What's New Wednesday

STITCHING FOR A CURE

I am so excited to show everyone the quilt that was made as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society Relay For Life.  Here's a photo of the completed quilt:

I stitched the yellow block, top row, third from the left.  I chose this particular block in memory of my grandfather who died from bladder cancer. Woo Hoo!  It means so much to me to be a part of this fundraiser.

Check out Donna's 'Stitching for a Cure' blog HERE for more information on these projects and to get involved.

LHN MONTHLY ORNAMENT SAL

I finally received my fabric and made a start on the first ornament in the new LHN series.  It's called 'Fa-La-La' and it's so cute!  Need to get busy with this stitching if I'm to keep up; I hope to have the first two ornaments stitched by March 1...we'll see how it goes.

LAST NIGHT'S STITCHING ON MY UFO

'EVERYONE NEEDS THEIR OWN SPACE' BY KUSTOM KRAFTS

I'm sooo close to finishing the top and starting my way down the left side!  This one is so much fun to stitch; I don't really understand how it became a UFO in the first place.

 Current Photo - as of 2-9-2010

Progress as of 2-7-2010

I think tonight I'll work some on my Chatelaine Romantic Rose Garden SAL project; I haven't made much of a start on that one yet. 

Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO

New Finish & Fabric for New Projects

I finally got a photo taken and uploaded for the Quilt of Valor (QOV) I finished up on our way home from our son's last Sunday.  I'll deliver my two finishes for the month to Alycia, the lady who coordinates this program for our Guild at our Tuesday meeting this week. 

Here is a closeup of one of the sections with the star fabric.  The silver around each star is sparkly and looks so nice in person.

Hopefully I'll have another one to finish binding on when we head to our son's for Thanksgiving in a few weeks; stitching binding down is the perfect job for a car trip.

I made a quick run to JoAnn's this morning to get a few DMC floss I needed for a couple projects, and also to take advantage of their sale on Christmas fabrics.  I picked up 6 different fabrics for a song.

The one on the bottom right is a 'cheater' fabric panel.  I need to get a quick, small project done to donate for an upcoming Silent Auction fundraiser for our local Humane Society.  So, I thought I'd use a couple squares of this fabric to make a table runner, one of the other fabrics for a border (not sure which one yet), another for backing (top left) and binding. 

Then, I'll use the rest of the panel (2 squares x 2 squares) to make a Christmas table topper for our son's kitchen table (his table is a round, slate tile top, Bistro style set).  I think this would look very nice in his kitchen.

I'll post photos once these projects are finished up.  Meanwhile, I want to get a little backstitching work done on the Hummel for my friend before the day is over.  I have lots of photos to post from our trip, but I'd like to play around and see if I can create a slideshow for those photos; I think that is a project for another day. 

My camera has been busy clicking more photos of the mama and her adopted baby.  It brings a smile to my face that goes all the way through my heart, watching those two enjoying being together.  A very special thing indeed.  I'll save those updates for another day as well.

So, that's it for now.  It was over 80 here today; definitely a beautiful Indian summer day.  Until next time, Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO

Quilt-A-Fair Revisited

OK, here's photos of the various quilting-related stash I acquired at Quilt-A-Fair.  I found some GREAT stuff!!  I am collecting 5" charm packs to use for a tumbler quilt I'm planning.

I was excited to see one of my favorite vendors, Pincushion Boutique, from Davis, CA once again.  They have what they call 'sweet treats' - packets of 8 color-coordinated fat quarters.  They also have quilt patterns especially designed to work with the sweet treats, along with a coordinating border, binding, and backing fabric.  This time, I found the gorgeous fabrics on the left, I believe they are from one of the Imperial Gardens fabric collections.  I chose one of their patterns to go with this sweet treat.  I also picked out three other sweet treats--two are batiks for a batik quilt I'm planning, the other one (the oranges) for a sunflower/autumn quilt I got the pattern for a few weeks ago.  Their fabrics and the way they put them together is just yummy!

At the vendor from Brooklyn, NY, Come Quilt With Me,  I found some very nice templates--one is for a mini tumbler quilt, the other for one of my favorite blocks--Card Trick.  The other item is from Whistlepig Creek Productions, located in Arvada, CO (suburb of Denver).   The tote bag is just adorable in person.  She had models of a couple of these bags--the top right one with the cat photo really caught my eye.  She said that particular kitty passed away recently at the age of 19!  It would be fun to do a simiilar tote with a photo transfer of my Oreo Cookie kitty (she is my 'helping' kitty who always tries to help me sew, grab my threads, steals my thimbles, etc,).

From 1-3 pm. my DH helped out with the 'hospitality'--taking a cart of ice and water around to the vendors.  While he was busy with that, I continued shopping.  One vendor I don't remember seeing before, Glenda Sha, who designs as Liberty Homestead, from Kingsville, MO, really caught my eye!  She designs all sorts of quilts, wall hangings, pillows, stitchery, banners, placemats, etc.  I absolutely couldn't make up my mind, and ended up with three of her books!  She designs using cotton fabric, flannels, wool applique, embroidery 'colored' with delicate marker colors or crayons...some very cool items!

One of the highlights of her booth was the lucious hand-dyed cotton fabrics she dyes and sells!  It is also called 'sueded cotton' and is in a variety of wonderful solid colors.  I purchased a couple yards of tans for use as backgrounds, a fat quarter package, a scrap pack of wool, a packet of wools for projects in one of the books, and a fat quarter of a very nice flannel. 

Still more to show, but I'll save that for another post.  I also need to take a couple more photos to share.  Looking at all this new stash, I think I better get busy stitching!  Unfortunately, I also need to get busy working on the October edition of the Guild newsletter.   

Happy Stitching! 

Vicki in CO

Quilt-A-Fair

Today was the first day of the annual Quilt-A-Fair event, put on by the State quilting group, Colorado Quilting Council (aka CQC).  I'm on the CQC Board this year, acting as Chairman for Volunteer Recognition.  Anyway, Quilt-A-Fair is a giant vendor mall (88 different vendor booths this year!), quilt show, silent auction, food court, great chance to network and catch up with friends. 

A few examples of vendors:

• A lady from Brooklyn, NY, who makes acrylic templates for cutting various quilt blocks
• A lady who takes vintage quilts, takes them apart and stitches pieces of the quilts onto denim shirts, t-shirts, etc. to make one-of-a-kind clothing items
• Vendors selling various vintage quilts, quilting notions, quilt display racks, ladders, furniture
• Many many vendors from local quilt shops, shops from NE, OK, TX, CA...all with a wide variety of model quilts, fabric, patterns and notions
• Several sewing machine vendors, long arm quilters and long arm quilt machine vendors
• Our local needle shop (aka LNS)
• A couple vendors selling handmade jewelry
• Several vendors with huge supplies of buttons and different sorts of embellishments for crazy quilting and ribbon embroidery

The affair is held in a large exhibition hall at a county fairgrounds about 40 miles from our house.  DH and I arrived at about 10 am (it started at 9 am).  As expected, the parking lot was crammed with cars.  We found a parking spot and made our way inside.  The hall is an explosion of color, sounds of conversations and people.  Truly sensory overload in the best way possible!

We began making our way down one row of vendors after another, DH patiently waiting while I looked at what was offered for sale by each one, jockeying our way through the crowds of quilters...a day in paradise!  We saw lots of people we know, had many conversations along the way.  Here are some photos of my stash acquisition from today (I am a shameless shopaholic, and loved every minute of it!!)

Top left is a Hob-Nobb Designs that matches the Quilting one I'm getting ready to start on.  The new one says "I Love Stitching".  Top right are two little decorative items I thought would add a nice touch to one of the shelves on my desk hutch, a Vera Bradley tape measure, a Lizzie Kate Snippet that says "Housework never killed anyone...but why take a chance?" (love it!)  The bottom right is a Just-Nan design  I found in their clearance rack - "M is for Mouse" (but 'M' is also for my last name).

Next is another Lizzie Kate - "Tiny Tidings XIV' with the embellishment pack included.

One more Lizzie Kate - "Santa Wants to Know" and the Magic by Mona (from Silver Needle) finishing kit for it, a mini ORT/pin cushion for my desk, and the cutest little design in a plastic case called "Doodles" for leftovers.  This one says "Quilting is a Work of Heart" and includes a heart button.  This is also by Hob-Nobb Designs.

One last cross stitch stash item...a design from Homespun Elegance called "Sheep Button Sampler."  It includes brass 'Wooly Sheep' buttons.

OK, that's my cross stitch purchases from Quilt-A-Fair.  I'll give you a tour of my quilt-related purchases in another post tomorrow.  I'm worn out from all this shopping and need to get some sleep!

Oh, one last thing.  Last week I took advantage of the Joann's sale on Ott lights and got the rechargeable, battery-operated one to use on my desk.  It comes with the recharger and A/C adapter.  I really like it!  It is very compact, folds up nicely, and has a carrying handle.  It'll be great for travel..when we go visit our son, etc.  Here's a pix of it on my desk: 

Okay, that's it for now from my corner of the world...Happy Stitching!

Vicki in CO