Extravaganza!

This past weekend was the Needlework Extravaganza in Statesville.  Basically, it's 40 vendors selling all my favorites - fabric, thread, ribbons, patterns, yarns, embellishments, sewing machines - it was like one big candy store!  I was there before they opened. Being seasoned vendors, they had the doors opened early for those of us SO anxious!  I finally got a quilt ladder, and not a moment too soon. The gentlemen who makes them is retiring and this is his last show in the area. I know he will be missed but he has been doing it for 40 years so I wish he and his wife a very happy retirement.

This larger one was made from orange batik and the center with yellow batik fabric.  I used silk leaves and clumped beads in the center.



I made this one smaller using a very lightweight grey polka dot fabrick.  I added some silver embroidery thread to the center, some large beads and dangled smaller beads.  I finished it off with black fabric  flowers.

 I picked up a template to make these sassy little flowers.  As soon as I got home I started to rip fabric strips, sew, glue, and them embellish.  I liked it so much I did another on Saturday!  These are going to make great little gifts and will sure adorn many a handbag.

More Secrets Revealed

Elyse has been soaring in her crocheting abilities and surprised me with this beautiful scarf.  I'm just so proud to wear it! In honor of her craft, I made her a roll to hold her crochet hooks.  There's also a place for a tape measure and small pair of scissors.  No more looking in the yarn bin for those hooks!

 

A fun not too intense gift to make was this cubicle quilt.  It's only about 9 x 11 and very bright.  Hopefully it will cheer up Elyse's roommates new cubicle!

A bit of a stretch for me to sew this past Christmas was a handbag made from Ultrasuede.  I think the expense of the fabric made me nervous, but I couldn't have been happier with the results.  And best of all, my daughter loved.  Hmmm, wonder if I'll ever make one for me?!

Not a Secret Anymore

I finally got a second quilt made for my son. He wanted something bigger than the last one that he could put on his sofa.  And voila!  It was originally intended for last Christmas, buy hey - he didn't know that last Christmas!  It's all batiks from my stash - wow!  So my doesn't my stash of batiks look any smaller?  As a quilting buddy of mine says, "this stuff just keeps on having babies!"

Each strip was cut individually because I was working from small pieces and each side of each crazy log cabin was a different size.  There are also some rows of 1" squares and the border is in 1" squares. I wish you could see the quilting. (If you double click on the pic, it should enlarge and you can see some of the stitching) A long arm quilter custom quilted it and it is really amazing.  Merry Christmas son!

34 and Counting!

  For the last several years, we try to go somewhere special for our anniversary. Being the beginning of December and the Christmas season, it is sometimes difficult to find the time and somewhere not too far away. This year I chose Nashville. I had been told that the Gaylord Opryland Hotel was amazing, especially during the Christmas season. It is spectacular! Although we did not stay there, we spent many, many hours there. It is like walking through a huge indoor botanical garden wonderland. The Christmas decorations were breathtaking! Lights everywhere and thousands and thousands of poinsettias.

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The waterfalls, especially being indoors,
were quite majestic.













This was Nashville -
 of course there was a music theme!

Turkey Talk

Thanksgiving has become such a warm and peaceful time for me.  For the past several years, it's been just my husband, myself and our two adult children.  We enjoy a yummy (and simplified from years ago) dinner and then decorate the Christmas Tree together. One of the things I really enjoy doing is decorating the table.  This year I made these really cute Oreo turkeys - one for each of us. Fun!

I also like to do a centerpiece. Not much blooming this time of year, but as my good friend Diane taught me, you just go out there and start cutting - next thing you know you have a pretty good looking arrangement. And don't forget to embrace all the pretty leaves on some shrubs, like the colorful Nandina leaves. I even had some New Guinea Impatiens still in bloom that I was able to use.

Another favorite are the table linens that my mother-in-law crocheted for me years ago.  What that lady could do with thread and a hook was just amazing!  There are matching placemats and glass coasters on the table. It is also a special way of honoring her  memory.
And somehow a pretty table makes everything taste better!
I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and that you are blessed during the joyous Advent season.

Celebrity Extreme

Quilt market in Houston was a couple of weeks ago.  Ty Pennington's new fabric line was introduced there in partnership with 
Westminster Fibers Lifestyle Fabrics. So Elyse got to meet yet another celebrity! I'm not one to ooh and ahh over celebrities, but it is kind of neat for her.  I haven't seen his line yet, but I'm sure it will be worth waiting for. Of course, I'm  jealous that she gets to be among all that fabric, thread, and all matter quilting related!
(Sorry the pic's not too great.)

Modeling Chocolate

A new medium! After watching 2 seasons of "Cake Boss" on Netflix, I had to try this. Much to my delight, you don't have to buy something expensive and premixed. You mix your own (recipe) using chocolate and Karo Syrup! I had the perfect opportunity to use it on a birthday cake for a fellow quilter who was turning 50. Not bad for a first try, althouth I think I made it a bit stiffer than it needed to be.  I scored it into squares using a pointed wheel tool, "painted' the squares using two colors - I used "pearl dust". DO NOT use liquid food coloring - it reacts badly with the chocolate. I then cut out a "5" and "0", placed it on the quilt and placed the whole piece on the cake. I then modeled some buttons and placed those on the side of the cake.  I was pleased with the result. Admittedly amateur - but a whole lot of fun!  See the needle and thread? The needle was a toothpick with a thin covering of the chocolate and a slit in the chocolate to look like the eye of the needle. Writing gel was used for the "thread." 
   The next family birthday cake is going to be such fun!