July 1, 2009

The Perfect Quilt

1930's Spring Bloom Mini Quilt Swap

Uh oh…..I don’t have one…….do you? ……..I made this quilt for the Spring Blooms Quilt Swap……I was really loving it a lot………then things started happening…..Can you see the mistake……it right there in the corner bottom right…..I know it’s hardly noticeable right (wrong) at least that’s what all my friends have told me……..In fact I did not even notice it until it was quilted………..There is still one more problem but I can’t show you it has to do with the label on the back……(the person that this quilt is in the post hasn’t received it yet) I used a permanent  marker and the ink bleed so the label looks a little smeared….so what do you do now……..

My position has always been ~ if it’s going to make you crazy every time you look at the quilt, fix it.  Make a new piece, fix the existing one, do whatever is necessary to make it the way you want it to be.  But if it isn’t going to bother you, don’t worry about it.  It’s that simple.

I don’t even have a quilt that’s close to  being perfect.  Some are better ~ closer ~ than others but the truth is that every quilt I’ve ever made could have been better…….  Each had a flaw… or more honestly, more than a few…..so I’m hoping that…….Perfect dosen’t matter because the quilt was a gift from the heart…..until next time…….

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June 24, 2009

Nice Weekend!

We had a really great time on our weekend trip to New Mexico …….lots of riding……we didn’t get our act together to leave on Friday night so we took off on Saturday morning at 5:00……….NM Texas Canyon ………this was our first stop it’s a rest area in Arizona call Texas Canyon……….we always stop here when we’re passing through…….We met up with some of our friends at 7:30 in Lordsburg and had breakfast……………NM Guys ………..and proceeded on into to Silver City…….the agenda for the day was to attend the Veteran’s Run…….so off we headed to the Gila National Forest and the scenery was beautiful………we spent most of our day riding through areas that  looked like this………… NM Veterans Run …..you could smell the pine and it was wonderful…….and here’s another shot…………NM Veterans Run1 …………….it was a great day………and fun was had by all………….NM Veterans Run2……………We’re off and heading to California this weekend….. the oldest granddaughter has graduated high school and was accepted into Cal-Poly!……..there is also a wedding taken place on the “Van Os” side of the family….so it looks to be another fun filled weekend….this one is a little longer…. we’re taking a couple of days off……….Brandon and Little Missy Faye are coming along on this trip…….so no motorcycle riding……my butts going to get a break……….until next time……….

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June 19, 2009

Happy Father’s Day

FD Faye

Little Missy Faye and I made her Dad a gift for Father’s Day……..She is so proud of it and keeps telling her Dad that she has a secret for him…….she did a pretty good job………I have a couple of these stones in my yard one I made and the other was a gift from one of my girlfriends………she thinks they are sooooo beautiful…..so we decided that it would make for a great gift for her to give her Dad on Father’s Day….FDS Faye As the cement was drying I got the words to look a lot better they are kind of mushy in these pictures.

Have a great weekend everyone we are heading to Silver City, New Mexico on the motorcyle for a weekend of camping and riding….it’s currently raining hopefully that will stop before we take off……….until next time……..

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June 16, 2009

I Heart MN!

MN Blocks -  I Won………..I was blog surfing and came across the quiltchat blog and seen that Jan was having a giveaway…….of course I signed up for it…….strolling through her posts I saw that she was from Minnesota…….I thought how cool is that………..Jan was cleaning out /up her sewing room and had these quilt block -of the- month patterns called Quilted Treasure’s Flowers………it was a project that she started………but she decided that she was not going to finish ……….MN Block - To be Finished ……….Now I have the challenge to finish the quilt and send her a photo of the completed project……….that doesn’t seem that it could be to hard since more than half the block are completed……….

I know it’s been a long time since I last posted…….That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been sewing……..Faye and I are making her a quilt……We are participating in the  Old Red Barn Quilt along ……….Faye had picked out her fabric colors ………Old Red Barn 1……..and has been sitting on my lap helping to sew them together……..  She holds the fabric between her two fingers to help me guide it thru the needle…..when it get to the end she gets to push the button to cut the thread………she has been having so much fun with this……….When she gets board with other things she say “Come on Grandma lets go sew”…………”The fabric is soooo beautiful”……..she gives it a hug and a kiss….it’s so precious I hope she will remember this for years to come………..until next time………..

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June 3, 2009

My Parts are Back!!!

My parts are back already…..boy that was  fast….ABM really couldn’t tell what happend they just said to make sure that I oiled it after every bobbin change……maybe that was the problem……I oiled it every time I turned it on….do you think I oiled it too much….ha!………The only problem now is that  Chris is really sick…….He stayed home from work on Monday……. left work early on Tues………. went in late today…….It’s so not like him to miss work……I know that he has to feel bad so, putting BABA back together is going to have to wait……sigh……..so I had a really great weekend …….even without BABA in service……in fact I spent both Saturday and Sunday in my PJ’s sewing and got quite a bit done…….I really loved making my 1930’s doll quilt for my swap partner in the “Spring Mini Quilt Swap” that I had to make another one….this time I made Sunbonnet Sue…. I still have to put a vine along both sides and I’m deciding if I want to use a bias strip or just use some rick rack……. 1930's SB Sue…… the border is now sewn on Dakota’s quilt ……..that will be the next one that gets quilted……I starting making a wall quilt for my family room …it’s a Southwestern design called Desert Scape designed by the Counrty Quilter…….SW Wall………On the last shop hop that I was on….. a quilt shop in Sierra Vista AZ called the Squirel’s Nest………had a baggie full on scraps for $5.00…….I was able to create all the applique pieces using those scraps……..it was fantastic….. what a great find that was…….Oh and I almost forgot……I won a Giveaway on Quilting Barbie it was her Birhtday!…..I received the package in the mail on Saturday……Winner Mail…..Thanks Barb!…. it’s great getting a present in the mail………especially when it’s not your BirthdayWinner Fabric ….and the fabric is  prettier in person than it is in this picture….Thanks so much…..and I hope your B-day was FANTASTIC!………..I guess that’s it for now…..until next time………

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May 27, 2009

I did it AGAIN!

broken parts Well I managed to break “BABA” my longarm machine again……I tell ya……. I’ve been having some kind of luck………I was quilting along on a pantograph from the back of the machine and I heard this terrible noise…..by the time I stopped……and got to the front I noticed that the needle had broke……..so I got that changed and then the bobbin thread didn’t want to come up….after careful inspection of that I realized that the needle was in backwards….Duh…….turned it around……tried it again and still the bobbin thread wouldn’t come up……….called Chris to the rescue…..we checked the timing and it was way off ……….in fact while we were checking the timing it broke another needle….so we took off the inspection plate and here is what we found…….a broken belt….(you can’t see it to good in the picture, but it is not a pretty site) not sure why that happened….I called Micheal at ABM and decided that we would have Chris take the unit off and sent it back to the factory…….they are curious as to why it failed…..anyways it gave me sometime to work on my other unfinished projects……….Here is Dakota’s quilt all sewn together I still have to sew on the borders………It’s such a happy quilt don’t you think…………Dakota's Quilt1……..I’ll get a better picture of it next time after the borders are on……….I also had the pleasure of having my granddaughter stay with us for a week she kept me busy……Faye 2………until next time………

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May 18, 2009

1930’s Fabric Doll Quilt & a Winner

1930's Doll Quilt

Look how cute!!!!……….I just love this little quilt…………I might have to say that I think this could be a new addiction………….I have had these patterns for a while ………………………….and after making this one, I’m pretty sure that I will make the rest of them………they would be really adorable in my sewing room….

I put the names in a bucket and pulled a winner for my first giveaway……..drum roll please……..it’s Michele!….. from the Quilting Gallery!…….. Congratulations…….I’ll need to get your mailing address………. Thanks for playing everbody…….until next time……..

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May 14, 2009

Mini-Quilt Swap

I’ve been checking out my swap partners blog and have came up with a couple of ideas….I’m still not settled on exactly what I want to do for them but,  I have put together these 1930’s prints 1930's prints I’ve even started working on one of the quilt designs that I wanted to make……..1930's applique ……..You’ll have to stay tuned for more progress…..until next time…….

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May 11, 2009

Giveaway – Keeping It Going One More Week

I’m going to keep the giveaway up for another week…..So scroll on down and make a comment……..I hope everyone that has made a comment is okay with that…….

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May 8, 2009

Double Wedding Ring

Kristi - Tucson AZ

I’m working on a paper pieced double wedding ring…….I’ve wanted to make one of these for a while and thought that paper piecing might be the way to go for the first time…………I’m using the batiks that I received on the shop hop that I just was on….. Each shop gave everyone a fat eight……I’ve been playing around with the color placement and I think I found something that I’m happy with…….until next time

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PS -  is my giveaway really bad or are people just not able to comment on my blog?????  If you having problem could you let me know via email

wbotw39@hotmail.com