Trunk Show Part 2

Here are some more quilts from the trunk show.

I love this one! Stars are one of my favorite designs.

These tiny ones are amazing!
The double wedding ring is part hand pieced and part applique. She appliqued the curved pieces.

The Irish Chain is all machine pieced.
The leaves on this one are all reverse appliqued by hand. She won a best of show for this one. As you can see the ribbon is almost bigger than it! :~)



Hugs&Stitches, Julia

I forgot to give my walking report for last week. 3 days totaling 7.9 miles. Now if I could just quit eating those *&%^$@$&()__*& little candy bars that they push this time of year for Halloween treats!

Let Us Never Forget!

May God Bless America!!

Mom's Quilt

I made this quilt for my Mom. I started making it last spring and I ran out of the fabric for the setting triangles. After a frantic internet search, I was able to find some. But, I put it aside, hoping Randy would buy me the HQ. :~) As you know, he did buy it for me and this was my first "real" quilt that I did on it. I finished it just in time for her to use the day she had to have some medical tests, she snuggled under it the rest of the day while she was resting. I love the panto that I used. It is called "Fantasia". My quilting in not perfect, but I feel that I am improving. Now if I could just get brave enough to try something freehand besides stippling. :~)

Thanks for all of your suggestions on a name for the fall quilt. I think that I am going to go with "Autumn Breeze". Libby gave me the idea for it. I knew that I could count on all of you! :~) I was just reading this post by Bonnie , about quilters and the bond that we share. Wonderful how a common thread (pun intended-hehe) links us all, despite the miles, circumstances, and different walks of life that separate us. A true sisterhood! One that I am very thankful to be a part of.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

ShopHop

Did anyone do the Oct FabShopHop? This is the first one that I have participated in. My DS helped to find all of the bunnies, I think that there were about 130 or so, I can't remember. But I did find them all. It was kind of fun and I did find a couple of online shops that I like. Not that I really needed any place else to shop. LOL But I only have one, so-so, LQS close to me, so I do most of my shopping online. Here are some of my purchases.
These fabrics are for an ISPY quilt that I will be making for my DGD. When she seen the one that I was making for DS, she looked at me with those beautiful, big, brown eyes and said, "Grammee, will you make me one too?" Well, what Grammee could resist that. I hope to have it done for her for Christmas.

I also purchased these two patterns from this same shop.
Quick shipping and very reasonable prices. Here is the link, Heart of Dixie Quilt Shop.

I also bought this pattern from Tammy Tad Designs.


It was kind of fun, but it did take quite a bit of time. Not sure that I will do it again.

I do have a question for all of you, how do you all do your quilt labels?

Happy Easter and Pay it Forward Gift

I hope that you all had a Happy Easter weekend with family and friends. This is one of the most joyful holidays!! I am grateful to my Savior for all that he has done and still does for me!

I have a question though, does anyone know how the whole Easter Bunny thing came about? I was just wondering what that had to do with the Glory of the Resurrection?

I received my Pay it Forward gift from Pat on Saturday.

I love it!!! It is now hanging in my living room.
The jelly beans and the cute little chocolate bumble bee are in the bellies of my youngest son and my 3 grandchildren. ;)

I love these Cadbury eggs and they have been sold out locally for a week or so. I was so excited when I opened the wonderful, crunchy, chocolatey goodness, that I kissed the package. LOL
I won't be sharing these with anyone. hehe The purse pattern is one that I have been wanting to buy!!!
Thanks so much Pat!!!

What wonderful fun friends you all are. I love cyber space!!!!!

The little table runner under the surprises, is one that I just finished. It is from a Thimbleberries book.

Not much has been going on in my sewing room, since I last posted. All three of us, DH, Ethan and myself have been sick with either bronchitis or the flu. We all went to the doctor and have been taking medication. Thanks to the marvels of modern medicine we are all now feeling much better. Ethan is out of school this week on Spring Break. He and I are headed out for a fun Mother and Son day, just the 2 of us. Not sure yet what we will do, but it will be great to spend the day with my baby boy!! (who thinks that he is a big boy because he is almost 8 years old, so let's not tell him that I will always consider him my baby boy)

Hug & Stitches, Julia

Summer Swap - Rummage Sale

My Summer Swap quilt is on it's way to it's new owner. I will share a picture after she receives it.

I am having a little summer yard sell via cyber space! :)

I have been doing some cleaning in my sewing room and I have a few things that I would like to sell. If any of you are interested leave me a comment or email me and I will figure out the actual shipping for you.

These are books 1,2, 4, 5, & 6 of Jennifer Chiaverini's series. I will sell them individually or as a group. Either $3.00 each or $12.00 for all of them. SOLD!!!!!!This is new and hasn't been used, but the packaging is gone. I think that there is 15 feet here. It has some sticky tape down the sides to hold it in place while you quilt. $5.00
This cute little stitchery pattern is perfect for the 4th of July. It has the instructions for the quilted wallhanging as well as the stitchery. It measures 25"x25".$5.00
This one measures 13"x16" $4.00

My book shelves are overflowing. $8.00 each for either of these.

I have some more pattern books that I will be selling next week. So come to my yard sale again!

I will leave you all with this cute picture of Uncle Ethan being attacked by his two little nephews. They are just toooooo cute!!!
Boys will be boys!!!!! :)

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Swamped with Life!

I have been really busy lately. Getting the yard and the house ready for the cold winter months. I have been washing my windows, (not my favorite chore). Have two left, will finish those up today.

It seems that we have been raking leaves for months now. :~) We finished that up last Saturday. I finished cleaning up my flower gardens yesterday.

I have been doing some quilting. I will show pictures later. I just took a quilt off of SuzyQ. Now onto the binding. Then the best part of the whole process, although I love most every part of the process, but, when it comes out of the dryer with all of it's crinkly, wrinkly goodness, it is just the best!! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! :~)

No pictures today. I thought that I had better let you all know I am okay, just Swamped with Life!
Looking forward to the long, cold, winter days. They are the best for quilting!

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Karlee's Quilt

I have two of the borders done on Karlee's quilt. I am trying to do most of the applique before I sew the borders to the quilt. That way I don't have to deal with the whole thing as I stitch it down. I am once again using the Kim Diehl method of doing the applique. I am really enjoying this process. There will more applique quilts in my future! :~)

Back to prepping some more flowers, leaves and butterflies!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Happy Independence Day!

I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe 4th of July!


Long may our beautiful flag wave and long may the Divinely inspired Constitution stand!
How grateful I am for those who have fought, and are presently fighting, to keep this wonderful country free. My heart and prayers go out to them and their families. May God Bless you all! My prayer is that we may all remember what this country was founded on and the price that has been paid for our freedoms! :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Busy!!

I have been busy with t-ball practice and games. Our youngest is in t-ball for the first time this year. Oh my, what a laugh to watch 5 and 6 year olds try to play baseball. The whole team runs for the ball and then one of them falls on it and it becomes a game of keep away. All of this is going on while the coach and parents are shouting words of advice to get the ball to first base. Then there is my son who already has the arm of a much older player, he throws it so hard. His problem is he is not real accurate as to where it is going to go at the end of it's long flight through the air. During the last game he was supposed to be throwing it to the catcher, well it went behind the back stop and hit a child on the head. Everything was fine, but DH will have to work on accuracy with him when they play catch.

I started my summer walking program this week. I try to walk 2 1/2 - 3 miles, 6 days a week, early in the mornings. I just wish that I would keep up the program on the "trudgemill" in the winter time.

been on a trip

 I just finished cutting the last of the 100 scrappy charms and it was like a trip down memory lane of a lot of past quilting projects. What I made and who I made it for; easy pattern or not; wish I had bought more of this fabric; man! ... I will never make that again....
Now I know I said I would post a winner this morning, and I have not forgotten; however I have been so busy getting ready for not just one quilt retreat, but 2 of them; back to back! Poor me eh...
Not only that but Mr. O has gone away so he can't make my draw. What I am going to do is take the names with  me to retreat and get someone there to make the draw. When I get back I will post the name of the winner. I may not be able to take photos because Mr. O has taken my digital camera. You see he has gone to Australia on business for 2 weeks.  Again I apologize for the delay in posting a winner, but when I get back I promise to post the winner.

Now what is a post without a photo? Borrring! So I will leave you with a vacation photo or 2.

Mr. O and I at Stone Henge.

LET FREEDOM RING!!!!

Happy 4th to everyone!! Hope that you are all having a fantastic holiday. Stay safe and enjoy each and every freedom that we have! Thanks to all of those who have secured that freedom for us! Thanks to those whom are continuing to preserve that freedom!!



I still have some stuff for sale on my previous post, so go check it out! I think that the Chiaverini books are sold though.

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Spring Swap

I received the most wonderful package in the mail on Thursday, my Four Seasons Spring Swap. Isn't is just the most beautiful thing. To make it even more special to me, one of my dearest friends made it for me. Now I have a Kim original hanging in my dining room, where I can see it everyday. I LOVE it! She has done a fantastic job. It brought tears of joy to my eyes when I seen it. Kim included in the package a few goodies too, some wonderful chocolate and some Shout Color Catcher sheets. I love those, I use them all of the time. I generally don't pre-wash my fabrics so they work great for me. If you haven't tried them yet you should.
Thanks, Kim!

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Stayed tuned, I will be having a give-away shortly.

Pay It Forward Surprises

I have my Pay it Forward surprises finished and in the mail to Niki and Sue. I will post pictures after I know that they have received them. This was fun. I love giving gifts and sharing with all of you.

Kairle has a beautiful quilt on her blog that she made from exchanged strips and that gave me the idea to maybe do a swap of 2 1/2" strips. We could pick a particular kind of fabric or designer. If you are interested leave a comment on this post.


It has been extremely cold here the last couple of days, (teens and below zero fahrenheit), but we braved the cold and went to the LDS Rexburg Temple open house. Before it is dedicated they hold an open house tour for anyone interested in seeing it. My 7 year old son and my 2 grandchildren were very excited to go. If there is ever a temple open house in your area, you should go. It is so beautiful and peaceful. It started to snow just after I took this picture. I am not quite sure why DS is squinting. It was certainly not bright outside. Rexburg is about an hours drive from my place. We went to lunch afterwards and had a nice time.

On the quilting front, I am working on another UFO. I made some sample blocks from 30's fabrics last year in a BOM program and now I am experimenting on how to set them. I think that I will add some applique blocks and do an on point setting. I will post some pics when I have more to show. I would show you the blocks, but it is to dark to take good pics right now.

Gratitudes for today:
1-Family time
2-Temples
3-Beauty of Winter (even when it is cold)

Thanks for stopping by and I would love to read your comments!!

Happy Father's Day!

I hope that you all have a wonderful Father's Day!

I, for one, have been blessed with the best Daddy in the whole wide world!!! He is my friend, mentor, handyman and so much more. I am greatly blessed to have him and my Mom live right next door to me. He just celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this month, so to mark this special occasion and let him know how much he means to me, I made him this quilt.


One of his favorite pastimes is golfing, after an extensive search, I found this fabric at the quilt show in Utah last month. Now he can be wrapped up in hugs and loves from me every time he uses it! I love you, Pappy!!! XOXOXOXOXOXO

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Birthday Quilt

Here is the quilt that I made for my DIL's birthday. I got the pattern from Judy.
I did mine different than hers, I did a simple border. I was running out of fabric and time. Thanks Judy, for sharing patterns for her lovely creations. Run over and visit her blog, if you haven't yet, you are in for a real treat and lots of quilty info.

We did get a little rain this morning and it is looking like we might get some more this afternoon.

Well I still haven't started sewing that dress yet. I had better get busy.

Todays Gratitudes---

1- Rain and a little cooler weather
2- Another quilt finished
3- My ability to sew and create
4- The means to do what I love
5- Family

Fireworks!!!!!

I hope that you all had a happy and safe 4th of July. It is so hot here right now, they say that we might hit triple digits tomorrow. YUCK!!!!!!!!! I am not really that fond of summer. I am more of an autumn girl.

I am making a quilt for my sister's family reunion. They have an auction and raffle off a quilt to help pay the expenses of the campground they stay at every year. So she and my niece came out yesterday and we worked on that most of the day. I was also trying to do a little laundry yesterday too. Then about 9:30, we headed in to our town's firework display. Here is a couple of pictures that I took with our new digital camera. I was pretty impressed with how they turned out for a small camera.

Well, I need to work some more on the quilt for my Sis and finish up that pesky laundry. The quilt will be a rag quilt made from plaid flannels and have some machine embroidered squares in it. I will post a pic when we get it done.

Today's Gratitudes :::
1- Freedom - Proud to be an American!!
2- Family!!
3 - DH has the next couple of days off from work.
4- Air conditioning!!!
5- One day closer to fall!!

Tags and Meme

First Kim at Stillmeadow Quilting, (don't you just love that name, it makes me want to go there. Well, that and Kim lives there, so I would really love to go visit her), anyway, she has tagged me with the 7 Random/Weird things about me.

Here is the rules of this tag----
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post THE RULES on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

Now my random/weird things:::

1-I never learned how to swim. I like to play in the water, but it can only be up to my chest. If I can't touch the bottom I get a little panicky! Well, o.k. I get real panicky!!!

2-My hubby is 9 years older than I am. I met him when I was 14 years old, and I knew instantly that he was the man that I was going to marry. He was bestman at my brother's wedding. He had to wait for me to grow-up before he could ask me on a date. We have now been married 30 1/2 years.

3-There is 17 years between my two youngest children. I thought that I was done with my family when DS #1 was 2 years old, because I had to have a complete hysterectomy. I always wanted and felt like there was another child waiting in heaven to come to us. So that was hard for me. Then the opportunity came into our lives 7 years ago to adopt a child and that blessing was fulfilled.

4-I listen to only Christian music. Contemporary and Inspirational.

5-I don't watch much t.v. Except for when I am walking on the treadmill. I am a big Survivor fan and most of the other reality shows. I always use the DVR to record them and then I can fast forward through the commercials. I like to watch a little Food Network once in awhile to.

5-I didn't get my driver's license until I had my second child.

6- I strive to live my life so that my testimony of and my faith in, the gospel of Jesus Christ, defines who I am. I want to be a good example to those around me, especially my children. And I want to make my tiny part of the world a better place for all.

7-I am not that fond of summer. I hate the heat, bugs and the extra work in the yard! :)

Now I need to name 7 others, so I tag Kairle, Andrea, Carin, Pat, Diane, Nanette, and anyone else who would like to play.



Thanks to Sharon for the You Make My Day Award. You all make my day!!!!!

Tiny Notebook!!

A couple of weeks ago, Nines was making these and showing them on her blog. She mentioned that she had one that she didn't know whom she was going to give it to. I made a comment that I loved red, white, and blue. And the next thing I knew it was in my mailbox! I love it! Isn't she the best!!! I was just kidding and I certainly didn't expect her to give it to me. But, I am sure glad that she did. I will treasure it forever. I carry it in my purse, wherever I go. Much better than just a plain little notebook. Thanks again Nines, you are a dear friend!!!

Fall and Charity Quilts

HI All, the beautiful fall weather has my heart singing and my sewing machine running. Here are a couple more of my string charity quilts that I made in Sept. The blue one is made out of left-over ISPY fabric from my DS's quilt. That is my next project. I will probably work on it while he is in school and save it for a Christmas present. I love sneaky Christmas sewing. It just puts me in the holiday spirit.



This is going to be a fast small post. I have other things to show you, but I haven't taken photos of them yet. I made a large bed quilt for my cousin in trade for a beautiful necklace that she made me. I also finished my sister's Christmas present. I will blog about both of those when I get the pics taken.

I am just busy with life, you know how it goes. The routine of homework and such is quite soothing and fulfilling to me. Have a great weekend and I can't wait to see what comes out during the big Quilt Market in Houston. Those of you lucky enough to go, take lots of pictures to share with the rest of us.

Simple Comforts

Look what I just pre-ordered from Amazon!
Kim Diehl's new book is coming out in mid May. I am so excited! Her stuff just keeps getting better and better!!! I want to make just about every one of her quilts. I guess I had better get busy! CJ, get that credit card ready! I think that you are going to want this one!

I am working on some applique right now using her method. Once you try her way, it makes applique not so overwhelming. It is time consuming, but so worth the effort.

This will be going around the border of a quilt for our granddaughter, Karlee. She brought this picture to us last week. Look at that little pointed foot. Too cute!
If I might say so myself, she is one of the most beautiful little girls that I have ever seen, inside and out. :~) This is the little sweetheart that bought me the oil warmer for Christmas.

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Doing My Part

A little while ago Kim/Kim's Big Quilting Adventure challenged us all to help the economy and get out there and shop!!! So being the good American that I am, I took that challenge and let my fingers do some shopping on the internet. Here is some of the things that I found to add to my stash. Now remember this was all just to do my part in saving America one box at a time. :)

Does anyone have a really good jelly roll pattern? I have a few of these now and I am not sure how I want to use them. The first 2 are Shangri-la by Three Sisters. I think that this collection is just glorious and scrumptious!
This is Fall Back in Time by Sandy Gervais. I bought some yardage that was on sale to go with this one.

I love this quilt kit!!! I love red, white, and blue. But, I guess you already knew that, being the good American that I am. lol It is Prairie Paisley, by Minick & Simpson. This is my first kit. I love this pattern!!! I am sure that I will make this one more than once. I can see it some of the darker, richer colors of Kansas Trouble Quilters and of course, it would be fantastic in Thimbleberries fabrics.I am going to make my daughter a new diaper bag. The one she has needs to be condemned. When I showed this to her, she didn't know what sock monkey's were. I thought that I was a good mother, but I guess not. I had neglected to teach her about sock monkeys. Well, it is never to late and now she knows!! Maybe I should make her children some sock monkeys to make up for my neglect of her. Can you still get these brown socks? hmmmmm I will have to go on a search for them.So as you can see, I have been having quite a bit of fun, clicking my mouse, and enjoying that chocolate that Andrea sent me. YUMMO!! Is there anything more satisfying than shopping and eating chocolate, all while in your comfy jammies? It has to be right at the top of the list!!!

I have some more things to show you, finished projects. But, that will be another day and another post. When I first started this blogging thing, I wasn't sure I would know what to talk about. But, I am having no trouble at all.

Gummy Worms!!

I love gummy worms! They are one of my favorite little treats that aren't chocolate. :~) Kristy loves them too! When I seen this fabric, I just knew that it would be perfect for her. I made her a new scrub top for work. This should help to cheer up her patients, don't ya think! She works on the surgical floor of the hospital. Her newly operated on patients could use a little brightness and a smile always helps in the healing process.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

More on Summer Vacation

I just had to share another pic from our vacation. This is our youngest grandson and his mommy (DD #2). He is 3 1/2 months old in this picture and was loving every minute of it. The water is so warm up next to the shore, it feels like bath water. Aren't baby bottoms just about the cutest thing that you have ever seen? Oh, if only mine could be so adorable? LOL
Yeah, I know, that is not a picture I should be putting in your head. *s*

Gratitudes for today----
1- Much cooler weather, we are sleeping with our windows closed now!!!
2- Celebrating the birth of our youngest son tomorrow, he will be 7.
3-A new wallhanging, I will post pics tomorrow.
4-A wonderful shopping trip with youngest son today for school and birthday.
5-All of you, my blogging, quilting friends!!!