Happy Birthday Bunny!

I am Finally Finally Finally able to post pictures of Bunny's quilt.

Yay!!!


First I must say:

This quilt is NOTHING like what it originally looked like in my imagination!

That, however, must be followed up with this:

I

LOVE

IT!!!

=-)

It measures 83" x 75". (Yes, it's h-u-g-e! But it's just more to love. =-) )

The fabric is various stuff I already had, various fat quarters I bought for parts, the main fabrics I bought specifically for the front & the back (but I didn't write down that information, so I don't remember...), and the binding is

"Fizz" by P&B Textiles.

I had NO idea how to quilt it, and it was such a HUGE job that I took it to a lady in town who has a Long Arm business. (That's a sewing machine with a "long arm" where the material can all fit while you quilt.)

She quilted it with Superior Threads' clear (monofilament, maybe?) thread in an all-over swirl pattern. She has a computer hooked up to her sewing machine and puts the quilt on a huge "fabric holder" thingy, and the computer & sewing machine do all the work!

(I'm sure it's not quite that simple, but... it works for me!) =-)

Without further ado...

The front:

(The sun finally came out!)

(Note how my helper wants to be in the picture! She's so funny!)

(My helper is *still* there, posing for the camera like Tyra's around...

She stayed there the whole time Bunny was taking the pictures. lol!)

Close-up of the Robin & nest (the right wing is 1 piece of fabric, the left wing is 1 piece of fabric, the tail is 1 piece of fabric, all very carefully folded...) :

Close-up of the Flutter-by (which was VERY difficult! It's 2 pieces of fabric; the polka dot "base" and the orange on top that's zig-zagged onto the polka dot):

Close-up of the Bee & Sunflower (the bee isn't what I envisioned either, but... at least it's *there*! lol ) :

Close-up of the Dragonfly:

Close-up of the little Pink Flowers and of the Binding (Kitty helped me pick out that binding, and it's just perfect! Thanks Kitty!!) :

I wanted to put a lizard and a lady bug and a frog and some other stuff on there, but maybe I'll get to all that "one of these days"... when I have "nothing to do"...!

And the back...

Again, it is nothing like I first envisioned, but...

again,

I love it!!!

(See? Even though we made her move so we could turn it around, there's my Helper once again, posing for Tyra Banks! haha!)

The Luna moth was really difficult to do, but *TOTALLY* worth it!

I think she's *Perfect*! (I've always loved Luna moths, ever since my older brother found a cocoon for a Luna moth and put it between his window & screen and let it "hatch"! That was the first time I remember seeing a Luna moth [they only come out at night, you know], and I've loved them ever since!)

Her body is made of fleece and the wings are batik fabric. The antennae are painted on... I couldn't make them look right with thread, embroidery floss or yarn, so I just painted 'em! The rest of her is machine-sewn thread. Lots of work, but totally worth it (*I* think!).

Various scattered leaves (Again, this was different in my head; I wanted it to look like you were laying down under the tree, looking up at the night sky through a branch, but... I couldn't make it look right, so I just "scattered" the leaves... It looks okay, right...? Does it...? Whatever.) :



And the "Impressionistic flower garden" (which is smaller than I made it, but it had to get chopped off at the Long-Arm Lady's. She didn't have enough to work with, so in the doing, it had to go.) :

So there's Bunny's quilt

just like I've been promising you for a month or MORE! =-)

She loves it! She did NOT want to wait until her birthday to get it, and it had been so looooong since she had last seen it that she forgot what it looked like before, when it only had a tree and a few flowers.

I hope you like it too! =-)

Feel free to comment to let me know what you think!

=-)

Thankful

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I hope it is filled with all the people you love,
as much food as you need,
and the good health to enjoy it all.
=-)


Also, I thought I'd finally post pictures of the latest Baby Quilt I made. (I believe I finished this one in October...?)

It measures 50" x 55".

It's made with a Jelly Roll of "Fresh" by Deb Strain for Moda, with various strips (leftover from the jelly roll) for the binding, and a yard or so from the Fresh line for the backing.

It's just straight-line quilted all around with orange thread. And though I'd like to do some "fancy" free-motion quilting in the sashing around the border, my family has talked me out of it.

(I may still do it one of these days... IF I get bored and adventurous!)

Also, I did the binding totally by machine on this one!

It's so cheery!

I originally made it with the intentions of giving it to my local Quilting Guild (when I join in January) for their Cuddle Quilt project...

But now...

I've spent over $60 on this! I think Boyfriend wouldn't like it too much if I gave it away and couldn't even get a receipt to take it off on taxes!

...so I'll just keep it for awhile...

I'm sure I'll know someone (one of these days) who's having a baby...

And I'll be able to just "whip it out"! (Kitty has hinted that she'd like it for her future baby... We'll see!)

=-)

Be well Friends!

p.s. This quilt makes SIX total finished quilts for *this* year!!! WooHoo!!!

I had a goal, and I actually REACHED IT!!!

Plus I have one quilt *top* (the Values quilt) that I'm pondering on what to do for the back, and I'm working on the Blue WaveRunner, which is coming together nicely, thank you very much! So I *might* have more than six for the year.

I'm so tickled!!!

Blue

Well, I finished all the blocks for the Blue WaveRunner quilt tonight!

I am sooo tickled!!!
And I am in LOVE with it! =-)

Now I need to put sashing on and do something for the back, and of course make the binding...

But I love it!!!

(I wonder if I can bare to give it away... ?)

=-)

A Values Quilt

In perusing various blogs, I ran across Katie's post about a thing called a Values Quilt. Well, it intrigued me so I just had to try it...

I'm not too good at doing the "Values thing", but I had a good time going through my stash of fabrics and picking out some for this. I've finished the top, and now it sits either on the couch or in the big chair in the living room.

I like it!

My daughters like it!

Boyfriend even likes it, though he's not too thrilled with my idea for the back.
I thought I'd do *another* values "top", except with a light center, and then use that for the "back" of this quilt...

He doesn't like the idea, but I can't get any other idea in my head for the back, so there it sits...

And meanwhile, I've started another quilt! (Wow! This is a banner year for me and quilts!)
This one is a WaveRunner like BumbleBean's.

I need to make a quilt for a family friend who lives in Guatemala. He requested his name be put on my "list", and when I asked what pattern or colors (Give me a *little* help here!), his only request was "Blue".

Well, when I saw BumbleBean's WaveRunner, I just *had* to give it a try! That's when I knew I'd like to do it in blues, and that it would be for Carlos.
And I'm using up fabric from my "stash", so it's a win-win! =-)

So I'll get pictures as soon as possible. The sun hasn't been out in DAYS here!

Have a GREAT weekend!
=-)

Finally

Well, the sun, moon & planets were all aligned properly and I took pictures! Yay! =-)



Lottie's Quilt measures 6 ft x 5 ft.

The fabric is a layer cake from "Symphony" by Sentimental Studios for Moda. The backing is a yard (or however much) from the same line plus black fabric. The binding is the same black fabric. (Not very imaginative, I know. But it looks good on the front. =-) )




(Beautiful day, huh?!)

You can see some of the quilting better from this side. It's my first time doing Free Motion quilting on an actual Quilt! Yay! (A big Thank You to Leah Day for giving me the courage & knowledge to try it!)

I gotta run now! Gotta go get all clean and sweet-smellin' for my weekend getaway/date with Boyfriend! We're heading to a Winery and hotel for Anniversary Fun!!! (Sorry, Otin. No webcam. But I'm sure Boyfriend would love to take pictures! lol)

Ya'll have a fun weekend too!

p.s. I also took pictures of the Baby Quilt and I'll post them as soon as I can! (I would say "as soon as I can *walk*, but I don't really need to walk to post, so...)

LOL!

p.p.s. I *know* I owe you pictures of Bunny's quilt, but it's in hiding! She hasn't seen it and I have to wait until her birthday (the 30th) to get it out, give it to her, then (finally, finally, finally!) take pictures of it! I can't wait for her and you to see it!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Big One!

TODAY is my anniversary!

I'd like to sing a little ditty and dance a little jig.

... But I don't even know any dittys...

or jigs, for that matter.

Whatever!

Anyway.

Today is my twenty-sixth anniversary.

And I still love this man, people!!!

And the TRULY amazing thing is that HE still loves ME (or at least that's what he tells me... And I'm buyin' it, hook, line AND sinker, people!!!) !!!

Anyway, we went out to supper...

had a bottle of wine *with* supper...

and I'm a CHEAP date, let me tell you!

Our two daughters went with us, 'cause we're having a Fabulous anniversary weekend this coming weekend, and, trust me, the daughters WILL NOT be in attendence at this Soiree (sp?). Trust me!

We have already booked the hotel room (King suite with a shower huge enough for him, me, and EACH one of you reading this!),

booked the wine tasting at the Winery,

booked the supper at the special restaurant at the Winery,

and, did I mention, booked the King Suite at the wonderful hotel! =-)

Yes, I am in F-I-N-E form, people! I'm feelin' good. =-)

Anyway, I did take 1 (one) picture for your "enjoyment":

We had a great supper tonight, and we even ordered dessert...

...However...

I thought of taking a picture for your enjoyment.

...But...

I was a *little* too inebriated (sp?) to think soon enough to get a picture you'd like to see.

We finished the dessert and...

Well, it was Pumpkin Cheesecake, and

it

was...

Mmmmmmm.

Wish you could have been there!

=-)

WooHoo!

After looking allllll over AmandaJean's blog at the beginning of the year, I made a goal for myself:

I told myself that I would *try* to make at least four quilts for the year.

Well, guess what?!


I just finished my sixth quilt for the year!!!


The sun isn't really out today, and the ground is all squishy from all the rain, so I don't have pictures yet... But I plan to put some up fairly soon.

Til then, won't you dance a little jig with me?!

I'm tickled pink!!!

This one is made up of a jelly roll of fabric from Fresh by Deb Strain for Moda.
It's so bright and cheery.
I can't wait for you to see it!

Photos soon!

Success!

Yes, I've finished Lottie's quilt. And I've finished Bunny's quilt. And, yes, I am thrilled, thank you very much!

So now you ask, where are the pictures?

Well...

I have a little slight problem with that...

I had Bunny & Kitty take Lottie's quilt outside the other day (when the sun decided to shine for about 10 minutes) and take pictures for me...

But I had to leave to drive the bus, so the pictures weren't exactly what I had in my mind...

Anyway, without any more whining, here are a few pictures of Lottie's quilt:

Remember that site I had a link to the other day? Leah Day's site about Free Motion Quilting? Well, thanks to her, I had the cojones to try it myself, and as you can see above, it went fairly well! I really enjoyed trying something "new" and finding that I can do it!

So I've mostly just "traced" the patterns on the fabric.

That's okay... 'cause I'm happy with the results! =-)

I'm waiting for Bunny to leave the house (and for me to feel better at the same time) to take pictures of her quilt so I can post them.

'Til then!

=-)

Squee!!!

Aaaaa!!! I am screaming with joy!

Lottie's quilt and Bunny's quilt

are

DONE!!!

Pictures to come soon... if the sun will shine again.

=-)

Guess What?!

Guess who called last night?!

The Long-arm Lady! (For those *not* in the quilting world, I imagine that sounds... odd, to say the least!)

Anyway, she told me that Bunny's quilt is finished being quilted!

I am SO excited!!!

I can hardly wait to go pick it up!

Boyfriend and I are going tonight, as soon as I get off work!

Can't wait! Can't wait! ::doing little jig::

I'll take pictures of course, and post them... maybe tomorrow.

I can't wait for you all to see this quilt too. I'm so tickled with it! Now I can't wait to see just what it looks like now that it's been quilted.

The only thing I have left to do with it is to bind it and to make a label for it.

I've already figured out how I'm going to do the label, too!

I am so frickin' excited I can hardly stand it!!! =-)

Also, I am progessing nicely on the quilt I'm doing for Lottie. I'm FreeMotion quilting it, and it's coming along well, if I do say so myself! =-) I'll take pictures of it as soon as I get all of the squares quilted... Or maybe I'll wait 'til it's finished completely. Who knows?! =-)

Have a great day!