Chattanooga Shopping

I had a great time in Chattanooga, at the quilt show and shopping at Spool. I didn't buy a lot-mostly just added some fat quarters to my new "brights" stash for some future scrappy quilts.

These are mostly Lily Ashbury and Bonnie and Camile-both by Moda. My new favorite colors these days are orange, yellow and lime green. It's a far cry from Civil War reproduction fabrics, but I love them! I picked up these FQs at Spool.

At the show I bought these ten FQs of Block Party by Sandy Gervais. Again, I am loving these brights and only need small amounts for the scrap quilts I have in mind.

On our way home we stopped at Intown Quilters in Decatur and I picked up these three fabrics. The middle and right ones are Tula Pink's new line, Eden. I'm not sure what the other fabric is. 

At the show I also got 20 needles for my HQ Sweet 16 and two chalk pencils for marking quilts and a sharpener. At Spool I picked up the cute bag pattern, a luggage tag and license plate.

This is the least amount of money I have ever spent at a quilt show. And I'm good with that.  I have everything I could possibly need, so anything I pick up is just icing on the cake.

Doing the happy dance 'cause I was having fun with friends!

Sewing Runner From Pam

I went back through my blog posts this morning and realized that I never blogged about this adorable sewing themed runner that Pam's mom made and Pam gave to me! She made several for Pam to give to friends for Christmas last year. It's just too cute not to show it off on my blog. 

It measures 6 1/2 X 25" and each block is unique. I think these hand quilted scissors are just too much fun and the measuring tape between each block is a detail I would never have thought of.

I love the dimension that this jar of buttons gives the runner. The buttons are all sizes, shapes and colors. It's my favorite block.

The pincushion even has a wool strawberry and leaves attached. No detail was overlooked. 

I have this runner on the coffee table in my quilt room and I love looking at it. Thanks for letting me share it with you.

Happy quilting,

Grammy

Red X-Stitch Quilt

My birthday was last month and I got wonderful gifts from my family and friends. And some of them were even quilting related! :)

Pam and Anne came to visit me the first week of the month and brought me a fabulous old quilt. What a wonderful gift! Anne told me that she thinks the quilt may have been made by her son-in-law's grandmother. It originally had a ruffle around the outside edge, but after soaking the quilt and getting out the stains, Anne removed the ruffle. She then passed the quilt off to Pam, who put a solid red binding on it. 

I'm tickled to death with my new old quilt. Isn't it just delicious?

Anne pointed out the very thick thread that the quilt maker used to quilt the quilt---and the fact that she didn't bury any of her knots! A lot of work went into all of the X-stitch and it's baffling to me that she wouldn't have buried her quilting knots. :) I think the "thread" she used was just too thick! But I love a quilt with a good story, or even a mystery, so I think it's so fun that the quilt isn't perfect. What it is, is perfectly beautiful!!!

This year I am re-doing my guest bedroom in red and white and this quilt is going to be a perfect accent in the room!

Thank you, Anne and Pam!! I love it!!

Happy Quilting!

Grammy

Dress Form Pincushion and Pins

For Christmas, my friend, Judy gave me a wonderful gift. It's both very cute and very practical. She said she wanted to make me pins to use for marking my quilt blocks and rows and then decided to find a cute pincushion to put them in. She found this one at JoAnn's and knew that I would love it! And I do!!

What a thoughtful gift! The pins are all color coded and stuck into the pin cushion in numerical or alphabetical order. 

So, now when I have my blocks on my design wall and I need to take them down to stitch them, I can put pins in them before I move them and nothing is ever out of order. I can also mark my rows so that later when I am sewing them together I am able to keep them in the same position. 

To make the pins, Judy started with pearl head straight pins, alphabet and number beads, small crystal beads and crimp beads. For each set she added an alphabet bead, a crystal bead and then a crimp bead (you find crimp beads in the jewelry making section of your local craft store. The purpose of the crimp bead is to squeeze it closed around the pin, so that the other beads do not fall off.) You can add your beads in any order you prefer. 

I have a quilt on my design wall that is set on point and I have already put my number beads to good use keeping my rows straight. 

This pincushion and these pins are going to get a LOT of use. And I'm going to think of Judy every time I do. 

Happy quilting.....and pinnning,

Grammy

Valentine's Day Postcards

I went shopping last week for Valentine cards for my friends and grandkids. I didn't find anything that really rocked my world--and wow!-they were expensive! It used to be (back in the dark ages when I was younger) that you would buy someone a gift and get them a nice card to attach to the present, but now the card costs so much that it could BE the gift! I'm not sure when all of this happened, but I decided that this year I was going to forgo the purchase of Valentine cards and opt to make them myself. 

I have a closet and many drawers full of scrapbooking and card making supplies, but I am never happy with what I make. The original ideas do not just flow from me when I'm using paper. Soooooooooooo..........I decided to make fabric post cards for Valentine's Day. 

If you have never made fabric postcards, they are so easy and really fun. There are NO RULES, so you can do whatever you want to!! I had some pink and red fabrics and also three pieces of non-traditional fabric. I started by cutting out 4X6" pieces of iron-on interfacing. To each piece I sewed fabric and embellishments in a sew-and-flip crazy quilt fashion. 

 

They were so much fun that I just kept making them! It was like eating potato chips-I couldn't make just one! 

With this fabric I did do a little fussy cutting to I could get the words or hearts on the postcard. I loved the ribbons and embellished with a little applique heart too.

I had the red fabric with pink envelopes and added other pink and red fabrics for these postcards. The XO ribbon was from my very abundant ribbon stash and was perfect for Valentines.

I use a little bit of tulle and sewed some red heart confetti under it for this postcard. Rickrack and an applique heart completed another card.

I had a tiny scrap of Valentine Snoopy fabric left over from Madison's quilt and had to use it on a postcard for her. The ribbon on her card reads "hugs and kisses". It's fun to add a very personal touch to a postcard.

After I finished the fronts of my postcards, I trimmed the extra fabric away so that they measured 4X6". Then I cut cardboard the same size, layered the two and zigzagged around the outside edge. On the cardboard, I drew a line down the center and 4 lines on the right side for the address. Make sure you leave room for a stamp at the top. I bought heart stamps at the post office and mailed my 12 fabric postcards yesterday. I know my grandkids and friends are going to enjoy their Valentine surprises. 

Happy Quilting, 

Grammy

A British Quilt Show with Tisha

One of my dearest and most favorite people in the world is my "friend from across the pond", Katisha-or Tisha, as we all call her. Those of us who are friends with her love her wacky sense of humor and her infectious laugh. 

Tisha and I met five and a half years ago on a online quilting board. Our friendship started because of a sale of fat quarters at my local quilt shop. I posted a picture of my great bargain and offered to shop for others. Tisha took me up on it-and the rest is history. We began to chat in a private chat room on the quilt board, then we emailed back and forth and eventually we began to Skype. In October 2010, Tisha and her friend, Avis, flew to Texas and met up with me and my peeps (Anne, Pam, and Karen) for the Houston Quilt Show!! It was awesome! We all had a fabulous time. And when it was over, Tisha and Avis flew back to GA with me and stayed at my house for a whole week. We did lots of sightseeing and shopped the area quilt shops. 

We had fried green tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe in Juliette, GA. (This is where the movie was filmed)

That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Tisha has been back to visit me every Fall since. I have taken her to eat hot dogs at the ballpark, to Jekyll Island for a stroll on the beach and to Jacksonville, FL for a quilt show. 

Tisha has become a big baseball fan-or rather a Braves baseball fan. She has been to two games and had a great time learning all about the game, eating ballpark food and people watching. 

We have been to SC to visit Anne and spent a fabulous day together in Charleston. We have been to Maryland and stayed with Pam's daughter, Melissa, for a girlfriend get-together. We have been to Lancaster County, PA and visited Amish land and all the wonderful quilt shops. 

We have made so many great memories, have had so many belly laughs and have shared so many ups and downs. We have been through the heartbreak of losing a parent, the joy of new grandbabies, and the pain of a divorce. Yes, my friend from across the pond is a treasure, a true blue friend, a sweet, thoughtful, darling person and we are all so fortunate to have her in our lives. 

Tisha lives all the way across the pond in England, in Stapleford, Nottingham (the home of Robin Hood) with her two dogs, Harriett and Hamish and her cat, Oscar. 

 

She's an avid gardener and has a very green thumb. Even though her yard is small, it is such a peaceful place with all of her beautiful plants and flowers.

Tisha's other passion is quilting. She has been sewing for a long time, but started quilting in the last 6 years or so. She is very lucky to have been gifted a free-arm featherweight by a friend who didn't want it! Obviously, she didn't know what a gem she had on her hands!!

Tisha has sewn countless miles on this machine. And I'm sure she will sew many more. 

Last Friday Tisha and Avis attended the Great Northern Quilt Show in Harrogate. Tisha took lots of pictures and shared some of them with me. I hope you enjoy these. 

I love this quilt! And I'm so glad that Tisha sent a close up of it too. It's made with 1930s fabrics. :)

This quilt won best of show. The quilting (the two pictures below) is beautiful!

My favorite quilt that Tisha sent a picture of is this one. Being a "scrappy girl", this quilt makes my heart sing. The pattern is called Going Buggy and is from the quilt book Miss Rosie's Spice of Life Quilts. I think this quilt may have to go on my quilting bucket list! 

That is all of the pictures that Tisha sent from the show. And as the sun was setting, she wished me sweet dreams from across the pond.

Happy quilting to all and to all a good night. 

Grammy