I won! I hardly ever win, compared to how many giveaways/raffles I used to enter.

I used a tutorial from www.oneshabbychick.typepad.com to make it. It was easy and quick.

Gotta run! I hope your weekend is wonderful!

~ Jodi ~

New curtains...

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I bought these panels from Target for $6 and change. Tara www.thetinyhummingbird.blogspot.com gave me her fabric scraps and I used some of them for the tie-backs. (January 21, our first real snowfall this winter, can be seen through the window, and today it reached 58 degrees, January 24!)

Aren't they pretty? I almost didn't buy them, thinking that I can make curtains, but, yeah, okay, I've been "thinking" that for well over a year! So, thank you, Target, and/or whoever your buyer is.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
~ Jodi ~

lending help or hair?

2012-01-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

Can you see Lacey there? She's showing up very dark in this picture, although she's gray, not black. Every time I step away from FMQing this quilt she hops up and snuggles in. Good thing I wash my quilts when they're complete; otherwise, it would be pretty hairy. I'm almost done with the quilting, then I can put the binding and label on and give it to Kim, finally. It was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but as you know, my Brother went kaflooey (sp?) shortly before Christmas, so that went out the window. And I've been so enamored of paper piecing the little houses, that I must admit I've been neglectful of my "obligations." (Sorry, Kate) I will get to my sister's quilt, too, after Kim's is done. And then there's Kathy's blue and white quilt...

another Christmas gift that wasn't. I gave the top to Kathy to make sure it is big enough for her king-size bed. She says yes. I'm not so sure. The above pic is showing it on my bed while I was laying the blocks out for placement. And Lacy was helping there, also. Now I need to get it back from Kathy so I can finish it.

I hope you all have recovered from the holidays and are back in the swing of things, keeping any resolutions you made, and sewing at least 15 minutes a day! (Hello, Mary - how that FMQing coming along?)

May you all bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

I've succumbed!

2012-01-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

I know I'm not the only one, right, Pokey? Making these little 3-inch scrappy houses is so much fun. If you are interested, visit here: http://buildinghousesfromscraps.blogspot.com/. Jeanneke from the Netherlands has got us going.

I've made five so far, but I need to catch up. The idea is to make 366, one each day this year (a leap year). Then sew sashing and cornerstones for, a quilt, of course!

Next time I post I hope to have lots more done, along with some quilt finishes and progress on my sister's.

Till then, thanks for tarrying with me a bit!

~ Jodi ~

2012-01-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

Is this pretty, or what?

Or at least these pics, which are better:

I never realized how nice browns, pinks and reds go together.

My Brother broke at THE worst possible time, four weeks before Christmas. So plans of giving two people quilts as gifts were foiled. But I HAD to sew (I'm using a borrowed machine which just does basic stitching). I used up these scraps and have decided to make a table runner which I will keep for myself. The strip at the bottom of the above pic is part of a border that I'm still working on. This pic below is showing my leaders and enders quilt growing. I just love how bright and cheery it is.

Thanks for looking! You know those times when you are so excited and in love with what you're working on that you just HAVE to show someone? This was one of those times! My hubs is outside working on his ~~junk~~ antique car(s), so not only is he filthy, but he's not so interested either.

Take care, everyone - I hope your second day of 2012 is going well.

~ Jodi ~

2011-12-31T05:13:00.000-08:00

Another year almost gone, another one fast approaching. In 2011 you looked at my photos, read my complaints, answered my questions for help, encouraged and inspired me in all sorts of ways, and for all that, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I'm looking forward to a great year in quilting, but most of all, I'm looking forward to what God has in store for me as I begin the year with a new Bible study and commit myself to opening my heart and mind even further to his teaching and leading.
One very important goal for my physical health is to lose a few (ahem) pounds, and for my emotional health, to be content where I am no matter my circumstances, to lower my expectations of others and raise my own, and to find the true joy that I know is in my heart that the Holy Spirit keeps trying to show me, to have less of a poor me attitude, and more of finding my true happiness in the Lord and not looking for other people or material things to make me happy.
So, my friends, thanks once again for "listening" and Happy New Year to you!

Mug rugs and Christmas Yankee swap quilt

2011-12-16T07:48:00.000-08:00

Bonnie from http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2011/12/mug-rug-in-hurry-free-from-me.html posted free paper-piecing patterns for these little darlings! Thanks, Bonnie!

My brother and his wife went home with this lap quilt:

I had trouble saying good-bye! It was fun to slowly add fabrics to it over time. I was inspired by Victoria at http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/2011/12/collaborations.html.

I pieced the top a while ago and then finished it up last week for our family Christmas party. I think he likes it!

Those flower pots (on their sides!) were feed sacks! Soft as butter!

and the back:

My sweet sister "won" it but graciously gave it to him because she knew he really wanted it. I am blessed with some wonderful siblings!

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend! May you bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

I'm back so soon,

2011-12-14T03:53:00.000-08:00

to show you some of what I HAVE been doing while neglecting my blog. Here's a peak of a lap quilt I made and gave at our family Christmas yankee swap:

My bro took it home, now I need to get it back to wash it, sign it, and take more pics.
And I have been working on my sister's anniversary quilt, with many interruptions, though:

Thanks to all who gave me advice and instructions! Very helpful, and I was able to figure it out thanks to my blogging friends!
I also am making a quilt for my friend, Kim. Big 8" blocks with some sashing and I'll be finished:

And one more (like I NEED another project?) a mystery quilt my Monday night quilt class is starting:

So not a lot of finishes, but I have been very busy. But guess what? My sewing machine took the worst possible time to take a sabbatical! She's in the shop for repair - ugh! A great friend lent me her sewing machine so I'm still making SOME progress. No FM or darning feet, though! Anthony better hurry fixing my Brother!

Have a marvelous day!

~ Jodi ~

It's been a while,

2011-12-13T04:11:00.000-08:00

but I'm still here,

busy plugging away at various and sundry activities. This is up on my design wall - a scrap quilt that I'm working on in between other projects. These blocks are two HSTs, scraps from my blue and white quilt (except for those gold pieces, which is yet another project in the works):

so, two HSTs sewn together:

then 1 1/2" squares sewn into four patches:

then a four patch sewn to the two HSTs: (grrrr, why did this next pic flip sideways???)

and another going in the other direction:

to make a 4 1/2" block:

which I will need about a trillion blocks to make a quilt! But it's mindless work and I love it!

I also made some blocks in this layout:

but I like the white on the outside better.

Well, I have lots to show you, but I should be getting ready for work right now, so I gotta skedaddle! I hope to be back real soon! Take care, my friends! Have a blessed day!

~ Jodi ~

My crumb quilt

2011-11-12T09:25:00.000-08:00

top is finished, except for the borders.

and a black and white shot to make changes in placement of blocks - hmmm, it ain't easy!

I picked this up at a "yard" sale at Rhode Island School of Design. It's an interesting textile, not sure what, but I like it, and it was only $1.

Now for a question: I've done paper-piecing before, but I can't figure this out. I printed out this pattern online. But how do I place the rectangle piece of fabric so it covers the template properly?

Here's a photo of part of the pattern, (which I got from QuiltShopCarousel.com.) It's called "Martinique."

If anyone has any words of wisdom for me, I would appreciate it! My sister is supposed to look it over for me and try and help. She LOVES paper piecing - me, not so much! :-)

Anyway, I hope you all are well! I've been neglecting my blog lately. I have so little time to sew that I've opted to do that every chance I get lately. And Monday I'm leaving for Florida for five days, so I won't be around till next weekend. Have a great week, everyone! May you bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

Royal mail

2011-10-23T05:54:00.000-07:00

Liberty of London charming charm squares:

These came from Organic Stitch Co. in the UK. It was a pack of charm squares so I couldn't pick each fabric individually, but I'm pretty happy with the selection I received, and there are quite a few more that I didn't show you. But that Hello Kitty is a fat eighth, and where did that come from? I don't remember ordering that! I have a great niece who's into Hello Kitty so I'll give it to her Mame (grandma) who can make her a little something with it.

My husband and I went to LaSalle Academy's (his alma mater) 140th anniversary celebration last night. We came home with these pretties:

Have a wonderful Sunday!

~ Jodi ~

New endeavor and a completion:

2011-10-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

About to start a quilt I promised my sister for her 30th wedding anniversary back in May.

And I finished this quilt for my SIL:

My grandson is going to be a musician, like his dad, who was at work when pic was taken, and his Uncle Brendan! And one more pic of Ezra and his mom, Tara:

In just a couple of weeks on November 1, we'll be celebrating his 1st birthday!

Happy Autumn and happier quilting/sewing!

~ Jodi ~

Crumbing away...

2011-10-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

and a bit stalled on my blue and white quilt:

but I'm almost finished hand-sewing the binding on my sister-in-law's quilt that I showed the previous post.
And I took some time out to make this little mug rug for the judge I work for. She admired the one on my desk. She's did an Ironman (for those who are unfamiliar, you run, bicycle, and swim, at least I think those are the three elements) and the Ironman coffee mug she received are these colors, so she asked me to match it. I think it came out pretty good, considering I didn't have the mug in front of me to match:

Happy Columbus Day Weekend to those in the States, and Happy Thanksgiving to you who are celebrating Thanksgiving!
~ Jodi ~

Coming along

2011-10-04T03:29:00.000-07:00

A while back I went to a Stack and Slash class and used a Dream On layer cake. I was not thrilled with the results so I put the blocks away for a while. Then when I was talking about making my SIL (who is very ill with lung cancer) a quick quilt, my sister reminded me about these blocks, so out they came, and, voila!

I started quilting it Sunday and hope to have it complete by next Sunday.

This cabinet used to house cassette tapes. I had the bright idea of cleaning it out and using it for my fat quarters. So now it sits in my sewing room full of FQs!

Here's some close ups of my pretties:

Time to get ready for work. Was going to complain there for a second, but then I thought, wait! Be happy you have a job, and I AM, very thankful I have a job, AND a wonderful family, AND a warm, dry home, etc., etc.! Have a thankful day, my wonderful friends!

~ Jodi ~

Fabulous farmer's market this damp Saturday morning!

2011-10-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this bounty with you all: organic parsnips, carrots, green beans, two varieties of kale, beets, scallions, cauliflower, and a jar of pickled rainbow cauliflower. Also, rosemary olive oil bread, and a small piece of local swordfish which I quickly put in the fridge when I got home. I had a blast! So many local farmers, a beautiful venue (Blackstone Boulevard park in Providence), I imagined it would be wonderful, and I was not disappointed in the least! Now to find a great soup recipe!

Enjoy your Saturday, my bloggy friends, and fit in some sewing, even 15 minutes at least!

Paper-piecing prairie tablecloth

2011-09-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

Please ignore the ugly hammock but it was all I could come up with at 7 a.m. to get this pic taken.

The "fields" in the middle look horrible, I think. Too traditional for the modern paper-pieced borders, but, oh, well.

See the schoolhouse with flag and fencing?

And the church with stained-glass windows up above?

For the backing I used this nice Kaffe Fassett that I got for 40% off - yippee!

Going to be doing some basting today, and then some hand-quilting. I'm going to try to make the icky prairie in the middle more modern. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe some Aurifil thread? Never used it before, though.

BTW, I lost a follower. Maybe because I don't blog often enough, or just nothing to their liking? Maybe they have too many blogs to follow in their reader? I know I do! I can't keep up but I don't want to miss anything, either! Or am I just nosy?

I hope you all are well! Please give me some insight on how I can make my blog better - or, better yet, wait till I redo my header, design, etc.

Have a wonderful weekend! May you bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

First day of Autumn!

2011-09-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

But my morning glories are still blooming every morning.

And Ezra on Labor Day at a family cookout.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Okay, so my life has been in...

2011-09-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

disarray:

But look at my cute little Tomte doll:

and one more:

She's a bit wonky, but it was fun making her. The pattern is from the "Scandinavian Stitches" book, http://syko.typepad.com/syko/2010/11/on-tour.html.

Here's something else I accomplished recently:

I made this quilt last Christmas for my family Christmas party Yankee swap. I told my niece (the winner of it) I needed it back to complete the quilting, which I finally did this week. I had difficulty parting with it at the time, but I was rushing to finish it the morning of the party so it didn't bother me too much. Now that I've had it back in my home for the past month or so, I hate giving it back! I LOVE it. It's soft as butter, and the colors are wonderful, especially the buttery yellow border.

(Not-so-nice head shadow - a professional photog I certainly don't pretend to be)

It's going to be a chilly weekend - my niece will be very glad to have it back to snuggle under!

Tomorrow is Friday - yaaay! Happy weekend, everyone!

~ Jodi ~

Another UFO...

2011-08-31T06:00:00.000-07:00

which one of these days I DO plan on getting back to, but not just yet. I'm having fun making baby quilts and Tomte dolls, both I hope to show you by the end of this week.

These are called Pies and Tarts which I started over a year ago. All hand-sewn and received monthly in the mail from an online shop. It quickly got ahead of me and I was feeling overwhelmed.

My hubs and I went to Brenton Point in Newport last Saturday, the day before Hurricane Irene hit Rhode Island. It was foggy and misty, and the waves were pretty much status quo at that point. On Sunday, I'm sure, it was a whole 'nother story. We lost our electricity at about 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning but were fortunate enough to have it back on at around 7 p.m. the same night. Some of our poor family members and neighbors still don't have power.
I hope all of you are doing well! I've been a bad blogger the past, I don't know how long! I have been checking my feed, just haven't felt like posting. My blog has somehow reverted to an old format and it's a pain to post. When I download a pic, it shows up on the screen as all code symbols so I lose track of where I am. It's about time I revamped my blog anyway. A sit-down with my daughter is in order. She won't mind helping me, right, Ta??? Good thing she loves me and has LOTS of patience!
Take care, everyone!
~ Jodi ~

I'm sure it's been done...

2011-08-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

although I couldn't find anything like it when I googled "fabric toilet paper holder", but here's MY design, which does need major tweaking, I will admit:

I want to figure out how to make a lid for it, too, but I just wanted to try something different.
I also found this, which my favorite lunch cafe was throwing out because the spigot doesn't work anymore. And I decided to display my heirloom tomatoes in it for fun!

I hope you all are well, whether heading into fall or heading into spring, depending on where you live on this big 'ole Earth. I do enjoy reading your posts, even if they make me drool and wish even more that I had all day and night to quilt (sometimes I wish I didn't have to sleep!) And I love seeing the pictures of your vacation spots!
So take care, till you tarry with me again...
~ Jodi ~

"No one can find the rewind button, girl...

2011-08-09T16:33:00.000-07:00

so cradle your head in your hands, and just breathe, just breathe!" (by Anna Nalick)

That's ALMOST what I had to do Saturday when I finished the list! I wish I could have pushed the rewind button and NOT gone looking for all my projects! I will explain.
I've noticed how some bloggers are making lists of WIPs, (works in progress), or UFOs (unfinished objects), so I thought I would do the same - boy, was I surprised, and not so pleasantly at first. I filled up a whole page of projects! I thought I knew all my starts and stalls and distractions, but I forgot about a bunch of them!
The above is a pic of scraps from a project I started back in January of 2010. It was a quilt-a-long hosted by Sugar Stitches, and this is the state of it now, still unfinished. I have quite a few blocks made, maybe even all I need to make, I didn't count how many.

There was a lot of waste, so from large triangle pieces I cut these little 2 1/2" squares, LOTS of them, which I hope to maybe make a table runner, or small quilt out of:

and I still ended up with the scraps in that first pic above, which shows the leftover-leftover scraps which measure at about 2 1/2" across at their widest point, and they're 5 1/2" long. All the 5 1/2" long scraps are in multiples, some seven pieces, some less, but most have more than two each. Oh, and MOST of the fabrics are Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley. I'm telling you all this because I'm thinking of giving them away. I know some people do like to work with little tiny pieces of fabric and with all you creative, artistic minds, I'm sure somebody could create something beautiful out of these babies. Any interest?
Get ready over the next week or so to see the rest of my WIPs. Those of you who have been with me for a while hopefully won't be bored, but it's helpful for me to see where I'm at and maybe get my butt in gear and finish all these starts, AND STOP STARTING NEW PROJECTS! (But it's so much fun, isn't it???)
I hope you are all well this evening! It's 7:24 p.m. Tuesday night in my little speck of the world - a rather muggy rainy evening. May you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Is my blog versatile?

2011-08-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

First a picture of what I've just finished tonight, the quilting of this baby quilt:

I did free-motion quilting. It came out, ehh. Two small puckers, and I was aiming for meandering. Hmmmm. I'll let it go at that. Notice there are no close-up pictures :-)
Next, I've been very remiss in acknowledging an award I received from Michele of Island Life Quilts. She gave me the honor of giving me the Versatile Blogger Award back in May, and it came at a very busy and kind of demanding period in life as I know it, so I'm just getting around now to following through with the acceptance of it. The deal is I get to tell you seven things about myself that you might not know, (nor care to, either). Then I give the award to five people (I think it's five!).
So sit back and read for a minute or two, if you'd like, of course.
1. I am left-handed. When I was in early elementary school, the nuns tried to bully me into changing hands, but my mom wouldn't hear of it and went into school and told them in no uncertain terms, no way, she was born left-handed, she's staying left-handed. Yaaay, Mom!
2. I had been coloring my hair since I was about 25 yrs old due to going prematurely gray, and one and a half years ago when I turned 50, I went au naturale - gray/white/silver, whatever!
3. The year I turned 50, I became a grandmother to Ezra.
4. The year I turned 50, I had a total hip replacement.
5. I love to bicycle in the good weather and ride about 30 miles a week, not much, but I love it. And I've been walking/jogging about 12 miles a week.
6. I am a court reporter and work in Superior Court.
7. I learned to water ski as a child on a lake, but my parents sold the beach house and that was the end of that.

Now I will give the award to five bloggers who, when I see their blog name pop up in Google, I get a little swell of excited anticipation, knowing that what I'm about to read or look at is going to be fantastic!
1. www.thetinyhummingbird.blogspot.com (of course!)
2. www.helennoblog.blogspot.com
3. www.minimushrooms.blogspot.com
4. www.ilovescruffydog.blogspot.com
5. www.linseed-helicopter.blogspot.com

Thanks for staying with me, if you did! I could have had a list a mile long. Decisions, decisions!
Tell we tarry again, may you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Hotdogs or hot studs?

2011-07-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'll let you be the judge of that! (Although if you're under the age of 40, you might want to scroll quickly down to the quilty portion of this post NOW!

We went to breakfast last Saturday with my sister and BIL and brought my camera to take pics of our new 241 Tote bags designed by Anne Graham of http://www.noodle-head.com. Our husbands thought our displaying of our bags in the apple tree was lame, so they decided to model them for us.

Ummm, I really like the apple tree pictures, don't you??? We did have fun making the bags, even though we had some problems of our own doing. At first I wanted to blame the pattern, but then my sister realized it was our own ineptness that was getting us all in a tizzy. SHE figured out the confusion, then we were off and running and finished the bags in about four hours, instead of the two it should have taken.
I have this baby quilt

basted and ready to be quilted. Then I'm going to start the boy baby quilt which I showed you a bit ago.
When I get bored with the blue and white quilt, which I have thirty-six 12 1/2 inch blocks done so far, out of sixty-something needed to be complete,

I work on these:

which are seven 1-inch squares by seven 1-inch squares. I got the idea from Katy of http://imagingermonkey.blogspot.com/. Her blog is fabulous - you should check it out. I'll be putting up more pics of my blocks and asking for input on what solid color I should use for the solid blocks. (I don't think I'm supposed to have any solid in what I've already done - oops!) Has anyone seen these quilts, some called scrap vomit, and on Flickr? The ones I've seen, like Katy's, are 2-inch squares finished, so twice the size of mine. I love Katy's, it's gorgeous and fun!

High heat equals fat ankles, and various and sundry other pics.

2011-07-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

Do you know what this is? Not the fat ankles, but the fabric thingy? My daughter made me this nice camera strap! I forgot to take a pic before I put it on the boring black strap, but you can see it good enough in these pics. She's very thoughtful and has good taste. She also is the mom of Ezra, my grandson!

I haven't posted in a while because I've been too busy making these:

And there are more, but I left them inside the house during my photo session and it was 104 degrees, so I was too hot to schlep back inside to retrieve them. Plus, after looking at a few of them, I think they all start to look alike unless you're viewing them in the flesh - um, fabric!
I also want to show you these, but I'm almost embarrassed by this. Although the fabric-buying frenzy WAS over a period of quite a few months (I think, I hope, I imagine, I pretend...)
But feast your eyes on this prettiness and enjoy:
This group of fabrics is for a baby boy quilt I must get started on, and soon:

I already made the Sherbet Pips baby girl quilt, and have started another baby girl quilt made with the Castle Peeps fabric.

This fabric is from www.saraleeparker.info. It's handprinted in Georgia, 55% hemp, 45% organic cotton, and I LOVE it:

Then there's this fabric for more of the Japanese x and + blocks which I love making and I showed you a few sometime ago:

And these I haven't decided what to do with yet, but I love the brightness.

I hope it's not too hot where you guys are! I know some of you are in the middle of winter, but we're in a scorching heat wave which is supposed to break Sunday, or so the weathermen are predicting. Let's hope they're right!
Have a great weekend, wherever you are and whatever you do! May you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Blue and white quilt (Elizabeth Hartman's Superstar)

2011-07-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

As usual, my photos are lacking in clarity and color accuracy, but these are the first few blocks I made. I have 22 made so far, which I will post pics of later, don't worry :-) using various and sundry fabrics, mostly blue and white.

I want to thank Pokey and Pip for the tips on fraying. My next trip to the fabric store will include those supplies. And thanks for all the anniversary wishes - we had a wonderful day on Jamestown (do you say "on" when you're on an island?)
I am STILL having trouble commenting on some blogs, so if you haven't heard from me, it's not from lack of trying! Very frustrating! ESPECIALLY when it's a great giveaway I want to enter!
Humor me while I post one pic of my darling Ezra:

Sleeping so peacefully in their tent while camping out! Might I say the quilt that grandma made is the reason for the comfyness?
Have a great day, everyone! May you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Fishy Onesie

2011-07-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

I made this onesie for Ezra a couple of months ago, but don't think I posted any pics. I came across the pics on my camera card the other day and thought I would show you.

I machine-appliqued the gnome fabric on, but Tara informed me that it's starting to fray after several washings. Oh, well. That gives me an excuse to make some more. He's probably outgrown it now anyway.
I've been so busy sewing in my free time that I haven't posted in a while, but soon I will show you what I'm working on. And it's not the Farmer's Wife blocks, either. I think those are going to remain UFOs (unfinished objects) for quite a while, as I made some poor decisions and can't get my enthusiasm worked up for them anymore. Oh, well - live and learn!
Have a great Monday!
~ Jodi ~

Baby girl Pips and a Mother's Day gift!

2011-06-30T05:05:00.000-07:00

This is a baby girl quilt for a friend/neighbor who is expecting in September. They have decided to be surprised with the baby's gender, so Tara suggested I make two quilts, one for a boy and one for a girl. (I haven't started the boy's yet - better get moving on that!)
I bought two yards of the Sherbet Pips fabric from a quilt show in New York, and the rest on the internet (I forget which site).

Do you see that label on the bottom right? Matt and Tara gave me a lifetime supply of these beautiful fabric labels. Some time ago I sent Tara a bunch of links and asked her to design some for me, as I felt too inept to accomplish the task and she has a knack for things like that. This is what she came up with:

Isn't it great? I love the colors she chose and the cup and saucer. Perfect for what I want to convey: sit and tarry with me for a bit while you peruse my blog. I still need to hand-sew the label on completely, thus the pins. Tara ordered the labels from Spoonflower, in case you're interested.

On another note, my Farmer's Wife blocks are NOT coming along so well! It seems every block I have some sort of problem! I'm almost ready to throw in the farmer's wife's kitchen towel :-) Are any of you making these blocks? I know I see a lot of the bloggers I follow doing them, some with no complaints, some with similar complaints as mine.
Today the love of my life and I are celebrating our 31st anniversary, which was June 28. We're going to spend the day on Jamestown (a small island about 35 minutes away). We're bringing our bikes, our bathing suits, and clothes to change into so at the end of the day we can have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Trattoria Simpatico. They have al fresco dining and the food is spectacular! I hope you all enjoy your day as much as I'm sure we will enjoy ours!
Take care, and may you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Elusive...

2011-06-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

"Birds in the Air".

I tried to cut too many of these triangles at the same time and wound up with a mess and had to ditch those and try again. Then I sewed them together incorrectly! But FINALLY, I had some success.

And this one is called "Bouquet". (For the Farmer's Wife Sampler, in case you don't know what I've been up to.) I find the hardest thing, though, is picking the fabrics. Maybe I need a bigger stash! Ha! Then I would probably be TOTALLY overwhelmed, instead of just partially!
Let me say welcome to my newest follower today: Kathryn! I was hovering at 79 followers for quite some time, and I've always had a slight aversion to uneven numbers, so now I'm happy to be at 80! Silly, I know, but I hope the next time the number goes up it goes up by two, and every time after that! JK!
Have a wonderful weekend, and may you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

A tisket, a tasket, an orange polka-dot basket...

2011-06-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

... with no handle!

I'm not quite sure how to do it. There's a long straight template to be cut on the bias, and another one that is in the shape of a handle. Why two? I guess I'll figure it out. But Retro-Fabulous mentioned she would be posting a tute on how to do it, and I'm going to check Google Reader as soon as I've finished this post to see if she did yet.
And here's three other Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks I made last night:

Does it look like I'm getting the hang of value in my fabric choices? I hope so! This Farmer's Wife Sampler so far is teaching me a lot and I'm thoroughly enjoying it!
I'm also quilting a baby quilt, but I keep jumping back and forth between the two projects. Oh, and I'm still cutting fabric for the blue and white quilt I'm making using a pattern from O'Fransson. I'll show pics of those sooner or later, don't you worry! :-)
Well, have a wonderful day! May you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

Two complete 6-inch Farmer's Wife blocks

2011-06-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

"Attic windows" on left, "Autumn Tints" on right. Tara and Carolyn both gave me the thumb's up on my fabric choices for Autumn Tints, but wait, in the book the Autumn Tints is done in Autumn colors - oh, well! I didn't even think of that! Ha! The "Attic Windows" block might just need a do-over - not enough contrast going on.
And in case you were wondering, this is a quilt-along by Amanda and Angela, and you can see all the blocks everyone is making on Flickr, of course.
That's it for now - enjoy your weekend!
~ Jodi ~

The Farmer's Wife Sampler

2011-06-17T04:44:00.000-07:00

quilt along. I couldn't find this book:

at Joann Fabrics (50% off coupon), but I DID find it at Barnes and Noble. So I made up my first block last night - disastrous! I am right back to struggling with fabric choices, AND I goofed cutting out one of the templates - did it backwards, apparently. Here's the block pattern,

and here's my fabric selections and goof - yicky.

Here's the next block:

And my selection of fabrics for that one:

Any suggestions on these or the previous ones on how to make it more appealing???

And I have sent out everyone's giveaway winnings (except for Frauke - today is the day, though, Frauke!) I hope they are arriving at your doorsteps/mailboxes.
Thanks for all your comments on my previous post about the potting bench - great suggestion, Pip, about the cream underneath and a blue on top. I'm going to buy the paint this weekend, I hope. And, Pokey, I have seen the bowls made into pin cushions! Darling idea! Thanks for the reminder!
Okay, now I'm running late and there's probably loads of typos in this post, but alas, gotta get to work!!
Take care everyone! Go and bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~

New quilt project...

2011-06-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

whilst I finish up some other UFOs.

This is the quilt, "Superstar" from Elizabeth Hartman's book:

She used all red, white and blue; I'm just using white and blue, so I hope it turns out as nicely as hers did! And this little cat reminds me of
my daughter's cat, Anissa, who is no longer with us (sniff!)
I'm making half-square triangles, which I refuse to throw away, so I went down into my basement where all my mother-in-law's "stuff" is that my husband just can't part with, and found these cute bowls to throw them into for safekeeping while I'm sewing away.

And look at these cute little things - they're only about 3 inches across, and so pretty with purple flowers. I don't know why I let them stay in the basement for all this time.

Gotta run! Have a great day! ~ Jodi ~

a potting bench!

2011-06-07T03:06:00.000-07:00

It still doesn't look like a potting bench, but that's what it will be. It's almost done. My hubby and I went to the Brimfield Antique Fairgrounds in Brimfield, MA, last month and we saw some of these there. They're very vintagey. My daughter then sent me some links so we could see how they're made. We went to the salvage yard (yicky) and bought this one and a heavy metal table for $70. The door is solid wood. Now I have to paint it, not sure what color yet, and put some hooks on it for my gardening tools so I can plant things, and transplant other things :-) My hubby is also going to put a shelf on the bottom for storage of pots, potting soil, tools, and the like.

So, my friends, any suggestions on what color it should be? I was thinking of leaving the door itself black and maybe a vintage blue for the legs and tabletop. It's not going to stay on the deck, we're going to put it behind the garage, sort of out of the way and where I can make a mess with dirt and water and plants and not care.
I still need some addresses to send my winners their goodies. I'd like to take care of this by the end of this week, so please hurry; otherwise, I will have to pick new winners!
Have a great day!
~ Jodi ~

Winners!

2011-06-05T16:40:00.000-07:00

First, a pic of this fab door:

Can anyone guess what my darling husband is making for me with it? We got it at a salvage yard, my least favorite place to be, but he said if I wanted one, I had to join him rummaging through all the dirt and dust and spiders, and webs, and YUCK! But it's going to be so worth it!

And now what you've probably jumped ahead to read, I must say that announcing the winners is very bittersweet for me - I wanted you ALL to win, but alas, my pocketbook just won't allow it, and I am shipping to Germany and Romania and I'm not sure where else, but I LOVE IT. I let Random pick, but then it wouldn't let me copy and paste to show you, so you're going to have to trust me. There were 17 entries, and there are six winners. Without further ado:
#1 - Carolyn from fakeitwhileyoumakeit wins the Germania and Sugar Snap FQs;
#4 - Pokey from pokeydotquilting wins the flower panel;
#5 - Happy Cottage Quilter wins the birds and solid yellow FQ;
#12 - Amalia from QDOpatch wins the Alexander Henry and fruit fabric (she couldn't choose and no one else chose the fruit - I love it, it's very pretty and I hope she likes it);
#14 - Frauke from Quilthexle wins the greenish/gray fabric, and another goodie yet to be determined;
and, #17 Boilerman wins the Michael Miller boy fabric and maybe a solid FQ.
So there you have it! If everyone would please send me their addresses, I will do my best to get to the post office by the end of this week! Thanks so much, my dear bloggy friends!
Have a wonderful week, and may you bless and be blessed!
~ Jodi ~
P.S. Blogger has reverted back to the old way of posting - does anyone know why? - and I'm getting lots of links at the bottom of my posts which I did not link to, not intentionally anyway. Help, anyone???

Random generating delayed, and what's clinging...

2011-06-05T04:42:00.000-07:00

to my wall?

But wait! I promised my giveaway would end yesterday, and it did, but I need QDOPATCH to email me. QDO, you didn't tell me what you would like if you win my giveaway! I did send you an email last night. I will wait till tomorrow morning to hear from you. So sit tight everyone, I will (attempt) to use the random generator tomorrow to select my five winners.
Now, where was I? Oh, yes, my wall. This is a Japanese x and t block I made using a tute from Amy (badskirt) who attributes it to Nancy Cabot, 1938 Source: Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns (if you want to check it out). But ONCE AGAIN, I have to say I SCREWED IT UP! The four fabrics that make up the X should be cut on point so the print runs along the length of the x. But Friday night when I was doing it, my pea brain just couldn't grasp what she was talking about, so I cut it incorrectly, or not as eye pleasing as it would have been. And I also am finding I don't have very many directional prints so I won't get too far with these blocks UNLESS I GO FABRIC SHOPPING! (Hee-hee)
Let me leave you with one more pretty pic of clinging things, 12 crazy scrappy squares, and four pieces of "made" fabric on the right:

I hope you are all having a great weekend! The weather is marvelous where I live here in Rhode Island - temp is 48 right now, a bit chill, but supposed to warm up nicely into the 60's or 70s. Purrrrfect!
Sew, till tomorrow, tute-aloo! (sheeesh!)
~ Jodi ~

These Pips are a pip!

2011-06-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

I messed up!!! What else is new. The blocks should be going the OTHER way, I have them going sideways. But you know what? They're staying like that! I think I'm going to put a wide border on the top and bottom, too, and it will be an odd-shaped quilt, that's all. It's a baby girl quilt. A friend/neighbor is "expecting" in September and I'm actually going to be ahead of the game for a change.

I was going to ask for opinions on the dark gray, but then I thought I really don't want to buy more fabric, and I do like it, so I'm keeping that, too. They are not going to find out the sex of the baby, until he/she is born, of course :-). I didn't want to make a gender neutral quilt, so my daughter suggested making one of each. I'll be sure to show you the boy quilt once I get going on it.

On another note, I was awarded the Versatile Quilter award by Michele of http://islandlifequilts.blogspot.com, which I will be sharing with you soon - thanks so much, Michele!
Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway! Comments close sometime tomorrow (Saturday) Good luck! http://cometarrywithme.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-year-anniversary.html
Have a great weekend, everyone! May you bless and be blessed! ~ Jodi ~

Bound to bind

2011-06-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is one of the things I've been working on in the month of May, and WILL finish it by the end of the weekend. It will go to reside at my daughter's house, as it is not really my style and she likes it. I loved the Jelly Roll when I bought it off the internet, but then changed my mind once I started working with it (and I also found out that Jelly Rolls make a mess - very linty all over the place)

One-year anniversary!

2011-05-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

I really can't believe I've been blogging for a year! You'd think I would be better at it by now, at least as far as linking or copying buttons, but alas, I'm still sort of muddling through, even though my daughter painstakingly taught me the ins and outs. But it's fun nonetheless, and I do want to thank you all for your kind comments, letting me know you're there, giving me advice, making me laugh, cheering me up, commiserating with my quilting woes and sometimes personal woes, and I love you all and appreciate you taking the time to comment, or even just looking through my pics and moving on. I sometimes can't take the time to comment on your blogs, even though I might like to, time just keeps running along and I can't always run that fast, not do I want to, so I understand if you don't either, and a giveaway is my small thank you for your kindnesses and precious time.
So for those of you still reading, here's my giveaway goodies, and all you have to do is leave a comment, no circus acts, no hoops, no guessing, no jokes, secrets, words of wisdom, nothing is needed but a comment, long, short, whatever you feel like typing is okay by me (just let me know what you'd like). I purposely have not added any pics yet, 'cuz I know lots of us just look at pics on blogs and don't read), so I'm going to have not one, not two, not three, not four, but five winners! It's not oodles of fabric, just two or three or maybe four fat quarters, and one gift is a panel, but check them out and let me know if there's something you really like (I hope you like SOMETHING), and I'll take it from there. I may add in a solid or two to go with the printed fat quarters to kind of round things out and make it more interesting.
So, without further ado,
Number 1 is this panel of "Fresh Flowers" by Deb Strain for Moda, and I THINK I have a nice orange to go with it, and I definitely have some yellow:

Number 2: this Michael Miller boy fabric (oops, I'm being sexist), and I will add a solid yellow and blue which I forgot to put in the photo.

and here's a close up:

Number 3: Anyone want some luscious fruit? The one on the left is Alexander Henry "gilded eve", and the one on the
right is a light pink background, Martha Negley, for Rowan and Westminster - really pretty! with bright purple and greens:

Number 4: This "Germania" by Jay McCarroll for Free Spirit, and this "Sugar Snap" by Melissa Averinos also for Free Spirit:

Number 5: My little bird fabric which has no selvege, and the yellow goes nicely with it.

I also have a black and white stripe Dr. Seuss that might go well with the birds or the Michael Miller.
Then there's this, which is sort of like a linen but is an odd color and I don't know what to do it, and frankly, I'm tired of looking at it, so if anyone wants that, please take it off my hands (so I guess that's six winners)! Does anyone know what it is? I got it from an Etsy site somewhere along the line, and she had gorgeous fabrics. It's sort of a green/gray with purpley/blue:

So, I wonder how many of you, my dear followers, are still reading and will enter my giveaway. Good luck to those of you who do enter, and enjoy the rest of the weekend. I will draw winners next Saturday, at the latest. May you bless and be blessed - xo
~ Jodi ~
Giveaway closed, no more comments, please!

Almost a year old!

2011-05-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

My blog, that is! May 27 will mark that day. I missed submitting something to Sew Mama Sew's giveaways (are you all entering like mad crazy?), so I'm going to do my own to celebrate! My creatively-talented daughter:

Tara, of www.thetinyhummingbird.blogspot.com, just turned 25 yesterday. Her beloved made her a delicious mousse cake rivaling that of Pastiche (for those of you familiar with Federal Hill). Well, she IS having a giveaway through Sew Mama Sew that you might want to check out. (I can't find my cheat notes on how to link to her blog). Here's a pic that I just HAVE to show of her hubby and son:

He's such a happy little guy!

And because I don't have anything recently finished to show you, I will show some older finished pieces that I love. I made this at a fundraising type event for the Smith-Appleby House (a historic house in town where Tara and Matt's wedding was held and where I took photos of my Gardens of India quilt). Because it's not really my style, but I do think it's adorable, I gave it to my sister because she loves lambs. Here it is:

It was a little kit that was provided with all the materials.

All the fabrics are hand sewn onto the muslin, then I free-motion machine quilted it. Fun!

I also designed (pat on back) and made this (and I hope I didn't already post about it and totally bore you to tears) growth chart for one of my pay-it-forward bloggers, who also happens to go to my church. This has lots of my favorite fabrics, and the pictures do not do it justice at all, in my humble opinion :-)

It's really looooong, hopefully not too long for her home. And in hindsight I should have included a nice permanent fabric marker to write on it with. Her daughter's name is Amelia, obviously! The fairy fabric is so cute. I have some of the letters of the alphabet. All the words are some type of herb or flower, which Agrimony is an herb, I learned after doing a Swagbucks search.

My shaky embroidery of her name.

I've been hoarding my little pink bicycles, but I broke down and put one on the chart because it's so fitting for a little girl (and she is a real cutie, too!) Her mom has a blog called Quaint and Quirky which you can access through my side bar, if you don't already have enough blogs you're following - hee-hee!

The backing is a vintage sheet that I found in an antique shop - very pretty.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed my little show and tell - I know I did! Don't forget to check out Sew Mama Sew - I think most of the giveaways end tomorrow! And I will be posting about my anniversary giveaway any day now!

Take care, and bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

I'm back...

2011-05-15T17:17:00.000-07:00

not that I went anywhere, just busy and didn't feel like blogging, then Google had issues, etc., etc. But here's some pics of what I've been up to. I made this using a tutorial from Karen of http://lisnaweary-quilts.blogspot.com/:

And still not being in the mood to finish quilting the border of the postage stamp quilt, I started "making fabric", first using Victoria's guidelines on her blog, Bumblebeans, which I believe I neglected to take a picture of my fabric, and then Aneela's blog, Comfortstitching.

Pink with teapot featured (I wish I used my pink bicycles),

Yellow with mushrooms,

Green with zoo animals,

Black with peacock, and

blue with Happy Campers featured!

Pleasantly surprised!

2011-05-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

And, boy, was I ever when my daughter and I were called up onto the platform at our church's Mother/Daughter Brunch on Saturday. Six mom's were honored by their daughters, and I was one of them! My daughter truly made me proud to be her mom. She spoke flawlessly, singing my praises (ahem). Afterwards many people congratulated me on what a good job she did. One even said she did the BEST job out of all the six speakers, so that just reinforced what I already knew! I love Tara more than she will ever know, and thank God for her every day.

Tara gave me this beautiful Dahlia and a sweet card. The Real Simple mag in the below pic is also from Tara. She has been supplying me with a subscription to this magazine for years now, and I love it! Tara, thank you so much for being a fabulous daughter!

I hope you all had a good Mother's Day, and I hope others who had a heavy or sad heart found some source of peace and comfort on a day that can truly be difficult.

~ Jodi ~

Taking a break...

2011-05-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

from quilting straight lines on the postage stamp quilt. I haven't yet been able to sit down and quilt a whole quilt, even with normal routine-of-life breaks, without starting or working on a different project. I guess I have a hard time sticking with the same thing. Soooo, I made this:

Mostly all Joann fabrics except for the orange dot with gray background (?), third fabric from the right which you can't even make out.

There are those dots!

And here's the unexpected back, which I kind of like better than the front. It's from Ikea and it's been waiting for just the right project. I did the math before I cut the backing, sandwiched it on the table, found that the backing was too short, so I trimmed both ends of the top. Wrong! It was bunched up underneath and I didn't realize it till too late! I just quickly assumed my poor math skills were to blame, but I was correct all along and should have checked to see if it was smooth underneath before I went ahead and cut off the ends! Anyway, I like it just the same. It's sitting on my dining room table now after I washed and dried it last night. And I was pleased to see that it only shrunk a little bit. I'm always leary using Joann fabrics that I'm going to have a mess, but I was pleasantly surprised. (I have had problems with their fabrics before, so that notion is not because I'm a fabric snob! :-)

A couple more pics for your viewing pleasure:

Some of you dear friends agreed with me that you, as well as me, like lots of pics in a post, so I think there's one more showing some stitching I did along the edge of the binding (to cover another mistake I won't bore you with).

Well, it's quite blurry, but it's like a very wide zig-zag. My intent was to make a spring runner, which this is not so spring-like, but it's nice and soft, and better than the St. Patrick's Day runner that was still on my table as of May 1! Don't tell the interior decorating police!

Take care, and may you bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

NSQG Show

2011-05-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

I went on a bus trip to Somers, NY, on Saturday to a quilt show. Here's a miniscule amount of what I saw and liked: a pineapple quilt:

Mostly, if not all, Asian fabrics:

Maybe called a string quilt: (gorgeous)

The white fabric had handwriting on it:

And saving the very best for last for those of you still tarrying with me, I sat in the auditorium for close to an hour and listened to Rosalie Dace from Africa. I was entralled! (As you know, post pics never can convey the beauty of fabric that you can actually touch and feel). But look:

(Blogger is treating me badly! I've already posted this twice and it keeps cutting off my last paragraph!) Here goes again: Rosalie only brought two quilts with her, but she had a wonderful slide show of lots of her incredible work. She hosts five-day workshops in the US, which I would LOVE to go on someday! (And I've forgotten what else I wanted to say, thanks to blogger) So I hope you've enjoyed by offerings for today, those of you who are still tarrying with me after all those pics.

Bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

A very "dumb" quilt!

2011-04-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

This quilt is probably a perfect (ha!) example of the "dumbing down" of quilting, but guess what? I love it and I had a blast making it!

The backing is a nice soft muslin, but it really shows my boo-boos and messiness at certain points.

(Ignore the filthy deck, please! That's on my hubby's honey-do list before the deck furniture makes an appearance)

I practiced my free-motion quilting on these blocks and some are really bad and I should have used Jack (the ripper), but seeing as it's my practice quilt, I left it alone. I forgot to take some close-up pics.

All of these pics are blurry, for some reason - hmmm.

The sun was setting in this pic. I love the black and white binding, too! I'm going to hang it over the desk in my sewing room. I just need to make a sleeve for it and add the hanging of it to my hubby's honey-do list :-)
Thanks for tarrying with me. I hope you have a blessed Wednesday!

Another win!

2011-04-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

I won a quilt kit from Shruti of 13Woodhouse Road! Wow! I was stunned! She calls it the Paalvi quilt which means tender leaves.
You can read about it here: http://www.13woodhouseroad.com/2011/04/paalvi-is-here.html. If you are not already following Shruti, you just might want to consider it. (She's not paying me to say that, either) Her posts are very interesting, she's from India, she sounds like she has a lovely husband and son, and I just love peeking into her home/quilting/fun/traveling/family life. Some day I would love to meet Shruti in the flesh, (and not just because I won this awesome quilt kit from her, either! :-) I must, must, must finish all my UFOs before I start this one, though!

This is the quilt shop (below) from whence it came, via Shruti. Not sure how this all works, but it did! And I thank Lori Gray, also, from Stitches N'Giggles. Gorgeous package and so nice and neatly made up!

Thank you so very much, Shruti! You are a wonderful bloggy friend! I will be sure to post the quilt when I get it all done. ~ Jodi ~

Completed Gardens of India quilt

2011-04-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my (Shruti's pattern) Gardens of India quilt, bound, washed, and dried:

Photos taken at the Smith-Appleby House in Smithfield, RI, where my daughter and SIL's wedding was held back on May 31, 2008, almost three years ago! Wow!

Back of quilt where I deviated from Shruti's pattern because I was determined not to buy any fabric and just use from my stash.

Waterfall way back there! The gurgling sound was fantastic, and the birds were chirping! It was 6 p.m. and the sun was still shining!

Me and my shadow - yes, I look large, as my daughter so kindly pointed out, but I had on a long flowy skirt and it was quite windy - (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!) Edit: She did say it was because of my skirt, though :-)

The tree that was - three years ago a huge gorgeous tree stood here which is where appetizers were enjoyed and a three-piece jazz band played at the wedding. The tree, apparently, was diseased and had to go. Oh, well. It made for a good "table" for my quilt, even though the wind wanted to whip it up and away.
And there you have it! Lots of pics, I know, and I see other bloggers apologize for picture-laden posts, but personally, I love lots of pics so I am choosing not to apologize. You can skim over them, of course, your choice. Who's to know? But I hope you like the fabrics I chose to make up Shruti's quilt. My darling niece loves it, and she doesn't know it yet, but it's going to live with her in NH, some day soon.
Thanks for taking the time to tarry with me! Bless and be blessed! ~ Jodi ~

Winnings from long ago and far away!

2011-04-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

Deb, http://deb-robertson.blogspot.com/ who lives in Christchurch, NZ, had this sweet giveaway back in December, I think it was, but as you may or may not know, Christchurch suffered a horrible earthquake that the people, including Deb and her family, are still trying to recover from. I had forgotten all about the giveaway, and when Deb emailed me about a month ago saying she hadn't forgotten, my goodies were on their way, I felt kind of weird. Here she was, struggling to come to grips with what her family, friends and community was dealing with and she was fulfilling her giveaway promise, such a trivial matter, with graciousness and aplomb. I'm not sure I would have been able to carry that off. This is what arrived at my house yesterday:

All the fat quarters on the right were wrapped in the green/red/tan fabric, and she also enclosed these adorable buttons and ric-rac which I will be saving for when and if I have a granddaughter!

The buttons are from Fenella Jameson of "Stitch, the Playroom for Knitters & Stitchers," also of NZ. So kind of Deb! Please visit her blog. It's an inspiration and really makes me at times ponder what is really important in life, and what is not so much. Thank you, Deb! I WILL enjoy all of this!

Inspiration from Malka Dubrawsky - http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/

2011-04-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Thirty-six 6" x 6" improv blocks, mostly from scraps. I needed some simple, mindless play, and this is what I decided to do. But bad news! Most of you know I was without a machine while this thing was being repaired, for more than two weeks? Well, IT'S STILL NOT FIXED! I dropped the feed dogs yesterday morning to do some FMQ (free-motion quilting), and they won't come back up, again!!!! It was, and is, still under warranty, so they shipped it back to Brother, wherever they are. I can tell they worked on it, but it's doing the same thing - arghghghghghgh!

Good thing I still have my niece's machine, and I've been busy hand-sewing the binding on the Gardens of India quilt.

Here's some more pics of my improv quilt, which I need to name. Any ideas?

You can't tell from the photos but I'm using a silvery Sulky thread. I even followed the lines in the gray/black/off white Hope Valley piece that's in the above pic but you can't see it. I'm doing lots of variations on the FMQ in each of the blocks, and it's great fun!

Don't look at the mess in the background - I'm still putting fabric away (the story of my life!) And look at the cute little "garden" gloves my sis gave me to use for quilting! She's so thoughtful! (I love my sis!)

Have a great weekend, all! And a special hello and welcome to all my new "followers!"

Bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

Winner!

2011-04-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone so very much for entering my giveaway through the All Things Vintage Sheets blog and for "following" me! I wish you all could win, but alas...
And the winner is, according to Jen: Sue, who wrote: "Hi, I'm Susan, i'm a follower of the VS blog." So I've sent her an email and will snail mail her, I think it's five, FQs of vintage loveliness!
And I can't resist posting a pic of my grandson again (I wish I had a finish to show you but I've been helping someone make pillows/cushions/bolsters and haven't had much time to work on my own UFOs = unfinished objects). So here he is, five months old:

"If I kick hard enough and do this with my arms, I can fly off this chair!"

And now he's pooped from the photo session and going to do a bit of yoga! (There are lots more pics that my daughter took, but I will spare you - I had to show this one with the pillow I made!)

Till next time, bless and be blessed!

~ Jodi ~

Giveaway!

2011-03-28T05:40:00.001-07:00

I'm having a giveaway through All Things Vintage Sheets. Go here: http://vintagesheets.blogspot.com/2011/03/vintage-sheet-fat-quarter-giveaway_28.html to see what the goods are if you'd like a chance to win and to see the "rules." Good luck and have a blessed day!

Hexagons, you say?

2011-03-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

So many of you, it seems, are making beautiful hexagons, and I've been thinking, 'I should try some of those.' Well, I dug these out of the closet the other day and worked on making some for a little while, then it dawned on me, duh, THESE are hexagons! Maybe not as modern as what I've seen on blogs lately, but pretty nonetheless.

I learned how to make these over a year ago when I started down this path of hoarding fabric and drooling over textiles. These are made from scraps with a piece of batting in the middle and then muslin for the backing. So it's actually a QAUG (quilt-as-you-go) project. I STILL don't have my sewing machine back and I needed something to stitch somehow, some way, and then I remembered these little lovelies just waiting to be brought back out into the light of day, and I'm glad I did. This quilt is very portable. Its traveled with me to FL, to doctor's offices, cookouts, coffee shops, etc. Who knows how long it will take to be bed-sized (I used to know how many it would take to fit on a twin, but that info is long gone from my pea brain). The hexies are approximately 6 inches across.

So hopefully my sewing machine will be back home soon! I'm using my sweet niece's Pfaff (sp?) and it's not too swift, let me tell you! (Or maybe it's the user) But it's driving me nuts. Then again, on the Gardens of India quilt, I sewed the entire binding on before I realized that it was on the wrong side! So out came Jack (the ripper) and he had a ball riiiiiiiping that right off. So a lot of my frustration is my own doing, I will admit.

I hope you are having some sewing fun and progress this week - whatcha all been up to?

Alive and safe!

2011-03-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

Kim's family is safe! Her brother called her yesterday from Sendai. He also reported that he heard that their sister, who lives an hour away, is safe, also, along with her husband and pregnant daughter and son-in-law. Kim is SO RELIEVED! Thank you, God! Their houses are in bad shape and may have to be torn down, but they are alive and well. While she was talking to her brother on the phone, he had to hang up quick and run out of the house because of another strong aftershock.
Now Kim is very much looking forward to talking with her sister and hearing her voice. That may still be a while till phone service is restored. Many thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and prayers. Kim also appreciates it greatly! Happy Friday!

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T03:29:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be St. Patrick's Day if I didn't make Irish Bread. And it must be made in a cast iron pan, too, according to my mom. St. Patrick's Day was probably her favorite holiday, Danny Boy probably her favorite Irish song, which I still can't listen to today without tearing up. Hard to believe she's been gone over a year now! Anyway, we will be having corned beef and cabbage tomorrow which is when my daughter, son-in-law , and grandson can come over to eat with us. We will only be truly celebrating if Kim's family is found by then! Thank you to all of you who are praying for her!

Here's what you've been waiting for!

2011-03-16T03:06:00.000-07:00

"GARDENS OF INDIA"

The pattern I've been "reviewing." I must say that I loved it so much that I just had to do it up, step by step. Plus, I'm really a hands' on kinda person, so for me to figure out if the pattern was doable, I needed to do it up! I used fabric from my stash. The pattern is called "Gardens of India" written by Shruti Dandekar . She has an Etsy site where you can purchase the pattern and it's only $5.00! It was really simple to do and relatively quick. It took me half an hour to do two blocks. It's made up of eight blocks total, plus two borders. The finished size is 48 x 78. I will definitely make this quilt again. Included in the pattern is a design for the back which I kind of did my own thing, that's why I don't have a pic to show you. I was trying not to buy more fabric, and I ended up having to piece it so it's not the gorgeous design that Shruti gave, which I love. So go see Shruti. Here's her Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/listing/69105030/gardens-of-india.

I will be sandwiching my quilt SOON, and will show a finished picture. Any suggestions on the quilting I should do?

In case you're wondering about Kim's family, she came over to my house last night so we could search on the internet. Ayumi from The Pink Penguin, (check out her blog, it's fantastic) she's also from Japan, gave a person finder link that we used, but no luck. Poor Kim! I'm afraid I got her hopes up all for naught. But we had to try. Please keep praying! Even if she is not giving up hope, I feel that I am! Such utter destruction and such horror stories! She has satellite TV which allows her access to all the Japanese stations, and that's all she's doing is watching all the coverage day and night. And you know how that can be, overwhelming and depressing! But God is good and He will give her peace and strength no matter what, if she will just ask Him to!

I hope you all have a wonderful day, wherever you are, whatever you do!

Prayer, and progress

2011-03-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

on my pay-it-forward gift, which I just realized I did not take a picture of :-(
And progress on a pattern I'm "reviewing" for a friend:

Windy day! Just as soon as I got it situated, the wind picked up.

Anyway, it should be complete by March 17, my deadline, when I'll show you the whole thing. More to come later.
I had to make a trip, poor me, to Franklin Mills, my all-time favorite LQS, to buy a more suitable border fabric. I had a gray but it was too dark. I settled on the Kona solid you see in the above picture which I think is lavender? It matched the color in the Kaffe Fassett perfectly.
So, of course, while I was there I had to wait for some help on an unrelated matter and I made the mistake of browsing around. These lovelies were calling out to me. The store was closing in 10 minutes and they did not want to be left there all alone all night long in the dark, so I took pity on them and brought them home where they could snuggle up against my other lovelies. Feast your eyes on these babies:

And I won a $10 gift certificate from ABCs of Quilting through the Fabshophop and it only cost me an additional $11 to obtain these Batik's which were 20% off:

Now to the most important part of my post, if you remember my dear Japanese friend, Kim, who I posted pictures of back on January 11, her family, i.e., sister, BIL, brother, pregnant niece, have not been heard from. They live in Sendai, Japan, one of the hardest hit areas. Please pray for them and her! Of course, Kim is distraught with worry. Another friend who lives in Tokyo is going to see if he can locate their whereabouts. Many thoughts and prayers to all of Japan...

Side tracked again...

2011-03-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

but having fun just the same. This is a sneak peak at what I've been working on, or I should say playing with. It's loads of fun and easy peasy! More to come by the end of next week. What have you been working on? Or playing with?

Vignette in Stitches gorgeous giveaway!

2011-03-02T10:03:00.000-08:00

This is being given away, can you imagine? Such beauty all in one generous bundle! I hate to tell you this because then it lessens my chances, but go to http://vignetteinstitches.blogspot.com/2011/03/guess-what.html to win this FQ bundle. (Toes and fingers crossed!)

Oh, brother...

2011-03-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

my Brother is under the weather, so I'll share a pic of myself and my darling grandson, Ezra, with you. He's four months old today!

Last night I was trying my hand at some free-motion quilting. I had my feed dogs down, finished one side of the quilt border, experienced how tiring it is in the shoulder area, went to bed and fell right to sleep. At 1:30 a.m. I was wide awake again. As per my usual, I went to sew. I was going to work on a Pay-it-Forward gift. When I tried to lift the feed dogs with the little lever on the back of the Brother, it would not raise them. I removed the plates and cleaned all the dust and lint out, but nothing doing. So my hubby took it to be repaired today and now I'm without a sewing machine! Arghghghgh! So I should be using this time to organize my kinda messy sewing room, but I'm blogging instead. Hopefully I'll have my machine back soon and I'll have some finishes to show you.

Mug Rug Swap and winnings!

2011-02-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

Beautiful mug rugs from Carla who lives in Venice, FL (same city as my Dad!)

I participated in a mug rug swap hosted by Michele from the Quilting Gallery. Carla sent me a great coffee mug along with two rugs. The above rug is so cleverly made with coffee bean fabric in three different colors . The other one, below, is so pretty. It has dragonflies on it - (my sis, Diane, loves dragonflies, too). And Carla used her favorite fabric, the yellow with little flowers! I feel honored that she would do that, and used the last from her stash, too!

Here's a close-up, but the colors are not true. They're much brighter and prettier in person.

And the back:

She did some fun stitching on it. I wonder what kind of sewing machine she has. Thank you so much, Carla! I love them both, and the coffee mug, too!

And I won a giveaway: Yippee! From Sue Naughton http://zzyzx-and-sue.blogspot.com/. It was her first giveaway, and I am the lucky one who won! I love black and white fabrics, and the yellow flower-type fabric is wonderful! Thank you, Sue! I will definitely be finding a great use for them soon! And she sent me some note cards with my initial on them. I frequently write thank-you, get well, or encouragement notes to my friends and family, and these will come in very handy. Thanks, Sue!
Have a great week, everyone!

Very little meetings...

2011-02-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

of points on this "Jazzy Jewels" quilt (designed by Jody Beck). And it's supposed to be like that, really, I kid you not! Good thing, too, or I'd be in deep doodoo! Yes, I was quilting my "Coming Together" mod bento box, but I signed up to take a class to make the Jazzy Jewels quilt at the Arnold Mills Community House and had to divert my attention (I needed a break from quilting anyway). I won't bore you with my screw-ups on the Jazzy Jewels - I am calling it quits for the night before I tear it all off the design wall and stuff it in the wastebasket! I have to have all the blocks done for Thursday night, too!!! Good thing I have tomorrow off - going for my annual physical - whoopie!
So have a good night - till you tarry again, bless and be blessed ~ Jodi

Moving right along...

2011-02-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

on the mod bento box quilt, but I'm going to name it "Coming Together."

These blocks are from all over the US and a few other countries, now the blocks are all together in Rhode Island, at least the ones I received from the swap. There are some beautiful examples on Flickr, and I love seeing my blocks pop up in other people's quilts all over the world - I think I made 70 or 80 in the two rounds.

Basted.

And a visit with Ezra this afternoon:

Just can't resist showing him off! He loves chewing on those fingers!

Till next time, take care!

Beauty and the Oops!

2011-02-14T12:51:00.000-08:00

While ironing the borders for this quilt (yes, I'm all over the place, haven't really finished ANYTHING, but I'm working on various and sundry projects), I had an accident:

This iron mark is on the seat of our recliner!!! I only placed the iron there for about four seconds, count them, one, two, three, four, and it wasn't even fully heated up yet! Yikes! What did my husband have to say? "Good thing it's Valentine's Day!" Well, this chair is ONLY about 25 years old, mind you! And while I'm thinking, way past time for a new chair anyway, he says, "Now you'll have to make a chair cover for it." Huh??? An upholsterer I am not, thank you very much!

My house block quilt, (previous post), that Michele and Pokey have been "helping" me on is finished. At least the top. And I've decided on a gold-flowered kind of vintage fabric for the back. I want to save the birds for something else. And I want to buy a high-loft batting for it so it's nice and cozy to watch t.v. under (on my now iron-burned recliner :-)

I hope you are all having a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Back again so soon...

2011-02-12T21:52:00.000-08:00

Went to bed 2 1/2 hours ago. Slept one hour, woke up with heartburn, or something! So what else to do but finish my lap quilt, or at least the top! So here is one more picture of it -- no, two.

And I like it! I think I've decided what backing to use, also.

Here it is - more birds, and random color blobs. I don't have much yardage in my stash at all, and I only have a yard each of these. Both are from IKEA which I bought probably eight or nine months ago. (I AM on a fabric diet, after all!) And why, oh, why, did I only buy one yard of each??? Probably because my darling husband was hovering :-). (Note to self: leave him home next time I go to IKEA!)

Here's a proper picture of the birds:

P.S. Michele, thanks for becoming a follower of my blog! Now I can see your English Springer every time I log onto my blog - the pic always makes me smile. And thanks for your kind remarks. I HAVE heard of Gwen Marston somewhere along the line. I will look her up again.

Now to do some ironing of my recently-sewn log cabin blocks, and maybe cut some 10" squares for a Jazzy Jewels class I'm going to with sister Mary this Thursday night. More stash-busting!

Must get back to bed soon, too, hopefully to SLEEP, and not toss and turn! Church tomorrow!

G'night and take care!

My idea of...

2011-02-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

... a CRAZY quilt!

Now, I realize some people might be holding their nose or running for the toilet, but I like it! And I want to thank Pokey and Michele for their suggestions - I truly appreciate them! I used the red and white fabric that Michele liked, and I fully intended to make some log cabins because they go with the house theme, but once I started ad libbing, it soon became a lap-size and I decided that's the size I want it to be. It's a mix of modern, the red and white is 30s repro, the flower pots are feed sacks.
The blue and white above the birds is African. I do want to put a border of some sort on it, and I still need to figure out the backing, but I'm having fun.

The narrow red trim has a navy blue line running through it and is actually a selvage that says "Guaranteed Wax" with a number.

So that's what I've come up with, for better or worse. I hope you're having a great weekend!

Looking for suggestions...

2011-02-10T17:43:00.000-08:00

This is a house block, 4 1/2" square, that I received from participating in a Blogland Neighborhood thingy that was hosted by Beth at www.lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com. She sent this block to all who participated. (Isn't it adorable?) I would like to make a bed-sized quilt out of it but this is as far as I got. Any suggestions as to where to go from here? Right now it's 20" square.

Here's some fabrics I have that I'm debating on, but what should I do??? I love the little bird fabric and was thinking about making corner blocks with that, but that's as far as I can get my muddled brain to go. Am I being too narrow-minded in sticking to all these same colors? I do have a pretty substantial stash, but I'm open to all kinds of suggestions.

Victoria from www.bumblebeans.blogspot.com made a fantastic quilt out of her little block. Check her blog out - it's a few posts back but well worth the effort of finding it. (I would link it here if I could figure it out!) (At this point while my daughter, www.thetinyhummingbird.blogspot.com, reads this I can imagine her rolling her eyes, or sighing in frustration :-) Good thing she loves me!

So, I would greatly appreciate some input from all you creative geniuses out there! And thanks in advance!

Presents!

2011-02-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

My darling sis made me go to Joann's with her last night in the frigid windy cold! BUT I was able to use a gift certificate she gave me for my birthday which more than made up for it. I got these fabrics to make a table runner or topper for St. Patrick's Day. I purchased two more half yards of fabric with my gift certificate, too, for a machine quilting class we're taking at Ryco on February 19. The photo came out very dark, but I'll show it to you anyway.

The top left fabric is a gorgeous purple to match the color in the coleus - I love this coleus fabric! I guess I cut off part of the fabric in the photo - oh, well. I am striving to be an accomplished quilter, not a photographer :-) And now that I look at this picture, maybe that orange is too bright? Hmmm...
For the class we are required to make a 15" Amish Basket block with two contrasting fabrics. I've made one so far and I'll show you the blocks when I have the other stitched up.
Thanks for tarrying with me - have a wonderful day!

I finished...

2011-02-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

my top for the Postage Stamp quilt-along hosted by Rachel at http://www.psiquilt.com/!

I ironed the last seam at 11:36 p.m. and my husband was in bed sleeping so I couldn't put it on my bed for pics, which was my original plan. And then today I was going to take some pics outside with it laying on top of a (clean) snowbank, but it was too wet out today, so forget that. And here's a closeup:

At least the top is finished, but I want to make it larger, a queen-size, so I have some more work to do. Any suggestions for borders, solid or prints? Although maybe Rachel is going to address that when we get to the completion part. I guess I'll find out. The fabric I used is Sugar Pop by Liz Scott, just as a reminder if anyone is interested. That's all for now, folks! XO

My Liebster Award choices!

2011-02-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

Finally, I am getting around to posting my choices for the Liebster Award! Shruti from http://www.13woodhouseroad.com/ awarded me the Liebster, now I get to award three of my favorite bloggers. I think the only criterion is they can't have more than 300 followers, and of course they have to be bloggers who are inspirational and fun to read.

My first choice, naturally, is my daughter, Tara, whose blog is http://www.thetinyhummingbird.blogspot.com/. Not only does she inspire and entertain with her blog posts, but she's an incredible mom to my grandson. So she wins the Liebster Award, along with my admiration.

My second choice has to be my son-in-law, Matt. His lively rants on his blog/web site, http://blueflashphotography.com/ have caused me to laugh many times at some of his photography dilemmas/situations and challenges. He always figures out a way to make his brides and grooms, and other clients, happy, sometimes to his own detriment. AND he's a super dad to Ezra!

My third choice is to Nadine at http://quiltedbliss.blogspot.com. She's incredibly talented, and until recently when she got a sewing machine, sewed everything all by hand! And beautifully!!! And I know firsthand because I received some wonderful placemats from her in a Pay it Forward which my family enjoys frequently at our dining room table. (And, Keri, if you're reading this, please know I haven't forgotten you!)
Now go and check out these talented people, please, and just say hi!
And even though it's nighttime and the lighting is horrible, I just can't post without a picture or two. Here's where I stand on my Postage Stamp quilt: just two rows sewn together!

I hope to finish tonight as this is the deadline to be entered into the giveaway! (Although Rachel did say it was a "tentative" date - are you reading this, Rachel? hint-hint!)
Thanks for tarrying with me!

Still behind, but closer...

2011-01-31T03:26:00.000-08:00

to catching up! I had a slight snag in getting started on the postage stamp quilt which I explained in a recent post about my order from the Fat Quarter Shop, who are fantastic, by the way! Hopefully tonight I will get the top all sewn together. But here's my 24 A blocks and 24 B blocks:

Happy Monday, everyone, or whatever day it is for you!

Postage stamp quilt, grandson, and my winnings from December!

2011-01-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

Not necessarily in that order. I recently got some instruction from my daughter regarding linking on my blog. I'm still not too swift, but hopefully I'm improving. I'm typing this now on my new Toshiba laptop that my son in law, Matt, found for me on the internet at a great price. He's my go-to expert on computer, cameras, electronics, etc. And I just HAVE to show you this guy, their son, my grandson! I love this picture of him! He'll be three months old on February 1! Wow!

I am still plugging along on my postage stamp quilt. Rachel from http://www.psiquilt.com/ started a quilt-along. It's a lot of work, but fun! And by the way, I purchased two jelly rolls, one White, one Natural, from http://www.fatquartershop.com/. I decided to use the Natural for this quilt because it seemed to go better with the Sugar Pop by Liz Scott jelly roll I already had. There was a defect in one of the strips - I could not get a quarter-inch seam, no way, no how. So I called the Fat Quarter Shop and they immediately sent me half a yard of the Natural, no questions asked, no charge, which made me very happy and will serve to keep me as a customer and encourage me to recommend them.

Halfway there!

AND yesterday the mail carrier brought me a goody all the way from N. Ireland! Back in December I won a giveaway from Karen of http://lisnaweary-quilts.blogspot.com/ which I had completely forgotten about. My winnings is a pattern AND fabric to make these adorable trees:

The green is really pretty with gold stars (the pic didn't come out too good). And here's a close-up of the red fabric:

Thank you so very much, Karen! I'm going to have fun making these trees! I fell in love with yours on your blog.

Have a great weekend everyone! Go bless and be blessed!

Envelope pillow to complement baby quilt

2011-01-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

My improv design:

Do you like it, even though it's wonky? (She knows who the question is posed to)

And the back:

Another sorta oops, but I like it!

It might need some adjusting, some cinching of seams and tightening of corners. Opinion, please.

That's all for now - gotta run!

Another beginning...

2011-01-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

I signed up to do a Postage Stamp quilt-along with Rachel from
. The link is below if you want to check it out. I'm getting a late start, though, due to a glitch in the ordering of my solid bella jelly roll. It finally arrived yesterday, so after work today I started in stitching and ironing. I'm using a Sugar Pop jelly roll by Liz Scott and a natural solid jelly roll purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop http://www.fatquartershop.com. For those of us who are joining in the quilt-along, the Fat Quarter Shop is giving a 20% discount. It's not too late to sign up! And when we finish our quilts and post them on flickr, we will be entered into a giveaway!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelgriffith/5320499218/
I have about 22 more strips to sew together, then I can cut them into 2 1/2" strips (must check Rachel's instructions first!) So here's a photo of my Sugar Pop jelly roll fabric if you're interested. I think it's going to be very pretty when it's all done.

Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope you have a fantastic one. May you all bless and be blessed!

More logging fun and new fabric! (Uh-oh! I blew it!)

2011-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

I just realized I need 144 of these blocks to make a queen-sized quilt! Yikes! I don't know if I am up to THAT! But it is fun, and easy, too. Do I even have enough scraps?? Will I have to buy more fabric, even though I'm on a fabric diet??? But wait, I already blew that one (yes, another diet down the drain :-) But I just had to. Malka Dubrawsky finally had some fabric bundles on her Etsy site that I've been trying to purchase for months now but kept missing out on because someone continually beat me to the chase. So I could not resist when I saw more bundles being offered. Okay, okay, I know I should not have been anywhere near any Etsy site because that spells trouble from the get-go, right? But it's so tempting! And just look at these babies. Aren't they so very pretty? Can I get a chorus of agreement from you all???

This pic would have come out more true to color if I could have taken it outside, but, alas, it WAS 12:30 in the morning. The moon is out - maybe I should try some moonlight photo shooting some night. (Note to self: check with favorite son-in-law on the aspects of the dos and don'ts Ha!

On another note, I am still mulling over my Liebster Award selections! I think I have two that I've settled on, I just need a third one. Hmmmmm....

Well, my creative friends, till you tarry again, bless and be blessed!

XOXO

All wound up and logs on a wall

2011-01-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

This is a "California Job Box" (printers used to use these drawers to put the letters of the alphabet in) according to my hubby, which I finally located up in my attic where its lived for the past ten years, maybe more. I originally had it on my kitchen wall with miniatures in it, and when I relegated it to the attic I knew someday I would find another use for it. I saw this use on someone's blog - cannot for the life of me remember who, but I love the idea. Maybe you have a California Job Box hanging around your house doing nothing but collecting dust?

And here are my logs on the wall. Very traditional, but I like it nonetheless. I'm using up scraps, did not buy any fabric!

On another note, I just discovered that I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by Shruti! Thanks so much, Shruti - what an honor! Out of all the incredibly talented bloggers out there, you picked me?!?!? I have to pick three people now, too! It's going to be tough, let me tell you! Every day I so look forward to spending time on Google reader to see what will knock my socks off, and I'm invariably never disappointed. So stay tuned - I will be nominating three of my favorites, hopefully by the end of the week, but how to choose is a huge difficulty.

Have a good week! Bless and be blessed!

What have I been up to, you say? (Lots of pretty pics coming up)

2011-01-15T22:13:00.000-08:00

Lights - Darks

Placing log upon log

I never thought I would make such a traditional quilt - but I LOVE it! So far I've only made two blocks, but it IS addicting! I can't wait to finish a quilt. I'm using scraps till I get the hang of it but some day I will make a Log Cabin quilt with specific vibrant colors like some of these:

Bright and pale batiks

Bright Batiks

Earthy Batiks - just two logs used

I think this is mostly batiks but the book doesn't say. I wish the pics were better - this is really very pretty!

This one is called "Finger Lakes". Again, mostly batiks, if not all. I didn't take a picture of the full quilt - this is just the detail. And, again, very pretty!

Snake River is all Asian fabrics which I seem to have a penchant for, and here's a detail, although not a very good picture. All of these are pictures of pictures, which never work out very well, at least with my pitiful photog skills.

A friend let me borrow this book and I love it! I just may have to purchase it somewhere, somehow. There's LOTS of helpful hints for beginner quilters and experienced alike.

Gotta get me some of these trays!

"The Value of Value" I'm still trying to grasp this concept - it ain't easy! The book explains all about it and how you can look through a peep hole or take a black and white picture which really helps in deciding how to determine if a fabric is dark or light when it has lots of different shades. (Oops - our insurance envelope got in the pic. Oh, well. A little free advertising for Amica - they won't mind.)
So that's what I've been up to, along with back to work full time, helping my daughter with a bridal shower which was held at my house yesterday - it was fun! And my grandson came to the shower unexpectedly! What a thrill! Some one of these days I might actually get to babysit :-) (Hint, hint to ((she knows who))
And also, lest I leave you without MORE pics: I've also been having fun doing mug rugs! Here's some of the ones I've made so far - others were given away as Christmas gifts, and, alas, I lost the pictures I had of them.

This is the back of the last one down below - vintage.

This peacock has some French writing on it ???

Cute little gnome! Crazy (messy) quilting on back:

Pansy, one of my favorite flowers. So happy-looking.

Linen fabric on back.

This is the front of the first one up top - vintage fabrics. (I don't know why the pics don't post in order when I upload multiple pics at a time - argh!)
That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed my picture show as much as I.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Having fun taking some pics of a snowy day/night.

2011-01-12T17:11:00.000-08:00

Neighbor's house

Pinecone light - snow still falling lightly at 8 p.m.

Daytime shots:

Home sweet home

Last one:

I hope those of you in NE have weathered the storm with not too many difficulties, and got a day off work, as I did! Yaaay!

Kimiko and Ezra

2011-01-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Here's my grandson Ezra, two months old, sitting with my friend, Kim (her American name - her birth name is Mizue and she's from Japan). In her 79 years she's never held an infant before. She loved everything about it, and kept commenting on how soft his skin is.

Smiling! He loved her, too!

"He's so soft!"

Looking at his mommy with adoring eyes.

Reaching!

Looking at me, his grandma! (Grandma? Yikes!) Or is he just looking at the camera? :-)

Two winter table runners - one for a friend, one for my dining room table.

2011-01-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

This pic is very washed out due to my poor photog skills. The ones below are much more accurate:

Small winter table runner

Can't see it very well, but it has silver thread.

Cute snowmen on the back.

And another one I gave to a friend - the back has little evergreen trees:

And thanks to Great Nieces Kennah and Ellah who visited my blog and love the pics of Lacey in a previous post! Come back soon!

Ezra's First Day of Life

2011-01-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's the Christmas gift that made me weep that I wanted to show you before, but I had to learn how to upload it first. My daughter and my son-in-law gave me a DVD of my grandson's first day of life! The song accompanying it is a new one for me - and, boy, it was a great choice! So without further ado, meet my grandson, Ezra Raphael:

*I posted this a few days ago but had technical difficulties! If you've already seen it, sorry!

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T10:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all! My time of rest and recuperation from hip surgery is coming to a close - back to work Wednesday, January 5 - ugh! I just thought I'd leave you with some pics of my son's cat, Lacey. She has adopted our bed as her own lately. It's a waterbed and nice and warm. What a life!

See you next year!

Some Christmas day pics...

2010-12-27T14:13:00.000-08:00

My favorite Christmas gift ever is not available yet to post about but I hope soon. In the meantime, these are some captured moments from the day:

Tara and Ezra

Uncle Brendan and Ezra

Our growing little family!

So thankful for a wee baby...

2010-12-24T21:08:00.000-08:00

... that because of Him, the world, if they so choose, may go to Heaven for eternity, instead of to Hell. So thankful that my family and loved ones have been given the opportunity, all because of His never-ending grace and unfailing goodness. Merry Christmas!

Getting there, but will I make it for Christmas?

2010-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

My sister seems to think, no sweat because I'm "not working" right now. But she doesn't realize how busy you can be when you're "not working." This quilt is for someone special who I don't think reads my blog, but one never knows. I still have to cut and attach two borders. My seams are not matching very well, either! Very frustrating! The pattern is from "Freckled Whimsey" which I will attach the link for later. I'm still lame when it comes to knowing how to operate this posting/linking business.

Have a good weekend!

I'm back to finish my last post...

2010-12-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

My six-week-old grandson at the party! He looks pretty bored, but awfully cute, right?

I ran out of time earlier today to show you what I wanted to show you - (and thanks, QDO, for your nice comment about my family! I love your comments, and your blog!) Anyway, every year we do a Yankee Swap where you bring a gift to the party, pick a number when you get to the party, and then take turns selecting a gift from under the tree in the order of the numbers, 1 through however many people bring a gift, and you can swap your gift for somebody else's if you like theirs better. Everyone is always a good sport about it, and we put a limit on what you should spend on the gift, like $20.
So this year when we were planning the party and saying what we would volunteer to bring for food, my husband jokingly said that I would bring a quilt (because he comments frequently that that's all I do these days, is quilt - guess what? He's right!) So I took his comment to heart and ran with it - or should I say sewed with it! I had a bunch of blocks already from the Fat Quarterly quilt-a-long, so I sewed them all together, put on a border, quilted it, bound it, and wrapped it up for the swap. And I used mostly all scraps and a sheet I scored at Target for $2.88! So it really did only cost me about $20 if you don't count the money I spent on the intial purchase of fabric, which I could never recalculate anyway. Well, my darling niece took home the quilt! First my nephew and his wife chose it and unwrapped it. I'm not sure if they liked it or not - very hard to read! But my niece I KNOW loved it. She "swapped" it with them and they couldn't say no! So they got her gift, which was some pretty glass decorations.
My niece knows what goes into the making of a quilt, so I know she appreciates it and will cherish it. So here's some pics now that I've probably bored you to death, those of you who even bothered to read all that :-)

The backing and border on front is a $2.88 buttery yellow twin sheet from Target.

The fabrics are assorted, as you can see, and I couldn't even begin to name them all. (I need to get better at that).

And a few more pics of a mug rug I made for my darling sister, Mary Ann! She took great care of me during my hip surgery recovery. We go to a very laid-back quilting class once a week and we learned (or she learned and I screwed up) paper piecing. Mine was a mess because I just couldn't grasp it, and she loved it and helped me with mine. So I made her this little mug rug in thanks, plus I love her dearly and don't tell her that often enough!

Gnome and paper-pieced pumpkin by sis!

Back - love this fabric, but, again, not sure what it is! Ugh! My apologies to the designers!

Well, have a great week, my bloggy friends!

Smorgasborg of pics

2010-12-12T05:58:00.000-08:00

My family's Christmas party yesterday - not all are present, but most are. I've never shown a picture of myself on my blog before, I don't think, so I'm the one in the second row with the light blue sweater and glasses. My husband is the one the back getting a kiss from my nephew. My daughter and grandson and son-in-law are to my right. My son is in the back row showing his teeth in a big smile! Sister behind me, sister to my left, sister in the front with the red and black. Brother way in the back on the top left with is wife in red plaid, and another brother way over on the right with a white t-shirt and glasses. Then lots of nieces, nephews, sisters-in-law. We had great fun - did a yankee swap which I made a quilt for that I'll tell you all about later. Gotta run and get ready for church! My, how time flies!!! Be back later! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Pin basting - ouch, ouch, ouch!

2010-12-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

Thank God for the beautiful, warm sunshine today! We're at 25 degrees now at 11:35 a.m.

I love how the sun is streaming in the front windows onto the quilt.

I'm so glad to be home and able to sew . I feel badly for those of you who have to work. My hip surgery was October 18, a little over seven weeks ago, and I was able to get down on the floor and pin baste my Fat Quarterly quilt-a-long quilt. (Can't say where it's going yet - I don't even know!) I'm scheduled to go back to work January 3 :-( but I'm thankful I have a job so I can't complain. Now off to take the dog for a walk, something else I haven't been able to do in weeks, and then peeling the quilt off the floor and to the sewing machine to quilt, quilt, quilt! Wish me luck! I've only done maybe two other quilts, a doll quilt, and a couple of minis. My fingers are sore from all the pins I used.

Till you come tarry with me again, blessings to you all!

Some WIPS

2010-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

These are coasters that will be a "housewarming" gift for the host and hostess of a Christmas party we're going to next weekend - I hope they like them! I used a pattern from Malka Dubrawsky's new book, "Fresh Quilting." Lots of projects in there that I just love! She's giving away her book so you should try to find her and take a chance. She's full of inspiration and encouragement, and she makes her own fabric which is gorgeous!
Next is a flannel quilt for my son for Christmas (shhh!) . Pattern is from Freckled Whimsy.

And the bottom WIP in the first pic is a quilt top that I'm putting together just for fun. I've had the blocks done for a while. I was doing a quilt-a-long somewhere along the way but priorities got in the way, so I'm just getting it together now.

I hope you are having a productive Monday!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY :-)

2010-12-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Two days after Thanksgiving, one year ago...

2010-11-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

mom left us to go home to her heavenly father. I feel she's at peace - it's those of us left behind still searching, but there is no perfect peace here on earth, only in heaven can it be found.

March 5, 1931 - November 28, 2009

In memory, my husband and I joined my siblings, two SILs, two nieces, two great nieces in Boston for brunch Saturday morning at an Irish restaurant/tavern. It was bittersweet - my mom would have loved it as she loved all things Irish. We all continue to miss her, of course, but it's great to be with each other and share some memories, tears and laughter.

And now, on a lighter note, my "Clothesline" quilt is finished! I pinned the binding with lots of pins and machine sewed it, and I only had to make two little fixes at corners where it didn't catch. The pattern is from Elizabeth Hartman of http://www.ohfransson.com and it was very easy to follow. So here are some final pics:

Hopefully the recipient of this quilt can read the French - it's something about bouquets of flowers, which I thought was appropriate. All the fabrics are vintage sheets or pillowcases except for the sashing which is Kona Robin's Egg, I'm pretty sure. I've been working on this quilt for some time and purchased the fabric a while ago, so my memory is sort of dim.

Well, thanks for tarrying with me a bit! Enjoy the week!

All the way from a friend in India!

2010-11-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

Shruti from India sent me this gorgeous curtain from India. I'm participating in her Pay it Forward (and need to blog about it, too, so if anyone wants to play along with me, please let me know!) The deal is the first three people to comment on this post agree to send homemade gifts to three people who comment on their facebook or blog. Get it? Pay it forward? So without further ado, this is what Shruti sent me:

These are gorgeous silk panels

The ties for hanging on the curtain rod are also silk.

And she also sent another piece of beautiful linen type fabric from India, and a darling little doll, all wrapped up prettily in gold gauze!

Shruti outdid herself with these gifts - I love them! I can't wait to hang my new curtain in my sewing room, but I need to make some changes. Currently I have a cornice in there so I need to put up a curtain rod. In the meantime, I have it arranged so I can gaze at it from time to time. Thanks so very much, Shruti!

baby and bad free motion quilting!

2010-11-12T05:17:00.000-08:00

I've been immensely enjoying the wonderful privilege of helping out my daughter during the day with my grandson who is 12 days old. She's trying to nurse and it's not going well, so if any of you are praying people, please lift up a prayer or two for them - suffice to say she's exhausted and disillusioned and... I could go on and on but maybe some of you can relate. Here's some pics of my darlings:

(They don't have a seat for him that sits on a table, but maybe a cousin has one they can borrow)

And here's my first attempt at free-motion quilting, and it's horrible and I wasn't going to show it 'cuz you guys are incredibly talented and I'm... well, anyway, I need a lesson which I will schedule with my sewing machine dealer, hopefully soon!

And this isn't the worst of it! I know I should RIP it out, but I don't FEEL like it! I'm doing cross-hatching on the printed squares, which is much easier. Thanks for visiting my blog and reading about my woes! I'm sure you all have your own problems, HUGE problems, and mine are so minor right now. Okay, enough lamenting. Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Autumn table runner

2010-11-09T00:23:00.000-08:00

I made this table runner for my sister a while ago all with scraps. I think she likes it!

Love this picture!

Grandbaby Ezra Raphael born, finally!

2010-11-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our grandson was born last night, November 1, at 10:11 p.m., 7 lbs. 1 oz. His name is Ezra Rafael (or Raphael, not sure on the spelling yet). He's beee uuu ti ful! I was able to hobble into the hospital on one crutch and hold him - so very precious! He has ten fingers and ten toes, and a cute little nose! We love him dearly already! I hated to leave, but alas, mom and dad needed to rest. I'm sure they'll be bombarded with visitors today and tonight. They'll be bringing him home tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you who sent your well wishes in regards to his birth, and thanks for all the kind words and prayers for my recovery from the hip replacement. I am getting a little bit better every day.

Where have I been, you ask?

2010-10-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

These pictures tell a little story:

Beautiful bouquets sent to me by the great team I work with, and from my church family. And in the bottom pic, my crutch. I had a total hip replacement a week ago Monday and am home recuperating, thus no sewing going on, much to my chagrin.

And the next pic, my daughter and soon-to-be-born grandson who came to spend the day with me. Her due date is today!

So hopefully soon I will be back with born-baby news! We can't wait! And some WIPS or finished goodies. I have lots I want to do. The brain is willing but the body is not able. I hope you all are well! Till I blog again...

Table runner I started over a year ago - finished!

2010-10-13T22:13:00.000-07:00

My first, and so far, only applique project. Luckily, the pics don't show all my boo-boos! And many thanks to a wonderful friend, Lorraine, for all her help and encouragement along the way! AND? I machine-sewed both sides of the binding! There, I admitted it in print and no binding police came to arrest me! Ha!

Design board, at long last!

2010-10-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! I've seen some of your design boards and "tutorials" on how to make one, but I just couldn't get my head around it. Then my darling sis suggested this way of doing it, so, ta-da:

It's not as wide as I had hoped, but my hubby insisted the screws go into studs in the wall and not just into plaster, so it limited the size. Of course, I bought the wrong size screws and figured I would have to schlepp back to Home Depot to exchange them, but while I was church last night he went for me and had it all done when I got back! He's so sweet! So last night, when I couldn't sleep, I put up my Mod Bento boxes. The left side is already sewn together (Round I), and the right side (Round II) is waiting - maybe today. Plus I have to tweak it a bit here and there because I don't like the placement of some of them. Now I have some rearranging to do in my sewing room. What are you all up to today? It's a holiday in Rhode Island - Columbus Day - no work for me! Yippee!

Squash and scraps

2010-10-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Columbus Day weekend! I have lots I want to accomplish this weekend, as I'm sure all of you do, too? I've been looking at this home-grown pile of Butternut Squash in my dining room for about a week now. They were just begging to have their picture taken before they get peeled, cut up, and eaten!

Then last week I saw on someone's blog, I wish I could remember whose, this great idea. So I bought a little 2 1/2" template and started cutting my scraps from the kaleidescope quilt that is still a WIP. Many thanks to the clever blogger for this wonderful tip (and to think I almost gave all the scraps away). Now I can make another entire quilt out of the scraps and we all know how expensive fabric can be!

Speaking of fabric, I just had to show you these lovelies I purchased online last week:

and

I have some ideas for the Dream On, but not for these beauties, YET!

Have a great weekend, my sweet friends!