And the winner is......

Sending a shout out to Andrea in the UK, known as the Welsh Quilter.

Andrea said...
I would love to be included - what a lovely prize. I have good scissors that I hide and rubbish scissors that anyone is welcome to use - lol !

Well Andrea, I am pleased to present to you a new pair of Ginger Embroidery scissors. I asked my dear husband to call out a number and he picked yours! Send me your address and I will get them in the mail to you along with a little surprise.

And a big thank you to all of you who left such nice comments. I enjoyed reading each and every one and hope you will continue to follow my blog.

Tuesday Morning finds!

Do you have a Tuesday Morning store in your town? We do, and it is one of my all time favorite places to visit. I always have to check out their sewing and craft supplies and today I found some really good buys. They often have Fons and Porter products. I have a F&P Scissor set and Rotary Cutter that I got there and they are really great to use.

The first is a set of EZ rule templates. These sold for $3.99 for the set of three. I looked everywhere for that Pyramid Ruler when I was wanting to start a Thousand Pyramids quilt and believe me, I paid a lot more than $3.99 for that one ruler when I found one.

My next find was EZ Rulers. Now I have a weakness for rulers and scissors and cutters. The small ruler was only $.99 and the larger one a whopping $1.50! The way I slice into my rulers when I am cutting out fabric, I can always use new ones.

And finally - like I said, I have a weakness for scissors and such..a set of Mundial Scissors for $9.99. Now the package says it is a special offer for $19.99 but I know I bought just one pair of these scissors years ago at a Piece Goods store and paid around $15 for the one pair on sale.

So, if you have a Tuesday Morning in your town, be sure to check out the craft area - you just never know what you might find.

And don't forget to sign up for my appreciation gift giveaway in the post before this one!

Happy Stitchin!

A gift to say Thank You!

Do you like scissors as much as I do? Scissors have to be on my list of favorite sewing tools and heaven only knows how many pairs I have. (Wonder why they are called a pair of scissors?) I have small scissors tucked away in each sewing basket. Speciality scissors for applique, paper piecing, etc. and fold up scissors for my purse.

I would like to say thank you to all who read my blog, whether you leave a comment or not. I do have a counter and just out of curiosity I sometimes count the number of times a specific post is read, and it usually close to 150 times.

Its fun to share my joy of quilting and to read about yours. I receive inspiration and learn new skills from all I read, plus I have come to know many of you has friends from around our globe. You have offered me encouragment when things just were not going well and many times have made me feel so good when complimenting my efforts.

So to say thanks, I am offering this pair of Gingher Embroidery Scissors. I have a pair that a close friend gave me and they are my all time favorite of my scissors. I wish I could present each of you with a pair, but unfortunately my bank does not tolerate deficit spending. All you have to do is leave a comment that says Hi, and anything else you care to say and your name is in the drawing. If you can not leave a comment, then just send me an email at jqd@comporium.net to let me know you came by. I will select a name on Sunday, June 28.

Please do not announce this gift on your blog - let's just keep it between us. Please do comment or email me, even if you have never done so before - just so I know you came by.

Note: Some of you nice ladies are leaving comments but declining to be in the drawing because you already have these scissors, sooooooo...I am putting you in the drawing anyway because I appreciate your friendship. If your name is drawn, you just never know what might be coming your way, and then I will draw again for the scissors. So please...do leave a comment, even if you do not need the scissors.

Many thanks,

Teresa

From candle jar to pin cushion...

Tonight I made a trip to Michael's to find Fabric Medium, recommended in Helen Stubbins Faux Applique book. I have been looking for this stuff in several stores and finally just ordered off the internet. While at Michael's, I came across candle jars on sale for $4.00! Now I just love candles in my kitchen, and this one is called Ginger Citrus and smells wonderful, so it came home with me.

I cleaned the label off the jar, and muttered the whole time about why do they have to make them so hard to get off. Then placed the jar on my kitchen table, lit the candle and added my jar topper.

Sure smells great, and looks lovely, but what to do now with the glass jar lid? I will never use this lid on the jar again, but it is just too good to toss in the trash.

Hmmmm...its a nice weight and I just love glass objects.

I gather up some supplies - including the cute cupcake fabric and ribbon I received from Anna (ThimbleAnna), some stuffing, hand quilting thread and set to making a pin cushion. The fabric is gathered up like you would a yoyo. Fill the lid with the stuffing and then the fun comes as you get the fabric over the stuffing and pull the gathering thread to hold it in place. Tie off the thread securely and then using the ribbon, wrap around the jar lid and tie a pretty bow.

Voila - a new pincushion!

I really like the weight of it and will most likely leave this one on my cutting table. It also makes a good paperweight!

Thank you, Anna!

Thank You, Anna (ThimbleAnna) for the lovely gift. I just love these fabrics, and pincushion and frame...its all wonderful, and all the more wonderful because its a gift from you. You were one of the first bloggers I met and I have always enjoyed reading about your exploits. Thanks!!! And just to show you that I have done a little sewing, although not much, here is my redwork quilt in process. I am enjoying working on it, but just don't seem to have enough time.

First Ever Primitive Kit!

Yesterday, Cathi (Shakerwook Primitives) and I traveled to Landrum, SC to visit the guild's quilt show and check out all the vendors. They have a great show and I will post a few pictures at the bottom of some of my favorite quilts. I am sure Cathi will be sharing a few on her blog soon too!

While there, I purchased a primitive quilt kit by Bareroots - Nativity Candle Mat. These little mats were in just about all the vendors shops and I think they are a really good way to complete a small project and get a taste for Primitive wool applique.

Enjoy the pictures from the show - its a very goon display of some wonderful quilts. If you're in that neighborhood this weekend - check it out!

Your opinion please....

But first, before I get your advice, let me show you a couple of pictures from yesterday. I traveled to Columbia, SC to spend the day with Darlene and we shared laughs, projects, and shopping, not to mention a delicious lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. It was kind of a belated birthday outing for me and Darlene was so sweet to take me shopping in Columbia. She also gave me the nicest gift (well actually the nicest is her friendship and the day we spent together) . The blue bird is a pin cushion, but I just don't think there is any way I am going to be able to stick a pin in that sweet little bird! Thank you Darlene, I just love it all!!

Our shopping took us to two quilt shops, a Hobby Lobby, Goodwill(got a little thrifting done in there) and to Ruby Tuesdays for lunch. I finally found the red fabric that I needed for my redwork quilt. I had no idea how hard it is to find the right red - its either too orange, too purple, to dark etc. The gold and greens were on sale and I think they will make a lovely pineapple quilt in the near future. The color pencils are to try our Helen Stubbins Faux Applique technique. All in all, a successful shopping spree.

And now for your opinion. I am sorry about the big pictures, but I still had my upload set to medium in the middle and it just takes too long to upload to take them out and do over...so please just hang in there.

I removed the wavy borders on my log cabin stars table runner and had to trim off at least 2 inches on the long borders and 1 inch on the shorter ones - and then they laid nice and flat. I must have been really tired that night I put those on. Here's a picture of it in my entry way. That's a hope chest my father made for me and its the only thing that is wide enough for this runner, other than my dining room table.

This is where I wanted to put it, but as you can see, it is much too big for the coffee table.

The reason I want it here, as I have cute Uncle Sam on my fireplace mantel for July 4 and wanted to bring the red/white/blue down to the coffee table as well.And here is a close up of the machine quilting I did. I am still learning free motion, but I saw something similar to this on someone's blog a few months ago and just loved the pattern. Theirs was done by a professional though and looked much nicer with leaves and such - but this was fun for me to do.So, if you have hung in there with me, here is my question. Do I just leave the runner in the entry way as is and call it done? OR...do I take off the binding, cut the border down to the same size as the inner red border and use it on the coffee table? I tried folding the edge under and it will fit ok on the table if I do this. My mom suggested I just make another one for the coffee table, but I want it NOW, not when I have time to make another one. Any suggestions?

We, the People.....

I have never voiced a political opinion on my blog, and prefer to keep it politics free. One place in my life where I do not have to face the current state of our wonderful country. But this YouTube commentary struck home with me. It expresses so well what I have been thinking, believing, and doing nothing about. This is not an attack aimed at our President, it is not promoting the Republican or Democratic Parties - it does put a voice to the outrage that I have felt over so much that is going on today. Read it if you want, if not, that is ok too. As for me...I have some tea bags to purchase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

Congratulations to the Graduate!

Here is my adorable Grandson, Levi, who graduated from Kindergarten last night. Gotta love that smile! We are proud of you Levi!

Mt. Airy, North Carolina

This morning started out as a very relaxing, quiet morning. I poured myself a cup of coffee, read some blogs and sent a rather long note to my friend Darlene. Then I sat in the sunshine coming through my glass door and did some handquilting. Ahhhh...nothing like a nice peaceful Sunday morning.

Then....my husband gets up. He is looking up family history on the computer and notes that his great x5 grandfather is buried in Mt. Airy, NC and he sure would like to go up there and get a picture of the tombstone (its a genealogical thing - kind of like our collecting fat quarters). So considering that starting tomorrow he has to work 6 days a week, 56 hours - and knowing this is his last day in probably two months that he will feel like getting out of town...I innocently respond, why don't we go up there today. Man, I didn't know he could move that fast. He was up, getting dressed and had his camera and stuff ready to go before I knew what was happening.

I have been working a lot of long hours of late too, so this was a good break for me. I gathered up my hand quilting and my book, my camera and my phone and off we go.

We found the church (Flat Rock Baptist) with no problem and the cemetery, but alas no greatx5 grandfather tombstone. I did get a picture of this one that I thought was very interesting. This guy founded the church and was a Civil War Veteran. While my husband scoured the remainder of the cemetery, I found a bench under a shade tree and worked on my hand quilting.

But, something kept tickling my brain about Mt. Airy..what is it...then I remembered! Andy Griffith and Mayberry. This town is the inspiration for the Andy Griffith show! So after the disappointment of not finding Grandpa, we headed downtown to the historic area - which of course is all about Mayberry and the Andy Griffith show. It was so much fun. We never did find the police station, but we did find Floyd's Barber shop and Andy Griffith's home place.

As famous as Andy Griffith is, that is not all that Mt. Airy is famous for - also located here is the NC Granite Corporation. This is the largest granite quarry in the world according to the lady at the visitor's center. All I know is it was very impressive.

Those of you that are Andy Griffith show followers, no doubt have heard Barney talk about Mt. Pilot. I am not sure if there is a Mt. Pilot or not, but there is a Pilot Mountain and we met some folks from Pennsylvania who were visiting Mt. Airy and they told us about it. Now isn't that something - they had to come all the way from Pa to tell us about something in the Carolinas. It is only 14 miles from Mt. Airy - so off we go, to see this mountain. Here is a picture from a distance and then one from on top of the mountain.

There is a quilt shop and a fabric shop both on Main Street in Mt. Airy and both closed on Sundays. We had a great day, the weather was perfect and as always, it was fun to find a gem in our own back yard.

Redwork Block of the Month

I have been playing around with my EQ6 and have learned how to import pictures and then place them in the quilt layout. So easy once you take the time to read the help instructions. I have finished all my redwork blocks and wanted a unique layout for them, just to make my quilt different in some aspect from all the others that are being made from the design the quilt shop put out.

Remember this pattern that I found in the "yard sale" quilt book? I modified it a little, putting the blocks straight rather than on point, and came up with a fun layout for my quilt. So what do you think? And on a side note...Houston, we have a problem!!!! I finished my log cabin stars table runner and very excitedly put the borders on, rather late at night. The next morning, I put the runner up on my design wall, just to see how lovely it looks, and OH NOOOOOOOOO...my borders are waving in the wind!!! I must have been really tired to not have noticed that before. Guess I will be rippin those out tonight.

Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day. I had to work, but I sure had a great weekend. Saturday, we celebrated my, my daughter-in-laws and my granddaughter's birthdays, our 35 wedding anniversary and Memorial Day with a big family picnic! It was a fantastic day and hopefully I will have some pictures to share soon.

God is good and life is blessed!

Some yard sale finds.....

My church has a yard sale on Saturday, with the proceeds benefitting the children's

program. Here are a few of the things that came home with me.

I have a collection of these blue and white dishes that all began with some really pretty coffee cups that I purchased at Cracker Barrell resturants. Then my friends started giving me pieces and now I plan to use them in my dining room when I get the redo done in there. The beautiful crochet mat they are sitting on I picked up for 50 cents!
The books were purchased for a bargain as well, and the quilting one is pretty old - no rotary cut pieces in there.

It has some terrific patterns though, and this one I especially like. I already have plans for this pattern, but I need to draw it out in EQ6 as the blocks I want to use it with are not on point. I am so excited about this quilt now - but need a couple of days before I can show you the plan. Don't you just love that flying geese border! So stay tuned...I will be showing more about this in the next few days.

And not to worry - my husband also made a great purchase. A basketball goal with backboard and huge steel pole to put it on. No picture yet, but will show once we get it up in the back yard and have some action pictures to show.

Log Cabin Stars

This past Saturday, my club met and we worked on kits I had put together for a Log Cabin Stars table runner that hopefully we will all finish in time to use this July 4th. I designed the pattern in EQ6 and used the Dimples fabrics by Andover to make up the kits. Found these really cute tubs at the Dollar Store and my daughter wrote everyone's name on a tub. She is such a sweetie to help me out, cause she knows I can't write that pretty. Linda...we missed you at the meeting!

Here are my pieces assembled, but not yet sewn together - just on my design wall. Hmmm...seems that I have a missing sashing piece - ok ladies, check your tubs and report in. Who has my missing sashing piece??? Linda D...I am not buying that fabric nabber from outer space story again. Anyway, we had fun making the kits up and rearranging the log cabin blocks. Next month everyone will have a chance to show how they finished theirs - it will be interesting to see the different arrangments of the blocks.

And here is Pumpkin ( or affectionally known as Stinky ) resting among the monkey grass. Think maybe he is dreaming of being the mighty Lion in the jungle?

April Friendship Blocks

We are a little late this time swapping our friendship blocks for April. Yesterday we met at the White Horse Resturant for lunch and swapped our blocks - good food, good friends, good conversation and good blocks make for some good times! So, here they are.......

First we have Carol's Easter Bunny looking quite lovely in this floral blue. Carol's applique is just beautiful!

Cheryl is just sailing right along in her perfect strawberry sailboat. Over this year of swapping, she has become the accomplished paper piecer!

And last is my little blue bird of happiness. I just love blue birds and this one makes me think of the bird which sits in the tree outside my window at work and sings me a happy song just about every day, ALL day long.

May will be our last month to swap blocks. This has been so much fun each month and we get so excited to give our blocks to each other.

Timber.................

I have been doing some sewing, but nothing much to report on. Almost finished the quilting on my French braid, almost done with my redwork block, almost done with my Fall handquilting, and almost done with preparing kits for my club meeting on Saturday. But I will tell you what is done - that's the life of this beautiful maple tree. I was so sorry to see it go down, but its roots invaded our drain line and we had to do something or we were going to have a swamp in the back yard. So timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....down she goes. Timothy had a ring side seat from the upstairs porch - he was so excited about the bull dozier.