Quilt Retreat Weekend!!

 On Thursday, I picked up my friend, Traci, from the airport and we headed north to a quilt retreat.  
Our friend, Cori met us at my house and we followed her to Chesaning and had dinner together.  

Then we headed to the retreat house and my SIL, Mary met us there.  

The four of us had not been together for 2 years! 

 It was so great to hang out. 

 We ate, laughed, sewed, watched movies, shopped and had some adult beverages. 

 We stayed up WAY too late! 

 It was so much fun!!  

I saw some amazing double coneflowers. 

 I wish I could have collected up some seeds.  

These were beautiful!

I spent most of the weekend working on my Prissy Pumpkins quilt. 

 I can't show the top just yet but it is adorable and you are SO  need the pattern. 

 It took me Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get it finished. 

 The quilt top is 80" square so it is a big quilt!  

On Sunday I decided that I wanted to try to put my Dorothy's Journey quilt top together. 

 I used the Nightingale pattern and the fabric is called Dorothy's Journey. 

 It is by Jill Howarth for Riley Blake. 
The background color us an Andover fabric. 

 I just managed to get it done before it was time to pack up to head home. 

 I had all the blocks made I just needed to assemble it. 

 I'm really happy that I have these 2 tops finished. 

This one is for a yet to be born baby.

I have a plan to use the panel for the back, so will have to piece it.

I had one left over block so will make a pillow with the leftover block.

 One more pattern test to go but I need a break from sewing right now.

Of course I brought Jack along.  He was exhausted and ready to head home too!

We are heading out to camp for a few days.

I am leaving my machine home and bringing some hand work and some books!

I did get my stitches out today and the scars look pretty good!

~XOP~

Friday Finish

I now bring you back to quilty content!  

I did manage to get some things finished at the quilt retreat last weekend.  

I showed you the HSTs and the Splendid Sampler block.  Now I will show you my 2 actual finishes.

I wanted to make this cat pin cushion ever since I won one in a swap. 

 I was very nervous about doing it though.  

I don't seem to do a well working in 3D, LOL.

 The person I won the original one from was at the retreat so 

I got brave and brought my stuff to make one.  

It was very time consuming and hurt my hands as the pieces to turn were tiny and small pieces of sewn felt are difficult to turn right side to.  

BUT...it was totally worth the effort!  

Please let me present to you my friend Jack!

I am totally smitten!!!  He will sit next to my other one.  

The pattern was a free one I found on the internet.  If you want to try one here is a link to the pattern.

I am in a swap and we are supposed to make an extra.  

I found this pouch pattern by Lori Holt of Bee in My bonnet and 

decided to add a cat head and make it for my extra.

The orange line near the top is a zipper.

This pouch was super easy to make and I love how it turned out.

You can find the pattern on her blog right here.

 I know you sense a theme here with the orange cats.  

My best friend cat, Jack, was an orange tabby.  

I lost him in 2013 and I still miss him every day.  

A classic, Jack-in-a-box

Autumn is trying her best ti fill his shoes.  She sleeps with me in the exact same spot he used to.

I am linking up my finish with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Easter.

~XOP~

The Weekend

How was your weekend?  Mine was pretty fantastic! 

 On Saturday I got to watch my Spartans beat Michigan!  Yeah, that NEVER gets old, ever! 

 I received some awesome mail too. 

 A very good friend of mine is helping me complete Hocuspocusville (HPV not the virus), by Crabapple Hill.  She has exquisite hand work!  Wanna see?  I need to press it but isn't it fabulous?!  Thank you so much dear friend!

I was sent out to do some shopping.  They should know better then to send me out to shop!  

"Pick up a few things for me will you?" he said as he left to finish the peacock pen.  

Sure but don't blame me if other stuff follows me home!

How could I resist this amazing peacock door mat for Long Feather Lane?  Obviously I couldn't!

Bed Bath and Beyond, Marshalls, and Michaels, then on to the Salvation Army thrift shop.  

Lookie at what I scored!  

Shelby wanted one of these for the hot cider for her party on Friday, so of course I had to stop and see if I could find one.  

Luckily for me they happened to have one!  As you can see it is in the cart!

I did manage to work on this little quilt that I still can only show you sneak peeks of, 

but it is ready for gifting!  Hallie approved too!

I worked some on cleaning, laundry and such too.  

I did get my crayon challenge quilt cut out and some of it sewn too.  

More about that later.  

I just got a call and we are closing on my dad's house on Wednesday. 

 It feels good and also a little odd.  This is the house I grew up in. 

 My parents built it and we moved in when I was 5years old. 

 It is kind of bittersweet to be selling it but also a HUGE relief!  

It was the last part of "all things dad" that I needed to do to close the chapter on that part of my life.  No more being anyone's daughter. 

 It is a milestone I am sad to see come. 

 I miss my dad.

Today also marks the 2 year anniversary of Jack's passing.

  I think you have one pet in your lifetime that you have a very special bond with 

and for me that was Jack.  

I still miss him every single day. 

 It hurts less, but there is still an empty spot in my heart.  

RIP dad and Jack.  Maybe you are keeping each other company?  I hope so!

~XOP~

Blogger's Quilt Festival Quilt Photography

I debated on writing a post about this quilt.  

I am totally in love with the photo I took of this quilt while in Traverse City.

I made this quilt for the MBS and you can find the pattern right here. 

 I love the fabric, Marmalade by Bonnie and Cammile, 

I love the quilting, done on my friend's long arm machine, 

and how could you not love Traverse City Michigan?!

It was raining lightly but I was determined to get a good photo of this quilt 

for the money shot on the MBS.  

I had seen this little church on the bay earlier in the day and 

asked hubby to drive me (and the quilt) back there.  

I leaped out of the car, flung the quilt over the fence, snapped two pictures, 

scooped it back up and off we went.  

All the while with me saying, I think I got *the* shot!  Of course he thought I was mad, 

but I really do think this is a beautiful shot of this quilt.

You can see some of the quilting better in this photo.

This one always reminded me of Jack claiming this quilt for his!

Probably my all time favorite photo of both Jack and this quilt.  

He passed away a year ago, but I think of him everyday and miss him so much!

I have entered the first picture in the Blogger's Quilt Festival in the quilt photography category.  

I would love it if someone would nominate it for a viewer's choice!  

If you would like to see more photos of this beautiful quilt please check out the MBS and my blog.

Have a great time visiting all the fabulous entries!

~XOP~

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2013 Throw Quilt Entry

This is my entry into the throw quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.
Stop over and vote for me if you like this quilt.
It is in the throw category, or you could vote for it for Viewer's Choice.
Voting runs May 24-30th.

I have a quilt that I made for the Moda Bake Shop that was near and dear to my heart. 

 It was my first submission to the MBS and I was beyond thrilled that they accepted my quilt!
You can find the tutorial right here. 

 I was working on it like mad to finish the binding while I was away on vacation

 hoping to get the perfect cover shot. 

 I managed to find the perfect place and got a great shot with only the second photo.

I used my friend's long arm to lay in the beautiful feathers in every triangle, 

then used my Bernina to do all the straight lines on the inside and in the border.  

The circles in the inner border were done on the long arm also.

 It took me about 14 hours to do all the quilting!

This quilt is even more special to me because it is the last completed quilt I have with photos of 

my best friend, Jack.  

My Jack was in kidney failure and I he is now waiting for me on the Rainbow Bridge.

I miss  him every single day!

Jack NEVER left my side when I was home.  

He slept curled up in the crook of my neck or side every night.

He purred us both to sleep. 

This quilt will always remind me of him.

This is my favorite photo of Jack.  

I love you my Boo Boo Kitty and I miss you so much!

~XOP~

2012 In Quilty Review

I made a couple of mosaics, like everyone else, right, of my finished quilts for 2012.  I just realized that I missed 2!  Here is the mosaic I made of my finished projects.

I have to say I am pretty pleased with this.  The third photo in shows just one quilt but I actually made 3 of these, one for each of my kids.  The two tumblers in the red and grays were for Yolanda's nepehews.  Yolanda passed away and I was so happy to have been part of helping her get some of her quilts finished.

Here are two of the quilts I missed putting in the mosaic, both went to Margaret's Hope Chest

The next mosaic is of a lot of the blocks, tops and fun I had in 2012

I did several swaps and block exchanges.  

I ran 2 quilt-a-longs

I watched as my eldest DD bought her first house

I got to hang out with 2 of my favorite (famous) quilters that I proudly call my friends

I was able to meet a few blog friends in person

I went to NC and hung out with my DD2

I had surgery, recovered and did a LOT of Zumba

I realized my dad needs my help so began working on that.  

I feel like I am getting things under control with him and my sisters.

I played a lot with my 2 best friends

I hung out with the love of my life

I got a project published on the Moda Bake Shop

I survived the death of my beloved cat, Jack 

This was the most difficult thing of the whole year.

I miss him every single day!

All in all it was a good year.  

I am already planning my goals for 2013.

I'll be back with those soon.

In the mean time, I wish you all a happy, healthy and joyous New Year!

~XOP~

Blogger's Quilt Festival Quilt #532

I have been trying to decide which quilt to enter into the Blogger's Quilt Festival and 

finally settled on Charmalade.   

Many of you have seen this quilt over at the Moda Bake Shop, 

where I did a tutorial on how to make it.

Funny story, I took this quilt with me on vacation to Petosky, MI and had to apply the binding.  

I got the binding all done and thought it would be fun to photograph it 

in a beautiful setting near Lake Michigan. 

 It rained almost the entire time we were there and was incredibly windy.  

For the above photo I hopped out of the car, flung the quilt over the fence, quickly snapped 2 pictures and wadded the quilt back up and threw it in the trunk. 

 I was frantically hoping one of the 2 pictures would be "the one".  

This is the one I used and I love how it came out.

 I quilted feathers in the snow portion.  

I'm not sure you can tell but I used light aqua thread.

 I quilted straight lines down the colored lines and out into the border.  

My LAQ, Liz did the circles in the colored border.

If you know me you know that I have 5 cats, so everything has to be "cat approved".

 I think if Jack felt he could nap on it it must be good enough to stay!

 I love this photo as it looks like he is claiming it all for himself!

 

So this is Charmalade

A charm pack friendly quilt made using Marmalade.

If you want to make one too, please check out my post on the Moda Bake Shop.

If you stop over to the MBS, leave me a comment over there and let me know!

 

Bloggers Quilt Festival Stats:

Size is 56" X 68"

Technique: Pieced

Quilted by me on my friends long arm machine and my domestic machine, 

and one border by Liz Bowman

Quilt # for voting is 532

Best Category:  Best Lap size quit, best pieced, or Viewer's Choice

BFF's and Keeping Busy

I want to thank all of my great blogging friends for all of your kind words and stories and prayers.  

I'm sorry if I have not responded to each of them but I read them all.

I was talking about Jack to someone and told them I was going to take him on Friday

 but I decided I wanted one more night. 

 He slept in his usual place, with my arm around him with his purring us both to sleep. 

 He got up in the night to potty and only made it just off the bed so I carried him in to the bathtub.  

On Sat he couldn't even get on to the couch by himself. 

 You can see how peaceful he was here.

 

 And how thin here

It was the right thing to do but oh so difficult.

My two BFF's Cori and Pauline tried to cheer me up on Friday night.  

Cori called saying that Pauline offered us to go over to her house and sew.  

I thought we should bake some cookies.  

Everyone feels better with warm cookies right?  

So Cori and I stopped by the store and got some pre formed cookies and baked them up.  

See that pan?  

It's a Woopie pie pan and it is GREAT for making "deep dish" cookies!!

These are some pretty special friends, I tell ya!  

It was Cori's anniversary and she spent it with us. 

 I can tell you right now I was NOT very good company.  

I guess your friends grieve with you. 

 I am blessed to have you both as my friends.  

Thank you!

I did manage to finish the binding on my son's Halloween Quilt. 

 This is the third one of these I have done and now have used up all my Halloween flannels!

 You can see the Halloween quilting on the back!

  I did bring the quilt inside and folded it up and went to get some paper towel to have with me for cleaning up my stamp. 

 This is what I found when I returned.

Little Miss Autumn all snuggled under the quilt!

I just stamped it and wrote on it with her underneath!

 

The four cats remaining at home rallied around me for the weekend, but it will just take time.

~XOP~