Lulu quilt, finished!

Do you ever see those giveaways on Instagram?

I have fun with them, usually you only have to become a follower and leave a comment.

Last summer, I won this pattern, designed by Amber Johnson.

Her company's name is Gigi's Thimble, 

her Instagram name is gigis_thimble.

Not only did I win the pattern, but I also won the machine quilting for the quilt I made with Amber's pattern!!!

It takes a jelly roll to make the Lulu pattern, that's all.

I only had a couple of jelly rolls, but I chose Sew Cherry, maybe my all time favorite fabric line.

It's Lori Holt's original fabric line.

I am still hoarding this fabric, so it was a little difficult to break into!

The quilt came together really fast, with a lot of chain stitching.

Here's my quilt, all machine quilted!

I just love it.

Stephanie Romney did the quilting, 

her instagram name is stuphfromsteph.

I highly recommend her, she did a fabulous job :)

I back the quilt with a soft minky.

I thought about giving it to my newest daughter in law for Christmas, but just couldn't part with it.

This quilt means a lot to me since it's Sew Cherry, Stephanie quilted it for me, and the back is minky.

It's my first minky quilt to keep for myself :)

I usually bind my quilts with a bright red, but didn't have any 

Sew Cherry.

I chose this gorgeous aqua with red cherries for my binding.

I could just stare at these beautiful fabrics all day!

Isn't it pretty with the beautiful aqua binding?

More Sew Cherry love!

I love the aqua against the pretty pinks.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at all the photos of my pretty lap quilt, it's so nice to be able to share with my quilty friends.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Doesn't this photo look like it's straight out of a Tim Burton movie?

They are 4 of my grandchildren, portraying Alice in Wonderland.

Bridger is 11, he is the Mad Hatter.

Kennedy is 9, she is the Queen of Hearts.

Charlotte is 6, she is the white rabbit.

Lucy is 3, she is Alice.

My daughter Lindsay is so creative, she always creates fantastic costumes and themes for her kids on Hallowe'en.

This is the first time I haven't trick or treated with my grandchildren.

I'm trying not to think about it....

Here are some looks back at other Hallowe'ens, we always have a lot of fun!

Hallowe'en 2012

Hallowe'en 2013

Hallowe'en 2014

I guess I didn't have any good Hallowe'en photos to show you from last year....

Have a fun and safe Hallowe'en!

Day of the Dead Party

My daughter Lindsay and her friend Brook, throw an incredible party every year before Hallowe'en.

This year's theme was Day of the Dead.

They send out invitations to their cooking group and then to some of their friends and family.

Lindsay's friend Kim did my makeup and let me use her beautiful skirt!!!

I don't even recognize myself :)

This is her home, and she created all the decorations herself.

Kim is a very talented artist!

These are some of Lindsay's friends who helped her with the set up.

Lindsay created all these huge paper flowers to decorate the wall, for a backdrop for photos!

Kari and Sean, the newlyweds, helped serve and wash dishes.

Lindsay made this huge piñata, it was about 40" tall.

One of the many appetizers were chicken tacos.

Isn't the presentation beautiful?

Lindsay and Kim :)

Kim is the artist who did my makeup!

Here is a shot of my dinner plate.

Then menu is on the right, if you can read it :)

The dessert plate was incredible!

Lindsay made the sugar cage which tops the flan.

It was an unbelievably fun night, with so many gastronomical foods!

Can't wait to find out what the theme is next year!!!

This is a look at Lindsay and Brook's party 2 years ago.

This is their party last year.

Snapshots Quilt

I finally finished my Snapshots quilt from Fat Quarter Shop's quilt along!

I just needed to finish the bottom three blocks, frame them all in red, and add the sashing.

I've really enjoyed making this quilt.

All of the fabric is Bonnie and Camille, by Moda fabric.

I used many different lines and loved matching up the colors and prints.

I'll show you another photo when the quilt is machine quilted and bound.

It's always so great to finish a WIP!

Fancy Forest is quilted!

I machine quilted and sewed the binding on my Fancy Forest quilt, by Elizabeth Hartman.

I was thinking about different ways I could machine quilt this little quilt for my 13th grandchild, baby Jacob.

I saw this wood design and really loved it!

I watched a few tutorials on how to create the free motion look, did some practice drawing with pen and paper, and was set to go.

I was nervous to start for fear I'd ruin the quilt, but luckily, I didn't ruin it :)

Here is a closeup of the quilting.

To tell you the truth, it wasn't that hard, but my neck got very stiff hunched over the sewing machine for hours.

It probably took about 5 hours of quilting, and a lot of thread!

I used a light gray Aurifil thread.

I backed the quilt with a really soft steel blue minky.

The nap makes the fabric look like it has different shades of color.

The minky fabric melts into the stitches, it has a great effect!

I really want to keep this quilt....but no, I made it for Jacob :)

I hope he falls in love with it and rubs the softness while he sucks his little thumb!

Lol!!!

Appleicious, Quilty Fun!

I've had these fabrics chosen, and the squares for the apples cut, sitting on a design board on my floor in the corner, for 2 l/2 years!!!

I have been so busy sewing blessing gowns and baby quilts and birthday and Christmas gifts for grandchildren, traveling to visit family, and just plain life!

I've had some time lately and have been finishing my WIPs.

I picked this project up from the floor and it literally had a layer or two of dust on it, lol!

I've loved this quilt since I first saw it, I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to it.

It really didn't take long to sew up these little apples.

It's funny how your fabric taste changes over the years. 

I may not have chosen some of these prints or colors if I was making the quilt today.
I probably would have added some Cotton and Steel!

I still like them though....

My favorite apples are Honeycrisp and Pink Lady. 

I also love Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith for salads.

That's why I included a lot of pinks, yellows and greens :)

Ta Da!!!

My own little appleicious quilt!

I'm going to machine quilt it myself, but probably won't be able to  until the new year.

I love Moda dots, with the white background and the colored dots.

This background is in gray dots, and surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would, to sew the borders together.

I'm so happy with my little quilt!

Lots of Lori Holt's prints, some of Pam Kitty's, and other random prints that I love.

Do you notice the little blue leaf?

It's my red and aqua apple :)

Farm Girl Vintage, Farm Fresh

I went to Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage Retreat last summer, exclusively for a specific group of Instagram friends.

Lori told us what color to bring for the background and the sashing, for the surprise quilt that she designed for us.

The surprise quilt was called "Farm Fresh", and we all oohed and aahed over it!!!

While everyone else was cutting and sewing their fruit, veggies and canning jars, I was cutting and sewing my farm fresh banner.

I would have chosen fabric with more contrast if I had seen the quilt first, but I'm still happy with the results.

Our retreat was held at a fabric shop, so there was plenty of fabric to choose from!

I quickly decided that I would make 4 cans of fruit, 4 cans of vegetables, and a can of honey.

I cut and sewed my 6" blocks of produce, and then took my little blocks to the fabric shop to see what colors and prints would make them pop!

The other day, I finished sewing the tablecloth, and my quilt top was finished!

As I stand back and look at my finished quilt top, I really love all the color combinations.

It's bright and happy!

While I was admiring my quilt, I realized one thing....

Peas aren't orange, tomatoes aren't yellow, corn isn't green, carrots aren't blue, etc.

Look at it this way, my canning jars are opaque, they're candy to the eye!

I'm not really sure how I'm going to use this quilt...maybe there will be a country fair sometime soon, where I can display my beautiful quilt.

Maybe I should enter it in next year's California State Fair :)

Fancy Forest by Elizabeth Hartman

I've been wanting to make Elizabeth Hartman's "Fancy Forest" quilt for a while now.

I made the baby quilt, which is just one quadrant of the full size quilt.

The little animals are so cute!

I love the process of choosing fabric and prints, it's one of my favorite parts of making a quilt.
 I was able to use the fabric from my stash, except for the background fabric and the black for the eyes and noses.

This is Hazel Hedgehog.

This is Mr. Fancy Fox.

I especially love the 3D looking fabric in this one :)

These are fireflies.

There were a lot of little pieces!

This is Bunny :)

This is Mr. Owl, I hope he doesn't scare the baby, lol!

This is a thistle blossom.

This is my finished quilt.  

I'm going to put minky on the back and quilt it myself.

Search for Elizabeth Hartman's quilt online, there are some really pretty ones out there!

By the way, my friend Joni sent this to me.

It's so true!!!