Blessings to all on this Sunday.  We received some much needed rain yesterday.  I do hope it was enough for the farmers, gardeners and anyone else who likes to see their lawns and flower beds robust. 

I have posted some pictures of Bonnie B's quilt that I finished up.  I really had fun working on this quilt, but then I do say that about each quilt I am working on.  I love trying new patterns whether with the Statler or hand guided.  I still enjoy handguiding my Gammill Classic and I love being able to be creative with my own patterns that are still in my head.  I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures of Bonnie B's quilt, I just wish the pictures did the quilt justice.

This week will be a different work week for me since Gary and I will be painting our bedroom and  clean out the what is supposed to be walk-in closet.    I think it will be fun for Gary and I to work together on sprucing up the bedroom since it hasn't been painted in about 13+ or so years.  And so the adventure for this week will begin. 

Blessings to all.

Holy Smokes?!!  Whew, that doesn't smell right.  In my haste to clean up my quilting studio I didn't realize it until I smelled smoke and saw some smoke coming from my 14 year old Eureka vacuum cleaner.  After turning it off and looking at the beater bar brush did I realize there was almost a ton (of course I am exaggerating )of thread caught in the beater bar brush.  So much that it stopped the bbb from turning.  As soon as I am done quilting the quilt I have on the machine I'll run uptown and hopefully find a new belt for this vacuum.  Hey I'm just getting this vacuum broke in.  Certainly I've got a few more years left for it to vacuum up another ton of thread.

Whoops this  picture should be vertical.

Blessings to all.

Thursday already?  I'm on my third scheduled quilt for the week and I've posted a few pictures.  Doris W. (last three pictures) made the huge star quilt from an Eleanor Burns pattern.  Doris said the pattern went together fast, but I don't think I'd have the patience for this one.  The lucky recipient is Doris' granddaughter.  The next quilt I quilted was for Bobbi K.  Bobbi had some interesting material combinations mixing traditional with some modern fabrics.  Which made me quilt it the same way.  I like being challenged in choosing how to quilt a quilt and this quilt was a wonderful challenge.  Thanks Bobbi.  Great quilt!  Bobbi made this quilt for someone special.  Quilters are so happy to share. Don't you think?

I should be shutting my eyes and going to sleep, but I just can't resist spending some time reading the novel, "What if You Made It Up? by Kathleen Kolze.  As I posted before Kathleen is a quilting friend of mine who fulfilled one of her passions and published a book.  You can find information about Kathleen and her book and future books at www.kathleenkolze.com

Good night and Blessings To All!

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day.  Even though there is a northwest wind coming across Lake Freeman it is still beautiful to see all of the various shades of green leaves on our trees.  I think it's in the 50's, but I'm going to keep telling myself it's 72.

Look what my mail lady brought me today!!!  American made thread from  www.bobbincentral.com or 1-888-924-3224.  I just ordered this thread on Thursday, April 19th and it was delivered to my door, Monday, April 23rd at 10:30 a.m.  Great service from Bobbin Central and the U.S. Postal Service.  If you've never tried Glide thread from Bobbin Central you are missing out.  I use this thread almost exclusively in my longarm quilting business on my Gammill Classic/Statler.  This thread also works well with my Janome. You can call or email Bobbin Central and ask for a sample packet of their various threads and prewound bobbins.  When this thread arrives at my home it's like Christmas to me.  I love all of the beautiful colors, even brown.  Besides all of the beautiful colors, great service this thread is Made in the USA!!  I think I could even use this thread as an outside decoration around my flower pots.  Just kidding, it is beautiful though.

Blessings to all.

Happy Sunday and let me see is it Earth Day today, if so Happy Earth Day.  I am starting to realize just how much precious time I do have in my day when I am not longarm quilting for my business.  Which then makes me think how should I use this time?  Should I be doing something that makes me joyful or should I do something to make other people joyful. Then I decided why not do both. So below is a picture of the pin cushions I have been working on to give to four of my friends who are going to the AQS Paducah Quilt Show this week.  I realized joy for me comes from sharing and giving and I hope the pincushions bring a joyful smile to the four friends who will receive the pin cushions. 

The pincushions were made from egg cups I purchased at Cracker Barrel.  I used two pieces of about 5" squares of fabric folded then hot glued into the egg cup, hot glued the wool ball and then placed four steel pins into the wool ball.  This really was an easy project once I decided upon which fabric pieces to use.  In an earlier picture of the pin cushions I had different material which looked okay, but I wanted more "bling" so I found this material in my stash.  I have to tell on myself that it was at first hard for me to cut into the new material, because I just loved this material.  Do you ever have a problem cutting into material you just love?

Blessings to all.

Happy Friday!!  Whew my week sure flew by, how about you?  I've put a few pictures up of quilts I did this week and last week   Thank you Bethany M., Celeste D., Pam H., and Meg F. for allowing me to quilt your beautiful quilts. And I have some pictures of some fabric I am auditioning on  my 1600 quilt.  I am envisioning circles of different sizes on the quilt.  Can you tell I like color?
I have a picture of some works in progress - pin cushions.  I am making them for some friends of mine who will be attending the American Quilters Society Paducah (Kentucky) Quilt show next week.  I normally attend this show with them, but this year I am not able to attend the show.    In years past we each would make a gift to give to our fellow roommates, so ... I couldn't resist and decided to make a surprise gift for each of them.  I know they will have a great time at the AQS Paducah Quilt Show.  If you've never attended this show, you really are missing out.  The people of Paducah have always welcomed quilters to their historical town with open arms.
Blessings to all!

The Cincinnati Quilt show sponsored by www.quilts.com was well worth the trip yesterday.  Emery Travel, Kim Emery from Logansport, IN www.emerytravel.vacation.com was our trip's facilitator and Kim did a great job putting our trip together down to the fat quarter wrapped around a piece homemade of banana bread.  Our trip Mom was Mary Kay H.  Mary Kay was a great little mother hen keeping all of her little chicks safe and sound and didn't lose anyone. 

The show itself held at the Duke Energy Center aimed to please in the creature comforts with food vendors, chocolate and nut vendors and coffee, tea and soft drinks were easily available when we needed a break.  The show's quilts were stunning and thought provoking.  I am always amazed at how diverse quilting has become.  I enjoyed chatting with my dealer Jeff Benedict and Bekki Lund, sales manager from Accomplish Quilting (www.accomplishquilting.com) in Stevensville, MI at the Gammill booth.  I will admit I missed not longarm quilting yesterday, but Bekki told me I could run one of the three machines that was set-up in the Gammill booth.  I declined since the booth was busy with soon to be new owners.
I've got a few pictures of the items I purchased.  I found some great Kaffe Fassett fabrics from Nancy J's and Material Girls booths.  I also purchased some wool felt balls which I needed for a project.  I'll show you some pictures when those projects are completed.  And how about the 30 yard by 96" roll of Hobbs batting I purchased from the Hobbs booth.  I did get some strange and inquisitive looks from people as I was pulling my batting down the center aisle of the show.  When I was ready to walk out the exit from the show one of the security guards joked with me that well I can't stop you from using a wheeled cart since the batting doesn't have any wheels on it.  I am so glad that the 24 passenger bus that took us to the show had a wide and tall storage area.  One of my fellow trip attendees (Betty) has purchased a 30 yard roll of batting.  Actually, I have to thank Betty for showing me her roll of batting.  It was 4:30 pm and we had to line up for our bus at 5:00 pm so I made a mad dash back to the Hobbs Batting booth to see if they had any 30 yard rolls of batting left. Luckily they did.  When I got home last night hauling my batting purchase into the house my husband Gary looked at me and said, "Really, you went all the way to Cincinnati and brought home a 30 yard roll of batting?"  I told him it was a great purchase since I didn't have to pay shipping charges.  I do have some of my quilts ready to be quilted so now I have the batting (that is if I ever get my quilts quilted).

Well I'm off to Kroger to buy some groceries to make some chicken/vegetable soup.  Yum!

Blessings to all.

Whew!  I have had a fun and busy four days quilting.  I did get Nancy J's Kaffe Fassett material quilt completed and I will be hand delivering it to Nancy J at the Cincinnati Quilt Show tomorrow.  I've posted a picture here, but unfortunately the material is so busy that the quilting is not showing up well in the picture.  You can see the quilt up close though if you attend the American Quilter Paducah quilt show April 25th through the 28th.  Nancy J will have her mini shop set-up at the Rotary. 

Remember the pile of batik strips I showed you a few days back, well the second picture shows what I did with them.  Another 1600 quilt that is just oozing with color.  I have a border or two to put on yet and some sort of fused on applique pieces.  I then will sew the fused on applique pieces down when I quilt it on my longarm.  I have done this for several of my clients (sewing down fused on applique) and the quilts have some added zip with the applique. 

I also have a picture of a king size quilt I did for Alice C.  The pictures do not do this quilt justice.  Alice made this for her granddaughter.  Lucky granddaughter. 

I hope I can settle down and sleep tonight.  I'm so excited to be attending the Cincinnati Quilt Show.  I am going by bus with a group of quilters from the Logansport, IN area.  I know a few of the ladies, but it will be fun to make new friends tomorrow.  Quilters are always so much fun to be with whether they are longtime friends or new friends. 

Blessings to all.

Happy Late Afternoon Everyone! Sunshine and 50 degree weather.  It must be spring in Indiana, but atleast it's not snowing.

I have posted a picture of the book my friend Kathleen Kolze wrote (the last picture).  The book is a novel entitled "What If You Made It Up?"  I am so excited that Kathleen pursued her passion to write a novel.  You can find out about Kathleen at www.kathleenkolze.com and more about her book and future books.  Kathleen is a quilter and that is how we met through our quilting endeavors.  She is a passionate quilter as well as a writer.  I am not going to tell you too much about her book, but it has some well thought out characters that I am enjoying.  You'll just have to buy the book in book form or download form.

The quilting chicken came to visit today on a quilt I am working on that is still on my machine.  The quilting chicken gave me a five feathers high five.  I'll post more pictures of this quilt when it is completed. 

And how about the picture of my next project made by Nancy J of Kaffe Fassett material (second picture).  It's got color!!!  I love, love Kaffe material.  I'm still planning on how I will quilt this beautiful quilt.  Have I got the best job or what?

Blessings to all.

Easter Day was a beautiful day for me knowing that all of my family was in church.  It was nice to have all of our family together to watch " the dumplings"search for the Easter eggs that were hidden outside for them by Audrey Kate andUncle David.

I hope you enjoy a few pictures of the egg hunt.
Well it's time for me to get a quilt loaded and get back to my work schedule for this week.

Blessings to all.

He is Risen.

Blessings to all.

Blessings to all this Good Friday morning.  When starting this blog I did not realize how I would take time out in my day for reflection.  I find myself standing back to take in the beauty of God's creation all around me and to realize that each moment of my day I can make a difference.  I am realizing that I would rather have "joy" in my heart than "happiness".  For me Joy comes from knowing God is with me no matter what my situation is whether in darkness or light.  Happiness to me is just a momentary burst, though great at the moment when it's gone there is a void left.  I don't feel that void when feeling God's Joy.  In my reflection today I am feeling Jesus' love by his dying on the cross.  My verse for me today comes from the first part of Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times. . .

Blessings to all this day with God's joy.

Happy Tuesday.  The pictures above show what I've been up to this week.  The top two pictures show Nancy J's quilt using the Berenstein Bears material.  This is a really cute quilt.  Nancy will be showing this quilt in her booth at the Cincinnati Quilt Show next week and at the American Quilters Paducah Quilt show the week of April 23rd.  Nancy's booth for the AQS Paducah show is at the Rotary building.

Isn't the third picture cute as a bug?  It does represent ladybugs that Shelley W. made as a table topper.  I bet real ladybugs will love this table topper.

The final three pictures are Carol P.'s quilt.  Carol said the material is Moda and I loved quilting this quilt.  You see I am a self-proclaimed fabric snob.   I love, love, love to quilt on high quality quilting fabric.  The feel of high quality quilting fabric is like touching a rose petal for me.  And since I rarely get roses I love to touch fabric.  Fabric lasts longer than roses anyway.

I found this verse that I want to dwell on this evening, from the first part of Proverbs 11:16,
 "A kindhearted woman gains respect"...

Blessings to all.