Honestly, I was compelled to make this quilt. I used to ask myself what my ideal job was. It had to be creative, I would be my own boss, work on my own schedule, and spread the Word of God. This fits the bill, and I hope to publish this as a pattern in the near future. If you hand embroider, or know someone that does, please share this with them. Don't hesitate to give me feedback as well.

This quilt is a fun fat quarter collection that I began a while ago. I simply collected about 20 fall-themed fat quarters. I then combined them with cream fat quarters, and voila! "Fancy Fall" was born. I was fortunate to be able to quilt this myself on a long-arm machine at Top Stitchery in Roberts Wisconsin. It was very interesting and challenging. If I had it to do over again, I'd put a border on this one, just to have even more fun quilting it! Special thanks to Jean Potter for all of her help and encouragement!
 Next to the aforementioned pillow is the Madison Bag by Amy Butler. I just love this purse, and actually use it to carry around knitting: fits those long needles! I love, love, love the symmetrical design, and fussy cutting to match is the ultimate. Totally worth it in my opinion, and looks very professional.

Sorry, it must be "toot my own horn day" or something.
And last but definitely not least, I'll just show you the 2013 raffle quilt for next year's show! I think it is gorgeous!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Fall!!!

Here is a close-up of some free-motion quilting in progress on my new table runner pattern, Diamond Twist, coming out this fall! I am still continuing the hand embroidery, and machine quilting around it and within the flower petals was so much fun! I love the dimensionality it brings out - really makes that flower pop to life!
When this runner is constructed, you get these fun little bonus units, and with just a little extra patchwork, you can create these bonus blocks, also with a twisted look - aren't they cool? Totally worth a little extra work and make great coordinating pieces!
The blocks resemble a traditional pattern called Bethlehem Star.

I have been bitten by the embroidery bug! Here is a teaser of an original embroidery design that I am stitching. It is an interesting experiment, and it is likely to endure some edits and changes before the final result, but it is a wonderful learning process! I have been cross stitching and embroidering for years and practically have every DMC floss color. But a renewed interest has me soaking up tips from books, magazines and other talented stitchers (Thank you Edye!) This is a new venture and it is an exciting challenge! I hope you will weigh in your thoughts and tips as well.

P.S. Are you wondering about those red lines all over my stitchery? They come
right out when you apply heat! Yet another reason I am thankful to live in
this age of technology and convenience.

Here is the faux piped binding that I learned about the other day on TLC's blogspot.
http://tlcstitches.blogspot.com/2010/07/faux-piped-binding-tutorial.html?spref=fb
Thank you TLC! I love how this turned out, and it was just the right touch to finish this wonderful quilt.

This project was a "Round Robin" amongst friends that are also members of my quilt guild. I constructed the center block which is a variation of the block called "Old Favorite" and by doing so, declared that this would be a 30's scrap quilt. I then passed it on to Linda, the next member of the group of 5. We pulled the name of a border technique out of a hat, and got sawtooth, so she added a sawtooth border and passed it on. Don't you love that little stripey fabric in there? It is the cutest. (See close-ups below.)

After having the restriction of doing a sawtooth border, we quickly decided that for the following rounds we could do whatever we wanted or thought the quilt needed.

Applique was expertly done by Nancy, and need I say more? Kay cleverly echoed the sawtooth border design and I really think this helps tie it all together. Lastly Jean added the border with the rounded corners - something extra fun and unique for this quilt! Love it!!!
I went to the quilt shop to find fabrics for binding, and came home with three. I also had a blue gingham which I did not use. I chose to do the yellow piped "look" because it separates the pink in the corner detail from the pink binding.

Sorry for being heavy on the pictures today. It is just a quilt that needs to be celebrated because it was so much fun and inspired learning and solidified friendships.


Thank you Linda, Nancy, Kay and Jean for this wonderful project! Wanna do it again?  :)

This looks a bit like a mess and for now I'm calling it "Log Cabin Squid." To me it is something very oddly appealing and clearly still in progress. I don't know - I'm kind of proud of it in its early development stages. But sometimes this is how great ideas evolve and though my design wall looks different now, I enjoy sharing the process with you. I also like to come back to photos of my steps in the creative process and see the junctions at which I made changes and decisions. Sometimes those snapshots into the past lead me to various new ideas and themes at later dates. It is a good thing. DaVinci's drawings (not to equate myself with his genius!) still give much insight to people yet today. And so I keep all of my sketches and photos like this in the hope that one day, someone, including myself, might be inspired by them. You just never know from when and where that next great idea will come!

Here is a picture of my son with his teacher and the
table runner that I made for him. It is the smaller size version of my original pattern, Sweet Sisters, available to view on my website. And, yes, he is a Packer Fan as is our family. (He earned big brownie points for that!)

Thank you Mr. Johnson, for a fabulous first year of middle school for RJ! We think you are terrific!



Churn Dash blocks that will become a (much bigger) "Caring Quilt" for the guild

 So find some wall space, and get your designer hat on and lay out some of those old orphan blocks you have. I know you do....make a wall quilt out of one by adding some nice pieced borders, or put those extra blocks from that exchange into a wall quilt and give it as a gift. Not enough time? Sew them into a pillow top and it'll be done lickety split. I'm tellin' ya, that design wall will get a spring in your step and you'll see a creative difference! Post a photo of what is on your wall - we all need inspiration!

Knit the first row; Purl the second row and repeat.  Work is turned between rows. The above photo shows the progression of these stitches beginning at the bottom and going up. The second section is seed stitch.

Seed stitch is a nubby texture and happens to be my favorite. To do the seed stitch you simply K1, P1, and repeat. On the next row, you K1, P1 and repeat. You will be knitting the purl side of the stitches, and purling the knit side of the stitches. It is easy to follow because you will see that if you come to a V you will purl it, and if you come to a bump, you will knit it. The third section is garter stitch.

Garter stitch is when each and every row is knitted. No purls allowed! This gives a stripey texture to your knitting, as you can see the Vs AND the bumps in rows. You are seeing both the front of the knit stitches and the back of the knit stitches. The fourth section is ribbing.

Ribbing is accomplished the same as in seed stitch for the first row: K1, P1 and repeat. However, for the second row, the pattern is P1, K1 and repeat. In this case you are purling the purl stitches, and knitting the knit stitches. When you come to a v, knit it, and when you come to a bump, purl it. This creates a vertical stripe effect and is often used on the cuffs of socks, sweaters and mittens because it has a lovely stretchy quality. After the ribbing, I did several more rows of stockinette and then some seed stitch again. These progress left to right in the photo below.

I hope this information has been helpful and that you will soon give knitting a try! Check out my YouTube videos on how to knit for specific instructions on this swatch.

I have been knitting up a storm lately and I have to tell you that it has a lot to do with a great yarn shop where I can go to vent, ask, share and learn. I wanted to tell you about Mrs. I's Yarn Parlor in Osceola WI. The owner is Linda, Mrs. I herself, someone I've known for a while, and she is a fabulous knitter and teacher! Check out her website at http://www.yarnparlor.com/ and you can get all the details on her fabulous shop!

Well, I said I would, and I am: Posting about passions other than quilting today, that is. I made this scarf recently, and wouldn't you know, I got the pattern off another blog? Sure enough. So thank you That Crafty Mom for your free scarf pattern! (See my blog list to find her.)

I used Lana Bambu (Bamboo/Wool blend,) color 11. I love it. It turned out really well, and since I am a relatively new knitter, I am pleased and proud of my creation, and love how it looks on my coat. It looks better there, than on my guest bathroom towel rack, but that's a great way to photograph it since it was nice and bright in there, so...

There's my Knitty Bitty post! Have a great day!

This Wisconsin girl is thrilled that her precious Green Bay Packers are going to the SUPERBOWL!!!! Good luck to both teams, and may the Packers win! Hmmmm, maybe I need to make a Packers quilt....I'll mull it over between victory dances! Have a great day!

My youngest son has a patriotic room, and since selvage edges almost always "read" as white, I thought it would be fun to incorporate them into something for his wall. This is just a start - a top only, but it is something. Some have really funny words on them. My favorite in this one is "good dog." He really likes it!

Check out this version of the 12 days of Christmas! I think you will be surprised and amused! I love it! I have this on my playlist when I am sewing away in the craft room this time of year. Enjoy!