A Finish YAY!!

I am happy to report that I finished the pinwheel baby quilt this week!  

YAY, I love a good finish.

  I will definitely be making this one again!!  It was a free pattern on the Moda Bake Shop.  

I used a vintage sheet I had for the backing.  Love it!

I did the quilting myself.

Love the straight lines!

Linking up to Finish it Friday

I also wanted to share the amazing dinner my hubby made last night.  

His version of chicken and waffles. 

 It was so good!

Happy Quilting!

Linking to the 2016 finish along here
See my original list here

~XOP~

A2MQG Retreat at Howell Nature Center

I took some much needed rest this past weekend and 

attended the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild retreat.  

It was held at the Howell Nature Center in Howell, MI.  

What a GREAT place for a retreat!  

The sewing space was HUGE, the view was fantastic and the company was the BEST! 

 When I arrived some people were already set up and one side of the room was kind of full 

so I set up by a window on the other side of the room. 

 Funny thing was there were 3 Pam's there including me.

 I shared a table with one of the Pams and the other one was set up behind us. 

 It was the Pam corner, for sure! 

 I meant to get a photo but just forgot what with all the sewing and everything going on. 

 We ate well, we shared some wine, played Cards Against Humanity, watched movies, sewed, went on nature walks and even did yoga!! 

 It was an amazing few days.  

I had hoped, when I signed up, to work on some UFO's but as it turned out 

I needed to make some baby quilts for some friends that are having babies. 

 I finished 2 chenille blankets and a baby quilt top.  

Here was our sewing space.  

(As viewed from Pam's machine, not my machine)

I went out for a walk and you can see the Grindley Lodge through the trees.

I walked down by the lake and there were many geese and this one lone swan. 

 He was beautiful! 

 Excuse the photo, it was gray, and snowing and I was using my iPhone.  

It was so quiet, peaceful, beautiful and calm.

This was the other side of the room from where I was.  

I was sitting at the table near those three windows but only took a photo after I was packed up and the tables were down.

I took these fabrics...

And turned them into this! 

 I LOVE the binding on this one!

I also made a second one

 How cute are those scuba divers?

The baby top was from a pattern on the Moda Bake Shop.  

It was an easy quilt to make but doing the applique around all the letters would have been much easier if I could have used my knee lift.  

If you have one and are not using it you are CRAZY!!

  Hook that bad baby up and get on it, you will be so glad you did!

Here is the baby quilt top.  

I made the back once I got home so it is off to the quilter today.  

The background is an Art Gallery fabric and it was so nice to work with!

I was working on the second baby quilt top on Sunday when I got home but it was a little difficult to work with my "helper"

She likes to lay there when I sew because it is so close to the lamp that keeps her warm.

When the thread was going fast, she would peek over the top to see what I was doing.

I hope you had a good weekend too.  

The next 2 weeks are going to be difficult ones. 

 I have made the decision to move my dad closer to where I am and into a group home.  

I had no idea those even existed for the elderly.  

I look at one more tomorrow and then will be making a decision as to which one. 

 I basically will have 2 weeks to get him and all his stuff moved from where he is now, as I had to give them 30 days notice and hubby will be out of town the last week of this month.  

I guess that's good as it makes me get right on it though, right? 

 I have not broken the news to him yet.  

I think that will be this Friday when we go there as we will have to begin moving "stuff" around.  

Wish me luck and keep us in your prayers. 

 I think I am going to need all the help I can get!!  

~XOP~

Finish It Up Friday

I have had a few projects that I needed to finish up, and some that needed started!

Why is it the starting up is always so much more fun than the finishing it up?

I did finish up a few things at the end of the year and did not link up.  

One was a gift so I could not link up and one was for the MBS and 

I didn't want to share until that was posted.  

Here they are again just in case you didn't see them.

This was the MBS project.  

You can find the directions on how to make this quilt here.

This one was a gift for my daughter for Christmas.  

A fuzzy quilt for her couch.  

You can read all about it here

These were supposed to be Christmas gifts, but, well, sometimes that just doesn't happen!

I bought these great dish towels last summer with the intent of making them into MSU dish towels.

One set for my daughter and one set for me!

As you can see I managed to get both sets done this week!!!  GO me!

I am working on a wedding quilt for a friend's daughter. 

 I am thinking of submitting the quilt to a magazine so you may not see it for awhile.  

What have you been working on so far this new year??

~XOP~

Moda Bake Shop Quilt

Well, guess what happened while I was driving through Snomageddon? 

 My Snuggles Plus quilt was published on the Moda Bake Shop, that's what happened!! 

 I did not know it was publishing today but please

 take a few minutes and pop over to the MBS and take a look at it.  

The quilt uses 2 charm packs of Sphere by Zen Chic and a little bit of Moda Bella Feather to make the +.

I also used the oh so soft, Snuggles fabric by Moda.

This is so soft it feels like velvet and was wonderful to work with too.

A few weeks ago we had some snow and it was a bright sunny day. 

 I brought my quilt in to work and my friend Robin lives in a beautiful home surrounded by woods. 

 We went tromping all over her property and she took over 100 photos!  

These three were my favorites.

I hope you love this as much as I do!!!

You can see the pretty spherical quilting in this pic too.

This is an easy quilt to make and it is so pretty when finished too. 

 It is a lap size but could be made larger or smaller easily. 

 I made it this size so I didn't have to piece the back!

I would love for you to go to the MBS and

 see it and if you have a minute please leave me a comment letting me know what you think!  

It's so difficult to keep things a secret and such fun when I finally get to share!!!

Just got home from GR taking care of my dad and sister and this was a nice surprise.

~XOP~

A Funny Thing Happened

I worked a LONG day on Wednesday.  

Met my daughter for dinner in Ann Arbor because 

I was going to stay for the AA Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  

The meeting was great!  

Brenda, of Pink Castle, had moved into her shop and was having the meeting there. 

 At the end of the meeting we did a stash swap.  

Everyone brought fabrics and we put them all on one big sheet. 

 Then on "GO!" we all leapt into the fray for fabric.  

You know we don't have enough at home right?  

This is the stash I went home with.

Can you SEE all those Tula Pink strips?  

Two Neptune squares some Hope Valley and some AMH.  

Not to mention the adorable foxes and some Kaffe.  

I was so happy! 

 It was such a fun thing to do. 

 I got rid of 2 grocery bags of my fabric and only brought a wee bit home.

So by the time I got to my home it was after 9pm and I was exhausted! 

 I picked up the mail, put some chicken in the oven to make chicken salad for my lunch on Thursday and sat down to watch the latest episode of Supernatural (Love me some Sam and Dean!!)  

I realized I had not opened the mail so went back to where I had dropped the mail 

to find an envelope. 

 I was thinking it was some of the Swap packages I have been waiting for 

to close up round 4/5 in the Tula Pink swap.  

I looked at the return address and it said it was from United Notions. 

 What on Earth would they be sending me?

Inside was a magazine.  

OK, nice but a magazine?  

There was a post-it note inside (I put it on the outside for you to see)

I opened the magazine up to the inside front cover (the post-it was on the right side)

 and this is what I saw...

A photo of ME in the Moda Bake Shop advertisement!!!

I am in some pretty awesome company too I might add!

I had no idea they were going to do this and it was so exciting!!  

How fun to be part of the Moda Bake Shop!!  

Thank you for including me in the ad, you made my week!!!

I hope you are having a good week too.

Weekend plans? 

  I may be working on a super special QAL with my daughter and some quilting friends 

so there's that.  

~XOP~

I'm The Chef Today Over At The Moda Bake Shop

That's right!  

My little project will be posted today on the Moda Bake Shop. 

 This link will take you right there! 

 I have made so many of the chenille blankets over the last few years

 I thought maybe it would be a good idea to share that project in a much bigger way. 

 This time I used a couple of charm packs for the back of the blanket and 

I just adore the way it turned out!!

With 4 cats in the house you would think I could get a real one to model the blanket right?

Nope!  

So I pulled out this very cute and very posable black and white cat.  

I just love how soft and tactile these blankets turn out!  

Just look at all that fuzzy goodness!

 

This fabric line, Onik-A-Doodle-Moo is so cute for a little one too.  

I don't think I have ever seen such cute farm animals!!

 If you would like the instructions on how to make one of these for yourself

 (or for a favorite baby or little) pop over to the Moda Bake Shop and take a look. 

 I sure would appreciate your comments over there and maybe a good rating if you have a minute. 

I am pretty sure you are going to love this little blanket when you make one and 

I can promise you that all your friends and relatives will be asking for them once you do! 

 If you have any questions please send me an email and I would be happy to answer them.  

Also if you make one please post a photo in my Flickr group!  

It's always fun to see what others have done with my patterns!!

Have a happy Monday and thanks for stopping by here and for checking out the MBS too!

~XOP~

Introducing Peacock Love

I would like to show you my latest quilt, and I call it Peacock Love. 

 It is having a proper introduction today over on the Moda Bake Shop!!

I designed this quilt for my daughter that raises pea fowl on her farm.  

I used the fabric line Kissing Booth by Basic Grey for Moda.  

What a beautiful line!  

The cream background actually has hints of pink in it. 

 It is such a beautiful fabric to work with. 

I just might have to buy some more to make some more quilts!

My friend Liz did the overall heart quilting and I filled in with loops around the "tail feathers".  

I also quilted the large heart and the bird and outlined the heart feathers and the bird too.  

I embroidered the legs, the crown and the eye using black floss.  

The binding was made from the floral in the Kissing Booth line.  

It is a very pretty fabric too.

I did have some kitty help with the binding.  

Those quilt inspectors are a tough crowd!

I have a companion piece rattling around in my head, 

but maybe I will save him for next Valentine's Day.  

What do you think?

I can't wait to give this to my peacock loving daughter in the near future, 

but I wanted to keep it just a bit longer to share it with all of you. 

 If you would like the instructions on how to make one for yourself, 

please go over to the Moda Bake Shop.  

The tutorial is posted there. 

 Also if you are interested in making one with the same fabrics my friend Cori, 

at Crazy Quilt Girl has everything you need to do so.  

Seriously, even if you don't you so need to pick up some of that Creme Brulee grunge 

(the background fabric). 

 It's gorgeous!

So if you have a minute, please stop over at the Moda Bake Shop and leave me a comment. 

 I would LOVE to know what you think of my latest creation!

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my excitement!!

Oh and it was a BIG hit with the new owner too!

I just love that happy face!!

~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