What's Up! Wednesday...

What's Up is this...I wanted to post a few random photos I took in the last few days.  Don't be getting all excited, though...they're not that much of anything!   ~grin~

Tag lays in the strangest places sometimes!

Sister Jill sent me a glass tray thingie to put my stuff on...

 

14" Pillow...first one finished!

Backed with a premium muslin...

LOVE this pillow cover!!

Mr. Warthog already needed surgery.  He is MUCH loved!

He no longer has tusks, so I needed to sew up the holes.

New loungewear...not my usual colors (and they don't quite match each other)!

Did I tell you I got one of these for my birthday?  LOVE it!!!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Another Small Project...

When I finished the bowtie quilt (which I have yet to show you), I had some cut off corners that I sewed into hst's and made a mini quilt with.  See it here.   That's all I did.   So there it sat.  Waiting.  

Last week, Amanda Jean of crazy mom quilts wrote of nothing but pillows.  And, it seemed that every blog I read was promoting pillows.  Amy, of Amy's Creative Side, had pulled together a group of bloggers to form 'Pillow Collective'...a way to share tutorials to help us all 'spruce up our living space one pillow at a time'.  There are some really cute...and great!...ideas there...you might want to check it out.

I've made pillows in the past...lots of them...but mostly to give away.  All the talk about pillows made me decide that I was really just going to have to make some.  For myself.  Finally.  Another 'been thinking about it forever' thing...you know how that is, right?  

Yesterday, when I ran across the little mini quilt, I immediately knew that it needed to be a pillow.  I pin-basted the top to a piece of batting and quilted it with a simple stipple pattern.  I used a variegated brown/cream thread...and then backed it with one of the fabrics from the same collection (Normandy Court) that most of the fabrics on the front were from.

Here it is...sorry, no pillow form.

Here's the envelope back...

It was a quick and easy way to use up some scraps!  

And, of course, this one is to be gifted.  But, I plan to make more pillows in the near future.  I even pulled fabrics.  That's always a step in the right direction.  

Have a good day!



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Sunday Night...

I never get as much done 
on the weekend as

I think I will.

But.

I got this done...a pillow cover for
sister Julie (the one who lives here with me).

The pillow cover is her (late) Christmas gift.

 The fabric was in one of the boxes

received from Cathy of 
Quilting on Turtle Hill.

I bartered with Julie...

I supplied the pillow form for her cover

and she bathed Tag.

Methinks I came out on the

better end of that deal.

 

I started quilting on the baby girl quilt.

But, because I took time out to watch the 

U.S. Figure Skating Championships,

I only got half done.

 

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

Please say a prayer for my friend, Doreen.

Her latest ct scan showed that

the lung cancer is growing.

She's coming down here to

Madison to the UW Hospital

to see about a clinical study.

Doreen is being very positive

and believes all will be okay.

It's got to be.

Right?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

Pillows for Two...

I whipped up 2 of the 4 pillow covers I need to make for the grandkids.  These are for Jasmine & Conlan...I will see them tomorrow morning.  I found some great home decor fabric on sale...YAY!  I made these pillows for the grandkids to use on the floor while watching tv or while reading propped up in bed...or whatever.  They're 24 inches square. 

Jasmine's fave color this year is lime green...

 (I think the pillow is upside down)

I put zippers in them so that they'll be easier to wash.

 

Conlan is Tag's boy.  Seriously.  Tag thinks that Conlan was put here for him.  And, Conlan does love the brown boy.  I figured brown dots would be ideal for him.

I washed the fabric before putting these together.  This piece shrunk enough so that the width wasn't quite as much as I needed.  But, it had nice wide selvages.  So, I used them!  My flash whited this out, but the zipper is actually halfway between the two white edges.  I think it's pretty cool, but am sure that Conlan will not be as impressed.  {grin}

Hope your Christmas is Merry!

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

Tony Baloney

My nephew, Tony, is in the Air Force, and has been in Anchorage, Alaska, for the past 3 years.  Fortunately, my sister, Joyce, lives there so he was able to have someone from his family close by.  Tony married Mercatie in June and now he is being moved to South Carolina.  So.  Long story short, they're driving a U-Haul truck there.  All the way from Alaska.  Yup...a long trip! They spent a few days in Wausau with his Mom & Dad & friends.  Ryan (Tony's best friend since kindergarten) left Wausau with them today to drive to SC.  I'm a few hours south of  Wausau...they would be going toward Chicago down the interstate that is about 6 miles down the road from me.  So, they stopped at the truckstop and I ran (drove) down to visit with them for a short while.  I hadn't seen Tony since he left for Alaska...and hadn't yet met Mercatie, so I was happy to see them.  And, though I have heard about Ryan forever (remember...best friends since kindergarten) I don't think I had ever met him.     

Yeah.  This morning at 5:00 (uh-huh, I get up early even on the weekends), I was thinking about meeting Tony, et al., and thinking that I didn't have anything to give him.  Joyce made him cookies to take along when he left Alaska, his Gram made him cookies, Jill was going to bake for him...but I didn't have stuff to bake with.  Thinking, thinking.  Course, not that Tony was expecting anything from me...just thought it would be nice.  Then, I happened to remember that I had seen a 14" pillow form in the closet yesterday.  A pillow form without a purpose.  I know!  I could make him a small pillow to match the ones I made and gave them for their wedding.  I thought that was a good idea.  Go here  & here to see the ones I made in June.

But.  I thought...with all I have on my list to do, I didn't really need (or want) to add in one more thing. 

About 4 hours later, when I was on the phone with Jill (my sister...Tony's mom), I told her about my early morning thoughts.  She, of course, thought I should do it.  I had plenty of time.  Well, she talked me into it.  An hour later, this is what I had come up with...

Wow...that pillow form is really fat!  {grin}  Tony & Mercatie love the small pillow.

Well, that's all I have for today.  Except to say that Tag has been walking around with his food bowl for the past hour or so.  It is just now time for him to eat.  I should feed him, then.  Poor thing.  ha!

By the way.  I added a few patterns & other stuff to my selling blog...The Chocolate Puppy.

Have a good Sunday evening!

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

Crazy Quilt Pillow

Remember way back here, when I had taken a mini-class on crazy quilts? My intention was to make a pillow...and I finally got to it today. YAY!!


Don't know how well you can see, but I did a bunch of different special stitches (with my Janome!!!). This is for me Mum. Well, the cover is. I'm going to keep the pillow form. She can buy her own pillow form (don't you think?).

Now that the thunderstorm has passed, it's getting very humid. I'm thinking the air is going to be turned on very soon. Comfort above all else.

Hope your Saturday is good!

A Glorious Day!!!

I have so much to say (type) and my mind is going about a gazillion miles an hour!!!

Here we go...

I think I posted about this a long time ago. I was given two quilt tops by my (then) MIL. This was back in the mid-70's. Both are very large...a log cabin that is not pretty and this crazy quilt top, which measures ~78" square...


It was made in the 1940's. I've never done anything with it...just dragged it around with me all these years...sometimes it's been packed away, and sometimes it's been sitting around on a bench. Never used it. While at my LQS one day, I asked the owner about who to talk with about my crazy quilt. She offered to call a woman for me. Next thing I knew, I was signed up for a 'learn how to crazy quilt' class.

That class was this morning. So, I hauled my little sewing machine, (the worthless piece of junk) and the crazy quilt to the LQS this a.m. I think the teacher was disappointed in me, as I didn't have a specific crazy quilt project in mind...I just wanted to learn how to do it in case I ever wanted to do it. AND, that I was really only there to find out how to repair and finish my crazy quilt. ohwell.

And, by the way, the crazy quilt teacher thought that the fabrics were much older than when they were used...closer to the turn of the century. WOOHOO! The silk pieces are shredded. Did you know that silk used to be spun with metal in it...cuz it was sold by the pound? Now, there's something that you'll rest better tonight knowing. ~grin~

I think I turned out quite a nice little (8x10) block, don't you? I hated to disappoint her further, so I made a plan to make a pillow with it. Bought some fabric (twigs & berries) and I'm set. Isn't it interesting...I just dug into her big box and these were the colors that I grabbed...they are the ones that grabbed me. My colors. Mary (who works at the LQS) laughed at me, cuz I always whine talk about how I struggle with color. The only thing is...and that's why I chose a green for the border/back of the pillow...that there is only one piece of green in the block. I love green.

I need to do the hand-stitching on the seamlines and, perhaps, some embellishing. Will show you when it's completed.
While selecting my fabric, Mary asked me if I knew about their 'bag' deal. See the bag below? Purchase it for $7.00 (it's big, too...~13x16" and expands 4" or more) and you have a very nice heavy plastic tote with zipper closure for all your stuff. Any stuff. BUT! If you come in to shop on Monday (any Monday) and bring the bag, you'll receive 25% off one item. COOL!!!! Gosh, you'd make up that $7.00 really quickly! So. I bought one. Easy sale. My quiltalong quilt batting will definitely be purchased on a Monday. My Mama didn't raise no dummy!

Stopped at Joann Fabrics to buy some bias tape and brightly colored buttons for the clothes I'll be sewing for Kaylynn. Pillow forms were 40% off! YAY! Got me some perle cotton, too...so I'm all set to finish my crazy quilt block pillow.

AND. A lady at work ran across this puffy (sorry, not sure what the real name is) quilt and thought I might like it. All that needs to be done is to finish sewing the cording/bias fabric around the outside...looks to be about 1/4 done. It currently resides in the trunk of my car, cuz ya just never know where it has been. It may end up in Colorado...the colors are those my sister, Julie, likes.

AND, when I got home I read an email that has me positively jumping with excitement! Cannot share it with you, yet. Sorry.
I mailed out Bren's birthday box, Jo's swap box and Kathleen's pattern.
oh! oh!! oh!!! I used the coolest (okay, the hottest!) iron today!! You leave it laying in a horizontal position (rather than upright, ya know?) and these little things come out to lift it off the ironing board. I don't remember the brand name...but how cool was that!!! You just touch the handle and the little thingies retract. I giggled every time I used it! I own a little $7.00 iron from Wal-Mart. haha!

edited at 10 p.m.to add: found the iron...

Auto-lift Technology

Touch the Iron, and it instantly lowers.

Let go, and it automatically lifts safely above the fabric.

Iron can remain in a safe, stable, horizontal position

on the ironing board at all times.

cool, hey???

There you have it. My Glorious Day!



PS My 2 year blogoversary is in 4 days (see it over on my sidebar)!!! Watch for giveaways! Yes, I said giveaways...as in more than one. Plural. At least two. Maybe more. Probably three. Something for everyone. No, not something for everyone who enters...but something for hookers, and something for quilters, and something for stitchers...like that.