SNOW!!!!

Well here we are on the East Coast, hip deep in snow. I'm planning to do some sewing today and have actually been doing some hand quilting but I'm taking a break to post some of our snow pictures. It seems like it may have stopped at long last and we think we got a bit over two feet.

From the front door first thing this morning before anyone went out:



Thunder loves the snow:





Timmy - hard at work:



From across the street:



Joe - hard at work:



The front porch (that snow blower is about to start earning it's keep lol):



And one last look out the patio doors into the backyard. Check out the picnic table:



Hoping wherever you are, you are safe and dry and warm. Jody

A Tisket, A Tasket, I Finished All My Baskets!!

Well I finally finished up all my Tisket/Tasket BOM wall hangings.


















As you can see from the February picture they have found a home over my china cabinet that I keep in my bedroom. I'm so glad to have them all finished - now I can move on to the three BOMs I have been printing off for this year.

Until next time, hugs and stitches, Jody

Quilt Show!!

Two words that spark any quilter's heart. lol.

Tasha and I went to a small but special quilt show yesterday. For the past three or four years I have been attending the Mennonite Central Committee's showing of quilts due to be auctioned in the yearly relief sale. A majority of the quilts are hand quilted by the center's volunteers but the tops are made by a variety of people.

They have a small space to share the quilts in so normally most are quarter folded and hung on racks. This year they put a few on the walls and separated the wall hangings in one area and the full size quilts in another. Another new feature this year was the viewer's choice voting. They've not done that before but this year there was a listing of the quilts and the maker's names and each quilt was numbered and you were able to vote on the way out.

So here are some of the beautiful wall hangings:



This is probably my favorite wall hanging. I do so love tulips.




I love the little prairie point birdhouses on this one!









And some of the gorgeous full-size quilts:





This is one of the quilts the volunteers had on the quilting frame during last year's show. I'd love to make one like this too - and in my favorite colors of pink and green. Or they could just let me have this one!







And look at the detail on this lovely crocheted table topper:



And my pick of the show:



I've seen this quilt before and think at one point I even had a pattern for it. I would dearly love to make one - now if I can just find the pattern. lol.

Pretty much the only quilting work I've been able to finish lately is the quilt in the picture at the top of my blog. I needed something for my newly painted bathroom walls. I made some curtains and had a bit of fabric left so I whipped up this little quilt and I really like how it looks.

Thunders says "hey".



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

The ~Final~ 2010 Quilting List.......I Think

Well as we enter 2010 I've looked through my stash, my magazines, my books and my drawings and come up with the short list of projects I have planned for this year.

We're really suffering the effects of the economy here. DH has been out of work since October, 2008 so I'm looking to do as much as I can from my stash which is mainly contained in one large Rubbermaid tote. I'm also working more hours (thank God for that) so that's cutting into my quilting time. So a short list is appropriate.

Two projects will be made mostly with new fabrics courtesy of loving family members in the way of Christmas presents.

Rodger is planning to give our bedroom a paint job when it gets warm. Paint irritates me something terrible so we need plenty of ventilation. We don't have an exact shade but it will be something light brown.

So I will be using these fabrics to make a Bear's Paw quilt for our bed.



The print is Timeless Treasures and will be used for the paws. The yummy brown is Kona Cotton (I loooove Kona Cotton) and will be used for the background.

These fabrics, plus a few others, will be used to make a Schoolhouse quilt, also for our bed.



The sumptuous deep blue print is a Kona Bay tulip tonal. If I could only have one line of fabric the rest of my life I think I would chose Kona Bay. The creamy off-white is Kona Cotton (I did mention that I love Kona Cotton didn't I?).

I got these fabrics from Fabric Shack (www.fabricshack.com). The fabric is delicious, the service is excellent, the selection is enormous, the prices are competitive and the shipping is lightning fast.

I'm also planning to finish up my Tisket/Tasket wall hangings. I finished three more (you'll see them in a bit), have two more to quilt and two more I haven't started.

Just a couple of other things planned. I'm doing Quilting The Names of Jesus with a Yahoo group. One 6 inch block per week for 26 weeks along with an awesome Bible study.

On the pile to be quilted, in addition to the 2 Tisket/Tasket wall hangings are a table runner, a DIC and the scarecrow/pumpkin quilt I created last year.

In the quilting hoop right now is my Butterflies On My Fence quilt.

I have planned for a few years now to make a Nativity quilt I saw online and I'd really like to fit that into my plans for this year.

Last, but not least, I'm making a small charm quilt to drape over an old scrub board that I'll hang on the bathroom wall.

So that leads to the few things I have already finished in these first few days of the New Year.

They're all my Tisket/Tasket baskets. December:



July:



and May:



We had a bit of a celebration last week. Thunder had his second (or fourteenth depending on how you look at it) birthday.



Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Wrapping up the year.........and some plans for next year

Well as another year draws to a close I look back on what was accomplished this year. I didn't do too bad. The biggest accomplishment has been to slow down on how many projects I start - because frankly when I start 20 things I end up abandoning half of them. If I start five I'm more likely to finish some.

So here is the list of the Christmas presents made that haven't been shown yet.

First is my gifts to April, who was my partner in my online Christmas Quilting Swap.

The idea was each lady sent two fqs, a spool of thread and buttons to your partner. Your partner makes you something using those items and then sends it back to you.

I made a tablerunner with the items April sent me (she said she could use one for her office), a small, stuffed Christmas tree (like the ones Tasha and I made for our families last year), a small change purse and a yummy goodie.



I made this ornament for the annual quilt guild ornament exchange:



Very easy to make, a bit time consuming because of all the buttons that need to be handsewn on individually but worth the result. Timmy loved it wanted to keep it - and he got his wish. The night of the party I was so sick I had to stay home.


I made a couple of those fleece blankets that you tie together for the boys:




This was my first attempt at the tied fleece and they were so easy to make, look so nice and were such a hit with the kids that I imagine I'll be making more at some point.

Tasha got a fleece blanket last Christmas but she has still been carrying around the tote I made her for Halloween so I made her this tote:



I really felt I got a lot of my quilting goals for the past year met. So on to next year.

I've come up with several plans - seemingly reasonable but we'll see how I feel in a year.

First goal is to make one Christmas present per month. I have an idea for next year and one a month is doable - if I just do it. lol.

Second goal is to make up some Christmas things for the kids. I'd like to make one of each of the handmade gifts we've given to the family the past few years and put them in a box and save them for when the younger kids move out on their own. We get them an ornament (or two) every year but they won't have any other decorations. This way they can start out with a few decorations that will remind them of "home".

Third goal is to finish the three tops I have done now. They're all larger quilts and at least two I plan to hand quilt so that will be a time commitment.

Fourth goal is a queen sized Bear's Paw quilt for our bed. I got the fabric for Christmas - now I just have to turn it into a quilt.

Fifth goal is a wallhanging for the bathroom. I was looking at our tile floor this morning and realized I can make a wallhanging based on it. I will only need the fabric I still have from making the curtains, two more fabrics for the blocks, one for sashing and one for a final border - and I can probably get that out of my stash.

Now of course I know things will pop up as the year goes by but my goal in that area is to be strong. lol.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Some Finishes

Lots of pictures to share this time. I made another tote. This one is for Christmas and I absolutely love it.



And of course I made a quickie Christmas quilt. I have two Christmas quilts in the works but they are going to take some time to finish so I whipped this one up in the past couple of weeks.



Not the normal traditional colors but I'm happy with it. I called it Fly Away Home For Christmas.

This one I have been working on for such a long time I can't remember just how long it's been. So I called it The Long Awaited Trip. It's all hand quilted - echo quilting inside each individual square. It was a lot of work but it was a labor of love.



I saw some ornaments on eBay that I fell in love with. One of my very special computer friends found me a pattern online (thanks Cindy!) and I made one. I'm not completely thrilled with the results but I'm happy enough for a first effort.



Now on to some goodies that I didn't make. My favorite online group is doing a Christmas swap. The plan was to send two fqs of fabrics of your choice, buttons and thread to the lady you were paired with. Then you would make something with the items you received and send them back to your partner along with an extra little treat. So here are the goodies I received:



Two wonderful book covers. The poinsettia fabric is what I sent. Not sure if you can see or not but there's a little bookmark of the same fabric sticking out.

And this was the extra treat (actually the second extra treat - the second book cover was the first).



Quite obviously I love totes. lol. Thanks so much April. I love all the work you did.

Now I just need to get April's goodies finished up and in the mail.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody