Saturday, September 5, 2009

A new idea for fun!

Here is a new idea for a fun quilt which I just found on the stashbusters website. A family reunion quilt! and I think this is definitely doable for our next big get-together next year!

Check it out at this website: http://creativechicksatplay.blogspot.com


I tried this and it worked for me..let me know if you have a problem. Once you are on the site look for the family reunion quilt info!
You will have to look way down on the right side to find the listing for quilts, click there and then go down to the 6th one on the list, the family reunion quilt and there it is! This blogspot has a LOT of info for fun projects. I hope you enjoy it!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

My fun landscape quilts

Clay's Village Greeting


One of the parts of quilting that I really enjoy is making small artsy landscape quilted wallhangings.

The first one I ever made was done at the request of one of my grandsons. Now a tall handsome young man of 16, but once a little kid who loved seeing his name on things!
He asked me to make him a picture quilt which included so many things I had to write them down to keep track of them all. First and foremost was an airplane in the sky pulling a banner that said "Happy Birthday Clay"!




So that was where I started--with a piece of beautiful blue fabric with fluffy white clouds, an airplane and a banner. All of this took me a couple days to accomplish, by the time I fussy cut the airplane, and embroidered out the words to make the banner!

The fabric that I have used for most of my little quilts is made by Cranston Mills and I bought it at Wal-Mart. Now that Wal-Mart is enlarging their stores, but diminishing their craft departments most of the stores are no longer carrying this fabric and it is becoming much more difficult to find "picture" fabric.

But for me, for the last few years it has worked fine. I have saved even little pieces of the scraps hoping to find a use for them in other small quilts.

Then we had to have a village with buildings and people and animals and water--somewhere!, and trees and flowers. He was 10 and his imagination was endless and exciting, filled with energy!



After doing all of this, his next instructions were to put a village on the bottom of the
picture. So I did! and here is the finished product! which he still has hanging on his bedroom wall after 10 years!





The next blog will be about the companion piece that almost matches this one!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A new day to celebrate!

How many times have you been all ready for the day or a night out, gotten all dressed in your favorite outfit , then realized that you are missing an earring that matches your outfit?

I must have about a dozen of what I am calling "orphan" earrings in my jewelry box. I wonder why we keep them? thinking perhaps the lost one will show up as if by magic the next time we want to wear them? That has only happened to me once, when my husband found a poor lost soul out in the driveway about a week after it disappeared!

So I am hereby proclaiming Thursday as the day to celebrate the disappearance of all
lost earrings and declaring each and every Thursday as "wear an orphan earring" day.
I hereby give you, each and everyone of you, permission to wear two different earrings on Thursday and discover the joy of being different!

If anybody asks why you are wearing two different earrings, simply say...oh, yes I have another pair just like these, somewhere! and who knows someone else might be wearing them!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Another FROG story! Froggie goes acourting!


One of the projects in our local quilt guild is a challenge each year with an unusual fabric. A couple years ago we were given a colorful piece that included frogs sitting in a floating ring and on lilypads, with water bubbling around everything.

I was at my wit's end to come up with a plan for this piece of fun fabric until I remembered my neice who loves frogs! and games and was moving soon into a new house! The perfect housewarming gift would be a new game.

So I decided to make a real "frog" game where "Jumping" determines who wins!

I cut out the frogs using a very distinctive design....I drew around a drinking glass works every time! Then I drew circles on some green fabric, from my stash, of course!
Actually I cut out two green circles for each frog. Put them together with a small magnetic circle in the middle and sewed that to the frog pieces, serging around the outside of the circle. (I used magnetic circles with adhesive on one side and then sewed by hand around each one.)

Then I found some more green fabric and made lily pad designs and put them together the same way...with the magnets all hand sewn in the middle.


Now all we needed was a home for the frogs and the lily pads. I did extensive research on the design and sizes of various checkerboards. I measured at least 3 different boards and decided that it should be in various colors of blue and green. Found the colors I liked and went for it.

All that was left to do was to put a tie string on each end. Oh yes I almost forgot...I also put small magnetic circles in each block on the board. So that when the frogs jumped they would have some place to land.

When you play the game, you can fold it carefully with all the pieces inside, tie it all up and use it as a travel game.

Since this is not trademarked, or patented, or any of that other legalese mumbo-jumbo, feel free to copy and make your own "Froggie goes acourting Checkerboard".
Happy Jumping to all! ps you can click on each picture to see it larger!