Trunk Show --- My Favorites

This is the last of the pictures from the trunk show. I saved my favorites for the last. I love everyone of these. Look at the edges on these. Each one is unique and different!

This one looks like a postage stamp.

Each one of the little cut out circles in this edge, she used a facing to finish them with.

She carried the star points out into the edge of this one. How cute!

This one is made from flannels. I have several men in my family that would love this one.

The black scrolling on this one represents a wrought iron garden gate. How does she think of these things. :~)

And my favorite one of the bunch, "76 Trombones". That is the actual music for the song in the borders! Amazing!!! Makes me want to get up and march! lol

I sure wish that she would publish her patterns. She is a very talented and creative lady.

Oh, by the way, these are all made using a pre-printed panel. She cut them up and used the pre-printed blocks in the piecing. Sure makes those pre-printed panels seem way more appealing to me. I might just have to look more closely at them in the future.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Thanksgiving & Slothful Blogger

My goodness, I am a slothful blogger. Where does the time go??? I am not sure how I let so much time pass between my posts. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution. (lol--we'll see, I usually am not very good at resolutions)

I still have 2 spots open on my Pay it Forward. Come on, join up!!!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was really nice. We had all of our children here with us. My DD had to go to work around 2:00 and as I am her babysitter, the baby stayed with me and Grampy. That was a little strange to have her leave before the day was over. But, all in all, it was a wonderful day. For a change I didn't over eat!!! YAY!!!

Are you all busy, stitching away for Christmas? I have made a quilt for my DGD, my youngest son and for my Sis. I haven't taken all of the pics yet, but I do have a pic of my Sis's quilt to share with you. The blocks are from the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler pattern. I did the quilting in the alternate squares with my embroidery machine. I did just a simple meander in the rest of it. The embroidery is in the corner squares on the outer border also. You can click on the picture to see some of the detail. I actually took the picture in October, so I was still able to hang it on the clothesline for the picture. It is sooooooo cold here now, no snow though. I sure wish it would snow. Not only do I love snow for Christmas, but we desperately need the moisture.

I received an email with my Winter Four Season Quilt Swap partner. Yippeeeee!! I am so excited. I missed the Autumn swap. Does anyone know how I can get the logo for my sidebar?

Well, I had better get busy before it is time to go and pick up my little man from school.
Have a great quilty day everyone!!!!!!

Round Robin Spring Fling Session #2

We went out to get our Christmas tree on Saturday, upon my arrival back home, I found this wonderful, squishy, surprise, tucked into my front door. I sure wish that I had been home to meet Colene. *sigh* Isn't it wonderful! This was made by four wonderfully talented quilters. Solidia made the center, Kathy added the first border, Lisa added the last border, and Colene did the wonderful quilting. This journey has been a fun and interesting one. So much fun to meet and work with all of these talented quilters. Thanks to Margaret for organizing these fun swaps. Speaking of swaps she is doing another Four Season swap, but a little bit differently. Check it out and join in on the fun!

I hope that you all had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving weekend! Now I need to stay in my sewing room and get some Christmas quilting done! :~)

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Walking report was only 2 miles last week. But, I am not giving up. I will fit in what I can during December and hit it strong after the new year. :~)

4SQS5 Monochromatic

This beautiful little table runner was in my mailbox this week.

It came all the way from Australia! Isn't it wonderful! Lily did a great job! It certainly brought a smile to my face! Thanks, Lily! I needed a nice surprise like this. She had it all wrapped in this pretty little FQ.

She even remembered Ethan and sent these fun little stickers.

He was pretty excited to get these all the way from Australia! These little swaps have been fun!

This little beauty will look wonderful on my table next winter! Well, maybe I will leave it out now, as winter doesn't seem to want to let go just yet! No worry though, I have faith that Spring will soon push ol' Man Winter out of here! Then I can play in the dirt!!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Design Wall

I have been doing some spring cleaning and rearranging of furniture in my sewing room the past few weeks. I have always wanted a design wall, but could never really figure out where to put one. Well, the door was in my way as I was doing the rearranging, so I decided who needs a door anyway! Off it came! After carrying it out of the room, I came back in and there was this nice blank area on the wall! My perfect design wall space has been hiding behind my door all of this time! :~)While running some errands the other day, I went into Lowe's and picked up a sheet of that insulation stuff, it is used for the outside of houses underneath siding. My sweet, handy-man Pappy (Dad) helped me to put it up. We located the studs in the walls, used some wood screws with larger washers, so that the screws wouldn't pull thru. I covered it with thin batting, using T-pins to hold it on. I love it!!!!! Would be nice if it could be bigger, but I am grateful for what I have!

I made another friendship block for a member of my guild. I always do paper-piecing for these. One of these days I am going to make an entire quilt with this method. I really like doing it. It doesn't go as fast for me as regular piecing. But, oh the results, precision points and the fun designs are so worth!



I am going to spend the day at the quilt show with my two dearest friends today! The sun is shining, birds are singing. It is going to be a wonderful day!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Celtic Woman

Have you heard of this group? They are absolutely divine! Their beautiful, crisp, clear voices are absolutely heavenly! I am enjoying their angelic sounds while I am busily stitching away. I have lots left to do before I can say that I am ready for Christmas day. I enjoy making my Christmas gifts, though. So I am having lots of fun!

Just thought I would check in and let you know that I am still around. It is VERY COLD here! The thermometer in the car this morning registered a frigid -10! Yikes! So very thankful for my warm, cozy home and my fireplace. Hope that you are all enjoying the holiday season!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

New Wallhanging

I was able to finish my new wallhanging that I mentioned buying the fabric for. I think that this is my favorite one so far. The colors in the close up photo are a little more accurate. I used the Thimbleberries Fancy Free collection. The colors are so rich and warm, perfect for the end of summer. In the close up photo you can see the detail of the design I did with my embroidery machine. I did this in all of the light squares, using a variegated cotton quilting thread. I do this through the top and the batting, then I put the back on and stitched in the ditch. The designs I used are from Embroidery Library "Vintage Sunflowers"

I am babysitting my baby grandson today, so I probably won't get the dress pictures posted that I promised. Maybe if he takes a good nap this afternoon.

All those involved with the horrible weather in the Midwest, are in my thoughts and prayers. May God be with you all!!!

Birthday Daisys

I received the best surprise this morning. These beautiful flowers arrived at my door, filling my senses with their delightful fragrance and my heart with a warm, fuzzy feeling. :~) A birthday gift from CJ. She puts a smile on my face, inspires me with her work ethic, her gardening, her quilting, her cooking and she has the most fun sense of humor! How grateful I am that our paths have crossed! Thank you so very much CJ ---- not only for these beautiful flowers, but for your sweet friendship! You hold a very special place in my heart!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Summer Storms and Garden Friends

I was out checking on my garden and noticed this beautiful little friend that had come for a visit. Isn't it pretty!

My garden is doing excellent this year, despite the fact that I planted it all way to close together. ;~) I can't wait for my tomatoes to ripen and my cucumbers to be big enough to eat. I have the cutest little butternut squash right now. So fun to go out and check on it everyday. I love home grown food. We are going to increase the size of our garden next year. I am wanting to try my hand at canning some tomatoes and making some salsa for canning.

Friday evening we were sitting outside enjoying a nice summer afternoon in the shade of our trees, when we noticed a nice summer storm developing. I love clouds! About 15 minutes after I took this picture, the sky opened and rains came down pretty hard for about 30 minutes. There was some pretty good rumbles of thunder too. I also love the sound of thunder! We stood in our garage and enjoyed the beauty and power of nature.


I'll leave you with a picture of this beautiful pink lily growing in my flower garden.



Not to much quilty going on right now. I have been helping my daughter paint her kitchen this week. I am having withdrawals! :~)

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Simply Sophisticated Month 2

I just finished up month 2 of the Simply Sophisticated BOM that I am doing through the Fat Quarter Shop. I just love Kimberly's BOM's. Her packaging is wonderful and she is always so generous with the amount of fabric that she sends. This one is a mystery, so I don't know what it is going to look like. A fun little surprise each time I open the envelope. I love the fabrics (Harvest Home by Blackbird Designs). They are so yummy!

Spring Swap

I have just about finished my Spring Swap quilt. Here is just a peek of it. I won't show the whole thing until it has arrived safely at it's new home. I hope to get the binding on today. I should be able to pack it up and ship it by Friday. That is my goal anyway. Brights are kind of out of my comfort zone but, I had fun making it. I used my own design and fabrics from the Strawberry Lemonade collection.

I haven't been able to spend as much time in my sewing room as I would like. My illness has really kicked my butt! :) It has left my soooooo tired. Other than the tiredness, I am feeling much better though.
I am not sure what my next project will be yet. Maybe a purse, or another scrub top for my RN daughter, or catch up on my BOM, hmmmmmmmmm, decisions, decisions best synthetic urine. A new dress for church might be nice too.

Hugs & Stitches, Julia

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to everyone!!!!!!! I have been blessed with the best "Pappy" any girl could ask for. He is my hero!!! 12 years ago Mom and Dad sold their home with plans of going full time in their RV. But they discovered after a couple of years that it was not for them. My DH's parents had both passed away by then and we inherited their small home, which is right next door to our home. It was empty at the time and needed lots of TLC. Mom and Dad moved into it and have given it the TLC that it needed. They have been right next to me ever since. I am so grateful to have them right next door to me.

My Dad is a great handyman. A week or so ago, I was just walking out of the bathroom and suddenly I heard water running onto the floor. I turned and there was water shooting out from under the cabinet, I had no idea what to do. I am not a good emergency type person, I tend to panic. DH works 12 hour days, so I ran to Dad's for help, screaming, "Pappy I have hot water spewing all over my floor!!!!" He came to my rescue and shut the water off. The little hose under the sink that connects the water, had burst. When hubby got home that night, he said, "Why didn't you just shut the valve off right under the sink?" Well DUH, that takes a calm person to think of that.

Yesterday hubby and youngest son went to an air-show. They had a great time. Our children have been blessed with a Dad as fantastic as mine!!!!!

While they were gone, I spent the day doing laundry. Which is actually one of my favorite household chores. I love to hang it out on the clothesline to dry. The smell of laundry dried outside is one of the best fragrances in the world.

When they got home, I gave DH and Dad their Father's Day present. Since we live right next to each other, we share tools and such, so I got them a power washer. I had ulterior motives though, now DH can clean the outside of the house. LOL
We had a great time trying it out on various things. DS decided to turn the box it came in, into an airplane and was making the flying noises that little boys seem to be born with.

Tote

After making the cute little totes for my granddaughters, I decided to make me a big one for hauling various stuff in. I had a Chez Moi charm pack and one yard of fabric from the line, so from the stash it came and a fun tote was born. I didn't have a pattern, I just started stitching and this is what I came up with. It has a large pocket on the inside for carrying little things, like rotary cutters, pins, scissors, rulers, etc. It would make a pretty good shopping tote too!

Here it is all loaded and ready to go to a class at my guild yesterday. We worked with 2 1/2" strips or Jelly Rolls. There were some really fun ideas, but of course, my camera was languishing here on my desk, instead of in the cute tote. :~) I didn't get a whole lot done, mostly just talking, laughing and playing with my 2 1/2" scraps. I made up a couple of blocks from some of the ideas, finally settling on what I wanted to do. I will show you what I am making when I get a little further along on it.

I am hoping to get the final border on "Blackberry Twilight" (aka, purple stars), today. Maybe even get the back made and loaded onto SuzyQ!

Have a great day, filled with things and people that you love!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Menopause, BLECH!!

Menopause or something, is kicking my rear-end the past couple of days. I can't seem to focus on anything and tears are so close to the surface all of the time. I hate it! I am not a happy girl right now! All I want to do is eat, especially sweets! ARGH!!!! Oh, the wonderful stages of womanhood. *sigh*

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions about my fabric bleed. I ordered some Synthropol and I found an extra large capacity washers at one of the local laundry mats. If I can quit crying and eating long enough to get there, I will give it a try. Wish me luck! I will let you all know how it turns out.

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Quilt Retreat

I had a wonderful time at my quilt retreat. The house was wonderful! Filled with lots of quilts and all of the comforts of home. It was very secluded and so quiet. Just what I needed to recharge my batteries. Such a cute and cozy home.

This is the view from the front porch. The view was just this gorgeous in every direction. The house sits on top of a little hill, you can see for miles in every direction, when the clouds aren't sitting on top of you anyway. :~) It is the perfect place for a retreat. We are already planning for next year. We laughed, sewed, ate lots of delicious food and laughed some more. It was the best!

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

St. Patrick's Day Wall Quilt

Thanks so very much to all of you for your encouragement and kind words regarding the menopause thing. I am feeling much better this week. I think part of my problem is, that I am stressing way to much over things that I can't do anything about!

Ethan's illness came back with a vengeance. I had to take him to the Dr. yesterday, turns out he had an inner ear infection. He has stayed home from school the past two days. He is doing better this afternoon. He should be able to go back to school tomorrow. Poor little thing was sure miserable yesterday. I don't take him to the Dr. very often, but I am sure grateful for antibiotics. He needed them this time.

I spent the morning cleaning house. Yuck! Don't like to do it, but sure do love the results. :~)

I made this little wall quilt last week.

Finished quilting it last night. I think that I might be a convert to hand stitching the binding. I love how it looks! Just a little tricky with my aging eyes. You know another one of those problems of time marching on, the arms just don't seem to be long enough anymore. :~)

I decided it was time to let all of my snowmen have a rest and be put away. It is looking more like early spring here now. Rain instead of snow. It might be the official beginning of mud season! :~)

I found the pattern here. Thanks for sharing this, Kim!! I changed it up a bit. The little nine patches finish at 1 1/2 inches. Aren't they just the cutest, little things! I used this panto.

It was fun, but certainly the most challenging panto that I have used to date. A little tricky to keep track of where you are.

Now that my house is sparkly clean, I think that I will spend some time in the sewing room to finish off my day. I want to make a new ironing board cover. Cindy shared a great idea for making them. I have a couple of aprons that I want to make and a couple more scrub tops for Kristy too.

Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

Fall Quilt

I hope that you all had a safe and Happy Halloween. I am glad that it is over. Not really a favorite holiday of mine. Seems kind of weird to teach our children to not talk to strangers and then go out, in the dark, door to door, begging for candy. lol The kids enjoy it though.

I finished this quilt Saturday.

I really wanted to get it done to enjoy for the rest of fall, so I pushed myself last week and finished it in one week. I love this line of fabric, it is "Fall Back in Time" by Sandy Gervais. Her stuff is so fun! I adapted a pattern from Bonnie. I don't think that I ever make a quilt exactly like the pattern, I always have to change it just a little to add my own flair. :~) I used "Just Leaves" panto from Willow Leaf Studio. This was a fun panto to use. It quilted up quite fast.

I don't have a label on this quilt yet, because I don't have a name for it. I really struggle with naming my quilts. Do any of you have any suggestions for me? :~)

Walking report for last week -- 10.3 miles.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

I Try to be Good!!

I decided that I needed a new wall hanging in my dining room, the one I have in their has been hanging for about 3 months. Spent the day looking at patterns and adapting them in EQ6. Finally had something I liked, went to the stash, found what I wanted. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't have enough. This is what I chose, most of it is from the Thimbleberries Fancy Free line. Then I had to spend lots of time on the Internet searching for more of it. I finally found what I needed and of course, some more fabric that I didn't really need, but it was such a good price. I'll bet you have used that line before too!! *G* Well needless to say, I probably bought more for the stash than what I will be using. I really did try to be good and use what was in my stash first. Oh well, such is the life of a fabricaholic. I don't plan on reforming to much, any time soon. *VBS*

I did make me 4 summer dresses this past week though. All from my stash of dressmaker fabrics, that have been properly aging for the past decade and half. *VBS* I made 2 dressier ones for church and 2 everyday ones. I love dresses when it is hot!!! Nice loose, lightweight ones.

Have a good night my quilting buddies!!!

Cystic Firbrosis Quilt

Stop in at Perry's blog and check out the quilt that she is raffling away. It is a beautiful quilt made by Cindy. She is raising money for CF. Hurry over there and donate, the drawing will be on May 9 so you still have plenty of time. Let's all join together and help out a dear friend and fellow quilter.

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

Drum Roll, Please---------

Here is my exciting news that I was telling you about! My sweet hubby bought me an HQ 16! Of course, he did tell me that this counted for all of my gifts from him, now until I die! roflol :~)


I have the stitch regulator and I love it!!! I didn't want to start on a "real" quilt. So I went to my stash and picked out a piece of homespun, that I didn't really like (you know, one of those what was I thinking pieces of fabric. I am not really a bright colors person), and put a piece of flannel on the back. I will make it for the Humanitarian Center. My dealer did set it up with some fabric, to show me how to load it and play around a little. After a couple of days of practicing, I put this on. I am getting a little smoother with the laser light, following a panto. But, still have lots of room for improvement. It is not as easy as I thought it would be.It is sooooooo much fun though!!!!!! I haven't tried a whole lot of free-motion stuff yet. Wrote my name, did a little meandering, some stars and hearts, just simple stuff.

I bought the new studio frame and it is fantastic. The poles are strong and quite heavy. Very well made. I have it set up to it's full length of 12 feet. Good thing that there weren't any doors on that closet or I wouldn't have been able to get through the door.

I have it in our oldest son's old bedroom. He has been married for four years now. I haven't done anything with the room since he left. The decorating leaves a little to be desired. But, I have plans for filling the walls with all things quilty! You can see some of my fabric stash. This is all leftover from my years of sewing clothing. I don't do that much anymore, so I should go through it and donate a lot of it to charity. Some of it I could use on the back of quilts. All of my quilt fabric stash is upstairs in my sewing room.

I need to start piecing quilt tops like mad, I love using it!!! So much better than struggling with stuffing quilts into my domestic machine. So much easier on my neck and shoulders.

Thank you for getting this for me Lovebug!!!

Hugs&Stitches, Julia

I'm Still Here!!!

My goodness, I can't believe that it has been so long since I have made a post. Summer has been just a little crazy. It has been soooo HOT and DRY!!! I HATE it!!!! My hubby and I are just opposites when it comes to which season of the year that we like, (well we are opposites in a lot of ways, but I digress) he loves summer and I love fall and winter. To me there is just nothing good about summer, heat, yuck, bugs, yuckier, double the work load (house and yard), yuck.

OOOOOOO some scary thunder just snapped, I had better turn this off and finish later. Yeah maybe we will actually get some rain. It has not rained here in about 6 weeks. The mighty Snake River is so low and all of the lakes are at about 30% capacity. Scary for the farmers with their million dollar potato crops in the ground.

I have been able to do some sewing, I made a quilt for my DIL's birhtday. I will post pics on my next post. My sewing room is one of the hottest rooms in the house, so I don't get much done when it is so hot. I am trying to get some new clothes made for myself. Hoping to finish a new dress today that I cut out last night.

Have a great day all of my friends!!!!

Might as Well Sew

This is what is happening right across the road from me. That big cloud of dirt you see in the air is blowing right toward my house. No sense in doing any dusting or cleaning until they finish. Seems like a good reason to stay in the sewing room and put off the house cleaning for a couple more days, don't ya think? :~) It is nice to live right next to a potato field, we know the farmer and he lets us go out and get all of the potatoes that we want. We have a nice big box full in our food storage room. Should be able to enjoy them for most of the winter months. YummmO!!!

We are supposed to get our first frost of the season tonight, lows expected to be around 30. I sure hope this beauty will survive.

A couple of weeks ago was our State Fair, my adorable little grandson had to give the milking a try. As soon as he realized I had the camera out, he struck a pose. Takes after his mother! :~) They sure didn't get it from me, I HATE the camera!


Hugs&Stitches, Jul♥a

30's Quilt Finished

I was able to finish the quilt for my daughter. Our weather has been a little crazy and as she lives about 30 miles from us, I haven't been able to give it to her yet. But, I think she will like it. It is nice to finish a UFO.

I was able to make another scrub top for our other daughter this past week too.
I am now working on a set of shams to go with the quilt that I gave Mom and Dad for Christmas.

Actually, I am surprised that I have been able to get anything done this past week. It has been a very stressful week. Remember my little helper, our 9 month old grandson, he was very sick. He was diagnosed with RSV. My daughter had missed 2 days of work already, so she had to go to work on Friday and that just happened to be his worst day and guess who was watching him? Yep, me! I was so worried about him. He was so lethargic, and his breathing was so labored. He slept in my arms most of the day, I was to scared to put him down, for fear he would quit breathing.
Prayers have been answered and he is doing much better now. I get very anxious when one of my loved ones is sick, especially when it is one of my little ones.
Now I am getting sick. Yuck!!! I have spent the entire weekend in jammies and just lazing around. My throat is so sore, I feel like I am swallowing razor blades. I feel a little bit better today though.

I can show you what I made for my Pay it Forward gifts, as they have both received them now. Thanks for signing up Nikki and Sue!!! This was fun to participate in.
Thanks for stopping by and I would love to read a comment from you!!!!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn!!!

Happy Autumn, Everyone!!!!

This is one of my favorite days of the year, Fall Equinox!!! I LOVE fall!! As the days begin to cool, the air gets crisp and fresh, the nights are cold enough to add another quilt to the bed. Ahhhhhhh!! A cozy feeling permeates my home! It is time to light some spicy scented candles, to add to the warm and cozy feeling. I want to start baking bread and cookies. And the best of all, it is time for soups!!!!! Not much better than a crock-pot full of a yummy soup, simmering all day to meld the flavors together. YUMMO!!!!

This is one of my favorite trees. It is in my front yard. It is the first to show it's beautiful fall colors.

I was able to work on my project from the Kim Diehl class. I have all of the applique done, just have the borders left to piece and sew on. Then on to the big stitch quilting. I haven't done big stitch before, so it should be interesting to try. I need to hit the LQS to pick up the perle cotton first though.
I have a couple of projects with deadlines that need to be completed before I can add the borders and start the quilting.

Thanks to all of those who left me Anniversary wishes. I especially enjoyed all of the comments as to how young I look. :~) You have all swelled my head a little. :~) A couple of you asked about my skin care regime, I don't really have one. I use just whatever facial cleanser I happen to pick up at the store. I have used Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF 15 for years now. That is pretty much it. I guess that I have been blessed with good skin. Not so blessed with a good metabolism though. LOL

Hugs&Stitches, Julia