Finished Star, Flags & Bunting top and created yet another UFO!

Monday morning! Well, I finished stitching together the 4th of July quilt top and created another UFO. I'm still making 3 piles of UFO's...those to finish, those to sell and those to donate. This is the first one on my list to quilt. I think it's bright and fun. Sorry the pic is crooked...

I had to add this to my UFO list:

and this one:

and this is the worst part, I still have 2 drawers to go through. I've decided to spare you that. I still need borders on the Farmer's Wife and the Row Along Quilt here. Well, it probably won't happen today. I have to work at my "real job" and write about men's clothing and women's shoes and pumps for garden water features today. Hope you all have a great week! Cheery wave from Bev

We Have a Winner! And a New Giveaway!

We have a new winner! The winner of the last 3 Kathy Schmidt patterns is Tammy from Tammy's Sew N Life blog! I've sent you an email Tammy because you included your email in your comment! Here's our next Giveaway:

It's Kathy Schmitz's new book, Simply Red! I just love it and I know you will too! As you can see, there are a lot of beautiful patterns in this book! You can make the big quilt with applique or you can use the applique patterns as embroidery patterns. There are so many things you can do with this book. Kathy's instructions are easy to follow and makes it fun to work any of the projects in Simply Red.

Just leave a comment on this post ALONG WITH YOUR EMAIL (I don't know any other way to emphasize this because so few people are actually doing it) and you are entered to win this great new book! Follow me or let me know you are already a follower for 5 extra entries. If you blog about the giveaway and leave the link to your blog post and you get 5 extra entries. This giveaway will end Friday, the 28th of June and I will announce the winner on June 29th, Saturday.

Good luck girlfriends! Thank you for supporting the blog and entering our giveaways! Hope the rest of your weekend is great! Cheery wave from Bev

Last Day to Enter! and Temptation....

Don't forget! Today is the last day to enter the giveaway for the last 3 Kathy Schmitz patterns for February, March and April. They are so much fun! See the little bluebird with the love note in her mouth? That applique piece is included in the pattern!

So I'm going to show you my very first embroidery piece and I know you will not mock me openly. I sew a lot (on the machine) and do applique but haven't done embroidery. This one looks like a very unstable person did it (which is true although not physically). I found out after it was finished that I was doing the stitches wrong. Oh well, it was fun to do in front of the tv. I'm working on the one with the bird, cherries and the nest with 3 blue eggs now. I can only get better, right? I might make this one a pillow or I might put it in a drawer forever. Please don't judge Kathy's embroidery patterns on this one! It was supposed to be done with other stitches! I think it is so much fun to learn new things! I hope I live long enough to at least try all the things I want to.

Enter to win HERE! So what are you girls doing this weekend? I'm going to work on my UFO stack and try to separate them out and then do a priority list. I've already found 3 new quilts I would like to start (I know, crazy, right?). Why can't I do everything? You know the Farmer's Wife quilt? Well, there is a book I was sent called The Farmer's Wife Pony Club.

It has 90 blocks to make. The stories and photos are so cute. Apparently the Farmer's Wife magazine had a contest for children to write in and tell why they would like to have a pony. This book has photos of the winners and their ponies and has some of their letters. It's so sweet. So of course, it is sitting there mocking me.

Barbara Brackman has a book called Civil War Sampler.

Well, I love sampler quilts so I bought this book a while back. Now, Pam Kitty Morning has done a sampler quilt with blocks from this book in her adorable fabrics. It's a bright sampler quilt with red borders! So cute. Makes my fingers itch to start pulling fabrics. You can see it HERE. Oh it's so cute! They have a Flickr group with blocks from this quilt.

And, last but not least, I want to make this quilt:

Isn't it adorable? Ahhhhhhkkkkk! But I'm being good. I did order the Strawberry pattern but I'm NOT going to give in on any of these until I have done lots of the UFO's that I decide to keep. I'm off to the machine to work on the first of the quilts I've decided to finish! What are your temptation quilts? Or are you a "finisher"? Whatever you are, have a great weekend! XO and cheery wave from Bev

To Finish or Not...on and on with more UFO's....

It's a sickness, I tell ya...I have even more UFO's on my stack:

and

and

and these blocks:

The bag is finished. I thought it would be a good baby quilt with matching bag.

and

There are 30 of these appliqued blocks.

There are almost 30 of these blocks done. They just need to be put together with a border.

I have 4 more of these blocks and they are stitched together. They just need a border.

I have quite a few of these blocks finished. They just need to be stitched together.

Just needs a border. I'm not even finding the photo of the Row Along quilt. Then there are all the BOM's I'm working on.

Okay, that's enough. I'm going to make a list and do what was suggested by my buddy,  Missy Shay. I'm going to make 3 stacks. A stack of ones I want to finish, a stack of ones to sell so I can buy more fabric  and a stack of ones to donate or give away. Then I'm going to start finishing stack one with all of the enthusiasm I start projects with and see how long it takes to quit working on them--lol. I got some quilted last summer and it was just getting disgusted with myself that led to that.

I won't be bothering you guys with UFO's for a while. Think good thoughts for me. I have yet another new project manager who is probably 22 (he's right out of school). I still have the other young project managers but they have mellowed some. Save me from 22 year olds who want to do something new....sigh....

Have a good weekend everyone! Cheery wave from Bev

To Finish or Not....Part 2

In my last post, I lamented the fact that I keep finding ufo's. I asked what you do with your ufo's and got a lot of answers. Apparently, you give them away. Immediately I felt guilty because that was not something I considered doing. What kind of person am I anyway? So I decided to make a pile of the ufo's I have and then make a list and then decide what to do. Who to give them to? Should I give backing and binding fabric too? Here are some more that I found:

This one was made from Folk Art Wedding fabric when it first came out. Remember how everyone went crazy for it and then it was gone? It was by Moda but I cannot recall the designer.

This is one I made with wide borders so that I could do scalloped edges. It's made with Tanya Whelan fabric. I just love that white with roses fabric! The green is much prettier in person.

Here's one from my "homespun days". I made this from scraps.

Here's the Rattlesnake quilt. I love the bright colors.

Here are the blocks for the "unnamed quilt". I have most of it actually sewn together now. It's made with my favorite color combination.

Here's the aqua star. Gina said she wanted it but wants me to put a bunch of borders on it to make it king sized. That would assure that it would never be quilted by me.

Here's an attempt at an "art quilt". It is supposed to be the center of a big quilt. I thought I would put Gina's hand made pottery buttons on it. But it has just been sitting there waiting for inspiration.

This is a Christmas Star quilt with appliqued center. At least I still have the red Christmas fabric for the borders. I was going to do smaller stars for a border and then an applique border. So okay, that has not happened.

This group is just what I pulled out last night. I'm getting a huge stack. I feel like a hoarder. So you are the unfortunate (unless you already stopped reading) recipient of my guilty confessions. Sigh.....

Don't forget to enter the Kathy Schmitz Giveaway #4! It ends Saturday and I will announce the winner on Sunday. You don't have much competition in this giveaway for some reason. You can enter it HERE. And don't forget to enter our giveaway for free fabric from Lori Holt HERE. I have to go do my beloved "real job" and write about foreclosure and leasing agreements today. I hope you all have a good day and that your UFO stack is more manageable than mine! Cheery wave from Bev

To Finish or Not to Finish....That is the Question....

Hi girlfriends! I was moving boxes last night in the sewing room to find something (triangle paper rolls) and I found these ufo's. I'm honestly beginning to feel buried in ufo's.What is wrong with me?

This is a Jan Patek pattern that was originally done in homespun fabrics. I thought I would see how it would look in bright fabrics:

I mean, what do you do? Throw them away? Keep holding them?

Ugg...more and more:

And on and on and on....Does anyone else have this issue? It feels so wasteful but I don't know if I even want to finish some of these. What do you do with your UFO's from long ago? Please share! Thanks! Now off to work at the pesky "real job". Have a wonderful Tuesday! Cheery wave from Bev

4th of July Wallhanging (just needs borders)

Happy Sunday everyone! Yesterday I stitched together my little 4th of July wallhanging. It just needs the border (or borders) and it will be ready to quilt. I might actually make it by the 4th!

I'm thinking that I will do a narrow red border out of the stars on red tone-on-tone that I used for the buntings and then a red, white and blue border from some Alexander Henry fabric I have. It's kind of busy fabric but it will be bright and fun. This was a quick, easy wallhanging to do and, instead of working at my real job today, I think I'm going to work on finishing this. Lately I haven't actually finished a quilt in a long time. I have two other tops that need borders and to be quilted and tons of blocks but no finished product.

Don't forget to enter our giveaways! You can enter the giveaway for Kathy Schmitz patterns HERE. And you can enter our June Giveaway for free fabrics HERE. Have a happy Sunday! Cheery wave from Bev

Blocks in Progress, a free pattern and painting inspiration!

Hey everyone! It's Friday! Woot! I've actually been working at the machine but instead of "quilts in progress", I'm reduced to "blocks in progress". I'm working on machine applique for the Civil War Bride Block 2 and it's taking for.ev.errrrr!

It looks awful without all the leaves and not ironed but see....I'm making progress! Also working on the bunting part of the 4th of July quilt that probably won't be finished before the 4th of July. Here are 2 of the bunting pieces without their applique center:

The bunting goes with the flags and star blocks:

 So much fun!

I can't wait until tomorrow when I can sit at the machine and actually finish something. What are you all up to? Any big plans for the weekend? I'm cleaning and sewing and that is it! Well, I take that back...there may be a nap or two. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm off to write about cookware and jewelry. Happy subjects except I always end up writing about something I like and think I should buy. Especially cookware and Betsey Johnson jewelry! There are so many cool gadgets out there now!
Oh, Kaaren at Painted Quilt blog has a free embroidery quilt pattern that you can download! It's adorable summer fun! You can find it HERE.

 She is an amazing artist and does the cutest embroidery patterns. Thanks Kaaren!
 And if you want an adorable tray painting project for summer cookouts or drinks around the pool, visit Judy at 20 North Ora! She has painted an old tray and I think I might just do one too!

She is an artist so does all kinds of unique and original home decor makeovers. With this one, she said to paint an under layer of hot pink under the red to make the red bright. I never knew that! I'd probably have put 20 coats of red on and still not been happy! I think she should do a book but she won't even talk to me about that. You can visit at 20 North Ora HERE. Thanks for all the inspiration Judy! Now I've GOT to get to work! Everyone stay safe in all the storms! Cheery wave from Bev

A Gina Blog Post or Shamless Promotion of my Kid's Stuff

Hi girlfriends! What are you up to today? I'm getting ready to work and write about home appliances and technology and baby clothes. That's all actually fun to write about. I have done no sewing so thought I show you Gina's iPhone and iPod cases. They are selling like crazy because they are so cute!

These are my favorites.

 You can buy them HERE.

 It's so fun to see pictures of people talking on their phones with one of Gina's phone covers!

You can also get her art in cards, prints, pillows and more HERE.

You can buy the original paintings HERE. You can get framed prints HERE.

Have a good day everyone! Cheery wave from Bev

Virtual Quilting Bee blocks from Daisy Cottage fabric

We woke up to thunder and lightening at 4:00 AM again. Charlie freaked out as usual. I would get a "thunder shirt" and try it but they are too much money. I still might save up. It doesn't do his heart condition any good to get so frightened. I still think it is because, as a puppy, he was chained up outside in all kinds of weather.

Last night I finished the latest Virtual Quilting Bee block:

I decided to make my blocks out of Daisy Cottage fabrics from the shop. I've been doing some fussy cutting on these blocks and I think it makes them look old fashioned and sweet.

What do you think? Have you done any fussy cutting lately?

Not all of the blocks have fussy cutting. They are so much fun!

It's not too late to join in on the fun! Every two weeks, the uber-cool Amy Smart, who is hosting, shows a new block done just for the VQB. You can see the details and get started HERE.

There is a Flickr group for the Virtual Quilting Bee and you can see what people have been doing. The Flickr group link is HERE.

 

The blocks are simple and fun to do. I've had fun using Daisy Cottage fabric by Lori Holt because the colors are so different than the colors I usually use.

So check it out. Lots of people are just starting and it kind of takes the place of the Row Along quilt that lots of us were working on.

Have a great day! Cheery wave from Bev