Another Memory Quilt

Tonight I started my next memory quilt.  This is for my best friend, who lost her husband to cancer in December. It is made from his shirts.  I've just started sewing the strip sets together. Those strip sets will make 5 of the 9 large blocks. It is going together really fast.

Baby coin quilt

This may be my new favorite.  What I love about it: 1) that it was made all from scraps, 2) the flannel polka dot backing and binding, 3) the pieced backing, 4) the modern look, and 5) that it was so easy to make. I quilted it using Sticky Buns by Anne Bright.

My Walking Trail

In the winter, I have my own inside walking trail.  I like it.  It take me about 30 long strides to complete the circle - living room, foyer, dining room, kitchen, and back to the living room.  I can walk almost 4 miles per hour on my little trail.  It beats a treadmill that takes up space. My walking time is my praying, thinking, planning, and sometimes music listening time. It's not only good for the body, but good for the soul.

My Thermostat

My thermostat isn't working properly.  I am in the throes of menopause.  Five hot flashes in four hours this morning.  My, oh, my. FRUSTRATING.  However, I thought about the good in those.  Yes, there is good in hot flashes.  They are a reminder of the awesome body God gave to us women. They remind me of all the things that ARE working properly in my body. I retrieved a book, I've loved for many years.

My Body
   Thank you, God, for this body. For the things it can feel, the things it can sense, the wondrous things it can do. For its bright vigor at the day's beginning, for the hard sweet satisfaction of it walking, working, playing. For its very weariness at the day's end, and the dear comfort of it sleeping. Sometimes for even its pain - if only to sting me into some new awareness of my own existence upon this earth.
   I look upon it sometimes in reverent amazement - for we are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made.  All its secret silent machinery meshing and churning, all its muscles coordinating, the whole of it so neatly functioning. Lord, don't let me hurt it, scar and spoil it, overindulge it or overdrive it, but don't let me coddle it either. Let me love my body enough to keep it agile and able and well, strong and clean.
   Thank you that I live within this body - the real, eternal forever existing me. That it has been made to serve me so happily, so well, so long. And until the day comes when I'll have no further need of it, let me appreciate it to the fullest and be grateful for it: my body.

as penned by Marjorie Holmes more than 40 years ago.

Textured Photo on Stretched Canvas

I don't know what this technique is called.  I tried it tonight.

 You start with Mod Podge, a craft brush, tissue paper, and a stretched canvas. And of course a photo on your computer to print.

 You cut the tissue paper a little bigger than a piece of printer paper, and then tape it to the paper on the back side.  Feed your paper through your printer so the image will print on the tissue paper.

Since I was making mine 5 x 7 size I printed two different photos on one sheet.

Carefully cut the tissue paper away from the printer paper.

Paint a coat of the Mod Podge onto the canvas; place the tissue paper on top of the wet Mod Podge; slowly and ever so gently smooth the tissue paper down. Or as I did, pat it down.  (I wasn't so gentle the first time and tore the tissue paper)

Then you have a textured photo canvas!

Birthday

I had a birthday this week. It was a great day!  Elijah and Katie had brought me some New Orleans Coffee and Chicory from Cafe Du Monde. He picked it up on his recent visit there.  Yummy!  My group at work gave me a little party and had an Amazon gift card and a beautiful fancy yarn scarf one of them knitted for me.

Sunday morning when the kids were here I snapped a few pictures and posted them on facebook later that evening.  My friend pulled one of them off and made me this great textured canvas photo.

She handed it to me on Monday morning. She told me how she did it, so tonight I decided to give it a try......

Finished

Quilted using a pantograph called Fay Feathers by Lorian Quilting.

My loved ones....

 Elijah and Katie came home for a short visit.  He was one of three "preacher boys" who preached today at Grace Church.  He always does such a good job.  This momma is proud!

My mom came to hear him, and I drove down and picked up his other grandmother, Mamaw Hixson, so she also could hear him. They are proud of their grandson too!

Ready for Quilting

Got both of these ready to quilt.  Yay!  I love a pieced back.  I don't like to do it, but I think it just adds something to the quilt.  I even had enough of the pink and brown to make a little pillow to match.

Love, love, love this bright coin quilt.  Now time for a lunch break.

Shiny Sink

A shiny sink makes me happy.  Did you know you can shine your stainless steel sink with a steel wool pad?  I didn't know that, until I went to the Flylady's website.  She has lots of ideas for keeping your home clean and organized.

Baby Coin Quilt

I found this pattern on the Moda Bake Shop site.  I really liked it, especially since I knew I had enough bright scraps to make it.  Much of the scraps are the same ones I used with my spring fling quilt. This is so easy and goes together really fast.  I even had some of the same flannel turquoise polka dot for the backing.  I like they way they suggest you put another stack of coins on the backing.

I hope to get it ready for the machine tomorrow.  I still need to quilt the pink and brown one.  I did get some backing today, so it won't be long and hopefully I'll have both of these done.

Say YES to the Dress!

My friend's daughter, a senior in high school, put on a fantastic event today in our little town.  She held the first annual "Say YES to the Dress" event.  For weeks now she has been collecting barely used, and in some cases, brand new, prom and special event dresses.  At the beginning she had several beautiful girls put on a fashion show, some with tuxedo'd escorts.  She had collected all kinds of donations from local businesses - signs, balloons, "Say YES to the Dress" T-shirts for the workers, hanging racks, even some great prizes which were drawn at the end of the day.

Each dress got a tag with a number, size, and price.  She had a ledger book all set up with the number, owner, price, and various instructions to her Mother on how to collect the money, and how to mark the ledger to indicate all the particulars. I worked with her mother today at the event.  What made this even more special is that for each sale, 10% of the selling price went to "Hands of Mercy," the local non-profit food pantry.
I am so proud of Allison.  She is a very special young lady and I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for her future.

Allison, in the center with the dark jeans, is surrounded by her friends that helped in the event and some of the fashion show models.

My First Design

I know it isn't much, but it is the first quilt I've made without a pattern. My first design. Just simple pinwheels, large plain blocks, sashing and cornerstones, but still....I feel like I've done something great. It will be a baby quilt. I've just got it laid out to be sure that is how I want to put it together.  Used all fabric I already had.  I always like that. I'll have to do some fancy custom quilting in the plain blocks.

Late Lunch

Nutella on chocolate zucchini bread with decaf coffee.  Oh, my, my.  Decaf, you ask? Yes, I am one of those old people mature adults who can't drink coffee past noon or I'll be up half the night.

Laundry Room Re-do (continued)

Wire shelving that I am removing.

 It was secured with these little things and screws.

Not sure why I am filling the holes and painting.  All of them will be covered up with the new cabinet.  Guess it just seemed like the right thing to do.......and made me feel like a real carpenter!

Photography Tips

I get a weekly email with digital photography tips.  I love reading it and looking at the pictures.  This week, it challenged its readers to do a 15 minute photography exercise "to improve your photography in 2012"....I had 15 minutes so, I did it.  Well, I tried to do it.

Start by selecting a setting (living room). Observe it for 10 minutes.  You are to just study the room, what would make a good picture, how the lighting is, what angles might work for interesting photos, look for details, etc. I think I made it about 3 minutes. Sorry, I'm a little hyper or impatient, or both.

After your 10 minutes of observation, you shoot pictures for 5. I probably did about 3 minutes worth.  These were my favorites.

It was an interesting exercise.  There is so much to learn about photography.  It forces you to pay more visual attention to everything.  I like that.

My Motto

I found this on another blog and it fits me and my quilting exactly!

Thelma and her quilt

Memory Quilt

Binding mistake

Got the quilting done.

But I made a mistake when I was sewing on the binding.  I don't know what I was thinking, but I sewed it on the wrong side!  These handy little eyebrow trimmers are much better than your regular seam ripper.

Ink Cartridges

Paying $47 for these makes me cringe!  Surely there are some new printers out there that don't use such expensive ink cartridges. It just kills me to pay that much for these little things. Anybody out there have a good printer with less expensive ink?

Laundry room re-do

Phase 1 was removing the pedestals under the washer and dryer. Check
Phase 2 was removing the toilet. Check

Aren't you just thrilled when you find you can do something yourself!  I am.  Removing the toilet was really easy peasy.
















Ewee, look at that ugly paint color.  That was the original.  Neither of us liked what the other picked, and ended up compromising on something we both hated.......that was a wise decision.....not.  This is where the new cabinet will go.  Yes, that is a filing cabinet.  It will eventually go too.  Hopefully this laundry room will end up looking like a nice laundry room.   The hubby wasn't really thrilled with this home improvement project, and actually....snicker, snicker, wants to keep the toilet.  I told him I am going to plant some tulips in it and put it in the yard, maybe with a sign over it, "rest stop"............just kidding...

Opportunity

The Lord has opened up an opportunity for my little quilt ministry that I am very excited about.  A sweet young family lost their baby boy a couple of years ago to SIDS.  It was heartbreaking for them and all who knew them.  The mother is looking for someone to take his baby clothes and transform them into a memory quilt.  The couple was friends with my son - therefore the door was opened for me to do this for them.

source

I've not made a quilt from baby clothes, but there are all kinds of great pictures, ideas, and tutorials on the web.  The Lord is answering my prayers for Remembrance Quilt Ministry and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

Politics

I don't typically get political on this blog, but these statements are some we all need to read and understand, before we vote this year.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Widow Quilt

Finally got it finished.  I was pretty disappointed in the blue border fabric.  I bought it at JoAnn's and should have known better.  I picked it by color and not by quality. It is very thin, and it kept moving when I was trying to sew it.  I will need to be sure and quilt it pretty heavy. Hopefully it will still be ok and using it for the binding won't cause me too much trouble.

Remembrance Quilt

Finally, I am back on the quilt.  Not sure about it.  I sure hope she likes it. Got all the little blocks made into the twelve bigger blocks. Still have to sew them together.

I normally put an inner border on these.  Not sure what I'll do.  Since his favorite color was yellow I may try to piece enough of the leftover yellow shirt strips and see if I can make an inner border from it.

2011 In Review

Quilting projects completed in 2011.

Style

I don't know about you, but even as I age, I want to be stylish.  I am not trying to look younger than my age.  I have a head full of gray hair, and am ok with it. But I do want to look stylish and not really older than I am either.  I struggle with trying to find clothes that are not too young looking, but still with some style.  I was inspired this morning by a 40ish lady with a great sense of style. I decided to cut off a dress.  Boots are in, and shorter dress lengths are popular also.  I am a small person and I think I can pull off the shorter length as long as I wear dark tights.

The dress, before and after. Wow, it looks like I made a shirt out of it, but I am not very tall.

 If you were 53 years old and had gray hair, would you wear this? Do you think it too short for a woman my age?