Fashion show

A couple weeks ago I woke up in the mood to enhance my 18" doll clothes supply for the craft shows.  It has continued, and I now have four identical of each of these designs made. I really love making this size garment!

The first outfit I made was this three piece ensemble consisting of a pleated jean skirt, spaghetti top, and short vest.  I always use my sewing machine to sew on the buttons and then add a bit of  fray check for extra measure. Oh and those pleats, I added them on my own and pleated them just by eyeing them-pretty darn good if I say so myself, LOL

Another pleated skirt, vest and tank top.  All of the outfits have velcro closures.

I have made dresses like this before, but I chose a different pattern this time-change things up a bit so it isn't boring ya know!  The hat was a freebie pattern online but the link is not working anymore. Notice the belt, I added that to it, it's a strip of white vinyl and a small rhinestone buckle from Jo Ann's. 

It's summer and she is ready for it!   The top is a pattern from Pixie Fair.

 Most of the time I use patterns from McCalls or Simplicity and then put my own spin on them.  Can ya tell I've been having loads of fun!!

BTW-these outfits are all for sale-if you are interested just let me know in the comment section.

I started a pleated jumper, but, it might be a while before I get them done as I have some other fun things to do this next week. I'll let you know about that later;)


My Calla Lilies are opening. I look forward to this each year as they are so exotic looking!  Hmmm looks like I need to go pull the tree out-didn't even see it when I snapped the pic, haha.

Linking with Whoop Whoop,  Finished or not, and TGIFF

My Freefall finish

I intended to get this posted last week, but time got away from me and before I knew it I was headed up to Duluth to the MN quilt show.  It was a good show I found some goodies in the form of fabric, thread, patterns and the Deb Tucker Corner Beam ruler.  I always have ulterior motives for going to the show when it is in Duluth as our Son and DIL live close by.  He works in Duluth and happens to park in the convention center parking lot-I like getting chauffeured around, LOL

So onto my finish of my Freefall quilt from Sandra's QAL, she will be having the final linky party this week so of course I will be linking up there.  I am really happy with how this turned out, I love the colors and how the black background makes them really pop.

I have bar magnets that I use on the belly bar of my longarm to hold down my quilts as I float all of them.  Here you see them holding my quilt up on the steel garage door. Too bad my garage doesn't face the south so I could do most of my pic's on it.  Below is a closer look at the magnet. They are from Harbor Freight.  If you use them, be sure you don't let them snap together or it is very very hard to get them apart. And no, I have not done this, but I have heard from others who have. 

Ima, my longarm, wanted to try something a little different this time.  She thought a swirl with a closed circle would be fun, and she was right!  The swirl makes it look like the leaves are blowing in the wind.

The bar magnet also holds down a quilt on my block wall :)  The sun was shining nicely at the wall to get a more natural color of my fabrics.  The background is black and grey mottled. 

Superior variegated King Tut called Flower Pot was my thread of choice along with Hobbs 80/20 batting.

 Thank you Sandra for a fun QAL!!!

Linking with Sandra, Beth, and Connie when their linky parties open.

I'm off a couple seasons

Even though it is still technically spring, it feels like summer here this week.  Saturday it hit low 90's and yesterday higlh 80's.  So I am off a couple seasons with my quilting, which I have to be with the craft shows.  My recent finishes are these fall leaf runners. The pattern was in a magazine many years ago.  I loved making them, all pieced, quilted, and bound in the last few months.

 These are another example of the runners that I piece, quilt and then applique the leaves on. Since these are batik I don't worry about them raveling so I just straight stitch them down using my Janome Horizon 7700.  I didn't use a fusible either, instead I use Elmers School Glue to attach the edges before appliquing them.

 Just a few close ups to show how I quilted them.

I loved how the first one of these wall hangings came out, which you can read about HERE.  And fellow blog friend Beth from Cooking up quilts commented how much she loved it and should ship it her way, so I made a second one to surprise her with!  It worked-she was totally surprised!!  It's so much fun to send a squishy package to someone not expecting it:)  She has lots better pictures than I could capture so I'll let you go to her blog to check it out.  Beth hosts a linky party called Main Crush Monday or MCM for short.  So glad you liked the mini wall hanging Beth!!

A little late to show this picture, since they were done blooming three weeks ago. But we love nature shots with color so I'll still share it.  I love my crabapple tree in full bloom.

Apple tree and crabapple. The blossoms didn't last long because of a rain storm that just had to come through at that time.

The Ground was so pretty with the apple blossoms against the green.

And because you all loved my last Bald Eagle picture so much, here is another.  This one was in 

our yard a few months ago, just sitting in our tree.  I was sewing and heard the crows making so much noise I had to go look.  I could hardly believe my eyes when I spotted the eagle, have never seen one here before.  I admired him a bit then made a mad dash to get the camera and was able to click off a few pictures and then off he flew.  It made my day for sure!

Last week we took the two grandsons( 4 yrs and 6 yrs) to the circus.  They had never been to one and we were not sure if they would sit for an 1.5 hrs-you know focus isn't a strong suit at that age.  They did wonderful. They loved it.  The oldest one wanted to ride a pony, so he did,  but the younger one said no. They both wanted to go in the bounce house, so grandpa took them there while I saved our seats.
The youngest one was so fuuny, when we took them home, he told mommy that he really liked the dancing girls-he loved them he said, hahaha!!  Now imagine a 4 yr old saying that with a very animated voice as you read that plus an emphasis on 'really'.   A good memory to have made with them.

Linking up with MCM on Monday, and Linky Tuesday on Tuesday.

Bright Batik runner

This is one of the runners I put the binding on when blog friend Wendy was here for our 'in home' retreat.  It's been so hard to get pictures as the weather just doesn't want to cooperate when I am available!

It is made with a Hoffman Bali Snap 5" pack which I picked up a couple years ago at the Quilt Expo in Madison Wisconsin.  I loved the prints but had no idea what I wanted to make with it-ok stop snickering, I know you have been there done that!!!   When I need inspiration I turn to Pinterest, there was a quilt made with larger squares and it triggered my mind to think of a table runner.

 My spirea is out in full force and I couldn't resist putting the colorful runner with it.

 Keeping the quilting simple but fun, I stitched a half inch from the edge of the octagon, then a Terry Twist in the white square with lettuce leaf feathers to fill the ring.

Since there are a lot of sew, fold, and press corners there would be a lot of waste.  But, no I just can't throw them out,  so the day after piecing the runner, I decided to stitch them right up into a fun little mini hanging.  Ok, that was a tease as I am not going to show you till it's quilted-yep I am naughty:😏

But I will share some pix I took on our camping trip last weekend.  As we were riding our bikes along the Root River near Lanesboro, MN, we spotted a Bald Eagle nest with an Eagle in it and another sitting in the tree to the left and up from the nest. What a treat to have spotted them.

Their nest is absolutely huge!

Such beautiful creatures.  We were lucky to have spotted them 3 times during the weekend, twice while on our bikes and once from the kayaks.

And a little inspiration for a quilt or a border was spotted on this old silo. 

The dam in Lanesboro...at first glance you might think those campers are in for a rude awakening!!

Tomorrow afternoon we are taking the Grandsons to the circus-I'll let you know later how that goes!!

Linking with a few of the inspirational parties on my left side bar at the end of the week.

A chunky race for H2H

This is my final quilt for the H2H challenge over at Sarah's .  This week is the 'show off' week so we can all see what the others have accomplished. And wow there is a whole lot of quilts being shown!! Congrats to everyone that is participating.

I did several of these chunky race quilts with my older blue and mauve stash earlier this year. This one got cut out and not sewn back then, so I hurried this week and got it done just in time.  The idea of the chunky race quilt comes from my friend Jasmine.  A very quick and easy quilt to make.

                            

 A simple allover freehand flower swirl to keep it cuddly. 

This blue and Mauve one didn't make it into the pile of quilts as it wasn't finished at the time I took the pic.  But it makes 12 quilts that I worked on during the H2H time.   All along I thought I was going to deliver them all to the local Project Linus. However, I just got wind recently that our local Crisis Nursery Center was very low on quilts.  So I loaded up my SUV and delivered them there.  The gal was tickled pink, and I was so happy to help out. 

In addition to the 12 H2H quilts I also gave them this stack of 21 quilts, that I made over the winter, for a total of 33!!!  I am so very happy to have them out to where they can get given and used.  It gave me 33 warm fuzzy feelings :)   I set a personal goal of 30 quilts to make for donations this year, I surpassed my goal and I am so happy.  These are all various sizes from 36x36 to a lap size.  My closet is so much emptier!

Linking at Sarah's, Slice of Pi Quilts, and Myra's.

Modern May-Island Batik challenge

 May is our Modern challenge for all the Island Batik ambassadors.  I have really been sucked in by all the modern quilting for a few years now. So as soon as I knew we would be doing a modern challenge again, I started thinking of what I wanted it to look like.  I was inspired by an Anka's Treasure's Mini Charmer pattern.

Spoolin Around is the Batik 5" Island Stamp pack of fun bright colors I chose to use for this 15"x 40" table runner. The green is from a 10" Island Stack and the neutral background is also one of their lovely batiks.

 Island Batik is back from Market and you can view all the gorgeous new fabrics they debuted in their Spring catalog HERE.

Recently I acquired some new quilting rulers for my longarm, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try out a couple of them. You can find more info on them HERE.  I used Aurifil thread for the piecing of this runner.  A first for me was to use two layers of Hobbs 80/20 in this runner, I really wanted some dimension to the quilting and I got it!  It works great for a table runner, but, I don't think I would want this for a bed quilt-not enough drape.

Linking with Linky Tuesday, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, and NTT

You can check out all the other Ambassadors Modern May projects as they post them this month.

Nan from Purrfect Spots Designs
Turid from Den Syende Himmel
Stephanie from Quilt’n Party
Pamela from Pamela Quilts
Anna from Ark Angel Creations
Kathy from Kathy’s Kwilts and More
Jessica from Desert Bloom Quilting
Connie from Freemotion by the River
Kate from Seams Like a Dream
Sharon from Yellow Cat Quilt Designs
Tina from Quilting Affection Designs
Jennifer from The Inquiring Quilter
Barb from Bejeweled Quilts
Sally from Sally’s Quilting Corner
Jeanette from Inch Worm Fabrics
Connie from Kauffman Designs
Joan from Moosestash Quilting
Bernadine from Needle and Foot
Bea from Beaquilter
Cheryl from Cheryl Lynch Quilts
Maryellen from Mary Mack’s Blog
Joyce from Hearts Creations
Marlene from Kissed Quilts
Karen from The Quilt Rambler
Marian from Seams to be Sew
Laura from Slice of Pi Quilts
Linda from Inspired Layers
Vicki from Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting  (You are here)
Nancy from Masterpiece Quilting
Carol from FunThreads Designs
Terri from Meanderings Along Lizard Creek
Alison from Little Bunny Quilts
Suzy from Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Jean-Sophie from Sophie Junction
Janet from Whispers of Yore

Charms on point

The charm pack, Gardenvale by Jen Kingwell for Moda, was one of my winnings last year.  I thought it appropriate to make into a cute little donation quilt. Making it #11 for H2H.  The purple is Kona eggplant(I think).  

The lattice strips I cut at 1.75".  After adding some setting triangles I bordered the whole quilt with a 3" border.

 Since there were flowers in the charm pack I wanted to quilt it with a freehand allover swirl flower in a matching purple Signature thread.

A chartreuse strip was added to a purple backing to make it large enough.  There was just enough eggplant to make the binding.  Since it was a cold rainy weekend I was able to get this finished up and will be linking with Sarah for the finale linky party for H2H quilts.  How are you doing with your H2H quilts? 

Also linking with MCM at Beth's. 

Stay tuned for my Modern May Island Batik project coming this week!

My tenth H2H finish!

I am so happy to report this is my tenth finish of a H2H quilt!!  Sarah gave me the inspiration to get busy and finish up a bunch of quilts I had started, thanks Sarah for organizing the H2H drive.

This quilt doesn't have a name as I was just playing around in EQ7 and came up with this.

Edited to say-I was informed this was like the Warm Wishes that Quiltmaker magazine published many years ago.

 A little fun flower design using a variegated Star thread in orange and yellow was the perfect combo to compliment the fabrics.   The back needed to be a bit wider, therefore, I added the yellow strip.  To finish it off, I used a bit of each fabric for the binding.

This week is the finish it up linky party at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for all the H2H quilts that we have made. It is sure to be a grand party so don't miss out!!

This quilt is also on my 2nd quarter FAL 2017 list.  I will be linking at She Can Quilt at the end of the quarter.  I only have 3 left to finish this quarter!!  I have been a lean mean quilting machine the past couple months, so happy to have lots out of my closet and passing quilty hugs out to several people!

Last two wiggles

These are the last two Wiggle Time quilts that are part of my FAL17 goals.  I feel like I have been a quilting and binding maniac this past month. But it's all good for sure.  These are ones that I have worked on during Sarah's H2H project. These quilts along with several others will be donated in honor of H2H.  

Just a simple dog bone meander made for a quick finish.

The backing is a brushed nylon and using it with a low loft poly batting it is so soft and cuddly.  I had a stripe for the binding in the stash that worked perfectly. 

 I love working with the bright fabrics, but these pastels were so calming for a change. 

 The sun is shining so bright today that it made it hard to get good photos!  I used the dong bone meander in the background and the wishbone design in the purple, green, pink and yellow sections.  You should be able to click on the picture for a larger peek;)

How are you doing on your H2H projects?  It's not too late to whip one or two up.

The Wiggle Time pattern can be found at Cynthia's.

Linking with Sew Fresh for Let's Bee Social, WIP at Silly Mama, and Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

The last Freefall blocks done and RSC17

All my blocks have been sewn for the Freefall QAL hosted by Sandra.  I hope to have it all done the next time you see it.  I have a few commitments next week that have to get done and some daycare for the youngest grandson most likely, so we'll see how soon I can get to it.

For some reason these last blocks took some brain thinking for me, I think it had to do with the split colors in the the background and making sure they were all in the right spot.  I purposely didn't cut these leaves out as I wasn't sure what colors I would want after getting all the others in place. So glad I did it that way.  I am loving how it is turning out!

And my green blocks are done for RSC this month, along with linking these to Scraptastic Tuesday!

Linking at MMM linking party for the Freefall QAL

And Angela at Super scrappy for RSC17

Wishing all mothers every where a Happy Mothers Day!