Life Is Art...

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  I'm still quilting my Birds In The Pineapples quilt. Hoop, stitch, unhoop...repeat...a lot. I'm making art - and loving my joyful and creative life.

Bye, Bye Birdies...

 They're finished and on their way to new homes!

This is the tote that Cheryl will be receiving from the Sweetheart Valentine

Giveaway I held last month. I used the Moda Martinique fabric line, sweet

baby birds from Michelle Palmer and I even added ribbon from Moda to the strap.

It's fully quilted, and I designed it myself. I'm very happy with the result, 

and I hope that Cheryl is equally happy to have and use it.

 I made two table runners. One was for Amy (the one on the left),

and the other is for Joyce. The table runners measure approximately

14" wide and 51" long. I hope they have tables or buffets long enough 

to accommodate them. Of course, they could lie across the end of a

bed if one chose, too. The binding on these table runners was applied

by machine and then finished in the traditional method - hand sewn.

 So, I can cross another UFO project off my list! I hope that Amy,

Joyce and Cheryl love their giveaway gifts. I'm really happy with

the way they turned out, and I'm looking forward to their reactions.

I have a commission to finish next, and I won't be able to debut them

for you. That will be the privilege of the recipient. That means that, 

even though I'll be a busy needleworker today, I won't be able to share

pictures tomorrow. I have another subject in mind, though, so I hope 

you'll come back again. I'm also going to start thinking about my next

giveaway. My Fourth Blog Anniversary is just around the corner!

(Actually it's a week from Friday! I can hardly believe it myself.)

Have a great day! I'm off to the studio...

Back To The Farmers Wife...

 I thought I'd be able to work on my Farmer's Wife blocks 

while we traveled, but I was wrong. I haven't made

one single block and I'm missing working on this project!

Time to get back to making my Farmer's Wife blocks

 and the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quiltalong!

 I've made more blocks than just these, but I haven't photographed the 

latest batch in one picture yet. I only have pictures of 

the individual blocks, so I show all of them together in a few days.

*** If you're part of the quiltalong, 

you can expect an email from me this week. ***

We're not going to add more blocks yet, because I know 

I'm not the only person who went on break for a little while.

Instead, you can expect some pointers as I make new blocks, and 

I'm going to host a giveaway for everyone on the quiltalong list.

I'll tell you all about it in the email!

So, everyone can expect to see more finished blocks 

from me this week as I finally get back on track.

On another note...

I had planned to have my iPad cases listed up 

on Etsy yesterday, but my day didn't go at all as I'd planned. 

I'll get them listed this week, and will let you know when they're available.

It's going to be a busy, busy week, girlfriends!

Paper Piecing Progress...

Arbor Window

I played with Loreen again yesterday. Four more paper pieced blocks were created to be incorporated into my Farmer's Wife quilt.

Hovering Birds

I think I'm really getting the hang of this! I only had to "unsew" one piece because I misjudged the size of my scrap. (It didn't fit when I turned and pressed it. It was too small.) Nothing serious and I was back at sewing and pressing before I knew it.

Twin Sisters or Whirlwind

Some are simpler than others and that's great. It gave me a chance to work out my technique before I got to the hard ones.

Kansas Troubles

Which is good, because this block - Kansas Troubles - was aptly named. I ended up cutting, sewing and pressing two of these blocks because I wasn't happy with my first effort.

These blocks haven't been squared up yet and the paper is still on the back, but they're going to be added to my stack of Farmer's Wife blocks as the quiltalong continues.

May 1st will debut another set of blocks for the group, but it's really great that there's no pressure to move at anyone's pace except your own. Speaking for myself, I'm having a ball making all these wonderful, historical blocks. One of the most enjoyable things for me is debuting the fabrics and colors. I'll share a photo of all the blocks I've completed so far during May. Be sure to go to the Quiltalong link at the top of my blog so that you can visit all the participants and see their progress, too!

Don't forget that this Monday is Memory Lane Monday in the event you'd like to participate. If you didn't read Wednesday's post, I'm having a giveaway for my readers, too, so go check it out. So much fun going on at Brynwood these days. I'm so glad you're hear to read all about it!

Have a great weekend! I'll see you tomorrow.