A New Quilter In Heaven...

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 Yesterday, our Coffee Club and our entire quilt guild received sad news.

Our dear friend and my mentor, Flo Shannon died.

Coffee Club (l-r) Flo, Joni, Nora, Fay, Kathy, me and Brenda

Flo passed on Wednesday evening at her home.

I saw her Tuesday night at our guild meeting and thankfully, I had a chance

to speak with her that night. We've all be concerned for her for some time, as

she seemed to be getting more and more frail, but we never expected this.

Always a good listener/

Flo was one of the charter members of our guild, and she made it her goal to 

welcome all new members, get to know them and help teach them more about 

quilting. I wrote about her in August 2010 when I made my first, sad attempt

 at hand applique'. She told me I needed to redo my work because it wasn't good 

enough. I railed and carped here, but I redid my work and eventually finished 

the block into a lap quilt that received honorable mention at our last quilt show.

Photo courtesy of Linda Spencer

You have seen the applique' projects I've completed since that first try, and I

attribute my enthusiasm to the encouragement and knowledge I received from Flo.

She often told me how proud she was to be my teacher and see the progress I made.

Then, she'd lower her head and smile at me with her twinkling Irish eyes.
I'll never forget this look.

She was a good listener, a great friend, an adventurous and talented woman with a 

colorful  past, and a true educator in the art of quilting. She was never stingy with 

her lessons and couldn't wait to share everything she had every learned or done.

Today will be a sad day at Coffee Club...our first day without our dear Flo.

We will all remember her, share our memories and raise our coffee cups in her honor.

She will be sorely missed.

We love you, Flo.

Leila And The Love Birds...

Imagine my glee when I returned home to find a package from my swap partner, Artsy Creations by Leila, for the Blissfull ATC Swap group! This month's theme was "Leaves". Remember, my card to her which you can see here.

Along with her artist trading card, Leila also sent me one of her black and white art prints. Isn't she talented?
I love the detail that Leila put into my card. I think she really captured the theme, and her card is so beautiful. I'm constantly amazed by the amount of detail that my swap partners put into their cards.
Leila is another artist who finishes the backs of her cards. Sparkles and swirls...my favorites! Thank you, Leila. I love this newest addition to my collection, and your art print will be a cherished addition to my studio. (Please be sure to click on her link above to visit her blog. She's hosting a giveaway, too!)
I finished my "Love Birds" applique' quilt yesterday, too. I had a quilt guild meeting last night and wanted to take it to "Show and Tell". (We always refer to it as "Bring and Brag" in our house.)

I didn't work on it over the weekend. Too much slothing and drooling after driving through the night on Friday. (We don't bounce back from long driving trips like we used to.) Consequently, we rested over the weekend and I worked on my quilt again on Monday.
This was my first quilt for needle-turn applique', so I decided to try something else new, I incorporated a little shadow quilting on the same block to accent the applique' work. (Don't look too closely...it's far from perfect!)
I finished quilting the rest of the top by meandering each individual block. All the quilting was finished by the time I turned out the lights on Monday evening.
This is the detail strip I pieced into the back. I love this sweet floral fabric on the back. This fabric is also used in the front of the quilt, so it was perfect for the back.
I attached the binding by machine to the front of the quilt, and then finished it with hand-sewing. I haven't added the label yet, but will do that soon. No quilt is really finished until the label is attached, you know!

I'm happy with my "firsts" in this piece. I've got more confidence in needle-turn applique' now, and I also like the effect of the shadow quilting. I'll practice that technique to use in a future quilt. Now I can concentrate on the lap quilts for my giveaway!

Loving Hartfield And The Vanilla Extract Winner...

I have this wonderful assortment of fabrics...yet another collection calling to me. I'm nearly finished adding the borders to the Love Birds Applique' quilt, and already, I'm itchy to start another.

Perhaps, I should find out if there is a vaccination for this affliction? I know it doesn't help to just lie down and hope that "it" goes away. The feeling never passes. I love sewing. I love creating quilts. I love the color play of fabrics. I could roll around in them all day. Well, maybe not roll. I'd have to refold everything...and get the dog hair off them...and rearrange the cabinets, color coordinated and all... No, I don't really mean roll, but you get the idea.
This is the pattern that came in the kit with all those gorgeous fabrics. I'm really loving Hartfield, the quilt. I know I'll have to add this project to my list. Gee. I guess I need to make a list. You know, a schedule so I know which one I'll be working on next. Would that be too...oh, I don't know...anal? Should I be more spontaneous? I guess I'll just try lying down again for a while. I'll let you know if it helps.

Time for me to reveal the name I drew for the Vanilla Extract.
The Winner of my Vanilla Extract Giveaway is...
#27
Natalie of Hungry Hippie
Congratulations, Natalie!
Your vanilla will be on its way next week!

I you haven't visited Natalie's blog before, you need to stop over and explore. I recently found out that Natalie is my partner in the Victorian Cuff Swap and I'm currently creating my cuff for her. She is a seamstress extraordinaire...and a pretty lass to boot! Click on her name above to stop in and say "hello".

My sister, Diana and I had contemplated putting a little of my vanilla into a small bottle for everyone who left a comment, but as the numbers grew, we knew it might get a little expensive to do. I really wish that I could have shared this with each and every one of you for leaving such kind and thoughtful messages for me. I hope you're all able to make a bit of your own vanilla from my tutorial, and that you might think of it as a gift from my heart to yours.

Love Birds And Lovely Gifts...

I didn't finish my quilt top on Monday, but I did put the blocks together. I'm going to add three borders to surround the blocks. The next time you see this quilt top, it will be finished and ready to assemble. I'm so glad that I've called it Love Birds, because I am completely smitten with it.
I received a package in the mail on Saturday. I was so tickled to see a new atc for my collection! Bobbi Ann of The Bead Goes On... sent me a thank you package for including her in my 400th Follower artist card giveaway. She wrote about our exchange on her blog, too. You can read it here.
I think the dog featured on Bobbi Ann's atc looks just like Kessie! Isn't this adorable? I'm almost expecting her tail to wag!
Bobbi Ann even decorated the back of her card to me! I don't usually decorate the backs of my cards, but I've noticed beautiful backs on many of the cards I've received. I may have to rethink this. I usually pour my soul into the fronts, but I so love the cards I've received with decorated backs!

Bobbi Ann, girlfriend, you really outdid yourself on my behalf. Not only the artist trading card in exchange for the one I sent you, but also a piece of beautiful red cotton fabric, the two stretch bead bracelets (I love the letter beads spelling out "Jesus"), and the autumn-themed stickers (that even include acorns and a squirrel!). Even her little card with the sweet patchwork cat makes me smile.

Thank you so much for your lovely gifts, Bobbi Ann. I was surprised and so grateful to have received such a thoughtful package from you.

Girly Goodness...

This was the view that greeted me on Sunday morning when I walked into the studio. Sunshine was pouring in my east window, the light diffused by my sheer curtain, and all of my fabric strips waiting patiently for my hand. It was a cheerful sight, indeed. I didn't start right away. It was mid-afternoon when I returned.
I began assembling triangles into pairs to make new small blocks. After I trim the blocks to ensure that they're square, I'll assemble the small blocks into one large block. I laid this set out just to give you an idea of what the a finished block might look like.
When they're all assembled, they will sit next to each other to form diamonds within the blocks, too. All of them will be mismatched, but that really is the charm of this design, I think.
My love birds block was not the right size to sit at the center of all this girly goodness, so I decided to assemble a border comprised of all the patterns and colors of the blocks. I'll cut the border down to the right size after the blocks have all be assembled and squared up.

I'm really enjoying this process. It's always fun to work on a new pattern and then modify it to suit my own taste. I think the sun will set today on a finished quilt top.