Vintage Needlework to Finished Quilt!

I have been working on some things I cannot share just yet, but I felt the need to blog and share something, so…

I made this quilt and entered it in the Antelope Valley Fair.  I really love it.  Now it hangs on the wall in the living room.

It is hand appliqued and machine pieced.  I did it all!

I love it, not sure if I am finished with it.  It may need a little beadwork.

I even did some stitch in the ditch (yuck) and cross-hatching (takes forever) in the machine quilting.

Here is my inspiration.  Saw it on Pinterest!  Actually made something from all the hours of exploring on that Pinterest (time depleting) site!  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Pinterest!!!

I drew the applique into the EQ7 software and made myself a cool quilt.

Well, back to the secret Studio to concoct some more secret stuff,   Muhahaha!

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Mystery Quilt Mess Up!

What’s wrong in this picture?Well, I was in such a rush to start on the Mystery Quilt, that I cut fabrics wrong (although you cannot see that in the photo above).  Part of that is because I decided to make the black fabric light and the light fabric dark.  I did that due to the quantities of fabric I had in my stash.  Of course I messed myself up.  I am usually more adept than today!  Next, I sewed and sewed and realized I sewed too much.  I made these 4-blocks…Looks pretty good, huh?  Well, no where does it say in the instructions to make 4-blocks (I just did it)!  I am not pressing them, nor am I taking them apart (just in case this was the next step).  I will have to wait an entire week to find out.  On another note, who planned this?

A power outage on Friday when the next mystery clue comes at noon!!  What’s a girl to do?

Well, off to another project.

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Grandma Toni’s Tablescape & More

I was at my Grandma Toni’s house last weekend.  Grandma always has the table set in her dining room, so I snapped a few pictures…Grandma loves blue, can you tell?I don’t know anything about the dishes or napkin rings or even the spoon contraption below…I do know that she sure sets a pretty table and has lots of pretties to look at.I know she is a regular shopper at the Salvation Army store in Perris, Ca.  It is one of the largest I have ever seen.  Grandma takes the workers fresh baked brownies most every Thursday.  They call her when there are items they think she might like.She has many collections.  The dining room is filled with glass creamers.  You might be able to make out some of the collection in the picture above.

Blue glass in another favorite of hers.  Here are some of her pieces on the shelves in the picture below.I was in love with this quilt.  I did a little searching and found it is called the Dove in the Window quilt block.  This one was hand quilted, grandma said by a group of ladies in their 80’s.  I would love to bring this quilt home with me.  You think I can sneak it out when grandma looks the other way?Ok, check this out.  My grandma made this to hang in the window within the last couple of months.  She saw it in a craft book.  It is organza type fabrics with black bias stems to look like stained glass.  Pretty cool, huh?One last look as you head out the door.  My grandma has quite the eye for cool stuff and quit an ability to display it all.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my Grandma’s home. 

I will be joining:  Between Naps on the Porch and Suzys Sit Com.

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Jack of Hearts Mystery Quilt

If the link above doesn’t work for you, try..

heatherspencedesigns.com

 

Mystery Quilt?

Me?

Not usually something I would take on… I like to be in control, know what the outcome will be.  I like to create a quilt, put the fabrics into a pattern using EQ7 and know what my outcome will be!

Not for this quilt!  This time I am supporting a little boy named Jack.  Do I know Jack personally?  Nope.  But isn’t he a cutie patootie?

Jack is now 5, but at the age of 4 it was discovered that he had a brain tumor!  You can click on the picture of Jack and read all about it.

There is a wonderful lady named Heather who is putting together a Mystery Quilt program that will help Jack and his family.  You can click on the Daisy above to get the info so you too can join in!

I am in!!  Here are my color choices.  I may call the dark,light and the light, dark, not to be confusing, but that is just what I have and where they fit into the fabric requirements (if I am giving up control I might as well go all out)!

Why am I doing this?  Well, Jack is cute and adorable and his family needs some support (not just financially, but to know this many people care means a heap).  How do I know?  Well, I have Nick.  Nick is now 23 and doing great!  But, when Nick was 13 he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma (an icky cancer).  Here is Nick just before treatment started, his Dad, best buddy, John and John’s dad Rob all shaved their heads to show Nick some support. It was in his right scapula (Nick is right handed).  The entire shoulder needed to be removed, he also went through some intense chemo-therapy.  This is what the X-ray of Nick’s shoulder looked like just after is was put in (those safety pins are not inside him, they are holding on the bandage wrapped around him)… Since then there was a bit of an accident and the prosthetic had to be altered, this is what the current x-ray looks like now…

That seems like enough, right?  Well, were not finished yet, at 15, Nick was diagnosed with Leukemia!  He needed a bone marrow transplant!  Here he is on his Make-a-Wish trip, he wasn’t looking so strong here…

Nick is now 8 years out of transplant!  He rides a motorcycle, works on his truck, plays volleyball, softball and can even bowl a really good game.  Last summer he even went back to Ronald McDonald Camp as a Camp Counselor.

Needless to say, we have been though a lot and giving just a little bit to help another family seems like a good thing to do (especially if it involves quilting)!  Will you join me in this mystery quilt?  Let me know…

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Quilt Raffle for St. James Food Pantry

A while back my Mom asked if a quilt could be donated by Bolts in the Bathtub, my beloved quilt store (not mine, it really belongs to Fay and Dawna)! I love the store and I love them as well.  The purpose of the donated quilt was to have a raffle and all the proceeds would be donated the the food pantry at St. James church in Perris, Ca. 

Well, a quilt was donated.  It is the one pictured above.  I actually designed the quilt using a fabric line from Exclusively Quilters fabrics (the fabric is in the actual quilt is courtesy of Exclusively Quilters).  The line was called Allure and the quilt was named Alluring.  The pattern for this quilt was in Keepsake Quilters Catalog. Here it is an an alternative color way.  This one is entitled Autumn in Big Bear Lake and in available on my website.  I designed and pieced the quilt.  I believe it was quilted by the awesome Vickie Wall.  Click on the picture below and it will take you to my website.

Here is a picture of Saint James Church.  I attended this church for many years (I even went to Saint James for 7th and 8th grade).  Scott and I were married in this church 25 years ago this past June!This is my Mom, isn't she beautiful? She is a retired school teacher.  Now she spends her time shopping for the best deals on everything she can get for the food panty.  It is hard work too.  She shops, transports, divides and  repackages the food.  She is the treasurer and even writes the grants.  She does a great job.

Today was the drawing for the quilt.  Mom asked me to come to Perris and be at mass to help draw the winning ticket and present the quilt to the winner.  We drew the ticket, just so happened the winner was another beautiful lady named Kellie.  Kellie actually lives across the street from my Grandma Toni.  We had fun presenting Kellie with the quilt.  Here is a picture of Kellie and her prize. 

The quilt raffle brought in $832.00 and all of that will be spent on food for those who need it.  What a great experience.  I am so happy to do my little part to help.

Whew, that was wordy for me,  off to bed,

Blog at you later,

Tiffany

Cute Quilt by Grandma Toni

My Grandma Toni is fun and creative!  She asked me to quilt another of her creations:She designed, appliqued and pieced this cute quilt.  I think it is for her bedroom!

Here are a couple of the shoes close up…It looks like she used old stitch work (possibly hankies) as well as doilies!

Here is a picture of my grandma, it’s from a while back, but she is still as cute as ever!!!

Love you, grandma!

Blog at you later (I have some secret quilt blocks to make),

Tiffany

Ta Dah!!

Guess what I did yesterday?  I played hooky from work to stay home and quilt!  Wait, I work at a quilt store, this makes no sense!  Actually, I had someone coming to do work at the house and needed to be home.  I was gonna go to work, but they were here later than expected, so….. I showed fabric I chose to go with this panel yesterday.  I actually picked it out about 9am.  I worked and worked on this Halloween Quilt.  It is very bright, but cute!  I think I like it!I finished to last border about 9pm last night, but waited til morning to get a picture of it (way too much new TV to watch last night)!

Today I am off to work.  I teach machine quilting this morning and EQ7 tonight.  So much to do, always, so…

Blog at you later,

Tiffany