HELP !!!!!!!!!! My iron's not working...

To a quilter that can be the worst thing that can happen on any given day. Our irons are our most trusted companions. They steam those tricky seams and press out all the wrinkles in that gorgeous new fabric we just washed. We use it for our fusibles and for applique, and yes, once in a while we have to press hubby's shirt with it (sigh). So we need a great iron and need to keep it in tip-top condition. Today SewCalGal has a fantastic post about the care and cleaning of your iron. She's put together everything you need to know, complete with videos pulled from other sources, about keeping that hard to replace, perfect iron working properly and cleanly. I'm going to save her whole post so I'll have it in the future when it's time to clean my iron. So hop on over there and get educated before your treasured iron bites the dust.

We had sewing at the fire hall a couple of weeks ago and made the new Izzy Bag by Marlous Designs as our project for the day.  Here are some pictures of the bags we made.

More of the girls are still working on their bags, but we got the pattern at our LQS, O'Susannah's in Watkins Glen, NY.   Someone is going to make them for Christmas gifts, but I can't say who.

Here is a picture of the baby quilt I made for my friend Carol's new grandbaby that's coming soon.  They know it's a girl, so I got to make it in one of my favorite colors - pink.  Jane quilted it for me, but you can't really see the design in the picture.  And that's a piece of Ann's quilt that is showing behind it on the side, lol, it's not really blue and yellow binding.  See--once in a while I do get something finished.

Oh, don't forget to check out the Bowls with Borders Blog Hop that started yesterday.  Some gorgeous bowls are showing up.



Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and the girls, Katie and Patsy Cline

There's another blog hop coming up ...

and it will be the ten days leading up to my birthday.  How special is that?  Of course, they didn't know it was my birthday week when they planned it, but I can still pretend it's all for me, can't I?  It's called Dots on Dots and is hosted by Corrie at Quilt Taffy. 

The bloggers are taking polka dot fabrics out of their stash and creating blocks full of polka dots.  Their blocks can be stitched, appliquéd, paper pieced, or whatever, as long as it has polka dots in the blocks.
This blog hop will begin on Sept 10th, and I just heard that it's been extended an extra day until the 21st (no weekends) because so many bloggers wanted in on it.  I can't wait to see all the wonderful things these creative bloogers will come up with.

Madame Samm has also announced another new hop to follow the DOTS Hop--it's for my favorite time of year--FALL.  I think I love Fall best because that's when I was born, but there's just something about the fall colors, cooler days, the smell of burning leaves, and the crisp air that makes me think of new beginnings.  Time to put all that old baggage behind you and start fresh again. 

                   

For whatever reason though, I love Fall - so when I heard about this new hop I decided to be brave and join in.  I've been watching some of my other blogger friends do it, like Joan at Moose Stash Quilting .  Now I'm not even half as creative as she is, but she gives me the nerve to try it once.  So I'm crossing my fingers (and everything else) and jumping right in, for better or for worse. 

This hop will be hosted by Cherry at Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio and is called "LEAFS ME HAPPY" Blog Hop and runs from October 1st through the 10th.  Cherry is still taking blogger sign ups, so if you're interested, go over and see the rules and get signed up.  If I can do it, so can you.  Don't wait, or it might be too late.

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the girls, Katie & Patsy Cline