Trip Down Memory Lane

My dear daughter likes to look through my cedar chest, or as my dad liked to call it my hopeless chest. It no longer stores china and the like from when I was a girl instead it holds treasures from my heart. Things my children have made, their old school work and left over pictures from school picture packets. Hence the reason DD likes to look through it. Well she had rummaged through to the point that it had become quite a mess. So I enlisted her help and we cleaned it out. I made a pile for each child. Then found a box to fit their things in. Now in the bottom of my chest is a box containing the memories of how each child has grown.
While sorting through all these precious treasures I found a few forgotten treasures. I used to cross stitch a lot when I was in high school and college. I found this quilt top that I had cross stitched blocks for. I made it for when I had a little girl. Well I completely forgot about it. I made it before I was even married. After marrying my prince charming I proceeded to have three wonderful sons. So when my sweet daughter finally arrived I had forgotten about this top. I told her we'll have to save it for her little girl. Here are a few of the blocks.

And a couple more.

We also found this quilt that my maternal grandmother made for me when I was little. I had to be very little because I don't really remember my maternal grandmother. She passed away when I was about three. It is hand quilted and I love the blocks that she colored for me. Isn't this scarecrow so cute.

Look at these sweet little guys.

I love this treasure of a quilt. I wish it were not falling apart.

Light up my Life

I've been playing with the oriental fabric I showed you here. Japanese lanterns dancing in the dark. The pattern is available here.

I quilted a dragon along the bottom with flames shooting out of his mouth and then continuing all over the quilt. You can see the dragon on the door by the quilt. He doesn't show up well in a photo on the quilt.

Then on Monday night we went to the animal shelter to look for a dog. About a month after Bell died last winter the kids started asking when we were going to get another dog. I needed some time so I put them off. Last week I decided it was time. I talked to my hubby about it. Didn't want him to have a shock one day when he came from work to find a new member of the family. He said he had expected to come home one day and find a dog. So with the okay me and the kids headed to the animal shelter. Hubby is at work while they are open or he would have come too. We went back to look at all the dogs. It didn't take long for J to find the one he wanted. N agreed. DD wanted to adopt them all. She felt so sad that there were so many dogs without a home. And while I like dogs one is enough for me. We were able to take him out to play with him and get to know him better. The kids loved him he is so friendly and playful. He is a delight. Here is Spike the newest member of our family

Fabulous Fall Finish

Do you remember last summer when I finished this quilt top? It was 100 degrees back then and the thought of binding this flannel backed quilt was far from appealing.

Well the temperatures have dropped in fact we might get snow tomorrow. So at night I've been sitting under this toasty quilt binding away. Now it's finished and not too soon. Hubby said this morning that he needs another quilt on the bed. I caught J raiding the trunk for extra quilts the night before. Looks like summer's past and chilly nights under cozy quilts are here again. Don't you just love how that happens?

And the Winner is....

First thank you to everyone that entered the giveaway. Next, pictures of the winnings.

Pattern to make a quilt sure to please the rough and tumble boys in your life

And as a bonus there is a little girl patten included.

Just wanted to make sure everyone was happy. Then all the fun fabric to make the quilt.

Thanks Julie

Now the moment you've been waiting for...

Drum roll please...

Myra!
Who said, "That quilt is simply adorable Em! That is a great boarder fabric! Pulls it all together quite nicely... 8-)Pick me! Pick me! 8-)Happy stitchings!
Myra if you want to send me your snail mail I'll get your prize in the mail.
If you didn't win and would like to play with Julie's fabric making this quilt go here.

Thanks again for playing,

Em

Four Frosty Fellows & One Snowboarder Await

It's time to buy season passes for snowboarding again. My son is so stoked. He and his friends are hoping for another winter full of the greatest snow on earth. If they are lucky they'll be able to hit the slopes around Thanksgiving.
Me I like those cold blustery days because it gives me a good excuse to stay at home and sew. Not that I really need an excuse. I do that often enough anyway. I just finished this little table topper. The snowflake doilies are included in the pattern you can find here. I used an old sweater that I had found at a thrift shop and felted for the scarfs. Beads for the eyes and buttons on the snowmen. Then I got out my fimo clay and made carrot buttons for the noses. They were very simple to make. Just a small triangle with rounded edges. You can learn more about making your own custom buttons here.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Em

Snips and Cogs Giveaway

I finished the Snips and Cogs quilt. It was so fun to work with my sister, Julie's fabrics. She is such a talented lady.

Her fun little cogs made great t-shirts for the little boys

This stripe reminds me of a shirt our brother wore when we were all younger.

It was so hard to decide which creature to fussy cut for the shirts. Julie has so many fun ones.

Because I had so much fun working with this great Cogsmo fabric. And Julie was so generous in sharing it with me. I am having a little giveaway. A kit that includes the pattern and all the fabric to make this quilt top. I would like to thank Marlene from My Heritage Fabrics for the border fabric. The finished quilt measures 40" x 50". To enter this fun little give away leave a comment. The lucky winner will be announced on Saturday the 24th.

I am currently taking preorders for kits using the Cogsmo fabric. To order yours go to my website. Your account will not be charged until the kit is ready to ship. If you win the give away no charge will be made.

Thanks and Good Luck with the Give Away!

Pleasantly Surprised

I went to get the mail this weekend and was pleasantly surprised by a package. I had forgotten about winning a give away at Manxgirl. Look at the lovely bags she made for me. My DD loves this sweet patched work bag. I love the happy fabric she choose.

Also included what this fun blue bag. It has a nice pocket inside to keep things from getting lost. And I really like the shape of this one.

She also included a charm pack of coffee and cream prints and a tea towel with the history and wild flowers from the Isle of Mann. It stormed this morning, making picture taking a bit of a pain. I tried in the house but the photos looked horrid. Hence the bags in the tree. It kept them dry and made for nice pictures. But the tea towel and charm pack were not so fortunate. Maybe another time.

Thank you Manxgirl! I am thrilled with this delightful package!

Tumbling

A few years ago my quilt guild did a nickle exchange and I made this quilt, that I still need to quilt and bind. I'm hoping to do that in the next couple of months. Sorry the picture is not very good. I took it downstairs. This is only a quarter of it. This thing is huge.Amazingly I had left over nickles. A lot actually. I have a bunch I made into flying geese for a Dutchman's puzzle. It's in the block stage now. With the rest I cut into tumblers or buckets as my DD called them. I had seen a couple tumbler quilts in blogland and wanted to try my hand at it. I used them as my leaders and enders and it wasn't long before I had this. Not bad for leftovers

New Logo

I have been working with my friend, Holly, to redo my logo. She is a very artistic person. I love working with her. She got a degree in graphic arts 18 years ago. But has been a stay at home mom since. Well things in the graphic arts world have changed a bit since she graduated. So she has gone back to school. Isn't she brave! I so admire her for this. What an example she is setting for her children. I took a photo shop class with her. I learned a lot but I still have my printer do most of the graphics and photo manipulation on my patterns. She on the other hand is taking more classes and learning more skills. Look at what she created for me. This one is for my more traditional designs.

And this one is for my more whimsical designs.
Didn't she do a great job?!

Stages

Have you ever noticed that quilts have stages in their lives just like we do. I was noticing this recently when looking around my sewing room at all my works in progress.
First there is the fun fabric stage. Like a brand new baby, so cuddly and fun to look at and hold. Then it becomes unruly pieces ready to form into blocks. Not unlike the terrible twos. I say this because it is no secret I dislike this unruly stage.

Then it becomes cute little blocks. Learning to play together so nicely. Don't you just love the grade school age?

Then those blocks get sewn into neat little rows.That become beautiful tops. That once again give us a bit of trouble as we baste and quilt them. I find myself wrestling with them at this stage of the game, not unlike my teenagers.Then we sew the binding on. I love this stage. It relaxes me. I enjoy seeing my work come to fruition. Just as I am enjoying watching my young adult son find his way in this world.

Then the quilt is finished. A thing of beauty and comfort. I don't know if we as human ever reach this completed stage. But isn't it what we aspire for?

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my Harvest Sky I chose this quilt not only because I love it's scrappiness. But because of the interest people took in it when I first blogged about it. People wanted the patten. This was so nice since I designed it. It gave me the courage to let people know I design quilts. I don't know how good I am but I love this creative out let. Playing with fabric and color brings me joy.

So I am showcasing this quilt for the joy it brought and brings to me.

Adding to the Stash

I had a little fun today adding to my stash. I found these great blues and browns. I'm collecting blues and browns at the moment. I'm getting quite a collection. Sometime soon I'm actually going to make me a blue and brown quilt. Some more frosty blues for something wintery.
Then I just had to have these orientals.

Now that I'm well stocked. Not that I wasn't before. I'm set for some fun sewing time.

Happy sewing to you!

Em

A little Something From the Scrapbag

I love the beach. It is one of my favorite places on earth. I also love sunrises and sunsets. So when I saw all these wonderful oranges, pinks and purples in the scrap bag I knew I needed to make a beachy sunset. I had fun making the subtle curves in the sand and putting the wedges together to make the sunset. I am very pleased with how everything came together. I even tried something new by quilting this little journal cover.

It never ceases to amaze me what my scrap bag and a little creativity can produce.

Photo shoot

I met with my very talented sister, Becky today. She helped me photograph a bunch of my quilts so I can redo some pattern covers for a new distributor. Keeping my fingers crossed that they like what they see. Look at what a great job she did. Here is my Taffy Pull. Snips and Snails meets Sugar and Spice.

Harvest Sky

What a Whirl, my sister Lori took this pic in California and sent it to us. I had given this quilt to her son for his eighth birthday. I like the way it shows better than the one I have.

And Unchained Memories

Thank you Lori for taking and sending the pic and Becky for sharing your wonderful photography skills. You guys are the greatest!