More Handmade Gifts...

This could go on for a bit, yet...

A few gifts I made have yet to be given.

I'll post photos of them as they are received.

 I showed the coco express quilt at our 

Thanksgiving celebration and Jill fell in love with it!

I didn't give it to her, though.

I did, however, make these two pillow covers.
Quilted.  Decorative.  18".

One for her birthday and one for her Christmas gift.

For my sister, Joyce, I used scraps

of her black & white quilt to make these.

Also quilted.
The first two are 14" and the third is 18".

 

My sister, Julie, received these today.

Four 15" cloth napkins.

The colors are much prettier than shown.

Perhaps she'll take a photo I can snag from her.

(she didn't want pillows)

I guess that's it.

Thus far.

About 5 things left to show.

Yeah, I know, I am a slowpoke.

But, hey!
I am all excited...

and so looking forward to the new year!

I have many projects in mind that 

I am really looking forward to working on. 

One goal I am setting for myself this next year...

increase the level of difficulty in what I do with my quilts.  

AND, I have a lot of organizing and

rearranging to do in the very near future.    

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. - Ecclesiastes 9:10

25 Hours With My Sisters...

Wow, I finally have some time to do this while my satellite speed internet is being cooperative. Finally.

I last wrote on Thursday night, when I made a quilt block for Julie.

The next day, Friday, Julie & I went to the vet school (where I work & where she used to work) so that she could visit with some friends.

We did a few errands and then came home to get
ready for the other two sisters.
Julie wanted some photos

taken with the pups.

Here's Tag, sitting nice & straight for her

(her hand - holding a stick - is just outside the shot).

I think she's whispering sweet nothings to Allegra.

Joyce & Jill finally arrived! YAY!!!

We had pizza for supper and then sat & gabbed.

(l to r: Julie, Jill, Joyce)

Each time we have our 'sisters weekend' we exchange gifts. Jill gave sister plaques, Julie gave each of us 3 jars of jam (oh, it's sooo yummy), Joyce gave each of us a votive candle, dishrag that she made + money. I made aprons for everyone. Julie's has a wine motif, Jill's has motorcycles, and Joyce's is black/cream with a pocket that matches the fabric of theplastic bag holder I made for her last Christmas. I think they all were very happy.

(I made one for myself...pizza slices!)

Mom and Aunt Bev sent gifts, too,
but I don't have good photos of them.

Thank you very much...the gifts are great!

I wanted to give Jill her Christmas/birthday gift so

that Julie and Joyce would have a chance to see it.

(yup, she's crying.)

We got our jammies on and were all set to watch a movie (he's just not that into you). Julie grabbed my 'practice' quilt, Jill grabbed a tan quilt that I usually have on the ottoman, and I had my star quilt that Brenis made for me last year. Joyce sat there in the middle...here's how it went. (Close, anyway.)

Joyce: don't I get a blanket?
me: oh. do you want one?
Joyce: well, yeah.
me: {sigh} I suppose I can get something. (walking toward the hallway) I think I have an old...

Joyce to sisters: I suppose I'll get an old army blanket or something...that'll itch.

I came down the hall with the black and white quilt (I know, you haven't seen it, yet...be patient!) and tossed it into her lap. She looked at it and asked if I had made it. Told her I did...she noticed the patch of purple on the back (her fave color) and we told her to look at the label. She did.

It read: "To Joyce, From Jacque. Heart, 2009."

She sobbed. Not kidding! See?

And, sobbed.

For 10 minutes!

She finally calmed down and looked it over.

I think she likes it. 

And, here it is...the black and white quilt I made for her.

I bought the fabric last spring and made it
in 4 days a few weeks ago.

It's Joyce's birthday/Christmas gift.

See the text pieces? They are verses from Psalms.

Here's the back. See the purple?

She LOVES purple, so I had to put a piece in there for her.

I didn't want to have any quilting in the text blocks,

so I just quilted it in straight lines on both sides of each horizontal seam.

After all the excitement died down, we settled down to watch the movie.

The pups got comfy, too.

We stayed up late, chatting and laughing and having a good time.

The next day, Saturday, I made breakfast for everyone.

We showered, etc., and went shopping at Gordman's

(a discount department store that is Julie's all time fave store!).

Joyce and I talked about the doll quilts she wants me to make...

so we ended up at Stitcher's Crossing to look for some fabric.

Went in with Joyce saying she wanted purples and pinks.

Here's what we ended up with.

They are gonna be so dang cute! {grin})

Julie bought some fabric for a quilted kitty blanket. More on that later.

We ate lunch here...

(left to right: Joyce, Julie, Me, Jill)

Salute! To the 4 J's!

Of course, time for them to leave came all too soon.

I love them & miss them very much.

Second Day

Julie wanted to buy a digital camera.

Finally! I've had one for over 6 years.

How can one get by without a digital camera???

So, we went shopping.

She got a nice little Nikon...plum colored.

She has now left and will be out for the evening

with a good friend, so I am on my own.

Whatever will I do?

ahhhh...perhaps read.

Or, cut pieces for a new quilt project!

hmmmm...I guess time will tell!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the meantime, here is the Iced Mocha quilt.

All done.

Laundered, label on, ready to go.

Measures 46 1/2 x 55 inches.

As you can see by the photos,

I had a lot of fun quilting this one.

Random lines in the center,

stippling on the inner border,

zigzags on the floating squares and

intertwining lines on the outer border.

I am very pleased. In fact, I love it!

Rag, Leaves, Mini, VIP...

First of all, cuz I know you're all wondering, Allegra is doing fine. Same, in fact. Though, she does seem to be eating better...could be the prednisone is working...or it could be the fact that I have found the correct size of meatballs to feed to her. No, not meatballs like with spaghetti, but small pieces of canned food rolled into a ball. Much easier for her to eat.

Second, I had a crappy a** week. Worried about Allegra, then my car broke. Thank goodness it was just the battery, but I still had to go without my car for 3 days...and rely on others to take me to work and back. What a pain. For them, as well, I am sure. So, when I went out to get the mail and found a large package waiting for me, I was amazed. Who was sending me something??? I knew it wasn't my quilt from the doll quilt swap...the box was too big. And, heavy. Well...I tell you...I cried my eyes out when I opened the box. Sharon, a friend from a wonderful group called An American Primitive Gathering, sent me this kit to make my very own rag quilt! How totally awesome is that! Thank you so very much, Sharon. You are so very generous! This was exactly what I needed on that day. (the colors are much richer...cannot get a good color for some reason)
Sharon also sent along a magazine, "American Patchwork & Quilting". In it was this quilt pattern. Isn't it lovely??

I walked into my LQS yesterday to pick up my next BOM kit and saw bolts of these luscious leaves...had to buy some fat quarters to use for the leaves of the aforementioned quilt!
Third, here is the mini quilt I received from my partner in the Doll Quilt Swap 7! Anna saw that I, too, was a Christian, so she wanted to make something with a verse. This is what she did. Isn't it just the perfect mini for me? Totally AWESOME!!!

Anna wrote, "When I found this verse I just thought of how we always focus on our flaws & not the beauty in us. So I made the quilt kind of wonky & with some wrinkles as a reminder that no matter how many flaws we may focus on, we are God's amazing creations."

I absolutely love it! My first doll quilt swap was so much fun...the next one doesn't start until the New Year. Thankfully, I have a ton of things to get done by then...so the time will go fast.
I am working on a very important project...hoping to get it done this weekend. Here's a sneak peek:
Hope you all have a great weekend!

Swapping...

is great fun! I think it could get addicting very fast!!! Especially when one has the most awesome swap partner!!!

Erin participated in the quiltalong I've been talking about. She admired my work and I admired her work...mutual admiration society thing going on here. We're two awesome gals, let me tell you! She made 2 mini quilts about the same time as I made my two minis and I LOVE her work! We decided to do a mini quilt swap...just the two of us. Well. I am in the process of working on her mini...but she is much faster than I am...got a package from her yesterday.

Here's the awesome mini she made for me...very prim. This mini quilt measures 18 inches square...from top to bottom/left to right, the squares are: crow, jacob's ladder block, bee skep, spools block, log cabin block, churn dash block, star, star block and willow tree. How fun is that! PERFECT!!!

AND, as if that wasn't enough, she sent 4 pieces of fabric (check out those dog faces...aren't they fun???....and how about that bones fabric??), a 'friend's plate, 'laugh' tag, tin star, candy (all gone now...and delicious!), and the little wooden sheepie with star (naughty boy tag wanted that star, for some reason...bad puppy!). WOW! I LOVE LOVE LOVE everything...perfect gifts!!! Totally awesome and I am in love with my mini from Erin!!!



Thank you so very much, Erin! Hope you feel the same about your mini that I am still working on!