a little meandering, and some bunny napkins

Louise has another great-grandbaby,
and I got to quilt her special gift quilt!
I meandered little bees and loops around the cutest little sheep:

Here's the entire, cute quilt:

Didn't Louise do a great job?!

On another note, 
I hosted my family Easter dinner here Saturday evening. 
Here's a picture of one of the table-sets:

I don't know why my family thinks I'm just a little wacky. :)

Happy Monday, and hope your week is wonderful!

Bluebirds are my sure sign of Spring

Happy April!
I saw more snow flurries last night - no April Fool's joke!
But today it's sunny and the birds are chirping.  
One of my signs that Spring is a'coming, is when
the bluebirds come back to my area,
and flit around in the pines.

So what did I see a few weeks ago???
The first of the bluebird arrivals!
Around that same time, I needed to make postcards 
to send to quilting friends in a fabric postcard swap.
I had an eureka moment...
since bluebirds are my sure sign that Spring is around the corner,
I should make some 
Bluebird postcards for this Spring card swap!! 
This is what I came up with:

Since I had the bluebird/card idea, 
I dug through my photo archives and
pulled out this photo 
that I took in my back garden a few years ago:

Aren't they so sweet looking, lined up & sunning themselves?

Using my photo, I made my applique pattern:

and chose the fabric for the back/writing side of the postcard.

Then I exploded it into color-pieces, and traced it onto fusible:

Some of the bird-parts awaiting assembly:

 And, finally, here's what I ended up with - ready to address and send!

My Bluebird fabric postcards! MyLifeIsAStitch.blogspot

Though I'm not usually a fan of machine-applique,
I loved making them - maybe because of the cheery bluebird.
Each card was quite labor intensive, 
but I loved sending them so much so, that
I also made a few extra just to have on hand,  
to send when needed, as thank you notes.

I've mailed them off to gals in the United States,
Belgium and Canada.
Nationally, they should have already arrived, 
and internationals will get theirs this week, hopefully.

So, April has arrived here with sunshine, 
and my bluebird postcards have flown out of here...
A great way to start a new month!!!

Hope your April is great,
and happy stitching!

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. :)

snow & strawberries

We had about 4 inches of snow
a couple of evenings ago, 
with white-out conditions that started as dark settled in.
So to celebrate the Spring snow,
I went back to the sewing room
and got started on some berries!!
Here is a picture of my "kit" that I cut:

I pre-cut and stacked all of the block pieces in the right order for attack.
I don't always do the pre-cut kit thing, 
but do when I feel I'm under a deadline.
And, since this quilt is going to a baby that's already here, 
I feel that's the deadline. :)

So I wondered, 
do you pre-cut your whole quilt so you are ready to get going?

Detail oriented folks may notice that I did change out most of the fabrics that I had already chosen, changing from Civil War reproductions to more baby-like, modern prints.

Here's a look at the beginning of the snow right before sunset and white-out:

Well, not that you could see the sunset for the snow!

That's my fun so far this week -
Happy Thursday!!

Spring Argyle for the swap

I'm a member of an online group
of quilters that like and make primitive quilts,
and I 'hopped' right in when the group
offered a Spring-y mini-quilt swap!

A close up view of my Spring Argyle

I had the 'draw' of Jennie, from Georgia.
She shared today that the quilt I sent has arrived and she loves it.
She also shared a picture to the Prim Group, with her new little quilt displayed on the outside deck in the sunshine-y 70 degree weather!  (I'm just a little jealous of her Spring-like temps.)
This is what I sent for Jennie:

Well, not the whole table-top set-up,
but the quilt that I named - Spring Argyle:

Spring Argyle

My supplies were Civil War reproduction fabrics cut into 2 1/2 inch squares, 

and a great, variegated purple Valdani thread (color #O86, in size 12), that I used to hand-quilt with a big-stitch.
I am so glad that she liked it;
I also liked it - so much so that I now have to make one for myself! :)
I'd also like to thank Karen (LogCabinQuilter)
for doing all the work in coordinating the exchange!

my Ides of March quilt

I wasn't going to share this:

but it is what it is around here.

The Ides of March has come and gone,
and my 'Great Idea' of having my own Irish Quilt in 2015
just didn't happen.
I'm pretty sure that just strips of fabrics,
lots and lots of strips,
don't qualify as a real quilt.  Right?? :)

What started the whole thing was 
a stack of shamrock-y fabrics that became this:

My Irish Lass quilt

which I made a year ago
for my daughter-in- law love.
I loved it so much, had enough fabric left
and cut all the strips right then!

But a year has passed, and my quilt is not a quilt, 
but still just strips.

Maybe next year.
Yep, that's the plan.
The Ides will arrive next year -
calendar-wise and hopefully, quilt-wise, too! 

Do you have similar Best Of Plans,
or is it just me with piles of pre-cut fabrics
for quilts in the mind? :)

Spring, National Quilting Day, cranky, & a question

Welcome Spring, & Happy National Quilting Day!!!!

Here's the continuation of the story 
of my long, stretched out birthday celebration -
and the quilt shop trip with a friend...

After fabric and cheese and more cheese shopping,
one of the stops on my birthday quilt shop trip
was an antique shop (aka - smoking cat shop,  as it reeked of smoke and every single item in there was smothered in cat hair.)
The smoking cat shop ended up being worth the stop,
because, using up almost all of my remaining birthday$$,
that is where I picked up my cranky:

Happy Birthday to me!!!  Isn't it (or she) a beauty?
A Jones' Family CS, Queen Alexandra, hand-crank model;
manufactured in Guide Bridge, Manchester, England.
(I'll have to come up with a name for it, as that is a mouthful!)

I love it!, though I haven't sewn with it yet, 
as it needs a needle. :(
So, my question is for those who have/use 
Jones CS Family machines:
Does anyone know if (or has tried) the modern Groz-Beckrt dbx-1 needle, 
and is it a compatible replacement on these Jones machines?
(I'd appreciate any insight into using this machine - thanks!)

My weekend plan is to celebrate the beginning of Spring 

by baking some sweets (that must include some dark chocolate :)

&  for National Quilting Day -

by doing some long-arm quilting, playing with fabrics, and 
starting the piecing on the beginning of the needed FIVE baby quilts.

What are your plans?
Are you celebrating the beginning of Spring
and NQD also?
Hope so!