Mailbox Surprise ~

Look what arrived in my mailbox today from Michigan...my Doll Quilt from the Doll Quilt Swap on about.com. Jayne was my secret partner, and she made me this lovely quilt. She knows my favorite color is green and that i love batiks...but what she didnt know is that we keep bees...so the little bees in this quilt are a great touch! I love this swap...its great to end up with something finished at the end of the swap instead of another stack of UFO's :) Thank you very much for my lovely quilt Jayne....its awesome, and already hanging on my wall! Happy Monday everyone!

Its Here...and its all Mine!!!

Hurrah...look what showed up in the post today...my quilt from Nancy Furniss in Idaho! She was my secret partner in the Doll Quilt Swap on about.com, and she must have read my mind!
I absolutely LOVE Fall colored quilts, and the pattern she chose is perfect! She even included a green border...my favorite color. This quilt will look awesome in our home...now i just need to decide which room to hang it in :)
And take a look at the beautiful embroidery for the label...this is truly a gem Nancy, i LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Thank you Thank you Thank you :)
p.s. did i mention she also entered me in a raffle for a quilt made thru her guild...very thoughtful!

Doll Quilt Swap VII ~ Finally Finished!

Well, this little quilt, "Crazy for Purple", is on its way to its new owner (its a surprise, so i wont mention any names here). It was part of a swap on about.com, and the deadline is the 31st, so i finished just in time. I always get so engrossed in the quilt im making, that i forget about the one coming to me...so when one arrives for me, its always a nice surprise!
The deadline for this quilt almost passed me by, as i have been sick the ENTIRE month of August! Lightheaded, dizzy, chills, fatigued, nausea and other unmentionables...off and on for 3 1/2 weeks and lost about 15 pounds (and no, im not pregnant). All my tests came out clear, which is great, but also frustrating, as they dont know whats wrong with me. I thought maybe it was our well water, but that was tested, and its clean too! I swim in our river a lot, and thought maybe it was giardia, but that test also came back clean. Of course, its common to have that and have clear test results, so i may still have it, but if i do, its almost finished running its course, so there's no point in getting meds now. Let me just say, that whatever it was...it was MISERABLE, and i dont wish that upon anyone! I am slowly feeling better, but need to eat about every two hours or i get lightheaded again...probably from all the weight loss. Anyways, thats why ive been a bit quiet this month, but here's to a fabulous September!!! Cheers~

Teaser #4

Here is another teaser of the quilt im making for the doll quilt swap on about.com. Getting close to finishing with the embroidery, and then its on to buttons and beads :) Wont be long now!

Poudre Canyon Quilt Show

This years quilt show was done a little differently. Normally we have a big craft fair along with the quilt show, but since the new mill levy passed and we are getting a new fire station/community center, our old community center is in the process of being torn down. Therefore, it was decided to do a community garage sale, and a smaller quilt show with just the quilters from the canyon.

With fewer participants, the show was a little smaller this year, but not by much! Look at all these lovely quilts!

i was able to enter a few doll quilts from the ALQS swap, along with Berdena's 90th birthday quilt (you can see them up at the front of the chapel). I always give my quilts away and therefore, dont normally have any to show, so it was nice to have a few to share this year! I included a few detailed shots of some quilts that stood out to me...enjoy the pics......




and here is a shot of jordyn being silly with her cousins after a day fishing with grandpa...pardon the grain of the photo, but i didnt realize my ISO was set so high when i ran out to take it :(

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

Doll Quilt Swap VII ~ Teaser #3

Doll Quilt Swap VII ~ Teaser #2

1% Well Read Challenge ~ Beloved by Toni Morrison

Book #3 for me in the 1% Well Read Challenge is Beloved by Toni Morrison
This book was very good, very dark, and very disturbing! Its about slavery/life after slavery and all of the horrors that entails. It took me a while to get into the style of her writing, but once i did, it was a page turner...and frightening and depressing after each page. I wont read this book again...as i said, it was depressing...but an eye opener for sure! A reminder of a world we never want to see repeated! There were two sections of the book towards the end that nearly lost me...the story was really moving along great...and then Morrison threw in this bizarre dream/poem sequence that really stopped the flow of the story for me...but since i was so close to finishing, i trudged on, and then the book picked up again. Over my head, i guess, but i just didnt get it. But on the whole, the book was very good.

Meanwhile, i promised something quilty...well, this is a teaser of the doll quilt im swapping on about.com. The top is nearly finished, but i didnt want to give away the surprise just yet. So stay tuned!

Over the River and Thru the Woods....

To the post office i went...to mail off my ALQS miniature to ___?_____! Of course, its a secret, so i wont let the cat out of the bag till my receivers package arrives :)
Anyways, im sure by the sneak peeks i gave over the last few weeks, that it was pretty obvious what the quilt looked like, but here it is again..."Wonky Pineapple Blues", being modeled on our glorious woodpile! Its 20 X 20, and was paper pieced with a washable leave in paper (that makes the quilt a little stiffer, and nice for hanging). I also finished and mailed out the Halloween table runners to my sisters in California, so that should be a nice surprise for them (i can mention them here, because they never read my blog :)
And lastly, i sent out a little "thank you" to Anne, for her generous gift of I-spy fabrics a while back. Sorry it took me soooo long to get it out to you Anne, what can i say...im lame. Anyways, now that all my latest deadlines are met, i can relax this weekend...which is great because we have a full weekend of Halloween fun planned, including a kids party at the VFW, and Boo at the Zoo, which i am quite excited about!

So stay tuned...

New Quilt for Jordyn

Well, i did quite a bit of quilting, binding, and pinning on several projects this weekend. My cousin Christy, aka Jordyn's Godmom, was up for a visit, so we took turns entertaining her while we worked. I captured this very sweet moment of them coloring together, both almost falling asleep in the process.
Christy finished this fun flannel quilt for Jordyn, and as you can see, she loves it!(as does daddy). And what perfect timing...its been in the 20's every morning...brrrrrrr!

I finished quilting my ALQS quilt, but i dont have any photos...perhaps later today? I was planning on hand quilting it, but decided to try out my cousins Pfaff machine while she was here, and WOW...does that thing sew like a dream. So smooth and quiet...very fun indeed. I should have tried out some fancy stitches, but since the design is rather busy, i decided a simple stitch in the ditch was what it needed.

And finally, here are some I-spy fabrics i received in a swap on about.com. There are roughly 150 squares here...and with the ones Anne sent me, and the blocks from my neighbor, i should have enough to make a few I-spy quilts. Thanks again ladies!
Now im off to do some more crafting, as its my free day (Jordyn is at Grandma and Grandpas)...so perhaps ill have more goodies to post soon!
cheers~

ALQS (round 2) teaser #3

If you havent guessed by now, Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday! Christmas is wonderful, but Fall being my favorite time of year, and October 31st also being my fathers birthday...it brings back fond memories of my childhood and the silliness that is Halloween! Not to mention I love any excuse to wear crazy clothes and costumes!
This is our newest addition to the festive decor, and for those of you that commented about the bear, we are hoping the little bells on witchy-poo will spook him off. (fat chance) She looks spectacular blowing in the breeze, and at night she is quite scary. Jordyn loves to peek out the window at her and see what shes up to.
Speaking of Jordyn, she is enjoying her visit at grandma's right now, so i am sewing away and enjoying the peace and quiet. This is what i worked on today...

Not much of a teaser i suppose...but a peek nonetheless. I am undecided on the binding...the dark blue, or the light color? I kind of like the openness of the light color, but i know some folks would probably hate to have a light edge due to dirt, etc. Any of you out there have a preference? I am pleased with the way this turned out, and may try it in some holiday colors for Christmas, however, im not a huge fan of paper-piecing, so i would probably stick with the washable stuff i used in this one. I cant imagine doing an entire bed quilt like this....yikes!

and finally, here is Jordyn having a very serious discussion with my garden gnome the other day. He's probably reprimanding her for stepping on all of his flowers!
Cheers~

Free Day!

Today was my free day! Jordyn went to Grandma and Grandpas, Justin was in town at work, and i had the house to myself! :) I spent most of the day quilting...woohoo!
I havent blogged anything quilty in a while, so i thought i would share a teaser of my miniature for the ALQS swap (round 2). I have the center finished, now it just needs a border or two, backing, quilted, etc...but that should go pretty quickly :)

Here is a fun shot from yesterday...Jordyn decided to inspect Grandpas catch of the day!

and finally, a little fun in Photoshop! My little pumpkin :)
Have a creative weekend!

ALQS teaser #2

Okay, okay...so this looks a lot like the first teaser. But now you are looking at 160 HST's :)
hmmmmm....whatever will it be....and who is it for? Now that the crazy quilt swap is over, i can dive right into this project...so stay tuned for more updates soon! Im hoping to have most of the top done today...though it looks to be a gorgeous day out, so i may have to take a break and let Jordyn soak up the sun!
Happy Quilting Folks!

Its Here...My ALQS quilt!

Hurrah!!! While i was camping, a package arrived for me from the Isle of Man! Loulee, a friend i met in blogland, rcvd my name in the ALQS, and this is the lovely quilt she created for me. Isnt it wonderful...sooo very bright and cheery! And look, she even hand embroidered a label for it on the back, conveniently titled, "friendship"!

A quilt from anyone participating in the swap would have been great, but the fact that its from someone i blog with already, makes it extra special! Other goodies were also included in the package...some lovely batik fabrics, a fun souvenir wall hanging of the Isle of Man, and of course some candy buttons...which you can see, have already been torn open to sample :) Jordyn has already gobbled up one bag!
This is the first quilt i have ever received as a gift, so it is quite a treasure to me! Thank you VERY much Loulee! I love it! And thank you Kate, for putting together such a wonderful swap. Now...looks like i better get back to work on mine :)
Cheers~
lisajo