Wednesday, January 30, 2013

I Have a New Baby Brother!!

Yep, I'm a new big sister.
We fixed up Daddy's workshop carport....
...added a few lights, some greenery, rugs, quilts and bows....
 ....got the girl and her friend in the UK on Skype....
 ....placed the girl on a ladder....added a very nice local minister....
 ....and now our family is bigger.... my baby brother is 6'6"!!:)

Welcome to the family Jason!!
xo
~d
ps....thanks for the photos Ant.


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Two and a Half Years Later...

....my Old Red Barn Quilt Along Pork Chop Swap quilt is done!
I wasn't sure how to quilt it but I did make it easier on myself by piecing it in three sections. If you go here you'll see what I mean....and the sections are labeled with my swapping cohorts!:)
 I wasn't going to post a photo of it on the bed until I made new pillow shams but then I remembered our wonderful penguin pillowcases given to us by my in-laws and I love how that looks!
You can't tell from this photo but all nine big blocks are quilted differently.
I also picked some special minis to put something new above the bed....

...Window Tree by Max in the upper left, My Garden by Nan, Girl Pals by Mandy and a couple of my minis.  Lynz gave me the lovely Dresden pillow.....did I stage properly girlie?:) 
It's a two quilt Winter so my ARRR8 quilt is underneath!!
Starting to get ready for the Sew South Retreat in March....eight packs of 25 charms for the Charm swap....don't you wish you were going?:)
~d

Friday, January 18, 2013

2013 Starts and a few Finishes

Wow, January 18th already?!! I have to admit I'm not having any problems writing 2013....I kinda like how it looks and I've finished and started so many things....it's going to be a banner year!:)

Here's a little block that went to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts, who has organized the Sew South Retreat coming up in March, is going to take all the house blocks she gets from those going to the retreat and make a lovely wall hanging for the Ronald McDonald house there in Charlotte.  Won't that be a wonderful and cheerful thing to greet the families?!
Remember the 3 yards of fabric I made last year...once in a while I'll have the photo as my blog banner...now I have cut into those pieces....any guesses as to what I'm making? Ha!  Maybe I should give a goodie to the person that guesses correctly...or closest!:) What do you think?
Another start began as a drawer clean out.  Sooooo many tee shirts....never going to wear them all....how about making some knit "yarn" and crocheting something? Yep, that's what I am going to do!  The boy cleaned out two of his drawers so now I have another stack twice as big as this one!  Stay tuned!
January Bitty Block Bee Queen is Sil from Brazil...love how that sounds!:)  Her theme is doors/windows and she wanted one of each size so I made a window looking out to a garden and "Sil's Sewing Shop" complete with sewing machine button sign and button flowers.....she loves them!:) Sil is an amazing talent on the sewing machine so I'm always touched with how much she loves and appreciates all her "soft" mail!:)
At work we sell precut packages of "Colorstory" and "Brick" batiks. Carly gave me several packages of "Colorstory" and said have fun....make a sample of what you can do with them....so I did!;)  I didn't have my camera so this was taken with my phone...you can't see the hand quilting in the cream colored areas. Every
piece is a different pattern!:)
Last year Bitty Block Committee had a "calendar" theme.  I took them out, framed each up with a little grey, added a loop at the top and made a perpetual calendar.  Next month the lovely heart with replace the wee little penguin and so on.  The little block hanging in the upper left corner is my spacesaver...it goes wherever there is an empty space!:)  The adorable owl pin in the center was made for me by my pal Karen's hubby...Mr. Bill!:) If you look here I labeled each bitty so I'll always remember who made it!:) Thanks ladies!!
Love those sections of fencing pickets....might need to sneak them away from my parents...but in the meantime they are perfect for showing the crazy ninepatch fun of Frolic.  Isn't that birdcage fabric adorable...that came from Urban Outfitters!  The boy likes this quilt....so he shall have it....
....and the kitty likes this place to sleep....it is yours from now on Slate....it is yours!!:)


~d