Blogger's Quilt Festival

Every year about this time Amy over at Amy's Creative Side hosts a wonderful event it is called the Blogger's Quilt Festival. You can sit back in your  jammies and view all the beautiful creations made by bloggers everywhere.  Of course there are a few prizes for the most popular but for me it is a place to do "show and tell".  I'm entering in 2 catagories the lap quilt which is this quilt and the next will be a doll quilt.  I'll post that in a separate post.  

Hanging on the wall in our new home

I'm entering my Studly & The Mrs Quilt that I made using Birch Bark Lodge by Holly Taylor in the lap quilt catagory.  It measures 72 inches square.  I quilted it on an Innova long arm using a pantograph with elk, bear, and pine trees in keeping with the theme of the fabric.  I hope you enjoy this Blogger's quilt Festival and get lots of inspiration from the many entries.    Just click on the link on the side bar and it should take you right to the Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

Last Minute Finishes

 

Today I'm linking up with Barbara at Cat Patches

for;

 

Go check it out to see some great projects.

And I'm also linking up with Sinta at Pink Pincushion for the Vintage Schnibbles Parade on May 1st.

 

 

I remembered this morning that  I had purchased the pattern from Rosie's Quilt Company for Hat Trick   So I put off painting for today and wandered out to the sewing cottage and pushed everything aside...(organization has not happened yet.)  I sent my picture in tonight and hope she got it..  I did change the pattern up a little by adding the checked border all the way around to make it a square table topper and I like how it turned out.

 

 

The fabric line is Double Chocolat by 3Sisters for Moda.  My colors  for the dining room/kitchen will be reds and greens and browns but the blue is pretty too so it should work just fine.

And speaking of projects, the purple wall is now gone! YES! 

After 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint the wall is now "light whicker" mixed with high hiding white.  I have never been this indecisive when decorating.  I think it's because it's my house this time and I know I can make it be what I want it to be.  You'd think after waiting this long I'd have had everything picked out and ordered.  To me each house is different and needs a different touch to make it home.  Should be fun to see what comes next.  I have a garage full of decorations and junk to put up on the walls.  Should keep me busy for the next year or so. 

 

I love, love, love Antique cast iron beds.  I found this one sitting on a porch of one of my co-workers.  I got to work super fast that day and not so gently asked about it.  She sold it to me for $20.00.  With the 4 cans of pink paint it took to take it from navy blue to pink I think the total cost was $45.00.  It's not perfect but the grandkids love it.  They call it the "Pretty Bed". 

 

 

 

I think they like the Quilt the best.  They get threatened every time they get near it but I'm learning to loosen up a little. 

 

Hope you liked the mini tour, see you again soon.  Vickie

 

 

 

 

Yard Sale Score

Me, "Oh Honey...I need the truck." Him "Why?  Me, I found something at a yard sale and you're gonna love it but it's mine!  It's an old filing cabinet and it has all the keys.  I brought it home and cleaned all the dust and cobwebs and rust off of it and painted it Cherry Red.  He wanted it for his office but I stuck to my guns and kept it.  

 

 

Don't you love my lovely assistants?  I do my best work with all those extra little hands...not!
But it did turn out pretty well.  I love yard sales, don't you?

I hope you are having a good week, I haven't sewn a thing yet but soon, real soon.  V.

Making Progress

 Warning this post is picture HEAVY!!  But oh so worth it...  We finally moved into our new home 2 weeks ago and work suddenly stopped on the Quilting Cottage but we did manage to get quite a bit done before the big move.  Here is a picture of the completed South side of my new sewing cottage.  My inspiration was the fabric Bee Happy from Henry Glass fabrics.  

The light in the center of the room is not bright enough for my liking so we will be replacing it with a florescent light soon but I just couldn't wait to show off our hard work.  

Here's how we started out.  Just a plain room with a closet and patchwork ceiling, dirty blinds and brown carpet.

After removing carpet, a partial wall, painting and getting new blinds we built a frame for the sewing tables.  Even the uneven ceiling looks better with paint on it.

The floor got a coat of paint and some sprinkles and the trim around the base is white painted 1x3.  We even replaced the plugs and switches.

In came the green counter tops I bought when JoAnn's moved across town.  These things are super heavy and  laminated on both sides.  The shelving above is needed but I really didn't like the brackets so after some paint and a little whining...not necessarily on my part ;)  we ended up with this....

Floating shelving with inset florescent lights on both sides and the table top is a nice shiny black.  It really shows the dust though.  The cubbies below the table top are not for support but do hold 3 baskets each to store away some of my junk necessities.  The thread rack on the left is also a find from the JoAnn's that was moving. We cut the front legs off and attached it to the wall.  As soon as I can find the one I have I will put a basket under it.

I couldn't pass up this vinyl saying when I found it on Ebay.  Below it is the serger. ?(spelling)

Extra shelving is always needed and this old cabinet we have moved from place to place came in really handy for storing the zillions of books and magazines I've collected over the years.  Before we moved I bought this cute little Featherweight machine and I want to use it but for now it's a decoration.  

I'm going with the theme...Bee Happy...seems right for a sewing room don't ya think?

The curtains were super easy to make and hang nicely.  Notice the black trim just under the white trim on the ceiling.  His idea and a great one I think it makes it adds a special touch.

Last post I showed you the repainted pattern boxes.  I've filled them to the point where they barely open.  Patterns are only in one drawer and there is one for cross stitch, embroidery, fabric etc.  I really need to get rid of some stuff, no wait did I say that?

Here is just a peak at the North side of the cottage, well the cutting table anyway.  The cutting table is made with a plywood base with wheels under it so I can move it anywhere I can get it to go.  I've been using cubbies with fabric baskets for a few years now.  Each one has scraps of a different color fabric in it.  So the cubbies were re-purposed in this cutting table as well.  The top is another steal from JoAnn's that was used as a desk.  

We even reused  the drawer to have ruler storage on one end.

I'd love to have matching fabric baskets but can't justify the cost so I put the ones I have away from view on the kitchen side of the cutting table.  I'll show more on the rest of the cottage another time as I'm the one whining now to get things finished.  The bathroom redo will just have to wait and I'm ok with that.  It sure has been fun and it's nice to be able to show it to you.  I hope you like it too.

Quilting Cottage update

Lots of you have asked me to show the progress on the Quilting Cottage so I've been taking a few pictures as we go along. My inspiration for the colors I chose for the Quilting Cottage is this new fabric line by Henry Glass.  I'm loving the colors together, blacks yellows and greys.  I hope I love it for a long long time because now the walls match it and paint ain't cheap!  I stole this collage of fabrics from Shabby Fabrics, I hope they don't mind.  I love Shabby Fabrics and want you all to go there and buy something...am I out of trouble yet?

 

 

So here's the tour...

The quilting cottage started out as a barn of some sort.  The window wells are at least 15 inches deep.  We started out by removing a wall to the bedroom area and framing it in.  This is the south side.

 

 

 We had high hopes of removing the dropped ceiling but put it right back as soon as we saw what was above it.  We removed the carpet and hoped to be able to stain the concrete but nope that couldn't happen either see the big patch in the middle of the room and I think someone used mudding compound to level the floor.  Go figure.  This is the North side.

 

 As you can see the kitchen is small, cheap cupboards but they will do since there won't be much cooking going on in here and I can use them to store sewing, quilting, scrapbooking and painting supplies.  That bathroom is fully functioning and that's a good thing since there could be long periods of quilting going on in this little cottage.

Lots of time has been spent painting and cleaning.  I went with a grey paint by Behr called Dolphin and a yellow for accent by Behr called Straw, I think, I'll have to check that one out if anyone really wants to know leave me a message. 

 The counters are in the works on the South side of the room.  This will be the sewing area. 

 And the floor got a coat of paint and a few sprinkles to brighten it up, it's Silver. 

Before we moved we were able to pick up a few odds and ends from the JoAnn's store that was moving across town.  We bought 2 pattern boxes, some counter tops and other things very cheap, I think the boxes were $25.00 each and I got the last 2.

 

 And since the fabric has lots of black in it I decided a nice shiny coat of black paint would do just fine.  I gave them a light sanding before we spray painted them. 

 

 This is my Grand daughter Fiona helping with the painting. 

 Here they are put in the room.  I'm not too sure where they will go but this is one option.  I have to leave enough room for the cutting table that we got from JoAnn's too. 

The Ice Cream shop chair you see in the left corner of the picture is one of the 6 that I've been hanging onto for years.  They will get a nice new coat of paint and new seats that are covered in this Bee-u-t-ful fabric.  Well that's it for today I'm off to paint or scrub or agitate my husband for the day and then tonight we are going to  see Sawyer Brown and Due West in concert.  Only 11 more days and we can move into our new house.  Hopefully I'll have the sewing room all ready before that so I can escape and make that March Doll Quilt that is due by the end of the month.  Have a great day!  V.

I finished my Doll Quilt Swap for February and sent it to my Dear Sweet Partner, Sharon over at Vrooman Quilts  Last post I showed you the beautiful little quilt she made for me with my wishes in mind.  I just love hearts, doesn't everyone?  And so with her favorite things in mind I made a little quilt to remind her of her "Furries".  She had a post on her blog where she was making some quilt blocks and her dear little "Moe"  just wouldn't leave them alone.  That little cat had to be right in the middle of things.  Miss Lilly is just like that so I can feel her frustration.  The little quilt features "Little Black Dress" fabric.  I know she liked it because she sent me the sweetest message.  The little pin cushion was made using the same fabric line.  I copied a larger version of a stuffed cat and just made it smaller.  I think it turned out ok, I'll want to make another one so I don't forget how I did it.  Thanks Sharon, I borrowed your pictures, naturally I forgot to take any before I sent it off in the mail.

Progress has been made with our move.  We can't move into our new home for another 4 weeks but we did move our storage into our new garage.  We have a little cottage behind the main house which is now known as my quilting cottage.  We are in full renovation on it as we speak, well just some new paint and cleaning and removing a wall.  It's going to be fabulous.  I saw this fabric line at the grocery store, yes the grocery store...who knew...and it really made me go in a different direction.  I am a green and red girl all the way so I was taken aback when I fell for this line.  I think it's adorable;

It's black, yellow, grey and white.  I am in love!  It has the cutest little bees on it.  It will be my inspiration, the walls will be light grey, the cabinets and trim will be white and the cushions and seat covers will be black.  And if all goes well, I'm going to wall paper the bathroom with the yellow beehive fabric, yep fabric.  Oooh I have big plans, can't wait to show you all the progress we make in the next month.

Linking up 

Well that's it for now, I'll be linking up with Connie over at Free Motion By the River.  Connie is having a giveaway right now, she's giving away a charm pack of Moda RUBY by Bonnie and Camille.  You may want to stop over and see what everyone else is making these days.  I am also linking up for the end of the month to 2013 NewFO Challenge.  I have lots and lots and lots of UFO's, maybe with a new house for my sewing stuff my UFO's will turn into finished projects.

See ya next time.  Vickie

DQS Received and pix of our new home.

When I got home tonight I found a fun package from Sharon, my Doll Quilt Swap Partner for February.  The theme was Something you Love.  So I told Sharon that I really love hearts, maybe it's because I was born in February.  She hit the nail on the head with this little quilt.  And don't you love the cute little rag doll made from the same fabrics as the quilt.  She also included 4 fat quarters and said Happy Birthday!  She is so sweet!

 If you click on the picture you will see that she added cute little buttons in the shapes of hearts and some round ones too tied with embroidery floss.  She really added some special touches.

 Look at the little hearts she sewed into the border.  I sure love it Sharon.  You should all go see her blog and look at all the fun things she makes.  Click HERE to go to Sharon's Blog.

And... Presenting our new home.  We can't move in until March because there are still renters living there but I can show you a few pix of the front west side and the back west side and the giant purple wall which is beautiful but not me...and the huge kitchen.

 I think the grand kids will love playing on all the cement and asphalt and the yard is huge but covered in snow at the moment...of course that just means more snowmen in the winter time.

See that cute little house right by the trailer, that is my new sewing room/house/cottage/studio.  It has a full kitchen and a full bathroom and bedroom so I may never go into the big house again.  

I really don't have anything against purple but it doesn't go with anything I own.  Look at the paint technique she used.  It has the same color stripes done in flat and gloss.  This really gives a regal effect.  Unfortunately I'm not regal or fancy.

Sorry about all the glare.  The snow outside makes things interesting when taking pictures.  Anyway you can see most of the Kitchen.  It is huge!  Wish I liked to cook!  Good thing my husband does.

Even though it is a great house just as it is.  I have lots of ideas of how to make it my own and I can't wait to get started!  Check back soon as we transition from homeless to homeowners, lol.  Thanks for stopping by.  Vickie

GREAT NEWS!!!

We got some great news today!  We will be closing on our new home TOMORROW!  It's been almost a year since we decided to move, it's been an emotional roller coaster with all the ups and downs of relocating,  changing jobs and moving away from friends and family.  We chose a house and struggled with buying it for months...the owners were struggling with their issues and it trickled on down to us so we weren't surprised when the day of closing we had the rug pulled out from under us and it didn't happen.  We had expected to be in our home within a month and it's been 6 months.  Thank goodness my parents are understanding and patient.  The home we are buying now is much more perfect for us and the whole process has gone very smoothly.  

We know that things happen the way they are supposed to even if it isn't in the time frame we want it to be in.  Stay tuned for pictures coming soon.  

Mail call!  Because I am part of the Doll Quilt Swap I have received some beautiful little doll quilts from my partners.  I have been remiss in blogging lately due to all the nonsense of house hunting, offers, new job  and living with parents at the age of 50 something,  geeze.  So I'm going to try to make it a better year and blog more often at least to show the progress we will make on decorating and making our new home our own.  Oh back to my doll quilts.  Here are my most recent beauties from my last two partners.

These flying geese flew all the way from Placerville, California made by Julianne K.  Isn't it beautiful.  The greyish looking color is actually a mint green which is one of my favorite colors.  I can't go wrong with this one it will match any room I want to put it in.  Thanks Julianne, I love it!

Patricia H.  Made this beautiful little quilt.  It is so perfect for this time of year.  I feel like I live in one of these snow globes...the one with all of the snowflakes in it! Ha!

The quilting is beautiful as well and very "Snowy" looking.  Patricia also made a darling little needle case and a beautiful Angel pin to decorate my pin cushion.  Thanks so much Patricia, I love it!

AND

I was browsing along in Blogland and visited my friend Sharon over at Lilabelle Lane. She showed some pretties that her friend Fiona had made for her and Lilly, her daughter.  I was so lucky to be able to sign up to be one of the three chosen for a surprise homemade gift from Sharon within the next year.  I have swapped with Sharon before in the Doll Quilt Swap 

and know what a great job she does with her quilting so I'm counting myself very lucky today.

Soooooo.....I will chose the first 3 people who leave a comment but be sure you I have a way to contact you and YOU will receive a homemade gift from me within the next year.  The rules are below and I will ship internationally.  *wink*

Pay It Forward

Here's  how it works:

1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people 

who comment on this post. It will be a surprise and it 

will arrive when you least expect it.

2. I will have 365 days to do it in. What's the catch? 

To get a handmade present from me, you have to 

play too! This means YOU pledge to send a little 

handmade something to 
3 readers of your blog. It 

doesn't have to be quilty - just handmade.

3. You must have a blog.

4. Once you receive your 

"little something", you must post about your Pay it 

Forward on your blog. 

To keep the fun going - be sure to use the Pay It 

Forward badge. 

So I leave you today with a frosty picture for those who want to feel COOL. We've had a very cold winter here and it's snowing again.  We are thankful for the moisture we are receiving.  

Talk to you later!  Stay warm.  Vickie