Tole & Teddy

This picture didn't turn out very well, either, I'm afraid. But, this is a piece of tole painting I did in the 1970s. ...I loved tole painting not because I was any good at it but the women that took the classes were really special and it was nice just to be a part of that group. The teacher was a REAL artist who did commissioned landscapes and they were gorgeous. We were only allowed a few colors of oil paint for any project and had to learn to mix colors. This was an invaluable lesson for me as I could at one point match up any color which helped me repair or restore any number of things when I got in the antique business. The bear..."Blue Bear"...was from my bear stage in the late 70s-early 80s. I gave most of them away.

Purple Quiltop finished...ahead of schedule

This was supposed to have been a watercolor pattern but by the time I figured out it wouldn't work, I already had the fabric cut up into 2.5" strips. I wish the colors would show better because this top really turned out pretty. I'll try the watercolor effect when I'm a little smarter.

I can't believe how long it has been since I added to my quilt blog. They say time goes fast when you're having fun but I haven't had much of that lately....much be another appropriate saying I need to check into. This is a Civil War quilt block someone put together by hand all those many years ago and it is still in very good condition. I have a couple more but not the right size frame
for them. The Sandman poem is from the 1980s...I did it because it is such a great piece to have in a bedroom. I use to really love cross-stitch and still have a couple of small Xmas ornament projects going. I am finishing some for this year that I started about 3 yrs ago.

Current again....

How long does a project have to be in the planning stages before it has to come off the "current project" list? I made hundreds of these half square pieces years ago, never really caring for the lace fabric. You guessed it... 5" precut blocks from Daisy Kingdom. Fortunately, I never finished all of them. I bought the embroidered Sunbonnet alphabet girls on Ebay. I notice my sample is a little off center so may put a little tennis ball in to balance it. Anyway, I bought 2 sets and already have one top done with apple squares and red buttons. I saved this 2nd set for a later decision and finally realized I could use up some squares I had left over from my group "Created For a Better Tomorrow" (safe house). I had to do some unpinning but it worked out well as I can retrieve the blue squares w/cherries for something else.
I also bought the embroidered 12 months of snowmen which is really cute! I finished the top w/pinwheel fabric which may be overpowering but I love it anyway. Unfortunately, it would be great w/blue w/cherries also. I try not to undo work but sometimes can't stop myself. The next couple of weeks I will be working on cutting and hand work and, I even put my machine away so I will stick to it. (hopefully)

My grand daughter, Miranda, graduates from 8th grade and has been chosen to go to New York with a group of other honor roll students. She will be back by graduation. I found this gorgeous fabric of the NY skyline at night so I had no choice but to buy it. I probably didn't need to actually make a quilt since I used NY as the backing. She likes it this way so, as long as she likes it!

This is the grieving widow with her new companion. Beyonce is a year old short hair cavy but they are doing great together. Would have rather only had 1 but Zorra is doing much better (wasn't eating) and Beyonce needed a home so it works out.

This pattern was on the front of a magazine at the fabric store and it reached out to me. I knew I had the black cherry fabric but had forgotten that it was already partly cut in strips of 2.5" which is smaller than the pattern so I had to redo the measurements. I settled for not cutting the dark pieces in half. It will be good size..will run out of the red/white fabric first but have plenty of all the rest. The original pattern has a red stitching around the applique but I think I will do that on the machine and use it as part of the quilting. That way I can maybe finish it someday

My beloved Fuzzy has passed away after giving us almost 7 yrs of joy. That's ancient for a guinea pig (long haired Peruvian Silkie) but he was healthy and active up until just a week before his death. Being the drama queen that he was, he literally keeled over and died in my arms. It's hard to explain how anyone can be so attached to such a strange little animal but I loved him dearly. He purred and chuckled when he was happy, murmured a thank you when I gave him veggies or fruit, tugged on my shirt when he had to go potty and tattled on everyone else that held him. He leaves behind his wife Zorra (pix in earlier posting), Panda bear Buddy and his human family. His children Dorothy & Chester preceded him in death. I wrapped him in his little quilt and tucked in a large leaf of Romaine lettuce for his journey. R.I.P. Fuzzy. We'll miss you!

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

This is one I am currently working on. Let Sleeping Cats Lie pattern is wonderful but not easy. I have never thought grey & brown could go together but it does. Was quite surprised at the number of different scrap pieces I had that worked. I bought a few new ones but always like to use up pieces from my "hoard". I took a shortcut on the ears, tho. Tiny applique pieces would reduce the possibility of ever finishing what will be a good sized quilt...the mouse heads will be bad enough. I used pink fabric paint and embroidered around it.

Santa w/Lantern

I made several of these...details don't show up. Basically log cabin squares. That was before I finally figured out to cut out more than 1 at a time. I made a couple of mistakes on the one I gave my daughter-in-law and have asked her to borrow it back every Christmas so I can fix it but never happens.

Pinhead Santa

I did this one in the 80s when I was doing a lot of traveling by myself. Mostly hand pieced...just took a bunch of the teeny pieces wherever I went to work on. Was good to learn on but my hand piecing days are over for sure. I was thinking I would end up w/15 or 20 squares but settled for 12.

Basket for Chritmas

This was a fun pattern to do..9 patch. Basket handles were done by hand before assembly. I originally had big ideas of making about 12 Xmas quilts substituting the baskets for Daisy Kingdom Santa blocks and all 9 patches w/different fabric. By the time I got this one and 1 of the DK ones done, 2 of the people had died so I have set my sights a little lower.
Have been using some of the fabric for covered
boxes ...very fun to make and I actually put presents in them and give them away during the holidays.

Naughty & Nice

These are the Daisy Kingdom Naughty & Nice Santas. Naughty offers switches and, of course, the Nice has merriment in his bag. Also a cheater but I did quite a bit of hand work on them and they turned out very nice.

Dick & Jane

This is a cheater Dick & Jane quilt I made for dh Richard.
Really not quite as simple as you would think but turned out very nice.

Tree w/Bears

Trees & Bears
I love this tree pattern and plan to make some single trees for Xmas wall hangings. Bears are from 1885 paint company stencil. Large quilt..top almost finished.

Flannel Sleigh

Still another cheater quilt but I have a huge Christmas collection and I love the graphics. Nice and soft..just right to curl up with "A Christmas Carol".

Penguins

Penguins

This is a good sized one I made about in the late 80s. A lot of it was hand pieced. I was traveling quite a bit on business and it was either stay in my motel room at night and keep myself occupied or honky-tonk. At least this way I had something to show for it.