It's Your Birthday

My mom made the most incredible cakes, twice she was offered by a restaurant to make their specialty desserts.  She never wanted to but would always make one for her family and friends.  They were always perfect and served on her blue Fenton cake dish.  When I saw this appliqué pattern online I had to make three of them, one

 for my sister, one for my son's future wife and one for me.  

For my son's Vermont Condo Christmas 5 of 5

Using Cotton Tales Pattern Under the Stars for a 33" by 47" wall hanging I modified the quilt to measure 53" by 67".  I used Electric Quilt and enlarged the squares from 6 to 7 inches and adding new squares.  A simple construction then became a challenge.  The 9 patches had to be cut with 2 13/16 squares....Yeah forget-about- it.  I paper pieced with all of it with freezer paper.  I loved the results however, and hope he does too.

Snowman Mugs Christmas 4 of 5

Saw this pattern in a quilting magazine while grocery shopping. I ended up making 30.  The buttons were the problem.  I like to buy buttons on ebay in bulk, they are so much cheaper than in any stores.  I also do this with elastic, velcro and piping.  So 200 black, and 200 red buttons came to less then $5.  Try getting that many in JoAnns! I gave them to neighbors and friends with a loaf

of museli bread.

A Puppet Play House over a card table Christmas 3 of 5

Modifying an Idea I saw on line I purchased denim and loads of Wonder Under.  Normally I do fabric turn applique, but this was just too big a project for that method.....Oh and did I mention I made two houses and two sets of puppets. One to give to my niece's two little ones, and one set to keep in case my tumor comes back  in the event my son has little ones some day.  OMG the first pattern I purchased was a nightmare Butterick 4209, frustrated with the construction I removed the head of a puppet I had originally sent for from China after deciding it wasn't suitable for children  under three, and redesigned the pattern. After making all 7 animals with my new method, two times I might add I purchased Simplicity 1729 which was much better giving the fingers easy asses to the head.

The house has two sides with the bigger window, and the back just  plain denim .  The curtains lift up from inside.

Honoring my dad Christmas 2 of 5

For years I've been picking up nautical/ US Navy prints with the intention Of using them in a quilt in memory of my dad to be given to his two grandsons, my son and my nephew.  I chose a mariners compass for the center piece.  On the back with Navy fabric I picked up years ago at the Rosemont Quilt Show I added a fabric label with a dedication to the recipients, and a picture of my dad, and his ship during the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  I have also included the battles he was in, and metals received. The quilts measure 63" by 63"

How it all started Christmas 1 of 5

Downsizing a bit, and going through all my quilting books and magazines I decided to photocopy pages I wanted to keep and donate the books to the goodwill.  I came across a pattern for a quilted cat.  thinking a head to a birthday present for a friend who loves both cats and blue batiks I planned out the execution using nine patches.  I can't do anything without my computer and the electric Quilt program.  My computer had crashed, so I mapped it out in my head planning to make several.  after completing all seven I had some 80 some extra squares.  No joke.  With a new computer I then decided to plug them in and make two  62" X 74"  quilts for my 2 nieces. The colors are much prettier then the pictures allow.

You know what they say about sausage making and democracy, watching it in progress is not pretty.  Well neither is quilting.  Here was my sewing room last December.  I had  inherited a huge stash of bright batiks from a downsizing quilter friend of mine so when I saw this pattern for an Irish Chain I had to make it, and me being me I had to make two. Yippee on to my next project…….

The Tradition Continues.

When my niece Maggie was little, I made American Girl Clothes for her Samantha doll.  Now her own daughter has a Biddy Baby and I’m back at it. As always I make two of each outfit, one to send and one to save in case the Red Seas part again and I am blessed with a granddaughter someday 

Christmas Tree Skirt

My sons Christmas list to Santa this year included one tree skirt.  They wanted it big, with a middle circumference of which would be large enough to fit over their stand for easy watering.  The middle opening was some 40 “, and the entire skirt measured 80” in diameter.  I made a pattern out of 5- 80+ inch sheets of freezer paper taped together. I moved all the furniture out of my living room and using a string marked at the correct radius marked the two circles, then cut it larger than needed, folded the paper to make the scallops for the edges, drew a cardboard template to better trace the edges evenly,   Divided the circle into the largest equilateral triangle possible, then center the three “Merry Christmas” to be stem stitched by hand.  Stippled quilted the entire thing, I used over 2,000 yards of thread.  On the paper pattern, I arranged trial holy leaves out of newspaper until I had the correct size and number to be appliqued after the quilting was complete.   After many headaches, I actually finished it.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  This is how it looked in my son’

s front room.

I must be related to Henry Ford

I can never just make one of anything....so now that I'm back to sewing after my brain tumor recovery I wanted to find a way to thank my other friends and family who really got me through some very hard times...Hence the seven quilts, ironically my machine broke as I was just finishing the last one so I'm off to Linda Z's to take it in for repairs.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  I know I feel blessed.

Shortly after my June 2013 post I was diagnosed with a stage 4 GBM.  I had brain surgery one year ago yesterday and the only sewing I was able to do was finish two Christmas presents,an apron and this Hammy New Year is a pillow I made for my sister.  They always have ham on New Year’s and she drives her kids nuts by always wishing them a “Hammy New Year” After that I really have just spent a year coping with chemo every month  and radiation.  I’m finally strong enough to sew.  My friends have been incredible, I made this pastel quilt for a dear friend who planted and planned my garden last year and this year, and organized meals for us through the darkest days of  my recovery for her August Birthday.  I’m currently working on scrap lap quilts for all the other angels who were on my recovery team.  I hope I stay well enough to finish them by Christmas.  I am so happy to be back.

Art Challenge Quilt Entry

My 9” x 12” Art Challenge Quilt for our Guild’s next quilt show. Category "Community"

As an 8 year old child in 1956 I walked around my new neighborhood community of Lewiston NY discovering some of its incredible history and magnificent sights.  It is my hope that your eyes will do the same and learn about the town where I grew up, a few miles from the original falls of 12,000 years ago. It was here that all the melting glaciers cascaded over the escarpment cutting back the gorge 7 miles to its present home Niagara Falls.   In the 1700's, the Tuscarora, the sixth nation, joined the Iroquois League where given land by the Holland Land Co. and the Seneca Nation to form their reservation in Lewiston NY.  Lewiston was also one of the ends of the Underground Railroad. Hundreds of runaway slaves were sheltered in what we called the “house of the seven cellars” waiting their crossing the lower Niagara River by the cover of darkness to their new community of freedom in Ontario Canada.

Eat More Pie

Finally, the two Thanksgiving Applique gift pillows I been working on for weeks are finished.  I couldn't find a pattern I liked well enough, so I just took a screen shot of a panel quilt I found in  google images, inserted it into Publisher, enlarged it to the size to fit the pillow and printed it out as a banner.  The rest is all about the tracing onto freezer paper.

Dear Jane is finished for Mother's Day

Seriously There is no Logical Reason Why I Made 7 of These Puppies

(One is already in the mail).  I’m not a rainbow color kinda gal, but I still have so many rainbow colors left from my inherited stash along with this gift book that contains a pattern for one said pencil holder  so I say, “ why not?”  

Flip it to the Rescue

A Colleague had heard that I rehabilitate torn and unusable family embroidered pieces.  Her grandmother had stitched a lovely linen tea towel but it was tattered and stained.  
She didn't have the heart to throw it out, and asked if I'd like to have it.  I knew immediately what to do with it.  I had been planning to make some old fashion flip dolls in commemoration of our family's duel heritage, Sicilian/ Irish and it would fit perfectly as part of the bodice and apron.   As always, I can't just make one.  Adorable don't you think?

"At the beach Batik"

This one looks softer in person, it's queen size and was just a project in using up inherited batiks while trying to play with color...Okay  I'm still learning, but it will be a great blanket for picnics.

Really… What the Heck Was I Thinking???

I use to go through rolls and rolls of masking tape, have to move furniture…

Really???  IT’s not that difficult, a few clips from STAPLES…No crawling around on the floor…I love it!!  Sandwiching just became so much easier, and all because I needed to stretch a quilt with the Christmas tree taking up too much floor space.   Necessity is the mother of invention. Live and Learn.

It’s Almost Time to Fly the Coup

44 eye masks sewn, packed and alphabetized …CHECK

44 Cards “Wishing all Sweet Dreams and May visions of sugar plums continually dance in your head while expressing the fact I may not be seeing them next Christmas because of  my retirement at the end of this school Year but Giving instructions to visit me on Facebook, Goodreads or by  using my 3 personal emails and/or  by also my visiting this blog.” ….CHECK

The last mailbox Christmas stuffer of my working career completed. ….CHECK

Merry Christmas All It has been FUN...CHECK

Anne B's Batiks 1

In 2010 my quilting buddy Anne downsized moved to Arizona, and I inherited a third of her Batik stash.  Overwhelmed, and always the organizer, I cut 1 inch squares from each piece of fabric, pinned them together by color in hopes to use them as samples when I need a match. 

Two years I was still looking at the chain of pinned wads of color hanging in the sewing room.  On a whim I stitched several together to form small squares.  Still overwhelmed, and not really a batik fan, I took  all the batiks that I liked the least and formed 12 inch blocks around the blocks, and voila a not so unappealing quilt was born.