The FIRST Sew South Retreat was....

... in Charlotte, North Carolina . This amazing adventure called  Sew South was all about ....

 ...meeting new friends....

...shopping at We're Sew Creative....

.... IKEA smiles...

...sewing....

 ...gluing...

 ....more sewing...

....nourishment to sew some more!

Happy finishes...

...and proud, inspiring new friends!!

After a drive home through Virginia....

...and one week later....I still haven't opened my duffle ...I still can't look at all the glorious stash we received...then it really will be over...I don't want that feeling to be over!!

Thanks so much Jennifer....thanks so much!!

~d

ps...I really can't express how awesome this weekend actually was so go here to the Sew South flickr group and read what others so eloquently wrote!

DQS 11 Peek et al!

Yep, it's Doll Quilt Swap 11 time and I was lucky enough to make the lottery. This round we are going back to their roots and making a true doll quilt using multiple repeating blocks...no art quilts. Above is the label for this wee quiltie...

...and this is the peek...4" Hexie Stars!;) So much fun...might even make a bigger quilt one day...of course with bigger stars! This is a secret swap so my partner has no idea this is for her...hope she likes it!

I just finished a One-on-One swap with the lovely Mandy from Australia. She made a mini she called girl pals for someone else and I begged her to do a swap with me and she graciously agreed. Lucky me!!:)

This is what will be winging it's way to Australia tomorrow...it's 9x12...the perfect size to fit in a mailer without folding! Hope you like it Mandy...that is if you peek!:)

Here is another peek of a couple of blocks from my secret project...I'm just having TOO much fun!;)

~d

Witches and Wonderland

Happy Halloween Haunting 3.5"s from that awesome Bitty Block Committee Swap...

...aren't they amazing...there is even a casket with a lid, a bat with beady eyes and Ol' Frankie boy with bolts in his neck!! You all ROCK!!!

But what's most awesome is that Maria is really living in Wonderland...please, please go read her blog post about it...you should follow her blog....it's great, even if I am her mom!!

~d

I Want Me Some Habitat!!

I'm in love...in love with Habitat! I finished this in the time it took to listen to two Fiction Plane, one Matchbox 20, one Springsteen and one Kings of Leon CDs!

Carly was nice enough to let me have some trimmings we cut from the crooked edge of new bolts...these pictures don't do the fabric justice...you really need to go check them out here!! This is the green colorway...now I NEED to get some of the grey colorway...you know me and my grey!!

I was able to make 15 squares and wanted one more so I literally went through the trash bin for the bits I cut off when I squared up all the blocks!

See that one bit on the left...about the width of a toothpick!:) The solid is

Bella Stone, the aqua sashing is Nature's Palette.

Really...go look at the fabrics....this is only a wee bit of the gloriousness that is Habitat!!:)

~d

I Walked....In the Worldwide Photowalk....

...and now I need your help! This weekend was Scott Kelby's 3rd Annual Worldwide Photowalk. On July 24th over 33,400 people walked in 1,111 cities around the world taking photos of their cities and getting to know them in ways they hadn't before. Now everyone is editing and posting their photos to their city's flickr site and they have to chose ONE photo to post to the Worldwide site....that's where I need your help. I don't know which one to post so if you have some time could you go to my flickr set, look at the photos I took and leave me a comment letting me know which one you like best?! I'm sort of leaning towards a couple of them so I just need a little nudge....and I need you to pick by July 31st!:)

Photo courtesy of Anthony Amoringello

There were about 40 of us doing the Leesburg Walk. One of our fellow photographers took a group shot...I'm up at the left in the pink shirt...I have the smallest camera there...a Canon Elph!:) He's the one in the center with the black shirt and hat...thanks for posting the group photo Mr. Amoringello!!

My sister, foobella, did the walk in Yorktown, VA. You can check her photos out here! Maybe next year we can do a little mini trip to a different town!;)

After my morning walk through old town Leesburg I went to The Doener Bistro to hang out with Maria and wait for my pal Dena....we were partners in this latest STUD swap. Dena got to pick this month's theme and she picked Landscapes...good idea!! So I did a mini from something I see all around me all the time, the Short Hill Mountains and hay bales!:)

Dena made me this fabulous Sunset mini inspired by her nightly walks and of course she put a wee owl up in the tree. She also gave me some lovely cards and fabric! Love it kiddo!!

I had so much fun making this mini and I had some leftover fabric so I made a smaller version....it's in the mail today....winging it way to...........it's a secret!:)
~d

Wonky Angles

I finished my 6th round quilt for the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-Along....Hexagons...so much freakin' fun!!

I decided to make this one a wall hanging and didn't really have enough to make it big enough so I thought I would have fun with empty spaces....and wonky angles.

I say wonky angles because this was the first time I ever did inner angles. Those came out great...it was the outer corners that are a wee bit pointer than they should be but Nancy at work told me what to do the next time I attempt obtuse angles...follow that angle...so you don't get too much fabric to tuck under.
I really wanted that fabric with the black dots for the binding but it was one of the outer hexies....so I used the feather fabric to bind around that one while using the one I wanted for all the rest. I love how it came out. I think this is going over our couch.

I also finished a Crazy Nine Patch top using a Frolic bundle that Maria gave me for my birthday. She went shopping at the shop and the ladies helped her out...thanks! I used some brown Dimples for that dark frame and I plan on using the same thing for the binding.

This is going on the back. I got it from Urban Outfitters....the background is a little lighter than it should be but who cares...it's the back... you won't see it with the front and the rest of the colors match perfectly...I like it!;)

I did a little shopping at work today...all from the sale section....but I really need to stop!:)

~d

We Came, We Saw, We Shopped!!

Morning….early morning….5:30 AM early morning…I was out on the road to meet up with Dena and then head up to Lancaster, PA for the AQS show and our first meeting with Heidi and Tracy…new pals from the ORBC.

Sending out our love and appreciation for Dana and the whole Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-Along community because without ORBC we wouldn't have been here together enjoying some extraordinary stitching and of course...fabric shopping!

It was amazing...just like when I met Dena for the first time, meeting H and T was like meeting up with old friends, no awkwardness or embarrassed babbling...just four old pals getting together to see some amazing quilts and hopefully get some new ideas.

Tracy and I showed the proper tummy rubbing technique on Little "E" and whizzed through the convention room OOooooing and Ahhhaaaing all over the place....then onto the real reason we were here....fabric shopping!

After the quilt show we went to Intercourse, PA to continue the fabric shopping mania but first we needed to refuel so we went to Stolzfus Meats Deli for some fortification and then off to Zook's Fabric, The Old Country Store and several other shops.

A Quilter's favorite word "SALE"!!;)

Tracy and Heidi doing their best Vanna White impression!

My haul.... Flat folds $2.29 per yard+ off the bolt $3.49 per yard+ Kona solids $3.59 per yard= 38 yards of fabric for less than $3.oo per yard and Happiness!!

Dena, Tracy and Heidi....thanks for a fantastic day of fun, friendship and fabric! <3 :)

I still think Dena's idea of a ORBC retreat is an idea that needs to be cultivated!! Who agrees with me?:)

And to top it all off...Dena and I arrived back in time for me to see the West Virgiania Mountaineers beat Kentucky to make it into the Final 4 for the first time in 51 years....since Jerry West was on the team...and would you believe his son Jonnie is a member of the team!:) Sounds like a good luck charm to me!:)

~d

Never Was a Mailbox So Stuffed!

This was a most delightful day for checking the mailbox. It was stuffed to the gills not only with six, yes six, credit card offers, several bills and two local newspapers but also with two lovely packages. One for me and one for Maria!

My package was from Kate who was my secret partner in the Doll Quilt Swap 8 and some fantastic extras...stay away from my notecards Maria! This wee quilt (18"square) is not to be believed, the colors, the textures, the quilting, the curved binding all done to perfection and it is already hanging in my bedroom! Thanks sooo much Kate!!
Maria's package was from the ever adorable Lynz and her Chookie. I will let Maria tell what she received...so heartfelt and perfect Lynz and Holly....so perfect! But also in this package was a gift for me! Chocolate bunnies and a Loud Shouty Mummy Mix cd!!:) Ah...new quilting music...and that is an empty wrapper...Yum! THANKSSSSSSS!!

In Lynz's last post she has lovely photos of her home all spiffy and ready for Easter...I got to feeling guilty because I haven't put anything out so I dug into the dark recesses of our closet and pulled out a few things. James made the paper egg at the top of the tree in '92!! My only other concession to Spring is replacing the dark handtowels over our glasses and spices with pastel plaid ones. See the cookie jar with the yellow lid and blue truck? Don and I bought that a week after we were married. I treasure it!;)

Not only am I receiving wonderful packages I am sending things too. I made 9 of these itty bitty squares for the 6"-12" mini trading swap. This group swaps out mini quilts and 3.5" squares once a month. You can sign up every month or once in a while...no pressure!:)
This month nine people signed up for the Spring Fling 3.5" swap and we all agreed to make one for everyone then when we have all of our squares we can make a mini sampler quilt. Great idea!!

In that same swap I signed up for the 6"-12" mini quilt. You are given a partner and it isn't a secret this time. But I don't want her to see what she is getting yet...so her mini is peeking out from the other three I made just for fun!:) I don't know if you can see from the photo but the centers are x-stitched. I love making small stuff!

Well, the snows are finally melting...because now it is raining!! But that's ok, we can finally see the daffodils poking out their green shoots.

And when it rains....kitties get cozy and snooze!

Ahhh...happiness!!

~d

Last and First....

Happy New Year everyone!!















2009 was a very busy year creatively and the last project I worked on was this purse for Dear Daughter's friend Nicole. They have this fictitious (they wish it was real, maybe one day...) production company called Catfish Productions and Nicole drew this combo cat/fish picture. I copied it onto some suiting and embroidered it and added a few star buttons. A little flower print here, a bit more suiting, D-ring and slider there and presto...we have a purse....with a couple pockets inside!

I hope she likes it!:)




Also...I was a winner at the end of last year. My new friend Marguerite had a giveaway and I was one of the winners... I started this new year in a great way by finding her package in the mailbox this afternoon!! I won this wonderful panel of LOVE inspirations and for extra fun she included this adorable felt heart ornament and three skeins of thread....and then I was inspired!!

The pile of scrap fabric on the left was graciously sent to me by Stephanie and below is what I started working on this afternoon using those scraps and several sections of the panel I received from Marg...

....can you guess what this is going to be?:)

~d

PS....I met these wonderful women at this group started by the fabulous Dana called
the Old Red Barn Co. Quilt-Along....why don't you come join us?!!:)