Fabric Calling My Name

Last month, my sister-in-law, Linda gave me some Hollie Hobby fabric which I sent to Jenny. She used it to line a tote bag. I thought of a project I would like to make out of similar fabric and went shopping on Ebay.




I had to buy this fabric, it seemed so familiar. About 37 years ago, I took a decoupage class and made the following plaques.





While looking on Ebay I found another piece of fabric.




This fabric just called out my name.

Thinking Christmas

At the December meeting, the Millington Quilt Club members exchange 12.5 in squares. I'm usually running late getting projects completed, so I started planning this one early. I found some fabric I liked on Ebay.




I also found a free redwork pattern that I think matches the fabric perfectly. I plan to make three blocks, I'm hoping the hair and facial features will turn out better on my next tries.

Happy Flowers

I had been feeling my flowers were scraggly and a lot were done blooming. Yesterday was a sunny day and I was working outside. When I started looking around, I discover a lot of the flowers were still in great shape and looking happy.

The Black-Eyed Susans are in full bloom and very sunny.




The Hibiscus are just gorgeous. I had been watering the garden so they have some water droplets on them.




The Blanket Flower is always so happy looking and the bee seems to agree.




The Bellflowers were moved last summer and didn't look like they would survive but they seem to have taken off.




Now I know the Bee Balm doesn't look particularly pretty but I just had to take it's picture. I've had it for years on the north side of the house and it just survived each summer and was about knee high. When we added the deck I had to move it. It loves the south side of the house, the Bee Balm is about 4 feet tall. My sister-in-law, Kathryn is a super gardener and is always moving her plants. I think I should start doing that too.

Apple and Pineapple

We had Bob and Chris and the boys over for supper on Monday. Nate and Nich will be leaving for college this week so it was nice to see them before they leave. Having company was a good excuse to grill a big batch of ribs and to make a big dessert. I made pineapple upside down cake.




My pineapple upside down cake is a little different. I use my mom's secret ingredient....sauce on top. Years ago when I discovered not everyone had sauce on the cake, I asked my mom about the sauce. She said she just wanted to use up the extra pineapple juice, well I think it adds a special touch to the dessert.




Changing topics....since I haven't been sewing lately I decided to post an older project. This is the first wall hanging I made.





I made it about 8 years ago. Ang was still around during the summer and she drew and colored a full size apple pattern for me. I then hunted up a lot of reds and reds with white and pieced the apple to match her drawing.




I also pieced the border. It looks like it may have been a printed checkerboard but it is pieced. I should probably quilt it a little more. All I did was stitch around the apple and border. I don't really feel comfortable with quilting so I think the apple will stay just as it is.

Show N Tell

Some of my friends took a beginning quilting class at My Lil' Quilt Shop in Millington. They had finished the tops and had Julie quilt them. At our quilt club meeting, Julie brought in the quilts she had completed quilting.

This one was made by Pat. Don't you love the bright colors. It doesn't show in the picture but the quilting was done in variegated thread.

Amy completed this quilt. This is Amy's first project, very impressive! (and to think she had considered stopping with 3 blocks and make only a table runner)

This is Dena's quilt. The photo doesn't do justice to the beautiful colors in the quilt.

The pattern seemed a little difficult for a beginning class but they all did a great job. Other club member also noted how well they all did with the arrows and points. Pat, Amy and Dena should be very proud of their quilts.

Fabric Shopping With Good Friends

Last Thursday, six quilting friends and I went fabric shopping. We went to three shops, Mabelena's in Ortonville, Elaine's in Hadley and Linda's in Davison. I think I can speak for all of us in saying we had a great time.

I found the following panel at Mabelena's. I think it will make a quick wall hanging for our back door entry at Christmas time.

Two stops later at Linda's Quilt shop I found the perfect fabric to go with the panel. I also found some ginghams for a Christmas project and some neat quilting note cards. The trip reinforced the benefit of shopping at a lot of different shops. All three shops had a big selection of fabrics but each store had many unique items.

The butterfly in the picture below was not very cooperative, he wouldn't pose for me. It was fun to watch him fly from one cone flower to another.

Fabric Shopping in Colorado

We had a great time visiting Jenny in Colorado. We've been back for a week, so I'm behind on this post. We took our Michigan rain with us when we went to see Jenny, so we didn't do too many outdoor activities. We went to a transportation museum and took a candy factory tour in Denver. One day Jenny took us to Fort Collins, we stopped at some flea markets and took in some beautiful scenery. We would have done some hiking, well walking, but it started to rain. The first afternoon there, Jenny and I visited local fabric shops. Anyone who knows me, knows I love little critters, well not the real ones. Jenny spied this book and I know it wanted to go home with me.




Jenny also found the following book. It also spoke to me and had to join my collection. It contains a lot of neat ideas on making three dimensional flower. I can see planning a wall hanging for our bedroom using some of the patterns.




I added to my collection of purple and fuchsia batiks. I plan to make a jacket eventually with the batiks. I already have quite a few so I'm thinking there will be enough leftovers for a throw.




The following panel really jumped out to me. I have just the spot for it by the back entry from the garage. This may actually get finished before Halloween because all I need to do is add batting, backing and binding. I can do some simple outline quilting and it should be done....maybe some embellishing too.






This is the fabric I bought to use for the binding and backing.