The Bad, the Good, and The Lovely

Hi There!

I promise you, this will be the last time I blog about my "Love Is In the Air" quilt... lest you all put me on "IGNORE"!

Anyhow, I had a minor setback yesterday afternoon.

Placed the quilt in its designated spot - The Kitchen Table
and HEY! Guess What?!?!?

Gilbert and I BOTH agreed that it was too big, for our kitchen table.

The Bad

(see picture below)



So, we switched our Valentine's panel with the "Love Is In the Air" quilt and it worked out great!

The Good
(see picture below)

Okay, okay! So, now we see our Anne of Green Gables house, underneath the plastic, but that's as "Good" as it's gonna get!

And "Love Is In the Air" is now hung up, in our Long Arm studio.

*VBG*

And here, ladies and gents....
we have
The Lovely!

I made a special paper pieced label for my
"Love Is In the Air" quilt!

As for this evening,
I'm exhausted and it's only 8h45 p.m.!

D'ya ever feel this way?
Totally exhausted, for no reason at all?

Maybe several days attacked me, eh?



And speaking of "days",
we're already at Day 21!

Even my friend Elaine blogged about it!

(picture is Gilbert's idea and his hands, too!)

Have a MAH-VAH-LOUS MONDAY!!!

Rosa

Love Is In the Air!

Hi There!

If you remember, Gilbert and I
created a few outdoor signs.

This one will be hung up next weekend.

It's me and Gilbert and, down below,
is my youngest son James
and "Novac", our previous dog.



FINALLY got a chance
to finish off my hearts quilt.

I just LOVE the soft ivory background -
YEP, looks white in my picture,
but it's ivory.

Will try and take a better picture later.

This will go on our kitchen table
and I've finally named it!

"Love Is In the Air"

Am I the only one
or do you have problems
naming quilts, too?

And we're down to 22 days!

Can you BAH-LEEEVE that?!?!?

Have a GREAT Sunday!

Rosa

I (heart) Lobsters!

Hi There!

Gilbert finished my Valentine table topper.

OH MMM GEE !!!
(Oh My God!)
but he did a fantastic job,
if I do say so, myself!

And it's 100 times better in person, too!



He used a pantograph to go around the quilt...

And then, he copied the flowers that surrounded the word "Love" and did them "free-hand".

Amazing, eh?!?!?

Now I just gotta find the time to do the binding!

I've been hemming and hawing on trying my hand at pincushions.

And what better way than to try my hand at lobsters, right?

Well, this is my prototype and as you can see, I really need to get back to the drawing board.

As I type this message, I've done a 2nd one that is a LOT better.

Can't show it yet, as I might dip my toe into the "Etsy" waters and see if I can sell my pattern.

According to my friend, Frummie, she says that pincushions are a hot item, these days and I might either make these and sell them and/or sell the pattern.

And then again, I might not do anything with this.

*grin*

And looky looky here!

27 days!!!!

Hope you're having a wonderful evening!

Rosa

29 Days.... WOW!!!

Hi There!

Well, after consulting with a few friends, I was told that if I had a preprinted fabric panel and got Gilbert to quilt it and then, I bound it.... it was considered MY project!

Soooooo.....
here's my first project for 2011....

And it even has a label on the back!

(NOTE: if you click on the picture, you can see the quilted pebbles or whatever they're called.)



Here's another close up of Gilbert's work...

And the complete quilt...

Remember those swapped heart blocks?

The ones that I've been piecing lately?

Well, Gilbert put the top on Bertha, this afternoon!

I forgot to share pictures of Elaine's latest "stuff" that she sent me. Once again, she was cleaning her quilty closet and asked if I wanted this.

DUH!??!?!?

Is the Pope Catholic?!??!?

LOL

Rural Jardin by the French General.

Plus 3 pieces of coordinating fabrics, too!

I have a quilt in mind, that I want to make with this scrumptious fabric.... it's a BOM and I'm waiting for the last installment, before I make my final decision on this...

Plus, I need to figure out how to stretch my 24 hour day into possibly 30 hours.

Anyone out there have any suggestions?!??

LOL

Here's one of MY own pictures.

29 more days till I take that metallic bird
and fly south.

Rosa

Hi there!

Took some pictures around 8h30 p.m.,
from our bedroom window.

DARN, the flash went off on my camera, but at least you get to see the "white" stuff, on our window screen.

Here's a picture of our street.



Managed to get someone,
walking in the middle of the street.

And since I had 1/2 of the afternoon off,
I managed to get some sewing done!

YES, I decided to put a thin line
of dark colored fabric and
found the GORGEOUS
heart fabric that Elaine
had sent me to me
a while back.

One of these days,
I'll have a camera
that will take TRUE colors!

This fabric is just SCRUMPTIOUS!!!

Are you all tired of the number 33?

Well, I am!

I promise we'll skip to 32 tomorrow!

*grin*

Wish me luck, in the morning!

Didn't go to Curves this evening....

I got a feeling with the shoveling going on, tomorrow morning, that this will be like "Boot Camp"!

Rosa

Christmas in January!!!

Hi There!

Today, I got a lovely gift from a friend in Scotland. She and her husband also thought of Gilbert and included a Scottish Piper's Apron for him!

Pretty kewl, eh??!?

I got 8 GORGEOUS fat quarter Scottish plaids and some of them even have tiny "Scottish" dogs in the print!



Rosemary even sent me a cute booklet on The Sanday Trail....
Now, I'm all set - I just need to win the lottery!

LOL

Gilbert was asked to have his picture taken with his new apron.

That will come - the "Model" said tonight wasn't the night.

I'll surely share a picture of my Gilbert in apron, ASAP.

*grin*

(isn't that the cutest?!??!)

And, as one of my little side buttons state, on right hand side of my blog, I've taken "The Process Pledge".... meaning, I will try and share pictures and such, of my "Progress in Process".

This evening, I cut out 19(?) beige 6-1/2" blocks and sewed them to my hearts. I even managed to sew 3 strips of 2 rows. Tomorrow evening, it will be a breeze, to sew the strips together.

Now, this table topper, once completely pieced, will be 36" square. I'd kinda like to add a pinkish and/or light greenish 4(?) inch border to this.... Or, should I go with a deep burgundy flowered 3 inch border? Or should I just put a 3 or 4 inch beige border and leave it as such? The hearts are so pretty that I don't think I want fabric that's "too busy" and that will distract from these hearts.

And I don't want the table topper to be too big, either.

What do you think?

Hmmmm.... I think I just answered my question.

A fabric "audition" is required,
I do believe.
*grin*




And, my mathematical wizzard friend, Elaine,
stated that there was more than 32 days left,
before we leave for Florida...

"S'more like 35 days.", says she.
To which I quickly replied,
"Oh but I'm leaving a day early, to catch the bus!"
To which SHE quickly replied,
"But that STILL wouldn't be 33 days!"

Soooo, in trying to straighten up how many days are left, I've decided to repeat some numbers.... hope none of you are keeping track!



Ya know, I just realized... I'm only 2 days off.

Another day of 33 and I should be back on track!!!

Have a great Wednesday!

Rosa

DJ Block and H2H Blocks

Hi There!

Well, I re-signed up, once again, with Elly's BOW (Block Of the Week) and since today IS the deadline and I hadn't made A-7 (Dad's Plaid), yet.... I really didn't have an excuse, did I?!?!?

So, my friend, Elly.... here's my A-7

Okay, remember a while back, when I was in the Heart 2 Heart Block swap?

Well, apparently, these heart blocks that were quietly languishing in a (clean) pizza box, in my closet were considered UFOs - imagine that, eh?!?!?

Sooooo, since Valentine is just around the corner and we took off our vinyl Christmas table cloth AND our kitchen table looks bare, I decided to put together a table quilt, with these hearts.

The only problem is... is that I didn't realize how MANY gorgeous hearts I had!

*VBG*



Soooo, I took out the darkest red ones. These will go into my table quilt.

"What will I do with the other ones?", you ask.

Well, if you were in that swap, you might be one of the lucky contestants to appear in my "Heart 2 Heart" quilt, that's not pieced together yet, but will be in our local quilt guilt show, in October.
(stayed tuned for more...)

For now, here's the ones that I've selected to go in our table quilt.



I'll be posting more pics, as I move along on this project. *s*

Meanwhile, I've finally finished this crumb quilt.

Gilbert has a Valentine's panel to quilt for me, first and then, he'll be doing this one.



And yes, folks, there's now THIRTY-FOUR days left, till I leave for my once in a lifetime dream vacation to Florida!!!!

(Friends + Quilting = Dream Vacation)

*VBG*

Back to work, tomorrow...

Have a great week!!!

Rosa

Be Still My Heart!

Hi there!

Well, I've been a bit slack:

-I promised to blog every day - I skipped a few days.

I received this INCREDIBLE package
from my friend, Susan Moore -
neglected to do a photo shoot and
post it on here.

See, once again, you gotta ask yourself,
"Is the glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty?"

At 50, my memory's not like it used to be.
Do I complain? Okay, well, I try not to... *grin*

Anyhow, Susan and I had decided to swap some "Hearts".
I had sent mine in earlier - last year perhaps?
I had told Susan that I wasn't
in a hurry to receive mine.

Now.... here's the neat part! You ready for it?

I had forgotten COMPLETELY about
our swapped Heart promise!

And it was a HUMUNGOUS surprise
when I opened up Susan's parcel,
to see and touch her .... jaw-dropping work!
*VBG*



Susan crocheted this cute little heart!
And since I can't crochet, you can imagine
how precious this little one is, eh?

On this one, she embroidered their
Australian flower.

Can't remember the name of their flower, unfortunately,
but to me, it is VERY symbolic.

Susan's work is as well done in the front
as it is in the back...
TRUST ME!

She's pretty darn good with a needle!
*grinning*

LOVE the way that she used this fabric,
to make it seem as if the squares
were PERFECTLY put there, on seam...

And YES, they're perfectly lined up!!!

Now, you see in this one....
this is where Susan's imagination just
gob-smacked me!

I would NEVER have thought
to personalize these hearts!

Once again, PERFECT embroidery,
with such light, airy ribbons and
2 perfect hearts!

Incredible, eh?
*grin*

I honestly can't tell you which one
is my favorite... but I'm sure likin' this one,
with my name on it!
*grin*

And then, THIS funky one -
kinda reminds me of
"Flower Power"...
a vintage heart, sorta...

LOL

And to TOP IT OFF,
she made me this sweet little stuffed heart!

I'm not sure if it's meant to be a pin cushion,
but it's too darn cute to use up, Susan....

I'll have to find a special place to hang it up...
*grin*

And finally, a cute "heart" card!

I turned it over and over and inspected it...

Why, Susan ... Is it possible you MADE this card?!?!?

If not, it's a lovely card, my friend!

Thanks for swapping, Susan!!!!

Waving from up North!

Rosa

Last Friday's Mail !!!!

Hi There!

Got these GORGEOUS gifties,
from my friend "Jo"....

*grin*

Two Special "Heart" blocks,
a birthday Siggie block,
2 lovely pieces of purple fabric,
a cute little knitted pincushion,
a magnetic note pad and
a "peep hole", with
a cute bead fob attached to it!

Thanks a bunch, JO !!!!!



Now, this is the FIRST time that I've tried
to clump all my pictures, together....

Does anyone out there know how to do this,
like in "easy-smeasy"?

I went to Power Point,
uploaded the photos and re-sized them...

THEN, I took a clip shot of my "montage"
and saved it.

But, as you can tell, it's not quite "square".

:-(

Any ways that might be easier?

Rosa

H2H (Heart 2 Heart) blocks and EBay

Hi There!

Well, remember the episode where
I was expecting 40 gorgeous Heart 2 Heart (H2H)
quilt blocks and I received McCall's patterns?!??

Well, no one stepped forward,
looking for their lost patterns,
so Gilbert and I decided to list them on EBay.

I thought I'd share with you the link,
in case you're interested.

*grin*

A5 size (6-8-10-12-14)



And this bundle is for the "bigger" size:

Size DD (12 to 18) and E5 (14 to 22)

Now, if you're interested,
you only have like 6 more days
to bid.

Rosa

H2H (Heart 2 Heart) Blocks - FINALLY ARRIVED!!! PART 2

Hi there!

Here's pictures of my H2H
(Heart 2 Heart) swap blocks
that I received -

PART 2



(always, from top left and clockwise):
Brigitte Baierl - LOVE your fabric choice, Brigitte!!!
Its actually a burgundy flower, but it looks like exploding fireworks!!
Beverly Sherman - Love the fabric and the (excellent) hand work!
Betty McPeck - I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for hand sewn blanket stitching!
*VBG*
Barbara Perry - What an ADORABLE cute little "Heart Person"!!!
(still studying your block, trying to figure out that embroidery stitch!!!)

(always, from top left and clockwise):
** DUNNO ** - Such a gorgeous fabric and a paper-pieced job, well done!
Marianna Bergkamp - Marianna, what can I say?!?!? *grinning*
(NOTE: Marianna had previously sent me several different heart blocks, done in this fashion..)
LOVE your choice of thread, too!!!
Lorianne Walker - Love your fabric choice, Lorianne!
Liz Morgan - Liz... I LOVE a scrappy quilt - scrappy hearts are even better!
*VBG*

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Elaine Petrik - LOVE the pink fabric and I just noticed - HEY - the WOW background has hearts in it, too!!! How cool is that, eh?!?!?!?
** DUNNO ** Another scrappy heart with different kind of muslin... unfortunately, the maker didn't give us her name. :-(
Debbie Albers - LOVE your fabric choice!!! Reminds me of a sailor, for some reason! I'll call it my Sailor's Heart.
Deborah Schultz - Such soft, pretty pink fabric! And the machine stitching - OH MY!!!
I've never seen THAT stitching, before!!!
It's too die for!!!
*VBG*

(from left to right)
LunaSea (Anne Tomanelli) - LOVE the hand sewn blanket stitch AND the cute little heart button, too!
** DUNNO ** - Cute heart, lovely fabric.. looks like (very well done) machine'd blanket stitch but once again, the maker didn't give their name, unfortunately.

(always, from top left and clockwise):
Kerry Fondren - Love this heart, Kerry!
Katie Sherman - Once again.... love this one, too, Katie!
Kathy Kirby - WOW! Another original idea! LOVE this one!!
Center piece reminds me of a band-aid.... *grin*
WAIT A SEC! I just re-examined this one!!! It's NOT an extra piece!
Kathy went and fussy cut the middle heart!
WOW! this heart is just TOO adorable!!!!
Kathy Sherman - Fabric choices - LOVE THEM!
Embellishments? What can I say!?!?!
*VBG*

Now, just because.... I took some extra pictures,
to show you closeups of some of these blocks...

Once again, this is Kerry Fondren's block....
Love her fabric choices and it almost looks as if the
pieces (gently) overlap each other....
But no, they're simply paperpieced and then,
the heart is appliqué to the background.

This one is from Kathy Jones.
I loved the funky (and different) shaped heart...
Loved her 2 fabric choices and the cute
little bow-tie rose embellishment, on it!

Katie Sherman!!! You did EXACTLY what I was trying to
wrap my brain around but couldn't quite design it the way
I wanted!
Mind you, yours is 100 times better than what I
wanted to do!!!!
LOL

Isn't it the neatest thing about swaps???

You get to examine a girlfriend's work....

To admire, to question (how did she do that?),
to learn and to hold it close to your heart and
cherish it!

Thanks to everyone that participated!

'' The Heart that Gives, Gathers ''
by Mrianne Moore

Ain't that the truth, now, eh?!?!?
*VBG*

Rosa