Happy Birthday Kenzie!!

Today is my great granddaughter's 2nd birthday. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. She had a birthday party last week, and it totally wore her out, but she wouldn't let go of her balloons, lol. She lives in Minnesota, so I couldn't be there, but I was there in spirit. Happy Birthday Kenz.

Here is what I made her for her birthday.

I made this:

And this:

And this:

I added this:

And the finished gift is this:

Sweet! I got the pattern for the basket from Greta's Quilting Studio.

I was hoping to go to Ohio to see all the babies this weekend, as they will be visiting from Minnesota, but it looks like there will be snow in the mountains on the route I take, and since I would be driving alone, the weather has to be decent.  But I will wait to decide on Thursday, maybe the forecast will change. 

Later,

WilmaNC

A Challenging Finish

I had mentioned in my last post about doing a quilt for pay that was quite challenging. It was a wedding quilt for a couple in Florida who were married in 2008. They apparently gave a square of fabric to each guest and told them to make a quilt square. Great idea huh? Well, not after you realize that most people don't know how to make a quilt square.

The fabric squares were not of good quality and were frayed a bit from being kept in the box. I am told that the people couldn't find anyone in Florida who would put the blocks together, so the mother brought them to NC with her and asked Marti, of Marti's Patchwork Cottage in Black Mountain, if she knew anyone who would do the job. She immediately thought of my sister, who kept the blocks since last August before deciding she had no idea what to do with them, so as a last ditch effort before sending them back, she gave them to me.

Some of the blocks have a lot of "stuff" sewn and glued on them and some have pictures and some just writing. The blocks were not all the same size so I had to trim them as best I could. There was not much room left so I decided to do them as a QAYG. And because of all the stuff, I had to hand quilt them all, then join them. I used this tutorial from Valerie Custom Quilting (free download!! Check out her site. She does great work!!!)

There were 34 blocks, 1 of which was cut too small before it came to me, and the other just had too much stuff on it. So, I made it 4 blocks x 8 blocks. Long and skinny.  Here is the finished product. The 2 extra blocks, I quilted and bound and put a little hanger on so they could be displayed with the quilt. I hope the folks like it.

As usual it looks crooked in the picture, but it's not, lol. I spent 30 hours sewing on this quilt!! It will never be able to be washed, so I didn't do heavy quilting, but I am pleased with the outcome. See how I hung the extra 2 blocks on the front? They could be hung from the ends of the hanging dowel too, or I thought this would lie nicely on top of a twin bed with the extras on the pillow. I like it as a wall hanging though. Whew. I'm glad to be done.

This post went on a little longer than I thought, so assuming your attention spans are as short as mine, I will post about my other finish in the next one.

Later,
WilmaNC

Best Tutorial EVER!!!!

My sister sent me this link for the best and most original tutorial I have ever seen. It shows you how to make these:

Not the shoes, but the laces, lol. Are those not the neatest things you have ever seen??? I am definitely going to make some. But I'm wondering if I could use a skinny piece of fabric soaked in Elmer's glue to wind around the end instead of the shrink stuff they use in the tutorial.

The tutorial is by Sara and Sarah . You must go see the tutorial. I am sooo impressed.

What a way to use up those fabric strips. Thanks Sara. Thanks Sarah.

Later,
WilmaNC

Heart Strings

I helped my sister out by finishing up a quilt for the Heartstrings Quilt Project. It's a very worthwhile endeavor. Go see the site if you haven't already.

Anyway, this one was one with a lime green center strip. I quilted it doing a freehand swirl pattern, which mimicked the swirls on the backing. I didn't want to print labels, so I just traced one using my fabric paint pens and used some scraps of pretreated fabric I had. Looks cute. This quilt goes to the Guardian ad Litem office in Asheville.

Getting psyched up to watch the NCAA tournament. I am huge fan of both UNC and Ohio State. OSU has a really good chance to win it all this year. Hope being the favorite doesn't jinx them. UNC-Asheville is playing right now, they are the local UNC campus, but don't think they will go on for long.

As long as the games are on my hands will be busy either knitting my socks or hand quilting on a paid piece. This piece is very interesting and challenging. I will tell you all about it next time.

Later,
WilmaNC

Keen Shoes

I just wanted to give some praise to the company that makes Keen Shoes. We have been wearing these shoes exclusively for many years. They look a little funny, but the fit is great. I wear the sandals almost all the time,

and my hiking shoes are so comfortable, never had to break them in at all.

I think this style (my favorite) is not being made anymore though. :^(

My husband wears a pair for work and a pair for hiking. He likes one similar to this style:

Well, he had purchased a new pair last year, and recently the seam came apart. Usually we wear them for years and wear out the tread way before the tops get aged. So we contacted the company, and sent them this picture:  

    

They so stand behind their product that they replaced his shoes at no cost!!! Not even any shipping! Now that is customer service!!!! I was so impressed that I felt the need to blog about this great product, (and to use lots of exclamation points....) We are customers for life, that's for sure. We were anyway, but that's beside the point.

Thanks Keen. You are awesome.

Later with some quilting stuff, lol. 

WilmaNC

Bliss!!

I have made a few things with my Bliss winnings. I made MIL a purse, she picked out the fabrics and I kind of made up the purse as I went. Came out cute. There are 2 pockets on the outside on both sides. I didn't put pockets on the inside though. I never put things in my inner pockets anyway, unless it's something that I will never use. PLus, I carry very little in my purses. She liked it a lot, which is the most important thing. She found our I was selling stuff at Stacie's shop and she wanted to be the first person to buy something from me. So I have made my first 20 bucks, lol.

I also made a small quilt from the polka dots in the bundle. I am going to do a bunch of straight line quilting on this one.

And I am in the process of making a larger quilt called Picnic from the Scrap Basket Sensations book. Here's a picture of it done up in Bliss, but this is not mine. I have just started piecing it. Not sure how I will lay mine out though.

I am really getting a lot done from my winnings. Thanks again Cotton Way and Moda!!!

The blocks for the Block Lotto (see sidebar) are the split 4 patch this month, in reds and WOW. I made 4, will see if I get time to make more.

And I made 2 basket blocks for a swap in my small quilt group ABC Quilters. If you like small groups, come join. We're having a retreat in Ohio Amish country in September...)

I guess that's all for now. It's raining quite heavily, so I guess it will be mall walking for me today. Boring.....but I need to keep walking as I started Weight Watchers yesterday and hope to stick with it for a while. Then when I get home, I will continue piecing on the picnic quilt. ( It's not really for a picnic, wonder why they named it that??

Later,
WilmaNC