Some Finishes and a Trip Away

Before we left for vacation, I was able to send these two off to Wrap-Them-in-Love.  They are destined for an orphanage in India:

I was in a rush to complete them and I forgot to quilt the one with Gila Monsters in the Gila Monster panto that I haven't used yet – fortunately, I still have some of that fabric so I can do that next time!  Both of these were quilted with a quick and easy panto called Cotton Candy.

We had a great time in North Carolina – the temperatures were wonderful and we were able to play a lot of golf.

Got rather cool at night (in the fifties), but a sweatshirt was all that was needed in the mornings and that was down to a T-shirt by late morning.  Such a very pleasant change from FL this time of year!

We saw some of the trees with leaves that had turned colors but not many:

And there were deer all over the first day (even right next to the cart path), and then we barely saw them again:

One of our friends that has moved up to NC found this cute shop with lots of barn blocks and a Model A in front.  It wasn’t a quilt shop, but I was able to help the economy anyway.  I bought a really nice magnetic enameled eyeglasses holder so I can find my reading glasses up in the sewing room.  And I also picked up a lovely pottery mug so I can stay in my sewing room all day if I want to!

I do have a third quilt that didn’t make it into the box to WTIL.  I’ll get its picture up tomorrow.

Finally, A Box in the Mail

I finished up all four quilts that are meant to go on the scheduled trip to Russia with Quilts Beyond Borders.  These two were the tag-team effort by Sarah L and I.  She did the centers and I finished them up to size and quilted them:

 

And these are the two that I had finished:

 

That box got mailed off today, along with this one that went in a box by itself to Wrap-Them-in-Love.  The WTIL designated quilt has been ready for a long time, so I thought I’d best send it off and get it into the hands of a kid that needs it!

 

And I even got a little walking in.  This cormorant was drying his wings when I went by.  This was a fairly low pond still, so I don’t know if that means this diving duck caught a fish or not.  I know they catch them pretty readily in our pond.

 

This is the work in process today.  Looks like 3 Cats on the Brick Patio to me!

 

Spring Means Babies

Our resident Limpkins have had a family.  These wading birds eat freshwater snails, mussels, frogs, etc. and the mom and dad are teaching their four offspring to find their own food along the edge of our pond.  Due to the decline of their favorite delicacy, the FL Apple Snail, they are seen less frequently in Florida (their only range) and becoming a “species of concern”.

 

Mom with 3 of the babies

This guy is also a temporary resident of the pond (they move around in the spring), so the parents must be vigilant.

Wally Gator on Patrol

 So far they’ve done a good job and the babies are growing and developing wing feathers.

 

Dad with the 4th chick

Speaking of baby animals, this is my latest finish:

 

I wrote in an earlier post about sewing some elephants upside down on this, but I recently told my On-line guild about how the troubles just kept on comeing in constructing this simplest of quilt designs:

1.  As mentioned, I sewed some elephant strips on upside down and had to rip them out and sew again

2.  Then I quilted some feathers – the first row of them was wonderful – the second row was an oopsie since the loops went opposite directions

3.  Then when I went to take it off the frame I discovered the backing was 2 inches too short – bummer – fortunately, with this design I could cut off a piece of the top to match the bottom in length

4.  And finally, I forgot to change the thread color when I was eagerly putting a fancy stitch on the binding – it is sewn with white thread instead of tan.

I’m guessing a kid won’t notice!  And BTW, this quilt is modified from the design called Quick Strippie at MaryQuilts.com.  I’m not going with “easy” next time … LOL.

Quilt Show Time

I snuck out last Friday afternoon and went to a local quilt show.  This particular guild is very active and usually puts on a really good show.  I certainly wasn’t disappointed this year.

There was a display of Americana quilts that I could use for inspiration for my Quilts of Valor.  These were my two favorites:

Quilt by Sue Walworth; Quilted by Melissa Krushwitz

Quilt by Nancy Morrison; Quilted by Quilting Ladies
of N. Halifax Fire Dpt  Aux, Nathalie, VA -
this was 8 wall hanging designs that the quilter
 used together to make a full size quilt - very clever!

The guild must have had a class on the Hunter’s Star design because there were lots.  These were my favorites because of their fabric choices:

By Jean Ancher

By Barbara Campbell

I fell for this quilt that used oriental fabrics immediately because it was just so beautiful:

By Jin Cavanaugh - Jin used a Margie Engel
 technique of using pre-printed panels with strip pieced
 block designs; also includes trapunto!

And this small Lil Twister in Oriental fabrics was darling:

By Margo Lurz
And those Twisters were tiny!  The pinned on fabric
"hand" was indicating that it was hand quilted/

What quilt show in Florida could be without its manatee?!  Meet Natalie:

By Rosaria Colosi
Natalie was trapped in the intake canal of a power plant -
 she was perfectly happy since she was warm and fed
lettuce, but she was eventually captured and released

This machine embroidered quilt was just exquisite:

By Ann Blazer
Embroidery Designs by Sarah Vedeler

And last,  I won the bid in the silent auction for this mini quilt in Civil Was repro fabrics.  I loved everything about it, from the fabric choices, to the blocks, to the beautiful workmanship. 

By Dorothy Day

On Sunday I got to sew a little and used up the odds and ends of some Bug Jar fabric to make this little top for Wrap-Them-in-Love.  It looks a little boring next to the Quilt Show quilts, but some little kid will probably love it!

I plan to do some major quilting in February since the tops are stacking up!

Saturday Sewing

I recently was given a fantastic gift.  I am NEVER lucky – I never win at casinos (I don’t even bother to go) – I never win drawings or door prizes – but I must have been in the right place at the right time one day last week.

I was shopping the pre-Thanksgiving sale at my LQS and talking with the lady cutting my fabric about the children’s quilts that I make.  I told her all about Wrap-a-Smile and Wrap-Them-in-Love and all of the great work that they do.  And then she asked if I wanted some fat quarters that she had been carrying around in her car just waiting to give them to somebody!  Of course, I said yes – I was expecting 3-4 FQs.

And this is what she brought me – that bag was HEAVY!  It had fat quarters (on the left), a layer cake (in the middle) and some yardage (on the right).  I was stunned!!

So yesterday and today I worked up this sweet baby quilt from the layer cake pieces.

9-Patches (sorry about the sewing room mess!)

More 9-Patches

Still more 9-patches

Square in a squares - set on point

Coming Together!

And the final top - it is just too sweet in person!

The pattern is called Fiona and it’s from this book by Me and my Sister Designs:

I’m going to try to quilt it up tomorrow and take it back to show her my appreciation on Monday and give her a thank you note.  What a nice person she was!

PS  The fabric I bought that day had to be put away for Christmas – I wasn’t allowed to play with that!

One More in the Box

I finished up the quilting on one more quilt before the box to Wrap-Them-in-Love was sealed, so into the box and off to the Post Office it went!

Again, this one is way cuter than it looks.  My little camera doesn’t take photos of stripes and plaids very well.  They look distorted in the pics, but in real life they are great!

From the book "Take 5"

 And this quilt is another of those that turned out to be so soft … I like ‘em cuddly!  This detail pic shows the backing – I try to make the backs less busy, so the quilts have a fun side and a quiet side.

 I’m glad this one made it into the box!

Spotlight on Betty Tisdale

Earlier this year, Ellen over at Wrap-Them-in-Love let us know about Betty Tisdale’s latest activities.

Betty

If you haven’t heard about Betty, you’ve missed out on a remarkable story about a most amazing woman.  Betty, who is now 90 years young, has been making a difference in children’s lives around the world through the organization that she founded called H.A.L.O. (Helping and Loving Orphans).  H.A.L.O. has founded schools and orphanages and taken part in many humanitarian efforts on behalf of children everywhere, but especially in developing countries.  In June of 2012, Betty was in Afghanistan to open up a baby orphanage.  She took 20 Wrap-Them-in-Love quilts with her and you can see some of them in the pictures on Betty’s Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/HALO-Helping-and-Loving-Orphans-Betty-Tisdale/336965935274

NBC featured Betty and her work in Kabul during a “Make a Difference” Special in July 2012, parts of which can be viewed at this link:  http://www.bettytisdale.com/dnn/

To learn more about this inspirational woman and read a short biography, go to H.A.L.O.’s website at:  http://www.bettytisdale.com/dnn/Founder/tabid/62/Default.aspx

I am happy to be able to send another box to Wrap-Them-in-Love next week with four of my most recent quilt finishes.  These four will be in the box:

Americana

Rogue's Gallery

Boy's Toys

Little Froggies (or was it Frog Pond?!)

Two of the quilts were made with Ellen’s mother’s fabric (Americana and Rogue’s Gallery), and those two are made in her memory.  The other two (Boy’s Toys and Little Froggies), I would like to dedicate to Betty Tisdale, and thank her for her work that brings such joy and light into the lives of children.  Thank you, Betty!