Look What I Did

Well I have be hard at work on Christmas gifts and I have finished two of them.  The first is a scripture quilt.

The pattern - Guiding Stars - and pre-printed blocks - Comfort of Psalms II - are from Block Party Studios.  The scripture quilt was never supposed to leave my sewing room.  I put it together four or five years ago and even quilted most of it but I wasn't happy with the results.  But that was no problem, it was meant to help me remember patience while quilting.  I put it away and figured I would re-work it some day.  Then my DMIL got sick.  I remembered my scriptue quilt and thought it would be comforting for her so I got it out and started the re-work.  Yes I picked out all of that quilting, added two more borders, and sent it out to the longarmer.  I really turned out beautifully.  I know she is going to love it. 

The second quilt was made using the free pattern titled Union Blue by Chloe Anderson and Colleen Reale of Toadusew for Windham Fabrics. The fabric is from the Windham Fabrics collection Washington's Legacy. I purchased it in kit form from Common Threads Quilting in Waxahachie, TX. My DDIL admired it greatly when I showed it to her soooo . . . I'm thinking it would make a nice gift for her. Now everyone has to promise to keep all of this a secret so they will both be surprised on Christmas. 

Close-up of quilting

Here's a close-up of the quilting.  Aren't those some lovely colors?!?

Now I have to get busy on the rest of this stuff that has to be done by Christmas.  Guess what I will be doing over Thanksgiving Weekend!!

Free Fabric Woo Hoo!!

Check out the fabric giveaway at Above All Fabric. While you are there do a little shopping as well.  Use the code JAYBIRD to get 15% off your order. Good through 11-13-10.

Accuquilt Go! Giveaway

Be sure to visit Lavender Ridge blog for a fabulous giveaway of an Accuquilt Go! and three dies. Click on the title of this post to go directly to Lavender Ridge. Good luck everyone!!!

Here's Your Chance

Quilters are such a social group! I think we were social networking with quilting bees, guilds and blogs way before the Facebook and Twitter craze happened. Not only are we social but we like to share our stuff too.

There is a great giveaway going on over on Little Miss Shabby's blog http://littlemissshabby.blogspot.com/. Go on over and check it out now.

If It's October . . .

. . . it must be time for the Davis family reunion. My mother's family reunion is held in October every year and usually we have been blessed with wonderful weather. That is until this year when we had 2.5 inches of rain on the afternoon of the event. Thankfully we had a covered pavillion or it would have been a total washout (pun intended ;>) Here is a cute little quilt I made for the fund raising raffle. Sorry I don't have a better pic but I was short of time. I finished the binding about an hour before we left for the reunion. We raised over $200.00 selling raffle tickets for the quilt. This money goes toward expenses for next year's party. The quilt was won by cousin Bud from Houston whose wife Kay was thrilled to get it. Congrats Bud and Kay!! This is the label commemorating this year's reunion.

Even though the weather was awful, fun was had by all and we will do it again next year. They are already asking what the next year's quilt will look like. Anyone with suggestions please post a comment it's never too early to get started.

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Can you guess what this is? Now don't be hasty. Take a good look at the cobbler and tell me what you think it is made of. Apples? Pears? You won't believe it but it is zucchini! Yes, zucchini as in zucchini squash and it is absolutely delicious. This is a wonderful way to use up all that zucchini from the garden. Plus this must be good for you to eat . . .after all it is made of vegetables. If you want the recipe drop me an email. I promise it is great.

Texas, Our Texas

Shortly before we decided to sell our house and build a new one on the property we had owned for 20 years I joined a BOM for a lovely quilt called Luv 'n Texas.

That was a little over two years ago and I am still working on the quilt. I have good excuses - we sold our house, started construction on the new house, moved into a rent house for eight months during construction, moved again to the new house, married off a son. But all along I have taken a few stitches here and there. The quilt is a sampler quilt of hand embroidered blocks each depicting an iconic image of Texas combined with pieced blocks. This quilt was designed by Jan Holder and Joan Orear.

I have never been much on handwork but I really love this quilt so I work on it when I get the chance. I didn't like the way the first two blocks turned out so I have started over on them. Here is a sample of one of my completed blocks.

My favorite quilt shop , Common Threads Quilting , hosted the BOM. Their sample showed the embroidered blocks colored in with crayons. Since this quilt is intended as a wall-hanging that is fine with me (cuts down on that hand work ;-). The BOM is over with at Common Threads but is still available at other stores. Click the Luv 'n Texas link above for other stores offering this quilt.






I will be working on this tomorrow during the Texas Rangers playoff game and the Dallas Cowboy game. Now how much more Texan can you get than that?!?

A Wedding Shirt

As I have admitted before, I love anything to do with sewing. In addition to quilting I also make historical clothing for individuals and costumers. Today I finished a nice purple linen shirt for a future groom. It is off in the mail tomorrow in order to arrive in time for the wedding. I hope I get pictures.

Tomorrow DD and I will get started on a quilt for the family reunion the end of this month. It is nothing very complicated or large so it shouldn't take too much time. We will sell raffle tickets for the quilt at the reunion in order to raise money for next year's reunion. I'll post some pics of the fabric and the design later.

I Went To Canton Today . . .

. . . and all I got was this duck!! Isn't he a grand duck?? Meet Francis Drake, so named by my very English DDIL. Francis is a lovely Rouen drake purchased as consort for my three Rouen hens. He will be in quarantine for the next few days but soon will be introduced to his ladies. He has a dashing black dot right in the center of his bill.

Sort of looks like a soul patch don't you think? I bet he will just drive the girls wild.

We also brought home two bush hats, kettle corn for DH, and a drill and tool box for DS. There were a few old quilts that were interesting but nothing I could not live without. I think some of them may have been newer than advertised. Polyester batting showing through the worn spots and machine stitches on the applique but hand stitches everywhere else seemed a bit out of sync. Nevertheless I really enjoyed finding and looking at all of them. DDIL says Canton First Monday Trade Days is like nothing she's ever seen before and loved seeing all the wildly diverse things people buy and walk around with. If you want to know more about this enormous and hugely popular flea market click on the link.

Oops!

Well it looks like I failed my assignment. It has been more than a month since I posted - sorry. However I have been busy with quilty, sewey things. I have managed to finish one quilt, re-work another and get them both off to the longarmer. I should haved taken pictures first but I didn't so I will have to do that when they get back.

I am also about three-quarters of the way finished with a really pretty red, white and blue quilt. I love red so you know I'm liking this one. Heres a pic of one of the blocks.   The pattern is Miss Scarlett's Quilt, an original design from Common Threads Quilting in Waxahachie, TX.  I love it!!

We are off to Canton Trade Days tomorrow.  It is a huge flea market that takes place the week-end preceeding the first Monday of the month.  DDIL has been dying to go but it has been simply too hot.  That is until now.  October in Texas is usually one of the nicest months of the year so we are going to take advantage of the nice weather and  go nose around in all the stuff.  I'll let you know what I find.

On The Road Again

I have made myself an assignment - try to write at least once a week. There are no rules, any subject will do but I do want to try to stick to quilting and sewing as much as possible.
Today I am in Scottsdale, AZ for a small trade show. I really don't have any time to visit any local shops on this trip but I have done so on prior visits to this area.
The Phoenix valley has an abundance of lovely stores serving a large population of quilters and sewers. I always make it a point to introduce myself as a visitor checking out the local fare. Most all shops are happy to hear that and are very welcoming. However, one shop will always stick out for being very rude and more or less asked me to hurry up and get out of their way. Maybe that's why there were no other customers in the store while I was there. The employee who checked me out tried her best to smooth over the owner's rudeness but that is something I will always remember about this store. The store itself was in a great location, large and roomy, had a great selection of fabrics and a killer class area. Hopefully they treat their regulars better than their potential regulars.
Enough negativity!! That one bad apple should not tarnish the other great stores and shop workers that I have met in AZ the past few years. I have to give a big shout-out to Quilter's Corner in Casa Grande, AZ. Fabulous fabric and a winning staff. Keep up the good work!

Hot Hot Hot

Today was day 14 of 100 degree plus temperatures. It is really taking a toll on everyone and everything. I spent the day working in the sewing room because it is way to hot to do anything outside. I tried out the new cutwork needle kit for my embroidery machine. The sample turned out nicely. Then the rest of the day I worked on a Christmas present quilt top. Maybe tomorrow will bring some cooler weather.

Cock-A-Doodle-Do

Among our motivations for leaving city life behind and moving back to the country was the desire to raise some of our own food. We had a garden last year that produced amazing vegetables. We are still getting fresh brocolli and a variety of greens out of it right now.

Next on our agenda is getting chickens. DH has been working very hard on building a chicken house and run in preparation for them and boy did he do it right!!! Take a look at the Hen House Hilton. It comes complete with a sliding window, sliding run door, and a fully enclosed 30' X 30' run.