Metamorphasis!!

I visited my mother and dad this past week and came home with pics of what we had done.. some of what we had done...LOL

Mother made the most gorgeous butterfly quilt...all the fabrics were from my stash...amazing what someone else can do with your fabrics!! This is Mom's first quilt on her own that is hers to keep she has made quilts for her organizations but this is her own. She picked her fabrics to make the butterflies and then appliqued them herself. Mom also bought the embroiderie floss at an auction for a little change.

The quilt is a king size and without further ado I would love for you to see that any beginner can create the most gorgeous masterpiece...did I say that I love this quilt??!!!
click on the picks and you will get a closer look

Now the purpose was to have these 3 quilt tops that she has completed, to put the boarders on and then to mark and baste to the backing and batting. Well, good intentions we were able to baste one of the quilts after working hard the night before to get the boarders on... while mom was busy putting the design she wanted on the quilts

We bought widebacks of course but you know what? they were only wide enough for one of the quilts and just!! we thought we had a good sized queen wide back but they were to small... so there was some disappointment... but we are ready when we get the right size. So lesson learned measure your top before you buy.. we said queen and I guess queens can start at 96" hers are bigger than that!!

this quilt below is the one she did as a BOM through a store in Leamington.. I am sorry I can't remember the name of it if mom tells me I will edit.. but she did all the log cabins all by herself after the blocks were done... she is going to hand quilt this so that she will have lots of practice for her butterfly one. This is the one I was able to baste...see we had 2 tables going at once we were lucky the Masonic Hall let us use their facilities.. it was perfect!!

I also had to throw in a pic of the princess "Ruby" this is one of Mom's kitties I have the mother this was her first kitten. Poor Ruby had to get some teeth pulled and now she is the ruler of the household of 4 kittens (cats but will always be kittens to me) They were all ferral outdoor cats and for the first time have all come out when I was there and let me pet them.. but could not get pics of them all.. as you can see Ruby poses..
Then for my Bear friends.. we are happy to say that we have saved these bears from the darkness of green garbage bags. My Aunt B had stored them when my Gram had passed and she has now relenquished them to my mother. My Aunt G in Florida makes bears and the big Purple one is from a wrap that my Great Aunt used to wear. The beige beauty is one of my fav's as you can see they are all very happy. The rocking chair was also in my Gram's house and mom was very happy to receive this as well... so the bears feel right at home.. they all have adoption papers but I neglected to read who they were and what their whole history is.. later.
We got so much done when I was down there that it took me about 3 days to recover once I got home.. a 4hour drive took 7 due to a little rain fall...but that was okay good music was playing and I had a new (almost new) van to listen to it.. I was the recipient of mom and dad's Dodge van 2001 cause they bought a new 2009 Dodge Van...and then Dad ended up taken my 1999 Dodge van (they thought they could manage with one vehicle.. but with the nice weather it is more difficult) so here is dad.. I love this pic of him..

So as you can see it has been busy and I have been keeping up with your wonderful posts the last 3 days.. many to catch up on..everyone is very very busy I see trying to squeeze in that last stitch before the weather is nice enough that being inside is no excuse.

I am still working on my mini's for the Auction on May 13th. The Anvil quilt is quilted I am just putting on the binding for that one.. was going to be prairie points but I goofed on the cutting.

Well mom has just walked in the door they are down for Easter.. happy Easter to you all..

National Quilters Day

Saturday was National Quilters day and I celebrated by teaching my last class. I had a 1/2 session to finish with the One Block wonder and the ladies done a super job!! They had time to piece their blocks and lay them out so when they came in it was great to see some progress..
this one she had half her blocks laid up but was not crazy.. the teacher (me) had her take them all down and put them in the "color" piles she thought they should go in and then we worked together to lay them out and this is what we came with.. there were about 5 blocks out of them all we didn't use..

the one below had more color selection to put in the design.. now this person set her blocks on the wall the night before and of course she was not happy with the results. We did the same as above and put them in their respective "color" piles.. now this lady wanted to also think outside the box and do a "not so square shape" she will have both sides with jutting blocks to make it look like they should be linked together like a puzzle this also helped with the itty bit of purple blocks and where to place them. This was not the finished product but during the thought process. We got to where she was very happy.. and that is the whole point of teaching to me.. satisify the students and helping them understand the process of "how too's"

this last one.. I have saved for last.. this came in just pretty well the way it is displayed.. she done an exceptional job on what we were trying to accomplish in our session together. She picked the perfect fabric 3 -4 colors max counting your background and it is so much easier to place your blocks. We are putting a tripe boarder with orange fusion and a wonderful "burgundy mottled batik" the quilt will be flipped so that she has a running tail into the boarder.

So as you can see it was a wonderful way to spend on National quilters day.. oh by the way I had brought in my design wall and they loved it so much I laughed they all came trucking in with their own and now say how did we ever quilt without it.

All it is insulation board cut in half, batting and clear duct tape (I call it ladies duct tape) tape both halves together like a book so you can fold and put away for later.

Well I hope everyone was able to celebrate like I did in some way.. let me know what you have done to celebrate your passion.

Thanks for visiting..

The mini madness continues..

the quilt above is it a mini or is it a full size.. I am going mini crazy this is a Sho-fly pattern.. I have called it Sho-Fly at my window.. the yellow single irish chain is the sun shining through.. I just love that daisy boarder and know I am almost at the very end of the scraps of that one.. I will miss playing with it..

the one above is Anvil pattern and this is taken from a quilt circa 1900 I tried to be as scrappy as possible and am hand quilting it.. I know when will I post something finished!! this one is almost done I am going to put mini prairie points won't it just be darling!!

this one above took a little work.. about a week of piecing this is made with batiks and of course the pattern had a cutting error..so the seam ripper and I had a few words to say to each other.. but we worked it out. I am thinking seriously of machine quilting it. I have a friend that is willing to guide me and I have been doodling while on the phone at work sooo..please wish me luck

All these patterns were from the Miniature quilt Mags (that are discontinued)

I will posting my mini's have done.. I am up to 4.. 2 are almost completed and 2 have to decide on the quilting...one blogger had a great idea on what to do with the Black and white rail fence and that is to use beading..what a grand idea Rose Marie

I am going to go over to the Yorkshire blog and update that one so you can see the wonderful display of mini's that other group members are bringing for our May 13th auction.

bless bare with me as I go through my mini madness phase..LOL

Mini Sensations

I have gone a little mini crazy getting ready for our guild auction on May 13 you will need to go to that blog (click on title it will bring you there) to see what is going on..I will tantalize you with one pic here... now you can tell me if this rail fence looks like a regular size quilt or a mini...LOL
I tried machine quilting it 2wice and ripped it out did not like it.. so Iam going to tie this one with black DMC floss.. suitable for a rail fence..don't you think.. so visit the Yorkshire blog..

All blocks are ready to applique

I have all my Aunt Millie's blocks prep'd and ready to applique I have 4 appliqued already but just really got in the mood to pick fabrics and get the rest done.. there may be changes on 2 of the blocks.. (the one with the little dots I am thinking of changing the little dots to strips material or a gingham type) but we will see. I have posted a little slide show on the side so that you can take a look.. I am missing one...can't find the pic of the tulips but I know I had posted it earlier.

There are many AMG (aunt millie's garden) being done out there.. one blog you may want to take a look at is Carrie's. She is an applique teacher and some of her students are doing this block their colors and workmanship are awesome. Carrie also has a great tutorial on Prairie Points. Megan also has a great twist on her AMG blocks as well.. a wonderful assortment of chocolates for her backgrounds and her colors are exquisite!!

Thank you for all your encouragement I think it helps having a blog this way you get a good cheer now and then and it keeps you going so that you can show the next one... now to start with those Dear Jane blocks I got my next 10 in soo..

Just a Hurray for Blogger and Picasa.. they let you do amazing things for your pics.. I can crop and then also have a slide show and there are other things that I am investigating.. there is so much..

Don't forget to check the Yorkshire Rose blog on my side bar that is the Quilt guild we belong to and we really want to see some of your mini quilts so that we can have some great ideas on what quilts to make.

Sewing piecefully

what's on your bed

Lynette Anderson Designs asked a very good question and I found great blogs on her site in doing so.. to visit her site you can click on the title and find what everyone else has on their bed all over the world.
this one is currently on my bed .. it is great considering we are still in winter with the cold and the snow..but when I read other blogs and they are talking about spring starting in their part of the world so I know that we are not that far away.
The prairie points were being sewn on when it went to the store to be displayed. I finally was able to bring it home and the first place it went was on my bed.

AMG-Aunt Millie's Garden

this Cat tree is in my bedroom..you can see why there is a window there to peer outta...Molly is usually the one on top.. the next one is my only handsome dude Joey..isn't he the "cat's meow" I love those dark grey strips upon his silver fur.. and that long skinny tail. And he is a charmer.


Molly thinks the best thing to do is jump from that pedestal to the bed while I am sleeping..
I am not impressed... she should be wearing a little "kitty kape"-screeching "geronimo"!!!



















well I thought I would post a pic of what they all look like together so far..
I still have to play around with the blocks alittle and still have another 4 to do.. I have the one on the top right done now too.. next time.. but you can see that the pieced background will work.. I think I will put some sashing to go with the blocks.. I know I know can't make up my mind!!


since I took this pic.. I have rearranged the blocks with the new one and it blends in better. It is best to audition your blocks together to try to get a variety of color and see what you are using to much of.. I can see.. that I am favoring the orange/rust colors.. time to touch it up a notch..
well get back to sewing Blogger friends so you can post what you have been doing and so that I can take a peek.
piecefully quilting..