Always Sewing

Busy with Owl and friends

2011-09-20T09:20:00.001-05:00

It has been a long time since I have posted. A lot has happened in that time. I spent a large part of the summer teaching sewing to young girls. It was a fun and rewarding time. But just as that was ending and I had hoped to have some fun family time, my husband was laid-off. As you can imagine this was devastating.There have been other things that too were very upsetting, just not a good August, and September has not been much better.

On a happier note, I have started a Facebook "Like" page. It is "Pam is Always Sewing" . Why you ask? Well it has made it easier for me to share pictures and information about the little zippered bags I have been making. It is a great for my friends to share my info. It seems to be working well, as I have gotten lots of orders and that makes for grocery money. :-) Here are some pics of the little guys. They are made in the hoop, on my embroidery machine. The patterns come from Embroidery Garden.

YO-YO'S!!!

2011-06-01T14:59:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy making theses little yo-yo's but the question is always what do I do with them. This spring while working on the costumes for Cinderella I found a place to put some. ^_^ On the hat of the Narrator (she later becomes the Fairy God Mother). Here is a picture of her hat.

But I had not quite got my fill of making Yo-Yo's so I made this:

I know you ask how many bags can this woman make. Obviously one more!

I used a great pattern for this bag by Rebeka Lambert at Artsy-Crafty Babe It is a free pattern "Pleated Tote" All you bag makers she has some great patterns in her Etsy shop, so please check them out. Also for the non-sewer she has some lovely bags made for you.

Quick project!

2011-05-31T15:04:00.001-05:00

Ruffle Pillow Case

I really wanted to sew a fun yet quick project. I really do not need to start another new project. So I have had this fabric set aside to make a pillowcase for my daughter. I really love how it came out. Quick easy and fun!

At least I got something accomplished today!

Pinwheel Quilt

2011-05-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

Remember last summer when I started this wonderful Pinwheel Quilt? Well I am at the end now. Well....I still have to quilt this HUGE quilt. But it is so wonderful! I can not tell you how happy it makes me. The colors are so wonderfully bright and cheery. There are 88 blocks, on the front and back of this quilt. Each is a different 1930's reproduction print. No two are alike. My dear Aunt Sally has been collecting these prints for a long time, and generously let me cut my quilt from her stash. I would never have been able to make this quilt without her help. Here are a few pictures before the quilting. You can see that Teaga was there to check out this quilt as she does with all the others. ^_^

Quilt tested doggie approved!

Front 8 blocks by 10. (12inch blocks)

Back side of quilt

Graduation

2011-05-28T09:59:00.000-05:00

Well 4 kids and 20 years of Homeschooling comes to an end. Our youngest has now graduated. She has been a joy to watch grow up, into a wonderful young woman!

Summer Sewing Classes

2011-05-26T13:02:00.000-05:00

During the summer I am blessed to teach sewing classes at Fantasy Playhouse Children's Theater. We have a great time and make all sorts of fun sewing projects. Here are a few pics from last years classes. No faces for the kids, to protect their privacy. :-)

They made 2 bags some great Pajama Pants and a pillow case.

I had a few Adults sewers too!

If you would like to join me this year, here is the info:

Learn to sew with Fantasy costume seamstresses Pam Anders & Marie Sexton. The two and one half-hour class meets each day for one week in the costume room of Fantasy.

In BEGINNING (age 10 and up) sewing, you will learn basic sewing skills by constructing a pillowcase, a simple tote bag, and a pair of sleep pants.

In INTERMEDIATE sewing, good knowledge of basic sewing or a previous sewing class is required. You will be making a pillowcase with contrasting band, scrub style pajamas with set in pockets and patch style pockets, and a bag with a zipper.

In ADULT (or Teen) sewing, good knowledge of basic sewing or a previous sewing class is required. You will be making a tote bag and a pair of scrub style pajamas. We will also make a fun project with a zipper.
Learn to make your sewing projects on our sewing machines or bring your own. The instructor will mail you a letter after registering with a list of supplies to bring. Class size is limited so register early!!!

Give Fantasy Playhouse a call at (256) 539-6829 the Summer Schedule is also available on the web site.

We are fine.

2011-05-04T10:21:00.000-05:00

We did make it through the horrible tornado out break in North Alabama.

We were very blessed to have no damange. We had 100 hours of no power. My son counted, this is how I know. ^_^ We spent the time remembering how to play board games. LOL We really did have alot of good old fashioned family time. We did some puzzles, we even had a camp fire in the backyard. roasted marshmallows and made Smores. Yummy!

So many people lost everything. It is devastating. Please pray for those that were so deeply effected by this horrible out break of tornadoes.

Easter and Cinderella

2011-04-26T12:07:00.000-05:00

We spent Easter weekend at the our Civic Center performing Cinderella. It has been such a fun weekend. Here are some pics (I am sure more will follow). We have one more weekend to go.

My Cinderella and her on stage Prince

My two daughters dressed in the peasant costumes. Savannah is the body double for Sonia when the Fairy Godmother casts her magic spell sending Cinderella to the ball in her beautiful ballgown.

A fairy tale come true.

Lots of little princesses wanting to get Cinderella's autograph and a picture.

Cinderella

2011-03-25T15:58:00.000-05:00

Cinderella is going well. I am having so much fun with the costumes we are making. Fantasy Playhouse had a wonderful little tea party for little girls. It was so much fun. The older girls got to be the Princesses and host the little girls. I can't tell you how tired we were, but oh we had so much fun. I wish I could post more pics but I do not have permission from all the children so here are a few of my princess and some of her friends.

No this is not Cinderella's Ball Gown this is her Tea Party dress. We will wait till after the ball to show that dress. ^_^

The Wedding!

2011-02-20T14:20:00.001-06:00

My oldest son was married yesterday. It was lovely. Such a special day.

Mr and Mrs. Jason Anders

The wedding party

Our new family

It was lots of fun. I make my dress and a matching bow tie for my husband. I also made the stoles and muffs for the brides mades. We add lots of bling to the bride's dress and veil. They have left on their honeymoon, a cruise to Mexico. I now move on to making costumes for Cinderella.

Wedding party gifts

2011-02-10T11:38:00.000-06:00

I made these little bags for all the women in the family as little clutches for the wedding. I will be adding wrist straps, but wanted to share these with you. No they are not as wonky shaped as they look in the picture.

Cinderella!

2011-01-28T09:49:00.000-06:00

We are thrilled that our oldest daughter has been cast as Cinderella in our local community theaters production of Cinderella in April!

I cannot tell you how excited we are. She has waited a long time for a lead role. She has had many fun ensemble parts but this is her first lead! The rest of the family is evolved as always, my husband will be the King and my youngest daughter will be helping me with the costumes.

Right now I am working on my oldest son's wedding and then it will be on to work on Cinderella, so not sure how much blogging will happen but I will share pictures of both events. ^_^

When Snowed in Sew!

2011-01-14T11:16:00.001-06:00

Well this snow storm has really shutdown our southern city we just do not have the resources to deal with the snow and ice. So with no school and many businesses closed, we were rather home bound. So when stuck at home why not sew! ^_^

I have been a rather creative slump. Yes, I made all those cute zipper bags but that was a follow this pattern type thing. I have had a block when coming up with something of my own.I have been wanting something new and modern for a purse. I love quilted bags but I wanted something different. ( I have made so many of those quilted bags) Finally I am happy with this one! Being snowed in I could not go shopping for this one. I had to use what was in my stash. So I dug out the leftovers from the Mod Quilt Sampler I made some time ago. Anyway this is the result. One purse, a wallet and a Snap Happy Bag.

This shows the set- wallet closed.

Here you can see the open wallet and the Snap Happy Bag, You can find the pattern HERE

I opened the wallet here to the outside so you could see the full pattern. This is a wallet pattern that I have come up with myself by combining several other quilted wallets with the options and techniques that I like. I do not sell the pattern, sorry.

Since most of the county has gotten snow of some sort what did you do during your snow storm?

More Snow in Alabama!!!!

2011-01-10T15:54:00.000-06:00

Believe it on not we had more snow in Alabama, and lots of it! We had 9-10 inches at our house, north of Huntsville. Yes the city is shut down, we do not have the equipment to handle this kind of snow event. Also we have a lot of elevated road ways that freeze very quickly. I think our annual snow fall is 1.5 inches. So we were thrilled with this snow. For many children in Alabama and some adults this is the first snow they have seen. There have been lots of fun reports of people using all kinds of inventive things for sleds. Canoes, lots of pool items, boxes, cookie sheets, plastic bins etc. We just played.

Kindle Covers

2010-12-29T16:16:00.000-06:00

I have made some Kindle covers for Christmas presents too.

These last three are ipad cases

White Christmas in Alabama!!!

2010-12-25T15:39:00.000-06:00

Well I really did not think that we would be blessed with a white Christmas here in Alabama. It is a rare occurrence. But never the less we work up this morning to a winter wonderland. The weather people said maybe a dusting, well we received about 4 inches! It was so wonderful was the best present ever!

Merry Christmas!!!

A Parliment of Owls

2010-12-21T08:51:00.000-06:00

Did you know that a group of owls are called a parliament? We I have been making these cute little guys like crazy. Along with a few other items. The designs are from Embroidery Garden, She has some really wonderful things.

Christmas Projects!

2010-11-18T14:02:00.000-06:00

I have been busy with Christmas Projects. As a family we have our obligations to fun theater activities. Frist in line is Christmas Carol. Can't wait for that. But mean while I have been sewing these cute little zipper bags, they are done on my embroidery machine.The design is from Embroidery Garden. They are oh so cute and fun to make. The hold ipods, cameras, make-up, money, and so much more. Great little gifts.

Wonderful Christmas Ideas!

2010-11-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hope over to Amy’s blog to see the absolutely lovely holiday magazine she has put together with some ridiculously talented ladies and beautiful projects. It’ll make you want to start decorating for Christmas though……you’ve been warned.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2010-10-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

Blogger's Quilt Festival

I am once again participating in the Blogger's Quilt Festival being organised by Amy of Amy's Creative Side from October 29 - November 5. The Blogger's Quilt Festival is an online quilt festival where bloggers from around the world showcase a quilt - once you have had a look here, head on over and take some time viewing the other wonderful quilts.

This time I would like to share a quilt that I made for my soon to be daughter-in-law. She loves blue ,so I decided I wanted it to be ocean like. So I chose the fabrics with that in mind. I also wanted it to have a modern quilt feel. I decied to just kind of wing it. Yes, it was scary but I just sketched out what I wanted and then had to go with what I got out of the 2 jelly rolls that I used. I was happy with the results ,but more than that she really loves it too. ^_^

I gave it to Heather on her birthday, but that was also the day that my son asked her to marry him. :-), yes it was a big day! I talked about making the quilt here and then when she received it here.

Heather sent me this picture when she got back to her apartment and put it on her bed.

Sleeping Beauty

2010-10-22T16:48:00.000-05:00

The latest play my family has been involved in was Sleeping Beauty. Not only was it a fun show but it was absolutely beautiful to look at. The set and costumes were just amazing. My oldest daughter and husband who are usually on stage in a show, were join by our youngest daughter on stage. She loves to work backstage and was talked into joining them on stage. Not sure she will be on stage again soon, so I worked hard to get a couple of special pictures of her.

Thank You

2010-10-18T18:00:00.000-05:00

I just want to thank those of you that have sent good wishes while I was so sick. Now after lots of medacations I am finally starting to feel better. :-)

Also I would like to explain why your comments are being moderated. I was getting spammed by Japanese sites that we not appropriate. I could not stop it, so this way they do not appear. Unfortunately I have missed some of your messages for a week or more as I was not on my blog much while I was so ill.

Always Sewing
Pam

Leaves for Fall

2010-10-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

This is my latest creation. It was quick and fun to make. I used a free pattern and fabrics that I had, so the only thing I bought was the batting. :)

I can't tell you how much I love this fun little quilt. I have made so many large quilts lately, I forgot how nice and easy a wall quilt can be. As I hung this I thought about my Nativity Quilt that took years to make.

Back with a new bag

2010-09-28T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thank you for being a follower, sorry I have been gone so much lately. I have been sick. So sick I could hardly sew!!!! I am still struggling, but maybe it will pass soon.

I did finally finish this bag and made a matching wallet. The bag took about 12 hours including the embroidery. The wallet is another 3-4 hours. I was only able to do a hour or so at a time because I felt so bad, so it has taken a while to get it done. I cannot wait to load up this beauty and use it.

New Fall Purse

2010-09-16T10:47:00.001-05:00

This summer when I went to Mary Jo's I got this beautiful batik for a new bag. I make the same basic style bag everytime. Yes I know it is boring. But I cannot seem to find another style that I really like when I am using it. Other bags are so cute, but then I use them and hate them. UGH!

I decided to use my embroidery machine and stitch out this design that I have had for a long time. I just love it and this seemed the time to finally use it. I used to use my embroidery machine all the time but have not used it in what seems like forever. I have done some little things, initials etc. But nothing like these long embroideries that take 3 hours. I am hoping that this weekend while my husband and daughter are going through the pain staking process of auditions for A Christmas Carol, I will keep myself busy with the making of this bag.

The print will be the outside and handles with the P as front pocket, solid will be the lining.

What do you think?

Teaching Heather to quilt

2010-09-15T14:19:00.000-05:00

My son plans to marry Heather this February, so I decided we needed to see if she could sew and quilt. After all if she going to be part of our family she had better be able to sew! LOL Well lucky for us all, she is a great quilter! We made this pretty quilt for her sister, who got married this weekend. I have been waiting to post this until the wedding. Would not want to ruin the surprise. ^_^

She also learned to use the embroidery machine to make this beautiful label.

Another tote bag.

2010-09-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

I made this bag from some of the wonderful fabrics that I got on my trip to my Aunt's house for that family quilt retreat that we had. I chose to try this bag because it had a different handle. it has these grommets that not only let the handles move, they also gather the bag a little. I really like this pattern I might have to shrink it down for a purse. The pattern is in The Quilts and More magazine Fall 2010 issue.

Snow White

2010-08-15T09:37:00.000-05:00

My beautiful daughter was asked to wear this wonderful costume made by Carol Morris, to the Fantasy 50th Anniversary Gala. It was made for a version of Snow White that Fantasy did some years ago.

Oh, I am not so sure you should eat that apple Snow White.

Nine Patch Quilt Along

2010-08-12T15:54:00.000-05:00

Nine Patch Quilt Along

I finally was able to take some nice pictures of this quilt. I blogged about it when I finish the top but now it is truly finished. So I took it on a little photo shoot today. I talked about this quilt here and after more sewing here and again here. This was a quilt-a-long with Crazy Mom Quilts (not her current one) This quilt-a-long ended about a year ago. But it took me a while to find the perfect sashing and then a good backing and them most of all life is just so busy. But here is my quilt!

I have so enjoyed see other blogger's take such beautiful pictures of their quilts. It was so much fun to take my quilt for a photo shoot!

Amazing Technicolor Dream Bag

2010-08-11T18:46:00.000-05:00

Amazing Technicolor Dream Bag

I made this bag for the director of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.Really was lots of fun to make.

1930's Quilt

2010-07-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

On my family quilt retreat I started a 1930's pinwheel quilt. My Aunt has a large collection of 30's fabrics so I was able to make a quilt that has more than 80 different fabrics! Along with all the other fun goings on on the retreat I worked on getting my blocks cut out. The fabrics are just so colorful and fun!

This quilt as simple as the design is, is very time consuming. Picking the fabrics, cutting all the squares, then pairing them up with a white squares.

Then all the half square triangle blocks are made pressed and then trimmed. I figure I have over 20 hours into this one and I still have not sewn a pin wheel! I must say that all the steps let you touch and play with each square, I so enjoy seeing each different fabric. Not sure I would enjoy as much if they all looked the same. ^_^

Today I hope to get some of the pin wheels sewn.

Oh and for those of you wondering I am getting the binding sewn on my nine patch. Hand sewing around a 92 x 109 inch quilt is taking a little bit of time. I hope to get it done this week in my evening TV watching.

Road Trip Part 2

2010-07-28T10:34:00.000-05:00

After the Aquarium, it was off to our little family Quilt Retreat. My mother and her sister Sherri drove up from Florida and I drove with my 2 daughters from Alabama. We met up at my Aunt Sally's in Charlotte North Carolina. We had such a fun time. Our days were filled with sewing, and sharing of ideas. We all made cute little projects that each of us taught to the others.

We started with a shopping trip to Mary Jo's. Wow what a store it is like a fabric Wal-Mart!!!

We had a fun lunch at a little Mexican place then off to the thread store!

Then we had to get to work. Sally taught Sonia, machine applique along with all of us in-the hoop projects.

My mom taught Savannah how to make a snap bag.

Then Savannah was off to help Paige make a pair of Pajama Pants.

With the help of my Aunt's wonderful collection of 1930's fabrics, I am starting a large pinwheel quilt. each pinwheel will be a different fabric. I spent the trip getting that all together. Details on this quilt later. ^_^

Aunt Sherri worked on several projects.

When it was all over, it went by so fast and we did not get near the pictures we should have. We had so much fun. My Aunt was a wonderful host with not only a great place to work and play, but she fed us some really fabulous meals!

Road Trip part 1

2010-07-27T11:34:00.000-05:00

My daughters and I took a little road trip for our summer vacation. First we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. My oldest son and his Fiancee joined us on this leg of the trip. We loved it. So pretty and calming.

There was so much to see. My personal favorites were the Jelly Fish and the Sea Horses. There was also this awesome Sea Turtle. But there were also butterflies.

along with the fish that could be very large.

It was so much fun. I remember taking the kids there as young children. They were so amazed, well we had just as much fun as grown kids. Was just a wonderful time.

9 Patch

2010-07-10T11:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of my 9 patch quilt. It is huge, big enough to fit my queen size bed. 110, 9 patches made from batiks I have collected for many years. Some are leftovers from my students projects. I was happy with it, but when I started quilting it it really came together. The variegated thread was really the final touch! I still have some quilting to do before binding but was anxious to share with you.

Bag Set

2010-07-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

I made this tote to go with my other items for all the electronics I now have. For example my new netbook, with all it's little accessories. My camera and all it cables, and the charger for my phone. I want to be able to have all these things together for my trip. Where you ask. Well, the women in my family are having a quilt retreat. How fun is that? My mother and her 2 sisters and myself and my 2 daughters are all getting together for some sewing and fabric shopping! That will all be happening later this month. I am very excited about that. More on that later. Her is my tote and other little bags.

Big Day on the 4th!

2010-07-05T16:42:00.002-05:00

The 4th was a big day for our family, first of all our oldest son proposed to his girlfriend, and the 5th of July is her birthday so we were celebrating this day also.The blue quilt was for her. I knew we would be welcoming her to our family and it would be a big day. It was truly very special day. My son planed a very romantic day and proposed in a beautiful little chapel up on a mountain. They often go walking on the trail in the park of this mountain and so it already a special place for them.

It is hard to compete with with a marriage proposal and a gorgeous diamond ring. But she did love her quilt.

We are so thrilled to have Heather join our family. More on this quilt here http://alwayssewing.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-quilt.html

quick project.

2010-06-30T07:30:00.000-05:00

I have this new little toy, that I just love. A netbook! Now I can read through all the blogs I follow at night while watching TV. But I could not let my Netbook go with out a fabulous cover. So I made it a Sleeve. I am making a tote to match but I have to get the the quilt finished. The quilting is done and I am on to the binding today.
Here is a picture of my sleeve, I used a decorative stitch on the brown fabric, then appliqued a few little hexagon flowers to decorate it. Was a nice fun and fast project.

The quilt is moving along nicely.

New Quilt

2010-06-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

I think this might be my favorite quilt. I just love how it is coming along. It has been a free flowing project. My daughters (age 16 & 19) have helped with the setting of the blocks. We kind of had to make things fit. I wanted it to be double bed size, and I only had so much fabric. I used 2 jelly rolls, and then added the border. I did have to pull a few strips out of the jelly rolls because they did not match. But I did manage to get it to the size I need. I am quilting it in a wavy pattern and I am not quilting the waves in the white. That will have straight lines. But more on that later along with more pictures. Here is a little peak.

Hexagon flowers

2010-06-23T11:01:00.000-05:00

I made these cute little guys to go on my new netbook sleeve. I just love making these little flowers.

Teaching

2010-06-21T09:25:00.000-05:00

It is a busy summer and one of things I have been doing is teaching sewing to some kids. I am not allowed to post their faces, without signed permission. So that is why there are some headless pictures. My friends daughter was also in the class and she is fine with her daughters picture being on the internet. So little Julie is in some of the pictures.

We were very busy they made, a pillowcase, tote bag, PJ pants, and a cool draw string bag.

We had lots of fun, and I even had a couple of big kids made a bag. :)

Nine Patch Quilt Along

2010-05-31T09:53:00.000-05:00

I finally have the quilt top done! 110 of these little nine patches, and then all those little squares in the boarder. But I am thrilled with how it is coming along, it is 92" x 100". I am going to quilt it on my Janome 6600. just a diagonal grid. I wish the picture was better but between the wind and the size of the quilt I guess it will have to do for now.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

2010-05-25T10:15:00.004-05:00

I have had a hard time deciding which quilt to post for the Quilt festival. But I finally decided on the Mermaid Quilt that I made my daughter. Every morning when I wake her up, I see that quilt and think "gosh it's pretty". I just love it!.

When I saw this fabric I fell in love. I wanted it for myself but my daughter convinced me that she need it more than I did and her birthday was coming up too. So like a good mom I caved and she picked the pattern and I made this quilt for her. We took a trip to Florida at Christmas just as I was finishing the quilt so I took it with us so it the mermaids could see the ocean. :)

9 Patch Quilt Along

2010-05-21T13:25:00.000-05:00

I finally have gotten to work on my 9 patch quilt along. The quilt along is long over, Crazy Mom Quilts hosted this one. Anyway, got my 110 nine patches made, they are all from a collection of batiks that I had. So I wanted the sashing to also be batik also. Little did I know that white batiks are hard to find. So I finally ordered some fabric for Hancock's of Paducha, and it was on back order! So by the time it got here and all the other things that life brings I am just now getting back to it. I am very happy with how it is looking. What do you think?

Bloggers' Quilt Festival is Coming!

2010-05-12T10:21:00.000-05:00

Bloggers' Quilt Festival is Coming!

The 3rd Bloggers' Quilt Festival is coming soon. From the 21st to the 28th of May, hundreds of bloggers will be showcasing their quilts. Amy's blog will have links to all of the entries, which have photos and stories of the quilts. Start thinking about what quilt you're going to enter - and remember to set aside lots of time that week to start looking through the virtual quilt show!

Love this new bag!

2010-05-10T14:34:00.000-05:00

Finally a new purse that I really love. I have made so many bags over the last 8 to 10 years that I am bored. I have used new fabrics and all that stuff. I have made them for every holiday, events that we are involved with etc. So in the last year I have not made many new purses. But I just love this new embroidery from Embroidery Library. I have used it on a couple of other items also. I have been saving this batik for a long time and when I got this piece of linen for almost nothing at Hancocks one day, I decided to make it into a bag. I have just enough batik left to make a wallet. :) I will hopefully find time to get that made in the next week or so.

Hexagon Charm Quilt

2010-05-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

Yes, I caved, I have done some English Paper piecing before, but this is just a fun hand project to do when watching TV. I have seen so many bloggers posting their charm quilts that I caved. I am using the scraps form my large Hexagon Quilt, the latest Old Red Barn Quilt Along to make my little hexagons. So this little Hexagon Charm Quilt, also has a quilt along. ^_^ it is by Texas Freckles. She also has a flicker group so you can see all the little quilts in progress. You can check that out here.

Really?

2010-05-03T08:35:00.001-05:00

I saw this on another blog and had to copy is this crazy?

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T12:33:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

new quilt project

2010-04-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

Well after getting back from Paducha, I was all inspired to get busy on a new quilt. Yes I know I still have a couple I need to finish. But I am excited about this one and not so much about finishing the others. I will get back to them I promise. Not sure how I will lay this one out. This is the basic way, but I might add background triangles. Today when I sew some of the triangles together I will be able to try more layouts. But I still have a lot of triangles to cut. Over 500! I had better get back at it.

Paducha Treasure

2010-04-25T13:43:00.000-05:00

Paducha was wonderful..Check out the AQS web site to see pictures of the winning quilts. They were magnificent. Weather was not so good. We had to stay near the convention Center do to the risk of sever weather. So I did not get to go downtown to see the vendors there or to the Quilt Museum. But we avoided the tornadoes and were able to have a great trip. Here is a picture of the loot I brought back.

Yes that is a Jelly roll of Moda OZ I a so excited. I got some wonderful patterns too.

Also I got to meet one of the bloggers that I love to follow. Moose on the Porch Quilts. Konda is so much fun to talk with. Please go check out her blog. She has some great patterns using charm packs.

I can't wait to get started on my new quilt!

New Bag for Paducha Trip

2010-04-21T15:49:00.000-05:00

New bag for the trip to Paducha! Yes I am getting to go to the AQS Quilt Show in Paducha, Kentucky. If you have never been it is a wonderful thing to experience. About 30,000 women descend on Paducha. It is amazing. Everywhere in town that you go it is full of friendly quilters. I have taken the trip several times with my Mom and daughters. It is quite the trip, hotels are impossible to find. This year I did not think I was going to make it.Just did not have the funds for gas food, lodging etc. But my Quilt Guild is taking a bus and they had an extra spot and I grabbed it. It is a one day there and back. It will be strange not going with my Mom or daughters, but I just could not pass up the opportunity to see those incredible quilts and do some serious shopping with all the great vendors!

What is a trip with out a new bag? So here it is. My Paducha 2010, Quilt show bag. LOL

This great pattern is from Sew Spoiled Designs. She is have a sew along with this project. Check out her blog. http://www.sewspoiled.blogspot.com/

Anyone going to Paducha?

Batik Bag

2010-04-14T13:43:00.000-05:00

I made this bag for a special friend of mine. She has a very bright and fun personality and this is just like her. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

PROM!!!

2010-04-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe my baby girl went to prom last night. She looked so beautiful it brought a tear to her parents eyes.She went with her friend Chris and they had a great time. Chris's Mom made her beautiful jewelry.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T16:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter Everyone!

The making of this cake has become a tradition in our family. This year we included my oldest son's girlfriend Heather in on the fun.

A Surprise!

2010-04-03T12:21:00.000-05:00

My birthday is not until next week (April 11th) but my family and friends surprised me last night with a fun party. They even had an Easter Egg hunt. This was special because my Mom had Easter egg hunts for my birthday parties when I was a child.

My dear husband even had a quilt put on my cake. How sweet was that! Yes this was a a big birthday so we did not need to have too many candles.

Another play

2010-03-30T12:46:00.000-05:00

Another play this time I ventured on stage! For the first time I was on stage with my husband and daughter. We had so much fun. The play was "Inherit the Wind". It is about the Scopes monkey trail. A young teacher tried to teach evolution in a small Tennessee town in 1926, as you can image it did not go over well. We had so much fun doing this play. The cast was just wonderful!

I am Sorry it has been soooo long.

2010-03-13T09:47:00.000-06:00

I have been very busy even though you could not tell by reading my blog! Just after this last post, my family was very busy with some community theater. "The Magic of Beauty and the Beast" was our latest play, some of us are tech people, we work back stage. My daughter loves to be on the stage. She played Patience, Beauty's sister.

I have also done some quilting. I finished my Dear Jane Quilt. I gathered the blocks that I had done quite a few years ago, and made about 12 more to make 36 blocks. It makes a nice size wall hanging. After it has hung for a couple weeks (while we were doing the play) I think it needs more quilting. Now just to find the time!

I have other things going too. Pictures of them soon. But frist another play. But this time lots of us are on stage! Yes even me. My husband, daughter and I are all on stage with one daughter back stage. It will be lots of fun. We open next weekend. "Inherit the Wind" it is about the Scopes Monkey Trial. I am a church lady and needed to have some sewing hand work to look busy on stage as we watch the trial. So while other ladies are knitting I will be sewing on a quilt. I made a Monkey Wrench as a way of connecting to the play. I will have pics soon. But here is a peak.

2010-02-08T10:46:00.000-06:00

SNOW!! We woke up to surprise snow today. No it was not predicted, it is so pretty. What a wonderful surprise.

paint box quilt along blocks

2010-01-25T16:52:00.000-06:00

I am doing a Quilt Along called Paint Box over at Oh Fransson! Elizabeth has a wonderful blog and this is not her first quilt along. She walks you through each step, and there is a flickr group to post your pictures and chat with others participating in the quilt along. There are over 200 people in the group so far. These quilt alongs are so much fun and the results are always fabulous. The goal is to make 8 blocks per week for 10 weeks. I am using a jelly roll of brown batiks with a sea blue solid.

Her is my first set of blocks:

Here are the next set of blocks for my paint box quilt. I am thrilled with the colors!

New Wall hanging.

2010-01-25T16:35:00.000-06:00

I saw a video on a new technique (at least new to me) called tube quilting. I wanted to give it a try. I also have painted a wall in my bedroom brown and wanted something new to hang on it. So I just used some things I had and gave it a try. Here is what I got.

There is not great contrast in my fabrics, but I am happy with the results. I would defiantly try this again. The trick is the cutting. But if you follow her directions, they do come out perfectly. I think I might add some neat buttons in the centers of the light diamonds. Give it a try and let me know what you think of this fun technique.

Another block

2010-01-25T16:24:00.000-06:00

Well I have just one block left to go to finish my Dear Jane. But today I made this beauty. I think it is definitely one of my favorites.

A Step Back

2010-01-18T13:03:00.002-06:00

My Dear Jane Quilt

I started this quilt many years ago. 2002 to be exact. I had been thinking about it lately, and decide to find it and pull it out. A LOT has happened since I worked on it last. As I was keeping track of my quilt journey I know that the last time I worked on it was April 2003. That was about when I my life took a big jog to the left with a tornado like storm and my husband loosing his job all in one week. After that I guess I just never got back to it. It has been 7 years!! We have moved and thank God we have a new job. So.. I thought I might get this out and finish it. Back in the day I was very excited about this quilt. I met the author of Dear Jane, Linda Papadakis and many of her followers in Paducah, Kentucky at the AQS quilt show. It was lots of fun. I had 28 blocks made, I have decided to make just 8 more and finish this as a wall hanging. No I am not excited enough to make the 200 some blocks to finish the whole quilt. I have made a few more blocks this weekend with 3 more to go. Here are a few of the ones I just made.

I have put my blocks up on my design wall (make shift as it is). I am trying to remember just which blocks I have done. I also am working to even out the number of each color.

Thanks to the wonders of Blog land there are some great blogs to help me with my blocks. That Quilt is great. I am hoping to find a great way to finish off this wall hanging. If you have any ideas please pass them on.

Oh and yes I am still working on several other things, that are much more in my modern quilt mode. Just want to get this one done too.

4 Heather Ross mini quilts

2010-01-12T13:11:00.000-06:00

Here they are all 4 Heather Ross quilts. I love them all. Now I just need to find the perfect place to hang them.

Mini Quilts keep coming

2010-01-11T13:26:00.000-06:00

Here is my favorite of my series of Heather Ross quilts.

I do truly love this one!

I hope these other look as cute when I get the binding on them.

mini quilts

2010-01-11T10:36:00.000-06:00

I just love Heather Ross fabrics and since I could only afford a very small amount, I decided to make a group of 4 mini quilts that I could then hang together as a group. So this is what I ended up with. They do not have binding yet. Also my favorite one is not in these pics. I will be finishing it today. Then I have to decide on binding for them all.

The first one is bicycles and dolls.

The secound one is Dolls and Frogs.

Number three is Horses and Tadpoles.

I am happy with the result. I am sure the adding of binding will really add a lot to these quilts but I wanted to share them with you right away.

Seeing Stars Finished

2010-01-08T09:19:00.001-06:00

Oh I just love this little quilt! I made it because I saw this quilt.I had been wanting to make some of those cute wonky stars but just did not know just what I wanted. When I saw mamacjt's quilt I knew that was it.

I made 6 inch squares so my little beauty measures 18 x 18 inches. I used only fabrics I had left over from other projects, including the batting.

See Stars

2010-01-07T12:33:00.001-06:00

I have been wanting to try these wonderful little wonky stars. I used this tutorial. They are so fun and so very cute. So I am spending the day looking out my window at the snow flurries that we are having here in North Alabama and making little stars. Tonight the Big Game. Roll Tide!!

Son's Quilt

2010-01-01T10:54:00.003-06:00

My oldest son needed a quilt too. :) He is my oldest and works at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. I wanted to make him a spaced themed quilt but not for a young boy. So I found some wonderful fabric and searched e-bay to find enough of it, as it was out of print. Then found the coolest fabric that looked like the surface of the moon!

I really love this quilt and it is just as beautiful on the front as it is on the back. It has been cold and rainy here so pictures are not the best sorry. Now that the sun is out today I hope to get some better pictures when I have enough helpers for the holding and picture taking.

Christmas morning came, finally the opening of the quilt. I really kept this a secret from him so he had no idea I was making it. I had to work on it only when he was at work and when I ran out of fabric and had to order more. Yikes I was not sure I was going to get it finished in time and keep it a secret.

Daughter's Quilt

2010-01-01T10:32:00.000-06:00

My dear daughter Sonia wanted a special quilt that she picked out the fabrics for. So when she saw my Heather Ross Mermaid fabric she feel in love and just had to have them. She picked the pattern for her quilt and how she wanted it quilted. It was to be for her 19th Birthday in November, but instead was finished for Christmas. As this quilt is covered in mermaids, it was only fitting that when I had to make a quick trip to Florida with my husband I took the mermaids for a photo shoot at the beach.

Quilt for Mom

2010-01-01T10:15:00.000-06:00

I made a couple of quilts for Christmas presents that I was unable to show until now. I made this quilt for my Mother. It is a disappearing nine patch. But what I like most about this is the quilting. I did swooping waves. I thought of it like a sand garden where they make patterns in the sand. The boarder is made form a Asian print, I have done several disappearing nine patch quilts and I love how the each look different.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T13:28:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas

May you all have a blessed holiday with your friends and family.

New Bag

2009-12-17T09:59:00.004-06:00

I have not made a new bag in a while and I wanted something new. Have been using a Christmas bag I made last year. Well, when I went to the mall this weekend with my Mom. Everywhere I looked there was houndstooth. Well I must say I do live in Alabama, but still, it seemed to be the hot item. Soooo... I came home and got busy. Here is what I came up with.

Finally time to hang Nativity.

2009-12-15T16:46:00.006-06:00

I can not tell you how long I waited to see this hanging over my fireplace. I thought about this as I planned and then worked on this cherished quilt. I blogged about this quilt when I finished it here. SewCalGal is having a virtual Christmas Quilt Show so check all the pretty Christmas Quilts that are being shown off all around the world.

SNOW!!

2009-12-05T08:31:00.002-06:00

Snow in Alabama!

The Tree is up.

2009-11-30T14:26:00.004-06:00

Our tree is up, and we are busy with the events of the holiday season. We are involved with a production of A Christmas Carol, at our local Civic Center. Lots of fun and work. So getting the tree up before the busy two weeks of the play was an important thing to check off my list. I still have some Christmas Presents to finish but things are moving forward. The lovely quilt in the back ground was made by my Mom several years ago. It is a special part of my Christmas decorating.

Quilt Memory

2009-11-29T07:49:00.003-06:00

Today I am blogging about a favorite quilting memory. A little Bit of Kaos is having a givaway and it is all about quilting memories. I must say I have quite a few but one of the most recent is of quilting with some high school students of mine. They were all new sewers and we made rag quilts. It was lots of fun, some of them kept there quilts others gave them away to special people in their lives. Here is a picture of a few of the girls and their quilts.

Black Friday

2009-11-27T08:17:00.003-06:00

I hope you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. There are so many things to be grateful for. I feel truely blessed.

I made the cutest little fabric basket from Pink Penguin. I will have pics very soon.

But today I want to tell you about a fabulous give-a-way. That is happening at Reto Mummy So please pop over and check her blog out.
I will be back with pics of my little baskets soon.

Show and Tell/Fabric Friday

2009-11-20T07:29:00.004-06:00

Rosebud Quilting is having Fabric Friday/Show and Tell. On Fabric Friday, Michelle asks us to show any handmade item {quilts, tote bag, wallhanging, clothing, etc.}, or show your fabric stash, or recent fabric purchase, or show how you decorate with fabric or fabric items.

So I am sharing an Apron I made for a class I taught last spring to some high school girls. We had such a fun time. Here is a picture of all of them in their wonderful aprons. My daughter who was my assistant in the class is modeling my apron.

So please pop over to Rosebud Quilting and check out not only her great site, but all the show and tells for the week.

4 Blocks

2009-11-13T18:21:00.003-06:00

The first 4 blocks. It has been another crazy week, but I have gotten a little done. I really need to finish up some Christmas Presents. But these pink and green fabrics just kept calling my name.

I WON!

2009-11-11T08:30:00.003-06:00

Like most people I never win drawings. But this time I hit the jackpot! I won a absolutely gorgeous group of fat quarters. They are from Linda Lum DeBono's Inspiration line. It is in honor of breast cancer. They not only look beautiful they feel wonderful too. I have already started my quilt. It is to honor my two Aunts who have battled breast cancer. But also my friend Carol Morris, who lost her battle last week.

Christmas Quilt

2009-11-04T09:43:00.003-06:00

Oh I just love these fabrics by Moda, and Charm Packs they are a dream when it comes to a fast quilt. I put the center together in a little over an hour yesterday! Just boaders to add today. I really do not want to invest to much time into a quilt that I am only going to use at Christmas time.More pics soon!

What Are you making for Christmas?

Busy Busy Busy

2009-10-16T14:10:00.005-05:00

Here is a little peek at what I have been working on this week. It has been a quilt for Sonia. She loves her bright colored quilt I made this summer BUT...it is not really what she wanted. (I used my stash with that one) She wanted to pick some fabrics. Well when she saw these Heather Ross Fabrics she had to have them! The are so pretty and really do call her name. So I have been working on a quilt for her. Her Birthday is coming up.

Here is a close up of the blocks.

Oh and then I took every possible scrap and made blocks for me to have a wall quilt. If I can I might squeeze out a throw. I just love these Heather Ross prints. Pictures of that will be coming soon.

Blogers Quilt Festival

2009-10-13T09:49:00.005-05:00

Amy over at Park City Girl is have an on line Blogger's Quilt Festival!! It is wonderful. Grab a cup of coffee and set back and enjoy. There are beautiful quilts from all around the world.

I entered my Nativity quilt. I have gotten many wonderful comments. But I have been inspired by so many of the quilts I have gotten to see. There are more being entered every day.

My children and thier new quilts.

2009-10-09T09:09:00.007-05:00

I have been busy making each of my children a quilt. I have 3 down just one child to go. His will be for Christmas.

But here are the 3 that I have made.

First Joey who is off to college. So he need a quilt for his dorm.

Next is by daughter Sonia. She is my sunshine. Always bright and happy, well almost always. This quilt was made for the Old Red Barn Quilt Along. Lots of fun .

Number 3 goes to my beautiful baby daughter Savannah her quilt was huge. She wanted it for her water bed. This one was made with Old Red Bard Quilt Along #3 Wonky Blocks.

#4 is in progress.

Where has the time gone?

2009-10-09T08:50:00.008-05:00

Oh My! I am sorry I have not posted in so long. I have been very busy with all kinds of things. Lots of great things too!

The HQH Quilt show was wonderful. There are lots of talented quilts in my guild. I entered my Nativity Quilt and 2 quilted jackets. Surprise!! I won third place on one of my jackets.

The blue and white jacket on the right of the picture is also mine.

My winning jacket is made of many batiks and I tried several new techniques. I entered this in my County Fair in Indiana and they absolutely hated it! Here in Alabama they loved it so you just never know.

My Nativity Quilt is made from the Paper Panache Pattern "Nativity Advent" It is paper pieced. See a previous post for more about this quilt.

Mod Quilt Sampler

2009-09-02T10:51:00.003-05:00

I started this quilt back in July with my Mom, she is making the Mod Quilt Sampler by Oh Fransson. also but in different colors. Back in July we went to the AQS Quilt show in Knoxville, TN. and there we collected the fat quarters for our quilts. We came to my home (she lives in Orlando) and had a mad sewing couple of days to get our quilts blocks cut and sewn. She left with her quilt blocks made to go home and sash them. I am finally done with mine. I just love it and am quilting it now. As I am also costuming a play for Theater Huntsville, It has slowed me down a little. That along with getting Joey off to college.Here is a peak before quilting. I will say the quilting is making this quilt even more wonderful. Such a great pattern, thank you Dana.

Joey

2009-09-02T10:42:00.003-05:00

It has been awhile since I posted because I have been getting my son Joey ready to go away to college. He will be 7 hours away so I will not see him often. I am happy for him because this is what he really wants. But for me I am sad, I will miss him terribly. It has been very hard for me to let him go.

Nativity Quilt

2009-08-08T08:33:00.003-05:00

I think I am finally at the end of this quilt. All that is left is the binding. It has been a long journey but so worth it. This is one of the biggest projects of this kind I have made. I love paper piecing and have done several smaller quilts but this was really very detailed. Just the choosing of all the fabrics was a daunting task. It was a rather long time between choosing the fabrics and sewing. We moved among other things. So... as I was sewing I decided to change some of them. So it just added to the stress. I wanted it to be just right. This will be a family heirloom. My oldest daughter has already claimed it. I just want to see it over my fireplace this Christmas!

2009-08-04T07:28:00.005-05:00

I am working like crazy on a quilt that I started many many moons ago. This quilt has taken many hours of planing and then sewing the many pieces together and now for the quilting and embellishments that need to go on to complete this project. I still have quite a bit of work to do.
This is a pattern from Paper Panche It is a paper pieced pattern that was divided up like a advent calendar so you could do 1 section a day for 25 days. Which in theory sounds great but around the holidays when I wanted to do a Christmas Quilt I had no time. But diligence pays off, as I come into the home stretch I am very happy with this piece of art.

My quilt guild is have a quilt show next month so I am trying to get it finished so I can enter it. Also after several years of working on this quilt (sometimes I just cannot do Christmas in Feb. March, April etc) I am excited to think it will finally be done and hanging over my fireplace this year.

Happy Scrappy Quilt Giveaway!

2009-08-01T15:18:00.003-05:00

Happy Scrappy Quilt Giveaway!
Marie-Madeline Studio is giving away this wonderful quilt!!!

I immediately fell in love with this quilt and I'm sure you will too!
This original quilt was created by the Long ladies at Marie-Madeline Studios using new fabrics. It is twin size and measures 66 3/4" x 90". It was machine quilted and freshly laundered.

If you would like to enter for a chance to win this beautiful quilt here's how!

::leave a comment at Marie-Madeline Studios.

::for another entry, send over a friend (or two)

::for 5 more entries, grab the mariemadelinestudio.com button on their sidebar

::you get 5 more entries for grabbing the quilt giveaway button, too!

::blog about the giveaway (use their pictures, if you'd like!) for 10 more opportunities to win (and send the Long ladies the link)

::share it on facebook for 10 more...

::spend anything less than $50 at the store (and let us know) to receive 25 more entries

::and if you spend over $50 at our store, we'll count your name 50 more times!

This happy giveaway will close on August 8th! And they''ll plan to choose the winner by random number generator the next day.

p.s. i quilt is having a giveaway!

2009-08-01T09:27:00.005-05:00

There are some great blogs out in blog land. Also very generous ones!. p.s. i quilt is one of those. she is having this great giveaway. So please check out her blog.

2009-07-29T09:15:00.004-05:00

Here is my Disappearing 9 patch for Joey. I am very happy with how it came out, and most of all Joey seems to really like it! He will be taking it with him this fall as he heads off to college at Indiana State University.

My Disappearing 9 Patch

2009-07-11T09:36:00.017-05:00

The goal this summer has been to make some fun projects and use up some of the fabric in my stash. After all I need to make room for the new stuff I want to buy! So I saw this great pattern called A Disappearing 9 Patch. There are many wonderful sites that talk about this pattern. Here you will find a wonderful story and history of this block. There is a great tutorial here. There are lots of other great sites that have info on this block as well. Lots of great color combinations also. I did use a very boring group here but I really wanted to see the pattern form and it was fabric I had.

So the cool part is you start with a simple nine patch.

Then you do some clever cutting and sew the block back together and you get this!

Then you sew them together. Which I will be busy sewing my 20 blocks together today. Her is a sample of how it will look.

2009-07-09T15:58:00.002-05:00

I also finally fixed this great quilted backpack. It is made from Fons and Porters Groovy Backpack pattern. I made it like the pattern with pre-quilted fabric and the handles just were to thick and stiff. At first the store was out of the brown fabric I used them time just passed, but finally I have my backpack just in time to take to the AQS Quilt Show in Knoxville in just a couple of weeks.

2009-07-09T15:51:00.003-05:00

Today has been a busy sewing day. I worked more on the quilting of Savannah's quilt. I am now all the way across in one direction. Remind me NOT to do a decorative stitch across a quilt. It takes forever!! I really like how it looks but the time. UGH

2009-07-07T10:02:00.003-05:00

Ok, I finally got this bag finished along with it's matching pieces. I really love the wallet It came out especially nice. Now back to the quilting. I am really excited about some of the things I have in the works.

2009-07-06T10:06:00.000-05:00

Check out these cute chalkboard wall hangings these girls made. We had so much fun. Yes that is fabric that can be written on with chalk.

Children's Summer Sewing

2009-07-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

This summer I have had a wonderful group of girls that I have taught sewing. It has been so much fun. They made these great bags to go with the pillowcases they made. Won't they be cute at their next sleepover!

Finnaloly a new Bag!

2009-07-04T08:44:00.000-05:00

I have been very busy with the quilts for my daughters. Sonia's is finished and Savannah's is partially quilted. That is going to take me a while. Sooo.. I took a quick break and had to make a bag. For those of you that know me. I just love making bags. I have a new bag about every month. But I have had real trouble lately coming up with something I wanted to do. But a trip to Hancock's and a wonderful find in the Batiks spurred me to come home and make this bag, and a matching wallet of course! I still have to hand sew around the top of the bag and the wallet (picture comeing soon. I also tried a new handle that I really love.

2009-06-28T10:56:00.000-05:00

I have been sewing like a mad woman. Sonia's quilt I finished the quilting now to bind it. Then I now have Savannah's quilt top done. On to the quilting of it. Hope to get these done so I can work on a quilt for me! I have really enjoyed making these quilts even if it has been fast and furious.