Happy Valentine's Day

February - the shortest month - seemed to fly by this year. Maybe it seemed extra short because of the unusually warm weather - that's my best explanation. I enjoyed decorating this year - sometimes I think I won't bother (no kids to decorate for), but I'm always glad when I fill my house with hearts. and love.

I loved my Valentine's Table Runner. I finished it last year after Valentine's Day, so this was my first year to enjoy it. It decorated my kitchen counter along with pink and red candies. I think anyone could easily sew this table runner. The center tumbler blocks are so fun to make - it's magic how you sew those uneven blocks together and they come out in perfect rows. The applique is quick and easy using your machine. (The pattern is available from Kimberbell Designs)

This is Kim's version.

Add here is mine.

I loved using browns, tans, and taupe prints for this project.

I also loved my pillow which was made by my friend Teresa Lewis! Look at those buttons! And the hand embroidery. Teresa is a beautiful, prolific pillow maker. 

I loved loved the sugar cookies our d-i-l Sierra made. Her cookies are my favorite gift from her!

 I loved my handmade card from Becky! The ombre hearts have always been a favorite look and now I have a card of my own. 

I loved the flowers I bought at Sego and took to a friend...especially love that hobnail vase! I picked it especially for my friend because it looks old fashioned and girly. 

:: watermelon quilt ::

It's time to put away my summer decorations and start filling the house with fall colors. I'm sad to say goodbye to my red geraniums, pink petunias, favorite whitewashed Longaberger baskets, and especially this cute watermelon quilt. Everyone who comes in my back door (our "family and friends door") stops and smiles at this bright, happy quilt. 

The pattern is the Watermelon Table Topper from Kimberbell Designs. It's one of Kim's "Cuties" patterns which means it's quick and easy and darling! 

The finished size in the pattern is 22 x 22 inches, but I added extra borders so it would fit my quilt hanger and fill the wall above the blue dresser. It was fun to piece because the center square is made with the easy disappearing nine-patch technique. The applique was simple but hand embroidering all those ant legs and antler took a little time! Not bad though, if you watch TV while stitching.

I love love the black and white stripe border! It looks delightful next to the red chevron fabric. And I think the quilting is awesome. I had Leisha Farnsworth of Quilt It in Providence do the machine quilting and was so tickled when I picked it up. 

:: QuiLt pRoject ::

I follow a blog called Occasional Piece-Quilt that's written by a wonderful writer, teacher, grandma, and quilter. I get quite a kick out of opening my email and seeing her name in my inbox indicating that she has a new blog post, because I know I'm about to be treated with excellent writing and, often, pictures of her quilt projects. The writer of this blog inspires me with the extraordinary amount of quilting she does, in spite of having much to do including teaching college classes (English) and grading papers. 

Today, I am intrigued by the quilting "Finish-A-Long" that she tells about. I've heard of quilt-alongs and have followed and pinned on Pinterest the blocks made by many quilters on the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along. The Finish Along intrigues me enough that I'm going to join it. I do have quilts to finish. I do need a little kick in the seat to get them done. Maybe some social networking and public accountability will do the trick. 

The Finish-A-Long is divided into four quarters. For this quarter (joining it ends at midnight tonight), I'm going to work on finishing four quilts. Two are easy finishes - just bindings - and two are lots of work...but need to be done! You know how it is with quilts - if you don't hurry, you quit liking the fabric and want to start over with new fabrics that you see in online and in shops. So, I've got to finish these so I can get on with all the other quilts waiting to be made (many of them by Kimberbell - the company I work and write for).

Here are the four quilts I want to finish for the Finish-A-Long in the first quarter of 2013. It's an ambitious list (for me) lol. If I get these done, I have four more waiting in plastic bins in my sewing room. Can't wait!

"Tis the Season

Speaking of Kimberbell, this is the Christmas quilt that Kim designed and I made (mostly last year as a mystery quilt). It just needs a bit of embellishment, quilting, and binding. If you love this quilt, here's the link to Kim's downloadable PDF pattern on her pattern website YouCanMakeThis.com. Download today, sew tomorrow, and finish by Christmas...just like me! 

Hip to be Square

 

This is the quilt I designed and made for Adornit. The finished quilt is at the shop, and belongs to the company. When I made this version, I also cut out many of the squares for my own quilt. It will be easy to finish, and it contains some of my favorite Adornit fabric. 

More Squares

I started this about three years ago. I remember seeing this fabric in the quilt shop and absolutely falling in love with it. It's a Sanae fabric by Moda. The designs and colors are bright and happy. I'm so close on this one...so close.

Sierra's Quilt

I can't take complete credit for this quilt - it was a group effort by me and my daughters for our new daughter/sister-in-law Sierra. It is almost bound - just two and a third sides to go. I can't seem to get it done...maybe I subconsciously don't want to let it go! I do love it. Sierra saw the original quilt on Pinterest and when we told her we wanted to make her a quilt for her wedding to our son/brother Mike, she showed us this quilt. Becky, my SLC daughter, got the ball rolling by drawing up the pattern with sizes and dimensions. Suzie, my Las Vegas daughter, shopped for and coordinated the fabrics and the cut all the blockss. I helped piece the strips and had it quilted. (Thanks Carol Armstrong...Sierra loves the quilting!) I almost finished the binding. You know, one hour...that's all it'll take. So it's my first Finish-Long project.

You can follow along here at the She Can Quilt blog.

* merry joy *

Two of my favorite words: merry and joy. And that was my Christmas wish - that it might be merry and filled with joy. Sometimes, honestly, it wasn't that merry for me due to high expectations and limited time and energy resources. But I'll talk about that in another post. Most of the time, Christmas was wonderful, and of course I was filled with joy at having family here including a newly-married son and (darling) daughter-in-law.



This is the little wall hanging that I started last year, nearly finished this year, and hopefully will have quilted and embellished by next year. Yes, I'm on the three-year plan when it comes to some projects.

When I started my quilt in the fall of 2011, I didn't even know who designed it - it was just a mystery quilt at the new quilt shop in town. I had fun with the mystery quilt concept - you get a section of the quilt in kit form once per week for four to six weeks. As you finish each section, you return to the shop to pick up the next section/kit. You also don't know what the quilt will look like until the final "reveal" - this happens on the day that you pick up the last kit. It's always fun to see how the sections go together and how the borders and binding finish it.  

During the past few months, I've had the privilege of working for Kim Christopherson of Kimberbell Designs - the quilt and pattern designer of this and other darling quilts. Above is her finished quilt with the ornaments, bows and tags decorating it. It was displayed at My Girlfriends Quilt Shoppe throughout December with the pattern available for purchase. If you love it, you can also get a downloadable PDF version of the pattern through Kim's website You Can Make This.com. 

Pretty soon my quilt will look like hers - in the meantime, I'm just enjoying seeing it hanging on the wall above my wonderful blue chest in my back entryway - at least for another week.