Getting things done!

I have been sewing all day... well, trying to anyway! I worked on some little bunnies but ran out of fiberfill so I will finish them later in the week.

Here is a tiny quilt, about 9 1/4 inches square. It is called Thimbles. The idea came from Quilt Camp. I machine quilted it about every 3/8" - an idea I read about on Crazy Mama Quilts, a blog that I enjoy following.


I decided it was time to do some more with my Alaskan stash of projects. I made this pillow today. The fabric is from Ketchikan, home of many totem poles.

The fabric for the back and piping is also from Alaska. It is a very pretty batik.

Nice to have something finished!

Bunnies, bunnies, bunnies...

My friend Nancy recently emailed me that her pastor and his wife are going to Ghana in the near future. They will be visiting orphanages and would like to take handmade dolls, etc. for the children. Nancy then gave me this link: http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/. There is a free bunny pattern there.

Here is my prototype. Of course, I changed a couple of minor things in the pattern - you know me, I don't think I've ever met a pattern I didn't change!

So now I am ready to make a few bunnies to send to Africa.

Eventually I will get the doll pattern. I really haven't made many stuffed toys, but today I am having lunch with my friend Colleen and she has made hundreds, maybe more! I'm sure she'll share any secrets!

A new grandson!

A new grandson!!! Crosby Hayes was born at 6:02 PM yesterday in North Carolina! He is 6 pounds, 18 1/2 inches long, and has dark wavy hair. Brad said Mom and baby are doing fine!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

The Extreme Makeover Home Edition came to Northwest Illinois last week! A home outside of Lena was rebuilt for the Stott family in 1 week - actually 106 hours. Lena is only 15 miles away. Ray was able to volunteer on the site for four hours last Sunday. I didn't get my request in in time to work on the site - I was less than 2 minutes behind Ray! We did go to the site on Monday night just to see how things were going and I took this picture of the new house.

I was able to volunteer to do some sewing. The fabric was very slow and late getting to the site so we didn't really get very busy until Tuesday and the house had to be ready to reveal on Wednesday by midday! Yesterday (Tuesday) I began sewing at 10:30 AM and finished after midnight! We did pillows for the family room - brown and cream with a little gold, and pillows and curtain panels for the master bedroom - black, cream, and yellow.

Working on another pillow:
Our official sign at Good Times.

Krista was REALLY sewing!!!

One yellow pillow.

Gracie and her creation that matched the flowers in the curtain panel.

It was getting late and it took ALL of these people to make this one yellow pillow!

Wednesday officially arrived and we were tired so we all stopped working for Ray to take our picture.

It was FUN! I hope the Stott family likes what we made!

Quilts, quilts, and more quilts

Quilt camp was fantastic. There was lots of INSPIRATION mixed in with the fun of quilting with old and new friends. It was a wonderful experience. Here are 21 of the many quilts we were shown. We were also given patterns for these!

We worked in the barn

We quilted on the second floor of the barn. In addition to quilting space, there was a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, and snacks - who could want more? The ceiling fans and the floor fans were used a lot since we had wonderful weather that got a little too warm in the afternoon.

We each had our own workspace. People were setting up for camp.

There were quilt everywhere - on the walls,

and by the snacks.

The work area was very busy at times.

We had access to everything - the barn and the shops 24 hours a day!

I worked too! The snacks were right behind me. Notice the quilts in the background. In the right back of this photo is our meeting place. We officially met twice a day for new patterns, announcements, to play games, etc.

The girls from Missouri. On the far right is Marcia - the quilt police! We could not have asked for a nicer or funnier police person!

This is the place I cut my fabric too. In fact, that is my cutting board on the table.

We could work anywhere. Sometimes people chose to work on the porch of the barn.

We were on a farm...

On the farm, there were animals and fresh tomatoes and fresh sweet corn. The bottom of the barn was used as a regular barn.

Carli was an older dog.

Heidi spent time getting to know each camper. Here she is watching me sew:

Izzy was with us most of the time.

Maggie was a little older and very mellow.

The chickens and the rooster were really noisy in the morning.

Another cat on the barn porch keeping new friend Regina company.

Lucy was resting one hot afternoon.

That is Zack with his mother. His mother liked to head butt.