Hello Friends!

It is Thanksgiving week and I am thankful......for family, for friends, for a week off from school! I know I should be using these days to make the perfect Christmas presents for each of my nieces and nephews, but how can I show them to you without revealing my surprises?

I am giving myself the day off from Christmas sewing today because I woke up and finally figured out how to finish my African fabrics quilt! I have so much fabric that my sisters and I purchased on trips to Africa, but it is so hard to cut it! I just want to look at it and pet it.

  

So, I cut a few strips from each piece of fabric and started sewing them together with a small black strip of fabric in-between each one. Wow, it got pretty big, very fast and now it is 60"x 70".

I couldn't figure out what kind of border I wanted to add.  I just knew it had to be a little different, since the center was striping. 

Here is what I decided! Boxes on the outside with striping on the inside! Every block is different. I will be adding another row to each block as well. Here are a few of them. I will post the finished quilt very soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you, Lynn, for telling folks about my blog. 72 people visited! I feel like a rock star!

I am still playing with headers and blog width, fonts and color. so, while I am playing with all of these things, I thought I would post this quilt.  Bob, at Country Crossroads quilted it for me. It was my first foray into art quilting. I made it my header this week. 

I bought a charm pack of 12" squares, but couldn't decide what to do since it was pretty simple. I tried attaching smaller pieces and played with primitive, random top stitching. 

Bob's challenge was quilting it while not interfering with the stitching that was already there....he did a super job. I wasn't as satisfied with my own top stitching and realized...it takes a lot of work to look primitive!

Woot! Woot! It's Friday!

Happy Friday! I am home after a super day at school. I wanted to share my latest headband. I love to make crazy headbands! My friend, Lynn, from Country Crossroads Quilt Shop, asked if I would make one for her for the Jaguar game this weekend. Of course I would!  So here is Lynn and I think she likes it!

I am taking a block of the month quilting class with my friend, Karen Walker. We are making the quilt called Eureka.

 I am learning quite a few things about myself during this process....like I'm not good at doing things a little bit at a time. First, I did all of my homework...

16 of these...

Then I did the next two months homework.....

4 of these......

Then 12 of these ......

I learned once I start, I just can't seem to stop :) so now I'm two blocks ahead and have told myself to stop and do something else! I love the colors though and all of the women I am meeting in the class and most of all the time I get to spend with my buddy, Karen!

Fall Projects

Here are a few things I have worked on in the last few months. I know I need to work on my camera technique, staging and lighting ....

This little work apron is what I wear at school. I have a bad habit of putting things down and walking away from them! I figured this might help....

A birthday present for my partner in crime at work, Christine ....

This is the graduation quilt I made for my awesome nephew who is an amazing musician ....

This is the graduation quilt I made for my dearest friend's daughter, Maddie.  Maddie is an incredible La Crosse player .....

A little boy baby quilt for my newest grand nephew, Will ....

A birthday present for my other dearest friend, Ellen. No peaking Ellen! 

Some sweet, very easy bags I made for my friend Lynn for her shop.

This first post on my new blog is so exciting. I feel as nervous as my students when they are trying something for the first time. The only thing that gives me courage is that I know no one will actually read it! Hello world...here I am! Next I will post a few a few photos to see how those will look online.