New Year's Day Mystery Quilt

I am going to participate in the New Year's day mystery quilt on planet patchwork this year. I really enjoy online mystery quilts and have not been able to participate in quite awhile due to my schedule at work. They mystery is posted here:

http://planetpatchwork.com/Case126/Case126Part1.htm

These are the fabrics I have chosen for this mystery. They are not pink but I am hoping that won't matter in the final quilt. Is anyone else out there going to participate in the mystery quilt?

The med. fabric is actually a lavender but is looking more blue in the picture.

Bev, what do you think about the choice of fabric?

I start my new shorter hours at work next week. I will be able to be home when my youngest gets off the school bus so the teenager does not have to babysit anymore. They are still more hours than I really want but I am going to give it a shot and see how it works out. I have vacation in two weeks and will be headed to Florida with the family. I guess I can figure out whether I want to keep the job after vacation. What I would really like would be to quit and stay home and quilt!

Split 9 patch top

I finished wrapping all the christmas presents today so took the opportunity to do some sewing today. I am currently offering a block challenge on two charity quilting yahoo groups I am on and I have started getting some blocks in the mail. This quilt was put together using some of the blocks. I got the idea from this blog http://snippetsofaquilter.blogspot.com/2007/10/charm-square-quilt.html

It looked like an easy block for others to do and I like the look of the scrappy quilt. We decided to make the middle block red for some consistency.

I have to work tomorrow morning until noon. We like to stay home for Holiday's so we are not going anywhere for Christmas other than church at 4pm.

Merry Christmas everyone!

"Quilts from Heaven"

This is an early Christmas present from a friend at church. She wrote in her note that she thought of me when she saw this book. She is not a quilter but knows that I quilt alot!

The book is is called "Quilts from heaven" and is by Lucinda Secrest McDowell. There is a poem in the beginning of the book that I would like to share.

Pieces of My Quilt

If quilts could talk

I'd like to think I'd hear just what they'd say,

"I'll hold you close within my oflds and wipe your tears away.

I'll keep you warm and give you strength to face another day."

If quilts could talk...

If quilts could sing

I'd like to think I'd recognize each tune,

The lullaby or funeral dirge or wedding march in June.

Both sweet and haunting melodies I'd listen to them croon.

If quilts could sing...

If quilts could write

I'd like to think I'd read the workds they'd pen,

Of life and love and motherhood, of mystery without end.

And, oh, the drama they could share of everywhere they'd been.

If quilts could write....

If quilts could pray,

I'd like to think I'd feel each heartfelt prayer

Of thankfulness or great concern for those within their care:

Petitions to a loving God--the One who's always there.

If quilts could pray....

The quilt of my own life

Finds voice to talk, sing, write, and pray,

As it weaves a hundred stories in its own eclectic way.

And with each stitch of grace and hope my legacy is built:

All fragments finally made a whole...

the pieces of my quilt.

I have not read the book yet but I am looking forward to reading it in my free time. Work has been crazy lately and it will be nice when the holiday's are over and I can relax again.

Dresden Quilt finished

The dresden plate quilt for my friend is finished! I am giving it to her at work tomorrow. This was ayear long project with two quilts with these blocks and two other tops that I put together so she could tie them. It feels good to have them done.

I have been researching upgrading my sewing machine on my b-line frame. I have looked at the Voyager 17, HQ16 and the funquilter by Nolting. I would like an 18" machine and have also been looking at the Nolting 18". It would be nice to get a real long arm but they cost so much money that my husband is not liking that option. I really want to practice my quilting stitches and was playing with feathers the other day. I think I need to put together some quick panel baby quilts and start practicing more freehand quilting. I guess after the holidays.

Orphans in the Ukraine

Here are some pictures from a missionary in the Ukraine giving out quilts to the kids at the orphanage. Look how small their beds are! Last year our church Awana club did a clothing drive for clothes for the kids and I had some quilts on hand that I donated for the cause. I did not make all the quilts but did make some of them. The green quilt in two of the pictures was a quilt I made with an elementary school class. They colored in the quilt squares and I sewed them into quilts. I have been doing that for four years now and will also do it again this year. The kids really enjoy helping and I enjoy working with them. It is so much fun to see pictures of the kids enjoying there quilts. I am working on the opportunity to continue supporting these orphanages in the Ukraine. I am learning they have so little over there. There are about 150,000 orphans in the Ukraine and those are the ones actually living in homes and not on the streets. It is quite overwhelming the needs others have in other countries, including our own. I just want to help in any way that I can even though it is small.

I am going back to PT work after the New Year and am excited about that. I will have more time at home to tend to the family needs and so will be able to devote more time to my quilting!

PILE OF QUILTS!

I am getting the quilts packed up for the Ukraine. These are all the quilts on my bed (I missed about 7 of them as they were hiding in plain sight in my sewing room).

The total count ended up at 40 for the orphanages. That is 40 children that will be loved through quilts! This project has been going since January 2007. I will be seeing the missionary this Friday as she will be speaking at a ladies Christmas dinner. I am looking forward to hearing what has been happening over the last year for her.

It was snowing today and has been a quiet evening at home after dinner. The boys have actually been fairly quiet for a change. I was able to spend time reading lots of blogs to see what other quilters have been up to. Lots of great projects with wonderful pictures. My life has been so work centered lately that I need to do something else on my off time instead of agonizing over work related stress. It feels good to be in the sewing room again and getting some quilting done.

I don't know if anyone out there is reading my posts but I do enjoy reading everyone else's blog's as I do not get to socialize with quilters much anymore.

Retirement Quilt

I have been working on a quilt for my brother who is retiring from the military after 26 years. We are headed down to Florida in January for his ceremony. We are turning it into a family vacation and are meeting my sister and her family there. We have not decided where we are going yet but I am sure that Epcot Center and possibly Busch Gardens will be in our plans. My husband likes museums so I am sure we will check out the Kennedy Space Center again. We were down there about 10 years ago and went to Disney World so I know we are not going there again, even though my 9 yr old has not been there.

So this is the quilt so far. I have been figuring it out as I go as I do not have a specific pattern that I am following. Now I am trying to decide what kind of border to add to make it longer. I was thinking about just doing strips of the blue but am also toying with the idea of doing half red and half blue with a diagonal seam. I will have to play with it on my bed to see what it looks like.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I could not get the corners on the first border to be uniform because of the odd numbers of blocks. Frustrating but I am not going to worry about it overly. This will be a lap quilt and so won't be hanging on the wall or anything. I hope he likes it. Oh I forgot to mention that the center of the stars is signed by family members, with messages for my brother on it.

Well off to have some ice cream and relax so that I can wind down and get ready for the week ahead.

Quilts for Ukraine

This is a top that will be donated to the orphanages in the Ukraine. They are going to the missionary on December 7th. So far I have 42 quilts that are completed and if time permits I may finish up one or two more. I think that is being a little amibitous with my job right now but I can always try. Most of the tops were done by others and quilted by me, or else completed by others all way. I started this project last winter so it has been an ogoing project for a year now. It has been fun but I am not sure if I will take on that project for next year or not.

I started working full time last July and my husband and I are discussing right now whether or not I am keeping my job. I may try to find a job part time instead. This job is really stressful and being a Personal Banker for the new bank is not at all like it was for the old bank before we merged. This position is more into the sales and making sales goals. Not really sure being a sales person is what I want to do with my life right now with my youngest son being 9 yrs old. If I work only part time then I will be able to devote more time to my charity quilting! That would make me much happier.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are having a small family dinner at home with my oldest son and his wife coming over for dinner.

Quilt completed

I completed another quilt for a friend of mine. These are Dresden quilt blocks hand sewed by her Grandmother (probably 40 year old blocks). I made them into a quilt top and then machine quilted it. I am not completely happy with how it turned out but she is pleased with it. I know from this experience I will never make 16 in square blocks and set them on point again. I have one more quilt to finish for her using some more of the dresden quilt blocks. That quilt the blocks will not be set on point.

I am working more than ever with 48 hours last week working 6 days. I long for the days when I was part time or was able to stay at home! I am not leaving my job at this point but I think I see a change will have to happen sometime in the future. As a Personal Banker I don't really want to be a sales person but someone that provides customer service to our customers. The new bank is very aggressive in sales and I am not sure I like that. I will wait and see how things progress. We have a new branch manager starting on Monday and that may change things drastically. Today I worked on quilting a top that I completed a long time ago. I am giving it to a friend that is going in for hip surgery on Tuesday.

Orphanage in Baja, Mexico

Pictures from the orphanage in Mexico. A sweet little boy in the nursery.
This are kids in a casa coloring in quilt squares that I will sew into baby quilts and then send back to the orphanage.

Above is in the nursery (cuna). Aren't they all just adorable. We spent the morning playing with the babies in the nursery. They really enjoyed reading the books.
This is the sign for the orphanage.

Back to the sewing room

This picture is not a quilt but some art work by my youngest son in third grade. I really like his color choices and have hung this picture in my office/sewing room. I am finally getting some energy back after being sick from Mexico. My work schedule has been very demanding and has not given me much down time to recover. I went to a local quilt guild's quilt show and enjoyed looking at everyone's accomplishments.

I needed some motivation to get back into the sewing room. I am currently working on a quilt for my brother's retirement after 26 years in the Navy. We are headed down to Florida in January to go to his ceremony and I have some muslin squares signed by family members and am putting them into a red/white/blue quilt. I have all the fabric and started cutting and sewing tonight after a 10 hour workday. I am making myself work on it as it is the only way I am going to get going again. I am also finishing up an antique quilt for a friend so will post a picture of that in my next post. Well back to the sewing machine and then off to bed!

Headed to Mexico

It has been a crazy and hectic summer and I can't believe how the time has flown by. This is the week I leave for the orphanage in the Baja, Mexico. I have stuffed my suitcases with over 30 quilts (I lost count!) and it will be interesting checking in my bags as I won't be able to carry them very well. I have to leave my house at 3:15 am on Thursday morning for a 5:30 flight to San Diego. Then from there we will drive down to the orphanage (http://www.ffhm.org) I am really looking forward to my visit. I have gone to the Morelia, Mexico home before but have not been to the Baja mission yet. I have been making quilts for orphanages for the last four years and am really excited to be able to hand deliver the quilts myself this time. I hope to come back with lots of pictures to share with everyone. I was going to get a picture of my suitcases full but am afraid if I open them up they will explode. For some of the quilts I used those bags that you vacuum out the air. I really hope this is okay at the airport and they don't want to open those packages up as without a vacuum cleaner I would never be able to get the suitcases to close again.

For those of you that pray you could pray for my safe journey to and from Mexico. Flying is not one of my favorite things to do but I would not miss this opportunity just because I am nervous about flying.

I will post photos when I get back from my trip!

August 25, 2007

Here is a quilt that I completed for the Ukraine orphanages. I rec'd these blocks from others but I pieced and quilted the top. I have been really busy at work all summer long. Have been working 45 hrs a week on the average. I am hoping this changes once school starts. Things are settling down somewhat in the office.

I am going to an orphanage in Baja, Mexico in October for a few days. (http://www.ffhm.org) I am excited to to be going even if it is only for a short time.

July 19, 2007

The above quilt is one that was pieced by Beth and quilted by me. This quilt is headed to an orphanage in the Ukraine at the end of this year. I finished up about 4 of them before I left for my mission trip to Chicago last week. This week I have not been able to sew but am hoping I will get the motivation to hit the sewing room this weekend.


Here is the group that I went with on a mission trip to Uptown, Chicago last week. We had a very good trip and accomplished alot of service projects. My son also went with so it was nice to be on a mission trip with him and watch him serving God throughout the week.

I am headed to San Diego and Baja, Mexico in October. I booked the flight last night! I will be visiting an orphanage in the Baja. I have been to the location in Morelia for a week and am looking forward to visiting the Baja location. The orpanage is Foundation For His Ministry at http://www.ffhm.org/ I am hoping to bring a bunch of baby or lap size quilts with me for the nursery. It will be a short visit but I also get to visit with my sister while in San Diego.

Happy July everyone! Have not been quilting too much lately. But thought you might like to enjoy a picture of the fireworks we enjoyed on July 4th. I was playing with my digital camera and thought these pictures were cool. I did quilt last weekend and finished up the binding on three lap quilts for charity and then quilted one and pin basted another that is waiting its turn being quilted. I am headed out this Sunday for a week long mission trip with our church youth group. We are going to Chicago to work with a group there. Not really sure yet what we will be doing but that is okay. My son is also coming with so I am looking forward to being able to spend time with him. For the last five years we have been at Boy Scout camp during this week and this year we did not go. Actually he is ready to make Eagle Scout and probably will not be attending summer camp anymore. You know how it is when the kids get their drivers license and then they get a job.

Work has been crazy and this week is another week of overtime. The time off this next week will be nice. I am sure I will be working just as hard but it will be something different.

I will try to post some actual quilt pictures when I get back so be sure to check back!

New Job

I currently work at a bank that has been bought out and we just converted over all our systems last week to the new bank. What a week! I have been working overtime the last three weeks and I was only the PT teller. As of Friday I am now the Personal Banker! One of the ladies put in notice last Monday and I am now taking her place. I will now be full time with hours anywhere from 36 - 40 hours. We have not worked out all the specifics yet as we are still trying to figure out if hours are changing for everyone with the transition. Of course with a new bank and new policies we are having to change everything. This week I will be working as Personal Banker with the gal that is leaving training me in plus helping out the teller line if needed. If last week was any indication I may be Personal Banker on my own as we have been very busy. That is normal for summer but the timing is not the best for all this transition stuff. I have not been quilting much in the last month as I have been working so much. I am going to have to figure out a new schedule for my life so that I can make time for my quilting time. I am sad to see my extra hours at the sewing machine dwindle but I am happy about my new position. I was a stay at home Mom for about 10 years and am now ready to get back into the career role. My youngest is going into third grade this year.

June 17, 2007

Here are a few more quilts for Mexico. These are just cheater panels but I know the babies won't care. I am now ready to pack up a box and send the quilts onto Mexico. I am able to mail them to the headquarters in Southern CA and they have a truck that goes down weekly. Much less expensive for me that way. I would never be able to ship international. I think I will be trying to fit 30 quilts into the box. Don't know if the box I have is big enough but I am going to vacuum out the air in a bag and hope the box does not explode while in transit. The next few weeks are going to be crazy at work so I have not been working very hard this weekend. I did manage to machine quilt three more tops for my Ukraine project. Have not completed the bindings yet.

Summer is here!

Summer vacation is finally here! The kids last day of school was last thursday. My 16yr got his first job and started last Friday. The called him on Thursday evening! So now I have had to scramble to make arrangements for my youngest for child care while I am at work. This week he will be going to summer school in the morning and then go to one of my friends house to be babysat by her daughter. We will be figuring this out week by week as we progress! My job is pretty hectic right now as we are in transition being bought out by another bank. Alot of training is going on and being a small branch that means I am working extra hours. The timing is not the greatest but not much I can do about it. I am hoping to get another position in the office if things go as planned. I have not quilted all this week but do have a quilt sandwiched and ready to go. I am working on the Ukraine quilts right now. Then I think I will be working on some more baby quilts for Mexico to take with me in October when I go out there for a few days. I am getting excited about going but do not want to wish summer gone just yet!

Heartstring baby quilt

Here is a picture of the heartstrings quilt( http://www.heartstrings.blogspot.com )I finished for Mexico. I have tons of 2.5" strips and have just gone through my fabric closet and pulled out more fabrics to cut into strips. I could be sewing these quilts all summer long! I am sure I will have to put some variety into the mix. Right now I am quilting some of the tops for the Ukraine. Work is going to be busier in the next month as the bank I work for is being bought by a bigger bank and I will be working more hours so everyone can be trained before the actual transition the end of June. I am looking at going to the orphanage in Mexico (http://www.ffhm.org) in October. Don't have all the details worked out but checking out all my options. It will be fun to hand deliver all the quilts I have for them! As of right now I have 29 quilts finished and with the quilt pictured that will make it 30.

Question on a How to?

I have been reading alot of blogs lately and I was wondering how you are able to get words crossed out with a line through them . Could someone please show me how to do this?
Is is something on the keyboard? Enquiring minds want to know!

Thanks!

Time Flies!

Well time sure does fly! I can't believe it has been ten days and I have no pictures to share for quilting finishes. I do have three baby quilts in the dryer but these were just panel quilts that I have had sitting around here waiting to be quilted for Mexico. Don't have pictures yet even though they would be boring.

We are selling all our animals and have sold one horse and took two cows to market this week. We have one horse left along with two calves that will be ready for market in the fall.

We are headed out of town this weekend to visit family. Have to take advantage of my three day weekends when they happen. I have been working extra hours at work as our bank is being purchased by a bigger bank and we are all in training to be ready for "transition day" on June 23rd.

Hope to be able to post something very soon!

High School Quilts

I finished the three graduates quilts that will be presented at church this Sunday. I really don't like working on denim quilts. They are better off being tied and I tried quilting them for speed. I am sure the kids will still like them but I am not happy with the results. I also worked on the Dresden plate quilt for my friend and got one of the tops pieced but will need to get a photo of it to post it. I had today off work and ended up not having much time to sew at all as I had a doctors appointment and delivered the last of the kids quilts to the schools.

Mother's Day Gift

Yesterday we were out shopping and my Husband and youngest son bought me a weeping willow tree for Mother's Day. I was out flower shopping and spent the morning putting together some flower beds in the front yard. It looks pretty bad right now because grass seed we planted last year did not come back this year and we are trying to grow that right now also. I am not much of a gardener and need to keep things simple because I do not like to weed and spend alot of time on flowers and such. I think the weeping willow is such a graceful tree and once it gets bigger is should look great in the front yard. We have alot of wind where we live as you can see it was windy when I snapped these photos. Today I plan on spending the day in the sewing room both sorting and sewing in between baskets of laundry. So I best get on with it as the day is already half over!

May 10, 2007

This is a photo from the orphanage in Baja, Mexico that has a special place in my heart! http://www.ffhm.org This quilt was one that I donated with the help of a group of online quilters that make quilts for kids in orphanages and also children that get cleft lip/palate surgery overseas. http://sunshinequilts.hypermart.net/

As you can see I really enjoy quilting for kids in need. About two years ago I went on a mission trip to an orphanage in Morelia, Mexico and so far have not been able to schedule another trip so I make quilts from home.

Baby Quilts completed

Here are the baby quilts that I have been working on for the last month. There were too many of them to post individual photos so decided this would have to work. I am going to deliver to two schools tomorrow and take pictures for the newspaper. I am happy to do these with the schools every year but I am glad I can now move onto the next project which is to finish the denim quilts for the High School graduates at church. I only have three of them to make and one is already complete and the other two are in various stages. After that I can start to work on whatever I want for awhile. What is that? At this point I am not even sure!

Baby Quilts done!

Today is a day to celebrate! I finished up the 14 baby quilts and the last three are in the washer right now. It feels great to be done with them. I will get a picture tonight and post it. I have to take them to the schools next week but may stop by a few classrooms tomorrow or Wednesday. They are also going to be displayed at the local public library in June. I am excited to be able to tell the kids that news.

Another Hobby

With all my deadlines pending for my quilting projects I still managed to get away for a weekend of scrapbooking with some girlfriends. This was the first time I went with this group and it was a blast. It is with my co-worker and we go to her Mom's house about 2 hrs away. Her house is wonderful and we all had a good time. I actually finished 80 pages over the weekend. I like to keep it simple because I am so far behind in all my scrapbooking. I actually have a combination of scrapbooks and pocket albums as I can not keep up with all the pictures. I worked on my youngest son's book and also the middle child's Boy Scout album. He will be working on his Eagle project this summer so I figured I better get that album done for his Eagle Court of Honor which hopefully will be this fall. Our theme for the weekend was "Look, its a chicken" so we all brought small gifts for each other that fit this theme. I made the chicken pin cushions for all the ladies. I ended up staying up late a few nights before to get them finished. I guess the story behind this theme is that we have a tendency to be talking about something and then in the middle of it interupt ourselves to say something like, "Look its a chicken" and then continue our converstation like we never stopped. It has something to do with my co-worker and her family, but I can completely relate.

I am back to quilting this week trying to finish up the baby quilts with the colored in quilt blocks from the elementary schools. These need to be done by May 15th and I believe I can get them done no problem. I will post some photos when they are complete.

New addition

Here is a new puppy we got this weekend. Her name is Pandora and she is a Dauschund, Rat Terrier/Chiwawa (sp?) mix. She is only 6 weeks old and is just adorable. She loves to be held and will sleep whenever you hold her. She especially loves to put her head into your jacket and snuggle. I have not gotten much quilting done lately as I have been both sick and busy all at once. Last Friday I helped with a 30 Hr famine with the youth at church. It was fun but did prove to be quite the challenge going without food for 30 hours. Definitely very rewarding though. The kids raised alot of money for World Vision for feeding starving children in Africa.

Fabric Markers

I should have been working on quilts today but could not seem to get motivated so instead I colored in this quilt block for another quilt. I used the iron on transfers and then used fabric markers to color this in. It is the Noah Ark for a baby quilt. I am also working on some 6 1/5" blocks with animals in two's that I will add to the quilt. This will be the center block and the others will probably go around the center square. I have yet to figure out the measurements but will figure something out. I was in the mood to be creative but not to sew apparently. Other than working this morning it turned out to be a quiet day around the house. I did run over the to next town to check out a Ben Franklin store that is closing. Picked up some quilting notions at 25% off but did not get any fabric other than muslin. I am going to wait until the discount is much higher and go back to see if I can get a good deal on some fabrics for the charity quilts. It has been very cold this week and feels more like winter instead of spring. Tomorrow is Easter and we are having a ham dinner at home with the family. I am sure it will be another quiet day which will be nice. Other than serving breakfast at church and attending church services we will be home the rest of the day. I have a busy week so it will be nice to start it out quiet.

Happy Easter to all!

Baby Quilt top

Here is the first of many quilts with the blocks from the kids at school. I used the warm wishes quilt pattern adapted to the number of blocks from each class. I like to make one quilt per class so they can display them in the classroom for awhile before we donate them. I am even thinking about asking if I can display these somewhere around town when they are done. Maybe even the library. Kids always like to see what they have helped make on display. Last year I entered a few of them in the county fair. Maybe I will do that this year too. I am having fun picking out fabrics from my stash for the rest of the quilts.

Favorite Picture

This is a picture I received from a friend. She knows how I like to make quilts for charity, mostly children in orphanages. I have this in my sewing room and enjoy remembering my friend who gave it to me. She lives about 3 hours away now. I went to visit her this last weekend and we had a good time visiting. The rest of the family came with me so we all went bowling and had a good time.

Today I spent the morning in my youngest son's elementary school with the K - 2nd grade classes. They were coloring in some more quilt blocks for me to turn into quilts to be donated to Mexico. I think I now have about12 quilts to work on. Good thing they are baby quilts so should not take me too long. I have until mid May to get them completed. Should not be a problem. I will post pictures as soon as I get some of them finished.

Quilts for Mexico

I finished up a few more quilts for Mexico. I am on a mission to get a box mailed out soon. I have about 9 more quilt tops ready to be sandwiched. I have to admit that I do cheat with these small quilts and use the envelope method and do not bind these quilts. I normally use a Stitch in the Ditch for the quilting also. I don't think the babies mind as long as they are warm! The quilt with the bird houses and light houses I had help with. Those blocks were sent to me by my many quilting friends online for the charity quilts.

Son's artwork

This picture is not quilting but it is a picture my son did in Art class that was chosen to be in an art show at a technical college a few towns away. We went to the opening day to see his artwork on display. He is in 2nd grade. I am a proud Mother, of course, but I think he did an awesome job.

Quilt Squares

For four years now I have been going into the elementary schools in my town and the kids have been coloring in quilt blocks for quilts for babies in need. This year the quilts will be going to Mexico to the labor camps babies. These are a few examples of what the blocks look like before they are put into a quilt. Today I went into 6 classrooms, K - 5th grade. There was a total of about 100 quilt squares colored in. I try to make a quilt for each class so that all the kids stay together with their classmates. Every year I tell myself that I will make the quilt design more interesting than just alternating a print square but last year I did about 18 quilts so I am also under pressure to get them all done. This year I am thinking about using the warm wishes design with these 6.5" squares. I have not gotten much else done on the quilting front as it seems I have been busy with everything else.

Baby Quilt

Here is another quilt that I put together quickly for Mexico. It is nothing special but made from
swatches of fabric that came from a company that makes those lavander shoulder things. Don't
know what they are called. I have a whole drawer full of them that I can cut into about 5.5" squares to work with. I like the bright colors and I know that those in Mexico like bright colors also.

Baby Quilts for Mexico

I am currently working on some quilts for Mexico. These are baby quilts for babies in the labor camps. My contact person there is a missionary in an orphanage. He says that in the labor camps the people have very little and if they are lucky they sleep on cement floors. This group puts together layettes for the new Mothers and their babies. You could read more about the orphanage and their outreach ministries at http://www.ffhm.org

I find that I have way too many ongoing projects in my sewing room but with determination and persistence I can get through them all. I guess as long as I have a project waiting for me then I will always have the motivation I need to keep going. Just like eating an elephant. One bite at a time!

Denim Quilts

This is my latest project. I am making three denim and flannel quilts for the High School graduates at my church. Members of church donated their old jeans and we cut out 7" squares. I will probably just stitch in the ditch for the quilting. Last year I made rag quilts and I did not want to cut that many quilts this year again! Looking at this picture I should have placed the white denim squares better. Thats what I get for not using my design wall! The other two I will be making are for boys so they will be red and blue flannel. I will definitely have to use my design wall to get better placement of the colors.

Hand quilting

These are some dresden plate blocks that are about 50 years old. My co-worker has asked me to finish them up and I will be making two quilts out of the 16 blocks. This will take me quite awhile to finish up I am sure. This is my very first attempt at hand quilting. I decided to make pillows as that way the back of my project will not show through. I enjoyed the process so much (even though it does not look the greatest) that I am ready for more hand quilting projects. I basted a Halloween panel that I will hand quilt for my Mother. I have had the panel for years and always meant to put it together for my Mother but never got around to it. This will be a great project to do when I am too tired or unmotivated to really sew or quilt. I have tons of other projects going but need a break quite often.

It has snowed here in the midwest and school was cancelled today and we are wondering what tomorrow will bring. It is suppose to snow during the night tonight. I have to go to work no matter what as we are already short staffed. So I am sure the country roads will be fun to drive tomorrow.

Figuring this blog out!

Well no picture showed up on the last entry. Not sure what went wrong. Will try again. That worked better. My computer can be really slow sometimes.

I am back

I had been blogging at my Yahoo 360 account for the last year but I think I will start to blog here also. I like the look of this blog. This picture is of a wall hanging with some blocks from a siggy swap with some online friends. I am going to handquilt it as I have just taught myself how to handquilt this last weekend. I have been wanting to do that for about two years and finally just decided to hand quilt a star on some muslin and I will make it into a pillow. I am going to make two of them for my couch. I continue to charity quilt and will share some of those quilts as time goes on.