Smocking: A faceless bear…

… for now!   It was an uphill battle, I tell ya!  I feel like picture smocking and geometric smocking are two different animals.  Here is the progress on my Gingerbear Smocking so far.

Now, I just hope I can get the other two bears smocked without much trouble and heartache.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by – have a lovely day!

Quilter’s World December 2009: Christmas Cheer

Happy Monday!  I hope all is well with you.   We enjoyed catching up with friends over the weekend.  My Christmas Cheer quilt is featured in the December 2009 issue of “Quilter’s World“:

I am super pleased with the photography of the quilt!  It is a “One Block Wonder” quilt made using one gigantic Storm at Sea block!  The finished size is 60″ square:

The quilt used fabrics from “Once Upon a Christmas” by Benartex.  I love love love the Christmas tree print fabric, and I love love love love the poinsettia print as well!

Dear friends at Rogers Sewing Center gave me the dipping bowls – my early Christmas present!  How sweet is that?!  They go PERFECTLY with my quilt!  I am truly blessed with sweet sewing friends!

The quilting was done with Aurifil Mako 50 Cotton thread, top and bottom on my home machine.  The red solid fabric was the perfect background to show off some free-motion quilting:

Thanks for stopping by.  I wish you a lovely Thanksgiving Week!

 

Giveaway Winner & Civil War Bride Update

My giveaway post received 116 comments, and the winner is Barb (#89)! Congratulations! Please send me your address, and I will get the goodies out to you promptly.

On another handwork front, I worked on my Civil War Bride Quilt. Here is the snail paced progress. I liked appliqueing by hand, even though it is slow-going for me. Following you can see where I would like to get to
eventually, and where I am right now :

One of the fabrics I used for the leaves is a cactus print fabric:

But you can’t really tell the cactus once it’s being cut for leaves. Interesting, huh?

I hope you have a lovely weekend. I am going to enjoy it as much as I can before another crazy week is upon me! I shall catch up with you on Monday.

Needlework: My “McMansions” Project – Part 17

Good day, everyone.  I hope you are doing well.

I managed to work a little more on my Gameboard – here is the latest:

Two more new houses were added to the neighborhood.  I loved how the sun comes up behind this sun:

I sure hope that the squirrel won’t be tempted bother with the siding or the roof of this house:

Thanks for popping by.  I am off to getting a few things done and in order to check them off my to-do list!  We have a sunny day — YAY!

Chilling

The weather at my end is quite chilly.  We are to expect some dusting of snow this week.  I don’t like the cold, but I do like the coziness of the cold weather.  Since I am enjoying a bit of a down time this week, won’t you join me for a cup of tea and some homemade oatmeal raisin cookies?

We might in time also pull out a couple of books, and read while we sip our tea.  I am currently reading The Last Wife of Henry VII by Carol Erickson.  I haven’t gotten very far, but so far so good.

Thank you for stopping by.  I have been working on some handwork projects.  I did cut out the pieces for another smocked bishop, but I figure you wouldn’t want to see just the fabric pieces until I have done more to them.

Have a great day!

Twilight Trails Sneak Peek #2

The quilt is out the door, but not before I managed to snap a few shots.  This quilt is scheduled to appear in The Quilter’s May 2010 issue:

I had fun quilting this quilt, especially the outer border.  I forced myself out of my usual comfort zone used a contrasting thread for the outer border.  You see, a contrasting thread would show any mistakes 100 times more prominently.  Nonetheless, I wanted to challenge myself to see if I couldn’t do a good job in feather quilting by free-motion.  So here we are… Shall we take a tour of the outer border together?  Since everything was free-handed, nothing was planned.  So, no two sections in the outer border are identical:

I hope you have enjoyed our little tour today.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please leave a comment so that I can visit you back.

Gingerbear Smocking

Hello Everyone,  I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine was restful – I actually took a nap after church on Sunday!  I guess I have been pushing myself a little too hard in the past few weeks.   But I did get my Twilight Trails Quilt finish.  It is already on its way to the editor’s desk.  I will have some pictures for you later this week.

You know I have a knack for getting carried away!  Such is my Christmas dresses project for baby.  I am attempting to improvise on a pattern that involves picture smocking.  I have never done picture smocking in my life, and I am a little uncertain – but I shall try my best.  Don’t you just love the gingerbread fabric?

You also know of my clumsy sewing skills.  And of course I have never attempted to improvise on a pattern either, but I got carried away.  I hope this crazy scheme of mine would work out, and I can actually have something to show for by the end of the week.  Wish me luck.  Meanwhile, this is what (Gingerbear by Little Memories) I am hoping to smock to go on this little outfit for baby:

I wish you a happy and productive Monday!  Thank you for stopping by.

Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks Winner for Giveaway 1

I have enjoyed all the visit and comments on my giveaway post on Thursday. I am always glad to be acquainted with quilters from different places, and Thursday afforded me the opportunity to do so. Please know that I will respond to your comments, either by writing you back or visiting your blog.

Reading the comments on my post provided a much welcomed break while I was quilting my Twilight Trails Quilt. All I have left is the brown border, and it will be ready for the finishing touches.

There were 83 comments left by 7pm CST on Thursday. I used a random integer generation, and the winner of my 1st giveaway is: Terry (comment #36). Terry, please email me your mailing address so that I can send it along to Quiltmaker for them to mail you your copy of 100 Blocks:

Now the rest of you, you still have a chance to win a copy of 100 Blocks on my blog. If you haven’t done so, leave a comment here between now and November 19th for your chance to win another copy of 100 Blocks and some other goodies provided by yours truly. A winner will be randomly chosen from all the comments left (minus Terry) on the night of November 19th. The following shows the stash of goodies I have assembled thus far. I am sure I will have a few more items added to the stash before all is said and done. The background quilt is featured in the issue of “The Quilter” included in the stash:

Thank you all for participating in the giveaway! I hope you have a lovely weekend. I will catch up with you next Monday. Meanwhile, Happy Quilting/Crafting/Sewing/Homemaking!

GIVEAWAY! Quiltmaker’s 100 Block Blog Tour Day 4

Hello! Welcome to my blog if this is your first visit. And of course, welcome again, if you are back for another visit! I always enjoy your visit. Please leave me a comment (with either your email or blog address) so that I can visit you back! The following is an animated cover for you to view all 100 blocks –

I am honored that my “Colonial Hospitality” quilt block (#52) is one of the blocks featured in The Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks from Today’s Top Designers. This special issue will be released on the newsstands on November 17,2009. So be sure to get your copy as there really are a lot of fabulous blocks!

Giveaway 1 :

Meanwhile, you do have a chance to win this special issue for free in a giveaway sponsored by Quiltmaker. Just leave a comment on this post between now and 7pm CST on Thursday night, and you will be entered in the giveaway. Please make sure you leave your email address. The winner will be announced on Friday morning (11/13/2009). Do go over to Quiltmaker’s blog for a chance to win original blocks made by the very hands of the designers, and other great bundles of goodies!

Giveaway 2:

Now, I am also giving away a copy of the 100 Blocks plus some of my patterns and a couple of other things. You may leave a comment on this very post between now and November 19, 2009. A winner will be picked on the night of the 19th, and the winner will be announced the following day.

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Here is a bit of behind-the-scenes about my “Colonial Hospitality” block – you may skip this part if you just can’t wait to enter the giveaways!

When I was contacted by Quiltmaker earlier this year about contributing an original quilt block, I knew from the get-go I was going to do a pineapple block. Here are some fascinating historical facts about the pineapple in the Colonial days:

1. Pineapples were symbolic of tasteful entertaining, normally used in lavish fruit centerpiece displays.

2. Pineapples were symbolic of Christianity in the late 1600’s because each pineapple has to give up its life to produce the fruit. Christopher Wren began using pineapples as ornamental accents for churches. Later pineapples were often used to adorn homes and buildings.

Lord Dunmore's Pineapple House

3. Pineapples were symbolic of hospitality. Sea captains that returned from the West Indies would place pineapples at the doors of their homes as a sign of welcome to those who wished to call.

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I am working on a pineapple quilt — stay tuned for progress pictures!

Thank you again for stopping by! I wish you a very good day.

Blue & Brown Mix & Match

Inspired by my blue and brown quilt, I set out to play with my blue and brown dishes all together at one time.

I am usually a dish collection kind of gal when it comes to dishes, but I have to say that experimenting with mixing the colors together was very fun! The following are some of the combinations I tried:

#1 (you can tell I was a bit reserved in the beginning!)

#2:

#3:

#4 (then ever so slowly, I started to loosen up):

#5 (I started to be a bit more adventurous):

#6 (By now, dishes were starting to pile up on the floor, waiting to be auditioned):

#7 (I am bringing in more blues):

#8 (now comes the desserts):

Now, how about retreating to the drawing room to take some tea with me?

What do you think, my bloggy friends – should I, or should I not use my blues with my browns this year for Thanksgiving?