Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday - My Garden Angel and another Double Double May for Me Quilting Giveaway!

This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks to everyone who entered!  

Check the Giveaway and May for Me page for the current Giveaways.

I love these little wall hangings.  I can't seem to stop making them once I start.  I love cutting out all the little pieces and I especially love quilting them.  It's like I am coloring.  This one is called Blanche the Garden Angel from Patch Abilities Wall hangings.   

I call mine "Miss Molly" !  I particularly like the swirly curly hair on my Miss Molly! Her boots remind me of my hiking boots from college. I not only wore them to hike up on Rib Mountain, but I also wore them to class everyday in the winter.  It was very cold in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.   They kept my toes nice and warm.

 Maybe that is what it is about these wall hangings... I see something in them that brings back a fond memory.

Today is the last day of May, so here is another May for Me Giveaway!  It's another Double Double Quilting Giveaway.  It is $20.00 off my Machine Quilting Services on a Lap Size Quilt or larger. (approximately 45" X 65"). 

I am giving away 2 prizes - 2 gift certificates good for one year thru' June 16, 2012.  So two of you will be winners!  Additional Bonus:  If you book your quilting date for September 2011, you will can get an extra $10.00 off the quilting! So that's $30.00 off the quilting on a lap size quilt or larger.

Please leave a comment to enter.  

• First you need to be a follower  - new or old.
•  You will have two chances to win!

#1  What kind of freestyle quilting would you like me to quilt on your quilt if you win? 


#2  If you want a second chance in the drawing - make a separate comment and tell me where you blogged, shared or tweeted about the Double Double Quilting Giveaway and please include the link.


Drawing will be June 15, 2011 at 6pm. The winners will be announced on June 16, 2011. 


Still time to enter last week's drawing thru' 6pm on June 1, 2011. Double Double Quilting Giveaway!


Still looking for Pat from the May17th Giveaway!  .... Anyone know Pat?  I am still holding the prizes for Pat.


So please make sure you include your email address, so I can contact you, if you win, if you are a nonreplyblogger. Thanks!

I really enjoyed the last day of May and I am going to love all the days in June.  

A friend suggested we call it:  "Just do it June!"

Thanks for following!

Marcia

on grief and guilt . . .

My darling daughter wrote a blog entry today that touched my heart. I asked if I could share it on my blog, and she graciously agreed.

To me, it was interesting to note that guilt (even in the midst of my own grief) was no respecter of persons. I've had to guard carefully against it, because it's neither healthy or helpful. Why did guilt reach for me? Oh, there were lots of angles it took, but I won't go into that here and now.

Jocelyn created her blog a little over a year ago, and at first she sporadically shared funny teaching stories and the like. Since Everett's death, though, she's been more consistent and has used it as an outlet to her thoughts and prayers during this grieving/recovering process. I often read her blog with awe, wondering how she manages to so eloquently express her deepest thoughts.

But then, enough of this proud mom's babble . . . go read for yourself . . .

Prone to Wander.

:)

Waiting for spring

Genny made this darling quilt using our Goodnight Monkey Tutorial, and a Waiting for Spring Layer Cake. It's a great use of a layer cake. 

I machine quilted an all over pattern and I think it turned out so so cute!

Can't wait to see you tomorrow! I've got some exciting news to share! ;)

Thanks for visiting our quilting blog!
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Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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Ring Quilt Pattern.

ring quilt pattern.

may theme: I Can't Resist!

I finished both my Sketchbook page and my journal quilt just in time.

You Can't Resist was a great theme for me: I am organizing a Soy Wax class with Melanie Testa and guess what? The title Melanie had chosen for the class is ... YES: You Can't Resist!

I had a package of the appropriate quality of soy wax at home in order to test it. Last week I spent two afternoons in my studio, happily creating with soy wax and thickened dyes. The blog post is not ready yet, but in the next couple of days I am going to upload photos on my personal blog.

Marlis Egger | Journal Quilt - 8" x 8" | soy wax resist | fiber reactive dyes
(I'm still exploring the potential of my favorite letter, the B...)

You Can't Resist! (whole spread opened up) - candle resist

May for Me started a new way of thinking for me and for you...

It all started with an email conversation between two quilt bloggers...  In March, Tonya and I emailed back and forth talking about how we never find any time for ourselves.  I suggested that we set aside time for ourselves and blog about it. Tonya said I can't do it in April.  So we chose to take time for me in May, thus resulting in the May for Me Celebration!  So I made a  photo logo and we started thinking differently about our me time!  We decided, we would take time for ourselves, even if it is only minutes.

So now what are you going to do ?   May is over... you can still take time for you any day and in any month.  You just have to say, this time is for me to sew, quilt, craft, and whatever you want to do.  Think of it as Minutes for Me!


Yes, May for Me didn't turn out to be an "all fun filled" month, but I think both Tonya and I enjoyed the minutes we got!   I enjoyed reading about what everyone was doing this month, while I was with my Mom at the hospital.  As I am sure Tonya has enjoyed reading too, because she is confined to a chair, as her leg heals. I have kidded about Joyful Jubilee June and July!  I think I will just enjoy May for Me with Minutes for Me every day of the year!
Someone once said,  "Don't be sad that it is over, be glad you did it!"


All in all the May for Me Celebration was a delightful blogging adventure!  Hurray for May! May for Me was for everyone!  Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun and really made it a celebration of yourself!

Many of the participating bloggers posted about May for Me ending... BUT it is really just the beginning!  You learned how to take time for you... These are the ones I found so far...

 Belinda says it perfectly at BLines And End and a Beginning?

Wilma wrote " May is almost over..." at Wilma's World

Sharon posted Memories of May and hosted a 4 week Giveaway Vrooman's Quilts and Perfect Ending


Heather shared: Saturday Sewing the Jamie Dress  and her recap of Completed Projects and Goals of the Month

Last day of May for Handmade Crafts Done While Rving

Tonya posted this:  Hillbilly Handworks and a bit of a learning in May for Me! and Living it up on the last day of May!

You can still grab the logo link on the side bar and add it to your blog.  Make sure you email me to link to your blog on the May for Me Page. Watch for upcoming posts about Minutes for Me. 

Yes! We will do a May for Me Celebration next year! 




Watch for one more May for Me Giveaway tonight for Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday!  


Also still time to enter last week's Giveaway thru' 6pm on June 1st!

"Don't be sad that it is over, 

be glad you did it!"

Enjoying the last of May!

Marcia

Gardens of Dreams: the art quilts of Vyvyan Emery

It's Day 5 - and the finale - of our exotic flower quilts series, and we wanted to share with you the inspiring original art quilts of Vyvyan Emery.

It's a Marvelous Night for a Fern Dance, 43.5 x 31", by Vyvyan Emery, at Rosewood Quilts

Vyvyan lives in the mountains of western North Carolina, an area noted for its many cultural opportunities and its abundance of  fine arts, textile arts, and music.  Surrounded with so much natural beauty, she takes great pride in corporating the joys of nature into her quilts which she both sells and enters into quilt shows. We love these appliqued ferns, whose leaves gently undulate as if they are listening to music. Notice how the jewels tones really "pop" against the deep black background. This quilt won first place in the small professional category at the Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Garden of Dreams, 47 x 58", by Vyvyan Emery, at Rosewood Quilts

On her Rosewood Quilts blog, Vyvyan notes that the placement of the main caladium leaves in this quilt were done from a photo of her garden,  then she filled in the rest of the details with her imagination. Notice the careful juxtaposition of   patchwork monochromatic blue tints and shades which provide the contrast between the night sky and the day sky in the background.

Native to the Amazon River region of South America, the vibrantly colorful tropical caladium is grown from a bulb and makes a stunning addition to a window box, border, or patio. It can be planted in a container and grown indoors during the winter, then moved to a patio or terrace for the summer. The brilliant reds and pinks with the contrasting green make this exotic plant a perfect and original subject for a quilt.

Lotus Garden, 30 x 30", by Vyvyan Emery, at Rosewood Quilts

"Lotus Garden" is a landscape quilt which uses the traditional Far East inspired color of indigo blue to provide a rounded portal to a scene so serene and ephemeral, that we feel rested and refreshed each time that we view it. Giant lotus flowers float in languorous splendor while in the mist, a large rock rises protectively from the water. Note the use of the split-complimentary colors of blue-red, spring green, blue-green, aqua green, and aqua blue, which really bring the lotus flowers to the forefront of the quilt. A strand of reeds helps bridge the gap between the timeless beauty of the scene and the stately inner and outer border of the quilt. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow: We'll wrap up this exotic flowers series.  Later this week we're beginning a special June feature (you won't want to miss it !)

Selvage Quilt Binding Fringe Trim Tutorial

Remember these little selvage stick people? (Tutorial here)  Well, my guild has an upcoming mug rug swap, so I turned them into a little mug rug.  And see the little selvage fringe set inside the binding on the sides.  That's what this tutorial is for.  It's something I thought of a while back and wanted to try.  It is super easy to do!  So here we go ...

Quilt your item as desired and trim all the edges.

Prepare your regular binding which you want to use.  Select your selvages.  I just went with two sides of selvage trim this time, but you could easily do all four.  I also used selvages with a fuzzy/shaggy edge because I think it gives a better effect.

Trim your selvage pieces so 1/4 inch of fabric is showing above the white selvage part.

Pin your selvage to the edge of your quilted item.  Line the edges right up.

Sew just above the shaggy edge of the selvage.  See the photo below.

See?  You are sewing in quite a ways.

Just another pic showing this.

Next pin your binding in place, over top of the selvage.

This time, use a regular 1/4 inch seam allowance to sew the binding on, just like you usually would.  By using a 1/4 inch, the binding will be sewn just at the top of the white of the selvage underneath.

Handstitch your binding to the back, same as usual.  See the little selvage peeking out?  It's in there nice and secure.

Ta da!  A nice little selvage-y detail. 

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I'd love to see a pic if you try this. 

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Thanks for stopping by!  And of course since it is Tuesday, I'm linking with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Kinda a teeny tiny bit excited for this Saturday

Because I get to spend the whole day in heaven, I mean quilt shops.

Vanessa, Kimberly and I will be hanging out at the Material Girls, Pine Needles and American Quilting, so come by and visit! (contact the shops for exact times) It's going to be a fun day full of give aways and discounted signed copies!!! :)

I will be bringing along some of my Moda Bake Shop projects. For sure "It's a Picnic Kind of Day" are there any others you'd like to see?

I'd love to know which one of my projects is your favorite. 

Thanks for visiting our quilting blog!
Have you checked out our patterns recently?
 For more fun updates sign up for Piece N Quilts newsletter.
Leave a comment, we'd love to hear from you.
~Natalia

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Art Nouveau Iris at Highfields

What a busy month May has been!  On the last day of the month, Kathy gave her second of a two day workshop with Highfields Quilters, just up the road from us here at Blue Mountain Heights.  They made Kathy's Art Nouveau Iris pattern using a kit supplied by KoolKat Quilting.  Here are some photos of near-completed irises.

Hope you had a good Memorial Day

Yesterday, my sister Nancy and I went and put flowers on the graves of our Mom, Nancy's son Matthew and our sister Susan.

My dad's grave is too far away so I always put flowers on his memorial in the garden. Pep's brother Keith always takes care of his parents.

My grandson Brian asked today why so many people had flags out. I told him that Memorial Day started as "Decoration Day" - a day to honor the veterans who had died keeping out country free. We now have Veterans Day - a day to honor all of the people, alive or passed on who have served our country. So Memorial Day has become a day to honor not only them but all of the people that we loved who are further along on the journey.

A way to say thank you to our ancestors and our heritage.

Barbara Brackman has a really good history on her Civil War Blog. Thanks, Barbara.

You all are probably going to get really sick of pictures of Spike but, oh - well. Max was in Oklahoma this weekend at an event so Spike's cousin Nero came for a visit. Spike loves Nero and follows him everywhere. Nero is really very patient with the little guy. Maybe because even though he's a lot bigger, large dogs mature more slowly and he's still pretty much a puppy himself. They're really pretty funny together.

I'll announce the winner of the recipe cards tomorrow. Forgot Monday was Memorial Day.

Hope you had a good one.

More Bali Butterfly quilts from Wandoan

Here are 2 more quilts made by Liane from Wandoan using Kathy's Bali Butterfly pattern.  Liane says there are more to come, and readers of this blog will have seen others Liane has already made.