Christmas gifts

I was able to finish these stockings just in time, literally.  I had originally planned on appliquéing an initial on each stocking, but ran out of time, so I stitched their name on the stocking. This was an idea I got from Jenny at Jennys Doodling Needle or Sew Kind of Wonderful. thanks for the idea. Jenny! They were hung on Christmas Eve, and filled with pistachios, peanuts, chocolate, and candy canes.  Grandma and Grandpa (Dean and I) happily helped the babies with their pistachios and peanuts.  What a fun Christmas we had!  All four of our grands were with us yesterday, and we watched Corinne ride her brand new bike, and Devin play with his radio controlled monster truck. 

Santa was really good to me, too!  I received a Canon EOS camera!  I am just beginning to learn all it can do.  It may take me months... I thought this was a beautiful subject.  a close up of the Nandina at my daughter's home.   I love the bright red of these berries.

A New Allover Design - Paisley

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I just discovered this new allover design, paisley, last week on Machine Quilting Resources Forum.  It was posted by Suzanne Earley, the website's founder, a couple years ago.  I love it!  If you stitch it out small, it can be used as a fill, or as I did, larger, as an allover.  It was really fun to do, too. 

It is not really easy to see on this busy fabric, but hopefully if you can zoom in on the closeup, you can see it.  I tried several times to get the right lighting, but the window of opportunity at this time of the year is so short...

This quilt belongs to Joanie, and she is sending it to a family friend as a wedding gift

How do you label your quilts?

I inherited a stack of quilts from my husband's family, and unfortunately none of the quilts have labels.  I had one of these family quilts appraised and it was assumed to be made approximately 1900, but I don't know who made it.  This reeaaaally bothers me - us quilters know how much love and effort goes into making a quilt! 

It would be so nice to keep this information permanently with the quilt, for all generations.  I have told myself that I will always send a quilt out the door with a label, but have not been 100% successful, probably not 50% successful.

I thought I found a solution...  I planned on blogging about it here... until I tried washing the label and the ink faded.  I heat-set the ink, too.  It may be my ink cartridge, and I would be willing to purchase a different type if that would set it permanently.

How do you label your quilts?  Do you label them?  I'd love to hear your method.  Thanks!

More Freehand Fun

Chistina made this for Nonnie and Papa as a Christmas gift.  She let me decide how to quilt it.  I chose a fun little freehand design that Patsy Thompson shares on her website.  Thank you,, Patsy!! 

The back is the soft minkie-type fabric that is so cuddly. 

Swirls and Ex's and Stash

This quilt just makes me smile.  It was made from some of my favorite stash fabric, with some Kona White.  I kept it simple with the quilting.  All freehand, of course.  A little bit of whimsy, with a little bit of ruler work.  I used a neon orange thread for the straight stitching - what fun!   I didn't use a pattern, just really kept it simple.  It will have a new home in January when my daughter delivers it to someone special. 

I Would Be So Grateful if You Voted for My Quilt

I entered my quilt, Stars Aligned, into the Quilting Gallery Contest for Star Quilts.  Here is the link if you care to vote for my quilt:  http://quiltinggallery.com/2011/12/02/vote-now-star-quilts-2/  If I win, the prize is fabric!  The competition is stiff, 54 quilts, so I would appreciate your support. 

Here is another picture of my quilt.

Stash Busting More Moda Fat Quarters and a Link to a Fabulous Site!

I couldn't sleep this morning. Went to bed at 11:00 p.m. And woke up at 3:00 a.m. Ugh! So I am surfing the web and just learned of a fabulous website! The site has tons of free quilting tutorials. It is called the Missouri Quilt Company. I cannot get the link to work this morning from my iPad. http://quiltingtutorials.com/


This is the the third of three quilts that my daughter and I made using up some really cute Moda fat quarters that once we're gathering dust on my WIP, PIGS, and UFO shelf.

Not the best quality photo, sorry. I didn't have my camera with me last week - had to use my phone.

Stash-busting Continued

This is the first of two quilts that I have made from those 10-1/2" Moda strips I had lurking about in my stash. I really like it.

No machine quilting this week. I am on vacation in Arizona enjoying the beautiful weather and getting lots of sewing time.

Back from my Quilting Retreat

I organize a quilting retreat at a beautiful location just outside of Yosemite National Park.  It is a fabulous location!  This is the view from the many, many windows as you are sewing.  I have been wanting to make a zig zag quilt and am still using up my stash.  This is one of the two quilts I made while there last weekend.  I love it and can't wait to quilt it.

Changing of the seasons and a forgotten quilt

Living in the Tehachapi Mountains, one can never expect distinct seasons, but seasons we do have!  This year we had a really early snow, and didn't have time to get all the apples from the trees before the first frost.  Normally we get snow at Thanksgiving time.

Almost all the leaves are gone from this wonderful Silver Maple tree that provides us with so much shade in the summer. 

And finally, since this blog is quilt related, here is a quilt I made as a wedding gift for Christina's friends, Lisa and Chris.  They were married at a winery in Livermore.  I love this quilt.  I had completely forgotten I made it, though!