Showing posts with label Elephant Parade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elephant Parade. Show all posts

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Mini and More

Many of us have participated in the Schnibbles and More QALs for the last few years.  I have loved every little quilt that I made and love to display them around the house.  Needless to say when it was announced this year that it was coming to an end, I was disappointed.  I was thrilled when it was announced that a new series was going to begin with Michele of Island Life Quilts and Sherri of A Quilting Life.  This first month our mini was A Summer Star by Sherri.   I had a little pack of Noteworthy charms and used a summery butter solid with it.

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It finishes at 14 1/2” so is perfect to use under a bouquet of flowers.  I used some Riley Blake small gingham for the binding. 

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The quilting is a simple stitch in the ditch.
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I also finished the Elephant Parade quilt by quilting it and adding the binding.  I will apply the label once our newest grandbaby arrives because I enjoy putting their first photo on the label.  We are all excited to see what the baby will be, but my instinct is thinking blue.  We should know any day now.

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I put soft minky on the back and it feels so great.

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Recently I was awarded the “A Lovely Blog” award by two fabulous quilters.  I respect both of them so much for their work so I was thrilled to have been chosen by them.  The first one was by Soma who blogs at www.whimsandfancies.com.  Soma is such an amazing photographer and artist as well as a great quilter.  She is currently working on a Greek alphabet.  It is incredible and I can’t wait to see it when it is finished.

Emily is a quilter whom I have followed for some time now.  She blogs at Em's Scrapbag.  I have tested several of her patterns and have loved each one.  She is one of those quilters who can pick up scraps and create a masterpiece with them.  She is a great representative of a generous quilter with all of her donated quilts to Happy Chemo.
 
One of the things I am suppose to do is to write ten things about myself that people would not tend to know.  I’m pretty boring, but here goes.

1.)  I was one of those beastly hyperactive children.  My mom often says had I been the first child, there would have been no more.  I've always required little sleep and am always up before 5:30 a.m.

2.)  I’m quite mechanical.  I worked on my own VW bug before I got married.  I loved to take the carburetor apart and clean it to get maximum mileage.  I even taught several of the guys in the neighborhood how to clean theirs.  I also recovered the interior in a zebra skin fabric.  LOVED that little car. 

3.)  I went to an all girls high school and hated it!

4.) I broke three vertebrae in my back when I was 17 in a skateboard accident and broke two more about 10 years ago.

5.)  I made my first skirt for myself when I was 5 years old on my mom’s old Singer sewing machine.
 
6.)  I became enthralled with quilting when I saw a Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt while visiting a friend of my grandmother.  When we got home she got some scraps together for me and I tried to stitch one just like it.  My hexagon shape was far from perfect and the endeavor did not last long.

7.)  My paternal grandmother was a knitter.  I taught myself to knit when I was in nursing school to occupy my time between classes and loved it.  Still do!

8.)  My husband and I both love to travel.  Our favorite thing to do is jump in the car and just take off for the back roads to see what we can discover.

9.)  We have lived in many locations, including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Hawaii and England in our married life.

10.) There are a million things that I still want to accomplish in this lifetime.

I am now suppose to nominate others to do the same, but I am just going to put it out there for anyone who would like to join in on the fun.  I would love to know more about all of those who follow my blog.  Please feel free to add your ten things. 

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Herd

I just couldn’t stop myself after getting that green frog made.  I love the way this quilt top turned out.  The splashes of bright color are so much fun thrown in with the black, white and grey.

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My birds are a variation from the pattern as I added some very skinny legs.

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My frog has personality.  It is pestering the baby elephant.  Years ago we were in Colorado Springs and went to a pub that is known for flying bees.   I’ve held on to this bee for all these years and thought this was the perfect finish for the frog.
  
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The Elephant Parade is an ongoing SAL at Sew Fresh Quilts.  Be sure to pop over and get the patterns while they are free. 

Friday, February 13, 2015

New York Beauty and Elephants

Now that’s a title for you!!  Happy Friday the 13th.

I have a very talented “baby” sister.  She was an art major in college, but worked as a juvenile probation officer until she retired a couple of years ago.  She and her husband built a beautiful home and retired to Homer, Alaska.  She now enjoys her crafts in her new studio with spectacular views of the bay.  Everything she does is magical and done to perfection.  She has been working on a New York Beauty queen size quilt for her daughter and I begged her to let me share it on my blog.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Em's quilt

Isn’t it stunning?  I love the greens and golds that she is using.  I am trying to convince her to start a blog to share her creations.  Don’t you think that she needs to do that?????   During the summer months she works as a landscape artist so I am sure she would have a lot to share with the blogging world.  Wouldn’t you love to see her creativity?

My herd of elephants is slowly growing here.  It has been a rather crazy week, but I did finish my first row of the Elephant Parade.  I love the splash of green that the frog brings to the piece.

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I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day this weekend.  Ours will be quiet with a special dinner cooked at home.  I’m pretty sure chocolate will be included.