Quilting With A Marmalade Cat

Clover and Violet are starting another...

2012-02-15T20:40:00.000-05:00

sewing and quilt-long this month, the Garden Steps: Stitch & Quilt Along. There will be two quilt options this time, a full quilt which will measure approximately 51" x 68" and a baby quilt which will measure approximately 34" x 51". So click on the link in my sidebar and make a note on your calendar so you don't miss out!

My two quilting groups had another Super Bowl Sunday sew-athon and a regular sew-athon this month. On SB Sunday, my friends and I made traveling iron caddys to carry our hot irons home. The pattern came from Husqvarna but of course, we had to change it a little, lol. Aren't these neat?

Lynne's bag

Mary's bag

Linda's first bag

Linda's 2nd bag - back

Linda's 2nd bag - front

My bag inside....

and outside.

Patsy snooping in Lynne's bags

Of course Patsy Cline has to be right in the middle of everything!

Our fire hall sewing on Sundays has resulted in lots of really neat Christmas tree table runners using the Half Hexie Ruler that we bought at Missouri Quilt Co. I saw the tutorial they posted on You Tube and had to have it. So easy to make and you can use your scraps and there are so many ways to vary it..

This is Ann's completed TR.

This is Linda's completed one. Aren't they neat?
Mary decided the trees needed a trunk, so she added it to her's and then everyone else decided they wanted one too. So a slight change to the pattern, but still very easy.

Jill brought the quilts she had been working on for her two daughters-in-law for Christmas, so we could she how they turned out. Aren't they gorgeous? She is so talented. This is a picture quilt with the 3 boys pictures inside the the stars.

and this is her Elden batik quilt. Not something I want to try...way too complicated for me.

Here are some more pictures of our quilt club members projects over the last couple of weeks. We have so much fun when we get together and everyone does such different things. We inspire each other and push each other to be better quilters and friends.

Donna G's stitchery

Gail's beautiful stitchery quilt for her Joe's Christmas present.

Donna G's shamrock

Jane's house quilt

Bonnie's Bee Hive quilt

Joan's Batik Swap Blocks Quilt

Jane's Batik Quilt

Jane's NYD Mystery Quilt

Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

2012 OPAM or One Project A Month...

2012-01-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

Two years ago I signed up for the OPAM Challenge and did fairly well on completing projects. Then last year I didn't get in by the deadline, but I thought, "I can still participate, but just on my own". HAH!!! I find if I don't have a deadline or some one to push me a little, I can be a very lazy crafter!! It's so easy to just sit at the computer and cruise the web, or play games, or do jigsaw puzzles--anything, other than work on projects. So this year when I saw Kris and Peg were taking signups again, I hurried over and signed up. I have tons of UFO's to get finished and I need that little extra excouragement to keep my nose to the grindstone.

The idea of the “One Project A Month Challenge is pretty simple ... To try to finish at least ONE craft project by the end of each month. This can be something you’ve had partly done for a while (a Work In Slow Progress WISP), a pattern you bought ages ago that you finally get around to making up, or a completely new project. This is meant to be a low-stress challenge - if you don’t finish a project every month - that’s fine! Sometimes life interferes with our plans. Some projects are meant to be long-term and have a LOT of work involved, like a quilt or an embroidery. The main aim of the OPAM Challenge is to give everyone a bit of a motivational boost and to give us all a big cheer squad to encourage and inspire us.

So with help from my friends in OPAM-ville, this year I hope to have lots and lots of finished projects. I'm off to a good start so far, lol, I have one project already done. I can't show it yet, because it's part of a swap and hasn't been delivered yet. But I'll post a pic as soon as I know my friend, ------------, has received it.

Until next time,

Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

More goodies for us...

2012-01-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Val Laird Designs has a wonderful BOM for 2012 that starts today and continues all year. "Thoughts in Thread" is a wall quilt measuring 34 inches square and consists of nine blocks. Each month over nine months, she'll give you the pattern for each block, then in the tenth month you will receive the finishing instructions.

Coming in July 2012 will be a new project from Denise Russart, the Christmas Town Sampler. It's a collaboration with four very talented quilting friends: Judy Laquidara (http://www.patchworktimes.com/), Sheryl Till (http://quiltingtizzy.wordpress.com/), Susan Neves (http://7and7.wordpress.com/) and Denise will each be presenting different parts of this quilt. It’s part Block of the Month, part Mystery and part Blog Hop.

The Raspberry Rabbits also have a new BOM starting, The Adventures of Harrington and Hannah BOM.
Each month on the 15th, they will bring you a new block featuring stitching, wool applique, and patchwork sashing. The January Block, Harrington and Hannah give a carrot to a friend is up now. I probably won't do the wool applique, but I think the design will look great just stitched!

Off now to work on my stocking project for a friend. Until next time...

Happy Quilting
from Sharon and the "girls"

Some new Freebies for us....

2012-01-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

FaveQuilts has put together its very first free eBook of free quilt patterns! The 12 Awesome Free Quilt Patterns and Small Quilted Projects eBook has over 50 pages filled with applique quilt patterns, patchwork quilts, and small quilted projects. Whether you're a novice quilter or you have years of experience, you're sure to find some free quilt projects that will keep your sewing machine humming!

For 2012 Aurifil Threads will have a whole new set of designers bringing you blocks of stitchery each month for free on their blog! January is Roseann Kermes of Rosebud's Cottage, with a darling Snowbird stitchery. Sign up for Aurifil's newsletter and you'll make sure to get your free stitchery every month!

Cindy Carter at Quilt Patterns from Seattle has another new free quilt for you to help celebrate Valentine's Day. She's just starting it now, so don't get behind. And if you've never been to her site before, be prepared to spend a LOT of time there! She has tons of adorable free quilt patterns there for you.

Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and "the girls"

Happy New Year !!

2012-01-02T14:30:00.000-05:00

The girls and I hope you all had a great Holiday Season, no matter how you celebrated. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Eve hubby and I ushered in the New Year with a delicious lobster dinner with baked potatoes, corn, and Italian bread. Yummy! Of course, the only time we have lobster is about every other year at New Year's--too expensive for our strict budget, lol. But once in a while we indulge ourselves. Of course hubby never stays up to watch the ball drop, so the girls and I saw the New Year in and then went to bed in anticipation of the next day.

New Year's Day was spent with 6 of my quilt club girls at Ann's house. We sewed along with the Planet Patchwork NYD Mystery . Ann served us breakfast and a great lunch of baked spaghetti, tossed salad, garlic bread, and a yummy vanilla wafer pudding. Between that and the snacks, lol, we all sort of got behind in the clues. Jill was the only one who even started sewing the rows together to see what the pattern might look like. I think she had one row left to go when I had to leave.

Most of us got our blocks sewn, but with other dinner commitments that day, we all had to pack up and leave at different times, so we'll probably end of finishing the top at Joan's house on our normal Wednesday sewing day.

But what a lot of fun and laughter we had. And we got another to chance to say goodbye to our BFF, Diane, who is deserting us for the warmth of a Florida winter. Traitor! Just think of us back up here in the frozen North, Diane, while you're down there lolling around in your bathing suit!

Here are the pictures I took yesterday.

The last picture is of my blocks as I was almost done with them. I had a jelly roll from Kansas Troubles called Kansas Winter, so that's what I used for my blocks. I love their fabric and colors. I have several more jelly rolls, layer cakes, charm packs, and turnovers in Lynne's other lines. You should stop over at her blog and say hello.

Until next time...

Happy Quilting and may your New Year be filled with peace and joy,

from Sharon and the girls, Katie and Patsy Cline

What a wonderful Christmas....

2011-12-27T19:16:00.000-05:00

we had at our home. Dinner with the family here--my gravy turned out great! (I'm gravy challenged, lol, 'cause my mother always made it so I never had to learn). Lots to eat, so we never did have dessert.

Got to talk to my grandson on the phone. He lives outside San Francisco now, with a wonderful new job, but it's our first Christmas without him. He received his gift from us okay and loved it when he opened it. I made him a Philadelphia Eagles quilt for his bed.

I wasn't sure if it would fit or not, but he took this picture with his phone and says it fits fine. He bought a new bed frame when he moved and it was just delivered the other day, so he spent his Christmas Day putting it together. Unfortunately, it's too small, so he'll still be sleeping on the floor, lol, but at least he'll be under a nice, new quilt.

DD liked her new Christmas quilt, too. We learned the pattern at one of our quilt club's Sunday sew-a-thon's at the fire hall. It's called the 10 minute block and is similar to a cathedral window block.

I'm going to make myself one with Moda's Cattails and Clover layer cakes with smaller blocks. Maybe I'll even get it done in the next year.

This year I participated in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Christmas Swap again (my fourth year). This is the only swap I do at Christmas now because I've never been disappointed in the swaps I've received. Someone in Australia always has my name and I've received the most beautiful gifts. I've held off posting the "ornament" we can open as soon as our package arrives, hoping for snow--but all we've had in the past week is rain. Usually the "ornie" is supposed to be hung on your tree so you can anticipate your Christmas gift. But this year, Bec had my name, and her "ornie" just kept growing. So instead of hanging it on my tree, lol, I had to hang it on my front door for everyone to see! Here it is hanging on my wall the day I received it.

Isn't it the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? I love it! And it hangs perfectly on my front door and is protected by the whole glass frame. If it ever stops raining, I'll try to post another picture of it on the door, so you can see how great it looks. It makes me smile looking at it.

And on top of that, the "real" present she made me is a gorgeous table runner that makes me think of summer and the beach. The colors are beautiful and so is the quilting on it.

Thanks, Bec, I love them both! You're a great SSCS swapper!

I sent my SSCS package to Fiona in Australia. She let me know she was very happy with her package, also. I'm glad, because looking at her blog, you can see she is a very talented lady. Here is the bag and the goodies I sent to her. Of course, Katie has to do her quality control check before anything can be shipped out.

Stop in at Fiona's blog and look at all the lovely items she has made, you won't be disappointed.

Until next time...

from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Merry Christmas...

2011-12-23T17:55:00.000-05:00

Thank You, and God Bless You, to all our military personnel serving near and far during this Blessed Christmas Season. And Happy Holidays to those of you that do not celebrate Christmas.

I hope I can share this beautiful Christmas Concert from Ricky Tims of The Quilt Show with you.

The video link with this blog is the full concert from the December 14-15, 2007 performances. It is 72 minutes long, so get a cup of christmas cheer, good computer speakers or headphones, and chill for a little more than an hour. It wasl only to be available on TQS, so I hope this link will work. I hope many of you will watch it . The video is a compliation of four performances. Also, be sure to visit Kat Bowser's webpage.

Several videos included in the show feature some amazing quilts. Here's the song list:

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Christmas 1956, 1957, and 1961

Sleigh Ride Medley (with Winter Wonderland and My Favorite Things)

The Christmas Song

Carol of the Bells

I Saw Three Ships

Sugar Plum Fairy

Angels We Have Heard On High

O Holy NIght

Midwinter Dreams - on CD (Sacred Age) and download at www.rickytims.com

Mary Did You Know?

Christmas in a Small Town - available for download at www.rickytims.com

Silent Night - on CD and download at http://www.rickytims.com/

Sugar Plum Fairy Reprise - available for download at http://www.rickytims.com/online-store

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/681#ooid=Z4OXZ2MToMyyjBHf3bvdHHlGS7k0_fDR

See you all after the holidays...

from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Only 12 days left til Christmas....

2011-12-12T23:15:00.000-05:00

and I am so far behind. Between going to 2 Celtic Thunder Christmas concerts in three days and being sick ever since, I haven't done any sewing. I even missed Quilt Club last week 'cause I couldn't get out of bed.

But I do have pictures from 2 weeks ago at Quilt Club. We had a combination going away, Christmas, and birthday party for Donna W, who went home to Arizona for the next 6 months. Everyone brought a dish to pass and we chowed down on lots of good food. Here are some of the pics from that day.

And I even got some sewing done this weekend. I made table toppers for several of my friends from our old hockey booster club. We get together once a month for lunch just to keep in touch with each other. Sometimes that's the only time we see each other because of everyone's busy lives. The girls all seemed to like their gifts.

Another party coming up on Thursday with my Stitch 'n Bitch Group, so now to get back to more sewing.

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

Holiday Mail for Heroes

2011-12-06T21:34:00.000-05:00

Would you like to send holiday cards to our service men and women to brighten their holidays and let them know that they appreciated while they are far away from home? Hurry! You still have time to send your cards to the American Red Cross Holiday Mail for Heroes program. They must be postmarked by this Friday December 9.

The Red Cross is working with Pitney Bowes, a mail stream technology company, to collect and distribute holiday cards to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world. The process is very simple and takes no time at all - All you need is a pen and piece of paper to share your appreciation for the sacrifices members of the U.S. Armed Forces make to protect our freedoms. The Holiday Mail for Heroes mail box is open and ready to receive for your cards.

All of the details can be found here and it is very simple. You can even "order" cards online for only $1.00 each- just choose your card design and greeting, and a card will be sent to a service member. Click here for the details. (Really, how easy is that??

More freebies...

2011-11-02T20:46:00.000-04:00

Mollie over at Wild Olive has some cute Fall needlework patterns for you use in your Fall decorating. The pumpkin, acorn, and squash pattern would be darling on some new dish towels for Thanksgiving, and so would the rest of her designs in the PDF she has for you to download.

Wendi at Shiny Happy World has a set of 6 designs that would make cute Christmas tree ornaments. Perfect for tie-ons to packages or as part of an ornament swap.

I found this tutorial and free pattern PDF at Craft too late for this year, but there's lots of time to make these cute pillows for next Halloween.

And Mary Corbet at Needle 'n Thread has a darling scarecrow to embroider for Fall. She also has over 200 free embroidery patterns to share with you, so make sure you check out her site.

That's all for now. Until next time...

Happy Quiltig from Sharon and the girls, Katie and Patsy Cline

Some more new freebies...

2011-10-29T16:51:00.000-04:00

Clover and Violet are starting a new Stitch and Quilt-along on their blog. If you followed along with their 101 Embroidery Sew-along, you know what cute projects they come up with. This time it's called the Ruby market tote. The market tote is going to be about the size of a smaller shopping bag, and will be a quilty bag. Their bags are unique because each one has a patchwork outer and is finished with a binding, just like a quilt, plus it has a special embroidery piece for the outside of the bag as well. So make sure you hop on over to their site and check it out.

Bronwyn Hayes at Red Brolly has a gorgeous Christmas Sampler she is offering as part of 3 free Christmas

projects to get us going on our Christmas gifts. Isn't it pretty? She also has a tutorial on making felt flowers that would make beautiful Christmas pins to give as gifts, if you make them in Christmas colors.

And Rana at Pieces of My Life is offering a new Autumn's Bounty BOM that should be fun. The first 2 blocks are up now. Block one is a darling pumpkin, with block two a strip block. So head over and get going on those blocks before you get behind!

Guess what?? My quilty friends have been sewing their little hearts out lately and I have more pictures to show you of all their projects. These are from our last quilt club meeting at Joan's house.

Bonnie's Gingerbread TR #1

Bonnie's Pumkin and Leaves TR

Diane's newest purse

Bonnie's Pumpkin TR

Donna's Lighthouse WH

Bonnie's Gingerbread TR #2

Bonnie's Pumpkin Wagon TR

Bonnie's Snowmen

Jane's PP'd Christmas Tree WH

Aren't I lucky to get to sew with these talented women? They are so inspiring and do such beautiful work. It almost makes me want to finish something of my own, instead of just starting things, lol.

But I do finish some things--my Quilted Table Yahoo Group had a Fall/Halloween Topper Swap and Mary in Canada and I had each other in the swap and had to send out the fabrics we wanted used in the swap. I send Mary a group of gold metallic Fall colored FQ's and this is the beautiful reversible table topper she made me. And it looks so pretty on the table I keep my two antique sewing machines on. It's perfect for that spot.

Thanks, Mary! I love it!

Mary sent me all Oriental fabrics for her Halloween tablerunner, so it took me a while to come up with a design, but I finally decided on blocks from the FabricShopHop Halloween quilt. I was going to do a variety of those blocks, but unfortunately I found a number of mistakes in the cutting directions so I gave up after 2 blocks. (I'm not 100% sure if they were all my errors or theirs, but I gave up in frustration!) I decided to use another block from Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache and put the black cat Halloween block between two of her blocks. So this was the result. Then I made a little candle mat from the witch's hat block I had made. That turned out pretty good. Mary said she like them, so that makes me happy.

So until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and Katie and Patsy Cline

Hug Club

2011-10-21T11:12:00.001-04:00

The 2nd Tuesday of every month, a group of us meet at our LQS, O'Susannah's, in Watkins Glen, NY to sew quilts for charity. We've made a lot of quilts for individuals over the past 3 years- all from scraps from the shop. Sue provides the fabric and has the top quilted and bound and we do all the planning and sewing.

This time, however, we're making a special batik quilt called Tropical Turnover by Edyta Sitar. Sue is going to have it raffled off with the proceeds to go to Habitat for Humanity. We started this quilt in September, worked on it this month, and should be sewing the top together in November. We can't wait to see how it turns out. Sue had a trunk show of Edyta's quilts in the shop, and they were all beautiful. Here's a picture of the pattern

and some more of our little group.

Bettina, Irene, Judy

Wilma, Bettina

Judy, Lynne

Mary, Linda

Here are some of the quilts we;ve made in the past:

And Judy brought her Flurry quilt for us to see. She made it all from FQ's and scraps she already had and quilted it on her personal sewing machine. Isn't it beautiful?

Hopefully after next month's sewing, I'll have a new completed top for you to see.

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

My quilting group is at it again...

2011-10-19T17:37:00.000-04:00

making lots of beautiful quilts and wallhangings for gifts. Bonnie and Donna W. have been so busy sewing that they've left the rest of us in the dust. I think they must have a sewing fairy that comes in at night and sews for them, lol. Otherwise how can they get so much done? Here are some of their latest projects.

Bonnie's Cat 1600 Quilt

Donna W's Batik 1600 Quilt

Bonnie's Pumpkin WH

Donna W's Corn and Pumpkins 1600 Quilt

Donna W's Fall TR

Now you have to remember, these 1600 quilts are in addition to the ones they made when we had our 1600 Challenge day at the fire hall last month. I think they're trying to show the rest of us up, lol.

Now the next 1600 quilt is the one Tammy did at the fire hall, but she decided to put a scarecrow from another pattern on hers. Her mom, Jane is helping her with it. Isn't this a cute idea?

Tammy's quilt

And here's the beautiful table runner that Jane received from Joan K in the Quilted Table Fall/Halloween Swap. Isn't it gorgeous? Joan does such beautiful work. Stop over at her blog (Moose Stash Quilting) and look at all the wonderful projects she has made. She even has some tutorials for you to try.

That's all for today. But I'll be back soon with pictures from our Hug Club charity quilting event.

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

Another beautiful BOM is starting...

2011-10-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

over at the Silly Goose . It's part applique and part piecing, so you'll get a variety of techniques to keep you interested. The picture posted is what you will be making *WITH EXCEPTIONS!*. It looks beautiful and I love the fabrics she posted in an earlier post.

The fabric requirements are up now here . Part 1 is now up here with a beautiful applique piece that can be done in buttonhole applique or needleturn. This should keep you busy for a while.

A friend and I went to Scranton, PA this past weekend to see our favorite singing group, Celtic Thunder, perform at the Communty Center.

Neil, Keith, George, Emmett, Ryan
Caltic Thunder

What a gorgeous building that is, with paneled and stenciled cedar ceilings in the entrance and most of the rooms. The building is the Masonic Temple and Scottish Rite Cathedral and is on the National Historic Register. It has beautiful center ceilings of mahogany painted in gold leaf with large thistles carved in it. Some of the doors were gold metal lacework and engraved all over - like you would see in a palace.

Front Entrance outside

Cedar ceilings in ballroom

Craftsman Hall

Closeup Front Entrance

Paneled Library with Stained Glass Windows

Gold Leaf Thistle Ceiling

We went to a Meet-and-Greet, with Emmett and George from the group, in the Library-a black paneled room with gorgeous stained glass window insets. I wish I had my camera with me to take lots of pictures.

Barb had her camera, but then it wouldn't turn on, so no great pics from either of us! But the concert was wonderful and we had a great time. Of course, we had to send a little money over to Ireland to help their economy, lol. I bought a CT t-shirt and key chain and Barb bought programs, a key chain, and a poster of Keith for her granddaughter. So it was a great weekend, spent listening to great music, with a great friend. What's better than that?

Until next time...

Happy Quilting from Sharon and the girls--Katie and Patsy Cline

Two new 6" sampler quilt-alongs starting...

2011-10-03T17:24:00.000-04:00

Michele in Calgary, who is one of the Mods with me at The Quilted Table Yahoo Group, posted this info in one of our other groups, so I thought I would pass the info along to you.

Jenifer Dick, author of Quilt Retro, is beginning a free quilt-along on her blog. It's two samplers (6" blocks) - each week a new block will be featured for the two samplers and a pic-tutorial to make the block for the modern sampler or the traditional sampler.

So drop in check them out. Modern Monday, or Traditional Tuesday.

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

A new Christmas sew-along for us....

2011-09-23T14:31:00.000-04:00

The SewHappy Christmas SewAlong will begin on Friday, September 23rd. It will continue for 8 weeks. Each week, for the first seven weeks, Lesley, at Sew Happy Me, will publish the pattern and instructions for one stitchery block. In the final (8th) week, she will publish the instructions to put all the blocks together to make the Christmas bunting. The first block is available today on her blog. Each pattern will only be on the blog for one week (two weeks for first pattern only). So remember to check in each Friday and download your pattern. If you miss a pattern, you'll have to purchase it from her Esty store. Look on my sidebar for her link to take you right there.

If you remember, Lesley also did a Quilt-along from February to this Septemeber that I posted the link for on my sidebar. All the posts are still on her blog for that one, so if you hurry, you can still download them for free.
Don't forget to stop and leave a comment to thank her for generously giving us these lovely projects.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

A Sunday Sew-a-Thon

2011-09-14T21:17:00.002-04:00

My Wednesday quilting group got together with my Thursday stitching group for a 1600 Jelly Roll Challenge on Sunday. We met at a local fire hall and had 16 sewers all ready for a day of fun and laughter. Diane S thought it would be fun to have a challenge following the Heirloom Creations Jelly Roll Race. You can read about it on their blog and watch their video, too.

We had to have our 40 strips all pre-sewn end-to-end before we came that day, then we were going to race to the finish, to see who could get their quilt top done first. I donated prizes to be given out for first, second, and bringing-up-the-rear, lol. Well, some of the girls had already done several tops before Sunday, so they were working on several more already and came with theirs in various stages. They decided to heck with the race, let's just have fun and give out the door prizes during the day.

Jane set up themed door prizes. We each had to cut and bring 3 strips X WOF in 5 themes. Baby, Fall, bright Christmas, Winter, and Patriotic. Each themes' strips would go into the theme box and someone would win all the strips in the box for that theme.

Bonnie S was in a cutting frenzy before she came and cut 40 strips each of several of the themes to give away several prizes herself. She said she needed to trim down her stash, so she kept on cutting, lol. I won her 40 Christmas strips, Gail won her 40 Fall strips, and Jill won the Patriotic ones. Someone else won her 40 Winter strips, and we still had the sets we each brought left. Needless to say, there were a lot of very happy, strip-winning gals Sunday.

Everyone finished at least one quilt top, while others were working on a second one before we called it a day. Here are the tops we pieced, in no particular order, all ready for their borders and appliques.

Aren't they all neat? And wait til they're all done. I hope I can get pictures of them all completed to show you how different they will all be then. Until next time...

Happy quilting,
from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Do you like angels?

2011-09-03T21:33:00.000-04:00

If you do, make sure to go over to Vikki's blog, Sew Useful Designs, and download the first 2 blocks in her newest free stitchery BOM, Angels Playing Happily. It consists of two sweet angel stitchery blocks, three verse blocks, and instructions to create an angelic wall-hanging – complete with wings! Plus, you can still dowload another free angel stitchery she has on her site. Great for upcoming holiday gifts.

The girls from Quilt Club have been stitching up a storm since we got back from our GTG quilting retreat in July. One of the ladies there demo'd the 1600 Jelly Roll Strip Quilt, and since then, our group has been cutting strips and sewing jelly roll quilts like crazy.

Here are some of their newest quilts:

Bonnie's 1600 Chicken quilt

Diane's 1600 Pumpkin quilt

Donna's 1600 Butterfly quilt

Bonnie has been really busy this summer. She's made several other quilts and this darling tablerunner.

Her sister, Donna W, has been just as busy, too, making quilts for her family. She finished this beautiful, appliqued, woodland quilt for her grandson, plus another BOM from last year, and the tops of 4 tablerunners.

Our other Donna, Donna G, finished a darling pumpkin wallhanging for Fall. Isn't it cute?

I have done a few things this year beyond all the block swaps I do. My friend Carol L, who is a wonderful, compassionate, nurse at one of our local hospitals, has a new baby grandson this year. The nursery theme was elephants in blue, tan, white, and green from one of those expensive baby shops. I found a darling elephant pattern at Sindi's Fat Cat Patterns and used that to make baby Ethan his own elephant quilt. I had so much fun putting this one together. And Sindi's designs are so cute, they make wonderful quilts. Here is a picture of it finally all done.

Over at the Quilt 'N Needle Group, we did a Summer Mug Mat Swap. Our theme was to suggest what summer means. Of course I chose ice cream--was there any question in your mind? I found some really cute ice cream fabric and made this for Tricia.

At my Happyandscrappy Group we're still doing Happy Blocks and My Favorite Blocks, plus we did a Red/White/Blue Swap for the 4th of July. Right now we're in the middle of a Kona Solids Swap. Sorry if you've seen some of these before, but I don't remember posting them.

June HB's

August HB's

Sept HB's

My Fav Block - August

R/W/B July 4th Swap

Kona Solids Swap

I guess that's it for now. Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Our last night....

2011-08-22T13:08:00.001-04:00

We went to the neatest place for our celebration dinner, The 356th Fighter Group , located just off the Canton Airport. The 356th Fighter Group Restaurant is the area's only authentic WWII restaurant dedicated to the heroes of the war. The 356th Fighter Group was an actual airborne team that saw combat in the European Theater. Three squadrons of planes (the 359th, 360th, and 361st) made up the 356th Fighter Group. These Pilots flew the P-47 Thunderbolt and then the famed P-51 Mustang while escorting the B-17 Bombers across the English Channel to safety. This group was stationed at the Martelsham Heath Airfield in Suffolk, England. The 356th Fighter Group completed a total of 413 combat missions. The outside of the restaurant is decorated with old trucks, sentry posts, airplanes, ambulances, and other war memorabilia. When you enter, you think you walking into a sand-bagged bunker. Lots of actual newspaper clippings and photos adorn the walls. What a great place! If you ever get to Canton, make sure you plan to have dinner here--the food was fabulous!

Bonnie E, Michele, Ruth, Marcia S, Molly, Josie, Lyn, Trish

Eva, Suecat, Marilyn/Marcia, Nan, Merrily, Marcia L, Marcia/Marilyn, Rosie

Jodi, Bonnie S, Sharon Z, Donna W, Lanette, Jean, Sharon T

After a wonderful dinner and lots of laughs, we went back to the sewing room and began the painful process of trying to pack up all our sewing stuff! Most of us went home with more than we brought--it must have been those visits to the quilt shops. Oh, and did I tell you, Canton has a HUGE Jo-Ann Fabrics? It's 2 to 3 times bigger than the one we have at home. The saleslady that cut all our fabric said it was a "Super Jo-Ann's". I've never seen one so big! And lots of quilting fabric that we've never seen at our local store. I think all the NY gals bought at least some fabric and a pre-cut kit. AND did I mention they were having a BIG SALE!!!!

Before we had everything packed up, we went out to the lobby and had a group picture taken by Scott, our clean-up man.

Front Row-R to L

Nan, Merrily, Ruth, Suecat, Marcia L, Eva, Rosie, Michele, Jodi, Lanette

Stairs Bottom to Top

Josie, Mini 1, Sharon Z, Debi, Donna W, Mini 2, Ann, Sharon T, Diane S, Jean

Top Row R to L

Donna G, Jill, Bonnie S, Molly, Marcia S, Bonnie E, Gail

A great time was had by all. Now to just finish up everything we started on retreat. Then bring it back next year, so we can all "ooh" and "aah" over all our completed "ta-das".

It was a long, hot trip back home, but we did break it up a bit by stopping at the Casino in Salamanca for lunch. Half the girls left early Sunday morning so they could gamble, but the rest of us just met up with them for the buffet, then we headed home. The others stayed to gamble some more, and I guess one of the girls was a very lucky girl that day. Now the rest of us just have to save up enough money for next year.

And that's the story of my quilting retreat to Canton, Ohio. Until next time...

Happy quilting from Sharon. Katie, and Patsy Cline

Pajama Party.....

2011-08-20T12:18:00.001-04:00

If you clicked on the link I posted a week or so ago, you got a look at all the craziness that goes on at the PJ party. Here are more pictures of the wacky women I spent that week with. CAUTION: Adult content follows--watch at your own risk, lol.

The Bag Ladies-Marcia L, Suecat, Eva, Rosie

My roomie-the jailbird, Bonnie E

The Iowa Chicks

Debi

Michele

Jean with her popsicle

Lanette parading

the M & M's (Mini-sister's Marcia and Marilyn or vice-versa)

or Marcia and Marilyn ?

NY Beauty Gail laughing with The Stripper-Jodi

NY Beauties Diane S and Donna G with Bonnie E

NY Beauties Donna W, Bonnie S, Jill B

"Jerry" aka Sharon T

"Jerry", Jodi, and Lanette

Donna W, Jill B, Gail P, Eva, Rosie, Suecat, Marcia L

The M & M's acting like they're NOT little devils!

Michele, Eva, Suecat, Rosie, Marcia L

NY Beauties Bonnie S, Jill, Donna W

Donna G, Bonnie E, Sharon Z

Ruth and NY Beauty Ann

Ruth, Ann, Trish, Lyn

The NY Beauty Block

The NY Gals made the above NY Beauty block and put it on the front of the T-shirts we wore this year for the PJ party. On the back we fused the letters "N Y BEAUTIES" and danced into the sewing room and then sang a little ditty. To see our routine, you have to watch the video from before. Here is the link again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7WE6X3EYnM

Had enough fun for one night? We'll finish up tomorrow with the last evening of our GTG retreat. Until then...

Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Our talented military personnel...

2011-08-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

not only are they willing to lay their lives on the line for our freedom, but they share their other talents as well.
The following video links are for the band Sidewinder. Sidewinder is part of the 571st Air Force Band, 131st Bomb Wing, Air National Guard. They are deployed as the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Band.

Sidewinder is Capt John Arata - officer in charge, keyboards, fiddle; Tech. Sgt. Kevin Maret - NCO in charge, percussion; Tech. Sgt. John Cavanaugh - operations/logistics, bass; Tech. Sgt. Joseph Castilleja - guitar; Staff Sgt. Tobias Callaway - saxophone; Staff Sgt. Ransom Miller - trumpet; Staff Sgt. Devin LaRue - trombone, guitar, keyboards; Staff Sgt. Brian Owens - vocals; Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson - vocals; Staff Sgt. Sean Navarro - Audio, Trombone.

The first song is "Price Tag'" by Jessie J. Each song gets better. Make sure to watch them all, especially the last one when Angie belts out the Adele song "Rolling in the Deep".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3lgrCvsgsw        Price Tag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoDx0fcvyLw     Forget You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBaskRZDbNA   Rolling in the Deep

Sure wish they'd make a CD--I'd buy it!

Check out their Facebook page, too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SIDEWINDER-Air-National-Guard-Band-of-the-Central-States-Rock-Band/227968950578975?sk=wall#!/pages/SIDEWINDER-Air-National-Guard-Band-of-the-Central-States-Rock-Band/227968950578975?sk=wall&closeTheater=1

Our 2011 GTG retreat give-away quilt...

2011-08-19T14:18:00.001-04:00

Last year's GTG retreat give-away quilt was won by Diane S, from our NY group. Because she won, she was required to choose the theme for this year's big give-away quilt, collect all the blocks, and make a completed top ready for quilting--to be drawn at this year's GTG retreat. Because we gathered in Ohio last year and this year, Diane decided the Ohio Star block would be perfect for the quilt. She chose batiks as the fabric for the stars with a white-on-white background. Everyone attending the retreat had to donate a block and anyone not attending could make one if they chose, but you had to be present to win the top. This is the beautiful result :

Diane enlisted Donna G's help to decide how to lay out the quilt blocks. They decided to set the blocks on point and used other batiks for the setting triangles. One of the club's members, Diane C had planned to come, but health issues kept her away. She sent a block made by a friend and Diane S and Donna G used it to make a very special label for the back of the quilt.

Quilt Label

This year's very lucky winner was Marcia S, who has had a big part in the planning of past GTG retreats, holding mystery quilt-a-thons during the year, and always has a new tote bag for us to do at retreat. She has never won the give-away quilt before, so everyone was very happy that she was this year's recipient.

Donna G, Marcia S, Diane S in front of the Batik Beauty

Donna G, Marcia S holding the quilt label, Diane S

Until next time....

Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Still more quilting retreat...

2011-08-18T16:40:00.000-04:00

After we previewed the mystery quilt, Marcia S showed us the new mystery tote bag we were going to do this year. It turned out to be a smaller version of a Bow Tuck-type bag. With lots of inside pockets and one on the outside, it's the perfect size for everyday use.

It's a bag I've wanted to make for quite a while, as some of my quilt club girls have made the larger size. I did get the outside done and the lining and pockets done, but haven't gotten it together yet. But here are pictures of the ones some of the gals got done before we left for home.

This is Debi's bowling tote.

Here is Nan's sewing-themed tote.

After we saw the tote bag, some of the gals wanted to go shopping for new fabrics for their mysteries. The Iowa Chicks seen below are Debi, Molly, Josie, and Michele.

They shopped on the way to our retreat and shopped all though the retreat, lol. They caravaned with our 2 NY Beauties cars, plus 3 or 4 others cars to this neat quilt shop. The ladies in the shop were wonderful and we bought lots of bargains. If you're ever in the area make sure you stop at Angelics A Quilters Haven in Canton, Ohio. The ladies there were so nice, they insisted on taking a group photo of all of us. Here we are in all our glory.

We had a wonderful time there, then went on to another quilt shop. We should have stopped at the first place. The second place wasn't nearly as nice. Oh, the shop was lovely with lots of gorgeous fabric, but they were getting ready for a Shop Hop the next day and let us know they couldn't put out any of the bargains they had saved for that. In fact, they were quite unfriendly for a while, then one lady must have realized that she wasn't being very nice/business-like, and she did do a demo for us of a new ruler they had. The NY girls decided that didn't make up for her first impression--and we won't go back there next year when we come on retreat again.

After shopping we returned to our sewing room, where we drooled over all the Amish blocks hung up for a drawing. Everyone attending had to make one block, then our name went in the hat. This is the 2nd year we have done this. Last year we all made a block in AMish colors with our choice of block to represent the Amish countryside we were retreating in. Debi won all the blocks and made this quilt.

She had enough blocks left to make a 2nd quilt. Nice lady that she is, she did a drawing for the 2nd quilt top and guess who won it? Yep! I am the lucky recipient of that Amish top. And my block is in my quilt!

I was thrilled to win it, as I never win anything!

Here are pictures of our sewing room with everyone making like busy little beavers, just a-sewing away, surrounded by this year's Amish blocks that will be won by a new lucky winner.

And this year's new lucky winner was one of our NY Beauties, Bonnie S. She is a crazy little thing--but she can't skip! Do you believe that? I've never met anyone who can't skip!!

But she is lucky and is the proud owner of all those lovely Amish blocks. Now she just has to get them together in a quilt top by next year's retreat.

Still more to follow tomorrow. Until then...

Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Even more quilting retreat.....

2011-08-16T18:45:00.002-04:00

Thursday morning after breakfast, we all gathered in the sewing room to find out what the 2011 Mystery Quilt and the Mystery Tote Bag would be. Most of us planned ahead and had our materials all picked out and pre-cut from the materials list supplied last month by the presenters. Suecat made the quilt pattern for this year and Marcia L helped her with making up samples for us to see. One sample was done up in sports fabric

and gave me ideas for Christmas presents, while the other was done in more traditional fabrics.

Still another was done with different fabric placement.

All were beautiful and we couldn't wait to get started on them. And with almost 30 of us doing the same pattern, the different quilts that resulted (by mistakes we made cutting and piecing, by fabric choices and placement, and just from a multitude of fabrics) were amazing! Here are some of the lovelies we made:

Ann's quilt, then one by one of the "Mini-sisters",

followed by Bonnie E's quilt.

Then Debi's pink one followed by Diane S's purple one (that I tried to steal, lol).

Donna G's pink and black beauty

followed by Jean's bright and cheerful quilt.

Then Jill's sunny mystery

followed by Jodi's

Here's the other "Mini-sister" and her quilt,

followed by Marcia S's gorgeous Japanese fabric quilt.

I tried to steal her fabric too, but she took pity on me and gave me her scraps. I love them!

My quilt had a cutting error which resulted in my having to reverse two fabrics, so then I went ahead and changed some other things, and wa-la...here is my mystery.

Rounding off is Trish's fall fancy

and Nan's green mystery

and another look at one of the "minis",

and Yvonne and Ann with Ann's after she changed it.

Tomorrow I'll show you the mystery tote. Until then...

Happy quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

More on my crazy quilting retreat...

2011-08-15T18:43:00.001-04:00

We left on a Wednesday in the hottest part of July for a 4-and-a-half day quilting retreat in Canton, Ohio. There were eight of us from Pennsylvania and Upstate New York. Eight crazy, wacky, women in 2 cars intent on having a rollicking good time and maybe...do a little quilting. We arrived late afternoon, got checked into our rooms, unloaded our sewing paraphenalia in our sewing conference room amid hugs and greetings from our other quilting retreaters, and then went out for supper. In the evening we got our sewing places all set up and took turns doing show-and-tell. These are Debi's: a bunny quilt and a scrappy quilt.

Then Bonnie E showed us her embroidered quilt.

Followed by Jean's farm quilt and another made from strips.

Next up was Jodi and her beautiful butterfly wallhanging,

and Lanette and her gorgeous jacket.

Michele follwed with her stack and whack quilt. She shows us how to do that every year and each year more people actually "get" how to do it and make a quilt, lol.

Next was Ruth with her scrappy "Laundry" quilt,

and then Sharon T with her beautiful butterfly wallhanging. She and Jodi challenged each other last year to learn this technique and get the project done. I guess they succeeded, didn't they? Both are lovely.

A group of us did a Brown Bag Mystery last Fall and we had to bring what we received so everyone could enjoy. Here is Josie's little quilt, I don't remember who made it,

followed by Lyn's made by me,

and Marcia S's made by Debi.

Marcia also brought her crazy quilt to show us.

And Josie made a tablerunner for Ruth of a crazy Easter Chicken.

Isn't it cute? More to follow tomorrow.

Happy quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

My crazy quilting retreat...

2011-07-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

I spend a crazy half-week in Ohio with a wonderfully, goofy group of women.
This little video is from our Friday night pajama party. Here is the link from some of the fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7WE6X3EYnM

More to follow later.

Happy quilting
from Sharon and "the girls", Katie and Patsy Cline (who are embarrassed that their "mommy" would act like this, lol)

2011-07-02T00:09:00.000-04:00

Let' s get this started NOW!

So it will be out there on the fourth!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE

FLAG,

OF THE UNITED

STATES OF AMERICA ,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR

WHICH IT STANDS,

ONE

NATION UNDER GOD,

INDIVISIBLE,

WITH LIBERTY

AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!

For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be.

Please

Support all of the troops defending our Country.

And God Bless our Military

who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.

Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.

We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have,

of which we should be eternally grateful.

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform;

so young, so tall, so proud.

With hair cut square and eyes alert,

he'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil;

how many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE !

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

when everything was still.

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That Taps had meant 'Amen.'

When a flag had draped a coffin

of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

of the mothers and the wives,

of fathers, sons and husbands

With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

At the bottom of the sea.

Of unmarked graves in Arlington .

NO FREEDOM ISN'T FREE

Enjoy Your Freedom

and

God Bless Our Troops.

When you read this,

please stop for a moment

and say a prayer for our servicemen.

Of all the gifts you could give a U.S. Soldier, prayer is the very best one.

A new sew-along....

2011-06-02T13:04:00.001-04:00

is being presented by Clover and Violet on their blog. Embroidery 101: Stitch & Quilt Along! They are going to make a fresh, fun, bright quilt that incorporates embroidery. How is that? Plus they're going to give different stitch tutorials to help us improve our stitches. I do need that-I've done so much with the back stitch lately, that I've forgotten how to do some of the other stitches I used to use, lol. So head on over and check out what they're offering and get your stuff together - this should be a great project.

Quilt Club was Wednesday at Joan's house, so I have lots of pics to share with you. This is Bonnie's Christmas Row-by-Row from Sindy at Fat Cat Patterns. She's almost done with it.
Here is a kids quilt that Ann made and quilted.

And here is Gail's House Quilt. Several of the girls made these over the last 2 years and I've shown their pictures in previous blogs. They are all so beautiful. I don't think I will ever make a quilt that ivolved, lol.

Joan made a tablerunner for the Patriotic holidays - nice isn't it? That's Diane in the background.

Here is Sharon D. with her last year's BOM from The Village Sampler. And a closeup of the quilting. She still has one more of these quilts to finish, while I have BOTH of mine to get done yet!

This is a quilt given to Ann to quilt on her long-arm. It is made of all men's ties. Can you image the time it took to make this? But it is really going to be spectacular when it's all done.

Over at the Quilt and Needle group I belong to, we had a Late Spring Mug Rug Swap. Debbieanne had my name. She is a fellow kitty-lover, and look at the cute mug rug she made me! I love it! And Patsy Cline and Katie have spent the last couple of days sniffing it like crazy--getting the scent of Debbieanne's kitty, lol. I had Nancy, and here is the mug rug I made her. Good thing she took a picture, because I forgot to. I have so much fun doing these. I think we're going to have a Summer Mug Rug Swap, too, so I have to get thinking about what to do.

That's all for today. Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and "the girls"

I have the...

2011-06-01T20:49:00.015-04:00

best friends in the whole world. Not only do they put up with all my insecurities and goofiness, but they also support my need to help others. Whenever I get the urge to do something nice for someone else, they are always right there supporting me. May 22nd three of my friends came over for a "Sewing for Charity" day at my house. We started four Quilts for Kids and one Patriotic Quilt of Valor.

My friend Mary zipped right through one 4-Patch and Square Quilt for Kids and got it all ready for the quilter. Then she started on a second one.

Lynne started a Disappearing 9-Patch, got the blocks all made, and took the rest home to finish.

Linda came later and started a 4-Patch and Square Quilt for Kids and took hers home to finish also.

And Katie helped me sew the blocks for a twin-size Patriotic Log Cabin quilt. Isn't she so cute? Patsy Cline helped too, but she doesn't stay still for long. She's hiding in some of the pictures.

Aren't they the best?? I am so lucky to have such wonderful, compassionate gals as my friends. Even if they are a little camera shy. Does Mary really think she can hide behind that sewing machine??

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

Thanks to our Veterans.......

2011-05-29T19:49:00.004-04:00

In honor of the many Veterans of all our wars, I'm repeating my Memorial Day post from two years ago. Thank you for all the freedoms you've given us.
http://quiltingwithamarmaladecat.blogspot.com/2009/05/today-is-day-to-remember.html

WOW--I'm in the Top Ten...

2011-05-09T17:40:00.005-04:00

I entered 6 of my mug rugs in the "MUG RUG CONTEST" over at This-n-That Fabrics blog last month, figuring mine would just be a few in thousands of entries. I don't know how many they ended up with for sure, but guess what? They picked TWO of mine for the top 10!!!! Woo Hoo !!!

So if you would, I'd love for you to please go over there and vote for my mug rugs. I'm sure I'll never win, but I would like to at least have a few votes in the contest. Just making the Top Ten is so awesome, I've been bouncing in my chair with excitement since I read the email and went and checked out the blog post. WOW!! (Did I say that already, lol?) I can't believe it.

Mine are Number 2-the Irish paper-pieced cup with the tea, sugar, and spoon holder pockets,
and Number 4-the paper-pieced spring flower I made for the Seasons BOM Mug Rug Swap.

Just follow the link in their email, which I've included, so you can all see.

-------Original Message-------

From: news@this-n-thatfabrics.com
Date: 05/08/11 21:58:45

This-n-That Fabrics

Our local quilt group has selected the top ten picks for the "MUG RUG CONTEST"
and a poll has been set up over on our Blog for you to vote for your favorites.
(http://tnt512.blogspot.com). Come join the fun, check out all the great rugs and be sure and vote.

Linda and Sandy
www.this-n-thatfabrics.com

Isn't that exciting? Thanks for all your support,
a Happy Dancing Sharon

I really have been working...

2011-04-06T22:37:00.002-04:00

I haven't been completely lazy--I've been working on a bunch of swaps for other groups. I did a Mug Rug swap at Seasons BOM group and received this little beauty from Carla Louise in California. Isn't it pretty--even has my name embroidered on it! And here is the one I sent to Valerie in France. I have several others in different stages that I need to finish up and get mailed out. I can't show them yet just in case someone might be peeking. These are so much fun to make-I love them! My Scrappyandhappy Yahoo Group had a 3-G Swap last month. We had to create a great, green goodie for our swap partner. My partner was NorthernDeb, who makes all things beautiful. I decided the best thing for her would be a traveling sewing kit, as she's always on the go. Here's what I made her. I filled it with some sewing notions and, scissors, and thread. Gerda in Alberta had my name and made me a darling needlecase and scissor holder. They are a perfect fit for the traveling sewing caddy that I received from Dale in Chookyblue's SSCS last Christmas. Remember that? I just finished one needlework project for Easter, so as soon as I decide what to do next, I'll get that caddy organized again and use Gerda's gifts with it. Aren't these cute? I also did some swaps with my Quilted Table Yahoo Group . We've been swapping St. Patrick's blocks, Easter bunny and carrot blocks, and are just finishing up an Easter/Spring table topper swap. I received my new Spring topper from Linda in CA, who made me a gorgeous topper that I forgot to take a picture of! I'll have to do that tomorrow and post it later. Gosh, I'm such a goof sometimes. I did remember to take a picture of the one I made for ?????? It went out in the mail the other day, so I can't say who it's for. I hope she likes it. I think I need to make one for myself, too. I love the colors--but I don't have enough of the Iris floral to make another one. Well, back to the sewing machine to finish up those other projects. Until next time... Happy sewing from Sharon and the girls Katie and Patsy Cline

Lots of pictures to share this week...

2011-04-03T17:08:00.016-04:00

seems like when we are all back at Quilt Club, there is an abundance of beautiful projects to look at.

Diane S is back from Florida, so we celebrated her birthday belatedly. Here is the garden flag that Donna G made for her. And Diane was also busy-she made herself an Esther-the-Easter-Chicken tablerunner, like Bonnie made last year. Isn't it a gas?
Ann made herself a new purse-not sure if it's for Easter or just for Spring. So pretty, I want to make one for myself if I ever get caught up on my UFO's, lol.
Here's Bonnie checking out Donna's latest quilt-the Buck-a-Block we did at Village Sampler last year. Donna doesn't like the yellow, but we all did. I have to get both of mine finished yet. Isn't her's pretty?
Here's another of Donna's beautiful creations-a table hanging for her daughter.
We're all supposed to be making these little tabletop hangings, but so far Donna is the only one who had actually finished several of them. I finished my St. Paddy's one and then went on to other things. So now I don't have anything to put up for Easter. But I still have a couple of weeks, so maybe this will inspire me to get going on them again.

Katie says if I'd get off the computer, I could get to work now and get one made for myself for Easter! Sheesh! She is such nag! Patsy is taking a nap now, so maybe I'd better listen to Kate.

So until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and "the girls", Katie and Patsy Cline

2011-03-17T09:46:00.006-04:00

Just a quick post to let my favorite cynic, Maxine, say a few words of her matchless wisdom...

You have my friend, Donna G, to thank for adding these little cartoons to my growing collection of Maxine art. I love Maxine--she's not afraid to say what I'm thinking, lol.

With that said, I hope you all have a

and

From Sharon and "the colleens", Katie
and Patsy Cline

More pictures....

2011-03-10T21:05:00.015-05:00

from "the girls" and their quilting friends.

I have to start with Patsy Cline--she had to check out the quilt we made at Hug Club at O'Susannah's. Lynne brought it today so she could sew the label I made on it. Mary was helping her open it....and the next thing we knew, Patsy jumped into the quilt and proceeded to investigate. She ended up having a great time, as my friends swung her back and forth in the quilt.
She still didn't want to get out, but Katie came to investigate. So Patsy had to tunnel under the quilt and play hide-and-seek. She is such a character...and my friends indulge her!!

Here is the quilt our Hug Club is giving to a friend of Lynne's, who is going thru a bad time right now. Lynne, Linda, and I worked on this quilt in the Fall. We've been lucky with our group--we've been able to get a quilt done every month. Here are some of the others we've made.

Judy and Bettina, Linda, Lynne, and I are very proud of all the quilts we've made that are giving people comfort. O'Susannah's furnishes all the fabric and does the quilting, we do the sewing, and we can all feel good that we're helping someone in distress.

Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and "the girls"

DID YOU KNOW?

2011-03-01T13:50:00.006-05:00

Nearly twice as many children die from Congenital Heart Defects in the United States each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined? There is a wonderful organization out there called It's My Heart, whose mission is to provide support, spread awareness, educate and advocate for those affected by Acquired and Congenital Heart Defects by creating alliances with fellow families, hospitals, support groups, and the community. One of the needs of this group is masks for babies up to young adults who must wear a mask due to compromised immune systems. Several of us got together and made masks for these kids. I cut up about 6 yards of juvenile fabrics that were just sitting around in my stash gathering dust and made kits for my buddies. Then Jane, Joan, Ann, Gail, Donna, and I went to work and made masks to donate. We filled a large Priority Mail envelope full to overflowing with the 4 sizes of masks they desperately need. I forgot to count and take pictures of what we made, but I know we made at least 5 dozen (132) masks. Here is a picture of the masks from the website... Ours were turquoise bugs, red with blue submarines, and hot pink daisies. I wish I hadn't forgotten to take pictures, but they were really cute. And we know they'll be put to good use.

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

Super Bowl Sunday...

2011-02-06T21:31:00.012-05:00

doesn't necessarily mean football for quilters and sewers. Today members from two of my quilt clubs combined for what I billed as our first annual "Super Bowl Sew-a-Thon". Ten of us gathered together in the local fire hall for a day of fun and sewing. Each lady invited was told to bring her lunch, her sewing machine and sewing supplies, the required number of strip sets all sewn, lined with Peltex, and ironed to make a Biscuit Basket, and a $10 wrapped gift for a "Snowball Fight."

Biscuit Baskets are fabric baskets made by sewing strips together and then weaving them into a basket. One of the gals had already made a larger, round version called the "Knobby Basket", so we assigned her the task of making this new, smaller, rectangular basket--and teaching the rest of us how to make it..

Needless to say, we had a lot of laughs--and some naughty words, too, lol. We had to sew the fabric strips and then insert Peltex strips inside the sewn strips--which led to frustration and laughter both. Then weaving those pesky strips - that have a mind of their own - into a basket shape using clothespins, was a trip in itself! But we all perservered and left with baskets that only needed a binding on them to be finished

We had chips and dip, 2 kinds of sweet breads, lots of chocolates, and a lemon cake to take our minds off any frustration we felt. All this on top of whatever we brought for our lunch.

Then we had our "Snowball Fight", but instead of pelting each other with real snowballs, we just drew numbers and selected from a pile of lovely gifts for our little door prizes. Everyone "won" a great prize--from patterns and books to fat quarters and thread.

What a fun day we had--and everyone wanted to know how soon I could plan another sew-a-thon. Guess I'll have to get right on that, eh?

And finally to close - pictures of Katie and Patsy doing their "Quality Control" jobs after I got home with my basket.

Housekeeping time...

2011-01-23T20:58:00.020-05:00

I've been going in and trying to update my side bar links with new
BOM's and remove some of the old things no longer available, even if I haven't been posting. There is so much out there on this world-wide web, that sometimes I get lost for hours, just surfing. Maybe that's why I have so many UFO's, lol. I spend too much time on the computer and not enough time working on my projects. Oh well, a girl has to be well-rounded, right?
These are the blocks I've been working on for various groups I belong to. These Buckeye Beauty blocks are for a quilt drawing for the QB2 Group that most of my Quilt Club belongs to and that we go on retreat with. This Churn Dash block is for a different quilt drawing with some of the same girls, but in a different group.
The final blocks are for my old Block Central group-our Favorite Block swap, this time in Amish solids. I'm calling this my "bumblebee block"--it came out a lot brighter than I intended.
Now that the blocks are done, the hard part starts--waiting to see if I'm one of the lucky winners of the quilts or the blocks. If I win the quilts, then I have to choose the next quilt block to make and all the blocks come to me to be made into a top for the next drawing. If I win the blocks, then I get to chose the next pattern we make and I win half of the blocks to make whatever I want with them. So wish me luck!
My Wednesday and Friday Quilt Club ladies
all purchased metal quilt holder stands that will hold a 12" x 14" block quilt. The Wooden Bear has a ton of adorable patterns to make into little quilts to decorate them with (plus they carry the stand) and we've purchased almost all of them! We started with the Snowman quilt-since it's the season. Mine is not quite done-I have to get his eyes sewn on and finish the pom pom for his hat, but isn't he cute? This is Donna's completed one-isn't he sweet?
I was so pumped after getting that almost done, that I went on and made a Valentine one for February. I used the same Churn Dash block from above and added a border and viola--another finished project! Katie likes it, too.
Still on the same roll, I pulled out a stitchery project I had done last year and finsihed it up for March. So now I have St. Paddy's Day covered also.
Let's see if I can keep this up, since my goal for this year was to start finishing up all my UFO's and WIP's. I'm pretty happy so far.
Have to close now with new pics of my girls-they both come out to visit for a while when we stitch or sew, but then they go back to their beds and nap--aren't they good little girls? Can you believe how big Patsy Cline has grown? She is as tall as Katie and she's only 5 months old. It seems like just yesterday she fit in the palm of my hand-with room to spare--and I was feeding her with an eyedropper.

Until next time...
Happy quilting from Sharon and Katie and Patsy

Happy New Year........

2010-12-31T21:00:00.006-05:00

Stolen from Peg's blog:

A year to be glad in.
And not to be sad in.
To gain in, to give in.
A happy new year.
A new year for trying.
And never for sighing.
A new year to live in.
Oh, hold it most dear.

Happy Quilting in the New Year,
from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Some new BOMS for 2011...

2010-12-29T23:27:00.009-05:00

Stop in at Little Miss Shabby's blog and get started on collecting the supplies for her new stitchery BOM called Birdie Stitches. Supply list and layout are posted now.

Over at The Pickel Dish, Vicki and Dawn Hay (As Sweet as Cinnamon) are offering a new BOM called Out of the Box starting on January 5th, 2011. It's sure to be a good one as they are both very talented ladies. (If you remember, Dawn was my swap-to partner in Chookyblue's SSCS 2010.)

The Raspberry Rabbits free BOM for 2010 "A Sentimental Journey Through the Months" is now completed and finishing instructions and all blocks are still on the site. These patterns will be available through January 11th. But their new BOM "12 of Hearts" will begin on January 12th, so make sure you've saved the 2010 blocks before they're gone. A picture of the completed 2010 project is on there, too.

If you like applique-Denise Russert is starting a new applique quilt called Granny's Hankie. This is a big quilt – 102″ square. The appliqued blocks are also large – 16″ square finished – so most of the applique pieces are fairly large. The second Saturday of each month, a new block will be posted. When a new block is posted, the subsequent month will no longer be available. This BOM will start in January and end December. And take time to go thru her blog and look at all the fantastic projects she has done. WOW!!

Sulky is also starting a new Redwork BOM in January called Redwork Kitchen. Info is up on their website now.

So go and grab a cup of tea (or hot chocolate), sit back, and just enjoy checking out these blogs and their new offerings.

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

Chookyblue's SSCS 2010...

2010-12-28T18:39:00.019-05:00

was a huge success as far as I'm concerned. Dale had my name and made me the most gorgeous needlework case! She did the front in a beautiful wool applique stitchery. Someday I hope to be able to do work as nice as hers. Such neat, tiny, little stitches. WOW!! And inside on each side are a clear zippered pocket and a larger, clear open pocket, separated in the middle by a pincushion roll. It's just perfect to take my stitchery with me when I have to go to an appointment or am traveling. My DD has already tried to steal it from me for her cross-stitch, lol. Fat chance!! Maybe if she's lucky, I'll try to find a pattern and make her one for next year. But her's won't be as nice as the one Dale made for me, as I don't do wool applique yet. I've been going to make myself one of these needlework cases forever, but never seem to get to it. Now I have a beautiful gift to treasure for years to come. Thank you so much, Dale. You do beautiful work, and I'll be so proud to show this off to all my quilting and stitching friends. The little Santa ornie is just adorable also, and the bag of Cadbury Santas!! How can you go wrong with them?? I can't thank you enough for such lovely gifts--you've made my Christmas very special.

From members of my little "Stitch 'n Bitch" group and Craft Club, I received some really nice goodies. Carol L made me this gorgeous, plaid, fleece shawl to wear when I get chilly. I've worn it every day/night since I opened the package--I just love it! In fact, I think next year I'll be gifting this myself--it's perfect for our cold weather here in Upstate NY.

My card-stitching friend, Lynne, cross-stitched us these cool, colorful, ornaments for our trees. Isn't it pretty? I wish I could still cross-stitch, but my eyes just can't take it any more. Aren't I lucky to have a friend who will do it for me?

Mary--who sometimes finishes my sentences for me and thinks so much like me that it's frightening, found me the perfect gift! This little lacy wallhanging--that she hopes will keep me on track in 2011. And keep my main goal for next year in plain sight... Isn't this a riot?? And it's so true, it's scary. It's the perfect gift for me.

I can't show you the yummy cookies and candy made by Carol M because they didn't last long enough to take a picture of, lol. They came in a darling tin, but unfortunately they were scarfed down within 48 hours.YUM! YUM!

And Linda made us the cutest little wool bags with a snowman appliqued on it and envelopes of hot chocolate in it. Can't show you a picture because I think we're going to make them as a gift project this year, so I don't want to give away the surprise.

I got an email from Dawn Hay of the Gum Tree Designers fame. She is one of those talented Aussie gals that have changed how I view crafts over the last couple of years. I had Dawn's name in Chookyblue's SSCS this year. Scared me half to death when I got the email with her name. She's a pro--does beautiful work I envy, and I have to make her a nice pressie for Christmas? I had palpatations for a week after I got the email. lol. But she says she liked my gifties and put a really nice post with pictures on her blog about them. So stop over there and check out all the delightful posts and tutorials she puts up.

Tomorrow is Quilt Club, so I should have some more pictures to show you from the girls. I have to take dessert, so I have to go get it out of the freezer to thaw.

So until next time,
Happy quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy

2010-12-27T20:35:00.017-05:00

I hope your Christmas or other holiday was as happy as mine. We were lucky that all the kids and grandkids were here for Christmas Day and most for Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is usually all finger/snacky foods-shrimp, 3 kinds of meatballs, cheese and crackers, chips and dips, mozzerella sticks, fudge, ham and cheese sandwiches, and anything else the kids find in the fridge not scheduled to be part of Christmas Day's dinner. Then Christmas Day we have Thanksgiving all over again. Turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce, several veggies, and a number of different sweet breads and rolls. The only difference in menu is on Christmas we usually have cheesecake or a fancy chocolate mousse cake--no pumpkin pie. We all eat til we're stuffed and then the men do the dishes. I love that part of it.

This year I tried to make all my gifts and was fairly successful. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures as I finished, so unless DD remembers to take them later, I'm out of luck.

For DGD, I made a jumbo tote in blues and greens for her to carry her soccer gear in or to use as a weekender bag. Regretably, the only pics I have are of Patsy playing in it. Good thing she's so cute, or I wouldn't even have them, lol.

For some of my quilty friends I made paper-pieced mug mats to go along with new hot chocolate mugs. I love paper-piecing, now that I know how to do it. It seems like it takes me forever to get a piece done, but it's so much fun! I made this Christmas tree for Mary, and a Gingerbread boy for Carol M, a Diamond Pane for Lynne, and a snowman for my Secret Pal, Ann.

I made up this little bag for a young friend who wanted a purse for Christmas, and added a built-in pen holder. She was so happy with it, I was glad I took the time to make it for her.

Since I did get some gifts made this year, my goal for next year is to finish up as many of my UFO's as possible, so I can give them as gifts in 2011. I've corrected my UFO list to reflect some of the older things I've found hidden away in boxes and bags in my sewing room. Now I just have to get to work on them and try NOT to get involved in too many new things this year. Yeah, sure!! (Well, there's always hope, ya' know, lol!)

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie and Patsy Cline (otherwise known as the Devil kitty!)

New holiday projects from the

2010-12-03T12:46:00.019-05:00

designers at Henry Glass.
This event will run from Dec. 1-7, 2010. Each day, there will be several designers posting her holiday stories and her free project, plus some great giveaways. The logo can be printed out as a cover to make the projects into a booklet you can keep forever. Today is Day 3, but you can still get the previous days' projects. Just what we need--more new projects to get done before Christmas, lol!

This year I tried to limit my swaps, but Aunt Pitty Pat had several I just couldn't pass up! The first was a Halloween Tote swap, with a hand-made Halloween tote bag filled with lots of little Halloween notions and fabric bits. Here is the neat bag I received from BettyAnn. I love that little pincushion she made me--I've started collecting them lately.

I made my tote from the pattern we learned at our QB2 Retreat in Ohio in July. I changed the size of the charms from 5 inches to 3 1/2 inches and added the same size top border, the way my quilting buddy, Diane S, did. By copying how she made hers, mine came out really cute and a great size for every day use. Here are my step-by-steps. This is the outer bag. These are the pockets I added. The pattern didn't have pockets, but you can't have a bag without pockets!! So I put 2 pockets on each side. This is the lining-inside out-ready for the bag to go into it. Now the handles are added, the magnetic clasps I used on the sides and front are inserted, the lining is attached, everything is stitched around and then turned right side out thru the opening in the bottom of the lining. Then a piece of heavy cardboard is cut to fit the bottom of the bag, sewn into a pocket cut to fit of lining fabric, and pushed down into the inside base of the bag. VOILA!!! All done and ready to fill with goodies. I love making these totes with charm squares. You can make them any size by changing the size of the charms and by adding a top border.
The pattern is called "The Big Bag Theory" and was designed by Penny Sturges. The original pattern made a huge bag that would hold a rolled up quilt to take to Show-And-Tell or could hold a change of clothes for your carry-on bag on a plane. My DD wants one for a weekender--whether she gets one for Christmas remains to be seen, lol. Maybe if she's extra good, Santa might bring her one.

The other Halloween swap was for 12 inch blocks done any way we wanted. We signed up for specific blocks--mine were witchey hats with a dangling spider. Some of the blocks were simply fabulous--but I can't show you 'cause I forgot to take pics of them. So you'll have to wait to see them when I get the top all together. Sorry!

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon, Katie, and Patsy Cline

Thanksgiving leftovers

2010-11-27T19:53:00.018-05:00

are all gone!! Two days of leftovers that were still yummy (and my favorite meal of the year) have been gobbled up (duh!) and are now just sweet memories...until Christmas day--yeah! It seemed strange not to have any of the kids or grandkids home this year, but we still had seven for dinner. Everyone left with a full stomach and still had leftovers to take home for the next day, so we were all happy. Katie and Patsy Cline both had a few pieces of turkey, so they were satisfied, too.

I haven't been keeping up with the blog much since Patsy came to stay with us. I had to feed her from an eye dropper when she first came, then she graduated to a syringe, and finally to a doll's baby bottle. It was a long process and very time consuming, but so worth-while. She weighed in at .5 ounces a week after Hubby brought her home,
and now is up to 2 pounds.
She eats anything in sight--whether it's good for her or not! Now that she's learned how to climb up on the kitchen stools, her favorite play consists of climbing up on the island and batting the wrapped hard candy out of the candy dish. So far, we've found candy pieces in the bathroom, our bedroom, and even down cellar! Hubby has started calling her "Crazy" after her namesakes' best song.

The Quilt Club Gals have been busy lately working on seasonal and Christmas gifts. Here are a few of their projects.

I am so lucky to have such a talented group to sew with--they are all so inspiring.

Next time I'll show you pictures from Aunt Pitty Pat's 2 Halloween Swaps that I participated in. Until then...

Happy Quilting from Sharon and the TWO Marmalade Cats, Katie and Patsy

2010-11-24T18:22:00.009-05:00

From Our Home to Yours

From Hubby and Quiltingmama20

and Katie

and Patsy Cline

We all hope you have a safe and happy day with family and friends.

WOW!!!!!

2010-09-29T20:19:00.009-04:00

I've been away for a while and when I come back to the blog I find out Joan over at Moose Stash Quilting has given me a Sunshine Award! Joan says "the Sunshine Award is shared with bloggers who have influenced us with their positive outlook and creativity." Thanks for such a lovely award, Joan. This award coming from Joan really means a lot to me, since she is one of the most creative and postive people I have had the privilege of meeting in blogland. She's also a fellow member of our Yahoo Group, The Quilted Table, and participates in our swaps. And boy, does she make the greatest projects! Last year she had me for the Halloween swap and made me a darling witch wallhanging. Remember this? Isn't it cool? Everything she does is excellent! So accepting this award from you means a great deal to me, Joan.

Now I have to pass the award on. Here are the guidelines for those nominated:

1. Save the image above and post it on your own blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 fellow bloggers.
3. Link to the nominees.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

And now I pass along this honor to the following in no particular order:

1. Mel at Mel's Own Place
2. Rachel Griffith at P. S. I Quilt
3. Sandi at A Legacy of Stitches
4. Amandajean at Crazy Mom Quilts
5. Can't forget Katie's favorite -- Darling Millie
6. And her mom's blog -- The Patchery Menagerie
7. John at Quilt Dad
8. Chickens in the Road
9. Mary at Mary Quilts/Making Scrap Quilts from Stash
10. Deb at Northern Deb Quilts
11. Marge Gordon at Delaware Quilts
12. Molly at Molly's Place

Make sure you take a minute to pop over to these blogs and check them out for yourself. Lot's of wonderful quilts and projects and even some BOM's and tutorials. See if you agree with my 12 choices.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Another wonderful BOM...

2010-09-03T19:16:00.007-04:00

is just starting at Mother's Cupboard. Fiona is offering an applique bom with stitchery accents that started on September 1st. Called Flowers of Love, it's a 10-month BOM that she'll be showing in both a "Shabby" style
and a "Country" style. You can see how they look much different in different fabrics. Stop over and download the requirements now.

Block 5 was just posted by Dawn at As Sweet As Cinnamon for her hexagon BOM called Frosty Flakes. I haven't done hexagons yet, but I'm saving the blocks so when I DO, I'll have them all. It's a really unusual quilt and very beautiful.

I've been busy sewing the batik blocks for our Quilt Club exchange and getting caught up on The Buck-a-Block BOM from Village Sampler, our LQS. I hope to download all the pictures off my camera this weekend, so I can post pics from our quilting retreat in Ohio in July and all our finishes since then.

Until next time...

Happy Sewing,
from Sharon and Katie

A new quilt-along.....

2010-08-23T17:09:00.011-04:00

is starting soon at Ivory Spring. It's called “Ladybug in Polka Dotville”. Check on 8/25/2010 for the project supplies list. The first installment for the instructions will be posted on 9/3/2010. I have lots of polka dots that have been sitting in the closet just waiting for the perfect project...and this looks like it!

I've been off-line for quite a while with computer problems, but now everything is all disinfected and squeaky clean, so hopefully I'll get back in the swing of things and post more often.

I have been bad while I was gone--I signed up for 4 swaps! Yes, FOUR!! I always have to do Chookyblue's SSCS every year. It's a totally hand-made swap, so lovely gifts are exchanged. Can't miss this one!

But Aunt Pitty Pat got me again with her Christmas Block Swap . (I still haven't done anything yet with last year's blocks.)

But on top of that, she's having a Halloween Tote Swap and a Halloween Block Swap. Now you all know how I love anything Halloween, so I couldn't resist! Links for all these swaps are on my side bar, so stop over and check them out. I know some of them are still open.

Until next time...

Happy sewing from Sharon and Katie

I just found a new BOM...

2010-07-15T11:55:00.005-04:00

it's at Homestead Station Designs owned by Nancy Lindblom. It's a needlework BOM for all of us who love hand embroidery. It's a 9 block wallhanging designed by Grace Jewell of Twinkle Woods Fairy Fame. Block 2 is up now and Block 1 is still available. I love how they've given you a large drawing in color, plus the regular instructions. Check out Nancy's blog while you're at it-she collects and "Shabby Chic's" old furniture and then resells it. Really neat! Her main site also has other free tutorials.

The girls are coming shortly for a Stitch 'n Bitch session, so that's all for today.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Here are the pics....

2010-07-12T12:23:00.017-04:00

of the quilts I wrote about last time. This is Bre's Scooby Doo quilt that we made so long ago. She was happy to finally have it--even though it's flannel and was in the 90's when she got it!

And this is the quilt Mary pieced and gave to me, then I finished it and gave it to Bre for her birthday. Everyone loved the colors and Bre said it's going right on her bed. Then Grampa had to hold it up for a picture. Then Bre and Gramma had to be wrapped up in it. This is a closeup of the front. And this is the wonky, sparkly back. I'd say we all (Mary, Jane (who quilted it) and me) did a great job!

I finally got my Easter Egg Swap blocks done and mailed. Here is how I did mine. At least I'm not the last one to get them done, lol. There's still one more set I haven't received yet. But none of us were planning on having this for this year anyway--we knew that would be impossible. So I hope to have the quilt done for next Easter.

Here are pics of the blocks I did for the Q&N group charity quilts this month.

And these are the blocks that came to me to piece the top for this month. We take turns piecing the blocks, piecing the tops together, and quilting and binding them. Since I don't have a longarm, I only make blocks and piece the tops together. The Quilt and Needle Forum has a great group of ladies in it. You should check us out some day.

That's all for now, because I'm trying to get all caught up because we leave for our Quilt Club quilting retreat next Wed. in Canton, Ohio. So until next time........

Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Finally....

2010-07-06T23:03:00.007-04:00

two old UFO's done! I trimmed and bound 2 quilts that have been sitting around for quite a while. One was actually quilted about 5 years ago. It was a project my DGD and I did one day when I was babysitting her--about 6 years ago, when she was 8 years old. Tomorrow she turns 14, so I guess it's time it was finally completed, lol. It's a flannel Scooby-Doo quilt that we laid out on the living room floor together, then she handed me the pieces, and I sewed them. Some of the pieces got turned around we found out after the top was together, but that's okay--it was her first quilt project. Now, of course, she's way too old for it --and since she's almost taller than me now, it's way too short also, but at least she'll have a memento of our first quilting project together. Now if I could re-interest her in sewing, that would be great.

The second quilt is a Flying Geese top that my friend, Mary, made about 6 years ago in wild colors. When she finished it she didn't like it, so she gave it to me. It's been hanging in my sewing room on the back of the door ever since. This winter I found it again, and thought it would be a perfect lap quilt for DGD for her birthday. (She complained last fall when her mom, my DD, received a Halloween lap quilt for her birthday.) Since there was no chance of matching any fabric for the back, I went with 4 wild, sparkly prints I had in my stash. My friend, Jane quilted it in varigated thread with dragonflies and bees and flowers to match some of the backing fabrics. It turned out really cute.

So tomorrow that's what DGD is getting for her 14th birthday--her Scooby-Doo quilt and a wild FG quilt and I get to cross 2 UFO's off my list. WooHoo! Pictures to follow.

Tomorrow is quilt club with the girls and Katie is determined not to be left out! She thinks she should be able to go with me, 'cause she knows there is another cat there! She's seen pictures and smells strange kitty on me every time I come back home! So now she thinks she should be able to go too, lol. Do you think I'll be able to get out the door without her? I don't know, I don't like to cross her--she can get mean when she doesn't get her way!

Until next time,
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Happy 4th.....

2010-07-04T15:08:00.006-04:00

Have a safe and happy holiday from Sharon and Katie

Another new stitching BOM.....

2010-06-26T20:10:00.004-04:00

is coming from Jenny at Elefantz and starting July 1st. She's calling it Daisy-Do and has a preview and supply list up on her blog now. Looks like a cute one--and she's only running it for 4 months-- July, August, September, and October. Plus, she has a big sale going on now for her Esty patterns, so head over there quickly before they're all gone! I love her stitching patterns, so I'm going shopping now.

Until next time....
Happy quilting from Sharon and Katie

Introducing the Summer Star Sampler Quilt Along

2010-06-17T22:05:00.007-04:00

over at Quiltcetera.Com. Bradie will post instructions for two blocks per week, followed by the center medallion, then borders, starting Tuesday, July 6 through Aug 31. It looks like a great summer project--and I'm a sucker for star blocks, lol. Sign up for her email notification so you don't miss a block - I did!

Bird Brain Designs has a new free tea towel pattern for Flag Day and July 4th, called "United We Stand." Isn't it cute? I still have to border and quilt last year's freebie--it's all stitched, but unfinished like so many other projects. It'll make a good finish for June OPAM. I'm trying to use these neat designs as a seasonal wallhanging for my bathroom. I'm making them so they'll all fit on the same wire hanger and I can just change them for the season. My son thinks it's a riot that I even decorate my bathroom for holidays--but what does he know, he's a man, lol!

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

The Last of the Pictures....

2010-06-16T21:31:00.008-04:00

I'm adding the last of the pictures today. I missed some that day when I ran out of space on my camera card and had to change to a new card. My own fault--I had forgotten to erase the card after I added the last pics to my computer. How stupid of me!! Especially since I knew I would be taking lots of pics at this trunk show. Oh well, no sense kicking myself again--it's over and I did get a lot of great shots.

So here are the different quilts made from the heart patterns:

These are from another of the new patterns--I don't remember the name.

I really like the fact that you get more than 1 style/type of quilt from the new patterns. It was nice to be able to make anything from a baby quilt up to a queen/king quilt before, but other than changing the color settings, there was not much variation in the older patterns. But with these new ones, I'm getting 3 totally different patterns - still in some different sizes-- but using up the leftover scraps. If QIAD continues to issue patterns like these, then I'll start buying patterns again.

Katie says it's about time I started "untying those jelly rolls and using them--they're not decorations, after all." I think she just likes playing with the twill tape that tied them together, lol.

Until next time...
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Pictures: Part Deux

2010-06-11T21:24:00.031-04:00

One of the new patterns called Twice as Nice...Plus More is what I'm working on now. You make 3 different size quilts out of a jelly roll. These are Pat's samples of the first quilt you make.

I just finished the first quilt's blocks today--tomorrow I hope to work on the 2nd quilt and get the 9-patch blocks made from the 1st quilt's scraps. These are Pat's:

Then you make a 3rd smaller quilt with the rest of the scraps. Hopefully, I'll get to that one on Sunday.

Aren't Pat's 3 pretty? I used a Moda Simplicity Jelly Roll and so far it looks beautiful--very soft and romantic. Not my usual style quilt at all, lol.

These are other new patterns that also make multiple quilts.

Next is Orion's Star in beautiful black, brown, tan, and cream fabrics.

And these extra quilts you can make from the same fabrics and pattern book.

And from the Maple Leaf pattern--a gorgeous Fall tablerunner

with an extra pattern to make it into a turkey for Thanksgiving!

More pics to follow in the next couple of days. Until then...

Happy quilting from Sharon and Katie

Here are the first pics....

2010-06-09T16:53:00.018-04:00

from Pat Knoechle's visit to O'Susannah's Quilt Shop on May 24th and all the glorious quilts we saw. Pat is the sister of Eleanor Burns of Quilt in a Day. I'm sorry, but I didn't have the time to crop the pics.

Click on each picture to see a larger view. These are from the new book Eleanor has out called Quilt Blocks on American Barns. This first quilt is Pat's version, called Lavender Hill Farm. Gorgeous in purples and greens!

These are Eleanor's version of the barn quilt in a smaller size and parts made into wallhangings:

Next time I'll show you the new quilt patterns that make 3 completely different quilts from jelly rolls and other Moda pre-cuts.

In the meantime, stop over at MAKE and check out Kelly's blog with a great new set of bag tutorials. The info is on my side bar or when you go to her blog page, it's on her sidebar, also. Step 2 is up now, but the PDF file is not listed yet. These bags will be a great start on your holiday gift-giving!

Until then,
Happy Quilting from Sharon and Katie

Remember them........

2010-05-31T13:39:00.015-04:00

all those gallant soldiers who gave life and limb for our freedom.

I received this email today and want to pass it on to all of you-how appropriate for today:

After all the bad press over a few teachers who stepped out of line teaching songs to our children, this one is one you will be so proud to hear. At the end of the song you can order the sheet music. Awesome. I hope this sweeps our country and gets sung in all our schools. The music teacher wrote the song and had all the third graders sing. Enjoy -- great message.

(Click on link and video will upload and play)

From the third graders of Tussing Elementary, Colonial Heights, Virginia.