And now for that finish...

I got the ric rac in the mail and finished Pumpkin Time by Crab+apple Hill!

I won this awesome pattern and complete kit from Anna at Woolie Mammoth blog just over a year ago.

 I completed all the embroidery and appliqued the scalloped edge to the embroidery piece while on the road or in waiting rooms.

The pillow is 12" X 14" and will be so fun to have around for Halloween.

Thank you again Anna!

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And I finished block four of Summer Star's from Temecula Quilt Co.:

And here are the first four together:

Back to my Salt Air project.

A peek at my Salt Air project!!

I've been working on this Salt Air project for a while in between others but it's ready to show you a peek:

I hope I can get this all together this weekend along with a birthday party and a family reunion!

I Almost Posted a Sewing Finish Today

I was SOOOoooooooo close to finishing a sewing project that has be around a long time and then last night discovered I was eight inches short of the very necessary trim!

That required me to go online and order some more. 

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So instead, you get to see I crafty project I finished a few weeks ago and finally got hung:

 

Here is the story of my bulletin/chalk board:  I acquired this all wood ironing board a few years ago from a family member without any plans for it; about a year later I saw one made over in an antique shop and planned mine. 

First I removed all of the padding, canvas and a "million" nails, tacks and staples.  Next I lightly sanded it, cut sheets of cork to fit half of the board,  added four coats of chalkboard paint and glued on cork.

I love how it hangs over my sewing machine with a photo of my maternal grandmother (my quilting idol) watching over my every stitch.

Here are the two signs I have next to the board:

 

And even though I have every brand of thread under the sun since I've been sewing for a "hundred" years, my thread storage is rather colorful:

And here is a shot of my little sewing corner in the second bedroom/office:

Romper and Summer Star

Romper

Our granddaughter Alice Matilda will be one year old on Wednesday and I made her a romper called Shortcake by the Cottage Mama using two prints from the Simply Sweet line by Barbara Jone of QuiltSoup for Henry Glass.  It's reversible too:

 

 I can't wait to see it on Alice!

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I finished block three for Summer Star sew along by Temecula Quilt:

Another fun block.

What are you working on this weekend?

Button Bag

Button Bag

My Mom rarely asks for anything, but the other day, she asked if I could replace the bag I made her that she takes to Mass every day.

It must have been at least five years ago when I made the first Button Bag for her.

It is called Button Bag by This & That:

 I used some lovely organic Tilly by Daisy Janie and some buttons my Son & Daughter-in-law gave me a few years ago.  It was a dream to sew with Tilly.  Even though I did not use charm squares, it is a charm friendly pattern.

I gave the bag to Mom yesterday and she just called to tell me she used it this morning and loves it.

Project success!

Needle Keeper Swap

I joined the RATZ (Rapid and Tiny Zakka swap) in May for the key fob and now again in July for the needle keeper.  I had ulterior motives for joining this one - I must have dropped my very favorite needle keeper in the garbage (along with ALL my needles) and need a new one.

I hope this one meets my partner's needs.  

It's rather large for a needle keeper, but she requested a place for her scissors and also a way to keep threaded embroidery needles in her keeper without the thread hanging out the bottom.

The scissors will fit in the little heart print pocket with a Velcro closure.

The embroidery floss wraps around a floss holder which is stitched to the felt while the needle (and many more) can be placed in the felt.

This embroidery is a pattern by Aneela Hoey of Comfortstitching and can be found here. 

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In the last swap, I sent the embroidered Hello Kitty coin purse/key fob and received this cute little bird:

Block Two - Summer Star Sew Along

Temecula Quilt Company

Summer Star Sew Along

Block Two:

I had so much fun making block one, I decided to complete block two before I put everything away last night!

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And if you need an idea on how to stay cool - here is what Audrey does:

 

 Photo from Kara's Facebook

Summer Star Sew Along

I got a late start on the Temecula Quilt Company

Summer Star Sew Along

but I will get caught up.

Here is my first block:

 There are 24 pieces in this 4 inch finished block.

How fun is that?

Off to do one more to catch up with everyone else in the sew along.

And Sew We Craft..

I've been checking out the

And Sew We Craft blog and decided today was the day to 

link up and show you a little craft I made a few weeks ago.

I had a cute lamp with an ugly shade.

So I pulled out scraps from the quilt on our bed, my pinking shears, some jumbo ric rac and 

a bottle of decoupage.

Here is my lamp with it's new hat shade:

Go check out every ones crafts this week here. 

Back from retreat!

My three day summer retreat is over and it was so much fun.  I was the only one from Minnesota again.  It's great to have quilting friends from all over the U.S.A.

Here is a peek of what I worked on most of the time:

The main part is all together and I'm working on a pieced border.  I cut this out in December, pieced 12 blocks in Florida in February and pieced 13 blocks this weekend and put all 25 blocks together.  Whew!

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And I just used Random Number Generator to pick a number for my

little Red, White & Blue mini!

The winner is #116 - 

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle.

Please send your mailing address and I'll send it off this week.