Dusty's Christmas

Dusty really loves Christmas!

He knows as soon as the presents start coming in the mail that it's Christmas.

He doesn't react to packages throughout the year containing fabric or other catalogue items.

But when the presents come, he knows.

This year I didn't put them under our little tree, (which I leave up all year), because the shelf below it was full and I was just too tired to move stuff around.

So I just put the presents in my closet.

I put the stockings up about the 21st and he checked them every 15 - 20 minutes to make sure nothing had been put in them.

Also he checked the perimeter, sniffing nose to the ground looking for the presents.

He'd look up on the shelf and see that there were no presents.

You could just see the wheels turning in his little head,

"Where are the presents?" he would ask himself.

Finally on Christmas morning, a few minutes before "Dad" was scheduled to get up,  I retrieved the presents from the closet and wrapped them and put his stocking items in the stocking:

Finally there's something in there!!

I got him some new yam treats he's never had before:

Put a couple in his stocking and gave him one.

He laid down with that treat and savored every single bite!!

Then he jumped up and said,

"Wow!  I got to have me some more of that!!"

And started running around like the happiest doggie in the whole wide world.

He ran to his stocking and could smell there was more in there and he sure did want them and he couldn't wait any longer.

So, I told him to to wake up Dad.

He ran to the bed room, jumped on the bed and squeeked his pink ball in Dad's ear over and over, then ran around some more.

Just like a little kid on Christmas morning!!

Here he is, finally with his stocking,

eating the ever wonderful yam treats!

"OMG!! I can't believe these are soooo good!!"

On to opening the presents:

Here he is checking out the little skunk squeaky toy:

Here he's checking out the moo cow:

The moo cow actually moos and he really likes those kind.

In fact, he doesn't tear out the 'squeakers' on those.

He's had those kind of toys for years that still talk.

In the middle of the night I woke up to the sound off mooing in the living room.

Dusty had gotten up to check his stash.

It was a very Merry Christmas indeed!

Kindle Sleeve

I bought myself a Kindle a while back with some Birthday money, and I love, love, love it!!!

I chose it because they finally have library books you can borrow for the Kindle and I'm loving the age of electronics.

Most of my reading is done by listening to books on my MP3 player,  books borrowed from the library.

So I like not having to return the books, they just disappear, thus no overdue fees.

Anyway, here is the front of the Kindle sleeve I made:

I used the tutorial I got at http://quiltingintherain.blogspot.com/2011/01/kindle-sleeve.html 

Here is the back:

I got a Decalgal decal to distinguish my Kindle from others.

When I saw the one with the giraffe I was sold.

I'm not particularly short for a woman, but am under tall for my weight, and I am too short to reach things on the top shelves in the kitchen cabinets,

And in a crowd, I can't see over everybody else.

so I have always admired the height of the giraffe.

It was a no-brainer to choose the giraffe fabric for the sleeve.

Anyway  that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Happy Quilting

Christmas Quilt

This is a quilt I quilted for Mary, 

made from the pattern Sidelights

and Moda's Nature's Gift fabric.

The part on the left with the birds and flowers is a panel.

The rest is pieced.

Here's a close up of some of the quilting on the panel: 

\

Here's the quilting in and around the 

"side lights"

Another close up:

Another Christmas quilt finished.

Happy quilting!

Snowman quilt

I know I've been absent lately.  

Been sew busy, I'm sure you all have been too

getting finished with all your Christmas finishes.

Just too busy to post.

In fact, I've actually let a couple of things go out without photos.  oops!

But here's the snowman quilt to match the wall hanging  I last posted about:

Isn't it cute?

Here is a close up of the center panel.

I always say I let the quilt talk to me to tell me what to quilt.

Well the striped border reminded me of the old fashioned Christmas candy, so that's what I quilted:

Also check out the tree trunk:

Hope you are experiencing lots of finishes these days and in the final stretch for Christmas.

Last night was our Guild Christmas party.

I was in charge and had a wonderful group of elves volunteering to help, so all I had to do was 

make sure everything was planned and delegated.

I also had to write the story for the gift exchange which was a big hit and we all had a wonderful time.

With the party out of the way and most of the quilts done for Christmas,

I'm getting  more relaxed too.

Happy Quilting!

quick Peek

Just a quick peek at the twin quilt to match the snowman wall hanging of my last post.

I'm hoping this quilting on the nine patch looks like a snowflake.

Happy quilting!

Snowman wallhanging

 Here is a really cute little wallhanging I just finished for Jo Ann.

I also have a twin size to quilt for her to match.

They will make a beautiful winter time decoration.

Speaking of wintertime, the temperature is hovering around freezing today and it feels pretty chilly.

Here's a close up of the center.

Note the little snowflakes just inside the striped border.

Happy quilting!

Little bags

The last time I made some little bags a few weeks ago,

check the out here, my LQS was interested in selling them.

I realize these are very different, but I think they are very "in season" so I whipped them out this am:

Several years ago I used to make purses. 

I have gotten rid or a lot of the purse making fabric, but couldn't make myself part with favorites and small scraps, perfect for making little bags.

Little bits of lining and tapestry and a couple of hours and Ta-da!!

Front

back

Front

Back

Front

Back

Perfect little gifts!

Hopefully, many more to come, I have tons of scraps!!

Happy quilting!

Cute Little Baby quilt

I finished this cute little quilt for Imogene today:

She did such a good job on the hand embroidery!

All those little animals are really adorable.

I got a good start on the next one for Susan and tomorrow will be basting again.

Happy quilting!

The purple quilt

This one is Leslie's "Purple" quilt.

(The back is purple)

I'm not sure what fabric this is but it is gorgeous!

This is a close up of the quilt that better shows the entire quilt from center to edge.

 Close up of the corner:

And now for every one's favorite parts, the back of the quilt.

This is the last two borders.

I quilted around the prints on the second border in and the corner stones.

The last border I wanted to bring out the tiny little curly cues from the inner quilting and the last corner stone so I made three rows 2" wide with my Chaco marker then quilted the curly cues. 

The next pic shows the center piece which also shows the  little curly cues:

And here you can see the big triangle that sets the middle on point where I quilted around the little flowers:

This kind of "fussy" quilting is tedious but the results are spectacular!

You can see that the Fussy parts are more densely quilted than the borders in between, but that is okay because over all the density is equal since the density alternates.

It also makes for a more cuddly quilt. 

I'm on to the next one.

I still have room for a couple more before Christmas!

Happy quilting!

Merry Christmas Deer Friends Quilt

Finished this little cutie for Alta this morning.

Everyone agrees their favorite part is the quilting on Santa's beard and the cuff on his hat:

And here is a closeup of the border detail:

By the time I left Quilter's Corner, I had another one of these to quilt and the promise of another to pick up on Saturday.

Happy Quilting!

I'm Still Here!

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting since I started my blog a year and a half ago! 

I have no pics for today.

I did finish the little basket quilt and will post a finished picture when it is hung in place over Mary's bed.

It turned out glorious.

AFTER I picked out several blocks where my bobbin thread just laid on the back and the top thread came down and bunched up!

Don't you just hate that?

One hour of quilting took me four days to take out!!

It was very dense quilting!!

I was not in the mood to post.

In the midst of all that, I had my IVIG infusion for 

Myasthenia Gravis and the 2 day headache that follows.

A dear friend flew in on her way to see her mother for Thanksgiving and we had lunch.

(Hadn't seen each other for about 2 years, I think.)

Then, very late on Friday night, my Mister fell  when the wind blew a piece of carpet up in front of the laundry room and tripped him.

I had just taken my bedtime sleeping medicine and gone to bed and we was taking Dusty out for the last go round.

He got scraped up on both hands and one elbow, plus he got some punctures on one hand from a metal drain grate.

He takes blood thinners so there was lots of blood and bruising and one hand swelled up real bad.

the good news is there is no fractures.

The left hand is badly sprained and he's pretty non functional for anything that takes two hands or a grip.

So most of the jobs he does around the house like laundry and dishes and such now are on my plate.

Whaaahh!!!

It's 2pm.

From the minute I got up this morning I have done nothing but get him fed, take him to the doctor, get his medication, get him fed again and now I'm pooped.

I need to be quilting!!

You're caught up on my life now.

I guess I've rested now and I'm going to quilt a really cute little Christmas quilt for Alta.

Happy Quilting!

Beautiful Little Baskets

This little quilt belongs to Mary of Quilters Corner.

She loves the old fashioned patterns and quilting so I'm doing feathered wreaths, stippling, and orange peel on a 1/2 inch grid.

It's a little bit tedious so I thought I better take a little break to rest the muscles and just post a couple of pics.

This is a long narrow quilt, like a large table runner,

that will fit over the head of her queen sized bed which will one day have a matching quilt.

Happy Quilting!

My very first selvage projects!

I save the "doodle" cloths that I use to make sure my tension is correct for each quilt I quilt; and also to practice the design I'm getting ready to put on the quilt.

I do a lot of quilts over the year, so that's a lot of  "doodle cloths".

I turn these into zipper bags for Christmas presents.

I wanted to spruce them up, because the same people get them year after year, so I decided to start saving selvages to embellish them.  Here is my first attempt:

As I started saving the selvages it seems like every one around me got in on the project.  The LQS, Quilters Corner put a jar out on the table in the classroom labeled

"Selvages for Mary Ann".   My friends at all my sewing activities (who will most likely be the recipient of some of these zipper bags) bring me ziploc baggies full of selvages every time we meet.  Then, I go home with the selvages that are cut at

the activity that particular day.  So they have added up pretty fast!  I really like the way they spruced up the looks of the little bags.

For these bags I just sewed the 2 1/2" pieces directly on to the quilted "doodle cloths"

Then I overcast the edges with a decorative stitch.

Happy Quilting!

My Brother's Chocolate Quilt

Here it is almost finished.

I ran out of thread with one end of the last border to go!

Oh well.  I've squared up what I can and will get the binding on what is finished as well as the label while I'm waiting for Quilters Corner to get more 

Star Brookstones thread in.

Here's a close up of the all over quilting I did in the center of the blocks.

I like doing swirly quilting so I just built an all over swirly curly-cue type design.

(Remember to click on pics to see the quilting)

Here is a close up of the center with  the three borders.

Notice that I continued the curly-cues all the way through the borders.

Here you can see how I turned the corners.

Another look at the borders:

And now for the ever popular back where you can really see the quilting.

Oh, did I say I do all this without marking?

(Yes, it take lots of practice, but if you want to quilt you have to spend lots of time quilting.  But your reward is that is gets better every time you quilt!)

The corner again.

More borders.

Don't ya love those curly-cues?

And here is the middle all over design.

It's really relaxing when you figure out your path.

Happy quilting!