Quilted Postcards

These are Quilted Postcards. You basically make in mini quilt that is 4" by 6" just like a postcard. I came up with an idea of butterflies and sketched it out. I looked around my sewing room to find the perfect fabric to use. I took the fabric that I used for the backround and backed it with a piece of flannel and machine quilted it. I wanted it to look like the butterflies were in flight. The next step was to fuse the butterfly applique to some fusable webbing called Steam a Seam. At that point I ironed the applique to the backround and machine stitched the little bodies onto the applique. Then I ironed on another piece of Steam a Seam to the back of the mini quilt. For added firmness I placed an index card in the middle of the mini front and the fabric I used for the back. I ironed all of the layers together. At that point I finished the edges with a very tight zig zag stitch and used variegated thread. For the finishing touch I glued on some Swarovski crystals for the antenna. Here is a close up of one of the finished Quilted Postcards. I took them into the post office to mail them. Even the postal workers were impressed! I had to use a 42 cent stamp to mail them.



I swaped with 14 other people. I made several extras to mail to friends and family. It was a huge hit! Here are some of the others I have received



This one is from Sally and the first one that was mailed to me. Isn't it pretty? I have received almost all of the cards from the swap. I took a shot of what I have so far. A few of these are my test ones. Sally was kind enough to send me one of hers before I started this swap.



I have to share some interested facts on one of the fabrics I used.



This is a vintage Hoffman fabric from the early 1970's. I found it in a fabric store that has been around for over 40 years. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the shop's basement. It was loaded with all kinds of fabrics that were out of date. I saw this funky fabric and had to have it. Can you imagine all the cool hippies making clothes out of this? My friend and I bought the entire bolt.



This is a shot of the top of the bolt. Notice the price. Yup, $2.69! That's what I paid per yard! You can't go wrong for the 1970's price!

Prime Peak Time

My lace project Gust is coming along slowly. I had to frog back several times. You know the saying; Good things come to those who wait, well that is so true. I am enjoying the challenge. I really have to concentrate on the directions so I don't miss a yarn over. Last week Jennygirl suggested I put in a life line. I have followed her advice and I am feeling a bit more confident with my lifeline inserted after each repeat. So far I have finished two repeats. Here is the progress of Gust. It is so beautiful! The yarn reminds me of a few of the flowers that are blooming in my garden.




This pretty Peony is still blooming. This plant is in it's prime peak time for the season. I actually dug part of this plant from the house were I grew up. These peonies grew on the south side of my parents home. I always looked forward to the spring when I knew these pretty flowers would make their debut.




I also noticed that the delphinium's have just started to bloom. They blues are so gorgeous. The colors are reminding me of the yarn I'm using for Gust.



This peony is one of my favorites. I just adore the deep pink color. The blooms are almost finished for the year. I am always amazed at the size of these flowers. The blooms are larger than my entire hand!
This is not the most flattering shot of this...but here it goes.... Susan if you are reading this is for you! I put my Wicked sweater on some scrap yarn so I could try it on. It seems to be fitting real well. I am really getting bored with all of this same stitch. It seems like I've knitted miles upon miles of stockinette stitch! Yes, I will finish. My question is how do you get through those tedious patterns? I think for me I need to work on something more complicated to keep the knitting mojo going!

Do You Think Anyone Will Notice?

I'm really not suppose to be starting another project, but I am. Gust is my very first lace project. The pattern is from Knitspot. Anne Hanson is one of my favorite knitting designers. Last year her blog was one of the very first blogs about knitting I came across. Ever since that first read I was hooked and visit her place everyday. It's my day off and I really should be doing some cleaning. I don't want to! Let's play hooky! Want to join me? I think if we bake something really good know one will notice the bathroom hasn't been cleaned.




One of my handsome hubby's all time favorites are brownies. I think I should make a pan. Want to give me a hand? You can lick the spoon and the bowl. I promise that at my house these brownies are calorie and fat free. Another cool thing about my baking is this pan of brownies is chock full of vitamins and nutrient's. It's the perfect food! Yum!




O.K. here is the spoon. Mmm, tastes good!




While we are waiting for the bribe I mean brownies to bake let's do a bit of knitting. What do you think of the beginning of this pattern. It's pretty. You have to come in closer to see the yarn I am using.






This is a hand dyed fingerling weight yarn from Crazy Monkey Creations. It's the Panda Toes line and the color is Berry Blast. I just love all the variations in the colors. Don't you? Oh, did you hear the buzzer? I think the brownies are done!




Because you are my guest please let me know if you want an in or out piece. I also have whip cream or vanilla ice cream. Whatever you like. Let's sit down and relax and do a little knitting.

I've Been Tagged!

For the first time I have been tagged by Sarena and JennyGirl.


The Rules:
Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What I was doing 10 years ago:

I was a stay at home Mom of two wonderful children. My oldest just finished her first year of high school. My youngest was 9 years old. 1998 was my first year in the professional quilting business. I had a great first year in business. I was having a blast tearing up the horseback riding trails with one of my closest friends. We packed up our horses and rode a different trail at least once a week that year.

2. What 5 things are on on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

Go to the gym and work out.

Clean the entire house.

Work on my quilted post cards for my swap.

Do some laundry.

Go see a movie with my daughter.


3. Snacks I enjoy:

Hmm, My all time favorite is popcorn! The kind you make on the stove with olive oil and lots of salt! My other fav is cookies. Since February I haven't had much of either!


4. Things I would do if I was a billionaire:

Tithe to my church first! Seed into other Christian ministries around the world. I would love to buy another home in a warm climate. Pay off all of the debts of ours and our families. Of course my husband and myself would retire and spend time traveling the country. We would have to visit every quilt shop and knitting store!
I could go on and on......

5. Places I have lived:

Not very exciting. I have lived in Northern Illinois almost my entire life. When I was 12 we sold our suburban home near Chicago and moved to a dairy farm in Marshfield Wisconsin. We milked 35 cows twice a day everyday for one year. It was very hard work! My parents sold the farm and moved back to Illinois. Farm life was not for them. I loved living and working on our farm. I am not afraid of hard work!


I will tag Threadbender, MountRobson, learningtobethankful, quiltersal, finnishwahine and woolwindings. I hope you want to play along. If anyone else wants to play too please be advised that you have been tagged too! I would love to meet you via our bloggs!

Swap and more!

This is the final pincushion I chose to sew for my swap partner. She told me she loves bright primary colors. She also has a passion for things more contemporary. That was the perfect excuse to do some fabric shopping. I, of course, don't have anything in my huge fabric stash that would work. I will have to admit that this swap really tested my creativity. It was the first swap, the first pincushion and the first contemporary item I have ever made.





I also added one more to her swap. This is the original pincushion I tested out. My partner mentioned that she likes flowers so I fussy cut out the fabric to show off the flower. I added a few more items. Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, I haven't read the book yet but I'm sure it's another great read from the "Harlot".




This is the swap I received from MissLove. The pincushion is a mini felted one. It's so cute. She was also so sweet and added some fabric to the package.



I have been working on my Wicked sweater. It's really coming along. Right now I am decreasing for the waist. I'm in love with the color. Not so much with the yarn. I have found huge yarn knots in each skein so far.





I love watching Food Network. Last week we were watching Diners Drive In's and Dives. It's really a fun show about all types of local restaurants all over the country. Last week the show featured The Frosted Mug Drive In. The Drive In is located about 2 hours from where we live. The Frosted Mug makes their own Root Beer and Italian Beef and so on. My mouth was watering. I showed DH and his mouth started to water. We decided to take a mini road trip on Sunday. I checked the Food Network website and got the link for the Drive In. I clicked on the web site for The Frosted Mug to get the address and directions. We had a wonderful Sunday cruise. The day started out a little chilly. It even rained about 25 drops. We didn't care. We were going for homemade Root Beer and Italian Beef's!! WooHoo!! We took the scenic tour through Chicago. All I can say is I was really getting hungry! Finally we were getting close. I packed away my knitting so I would have plenty of room for eating yummy delicious food. We say the sign off in the distance........It looked kind of strange. Not one car in the parking lot. As a matter of fact I don't think a car has driven on this lot for months!





We were laughing so hard! Can you believe it? This place has been closed for months! This makes for a great story. I guess you can say the old saying still holds true.....Phone First!!!!

Graduation Day!

Once upon a time not so long ago a darling daughter was born to a thrilled couple. She was a very happy and content baby. What a blessing for her young parents.



The sweet darling daughter brought joy and happiness to each person she spent time with. Her smile would light up a room.



Her baby brother adored his "sissy". He would follow her everywhere. He missed her when she started school.




Just like all little girls she loved dressing up. She was so thrilled to be asked to stand up in her Uncles wedding as the flower girl.




The darling daughter had so many dreams and aspirations. She was charmed with animals. She had her own mini menagerie. Her favorite were her horses.



She grew up strong and beautiful. The darling daughter was funny and witty. She was smart and confident.




She had the world at her feet when she graduated high school. The darling daughter matured into a responsible adult.




Time has gone by so fast. It's hard to imagine that my DD has graduated from college! This is not the end of the story. It is just a mere chapter in her book. I can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter

Congratulations to our darling daughter. Your college graduation was one of the proudest moments of our lives.

Pincushion Party!

Yarn by Yarnpig




Fabric by Moda

IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE! IMPORTANT NEWS UPDATE! IMPORTANT
A recent study has indicated that fabric and yarn gives off certain Pheromones, that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase ungodly amounts. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the Pheromones (in the fabric or yarn) cause memory loss and induce the nesting syndrome therefore perpetuating the species (aka fabricus or yarnicus maximus). Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics or yarns emit a very high-pitched sound, heard only by a select few breed of women known as quilters and knitters. When played backwords on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants "Buy Me" "Cut Me" "Sew Me" "Knit Me" "Wind ME"! Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth helping to spread the effect that these fabrics and yarns have on the human population They are called fabric and yarn store clerks. It's also been my experience that these same Pheromones cause a pathological need to hide the fabrics and yarn away when taken home (or at least blended into the existing stash) and when asked by a significant other if the fabric and yarn is new, the reply is "I've had it for awhile".
I found that on Jan Patek's site and thought it spoke the truth! I thought that you might be able to identify with me! O.K. now on to some fabric kind of stuff....Susan is having a hand dyed fabric giveaway here. Go check it out and tell her I sent you!



I really love pincushions. I have several that I keep in my sewing room on a shelf. Some are very old. Others are handmade. The rest are store bought. I find them to be kind of whimsical. I have only made one pincushion myself. On Ravelry I joined a group for swapping pincushions. I thought that I could really get my creative juices going!



I dragged out some of my scraps. Hmmm, I don't think I have enough. Big Lie! Anyway I searched the Internet and found a few patterns for pincushions.




I found this very basic pincushion from Tammys Times. I used some old fabric sample squares I bought several years ago. I'll tell you more about that a little further down. I also added a touch of embroidery to the edge and an antique button.



It turned out pretty sweet! I do like it.




Then I tried another print print and colorway. I also experimented with how much stuffing I put in. I also found that clipping the entire circle gave it a nice crisp edge. I'm still not sure how to stitch the opening closed the best way. That's one of the reasons I added some embroidery. I really want to make my swap partner the very best pincushion I can! BTW this is not the pattern I am using for the swap. I'm just getting warmed up here!




I used to work at a quilt shop many moons ago. One of our fabric rep's was retiring and wanted to sell all of her sample books. My boss bought the entire lot. Of course, I needed to get in on the fun too. I always wanted to make a simple block quilt with scraps. This is all from one fabric collection. It is my spring quilt. Now, don't yell at me but the binding is only sewn onto one edge. I still need to hand stitch the rest of the binding on. I am not telling on how long ago I started this!




Look what just started to bloom today! The lilac's are so beautiful!




How about this one? O.K. close your eyes and take a deep breath. Mmmmmmm, is smells like the most expensive perfume. Right?



I drove by this market yesterday. Look at what the sign reads. Yup, 10 weeks until sweet corn!!! Hooray!!!! I'm stocking up on the butter right now!