the momoo

Valentine Mug Rugs

2012-02-15T16:18:00.005-05:00

I made some mug rugs for my friends for Valentine's Day.

They were made similar to hot pads so they can be multipurpose.

Here are individual photos of the mug rugs.

This is the cute vintage looking fabric used to back some of them.

Millington Quilt Club February Show and Tell

2012-02-12T13:31:00.008-05:00

Last month at our quilt club meeting, members exchanged 6 inch squares. The following three photos are of quilts which the members made from the squares.

Dean made a table runner using a charm pack.

Nancy M. made this cute baby quilt.

Nancy S. used strips from an exchange to make this beautiful quilt.

Here Sydney is modeling a hat she made from Sherpa scraps.

Viola made this Christmas quilt for Julie.

Julie's pink baby quilt is trimmed and backed with minke.

Julie made a sample quilt for the block of the month quilt, she will be offering in her shop, Quilted Hearts Quilting. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quilted-Hearts-Quilting/242393622486476?sk=wall

Karen put together and quilted the following signature quilts for the club.

Kay made the following wall hangings using her daughter's artwork for the pattern.

Alice hand embroidered this pretty yellow baby quilt.

This is Mary Lou with her hand embroidered pillow.

Mary is the most stylish member of our group. She made her hat, jacket and bag.

Mary finished the following prayer quilts.

Mary also shared her newest bag.

Carolyn made this three hour table runner.

Carolyn made this beautiful quilt which Mary Lou P. quilted.

This is a charity quilt, to be used for fire victims.

Deb shared this purple quilt which she said took years to complete.

Darlene used her squares from club Christmas exchanges to make this top.

This is Darlene's watermelon quilt.

Darlene hand embroidered this gorgeous quilt.

Connie used a panel and squares from her stash to make this quilt.

Linda made this cute baby quilt for a friend's grandchild.

Thank you, Linda for taking notes while I took pictures :)

Spaghetti Squash Gratin

2012-01-25T15:21:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to watch my calories.... yet again. When Jenny was home for the holidays she suggested I try spaghetti squash gratin. I used this recipe Jenny recommended and was very pleased with the results. The recipe called for 8 ramekins but I used a 9 X 13 casserole.

Because the recipe calls for mostly vegetables, I think the entire pan only had 17 Weight Watcher points. The points came from a teaspoon of olive oil, 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese and 15 ounces of low fat ricotta cheese. (The recipe called for fat-free ricotta but I use low fat.) I will make this again :)

Fabric Art in North Carolina

2012-01-23T15:03:00.005-05:00

Last week we visited my brother-in-law in North Carolina. While there we visited a shop in Asheville which sold a variety of local artists' work. There was pottery, wood furniture and jewelry, but my favorite was the fabric art. Below are some photos of some of my favorites.

Below is the view from my brother-in-laws deck just after sunrise.

This is the view while the sun was coming up. I think it would make into a beautiful wall quilt.

This is the view from the front yard; a wall hangings in shades of gray???

Kermit Christmas Stocking

2012-01-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

Some of my friends have grandchildren or grandpuppies but I have a grandfrog. Angela and Austin have a frog, Killer. While they are living in Spain, Killer is in foster care in NYC.

I had promised to make Austin a Christmas stocking a couple of years ago. He wasn't here for Christmas in 2010 before they got married and last Christmas they stayed in Spain. Since they were going to be here this year, I figured I had better follow through on my promise. I made Austin a Kermit the Frog stocking using a vintage pattern I found on EBay.

The stocking was made with wool felt and lined with a cotton Christmas print.

Another Christmas project...an owl pillow for Jenny.

Polish Pottery Linens

2011-12-31T14:10:00.003-05:00

Quite a few of my sister-in-laws collect Polish pottery, so for Christmas I made some Polish pottery themed linens. I used fabric from Mark Lipinski's "Krakow" line.

The hot pads had a simple blue flower on them.

I found toweling at our church's Mission Store and used fabric, lace and ribbon to decorate the towels.

A large trivet with a Dresden plate completed the set.

Christmas Block Exchange

2011-12-29T12:42:00.003-05:00

It's been busy holiday season so I'm late at posting the block exchange at our last quilt club meeting. At our December Quilt Club meeting we exchange 12.5 inch quilt squares. I've been making 3 squares and saving one for myself. Eventually I will have enough squares to make a Christmas quilt. This year I used pictures from a redwork panel as the center of my squares.

The border was a variety of red and white squares.

The red inner border was 3-dimensional, folded fabric inserted between the panel and squares.

I received two pretty squares in the exchange. Jan P. made the one below. I love the detail and bright, happy colors.

My second block was made by my best friend, Linda. She used a panel picture for the center and framed it with blue Christmas prints, very nicely done.

Cookies in the Mail

2011-12-15T09:20:00.002-05:00

Jenny has been busy baking and I was the lucky recipient of some of her goodies. A package arrived in the mail with three containers of cookies.

The top left container has coconut pineapple oatmeal cookies and apricot almond shortbread. The one on the right has caffeine cookies and rugelach. On the bottom there are chocolate pretzel and potato chip cookies. They are all very tasty. I had to put them in the freezer because they would all be gone before everyone is home for Christmas.

I bought the following pattern to make some hats for our church bazaar.

It didn't take much time to make the four fleece hats. I decorated the side of each with a three dimensional flower with a button center.

Flower Pins

2011-12-08T16:05:00.003-05:00

I made flower pins to decorate my friends' Christmas gifts. Because I get bored easily, I used a number of patterns I found online. This is one of my favorites but with all the hand sewing involved I only made one of this design.

Another pattern I found online, but only made one flower.

This was the best flower to construct.

I made two pins using a Clover Kanzashi Flower Maker.

Enjoyed working with the wool felt and learned how to use the Clover tool.

Holly Wreath

2011-12-01T14:47:00.003-05:00

On our shop hop this fall, I found a kit to make a wreath wall hanging.

I changed the pattern and made the holly leaves and berries 3-dimensional.

I love to embellish, so I added some green and red Swarovski crystals to the wreath.

I have never applied domes or cabochons before. I tried them by adding gold domes and red cabochons in the border.

Yoyo Dog

2011-11-21T13:36:00.003-05:00

Since my great niece, Audrey is only three months old, I think I can post her Christmas present without spoiling her surprise.

I found this vintage pattern in my stash.

Everything I needed to make the yoyo dog was in my collection of fabric and notions.

I hope Audrey will like her new dachshund.

Millington Quilt Club November Meeting

2011-11-10T09:49:00.008-05:00

At our quilt club meeting yesterday, Julie shared a quilt she made from scraps.

This is a quilt Cheryl made for Amy's stepson.

Cheryl has also been making American Girl outfits for her great nieces.

Sydney has been making chair covers for Christmas presents.

This is a photo of one of Sydney's Santa hat chair covers.

Jan made a couple of flannel baby quilts for Christmas for Kids, an organization which provides toys, hats, mittens, etc. for needy children.

Faith made this quilt for a friend who has been going through tough times.

Faith made this quilt for her friend who likes horses.

Connie's mother-in-law started a quilt for Connie and her husband's 25th anniversary before she passed away.

Fifteen years later...Connie has taken the pieces and made them into this quilt top.

Carolyn made the following three quilts for Christmas for Kids. Lucky kids who receive them in their package!

Mary's quilt has beautiful handwork around the center of the quilt.

This basket quilt is also Mary's. She hand embroidered the baskets and embellished them with beads.

Nance made these mittens using wool sweaters from Goodwill.

Nancy's grandchildren helped color this quilt top for thier new sibbling.

Nancy appliqued flowers on this beautiful trellis quilt.

Nancy made this quilt for a friend.

Diane made this quilt for a graduation present.

Viola made this pretty quilter's quilt. Her daughter, Julie quilted it.

Viola also made a number of table runners, this is one of them.

Jan made this quilt as part of a retreat.

Jan's mom made this table topper.

This wool felted bag was found at a resale shop!

Jan also made this pretty wool pillow.

Jeanann made this quilt for her grandson. She practiced using her embroidery machine on some of the squares.

Marlene made this table topper for a friend using vintage fabric which had belonged to the friend's mother.

Darlene has also been making mittens from old sweaters.

When Marlene asked if anyone knew how to fold a napkin to look like a Christmas tree, Darlene just happened to have a sample!

Darlene quilted this friendship quilt for the club.

Pat made this apron using a towel. The apron could also be used as an adult bib for someone in a nursing home.

Thanks to Linda, for taking notes while I took photos :)

Lucky Birthday Girl

2011-11-03T10:32:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I had two packages in the mail.

Jenny sent this vintage birthday card. It is so cute, I think it may be even older than me. It has no price or manufacturer on the back.

Jenny knows I love Charming Tails so her package included this farmer mouse.

Jenny's box was also full of craft and sewing items. I noticed the owl fabric had been cut into.....

Well, the missing owl fabric is the backing on this gorgeous wall hanging. I had mentioned to Jenny that I thought an owl wall hanging would be a future project. Since I'm an idea person and don't often complete my plans, I'm glad Jenny made me this handsome fellow. Jenny has posted more photos on her blog.

My second package was from Coldwater Creek. Jenny had told Angela that she was making me the owl wall hanging. So Ang and Austin, who are in Spain, ordered me this cute set of owl salt and pepper shakers. I usually have 4 sets of salt and pepper shakers on the stove top ledge. We only use the plain glass ones and the others are decorative and change with the holidays. This dapper pair will be a neat addition.

Many thanks to my family and friends who made me feel special on my birthday.

Country Women Magazine

2011-11-01T09:17:00.002-04:00

I have subscribed to Country Woman magazine for years. The magazine arrives bimonthly cover in protective plastic. Besides the magazine there are ads, requests to renew the subscription and sometimes a letter. I usually just pitch the extras with the plastic but yesterday I took the time to skim the letter:

I was outraged when I saw the third paragraph. Really, because they think they did a good job they are counting it as two issues! The magazine is only published bimonthly so that is taking away one-sixth of a subscription. I did call today and canceled my subscription! I have subscribed the many of the magazines in that group...Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking, etc. I wonder how many issues I lost because I didn't read the letters that came with the magazines.

Pumpkins

2011-10-25T09:53:00.003-04:00

A year ago I bought this kit to make a pumpkin magnet. It was a quick project so I should not have put it off for so long.

The squares were ironed on to a grid printed on something similar to interfacing. Then the rows and columns were sewn. I did make a mistake on the leaves on top, if I make another pumpkin I'd leave them off completely.

After our club's Invitational I was thinking of what would make a nice table favor for next year...maybe a pumpkin pincushion? I tried a couple of different patterns I found online free to see how hard the project would be. Some took a little time but the pumpkin with the stick stem was a less than 30 minute project.

Art in Flushing

2011-10-23T13:57:00.003-04:00

Two of my cousins have art shows in Flushing. Tom is showing his photography at Rye's Bakery. We were impressed not only with the photos but the charm of the old time bakery-coffee house.

My picture doesn't do justice to the size of these LOW FAT muffins. The bake goods we purchased were wonderful but I don't think they could be considered diet food.

Here are some of Tom's photos.

A few more below.

After visiting the bakery, we went to Fandangles Restaurant for a delicious lunch. My cousin Donna is one of the two artists showcases at Fandangles. Her work covers two walls of the restaurant.

I only took a photo of one of the walls...by the time I decide to take more pictures there were other customers sitting in front of the other wall.

This painting is the Clock Tower in Venice, Italy. Many of Donna's watercolors were scenes from the Middle East or Europe. I know she took a cruise there last fall so I'm sure her paintings are based on photos she took.

The painting below was Folk Dancers from Dubrounik, Croatia. I had to take a closeup of this painting so I could show it to my daughter,Angela, who vacationed in Croatia this summer.

My husband and I enjoyed our visit to Flushing, hoping Donna and Tom have more shows in the future.

Friends, Food and Quilts

2011-10-20T13:23:00.003-04:00

Yesterday my friends celebrated my birthday a few weeks early. We had lunch at the Italia Gardens in Davison. After a tasty lunch and lively conversation, we went to the Flint Institute of Arts for an Amish Quilt show. The quilts were impressive; the tiny hand quilting was really a work of art. Many of us are new to quilting, so we were relieved to see that corners and points don't always meet perfectly to have the finished quilt be beautiful.

My friend know me well and it's reflected in my birthday presents. The picture below show just some of the neat gifts they gave me.

I am lucky to have a thoughtful group of friends.

Millington Quilt Club October Meeting

2011-10-18T16:18:00.003-04:00

Last week at our Quilt Club meeting, we had a small turnout and an even smaller show and tell.

Some of the members have been working on blocks with old time ladies. This is Darlene with with her block.

Here Carolyn is showing the group her lady.

Carole used to sew wedding dresses so her lady is going to a wedding.

Julie shared a jacket she had completed.

Carolyn made a variety of blocks which had folded sections.

Quilt for Patrick and Amber

2011-10-08T16:17:00.005-04:00

I just finished a quilt for my nephew and his new bride. They were married in August but I didn't get the quilt to the quilter until after I came back from the wedding.

The quilt is a large throw. You can tell the size from the photo...Tom was holding it so I take the picture.

The leaves in some blocks are pieced.

In other blocks. the background is pieced.

My friend, Julie, did a beautiful job with the quilting. She outlined the leaves and stippled the blocks. Julie used a small leaf pattern in the brown border and a larger leaf and acorn pattern in the main border.

Edyta Sitar Speaks at Millington Quilt Club Invitational

2011-10-07T15:41:00.007-04:00

The Millington Quilt Club was fortunate to have Edyta Sitar as our speaker at our Invitational. (I've been told by long time members that the title came about when different local quilt groups invited each other to get together and share ideas and lunch...in the years I've been a member the Invitational has been a luncheon with a name speaker, some prizes and a display of members quilts)

The following photos are of some the quilts our club members had on display at the Invitational.

Edyta was kind enough to pose for this photo since the pictures I took during her talk didn't turn out well.

In this photo, you can see the stacks of quilts Edyta shared with us. That is Edyta's husband, Micheal helping club members display the quilts.

Besides the full size quilts, Edyta had some beautiful wall hangings.

The quilts below are the same pattern only one is a baby quilt.

The following two photos are closer views of the quilts.

Edyta uses both batiks and prints in her quilts. She suggested using large, medium and small prints along with dots and stripes in a quilt to give it punch. (She has her own line of fabrics.)

After Edyta's highly entertaining presentation and lunch, Edyta and two local quilt shops sold a variety of books, fabric and supplies. This is a photo of Edyta signing her book for a club member.

My photos don't do Edyta's work justice, for better photos and information about Edyta Sitar check out her website, Laundry Basket Quilts. http://www.laundrybasketquilts.com/

Personalized Ribbon and More

2011-10-03T12:51:00.003-04:00

I personalized some grosgrain ribbon to decorate Dena's birthday present.

I used June Tailor Print 'n Press to transfer a design onto the ribbon. The same process was used to make the label for the inside of the tote bag.

My sister-in-law, Pam gave me an early birthday present while she was visiting from North Carolina. It's a beautiful handmade Christmas ornament. Pam chose an ornament with one of my favorite colors...purple. I couldn't help but look on Google to see how the ornament was made...overlapping prairie points. Maybe a future project????

Now that the weather is cooler, the begonias are thriving.

They are just beautiful.

Knitting Tote

2011-09-30T16:00:00.002-04:00

For her birthday, I made my friend, Dena, a tote bag to carry her knitting items.

The front pocket is a mini quilt.

Buttons and hand embroidery were used to decorate the pocket.

On the interior, one side and the ends have pockets. The end pockets will hold pens and knitting needles; the main pockets will hold other knitting needs.

The other side of the interior has a zippered pocket which covers the entire side. I found some beads in my collection to make a zipper pull.

Peach Jam

2011-09-03T15:38:00.003-04:00

My brother and brother-in-law both gave us some tasty peaches. While shopping for groceries, I made an impulsive purchase...lite fruit pectin. Dieting is an never ending battle and low sugar jam sounded like a good idea.

I used the peaches and pectin to make some peach jam. It turned out well and the whole batch only has one cup of sugar. The consistency is a little different than regular full sugar jam but the jam is not lacking in flavor. Not bad for an impulse purchase.

Spool Wall Hanging

2011-08-21T15:20:00.003-04:00

I made a spool wall hanging for my sewing room this spring. I finally have it on the wall.

The wall hanging has 12 spools of different bright (happy) colors.

Each spool is made up of 5 or 6 different fabrics.

Mary Lou, a member of my quilt group, quilted the wall hanging for me. She used invisible thread. The different sections of the spools have different quilt patterns and the small white border has circular pattern.

Ladybug Sewing Kit

2011-08-18T12:59:00.003-04:00

We celebrated my best friend Linda's birthday this week. She has been making a lot of cute purses so for part of her present, I bought her "The Bag Making Bible". I have the book and think it has a lot of neat ideas for making bags.

Because Linda likes ladybugs, I bought her a set of ladybug sewing tools. The set had scissors, tweezers and a thread cutter to stick on the side of a sewing machine,

I created a ladybug to hold the tools.

Velcro holds the ladybug closed.

On the inside, there are sections for the scissors, tweezers, a needle threader and two other items. One side is padded to hold pins and needles.

Zucchini Patties

2011-07-30T19:30:00.004-04:00

Earlier this week my best friend, Linda, gave me some zucchini from her husband's garden.

The nest day another friend, Pat, was telling us about her recipe for zucchini patties. Today she emailed me her recipe and a recipe which had been in the Saginaw News yesterday.

I used Pat's recipe, the first one, and made the patties for supper. They were very tasty, more like pancakes than I expected. I may try the other recipe when I want more of a vegetable side.

Trip to Spain

2011-07-09T14:58:00.006-04:00

At the end of June, my daughter, Jenny, and I went to Spain to visit my other daughter, Angela and her husband Austin. This is a photo of Jenny, Ang and Austin in front of the apartment Ang found for us to stay in. (Most of the doorways we saw were very tall, had two doors and doorknobs in the center of the door.

Jenny, myself and Ang in front of a olive tree.

One of the nighttime views from our apartment.

The streets in the neighborhood we stayed in.

Austin is walking down a typical street in Madrid. Most of the cafes had outdoor seating. We paid a premium to sit outside...it was about 100 degrees during our visit.

One of our lunches at an outdoor cafe.

Plaza Major in Madrid.

Streets and cathedral in Segovia...a half hour train ride from Madrid.

Middle ages castle in Segovia.

Ceiling in a cathedral next to the king's palace in Madrid. (full of quilt ideas)

More quilting ideas in a ceiling in the castle.

Ang found some fabric stores for us to shop at. They sold mostly home decor fabric but I did find a cute renmant. I think it's cotton and it measures 25 inches by 104 inches...cost 2.40 euro. The fabrics all seemed to be very wide. I did see some fabric labeled for patchwork but it was not at all like the fabrics we use in America.

Ang and Austin were great hosts and we enjoyed ourselves.

Late Father's Day Post

2011-06-20T20:25:00.003-04:00

I'm a little late with my Father's Day post. Years ago my dad made me this birdhouse. He use to tinker in his shed and had a huge collection of odds and ends. The house has a neat tin roof and the main section was part of a leg of an old dining room table.

The clematis also remind me of my dad. He had three clematis plants on the side of his garage. This time of the year their blooms would cover the entire side of the garage. Miss him.

While taking the clematis photos, I noticed that my red lilies are blooming.

I just love their bright, happy colors.

Vintage Style Towel

2011-06-18T20:44:00.002-04:00

My best friend, Linda, gave me this cute sewing sack. It is made from a kitchen towel. I love the vintage style embroidery on the top. I remade the bag into a hanging towel because I wouldn't use it very often as a sack.

I refolded the sack and sewed rick rack on the top.

On the back I made a sleeve to hold a large magnet.

I have the towel hanging on my dishwasher and I can enjoy the cuteness daily :)

Spring Can Be Beautiful

2011-05-23T08:30:00.003-04:00

We have three trees blooming in our yard. They were gorgeous over the weekend. One of the trees has fuchsia blossoms.

The tree on the corner of the house has pink flowers.

Next to the driveway, the tree has thousands of white blossoms.

It's always a fun challenge to catch a bee in a photo.

Jenny took this photo of one of the bunnies who calls our yard home. He likes to eat the corn and seeds the birds throw out of the bird feeder.

I got this picture of him or his sibling lounging in the sun earlier this spring. He was a little startled... just before I took the photo he had both back legs out flat, sunning the bottoms of his paws.

Farm Baby Quilt

2011-05-14T17:25:00.003-04:00

My niece's baby shower was today. I made her a baby quilt.

The baby's room is painted green and going to be decorated in a farm theme.

The pieced flower on the quilt has a ric rac stem.

I found a panel for the back of the quilt. It is very similar to the bedding she picked on her baby registry.

The ultrasound says the baby is a girl.

Getting Ready for a Baby Shower :)

2011-05-10T18:50:00.003-04:00

I'm helping with a baby shower for my niece. Very exciting...this will the first baby on my side of the family in 30 years. I made 10 pair of hot pads for prizes.

I tried a new pattern on these hot pads. They were easy to make but used 6 layers of fabric...a little costly considering fabric is near $10 a yard in a quilt store.

The rest of the hot pads were made using a top, back, layer of Warm & Natural and a layer of Insu Bright.

I decorated some Hersey Nuggets using address labels. A picture (ultra sound) of my future great niece is on the top of the label and happy flowers are on the sides.

On the bottom, there is a "thank you" from the baby to the shower guests.

April Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2011-04-30T20:48:00.006-04:00

At our meeting on Wednesday, Faith showed us this purse she made.

Faith also shared a quilt made from her stash.

Nancy shared a purse made from the same pattern Faith used.

This is Connie modeling her Ami Simm's Michigan Mink Jacket.

Connie made this Mariner's Compass quilt for her granddaughter's 3rd birthday.

Mary made this bag from fabric she found in Alaska.

Sidney used recycled ties to make an Ipod holder.

Here Sidney is modeling her Easter apron.

Karen showed the club quilt she had quilted.

Jean made a purple purse.

Julie showed us a number of bags she had made.

Jan made 3 flannel rag quilts for charity.

Eileen is going to teach the members to make blocks for a "Walk in the Park' quilt. She has been working on making blocks and quilting them as she goes.

Cheryl made this black and white bag.

Carolyn pieced and quilted this brown and tan quilt.

Linda showed the group her daughter Theresa's first quilt. Theresa made the quilt for a friend who has just lost her mom. She used photos of the friend, her mom and her friend's child in the quilt.

Julie quilted Theresa's quilt. Julie also quilted this quilt. One of Linda's friends hand embroidered the blocks.

Julie made this beautiful cake for our lunch.

A big thanks to Linda for taking notes, while I took pictures.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T20:19:00.004-04:00

We went to Tom's sister's home in Rochester to celebrate Easter with Tom's family today.
I tested a new recipe for stained glass jello. I think I need to tweak the recipe a little. I used sugar free and low fat ingredients and the flavors weren't quite as good as they could be.

Jeff brought the eggs for the family dinner. (Jeff is an electrical engineer.) He has an Egg-Bot, which he bought at a Maker Faire. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5JHRy1iud0 Jeff spent a lot of free time this past week decorating eggs for his coworkers. (A lot of those eggs had GM, Volt and Hybrid logos on them)

My sister-in-law, Chris, made everyone an Easter basket. A lot of scrapbooking...there were 13 of us at dinner. I haven't had an Easter basket since I was a child so this is a real treat :)

The ground was covered with snow earlier this week. Finally, we had a sunny warm day and I found some hardy flowers blooming.

Happy Easter & Happy Spring!!!

Mission Store Find

2011-04-20T12:56:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I worked at our church Mission Store. Another worker and I spent most of our time pricing donations. We went through numerous boxes of fabric. A real treat for both of us, we both belong to the Millington Quilt Club and have sewn for years. Most of the fabric was wool or silk, I think whoever originally owned the fabric may have been a seamstress. I found one fabric with a lot of gold metallic threads in it, hopefully it will become a vest one day. As I worked though the boxes of fabric, I kept moving a cigar style box out of the way.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the box! It was full of threads. Of course, I had my coworker price it and I purchased it.

I recognize the Mettler and Gutermann brands but have never heard of Ursus thread. Does anyone know if it is a good brand of thread? I have not been able to find any information online.

Thread Scarf

2011-04-01T08:45:00.002-04:00

Today is my daughter Angela's birthday. She wears a lot of scarves, so I made her a thread scarf.

I got the idea from a Sewing With Nancy episode in which Nancy made a scarf with silk ribbon. After searching the internet for ideas, I ended up using silk ribbon, decorative yarns and threads and small squares of polyester.

The ingredients were layered between sheets of water soluble stabilizer. The layers were then sewn together using a variety of variegated threads. After the scarf was soaked in water and dried, there were spaces which were blank...giving the scarf a lacy appearance.

Because I love to embellish, I couldn't resist adding beads at the bottom edges.

Happy Birthday, Ang!

Multiplying Bunnies

2011-03-30T13:28:00.004-04:00

Bunnies seem to multiply at my home. This pair has been with us the longest. My cousin, Kathy painted them as prizes at my bridal shower.

Thirty years ago, before Angie was born, I bought this threesome. I wasn't sure if Ang was going to be a boy or girls so I bought one bunny that looked like a boy to represent Jeff, one that looked like a girl for Jenny and one bunny that could be either male or female.

When we redid my sewing room, I found these bunny spools and thimble on Ebay.

A few years ago, after we went through my mom's knickknacks, these bunnies joined my Easter collection.

The last time I worked at our church's Mission Store, I couldn't pass by this pair at ten cents each.

This winter has been long and snowy, meaning I've had way too much time to browse the internet.....found this cookie jar on sale at the Fritz and Floyd outlet!

Spring Bunny

2011-03-21T13:26:00.003-04:00

A short time ago, I completed a bunny wall hanging.

My color choices were not as bright as I normally pick.

The applique work was done by hand. After completing the bunny, I realized in the future I will try to match the thread more closely to the fabric so the stitches don't show as much.

I found the pattern for the 3-dimensional flowers in a book Jenny gave me, "A Gathered Garden" by Carol Armstrong.

Signs of Spring

2011-03-15T12:57:00.003-04:00

This cardinal may not look like a sign of spring, but he's thinking spring.

For the past week, he has been trying to get into the girl's bedroom window.

He has made a mess of the window, I think he seeing himself in glass and thinks it's another bird who might be interested in his territory. Most springs we have a cardinal in love with one of the windows in the house.

My sister-in-law had a crocus a week ago. I was so jealous. Yesterday, I noticed that even though the snow in the front yard is 16 inches deep in places, we have a crocus too.

If you just look at the crocus and avoid the snow, it's spring :)

Coupon Holder

2011-03-12T13:07:00.003-05:00

I have been carrying my coupons for restaurant and store discounts in an envelope in my purse. I could have kept changing the envelope when it started to fall apart, but instead I decided to make a quilted coupon holder.

Velcro was used as the clasp. The inside is lined with the heavy interfacing which is used to make fabric bowls. I cut it into pieces and allowed space between the pieces so the holder would fold neatly. The only problem encountered was the binding. Like a book binding, it needed more binding on the outside than the inside. The problem was solved by sewing that section by hand.

This is the inside of the finished holder.

March Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2011-03-10T16:47:00.008-05:00

At our March meeting, Jan showed us how she completed the Round Robin Quilt some of the members have been working on. They all did a gorgeous job.

This is Vivian showing the back of her hand sewn sewing kit.

Darlene had fun putting the zipper into her purse.

Sidney made a purse from Mary's jacket.

This is Mary showing us the remains of her jacket.

Marlene finished this applique which she started long ago, she asked for ideas on how to use the square. It may become a pillow.

Karen made this quilt to be a cover for her husband's casket. Hopefully it will not be used for a long time.

Jan has really been busy completing projects. This was a mystery quilt she finished.

She used up scraps to make this beautiful quilt.

Jan had enough scraps from the quilt to make two wall hangings.

Jan also made this red, white and blue quilt with scraps.

Diane shared a sewing kit she made. It held a lot of supplies, including a rotary cutter and a small cutting mat.

This is Mary Lou's detailed block of the month quilt.

Carole had fun making two iron on fusible tops using her stash. Very spring like :)

Marian has been doing a lot of hand work. She shared some Grandmother's Garden blocks.

Nancy got the inspiration for this quilt from the tile floor in her camper.

Jan completed this pretty dogwood wall hanging.

She used up flannel scraps to make this rag quilt.

Pat made this quilt for a friend's birthday.

These are my latest projects...more on them later.

Dena has been thinking spring.

She practice paper piecing on this mini wall hanging.

She also shared a bag she made from a panel she received as a gift.

Eileen showed us two bags she made for the homeless.

This is the bag Kay made.

Faith showed us her completed mystery quilt.

Thanks to Dena for taking notes, while I took pictures.

Using Up Leftovers

2011-03-02T13:31:00.003-05:00

Last summer, some of my friends and I took some Crazy Quilting classes. Dena has since decided she doesn't enjoy doing hand work. She was very generous and gave me her threads and trims.

After making Cheryl's birthday present, I had a lot of leftovers. Rather than just adding them to the ever growing stash, I decided to make Dena a thank you present. I made a pair of placemats.

The backs were the leftover rooster print. Dena also decorates her kitchen with a rooster theme.

More scraps went into a pair of napkins.

A pair of hot pads used up most of the rest of the leftovers.

Happy Birthday Cheryl

2011-02-24T07:42:00.004-05:00

Today is my friend Cheryl's birthday. She decorates her kitchen with a rooster theme, so for her birthday I made her a rooster wall hanging.

My large stash came in useful when I made the rooster.

The back is a fun rooster print.

I also made a pair of matching hot pads for Cheryl.

Religious Medal Bracelet

2011-02-21T14:28:00.005-05:00

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Chris, admired a religious medal bracelet that one of my son's friends was wearing. Jeff's friend was originally from Brazil and that was where she had gotten her bracelet. The bracelet had dozens of medals on it. Chris mentioned the bracelet a few times and tried unsuccessfully to buy one. I thought I could make one and proceeded to buy religious medals on Ebay. I then lost interest in the project. Chris just turned 50 and her husband had a birthday party for her on Saturday. I remembered the unfinished bracelet and finished it for her gift.

In this photo, Chris is admiring the quilt her mom (looking over Chris' shoulder) made for her. Chris' mom hand-quilted the beautiful blue and yellow quilt.

PS To all my English teacher friends, I did check Mr. Google and he said I could use Chris' or Chris's and that either was correct as long as I was consistent. Whenever I write on my blog I worry about my grammar and spelling, so please forgive my mistakes.

Jenny's Happy Plaid

2011-02-17T15:17:00.002-05:00

Some of my readers have met my daughter, Jenny. She is also a quilter. I borrowed one of the photos of her latest projects. It's it just gorgeous. Of course, I'm biased and love bright happy colors.

You can see more photos of this quilt and other's Jenny has made at her blog.
http://www.blempgorf.blogspot.com/

Valentine Coasters

2011-02-16T08:25:00.003-05:00

I put a tea bag and coaster in my Valentines for my friends.

I used the decorative stitches on my sewing machine to make crazy quilt hearts on the tops of the coasters.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:47:00.002-05:00

I found this cute ladybug when shopping for groceries. Hopefully I can keep the rose alive until the weather is warm enough to plant it outside. Happy Valentines Day :)

February Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2011-02-11T15:50:00.004-05:00

At Wednesday's Quilt Club meeting, Kay showed us two Christmas Tree skirts she made.

One of the tree skirts is for Kay and the other for her daughter.

Diane made this pretty quilt.

Viola shared a Christmas stocking.

Diane designed and made a bag to carry her Apple laptop.

Diane also showed us another bag she made.

Carolyn shared a "hop scotch" block she made using different scraps.

Nancy made this colorful quilt.

Nancy made this "I Spy" quilt for a new great niece.

Darlene made a cover for her reader.

She also made this cute spring sweatshirt for her granddaughter.

Faith is showing us a charity quilt she quilted.

This is a mystery quilt Faith is making in fall colors.

Personalize Vase

2011-01-31T16:19:00.004-05:00

My best friend, Linda fell last week and broke her ankle and knee. I decorated a vase using Mod Podge and fabric to put some flower in for her.

I used some bird fabric because Linda decorates her kitchen with a bird theme. I also printed a couple of photos on fabric and included them in the patchwork.

On Friday night we received about 7 inches of snow. It was calm outside so the snow just settled quietly. Even the window had clumps of show on it when I took this photo.

Wonderful Warm Gift

2011-01-22T12:59:00.004-05:00

I'm always cold, especially in winter. My best friend, Linda made me a beautiful warm and cozy afghan.

I have been keeping warm with it at night when I watch TV or read.
Thank you, Linda :)

Earlier this week, I worked at our church's Mission Store. It is like a Goodwill Store without clothes. I found these knick knacks for a dime each. I couldn't resist for that price. They will look great on the bookcase in my sewing room for the Valentine season.

Backdoor Snowman

2011-01-19T15:31:00.003-05:00

I have a small wall hanging by my backdoor and decided to change it with the seasons. This is the pattern I used to make a winter wall hanging.

My love of bright, happy colors won out when I went through my stash looking for fabric.

I found 3 different blues with snowflakes, a light one for the background, medium for the border and dark blue for the binding.

I debated between embellishing it with buttons or Swarovski crystals. The crystals turned out to be a good choice because they shine in the dark hallway where I hung the snowman.

January Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2011-01-15T14:22:00.005-05:00

At our quilt club meeting on Wednesday, Vivian showed us a wall hanging she made for her daughter for Christmas.

This is a quilt she made for another daughter who likes moose.

Carolyn showed us a Hunter's Star quilt top.

She used the same pattern in this top.

When Mary Lou shared her work, it turned out to be the same pattern as Carolyn's. Mary Lou used different tools in her construction.

Mary Lou also shared a quilted table cover she made for Christmas.

Karen appliqued her sweatshirt.

Diane showed us two quilt tops she made to donate to a homeless shelter. This is the first.

This is the second. Diane had run out of yellow squares at the bottom, neat replacement block :)

Jeanann showed us a Christmas present from her sister-in-law.

Viola made a carrying case for her flash sticks from her sewing machine.

Nancy is demonstrating the breast cancer pillows the group was going to make after lunch.

Hoarfrost

2011-01-11T09:26:00.004-05:00

The past few mornings the hoarfrost was gorgeous, so I couldn't resist taking some photos.

As I walked down the road, my neighbors horses came out of the barn to show off for me. The white horse was prancing the corral when he saw me.

The trees and leaves were covered with huge fluffy frost.

Babushka Doll Hot Pads

2011-01-08T12:44:00.003-05:00

After finding some nesting Santa dolls at a flea market in South Carolina this fall, I came up with the idea of hot pads with Russian nesting dolls on them. I searched the Internet for ideas and pictures to make my pattern. I found the nesting dolls can also be called Matryoshka or Babushka dolls, since I'm Polish I'm going to call mine Babushka dolls.

I used fabric from my stash to frame the dolls, adding some ric rac to dress them up. Because the doll's cheeks and hair were tiny pieces to applique, I drew them on the faces with fabric crayons. I embroidered the eyes and smile.

The backs are Japanese fabric I found on Etsy.

Zipper Critter

2010-12-30T14:37:00.003-05:00

Before Christmas, I saw a picture of a pillow decorated with a zipper. I used the idea to make a dog pillow for Jenny.

I left the middle section of the ears without interfacing, so they would droop and look like a terrier's ears.

Pins and Needles

2010-12-20T19:35:00.003-05:00

I used some paper piecing scraps to decorate Altoid-like tins for Christmas presents.

I used a layer Mod Podge to glue the fabric to the tins and then applied a few more layers of Mod Podge, similar to decoupage. I sprayed the tops with sealer after they dried.

On the inside, I put a pin cushion on the top and a magnet on the bottom, to hold straight pins from falling out. Since the tins were too small to hold spools of thread, I included two bobbins with thread. I thought the tins would be useful when we do hand sewing at quilt club.

I labeled the tin bottoms with my friends' names and a graphic.

Merry Christmas Angela & Austin

2010-12-15T07:36:00.004-05:00

My daughter and her husband have moved to Spain and won't be home for Christmas. I wanted them to have something homemade for Christmas. I made them a small wall hanging. Other parents have grandchildren or grandpuppies, I have a grandfrog. Killer, Ang and Austin's frog, is in foster care while they live in Spain. Since they like frogs I made a frog wall hanging.

One of the frogs is wearing a Santa hat and the other a necklace of holly trimmed with red buttons. Since Ang and Austin are newlyweds, I have the frogs holding hands.

I mailed a package to them last week but have no idea if they will get it in time for Christmas so I'm going ahead and posting pictures...Hoppy Holidays, Ang and Austin!

December Millington Quilt Club Show and Tell

2010-12-11T20:02:00.004-05:00

We had a short Show and Tell at our quilt club meeting on Wednesday. This is Faith showing us some of the 10 Minute Table Runners she made for Christmas gifts.

Viola shared numerous items she made for gifts. This is a pillowcase for her daughter to use when she has chemo treatments.

This is a pair of wall hangings Viola made for Christmas.

This is one of many table runners Viola made for gifts.

Nancy shared her snowman quilt which is still a work in progress.

Jan shared two quilts she had made and quilted.

This Dresden Plate quilt is the second one Jan shared.

Jan showed us numerous bags she made for the Underground Railroad (a group which helps battered and abused women).

Jeanann made this beautiful quilt for her grandson, Elliot. Mary Lou did the quilting.

Sydney entertained us as she showed off the snowman sweatshirt she made

This is Jan with place mats she made to match her mauve dining room.

Jan used a twin needles to quilt her snowman purse.

Julie share a tote bag she made.

Thanks to Linda for taking notes, while I snapped pictures.

Christmas Block Exchange Part 2

2010-12-09T11:09:00.002-05:00

We exchanged our Christmas blocks at our Quilt Club meeting. I received blocks from two of my good friends.

Amy made this 9 patch block.

Dena made this block. She included the pattern but it didn't have the block name listed. The construction looks a little tricky around the center square.

The center square has a good saying to live by.

In a few more years when I've collected more squares, it will be very special to have blocks from my good friends in a Christmas quilt.

Christmas Exchange Block

2010-12-07T19:11:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow at our quilt club meeting, we will be exchanging Christmas quilt blocks. We each bring two 12.5 in. X 12.5 in. blocks and will receive two block in exchange. We put our names and the year on the blocks. I decided to make a Christmas Sunbonnet Sue. (I didn't trim my blocks to size, I figure it's better if they are too large rather than too small)

I made the bonnet using vintage green velour, the kind of fabric robes were to made of. I added a purchased flower on the back of the hat band.

I made a poinsettia using red ultra suede with beads for the center.

The background fabric is Fairy Frost. The bottom of the skirt is trimmed with a ruffled lace.

Please Excuse My Venting

2010-12-03T20:49:00.003-05:00

Our church had a booth at the city's Craft Show last week. I donated some hot pads.

I also made a table runner for the sale.

We were asked to price our items. I had priced my hot pads at $3 each, that's the same price Meijers (local grocery/department store) charges for plain hot pads. I priced the table runner at $10. The table runner and 4 hot pads sold. It was sad to see all the hand crafted items that didn't sell. There were beautiful hand knit stocking hats for $3 and knit scarves for $3 to $5 which didn't sell. My friend made a pretty baby quilt and had it professionally quilted. She priced it at $25 and it didn't sell. She paid more than that to have it quilted. I believe people have gotten used to Dollar Store pricing and items made in China so they don't appreciate hand made items. I don't know how crafters can make any profit when their supplies cost more than what stores charge for the imported items.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T01:15:00.003-05:00

I finished my turkey wall hanging a few days ago, just in time for Thanksgiving.

I enjoyed finding fall colored batiks for the outside halves of the log cabin squares.

I found jewel tones for the turkey in my stash.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Fall in the Carolinas

2010-11-19T14:40:00.005-05:00

Last week we went to South Carolina to visit my brother-in-law. He is building a new home in North Carolina near Hendersonville. These are photos from the top of a mountain in NC. The true colors don't show up in the pictures. There were a lot more golds, greens and some reds.

This is what the mountains looked like at ground level. The steep, curvy roads almost did our brakes in.

We also visited the Clemson Botanical Gardens. I had a hard time not taking hundreds of photos. The colors were gorgeous.

We came across this fellow during our walk in the gardens. We think he may be a marbled orb weaver. He was huge, the orange part of his body was the size of a nickel.

Celebrating with Quilting Friends

2010-11-05T19:19:00.003-04:00

My quilting friends took me out to lunch on Wednesday. Linda gave each of us a tin of Altoids Smalls which she had decorated.

My friends are very generous, I'm going to share only a few of the gifts they gave me.
Linda added to my collection of sewing Charming Tails, the cute mice are sitting on a table runner she made for me.

Elaine decorated a kitchen towel with cardinal print fabric and gave me a coordinating decorative bell.

Dena knitted me this colorful scarf. It will look great with a couple of my jackets. I think I will be able to wear it soon, we had a weather forcast of snow flurries today.

Cheryl gave me a quilt journal to plan future projects, it has plain page in the front and graph paper in the back. I like to draw out my plans on graph paper so the journal will be useful.

Amy gave me beauty supplies and a kit to make a table runner. The fabrics are batik with silver paint, very pretty combination for winter.

Pat made me a colorful sewing machine mat to use when I take my machine to quilt club or classes. She filled the pockets with neat sewing supplies.

The gifts were all thoughtful and well appreciated but the best part of the day was spending time with great friends.

Enlightening Present

2010-11-02T15:47:00.002-04:00

I've been using the windows in the family room to trace patterns for years and had decided I should buy a light box. Almost bought one about a week ago but the box looked damaged. The next day, Tom showed me the project he'd been working on in the basement. He made me a beautiful light box for my birthday.

He made it using plywood, stained it to match our woodwork and even used veneer so the plywood wouldn't show. The box is screwed together so it will be easy to change the lights if they burn out. A very neat present, especially since Tom hates working with wood.

Yesterday a package arrived in the mail. It look like someone had stomped on it. Luckily only the pumpkin Peeps were squashed. Jenny sent me two pieces of Polish pottery as part of my birthday present. My sister-in-law, Pam had given me a Polish pottery mug earlier this fall for my birthday. I've been collecting Polish pottery and these pieces will work well with my other pieces.

100th Birthday!

2010-11-01T13:01:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was my aunt's 100th birthday. This is the front of the birthday card I made.

Here Aunt Gertie, on the left, is sitting with her sister who is 98. They are both amazing women. They still live in their own homes and are very sharp.

I made my aunt a lap quilt for her birthday.

There are two pillow panels in the center.

The backing on the quilt is quieter, a print with birds.

Our quilt club has been working on lap quilts to donate to the veterans' hospital. I made another quilt very similar to the one above for the veterans.

Paper Pieced Wall Hanging

2010-10-27T16:04:00.002-04:00

Some friend and I took a class in paper piecing at My Lil' Quilt Shop in Millington. We each made one pumpkin. I made two more later and paper pieced a border to make a fall wall hanging.

I used purple, green and orange treads to quilt the wall hanging. For the green inner border, I used a decorative stitch on my sewing machine.

All three thread were metallic. The green and purple were easy to work with, but the orange was awful. All were Sulky threads but the orange was holoshimmer, very much like a foil. The orange thread kept breaking and getting caught in the bobbin. I had planned to do more quilting on the pumpkins but decided just outlining them would have to do.

Mouse in the Mailbox

2010-10-25T14:42:00.002-04:00

There was a mouse in the mailbox today. I detest the real critters but love the cute Charming Tails. I have a number of them for each season. I didn't order this one but think he may be an early birthday present. Isn't he cute?

I already found the perfect spot for him in my sewing room.

Not only will he have a couple of friends on his shelf, there are a two more on the top of the bookcase. He's such a nice addition!

Fall Color in Michigan

2010-10-23T12:39:00.004-04:00

Over the past few weeks, Mother Nature has painted the countryside in beautiful fall colors.

The above and below photo were taken outside of Millington. Some friends and I were on a Shop Hop of quilt shops in the Thumb.

Last Sunday, Tom and I did a local color tour. The photo below is Otter Lake. I think the picture could be made into a great art quilt.

Another picture of Otter Lake.

This was taken near the Caro Airport.

These beautiful wood are behind a harvested corn field near Millington.

On Tuesday, we took a bus trip to the Amish country around Clare. The colors were past their prime but the Amish scenery was neat to see. This is a photo of myself, Dena, Linda and Amy.
We were standing in an Amish farm yard. A couple of neat things in the picture are the numerous bird feeders and thehuge wood pile. If you look closely, you will notice a wheel on the house that operated the clothesline between the house and the top of the barn.

Blue Jays Love Peanuts

2010-10-17T12:08:00.003-04:00

Last fall, Tom found some old peanuts that had been in the back of his snowmobile since the previous winter. He decided to feed them to the birds. We discovered that blue jays love peanuts.

Now, we occasionally buy peanuts for the blue jays. Within a half hour all the peanuts will disappear. It seems like the blue jays communicate with one another when they find we've put out peanuts. One after another, they swoop in and take off with a peanut.

Tom has even seen them pack in two peanuts before they leave. I wasn't able to catch a photo of that.

October Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2010-10-15T13:44:00.005-04:00

At our meeting on Wednesday, Karen showed us quilt top she is working on using her embroidery machine.

Julie shared a project she made in a stained glass class.

Jeanann won this table runner. She had entered the contest while traveling in the U.P.

Viola completed this wolf quilt for her nephew's wedding present.

Violoa also shared a flowered quilt she made for her daughter.

Janell brought in a 75 to 100 year old quilt top. She was wondering if she should try to have it quilted or not.

This is Kay with a beautiful poppy wall hanging.

Jan made this snowman quilt top that Julie helped her design.

Darlene was vacationing so Vivian showed us Darlene's signature quilt.

These are three tops for lap quilts to be donated to the Veteran's Hospital.

Eileen embroidered this sweatshirt for her grandson who is a deer hunter.

Sydney shared a charity quilt she is working for the veterans.

Diane made this wall hanging.

She also shared a Christmas tree skirt she made. She practice her machine quilting on it.

Mary Lou is showing us a snap purse she made for her daughter's wedding this past weekend.

Cheryl made a pinafore tote.

Thanks to Linda for taking notes while I snapped pictures.

Pumpkin Trio

2010-10-12T20:14:00.003-04:00

This is my latest project. I found the "Pumpkin Trio" pattern on a shop hop last spring.

The vines are bias tape covered with satin embroidery thread. Gold bead and metallic orange thread was used to embellish the large pumpkin.

Tiny buttons, giant rick rack and beads decorate the small pumpkin.

In the top corner I embroidered a spider web. The spider came from a toe ring I found on Ebay. I can't imagine wearing it on my toe, but thought it would look perfect on the web.

Dena's Birthday Present

2010-10-09T07:57:00.002-04:00

Earlier this summer, I found a panel of friendship sayings in Shipshewana. I used some of them when I made Dena's birthday present. We got together the other day to celebrate her birthday, so now I can show what I made for her. These are a pair of hot pads.

I also made her a pair of place mats. This is the back of one of them.

This is the back of the second one.

The flower pot on the front of the place mat is a pocket.

I made two sided napkins with rick rack trim to put in the pocket.

Halloween Table Runner

2010-10-04T08:17:00.003-04:00

Last spring when our quilt club visited quilt shops in the Detroit area, I found a Halloween panel. I used parts of the panel to make a table runner.

I found fabrics that coordinated with the panel in numerous places. The candy corn fabric came from JoAnn's. The stripes and marbled solids were found online at Fabricshack.com.

The backing fabric was found on Ebay.

Those are mice hiding behind the cute pumpkins.

I think the best part of the project was finding the coordinating fabrics and deciding how to put them together.

Novi Sewing Expo

2010-09-26T14:30:00.004-04:00

Yesterday Tom and I went to the Sewing Expo in Novi. It was fun to check out the new sewing and craft products on the market.

Tom was willing to go with me as payback for all the car events we go to during the summer.

There was one wall with sewing projects displayed. These two photos were the closest we came to checking out cars.

I purchased a set of glue, glitter and foil to use in embellishing. Already watched the video for directions and hints. Looking forward to using my new toy.

Found a unique pair of tweezers, I think they will be great for working with tiny Swarovski crystals.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we visited Jeff. He found a barbecue place, Burroughs Tavern, in Brighton that was really wonderful.

Invitational Part 2

2010-09-24T13:18:00.005-04:00

These are Kaye England's quilts, in no particular order.

This is Kaye's Blueberry Baskets quilt.

This is the Betsy Ross pattern.

This on is the Amelia Earhart pattern.

The quilt below is the Amber Waves of Grain pattern.

This quilt is Kaye's Country Lanes pattern.

This one is Tuscan Windmills.

Kaye's Double Dozen pattern was used in both of these quilts. Kaye taught this pattern in a class on Thursday.

I think everyone who attended the Invitational enjoyed listening to Kaye and learned a lot.....two of her best hints were 1. Don't have to prewash fabrics and 2. Don't have to iron as you sew, only when a block is complete.

When I went to post this I noticed this is my 201st post. How time flies :)

Millington Quilt Club Invitational 2010

2010-09-23T17:40:00.004-04:00

The Millington Quilt Club had its Invitational on Wednesday. Our guest speaker was Kaye England. The event was held at a local church. Kaye spoke in the church and a lunch was served later in the attached meeting hall. Club member decorated the hall with numerous quilting projects. These pictures were taken before the event.

Guest were greeted in the church entry where we also displayed our projects.

Yesterday was Dena's birthday. This is part of our club singing "Happy Birthday" to her before guests arrived.

This is Carole introducing Kaye England. Carole was the chairperson of the event. She put in a lot of hours and all her preparations made the event a success.

Kaye England was a very entertaining speaker. She presented a lot of information in a humorous manner.

This is a photo of the back of one of Kaye's quilts. As you can see we had a full house, we sold 250 tickets to the event.

I will post more photos of Kaye's quilts in another post.

Flowers and Bees Again

2010-09-16T11:21:00.002-04:00

I have been working on a birthday present for Dena but I can't post it until she receives it. Instead I'm going to post some photos of flowers I took earlier this week.

It was a sunny day and the blanket flowers next to the front fence looked especially happy.

The big fluffy bees were happy to pose for me.

I always think it would be neat to transform one of my flower and bee photos into a wall hanging but I'm not sure how to deal with the small details.

September Millington Quilt Club Meeting

2010-09-10T13:31:00.007-04:00

Viola really outdid herself quilting this past month. She made five lap quilts to be donated to Veterans.

Viola also made this quilt top for a gift. Sorry the photo is blurry.

Viola made this top for a niece's wedding present.

Mary made this purse.

This is Sydney showing us a purse made from three fat quarters.

Marge shared one of the quilts she and her daughter, Amy are making for the Veterans. She used flannel to line hers.

Our president, Julie shared a quilt her 12 year old summer guest made. The girl worked on the quilt during our quilt show this summer. She had never sewn before and was doing a beautiful job. Julie quilted it for her.

Julie quilted this lilac and yellow quilt.

I really like Jan's colorful ant quilt. She quilted it using her embroidery machine, stitching the in ants and ant tracks.

Jan made 4-in-1 place mats. This one had 4 different fruits on the sides. Her other place mat had 4 veggies on the sides.

This Orion Star quilt was made by Jan.

Jan also made this colorful quilt using panels with unique cats.

Vivian shared two crazy quilt squares she has been working on. My photo doesn't do justice to her beautiful hand work.

Nancy made this wall hanging using her new sewing machine.

Last fall, Lenore Crawford taught a class in Millington. Most of us have an UFO in our stash, but Sue finished her project. Sue painted some of the details and her quilting really defined the dogwoods. Sue's husband made her the cherry frame.

Just for fun, Sue shared a bag she had purchased. It was one long zipper.

Mary Lou shared a charity quilt she had quilted. Jan made the quilt.

The back of the quilt is almost as pretty as the front.

Diane made this photo quilt for her grandson's graduation. Lucky young man.

Thank you to Linda for taking notes while I took pictures.

Tote Bag

2010-08-30T13:33:00.004-04:00

My best friend, Linda, gave me a fabric panel which would make up into a tote bag.

I went through my stash to find buttons and bias tape to trim the tote. Instead of quilting the bag I practices some embroidery stitching over the printed design.

I found some fat quarters in my stash which worked well for the lining.

I agree with the sayings printed on the back of the bag, especially #1 and #6.

There is a pocket on the front of the bag.

A Day in Fenton

2010-08-26T12:53:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, my friends and I went to Fenton. Our first stop was the Heavenly Scent Herb Farm. The shop was painted to look like an old European building.

The gardens were magnificent.

This is Cheryl in front of some of the lush plants.

This is Dena and Linda under one of the many flower covered arbors.

The planting were so colorful.

I'm standing by a small pond and an unbelievably huge plant. I was told they feed the plants every time they water them, I guess that explains their size.

We went to lunch at a The French Laundry . The food was exceptional and the atmosphere unique. Of course, our last stop was a quilt shop, the Quilter's Garden . The shop had a lot of patterns I hadn't seem before and a great selection of batiks.

It was a very enjoyable trip, made better by the company of good friends.

New Finds

2010-08-18T14:58:00.003-04:00

When Jenny was home she made us some cucumber salad. We really liked the flavor and I have made it a number of times. I added toasted sesame seeds and used less red pepper.

Jenny also noticed we had residents in the bird house, outside the bedroom window.

The mom bird was too quick for me to catch a good photo of her feeding the baby birds.

The last time I worked at our church's Mission Store, I found a cute vase. It looked hand crafted but it had a small "Made in Japan" label on the bottom. I think it was a great find for ten cents :)

Millington Quilt Show

2010-08-15T12:50:00.006-04:00

The Quilt Club had a Quilt Show as part of the Millington Festival this past weekend. Here are some photos of the show.

Happy Birthday Linda!

2010-08-11T08:08:00.002-04:00

Today is my best friend's birthday. Happy Birthday, Linda!

We celebrated Linda's birthday earlier this month. Part of my present to Linda was a pair of ladybug hot pads.

I used a paper pieced pattern I bought on Etsy. I haven't done much paper piecing so I think I wasted a lot of fabric. Making the pads was a good learning experience.

On the back of the hot pads, I used parts of a friendship sayings panel Linda and I found shopping in Shipshewana.

I decorated some snack size Hershey bars for dessert at our quilting buddies' birthday lunch for Linda.

Western Michigan Trip

2010-08-08T11:25:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed having Jenny home for a week. During part of her visit, we took a mini vacation to the west part of the state. We did some wine tasting in the Paw Paw area. This a photo of Tom and Jenny in front of some grape vines.

In wine country, we also stopped a couple of chocolate shops. We tried the chocolate covered bacon...interesting flavor.

We stopped for an ice cream cone in South Haven. The life size blue cow on the roof caught my interest.

The weather was overcast but it didn't stop anyone from enjoying the Lake Michigan shore.

Since we were visiting quilt shops, Jenny found an interesting stop for Tom. We went to the Gilmore Car Museum, north of Kalamazoo. The antique cars are stored in restored historic barns. I had Jenny take my picture in front of an old potato truck. I grew up in potato country and worked on potato farms a couple of summers while in school.

Bird Panel

2010-07-22T10:30:00.003-04:00

My friend, Dena gave me this beautiful panel. She knows I like birds and bright colors.

I used the center of the panel to make a wall hanging for our back entrance.

I put patchwork hearts on the corners using some of the bright colors in the panel.

I used invisible thread in the quilting. I haven't gotten the knack of free motion quilting so I drew my pattern on paper and sewed over the design. Not a great method, but it worked.

I used purple, red and blue Swarovski crystals to embellish some of the berries.

Two of the bird pictures and the border of the panel were made into a table runner.

This is the back of the table runner.

Thanks again, Dena :)

Millington Quilt Club July Meeting

2010-07-16T20:25:00.004-04:00

Wednesday the Millington Quilt Club had a meeting. We don't usually meet during the summer so the meeting was short and quite a few members were missing. Our show n' tell was a lot quicker also. This is a picture of Elaine and Pat showing us baby quilts they made. The quilts tops were made from a yard of three different fabrics, so they still have tops for two more baby quilts each.

This is Elaine's first quilt. She did a beautiful job. Connie, the owner of My Lil Quilt Shop, helped Elaine with the quilt. They designed it together as they went.

Sydney made this purse and trimmed it with some beads from her stash.

Amy made these three baby quilt tops, which she donated to the club.

This is my best friend, Linda with a ladybug purse she made.

Jeananne made her bag in the same class she and Linda took at My Lil Quilt Shop. She added a longer handle to her purse.

Jan is showing off her pretty ribbon embroidered jacket.

Viola is showing us some of the credit card holders she made for the club.

Birds and Bees

2010-07-10T16:57:00.005-04:00

We had a robin build a nest in the tree next to the garage. Two days in a row, we found baby robins on the ground. So sad...they can't fly. This little guy was shy but eventually he came out into the open.

Not sure what happene to him or his sibling. They were both gone the morning after we found them. We're hoping they weren't the stray cat's dinner.

I love going out and taking pictures of my flowers. Bees don't seem to mind having their pictures taken.

So I took a lot of photos.

Couldn't decide which ones I liked best.

They really like the thistle in my front flower bed.

Hope you're not too bored....really couldn't decide which were best.

Traverse City

2010-07-02T13:36:00.003-04:00

Tom and I drove up to Traverse City on Wednesday and came back Thursday. We were able to beat the Cherry Festival and 4th of July traffic. We drove around the Leelanau Peninsula. This is a picture of the Lake Michigan beach at Glen Arbor.

The following 2 pictures are of West Grand Traverse Bay.

The water is soooooooo clear and clean and the sky was almost cloudless. I think all the shades of blue could be a great inspiration for a quilt.

The Leelanau is known for its vineyards and wineries. I thought the weather vane on top of one of the wineries was very artsy.

This vineyard is located exactly on the 45th parallel. The hills covered with grapevines were gorgeous.

Northern Michigan is very populated with deer, however we didn't see any deer until we turned onto our road on the way home. There are trees lining the road and a small woods in the photo but most of the land in our neighborhood is farmland. We are more used to seeing cows on our road.

Kamryn's Graduation Party

2010-06-26T21:19:00.002-04:00

Today was my niece Kamryn's graduation party. I made a carrot cake which wouldn't photograph well, but it did taste good. I also decorated Hershey Nuggets for the party.

I used address labels to cover the candy. The top has Kamryn's picture, one side has her high school logo and the back has the MSU Spartan. She will be going to Michigan State this fall.

The roses are blooming in the front yard.

Even though some insect has been nibbling on the leaves, I think the flowers are beautiful.

Amy's Tote Bag

2010-06-24T15:31:00.002-04:00

I made my friend, Amy a tote bag for her birthday.

Amy likes cats so I put a cats on the front and back outside pockets.

The larger cat has ears similar to prairie points.

Both front and back pockets have Velcro tabs to keep them from gaping open.

The inside of the bag has a magnetic snap. One of the interior pockets is sized for a cell phone, so I put Velcro on the top to keep the phone inside if the bag were tipped over.

Pretty Pink Peonies

2010-06-19T13:10:00.003-04:00

My mom raised beautiful flowers. In the summer, she always had bouquets of flowers on her dining room table. The year before she passed away she gave me one of her peony plants. It did not bloom for a couple of years but now it has gorgeous blooms.

The flowers seem to attract ants. I remember them on her table too. Since my bouquet was small I think I managed to shake off most of the insects.

I keep trying to create the perfect fitting vest. I have a quilted pattern I want to use, but only when I know the vest will fit when I get it done. A couple of people recommended I make a muslin test vest. It seemed like a waste of time and fabric (I realize that's not really true). I found some inexpensive home decorator fabric at JoAnn's and used that to test my pattern again. I can wear my test vest and don't feel I'm out time or money :)

Spring Flowers

2010-06-11T15:53:00.003-04:00

Being retired, it seems like I should have a lot of time to keep current with my blog. I haven't been doing much sewing lately; I have been taking crazy quilt classes but haven't finished anything to show off. My flowers are just getting minimal care, but that hasn't stopped them from being beautiful. The poppies were in bloom a few weeks ago.

The clematis is thriving on the bird house pole.

The blanket flowers love the sun on the south side of our home.

The red lilies are just starting to bloom in front of my arbor.

They are gorgeous.

New Purse

2010-05-13T10:06:00.003-04:00

Last week some of my friends were taking a purse class at My Lil' Quilt Shop in Millington. I remembered that I had bought the Lazy Girl Towne Purse pattern and fabric and never made the bag, so I decided to take the class. When I dug out the pattern and fabric, the receipt made me realized it had been in my stash for five years!

The pattern has a pocket with a flap on the outside, I opted to only put the pocket on the front and leave the back plain.

The inside has six pockets. I decided to line the bag with lighter bright fabrics. My sister-in-law had once recommended that it would be easier to see items inside a purse with light linings. I imagine she was thinking of white or beige fabric but I love bright colors.

I learned a lot in the class and had a good time with my friends.

2010-05-12T09:42:00.002-04:00

The link to the flower pattern used in the bag:
http://www.amybutlerdesign.com/pdfs/Snow_Mum_Pillow.pdf

Awesome Tote

2010-05-11T14:34:00.003-04:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. My husband and children gave me some very thoughtful, neat presents. The best present is Jenny, she came home to visit for a few days. Jenny does a wonderful job designing and creating quilts and tote bags. She made me a tote for Mother's Day.

The tote has a gorgeous wool felt mum flower on the front. The center of the mum is comprised of different red beads.

Jenny lined the inside with vintage fabric. She also fashioned numerous pockets on the inside.

The handles and top of the bag are decorated with red twill tape. The tote is a beautiful one of a kind gift. Thanks, Jenny :)

Embellished Denim Shirt

2010-05-07T14:17:00.002-04:00

I really like denim shirts, even though I have a feeling they are not in style any longer.

I purchased a denim shirt from LL Bean on sale and used my sewing machine's decorative stitches to embellish it. I don't have an embroidery machine so I bought a couple of appliques on EBay.

I used a couple of types of variegated thread, but find I like the Signature brand from Jo Ann Fabric the best.

Most of my tulips and daffodils are done for the season. While wandering around the yard I was surprised to see the Flirty Mary's (a type of mini iris) were blooming. My sister-in-law, Kathryn gave me a clump a few years ago and they have been multiplying.

Spring Flowers and Birthday Presents

2010-05-02T14:58:00.002-04:00

This is the view from my kitchen window. In the spring I have a variety of tulips and daffodils planted in front of the fence and arbor.

The tulips are beautiful in their prime.

Our quilt club decided our beverage cups should have tops that can be sealed so there won't be mishaps involving quilts and beverages. For my friend, Pat's birthday, I decided to dress up a mug for her. I bought a photo mug from Starbucks and lined it with fabric instead of a photo.

I used Heat and Bond to put Pat's name on the fabric. I think appliqueing the name would have been neater but the space in the mug was too narrow to allow for the stitching.

Millington Quilt Club Meeting...Part 2

2010-04-25T14:49:00.006-04:00

More photos from our meeting last Wednesday......Faith made three quilts for charity. I'm not sure why I didn't take photos of all of them...sorry. This is one of the three.

Kay made this purple tote bag for her daughter-in-law. Kay told me earlier that she had her daughter and daughter-in-law shop for their tote fabric in her stash. What a good way to shrink down the stash and make others happy too.

This is Jan with her bright batik quilt top. I always love the happy colors Jan uses.

Vivian shared her Lazy Girl purse. She had been working on it at our club's sleepover.

Nancy made this colorful bag.

Dena was being a little camera shy when she showed off her Bow Tucks bag.

Pat made this quilt for a friend who is retiring in June.

Pat made numerous gift bags. The bags are made using 2 fat quarters.

Some of us have been taking Crazy Quilt classes at My Lil' Quilt Shop. Pat shared the square she is working on.

Jan donated this scrappy quilt top to the club. Our club gives quilts to families who are victims of house fires.

Jan made this red, white and blue quilt for a niece's graduation. Lucky grad!

Busy Jan also made these place mats.

Jan made the jacket she wore to the meeting.

At the sleepover, Jan was working on this table runner.

Doris showed us a tote bag insert she made after taking a class Jan taught.

Cheryl made a mini Bow Tucks bag.

Karen is making a Crazy Quilt square using fabric from her mother's clothes.

Karen was also in our Crazy Quilt class, this is the square she worked on.

At our sleepover, Eileen was showing us how to make baskets, rugs, etc. by wrapping fabric around clothes line. This is one of the two rugs, Karen later made.

One of the best benefits of belong to a quilt club is seeing every one's projects.

Thanks to Dena for taking notes while I took photos. It makes it a lot easier for me to remember details later....since it seems to take me a while to post the pictures.