BUILDING QUILT SKILLS FOR BEGINNERS - A BOOK AND A HOP

  A blog hop is going on and it is especially helpful for beginners of Quilting.  Even for those who have quilted before, it is always good to refresh basic skills.  Here is the list of blogs and days as well as wonderful projects and the book behind the hop,.

Oct. 9 – Ch. 1. Basics - Leila Gardunia  http://sewnbyleila.blogspot.com

Oct. 12 – Ch. 2. HST - Tammy Silvers  http://www.tamarinis.typepad.com/

Oct 14 – Ch 3. QST - Connie Kresin Campbell http://www.conniekresin.com

Oct. 16 – Ch 4. Flying Geese - Maryellen McAuliffe http:// teachpany.blogspot.com

Oct 19 -- Ch. 5. Wonky - Christine McCrann Martinez http:// madeinscraps.blogspot.com

Oct. 21 – Ch. 6. Improvisation - Connie Kauffman http:// kauffmandesigns.blogspot.com

Oct. 23 -- Ch. 7. Foundation Paper Piecing - Joan Kawano http:// moosestashquilting.blogspot.com

Oct. 26 – Ch. 8. Curves - Marlene Oddie  http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com

Oct. 28 -  Ch 9. One-Patch Blocks - Bea Lee http://www.beaquilter.com

Oct. 30 – Ch. 10. Applique - Barbara Gaddy http:// bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com

Nov. 2 – Ch. 11. Inset Seams - Pamela Boatright  http://pamelaquilts.blogspot.com/

Nov. 4 – Ch. 12. Challenge Blocks - Linda Stewart Pearl http:// www.onequiltingcircle.com

Nov. 6 – Ch. 13. finishing – Marlene   http://kissedquilts.blogspot.com

Go check it out and leave a comment on their rafflecopter for a chance to win the book and some yummy batik fabric to try a project of your own!!

QUILTED VALENTINE HEART

I wanted to bring out this photo of my beautiful quilted heart I made last year along with my friend, Leila.  We had so much fun figuring out how to do this one and we were very pleased how each of ours came out.

Mine is framed and is out for display in my living room again this year.

I made mine with circles of fabric folded.  I think I will make another one and this time use squares of paper and fold them.

Have you ever made one of these folded paper hearts or pictures?

Here is my post from last year:

QUILTED VALENTINE HEART

It is made from fabrics, but it is NOT sewn.  I started with a 3" circle of fabric, then folded it in half and in half again.  Put a little Tacky glue to hold it folded and started layering it around.  In  the middle are 4 pieces, then around with 8 pieces, then so on all the way out until it is as big as you want it.

I used my BIG SHOT and one of my dies to cut out all the pieces, then folded and glued them into a heart shape.  Then die cut the scalloped heart and the underneath heart shape before I framed it.

I would love to hear from you about my project, and if you have made a project like this before.

Go, get creative Y'all!!

a little bit done on my sew suite quilt

Hey Bloggers,   I got a little bit done on my applique SEW SUITE quilt.  I used my Big Shot and the 3 1/2 circle die and cut out some circles that will become buttons.

I ironed them onto my quilt top.  That's it.  That's all I had time for this week.  Work has been really busy and I come home exhausted and can't move from the couch after dinner.  But I hope to get a few more things completed this week.

I am doing several other sizes button circles as well as some other sewing shapes.  Stay tuned.

Here's to creativity!!

CHUBBY LITTLE TUBBY ALL STUFFED WITH FLUFF....

WINNIE THE POOH, WINNIE THE POOH, (HUM ALONG TO THE TUNE...)
ANOTHER QUILT FOR KIDS IS THIS ADORABLE WINNIE THE POOH AND TIGGER QUILT.  THE FABRIC FOR THE BACKING THE THE SQUARES IS SO ADORABLE AND LOOKS LIKE QUILTED FABRIC, BUT IT IS ONE PIECE.  THE FOUR PATCHES ARE MADE WITH SOLIDS.

HERE IS THE FRONT OF THE QUILT WITH THE FOUR PATCHES IN BLUE AND GREEN.  THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER HAS BEEN FLIPPED UP SO YOU CAN SEE THE SAME FABRIC ON THE BACK AS IN THE SOLID BLOCKS. A NARROW MUSTARD YELLOW BORDER DEFINES THE EDGE OF THE QUILT BEFORE THE  FABRIC BORDER WAS ADDED.

THE FABRIC IS SO ADORABLE.  LOTS OF SLEEPING POOHS, TIGERS, AND EORES.  THIS IS SOLID FABRIC THAT LOOKS LIKE PATCHWORK. (BACK OF QUILT)

SLEEPY POOH BEAR

GOOD NIGHT EORE. SLEEP WELL.

YAWN, THANKS FOR STOPPING BY...

A FUN CARS QUILT FEATURING "TOW MATER"?

PIXAR AND DISNEY - PERFECT FOR ANY KID, DON'T YOU THINK?  THIS CUTE QUILT WE MADE FOR QUILTS FOR KIDS CHARITY IS A RAIL FENCE DESIGN.  ALL OUR OTHERS WERE 4 PATCH, BUT THIS ONE WAS FUN IN THAT IT IS A RAIL FENCE PATTERN.

THE FRONT OF THIS QUILT IS MADE FROM 4 STRIPS OF FABRIC, TWO OF THEM BEING "CARS" THEMED, AND ONE OF THEM BEING THE RED FABRIC WITH A SHADOW OF MICKY MOUSE EARS THAT WE USED FOR THE BACKING. YOU CAN SEE THE BACKING FOLDED UP ON THE BOTTOM CORNER TO GET AN IDEA OF HOW THE TWO SIDES COORDINATE.

HERE IS A CLOSER VIEW OF HOW THE RAILS PATTERN SHOW UP SO WELL WITH THE DARK FABRIC.  I LOVE THAT PATTERN.  A RAIL FENCE QUILT WAS MY VERY FIRST QUILT I EVER MADE WAY BACK IN THE EARLY 70S WHEN MY KIDS WERE JUST LITTLE BABIES.  SO THIS PATTERN IS VERY DEAR TO ME.

HERE IS THAT CUTE FACE OF THE TOW TRUCK CALLED "MATER".  GOOFY FACE THAT WINS YOUR HEART IN THE MOVIE.

I KNOW MATER WILL FIND JUST THE RIGHT PERSON TO BELONG TO AT THE HOSPITAL!!

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

ANOTHER QUILT FOR KIDS COMPLETED

ANOTHER COMPLETED QUILT FOR YOU TO SEE.  THIS IS A CHARITY QUILT FOR DONATING TO HOSPITALS TO GIVE TO A CHILD WHO IS THERE.

ISN'T THIS QUILT ADORABLE??!!  LITTLE CAT FACES ON THE FABRIC PRINT SURROUNDED BY FOUR PATCHES OF HOT GREEN AND HOT ORANGE.  YOU CAN SEE WE USED AN ORANGE BATIK FOR THE BACK.

WE USED A BROWN PRINT AS A MINI BORDER AROUND THE WHOLE QUILT BEFORE ADDING A LARGER BORDER OF THE CAT PRINT FABRIC.  MACHINE QUILTED ON THE DIAGONAL FOR EASY, STURDY QUILTING.

THESE SWEET CAT FACES ARE SO CUTE.  I AM SORRY I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FABRIC LINE THIS IS, BUT I LOVE IT!!  IF ANYONE RECOGNIZES IT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE NAME.  I WOULD APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.

HOPEFULLY THESE SMILING CATS WILL HELP A CHILD FEEL LOVED AND FEEL BETTER WHILE IN THE HOSPITAL.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.  WON'T YOU LEAVE A COMMENT??
I HAVE LINKED THIS QUILT TO:

MY CRAFTING CHANNEL: FABRIC FRIDAY
TNT THURSDAYS AT HAPPY QUILTING
A STITCH IN TIME AUGUST FINISHES
SMALL BLOG MEET
FRESH SEWING DAY
100 QUILTS FOR KIDS
QUILTS FOR KIDS
WE DID IT WEDNESDAY
QUILTS ARE FOR GIVING

THESE LINKS ARE ALL ON THE SIDE OF THIS BLOG.

SOME VERY TALENTED ARTISTS

IN MY BLURFING THE WEB (MY WORD FOR BLOG SURFING) I HAVE COME ACROSS SO MANY VERY VERY TALENTED ARTISTS.  IT IS AMAZING TO ME AND INSPIRING TO ME THAT   THERE ARE SO MANY ARTISTS WILLING TO SHARE THEIR TALENTS WITH EVERYONE.  THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!

I FOUND AN AWESOME SITE BY JULIE BAGAMARY.  SHE MAKES THE MOST AMAZING FABRIC ART - POSTCARDS, MINI QUILTS, MUG RUGS, QUILTS AND FABRIC BASKETS.  YES, FABRIC BASKETS.  THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND YOU KNOW WHAT?? I WON ONE OF HER BLUE FABRIC BASKETS!!

ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL??!!  AND THE REALLY NICE THING IS EACH PIECE OF HER ART HAS AN INSPIRATIONAL SCRIPTURE TAG ON IT.  I SIMPLY LOVE THIS BASKET AND AM LOOKING AT HER CUTE POSTCARDS THAT I MIGHT HAVE TO GET...

CHECK HER OUT IN YOUR BLURFING.  HER NAME ABOVE IS A LINK TO HER BLOG.

ANOTHER AMAZING ARTIST IS FRANCE MARTIN.  SHE IS A PAPER ARTIST.  SHE GOES BY FRENCHIE AND I JUST LOVE LISTENING TO HER ACCENT ON HER VIDEOS WHEN SHE SHOWS US THE THINGS SHE CREATES.  IF YOU HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING MY BLOG, YOU WILL SEE I USE A LOT OF HER INSPIRATION FOR MY CREATIONS IN PAPER AS WELL.  MY FAVORITE ONE RIGHT NOW IS FOR EASTER AND IS THIS ONE:

THIS IS MY CREATION FROM HER INSPIRATION SHE POSTED ON HER BLOG.  AND I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS ADORABLE BUNNY:

DON'T YOU JUST WANT TO TICKLE HIS/HER LITTLE PINK FEET AS HE SCURRIES INTO HIS RABBIT HOLE??!!  LOVE IT!!

I COULD TELL YOU SO MANY MORE ARTISTS WHO INSPIRE ME AND I JUST MIGHT DO THAT IN THE UPCOMING DAYS AHEAD.

WHO INSPIRES YOU??

HERES TO CREATIVITY AND INKY FINGERS Y'ALL!!

FABRIC OR PAPER?

Do I REALLY need to choose between fabric or paper when I am feeling creative?  I DON"T THINK SO!!  Recently fabric has been whispering to me to come touch it and create with it - so I AM!!

Besides the folded fabric heart I posted a few days ago (scroll down to see older postings), I am now in the first stages of a quilting bee online!!  We are given 5 quilt block patterns to create every two weeks.  So far I have 4 blocks done so I am only 6 blocks behind because Feb 1st comes 5 more blocks to create.

Want to see what I have done so far?  Ok, here goes.  (For those of you Strict Paper creators, you can do the same thing with designer paper.)

 Right out of the chute is HAND APPLIQUE.  OUCH...I am not good at that at all.  But I was a brave gal and did it.

 I really like this one a lot.  As you can see, I am going scrappy with the colors and my background color is black.  WHAT YOU SCREAM - - BLACK??

Yes I chose black as my background color because I am making this for my grandson Collin.  He is the one who does not have a quilt by Nannie yet so I am making this for a gift for next year for him. (SHHH - it is a surprize!!)

Third block:

 This half square triangle block was a fun one to make

 I am really liking these colors together so far.  Lots more fun colors and patterns coming up in more blocks.

The blocks will be different sizes.  It is a mystery quilt because we don't know how it will go together until they tell us by units.  It is a fun idea and I am really enjoying it.

If YOU are interested in doing this Just Take Two Quilting Bee, hurry and get on the website and download the first 5 blocks because they will be going away by Feb 1st.
www.justtakes2.com

QUILTED VALENTINE HEART

It is made from fabrics, but it is NOT sewn.  I started with a 3" circle of fabric, then folded it in half and in half again.  Put a little Tacky glue to hold it folded and starded layering it around.  In  the middle are 4 pieces, then around with 8 pieces, then so on all the way out until it is as big as you want it.

I used my BIG SHOT and one of my dies to cut out all the pieces, then folded and glued them into a heart shape.  Then die cut the scalloped heart and the underneath heart shape before I framed it.

QUILTING WITH THE BIG SHOT -- A BIG TIME SAVER

Hi y'all out there in Blogger Land.  Today I have a photo of a quilt that Kelli, a friend of mine, made using the scallop square die and my BIG SHOT.  This little machine is amazing how quickly you can cut out your squares to get ready to sew.  Kelli cut out 5 or 6 layers of recycled blue jean fabric at one time.  She made this cute TV quilt for her kids when they are watching television or playing video games.

It is what we call a rag quilt because the seams are on the outside where you can see them.  The scallops of the scallop square die are perfect for this.  After you have all the seams sewn, you clip each scallop and then wash it so it gets frayed and raggedy.  Kelli used a nice warm flannel for her backing to make it extra snugglie while curled up on the couch.  You can click the photo to get a closer look.  She tied it for ease and more texture.

Until next time!  Get crafty and get some inky fingers y'all!!

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS BOX - click on images to enlarge

I forgot to post my completed special Christmas Box that I received as a special kit from SU! for recruiting during a promotion this summer.  Both me and my new recruit got this kit to make this over the top decorated Christmas box.

I have to admit I had a bit of trouble following the directions (I always seem to) so I branched out and did my own thing on it.  I think it personalizes it to be my very own!!

 This is the box completed.  I put it on real red paper to photograph it and maybe that is confusing.  The solid red behind it is just a backdrop of paper to take the photo.  The box is a sturdy white box with this wonderful "lip" at the bottom to hold while you open it.  Reminds me of those old fashioned candy boxes.

This is the left side where the bows and flowers are.  The striped bow is the 1 1/4 striped ribbon and then it has a pop of "wow" with another ribbon solid red tied as a knot on top of it.  I love the detail of the forked ends of the red ribbon.  I added a large pearl from our sticky pearls sheet right on top of the knot.

Along the edge of the ribbon there are 3 flowers:  one is scallop punches of first edition dsp crumbled and made into a flower, the first one you see is 1" of torn fabric rolled and wrapped into a rose (MY FAV) with a button on top, and the top one is lace gathered on one edge and pulled into a rosette.  They are awesome and I love these details.

This is the right side of the box.  A very large button (Holiday Mini from the spice cake collection) sits on top of the large striped ribbon.  I used cherry cobbler striped baker's twine to tie it and then a pearl in the middle. As you can see, there is glitter all over the box for extra BLING.  The polka dotted paper is Letters to Santa dsp and has some dimension to it with glitter on the red dots.  Love this paper!!  Underneath the wide ribbon is more early edition dsp.

This is the middle of the box with the focal images being the stamped images from the Pines and Boughs stamp set (Holiday mini).  I used glimmer mist on the red tag underneath the "Christmas" image.  The pinecones are inked up with markers to get all the color details and I stamped them on a scallop circle and sponged the edges red.  Behind that peeping out is another scallop circle in red.  Attached to the bottom red tag is a ribbon like banner made from the Early Edition dsp and then glittered along the edges.  Another large pearl is on the top of this ribbon banner.

One last photo of the whole box now that you know what all the elements are.  You can just see on the right side of the box the edging that goes all the way around the box.  It is the scallop edge border punch in green, red and Early Edition dsp, along with pearls along the entire edge.  Some spray glimmer mist makes it complete.

I had so much fun making this kit from SU!  FREE is something I LOVE, and I got it free for recruiting during the special promotion.  Stampin' Up! is always doing fun promotions for us demonstrators to earn free things like stamps, supplies and special things like this kit.  YOU can earn these free things while doing something YOU love too!  Contact me and let's talk about how YOU can get big discounts on supplies, as well as earn lots of fun free things.

Thanks for stopping by.  Here's to inky fingers y'all!                                      

IT'S FINISHED, IT'S FINISHED, YIPPEE

I can't tell you how happy I am that I finally finished my grand daughter's graduation/off to college quilt.  If you look at my older posts, you will see that I started this several months ago.  I did not finish it for her grad party in June, but I knew I HAD to have it done this week because she is leaving for college on Friday.

I DID IT - IT IS DONE.  And the best part - SHE LOVES IT.  The fabrics, quilt pattern, etc. were a total surprise to her.  She just picked shades of purple for the colors and I did the rest.

I used the Pinwheel quilt pattern with some boarders around it.  It is an extended twin size for those dorm room long twin beds.

The only way I got it finished in time was that I hired my friend, Patty, who has a long arm quilting machine, to do the quilting part for me.  Then once it was quilted I applied the hand sewn border to finish it off.

Here are two photos of last night's going away party for Miranda:

 Here we are wrapped up in the quilt for the photo. 

Here is Miranda modeling the quilt for Grandpa taking the photo and for my son, in the background.

Grandpa took the photos with his cell phone, so the photos are not as good as they should be.  Once she gets her dorm room all set up and the quilt on the bed, her mom promises to get me a better photo.

We will miss seeing her regularly and look forward to family weekend in October to go see her at school.

Creativity is peace for my soul.  Whether it is with fabric, paper, wood, paint - I am happiest when I create.  And when I can create for those I LOVE, it makes it doubly wonderful.

What are you going to create next?  I am only an email away to help you with YOUR creative projects.

Inky Fingers y'all!!

FRIDAY MASHUP CHALLENGE - B & W AND SQUARE CARD

Here is my entry for the Friday Mashup Challenge of a black and white card that is square.  I did a 5" square white card with a black layer under the newsprint dsp. The newsprint DSP and it's layer I put assymetrical on the square card.  I used my fancy flowers die and my BIG SHOT and cut out fabric in black, beige with black polka dots and then a small black circle in the center.  An antique brad holds the flower together.  I used stretchy black cord at the top, and stamped "Elegant Thank You" on white with a layer of black behind it, punched out in decorative label punch.  Hope you enjoy my card.  Please leave a comment, I enjoy hearing your comments.

BABIES, BUNNIES, FLOWERS = SPRING

Oh how I love spring.  The flowers - the baby birds and animals - the breezes - and the colors of green.  Green is my favorite color and each spring I remember why I love green so much.  There is nothing quite as beautiful as new green growth in all it's splendor.

I also love spring when I remember this verse, "Who seeketh thou?  He is not here, but has risen."  What a glorious statement and what a glorious promise of resurrection for all of us.  I am grateful for the promise of the resurrection and eternal life with our family and loved ones.

I finally got a photo of the cute onesie I made for my new granddaughter, Penelope.  Wow, sometimes technology really sucks and is frustrating, eh?  Cords missing, things not working, bad photos, etc.  whew - finally!!  Here it is made from the Sew Suite matching fabric and the rose red striped ribbon from the clearance rack.  Don't you just love the pompom trim along the edges of the ruffles??  To make the ribbon rose I just did a running stitch along one edge and gathered it up then hand sewed it in place.

Before I go I wanted to share a beautiful ruffled iris from my garden.  This is an amazing bloom because they don't do well in this part of Texas because it usually doesn't get cold enough in the winter.  But we had some freezing weather this year and it finally bloomed.  I got a piece of it 3 years ago from my mother in law's garden in Utah and it makes a nice green plant, but it never bloomed until this year.  PRETTY!!

Happy Easter to you and your family.