"Blackberry Twilight"

I was able to work on quilting "Blackberry Twilight" today. Look how close I am to being finished. Woo Hoo!! I am using a new panto, "Antique Lace" by Urban Elementz.
I really like the way the it looks. Randy picked it out and I think that he did a very good job. :~) It seems to fit the fabric and style of the quilt perfectly. Do you see the exercise weights on the handlebars of SuzyQ? CJ suggested using them and I think that they make quite a bit of difference in the amount of control that I have. I want to eventually get the EdgeRider Wheels, but this works pretty good in the mean time. This way I can take them off and do a few bicep curls once in awhile too! lol

I am going to a special church meeting tonight, it is for the women's organization of the church. It should prove to be very spiritually uplifting and well worth my time. So I get some good quality female time and my men can have some good quality male bonding time. :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

I'm Still Here!

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. Well, actually I can believe it. This has been a summer that is best forgotten and put in the past. Just suffice it to say, that I am very grateful to have things settle back down into a routine.

Anyway, a very big THANK YOU to those of you who have emailed to check up on me. Your letters of concern meant so very much to me, bringing a warm fuzzy feeling to my heart. I had actually thought about giving up on blogging, but after your kind words of concern, letting me know that you missed me, I have decided to return to the land of Blog! I do have a couple of quilt finishes that I will show you as soon as I get some pictures taken. Thanks again!

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

4SQS5 Monochromatic

I signed up for a little quilt swap again. Margaret hosted another 4 Season Quilt Swap. This one was a monochromatic color scheme with on accent color. Here is the one that I made. I named it "Cotton Candy", that is what the soft pink color reminds me of. Of course, I would name it after food! lol

It is now on its way to its new home. I hope that she will like it. These have been fun to do. Thanks Margaret, for organizing them. I have meet some very nice friends through these swaps. Some have become very dear to me. I treasure their friendship and the way that they have enriched my life. :~)

I did the applique using the Kim Diehl method. I did the background quilting and outlined the applique on SuzyQ. The rest of it by hand, using the big stitch method and embroidery floss. I have found that even small projects, I would still rather do on SuzyQ, than with my 630 and the BSR. I just feel that I can do better with it. And it is sooooo very much fun!!! :~) I think that I might be ready to try a little more free-motion quilting now. I am going to load some ugly fabric on and try playing around.

I finally got brave enough to take "Blackberry Twilight" to the laundry mat today. They had a great big over-sized washer, so it had plenty of room to move. I used the Synthropol and two Shout color catcher sheets. Those sheets were really purple when they came out. It didn't take out all of the dye where it bleed onto the cream. But it is so much better. I really have to look closely now to see it. Overall I am much happier with it. I can't get a good picture right now to show you. It is very gloomy and cloudy this afternoon. It has been raining most of the day. My favorite kind of day, actually. I love the rain!!! I will try and get a picture when the light is better. I will be using the Synthropol and the color catcher sheets when I wash all my quilts in the future. Thanks for all of your suggestions and help.

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Quilty Gifts

A very big, Welcome!!, to the newest member of our extended family! My niece delivered her first baby Wednesday, a precious, little girl! Of course, now days you pretty well know the gender long before the little bundle of joy arrives.

Hence, I was able to make her a special little quilt. This is a Quilt Soup pattern, "Doll Babies". I love their patterns, so whimsical and fun! :~) There was a bit of a disaster with this quilt. I was quilting away, just having a grand time doing all of this little tiny stitching, when I realized that if I kept going it would end up being as stiff as a piece of cardboard. Not very cuddly for a little baby at all! So after 20,000 stitches, out came the seam ripper and just a mere 5 hours later (EEP!) I had it all ripped out, ready to try again. I choose to do just an all over medium-sized meander, with outlining around the applique. Much softer and cuddly! Live and learn! ;~)

We have another new addition to the extended family, my nephew married his sweetheart this past July.
I had big plans to have this finished for their big day, but around the end of June is when all heck broke loose around here and my daughter needed lots of TLC to make it through a very heartbreaking time in her life. I just wasn't able to finish it on time. Oh well, better late than never. This is made from a layer cake, some yardage for sashing and borders. The pattern came from Heather Mulder Peterson's book, "Livin' Large". I highly recommend this book! It has lots of fun patterns in it for the larger scale fabrics that are so popular now.

I used a panto from Anne Bright, "Blooming Feathers".

We missed the frost the other night. My veggies and my flowers are still going strong! The field is all harvested and planted with grain for the next growing season. I guess that means I should clean house. *sigh* Unless, I can think of another good excuse to put it off and stay in my sewing room. :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a