more quilting and meandering fun

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job? 
Earning a living, 
being creative and 
doing something I love, all at the same time!
The job that isn't really a job 
is that I get to quilt over the most adorable fabric creations, ever!
This past week I did a couple more 'jobs'...
fun times with fabric and threads!!! 
The first one to share is an adorable quilt for a baby arriving soon,
from her Great-grandma Louise!

 
With the sweetest hand embroidered roses throughout:

Next, I got to meander over this one:

Almost king-sized, for a son from his momma, Jackie!

It was made of flannels and oh, so soft.

I also worked on some of my own creations, and I'll share those at a later date.
The sun is shining and the humidity is relatively low, so I'm heading to the pool with the grand-kiddos!

Hope your weekend is wonderful!

 

the sweetest little quilt arrived

There is folklore that Spring has arrived 
three snows after the forsythia blooms. 
Well, the forsythia hasn't bloomed here in central Ohio yet, but I say Spring HAS ARRIVED!

Here's the reason why:
I shared last week or so about joining in 
a Spring mini-quilt swap with an online group that I'm in.
I also shared about all my fun in making the little 'Spring Argyle' quilt that I sent off...
Well, I can barely contain myself, 
because THIS:

came in the mail yesterday!!!
All the way from Deb in Toronto, Canada!
Deb named it "Spring Bulbs".  Isn't that so perfect?!
I love the colors & fabrics & it's a BASKET block!, which I also love.
I so love the pinks, 
and that she hand-quilted little butterflies in the corners,
and she also put hanging-corner-pockets on the back!
Can you tell that I like it? A lot?

And if that's not enough quilty-love (and exclamation points),
Deb was so sweet to send a little something extra:

Can you see the quilted butterflies
to the left of the mini charm pack?

I don't know how she knew that I loved that Lexington line... maybe I've shared that also? :)

A great big thank you, Deb, for your very beautiful, kind and generous gift.
This swap was SO MUCH FUN!, and a big Thanks goes out to Karen for facilitating!

So, have you participated in swaps of finished items before?
I was leery of joining in because of my time constraints, but it worked out well.
And such Spring beauty arrived at my door!

Happy Tuesday!
I may go looking for some forsythia to force into bloom 
to sit beside my new little quilt. :)

Merry Christmas!

Thanks to family and friends everywhere 

for being such a special part of my life.

I wish you blessings, abundance

and happy stitching!

love, Debra

meanderings the end of June

Besides the wedding shower 
quilt-y gifts that I meandered,
I also got to quilt this lap quilt for Jackie:

Jackie asked for hearts and loops for the meandering,
and I didn't get a close up picture, 
but near the bottom of the photo
you can see some of the hearts.   
She made it for a shower gift and 
has said that she has it ready to gift this week!

I'm now working on
a baby quilt for my new great-niece!
(She was born a minute before the 4th of July
and is such a cutie. She and first-time momma are doing well.
And my brother is so excited - it's his first grand baby.)

I had the pink and green quilt on the long-arm machine
and mostly quilted when new niece arrived.
As soon as she was born and named 
I free-hand quilted her name and birth day onto the quilt.
I love to stitch a surprise into the meandering for the 
recipient to find later, :) and
I do still put a label on the quilt.
 
The quilt is now in the binding stage 
but is taking a while to stitch...as I used Minkee as the backing.
I find that Minkee is a little tedious to work with when doing the hand-stitching part.  Though totally worth it when finished as it's just so cuddly and soft.
And I know my new great-niece will be cuddling and loving it so totally worth the challenge.
 
Have you ever used Minkee as a quilt back? 
And do you also find it tough to hand stitch?

Off to do some more hand stitching on that binding!
Happy Stitching to you also!

my Good Night - Irish Lass quilt

I finished 'my Irish Lass' quilt!
Irish Lass, aka Good Night Irene.

I named it the 'Irish Lass' because
besides the fabrics being
all shamrocks, clover, Celtic knots and shades of green, 
I made it for a beautiful Irish lass,
as a welcome into this German family.

Mylifeisastitch.blogspot.com
My Irish Lass quilt

For the shower, the gift theme was holidays...

with a count down not just to the wedding day,

but also to each holiday throughout the year.

It was a cute idea, with many thoughtful and creative gifts.

My assigned holiday was St. Patrick's Day,
so this quilt fit the theme perfectly!

(I loved it a lot, but gifted it anyway. :)

And I think she may have loved it even more,
as there were tears in her eyes.
Which made me have tears in my eyes.

That's always a nice thank you for a quilt,

knowing the receiver loved your work.

Here are a few glamor shots...
the scrappy binding:

and close-ups of the quilting:

'May your Blessings out-number the shamrocks'



My meandering of loopy, three-leafed clover & four-leafed shamrocks

The backing was a green-plaid homespun,
which you can just see a peek of in this photo.

My thanks to Terry of Terry's Treasures

for hosting the Good Night Irene sew-along.
The sew-along was my inspiration for this quilt,
along with the stack of green/shamrock fabrics I had stashed in my studio. 

Back in a couple of days - I have Lucy Boston blocks to share!

Happy July Stitching!

Raise your hand if you LOVE

Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.!!!

*Raised hands here*

I LOVE Miss Rosie. 
Who doesn't, right?  
And, now I know - she LOVES ME TOO!!

Look at the envelope that she mailed to me:

  All those "LOVE" postage stamps are for me :)

Carrie aka Miss Rosie?
She's the creator of all those "Schnibbles" patterns.
And who doesn't love Schnibbles?
So, when I saw on her blog that she was working on a new template/pattern,
I stalked her... I admit it.

It seemed like forever, but in reality,
 it was not long at all before she offered
the pattern/template:  CRUMBLER. 

C for Carrie, R for Rosie, UMBLER for Tumbler = Crumbler :)

 I ordered multiple "Crumblers" - for Christmas gifts...
and of course, one for myself.
You have to "test" it if you gift it, is my policy :)
I had wanted to share this package when it arrived,
 but had to wait until I had gifted the contents!

Finally, here's the sharing of the package:

Hand-addressed, with a special message "do not bend",

and LOTS!!! of  L-O-V-E postage stamps!

Can you read the personal note Carrie left me within

the LOVE stamps???

"yes, yes...love you lots!

I ran out of "big" stamps and didn't want you to have to wait :)"

Have I told you  that I LOVE Miss Rosie?
Just one of the reasons why...
proof is in the picture...
she loves me lots and didn't want me to wait!

I love you, too Carrie!!! :)

And I'm lovin' the new Crumbler, too!

(I grabbed this pic from Rosie's QC as her pic was much better than mine :)

In Love

I am IN LOVE!!!
(Well, I was already in love-and Sweetie knows it,)
But,
 check out the stitching on this baby!!!:

click on the pic and then click again to see the stitching - up close and personal!

THAT, my friends is my NEW LOVE...

The SASHIKO machine by Baby Lock!!!

(no promotional fee given for this "ad")

I have this machine that stitches this way!!!---

the vintage look of the hand-made Utility Stitch!

Done by machine!!

Yeah, I know that's a whole lot of

Exclamation Points and Caps!

Sorry,

but totally worth it!

I have a couple of friends who also have this machine -

and they are loving it just as much as I am...

Go to your local Baby Lock dealer and try it out, I'm tellin' you!

You could have a new love, too!

NOW, to get the electricity to stay on long enough to use it again!

These winter storms with ice are really cutting into my stitching time!

Happy Stitching!

With or without electricity!