It's gingerbread time...

I love gingerbread, either cookies or cake and this is the season for both. Also enjoy homemade pot holders. I scanned one I made this afternoon from a pattern purchased at a local quilt store.

I need to dig through my stash to see if I have more brown fabrics that might work for this pattern .... they will make nice little gifts.

A few weekend projects...

Framed a new home for my earrings. Saw something similar to this on-line or was it in a magazine a while back, anyhow, decided I needed to make one. Didn't want the frame to hang on the wall as the inspiration earring holder did, so I used an antique frame with a base (this frame once swiveled on the side posts) I could sit on the dresser. Drilled small holes on the sides and strung wire after painting the frame. It's so fun getting organized!

Did a little baking too:

Found this recipe several years ago and never got around to trying it (am I the only one who clips recipes to use weeks if not years later). Anyhow, can't remember where I found this... but the recipe is easy and delicious.... the cayenne pepper gives them a bit of a kick and you want just one more...

Back in September, I started to recover this foot stool... well, I finally finished it today.

The inspiration for the embroidered bird came from Little Birds: 26 Handmade Projects to Sew, Stitch, Quilt & Love, from C&T Publishing, http://www.ctpub.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1518.

Better go see what other projects are waiting... thanks for dropping by.

A wonderful way to begin the season...

An artist friend sent me the YouTube link below. Just wanted to share it .... enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp_RHnQ-jgU

Cowboy embroidery

Michael's Crafts store just e-mailed me a coupon for 70% off a custom framing order. Yippee! Guess it's time to get some of my embroidery work framed. I embroidered this cowboy and his bucking horse last winter. It was a lucky eBay find.... I added the outline of Oklahoma along with OKC and Tulsa.

Love it when the original instructions come with the vintage embroidery kits .... would love to find the companion pieces in this series.

Here's "happy trails to you" and thanks for visiting today.

Australian fabric

Discovered another wonderful quilt shop yesterday in a near by town. There were several bolts of fabric I would have been happy to bring home..... but restrained myself as best I could. Here are some goodies I couldn't live without:

These fat quarters are from a line of Aboriginal inspired fabric from M&S Textiles from Australia, http://www.mstextiles.com/index.htm. There were several more lush patterns and I know I'll be heading back to buy more once I figure out what I want to do with these.

Two "birdie" prints to add to my collection. I am a sucker for fabric printed with birds or text.

Since this past Monday, I have made 88+ of these bow tie blocks out of reproduction 30's fabric along with a few vintage fabrics from my stash. Have 6 rows sewn together out of a total of 8 ... will try to finish up the rest this weekend.

Thanks for visiting. 

"Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the 

thinks you can think up if only you try!"  ~Dr. Seuss

Fall fabric

The fabric artist who designed this lovely batik fabric certainly must looked to nature for inspiration for the colors. I looked out the kitchen window this morning to discover that overnight, the foliage on this crepe myrtle on our yard had magically turned to stunning shades of red, yellow, and orange. I swear, the leaves on this bush were green yesterday.

Hope you enjoy the colors around you and take inspiration from them. 

Metamorphosis of my wall hanging...

All 12 of my moth and butterfly blocks are finally pieced together with sashing and border fabric. Next is to decide on a bit of quilting and where. Any suggestions? It's going to be tricky with all those beads and baubles attached to each block – should be fun, however. Also think the piece needs a few embroidered caterpillars somewhere.

Thanks for taking the time to look at our coop project. I plan to show you Vicki's wall hanging as soon as I get photos. Have a great weekend.

New "BFF"

Am quickly finding out that I need a 1/4" presser foot with guide for my sewing machine. It seems (no pun intended) that I can't sew a straight, scant  1/4" seam. I'm having to do a lot of ripping out lately.

Ordered a presser foot yesterday! Always learning!

It's coming together...

Remember the butterfly and moth appliqué project my friend Vicki and I have been working on for the past few months? (See earlier posts for my blocks.) Well, we finally exchanged our blocks this last weekend. I am thrilled with the blocks Vicki chose to give me from those she created. We each pieced and appliquéd 12 blocks and gave the other six. 

Here are my six blocks out along with the ones Vicki made. I think they look awesome together considering this is our first co-op project and we selected fabrics from the cache without sharing what colors and fabrics we were using. The constant in each block is the yellow-green square in the middle.

Next comes the sashing and borders.......

Blessed with treasures and a new project

In addition to all the wonderful fabric I came home with recently, I am the lucky recipient of the following treasures from my friend June. Here are 2 wall hangings pieced from beautiful old fabric. The top one is already quilted and the bottom one I have tacked and am in the process of sewing a binding around it. These will make lovely table toppers ... they are so Fallish!

This is a stunning top that June never completed. Her choice of colors are exquisite and I count myself fortunate to have it. Each block is an intricately pieced star that is different from the next. This photo shows 9 of the 12 blocks.

Here are the remaining 3 blocks and the zig zag border. I will probably take the border off since I don't have the fabric to complete it. The thought of wasting such beautiful work seems almost sacrilegious, but my butterfly and moth friend, Vicki suggested using it on the back. Why didn't I think of that?

Close ups of some of the star blocks:

As if I needed another new project, I have signed up for a block of the month quilt at a local quilt store. The Queen and Her Court by Wing and a Prayer: http://wingandaprayerdesign.com/BOM.htm

The fabric is Moda's Park Avenue collection and the fabrics we are using are from the right side of this palette:

This has to be the most ambitious top I have ever tried to piece. Finding I need to check off on the pattern what I have done and number the stacks of parts and pieces. What have I gotten myself into?

My progress today: