A new Stitch-ALong....

is starting soon over at Jenny's blog .

"The Lord's Prayer" is made up of 26 free embroideries shared over 26 weeks, all coming together as a simply pieced elegant wall quilt in December.

The first block will be shared on her blog this coming Monday, June 8th, and a new block every Monday after that until early December when the quilt is completed.

Looks like it will be another beautiful Elefantz creation.

Some of the girlfriends and I went on a little quilt retreat recently.  Here are some pics of the projects we made.  My mystery was a cute flower block from one of the blogs I follow (Connie at Freemotion by the River) and Joan (from MooseStash Quilting) made us each a darling bag with a mystery project in it.  We had such a wonderful time that we reserved the spot for 2 more years.

 

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the kitties

 

A new stitch-along....

from Lisa Bongeon at Primitive Gatherings promises to be gorgeous.  

The first block is posted on her blog now.  She has kits available for sale, but the pattern is free.  She's done the first block in wool, but I think it would be great done as fusible fabric applique.  She'll be posting a new block every 2 weeks.

Johnny Cash has grown into a sweet boy with a BAD problem....he's a chewer.  We've had to buy new modem cords, new phone cords,  and a new wireless keyboard and wireless mouse, among other things.  I've tried pepper spray and citrus spray, plus spraying him with plain water when we see him chewing, but it doesn't bother him at all.  You'd think he would be getting zapped with electricity, but nothing seems to stop him.  And every time DGD comes, he tries to chew her flipflops! 

 

Patsy Cline is so good, but it doesn't seem to be rubbing off on Johnny.

HELP!!!!  What's a mother to do?

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the Marmalade Cats

UFO's....

We all have them, but do they ever get done?  My goal this year is to go thru all my bags of swap blocks and get some quilts made.  I belong to several Yahoo groups and have done a lot of swaps in the past, so my collection of blocks is growing.

I have a collection of Happy Blocks from 3 different groups I belonged to. 

I just took the florals, roses, and pink ones and put the three of them together in a large throw the last time we sewed at the fire hall.  I put a sheet down on the floor there and then had plenty of room to lay them out and play with them.  

 

I still have several more collections left, including a big bag of Autumn's from Block Central - when we used to get 40-48 blocks when we won.

 

I plan to work on the assorted kids, bugs, etc the next time we go there.  I worked on some Halloween ones I won last year when I was at sewing at my friend's house last month.  Got the rows all pieced, now just have to finish sewing the rows together.

 

This has been something I wanted to do for quite a while  because I don't really have a lot of throw or larger quilts in my house.  It seems I always make them for gifts but never get any done for myself, lol.  

 

I have some gorgeous Halloween appliqued blocks from a swap several years ago, plus 2 years of Christmas appliqued blocks and a Christmas pieced block swap from swaps done by Aunt Pitty Pat. 

I also have patriotic blocks and a group of blocks from a swap called My Favorite Block-where everyone did their favorite block, but in the named color theme. 

 

So this year I really want to finish up a lot of UFO's and clear out the assorted blocks I have.  Let's hope I can follow thru on this goal.

 

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash

You can win Fabric for Life....

Just wanted to let you know that Keepsake Quilting is giving away over 80 great prizes  based on a raffle. The grand prize is  a 20 year supply of fabric.  Two more lucky winners will win a year's supply of fabric, and 50 more winners will win some other great prizes.

You can enter daily until February 28th, but it's only open to residents of the US and Canada.

Please check it out and let as many people know about it.  Here's the contest link:

http://ck.upickem.net/r/37vMEWAm4C3?r=192581


I entered-not that I need to win any more fabric, lol, I'm running out of room for my stash now- use my link above and see if you can win something, too.

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the kitties

 

Sunday sewing....

with my friends at the local fire hall was cold today.  With the temps in the zero to 10 degrees and the winds a-blowing and the snow a-snowing, it was cold outside, but warm inside.  Not as many showed up to sew today, but 2 of our group are in Florida for the winter--the traitors!!  But those that were there got some sewing done and had some laughs while doing it.

Mary brought 2 completed projects for show-and-tell.  One is a cathedral windows table topper that Jill showed the girls how to do last time we met - 2 weeks ago.  The other is a pretty spools quilt she made for her sewing room.  The girls all gathered around to see her lovely quilts.

Linda worked on her cathedral windows topper today, too, and is almost finished with it.

Ann worked on her's until she ran out of fabric.  Uh-oh!  Anybody got any Christmas fabric for Ann, lol?

I brought a small tote bag I finished yesterday to show the girls and Mary modeled it for us.

And today I put the binding on a quilt donated by a generous person to the Quilt and Needle's Snug Society Quilter's Give-Back charity projects.  This quilt will go to the Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota.  Ann quilted it and has another ready to quilt so we can get them in the mail ASAP.  We think it's cold here in New York, but it's even colder in South Dakota.  Hopefully this quilt will make a difference in keeping an elder warm this winter.

Until next time....
Happy quilting and keep warm,
From Sharon and the Marmalade Kitties-Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash

Charity Sew-In tonight...and you're invited...

A cyber-quilting-bee to benefit your favorite charity! A chance to "give back" by making quilts for those who need the comfort that only a quilt can give.

 

If you’re looking for a chance to “give back”, to bless someone who needs to have their spirits lifted, someone who needs to know that someone cares for them, join us this Friday, January 24th, 6:00 PM CST as we come together for the first 4th Friday Snug Society Sew-In!  We’ll gather at a “cyber-quilting-bee” on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/events/247983118712420/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming&source=1  )

 

and on the Quilt and Needle Forum (http://www.thequiltandneedle.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=2854&posts=2&start=1) 

 

to create blocks, piece tops, sandwich and quilt to create quilts to pass forward to those who need them.

Find a worthy cause in your town and start sewing. Get together with your quilting friends and make a party of it. I guarantee your heart will be warmed by the experience.

If you don’t know of an organization that you want to help, then we invite you to join the Snug Society in our on-going quilt projects (http://www.thequiltandneedle.com/forums/category-view.asp?catlock=10) to benefit:

(1) Harmony Home (http://www.ohhcac.org/), a counseling center for abused children in Texas;

(2) Pine Ridge Native American Reservation (http://friendsofpineridgereservation.org/) in South Dakota; and

(3) Quilts of Valor (http://www.qovf.org/).

Let’s get together and do what we do best – share the comfort of a quilt with those who need this comforting most! 

 

Here are pics of the last 3 quilts I worked on and sent to Pine Ridge:

 

 

I'll be there tonight...hope to see you, too.

 

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon and the Marmalade Kitties

Happy 2014 Everyone...

Just a short post today, so I can do some sewing for my newest swaps.

Yesterday, I showed you what my swap-from partner sent me in the 2013 Chookyblue Secret Santa Christmas Swap.   Today I have a couple of pictures of the gift I sent to Julie D in Australia.  I forgot to take a picture of the little extras I sent her, but lucky for me, she took one I can steal, lol.

My main gift to her was a table runner made from a mini charm pack by Moda called "Civil War Jubilee".  It was a free pattern I found on a blog I read, written by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.   

I've never cared much for the Civil War fabrics and don't have any in my stash, but when I saw this charm pack, I fell in love with it.  I changed my mind entirely on the fabrics I was going to use for this pattern.  I showed it to the girls in my Wednesday sewing group and they all liked it, too.

So here's the pics I took of the runner, followed by the pic Julie D posted on her blog.  I have trouble taking a good pic of anything big or long, so my pics are not the best.:

long shot

close up

Julie's pic of what I sent her

This swap is always so much fun and I love checking out all the other swappers blogs and seeing pics of the gifts they made.  Looking forward to 2014.  Thanks again to Donna and Trish for hosting.

Take a minute to check out my side bar with the latest new BOMs I've found for 2014.  Some beautiful applique blocks coming up.  Several have already started.

And check out the newest pic of Johnny Cash.  He is 10 months old now and still growing.

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash