Sneak Peak of "Bloomin' Flowers"

For the past week I have been working on a quilt by The Stitch Connection called Bloomin' Flowers. The quilt has 12 main blocks of flower arrangements with several other small connector blocks.

The direction are quite extensive, so I printed them out and now have 35 pages in a notebook. It is so easy to look at the directions by just turning a page for checking and rechecking directions. Each of the designs have a stitchout diagram that has the thread colors and then a small picture of the stitchout. One of the designs has 40 color changes.

The directions contain lots of diagrams for putting the blocks together. There are also suggestions for quilting which is unique with many patterns. As a bonus there is also a label for the quilt.

Quilted Lady

This quilted lady is "Hope". When we were in Paducah, Sharon purchased a quilted lady from a person who was shopping at out booth. The quilted lady maker came back a couple of days later and I asked her about her quilted ladies and how she made them. They are really two embroidery CD's designed by Bonnie Colonna. When I had time after returning home, I did an internet search for the embroidery designs. I found a website that showed one of them and a quilt shop when they were purchased. I sent emails to the website and also to Bonnie Colonna. After not getting quick replies--I later found them in my spam folder--I found the phone number of the quilt shop in Pueblo, Colorado and just called them. They did have the designs and so in a few days I also had the designs.

The quilted lady CD's have a face design and then one or two small quilting designs for the fabric piece. Each face has a special name. I tried using cotton fabric for the faces and also dolskin. Cotton is much easier to sew and stuff but dolskin gives you more flexibility for shaping the head.

I have had such fun with the designs. My Wednesday Sewing Group at Bob's Bernina is participating in a quilted lady challenge. Each one received a quilted lady face and are to bring it back at the August meeting artfully attired. Won't it be fun to see with others will do with their quilted lady!

Eyeglass Quilts

Last week I purchased a book called Ready, Set, Serge by Georgie Melot. I had seen her on Sewing with Nancy when she was demonstrating how to make easy serger projects. Two projects caught me eye--an eyeglass case and a cosmetic bag. I just had to order the book because I could not get the directions to work out in my mind. Just too many turns and so had to have a little more help than the TV program.

This is the collection of eyeglass quilts (cases) that I have made. They are just so easy and the ones without piping take about 10 minutes. It does take a few minutes longer to put on the piping. They are just fun to make, can be made with two 8-inch squares of fabric and batting, and make great little gifts. I used my serger but they can easily be made with a sewing machine.

A quilting friend and I had our own quilty retreat last week on Friday and Saturday. We made some of the eyeglass quilts, some 4-sided placemats with piping, and a credit card holder. We had such fun, worked on several projects, and shared our quilts.

My Bernina's "check engine" light came on yesterday. I saw the wrench and screwdriver which means it needs to go to the technician for its checkup. So I had it tuned up and it is ready for another couple of years of dedicated service.

Tightwad Bank

My brother, his wife, and I journeyed to Bushong and Americus, Kansas to visit the graves of our great grandfather, Mealingburg Goodyear, great aunt Sarah, and grandparents William and Leona. I had last been there when I was in my thirty's or so. We did have a good time sharing our memories and seeing the old farmstead. We returned home by way of Reading and I hope you can read the name above the door. This really is Tightwad Bank in Reading, Kansas. "This is the bank with a sense of humor." You can learn more about it by reading information online.

Quilt is finished

The quilt has been delivered. My radiology doctor's appointment was Tuesday. After we talked about my health and my healing after radiation, I gave the doctor and his nurse the quilt. I also included a quilt hanger because many of the quilts in the cancer center are hung with thumbtacks. The binding is a medium blue batik and really toned down the brightness of the quilt. I did make cornerstones from small applique hearts. People are very amazed that someone has taken the time and effort to make them a quilt. I know they will take very good care of it and I have been invited to visit it anytime.

Small Flower Quilt

This sixteen inch quilt was made to be given to another quilter in an exchange. The center is machine embroidery and applique called "Bloomin' Flowers" from The Stitch Connection. I have used their patterns for several quilts. The border technique is a bias folding method that I saw in Paducah. New Leaf Stitches has several patterns that use the method. I enjoyed meeting the designer and seeing her patterns.

Today I am working on the heart quilt. Yesterday I spray-basted the layers and today is quilting day.

Storm Clouds

This is a picture I took this evening of storm clouds in our western sky. There was a large cloud that looked like a storm front and two other clouds that seemed to drop to the ground. They are not tornadoes. When I looked at radar for our state, there was a small localized storm about 60 miles northwest of us. I have never seen a storm formation like this.