Baby Steps in Quilter’s World (April 2010)

I always get my Quilter’s World copies a little late… (Jocelyn, have you gotten your copy of the April issue yet?), so I am not able to show you how the magazine spread looks for my “Baby Steps’ Quilt featured in the current April ‘10 issue:

It is a very simple and sweet Memory Quilt project. I had to enlist the help of my little family in order to make this quilt happen. The quilt is embellished with Baby’s footprints, and particulars related to her birth.

Picture from www.quilters-world.com

Getting the footprints on the quilt was a major family event. I stood at the side armed with washcloths and fabric paint ready to ink Baby’s feet, while my husband carefully stamped Baby’s footprints onto the pieced quilt. Since the quilt was pieced and ready to go, there wasn’t much give as far as mistakes went…

Not bad for the work of a seven month-old, eh?

Baby’s particulars were embroidered by hand:

The stuffed yoyo flowers added a three-dimensional look to the quilt:

Some close-ups:

It was a fun project for me. Now that I have gotten the quilt back, it will be happily added to Baby’s heirloom stash. After all, here at Ivory Spring, we are always a-buzzing about heirlooms!

I have tons of fabric paint left — Baby’s has been using various paints to sign off cards for loved ones!

Can’t you just see the possibilities for this project? Hand prints would be perfect if your baby is old enough to not keep his hands in his mouth. Do send me pictures of your version of this sweet memory quilt project – I would love to see your quilts!

Thank you for visiting.

Triangles!

I am buried in a sea of half-square triangles made with the Benartex Silk Road fabrics I had shown you last week…

These triangles are going to be background for my appliqued pieces later…

Stay tuned for more pictures.  Meanwhile, I am going to make me yet more triangles!!

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay warm and cozy, especially those who have a date with the cold and snow!

I wouldn’t wish for spring….

… if I were the sculptor of these darlings…

A friend in Chicago had gone to the Ice Sculptures Competition last week.  She took the picture of these matryoshkas for me because she knows how much I like the Russian nesting dolls.  She also gave me permission to post her picture to share with you.  Of course, I am in love with these darlings!

Can you imagine being the sculptor of this masterpiece spending hours with his tools carving out all the sweetness the world can stand in those dolls, and only have them all melt away in a puddle of H-2-O when the sun comes out?  I would be so heartbroken…

Nonetheless, I am glad that the sculptor was not deterred by the natural course of events for these dolls by not carving them… so that we can enjoy his handiwork.

I wish you a beautiful week!

Marabella Sneak Peek #3

Good day, Friends. This week I was able to finish my Marabella quilt for The Quilter. I took some pictures before sending the quilt off to the editor. One final thing I did was to attach the ribbon bows onto the vases to add a little special something to the block:

This quilt is made with Henry Glass‘ Marabella fabrics. It will be featured in the July ‘10 issue of The Quilter.

I did some “apple core” quilting after reading Diane Gaudynski’s post about it on her blog:

Some more quilting pictures here. I do all my quilting on my home machine, no long arm here:

I will show you the quilt in its entirety once the magazine hits the newsstand in May! Meanwhile, have a happy weekend! I will be busy working to meet yet another deadline…

Would you like a cuppa while…

…. while we admire some newly arrived fabrics?!

I received these fabrics yesterday. They are from SILK ROAD collection, to be released soon by Benartex. Do check their website for updates.

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these fabrics. These are going to be used in a fall pieced / applique quilt coming out in the October 2010 issue of Quilter’s World. I am chomping at the bit to get started with this quilt, which will be within the next day!!

I had purchase two sets of these antique Spode cups and saucers. Pattern is unknown to me. But one set was broken into pieces en route to me. So, I have this lone set of white/gold cup and saucer. I am not really a white person. Most of my dishes have busy patterns – the busier the better! But in my old “mature” age, I find myself also being drawn to the whites. Believe it or not, I have been researching my options for the last two years, but haven’t come to a conclusion. So, I would love to know what white or cream china sets you have so that I can add that to my list of patterns to consider…

I hope this gives you an idea of how a tablescape might look like set up by a person who is hopelessly dishaholic, and extremely fabric-aholic! Oh, also throw in the mix a little book-aholic!

Urm, and a tad silver-aholic…

Now, are you ready for your own cup of tea? I shall go and fetch your cup and saucer of choice! Thanks for stopping by. You have yourself a fabulous day, okay?

“My sister and I” stitch-along: Part 1

Some of you might know that my sister (you can read her guest post here) and I are separated by thousands of miles. Be that as it may, we have remained close for all these years. We decided this year to do a stitching project together. Here is my meager progress so far. We are stitching this pattern from Gigi. It is downloadable for free from Gigi’s blog:

I will ask if my sister would mind me posting pictures of her progress for my next update. My Marabella quilt is on the last stretch! I am sewing the binding on. I will have pictures for you later. Meanwhile, you will have a safe day!

Marabella Sneak Peek #2

Good day, Everyone.  I have been busy quilting my Marabella quilt.  I am almost finished at the time this post is written.  This quilt is scheduled for the July issue of The Quilter, if all things go well.  I hope they do. Here are a couple of sneak peeks:

I basically wanted to give a textured effect to the quilt as the fabrics are already quite busy:

Thank you for stopping by.  I wish you a productive day!

Needlework: My “McMansions” Project – Part DONE!

Come congratulate me! My “McMansions” Project (pattern: Sampler Gameboard by The Drawn Thread) is DONE, DONE, DONE!

I was so excited about the possibility and thought of having a January finish last week that I could hardly carry on with my daily duties. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sit still – I was all the while thinking about finishing the sampler. Okay, you know I am being overly dramatic! I worked on it on and off whenever I had a few uninterrupted moments. And it is now FINISHED! You will noticed that I could only fit two letters for my initial, because that “W” is so very encompassing. I decided to only do my last name initial for the square within the gameboard for the very same reason:

This sampler was started in December 2008. I was just getting back in the wonderful world of cross-stitching, particularly antique and reproduction samplers. I liked the whimsical look of the sampler, and the fact that I didn’t have to stitch very far for the individual small pictures within the big picture to emerge:

I was reminded of the verse in John14:2 as I was stitching toward the finish line: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

Thank you for walking this stitching journey with me. Many of you had been there since the very beginning of this McMansion project. Some of you are relatively new to this. But in either case, please know that I appreciate you! Your encouraging words always make my day.

I wish you a lovely Monday, and a lovely week ahead!

A heart ornament for my sister

My sister and I live far apart from each other, separated by miles and oceans.  Baby and I jointly prepared a Valentine’s package to send my sister.  I made the ornament with scraps of fabrics, adorned with a piece of leftover French Val lace used in one of Baby’s heirloom dresses:

Baby’s contribution… she “signed” the card!

I was trying to impress my sister that I can sew buttons.  You see, up till a few years ago, I would keep my clothes that needed buttons re-sewn in a pile for my sister to do the buttons.  Needless to say, sewing on buttons is not on my favorite things to do.  My sister has long thought that I don’t know how.  It’s not that I don’t know how.  It’s just I couldn’t bother with actually doing it.  Anyway, back to impressing my sister — I attached a button on both front and back of the ornament, making the ornament essentially reversible:

Thank you for stopping by for my little Sew-n-Tell project!  I hope you have a splendid weekend.  I shall catch up with you on Monday.  Take care!

An organized stack

Hello Friends,

I did a little bit of cleaning and organizing in the sewing room.  I admit I am not a particular neat quilter.  When I embark on a quilt magazine project, usually, things are strewn everywhere until the quilt is completed.  More often than not, I would charge into the next project before the room is totally cleaned out.  I experienced a bit of problem with my sewing machine while I was quilting my Marabella quilt.  So, I was forced to quit and work on something else on my to-do list (i.e., picking up around the sewing room).   I do hope nothing serious turns up at the sewing machine hospital, as I have to meet those deadlines…  Here is a picture showing the fruit of my labor:

Standing proudly on the boxes are my prized pincushions from the UK.  You can see them up close here.

Have a nice day!  I will catch up with you tomorrow.