Happy Valentine's Day.

 

These lovely tulips are from my DH.  In addition to flowers, I received tickets to a Kenny Roger's concert here in March.  Flowers and concert tickets are a girl's  best friend.  Thanks to my wonderful DH for a great Valentine's day.  We had our Valentine's dinner last evening. 

 

Wishing each of you a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with hearts, flowers, and other goodies from the heart.

It's February

Thought you might enjoy some vintage Valentines.  Not sure where they all came from.  Some are from my collection.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Scrappity-do-dah

I started a Scrappity-do-dah quilt this weekend.  I made 20 of these squares.  Now I only have 420 to go.  The pattern is from a McCall's America Makes Fast Quilts but I'm telling you this isn't a fast quilt.  The little blocks are quite labor intensive.  Cut the block, cut block on the diagonal, cut the center strip, sew together, and them trim to 5".   However, the quilt in the magazine is beautiful.  This is to be a gift for someone special.  I'm hoping to complete 20 blocks a week (maybe more).  As long as I finish in time to quilt before Christmas.

I am using fabrics from my stash (one of my frugal goals for the year).  I did go to JoAnn's today and use my Christmas gift card.  After 15 years my rotary cutter died.  My cutting mat had also become very brittle.   A big "thank you" to my DH for such a thoughtful gift.  I'll enjoy the new rotary cutter and mat for many years.

My goal for this week is to finally finish the border on my Civil War Chronicles quilt.  I would like to get it to the quilter this spring.   I'm only a year late in finishing the 2011 block of the month quilt.  I really haven't enjoyed this block of the month but I know the finished quilt will be awesome.

Pocket Purses

I recently had craft day with granddaughters.  They wanted to make Pocket Purses using my embroidery machine.  I took my Janome 11000 to their house and they each made a Pocket Purse using Anita Goodesign's Projects Pocket Purse designs.  They had fun making these purses.  The design is a in-the-hoop design.  Even the zipper is added in the embroidery hoop. 

Here GD#1 shows her Pocket Purse while GD#2 used the embroidery machine.  She uses her purse to hold her IPOD.  We had a great time using the embroidery machine.  The project was so simple that they were able to complete the purse with little supervision.  They are so familiar with computers that a computerized machine doesn't intimidate them.  Fun time!

It's Valentines on the Front Porch

The front porch had been neglected since the Christmas decorations were removed.  I decided to decorate the porch bench with a Valentine's theme.  The Welcome sign is from Goodwill 99 cents.  I washed it and put it in a frame I had in the garage.  I think the frame will look better painted black but it will do for now.  I made the quilt many years ago.  Yesterday I painted an old basket pink and added the puffy hearts.  I added a few more decorations today.  I'll have photos later.

Hope you are enjoying your Holiday.

AcuFil Works

AcuFil quilting

The AcuFil program for my Janome 12000 worked perfectly to quilt the two large squares on the table runner from my previous post.  I did have a couple of issues but once I figured out the center feature on the program, the design fit perfectly in the space.  I'm anxious to use the program with other quilts.  Very easy once I learned the basics.

I have really enjoyed my Janome 12000 and all its features.  I especially like the large hoops and being able to embroider large designs.  I also used the built in dual feed feature yesterday to sew the patchwork pieces together and do the "in -the-ditch" quilting.  I'm gradually learning many of the machine's features.  There is so much to learn but I'm lov'in it!

Yesterday's Project

 

Yesterday I completed this little table runner.  It is made from Moda Tapestry Charm Pack.  My friend gave me the charm pack for Christmas.  The pattern is from the book Charmed and Dangerous  by Heather Peterson.  It was a quick project.  The batting, backing, and binding are from my stash (that's my goal).  

I used the "stitch-in-the-ditch" quilting method but left the two center squares.  I'm planning to try out my new AcuFil Quilting program for my Janome 12000 and add a decorative motif in the center of each square.  This will be my first experience using AcuFil Quilting.  I'll let you know how it goes and post a photo.

It's good to be back in the creative mode after almost three weeks of ill health!