Vintage Mother's Day Brooch for Sarah

This is the vintage brooch  I send  Sarah, my partner in the Vintage Mother's Day Brooch Swap over at A Swap for All Seasons.  One of Sarah's favorites is anything with ballerinas.  I had this brooch in my vintage jewelry collection and decided to send it to her.   We were to design a unique way of presenting the brooch to our partner.

In my stash, I found a piece of vintage fabric featuring ballerinas.  I attached the vintage brooch to the  fabric.

 I then inserted the fabric with the brooch into a gold frame.  I found the gold frame at the thrift store and it worked perfectly for this swap.

Next I wrapped the little frame in another piece of the vintage fabric. 

To attach the fabric, I added a hand crocheted pink flower and pin with a heart tip.  I hope Sarah likes her ballerina themed package.

I am linking to Pink Saturday.  Check Beverly's How Sweet the Sound for other Pink Saturday posts.

Quilt Camp Tote

I completed this Quilt Camp Tote this week.  It went in the mail yesterday to my friend Pat.  She is celebrating her 60th birthday next Saturday.  I won't be able to attend her party but am sending this tote.

  The pattern is by Penny Sturges for Quilts Illustrated.  I purchased it at Three Dudes Quilts.   It is large enough to hold a quilter's ruler and cutting mat.  Perfect for those quilting classes.  I did have one complaint with the pattern.  The photo on the front of the pattern shows this great looking quilt block for the front pocket of the tote.  However, the pattern doesn't give the instructions for that quilt block.  It has instructions for a different block but states that you can use any 12" block.  I designed my own block to match the lining fabric.  I used my Janome 11000 to embroider a quilt design in the center.  The back of the tote has another pocket but I made it from the tote fabric.  Inside is lined and has another pocket of the same size.   Lots of storage in this tote.

"V" - Violin Quiltie

We are nearing the end of our Alphabet Quiltie Swap on Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  This is my V quiltie.  The crochet flower was an after-thought.  It looked a little bare with just the fabric and dictionary pages so I added this crochet flower.   I made it a few months ago.  It was the perfect color even thought it has nothing to do with the letter "V".   The quiltie will go in the mail tomorrow to our hostess, Penny.  Hope it makes it to her by the end of April.  I'm running a little late this month.

Happy Easter

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter with family and friends. 

April Block Finished

I finished my April Block of the Month last evening while watching American Idol.  I'm very pleased with this block.  I'm not a fan of applique but I think it turned out o.k.  This is the center block for the Chestnut and Vine Block of the Month Quilt.  When placed in the center of the quilt the square will be set on the diagonal.  You can see the completed quilt top here.   So glad to have that first square completed and ready for Block 2 in May.  The kits are from Three Dudes Quilts in Phoenix. 

Mild Spring = Beautiful Roses

We've had a lovely spring here in Arizona.  Weather in the 80s and 90s here in April.  As a result of the wonderful Spring, there are beautiful roses throughout our neighborhood.  As Cody and I go for our daily walk, I am amazed at the lovely roses growing along our route.

These pics are from our own back yard.  The rose bush is a climbing rose and the bush is over 50 years old.  This year it is filled with lovely blooms.  The color is so bright this year too.  We are still enjoying many of the flowers on the patio and in the flower beds.  It won't be long until temps begin to exceed 100 and the flowers will be gone. 

Hope each of you are experiencing lovely Spring weather.  Wishing you a Happy Easter weekend.  I'm planning to see RIO with the granddaughters Friday since they are out of school that day.

A Birthday Watercolor

My CA sister visited in March and brought me my birthday present.  This lovely water color featuring great colors and a fisherman.  She found it in Palm Springs.  It will hang in our vacation home in KY later this summer.  For now I have it hanging on the dining room wall.  The colors match the spring quilt I have on the wall in the living area of the room.

 It was unframed and just today I found the perfect frame at Michael's.  It was an odd size and I had to trim it down a little.   It was not signed but I love the scene.  Please excuse the glare on the glass.   

Another Block of the Month

Call me crazy but I have decided to join a second block of the month club at Three Dudes Quilting.  This one is called Chestnut and Vine.  It is from Bloom Creek.  I am currently working on the center block.  It includes applique.  I'm not a fan of applique but they assured me that there wasn't enough applique to keep me from enjoying this quilt.  So far I have attached one set of stems.  After much thought, I decided to use a machine applique stitch and invisible top thread.  It looks good so far. 

I'll keep you posted on my progress.  Wish me luck working on two block of the months at the same time.  Since we aren't traveling this spring due to DH's health issues, I decided to keep myself busy with quilting projects.  It's been a few years since I concentrated on my quilting. 

My Quilt Top - Quilted by Wanda

Can you see me doing a happy dance?  These photos are of a quilt top I finished a number of years ago in a quilting class.  I  became discouraged with the finished top and put it away in the cedar wardrobe.  I found it during my spring cleaning this year and decided it wasn't so bad after all.  I sent it to my blogging friend, Wanda and look at it now.  Beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wanda sent me these photos today.  I am so excited.  I love the quilting pattern she designed for the quilt.  She is such a talented lady.  I'm so pleased with the way the quilt looks.  Now all I have do is add the binding when I receive it in the mail from Wanda.  You can see Wanda's blog here.  Thank you Wanda.

A Quilt for Baby Boy

I recently finished this quilt for Baby Boy Bruce.  The will be my Aunt Arlene's first great grandbaby.  I had this quilt kit for some time and had been waiting for just the right baby boy to make it for.  When I found out that Kacy and Kristen were expecting a baby boy, I got out the quilt kit and went to work.  It is now quilted and ready to mail.  The kit was based on this wonderful novelty print.  It features big trucks with big tires and the colors are perfect for a baby boy.  The kit was purchased at the Cutting Edge Quilt Chop in Tempe a number of years ago. 

Vintage Umbrella Brooch and Civil War Chronicles Quilt Square

Linda at A Swap for All Seasons is featuring vintage umbrella brooches on her blog today.  I remembered an umbrella brooch that was in my jewelry box.  It has been there since my high school years so I know it is vintage (not quite antique!!!).  In the background is  my  April block from the Civil War Chronicles Quilt block of the month.  Below is the entire square.

This month's block is a little more colorful that the past three with the purple fabric.  This block also featured more half-square triangles.  Yesterday I visited Three Dudes Quilting with my friend from California to show her the completed quilt.  It is a lovely quilt but has been a challenge thus far.  If you are ever in the Phoenix area you might consider a visit to Three Dudes Quilting.  It's a great quilt shop with friendly staff.

While there I signed up for their current Block of the Month "Chestnut and Vine".   I'm not an applique person but he assured me it is very simple applique.

Mother's Day Vintage Brooch Swap

I have joined the  Mother's Day Vintage Brooch Swap at A Swap for All Seasons.  For more info click the link on the left.  Linda recently posted a picture of her vintage jewelry box filled with vintage brooches and pins.  I liked the idea and collected some of my vintage brooches and pins and have displayed this in one of my vintage jewelry boxes.  This is a photo of the filled jewelry box.  She asked us to share one of our favorite brooches.  Here is one of mine.

This lovely gold-tone brooch belonged to my Mama (grandma on my dad's side).  She loved jewelry and never left the house without at least one piece of jewelry.  When she passed away, I was able to get a few things from her jewelry box for my sister's and I.  This is the brooch that I selected.  Throughout this swap, I will share some of the brooches from my collection.  Some belonged to me, some to my mom, and others I purchased at thrift stores and garage sales.  My partner for this swap is Sarah in Oregon.

Marcia's quilt

This is another memory quilt that I completed in the past few weeks.  It has been a work in progress for some time.  I had finished the center square last fall.  I had sketched two different designs and ended up combining the two to make this wall hanging for my cousin Marcia.  Marcia's mother was my first cousin and she was killed in a traffic accident when Marcia was a toddler.  The fabrics in the quilt are some of the clothing that had been saved all these years.  The plaids were skirts, the green print was a blouse, and the yellow fabric and lace where from a yellow dress.  Buttons are from one of the skirts. 

Since I was working with small pieces of fabric cut from the garments, I had to spend lots of time in the design process.  I mailed the quilt to Marcia in Kentucky and she is very pleased with the quilt.  When I visit Ky later this year we will embellish the quilt with some of her mother's jewelry and possible some photographs printed on fabric. 

Memory Quilt

I just finished the binding yesterday on this very special quilt.  It is a memory quilt made for young man named James.  James is almost 8 and the quilt is made from shirts that belonged to his father. 

James' grandmother contacted me some time ago to see if I would make the quilt for James.  His dad died from cancer when James was just a baby.  It seems that James decided he needed something that belonged to his daddy and his grandmother thought of a quilt.  I met with James and his mom.  James selected the shirts and I constructed the quilt top.  James and his mom went shopping and bought a black fabric for the back of the quilt. 

I will be delivering the quilt this week and hope James finds comfort when he cuddles in this "Special Quilt".

Embroidery Flower Quilt Finished

I have been away for quite some time.  My computer crashed and I'm learning how to use the new one.  DH continues to have medical issues and family visited from CA.  Lots happening but I was able to finish this little quilted table runner/wall hanging in time for my sister's birthday.  The instructions were for a table runner but she thinks she may hang it in her newly decorated craft room. 

 In addition to the little quilt, I made her the tote shown above.  It is the Amy Butler Swing Bag and the fabric is Michael Miller.  I decided to use the fancy monogram letter for the bag.  She will use it to carry papers to meetings.  We had a fun lunch on Saturday and I gave her her presents.