French Message Board

This post isn't about quilting, but I did use fabric for this project, so I'm thinking it could be blog-worthy.

I have always wanted a French message board. I love the look of them and I thought that I could make one using the fabrics that I like that go with my decor instead of buying one and making do. 

After my husband made my hinged design wall we had a little bit of the foam insulation board left over and I decided to use it to make a message board. While I was shopping at Jo-Ann's the other day I spotted a piece of home dec fabric that I liked-and it was on sale. I had no idea how big I was going to make my board, so I decided to purchase one yard. I picked out ribbon that I thought would work well and then I decided on covered buttons. 

I had a large enough piece of foam board to make my board 25 X 35". I covered it with batting and then my fabric. If I had used a stretched canvas for my form I would have been able to staple my batting and fabric, but I had to use hot glue since I was using foam board. I fiddled with the ribbon for about an hour before I got it evenly spaced and how I wanted it. I stretched it around to the back and glued it down too. The buttons were fun to cover and really added the detail touch I wanted. Again-hot glue was my method for finishing.

I am pleased with the results and would even consider making them for gifts. It was a fun and creative way to pass the evening. I love having a place to tuck all the cute cards my friends send to me~now I can really enjoy them instead of just tossing them aside in a basket.

Happy quilting.

My Grandmother's Sewing Machine

I was in Florida several weeks ago for a family event and was chatting with my brother. In the middle of our conversation my brother starts telling me that he has our paternal grandmother's old sewing machine. He has no use for it and wanted to know if I would like to have it. On our way home we stopped by his house and picked it up. I am really happy to have this sewing machine because it is a family treasure that I can pass on down to one of my daughters or granddaughters.

In the box with all the attachments for the machine, I found this receipt for the purchase. My grandmother (Mrs G. M. West) bought her machine on Feb 5, 1948. The machine cost $165 (that included the cabinet) and the bench was $14.00. It's a Singer model 66-16.

Here is the machine in its cabinet in my quilt room. The bench is the one that she purchased with it. The lid comes off the seat and it has a tray inside....full of old goodies.

The machine is in bad shape. It is really dirty, has a frayed cord that needs to be replaced and it has that old oil smell about it. But, with some elbow grease, some TLC and a new cord, I think it's going to purr like new. If I can get it to work, I will definitely make a quilt or two on it. 

I love the look of these vintage scrolled front face plates. I have 3 other old Singers and this is my favorite thing about them all.

The machine has a knee control and the cabinet has a small tilted drawer in the front. 

There were lots of other goodies that belonged to my grandmother that came my way along with the machine. The larger box in the background has the buttonhole attachment for the machine. The jar with spools of thread was a special treat. 

I have seen lots of Singer accessories through the years, but I have never seen a seam ripper and needle threader. This one is still in the original envelope and has the instructions with it (she paid $.75) I am tickled to have this one that belonged to my grandmother.

Lots of fun stuff!!

Happy quilting! 

Atlanta Sewing and Quilting Expo

Last Friday my youngest daughter, Melissa, and I went to the Sewing and Quilting Expo in Atlanta. We make a semi annual tradition of this-going in March to the sewing expo and in October to the sewing and quilting expo.

This year's quilts were really pretty, so I took some pictures to share with you. There were several exhibits that were really unusual and interesting.  I hope you enjoy them.

I love applique and this was my favorite quilt at the show. The photo does not do it justice at all. There are many different blue fabrics used for the backgrounds and all of the applique is done in black and white fabrics. 

This quilt is actually more striking in a photo than in person. Because it was so big, you needed to stand way back from it to see it best.

This quilt is TINY!! The little blocks in it were about 1" square!

I loved the man and his sax!

There are so many talented people out there!

This exhibit was fun! It was multi panels that traveled Rte 66 from Illinois to California.

This is one of the stops on Rte 66.

The remaining pics are all from a really cute exhibit of house shaped wall hangings. They were about 12 X18". There were several with a quilt room theme or with quilters sewing in the house. These are a few of them to show you the variety of ideas that different quilters came up with. My four year old granddaughter, Sofia, enjoyed this exhibit best. :)

Happy Quilting!

Love Letters Quilt-Block 3

I am already finished with block #3-The Winter Rose! Less than a month! I appliqued on the plane, in the car, in the hotel room, while watching TV, as soon as I got up in the morning and before I went to bed at night. Are you seeing how much time I spent every day on it?

I have all the pieces cut out for block #4, but house cleaning, a quilt show, my youngest daughter's birthday, some babysitting, a soccer game, etc are going to make this block slower going. But, I am loving this quilt, so I think I will still be working on it as often as possible. 

The Quilted Moose

I took another field trip while I was in Omaha. I just HAD to visit The Quilted Moose in Gretna, NE. I recently purchased Four Seasons at Minglewood  (I did a book review about it here) that the owner of The Quilted Moose published. The shop was also featured in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine Quilt Sampler magazine in 2007. 

After breakfast Saturday morning, my other BFF, Anne, and I headed out of town, with her husband as our chauffeur. The shop was fabulous and worth the 30 minute trip from downtown Omaha. It had all the fabrics that I just love-Jo Morton, Blackbird Designs, French General, etc. She also had wool and Diawabos-two specialties that are so hard to find! I was not as good as I was at the quilt show and all restraint went right out the window. I bought 2 yummy pieces of orange  plaid wool to make some pumpkins out of, a few fat quarters of Jo Morton's for my "collection" and ordered a book for my next applique project. 

The shop owner, Deb, was soooo sweet. I loved chatting with her. She told me that I could take all the pics I wanted to in her shop, but I was so busy taking it all in that once I got home I realized I only took a few photos and that I didn't capture the feel of her shop at all! I will share these three with you and apologize for not taking more. If you are ever in the Omaha or Lincoln area, this shop is worth the trip! 

Anne loves Diawabos and these quilts were gorgeous examples of how to use them.

The quilt on the left is The Quilted Moose's quilt that was featured in Quilt Sampler magazine--it was on the cover!

Here is Deb-surrounded by fabric! 

Des Moines Quilt Show

My BFF's oldest daughter got married in Omaha on October 6. I have never been to Nebraska before so I was ready for a new adventure. My husband and I decided to fly in a few days early and see what adventures awaited us. As I was searching the web for places to go and things to see I discovered that the Des Moines quilt show was taking place just two hours to the east at the exact time we were going to be in town! It had to be kismet. Nothing says "road trip" like a good quilt show. My husband was up for the ride, so when our plane landed and our car was rented we followed the scent of fabric east. 

The quilt show was wonderful.  I wandered the vendor aisles and actually bought NOTHING-that's a first for me. There were a lot of wonderful booths and I was so inspired, but I kept thinking of all the projects that were awaiting me at home and I just couldn't buy another thing.

The quilts were awesome. I took quite a few pictures with my cell phone-so please pardon the poor quality of the photos. I love applique, so you are going to see a lot of it. Oh- the machine quilting was spectacular-enlarge the photos and check out the detail!  Now, make a cup of tea (or grab a glass of wine) and sit back to enjoy the virtual quilt tour from the Des Moines show.