Home on the Range

Alex Golf Coach/School Librarian has been so wonderful - to our whole family.

 So I especially wanted to do something extra to remember her this Teacher Appreciation Week.

Where I come from, that means something homemade. Found a yard of cowgirl fabric in a vintage shop, and as I was musing about "Home on the Range..."

I decided QUILT MY GOLF CLUBS was a good idea.

You know, create something quilty,

like those ridiculous stuffed animal head golf club covers you've seen?

 It started out well enough.

Alex did some stitchery, of course:)
Decided homespun was the best choice for lining.

  

I quilted the cowgirl fabric.
1/8" zig-zag edge to make sure all layers got covered in seams.

All done! Early!! But it doesn't fit. Fun, but not functional. So...

Recut, refit, redesigned.....I lost track of how many times.
Only one "D" shaped seam, you wouldn't have thunk it so complicated.

Velcro Dot closure.

Far from the corset stay ties I had originally planned.



This adorable crochet edged bias binding is from Etsy,

Holland Fabric House

 



Done. Wrapped at 5:00AM.

Will leave it to Coach to tell us if it is functional or fail:)

Remember this? Rainbow on the Ninth Hole.

Thanks my Twitter friends who always stayed with me
while driving the golf cart at Alex's matches.

Was fun chatting with you!

Seen @MQG

Some of my faves from the last meeting I attended:)

Dresden Plate, one traditional and one modern.

How fun is this!!!

Shiloh signs all her work. Nice:)

Signature piece.

Somebody very sweet has a new pillow for her room:)

Genevieve says, doodle feathers every day, pen and ink, and you'll be able to quilt like this.

Corner sets quilting are also stars! Wow - Genius

star-in-a-star detail

Nice quilty bag too!

Shop model - because houses are cool.

Grandma Mary's Bear

 

I made this bear for Grandma Mary. She is going on a trip to a family reunion. In another country. With travel on planes, trains, and even cruise ships. The trip may be hard for her because Grandma Mary has beginning stage Alzheimer's. We thought if she had a bear to travel with, it might be a little easier for her.  The bear could remind her where her seat is, which is her bed, and just be a friend as she is meeting all the new people she has known for a really long time. I hope so.

 

 

Grandma Mary's bear is purple and blue lilac flannel, extra soft! I didn't know that pink was her favorite, I only guessed what color Bear's ribbon should be.

 

 

I do love stitching bears. In fact, if you'd like a keepsake bear like Grandma Mary's, send me your favorite shirt, old blanket or most any fabric, and I would love to help make it into a special

bear for you. 

Link here for directions.



 

How the Bear Travels

Remember that bear that tried to steal the food out of your picnic? Oh, wait, that's not the bear I was thinking of. It's the one that gets to travel to Russia! Yes, the bear that travels to Russia is the one I'm thinking of. If you don't remember, here is the story of how Mom made a bear.

 

Tracy is our friend from Community Choir. She is traveling to Kiev with her husband to pick up their new adopted kid. I bet children there will be so jealous of the bear their kid will get, and everyone will just want to hug that cute thing!

Mom likes making bears now. Here is a new blue bear she has made. This one too is waiting for just the right eye buttons to come along.

Very best wishes to Tracy, family, and bear. Safe travels!

Mom & Daughter Quilters

If you have met Cristy Fincher and her mother Sharon Schamber, then you know I can't really find words to describe what special ladies they are.

nice people:  Cristy & Sharon

This summer, I've been privilege to learn from Cristy and Sharon. Here are some quilt details and comments form Sharon's trunk show at July's MQG. I know you have already seen all these major award winning museum quality quilts in magazines, so I'm just posting details for Quilt It! Challenge inspiration Pinterest board, and (as I was too excited to hold still long enough to get great pics - sorry) some fuzzy looking quilts that I still can't believe I saw  in real life!
One of the many reasons for this Thankful Thursday post.

Tiniest yo-yo daisies ever.

Spiral maze echo quilting, I see a spider web.

Don't know what you call this (except for Amazing!), but it makes me want to go to the beach.

Sharon says Quilting is sculpture, not just holding 3 layers together.

I want to try this next Quilt It! Challenge block.

An applique block with embroidery.

Sharon may spend 50 hrs. on an applique block.

Whole cloth design; borders/frames are quilted

Can you see the feather shells border?

This is my favorite: very tiny pumpkin seeds with even tinier stippling.

This one is for @SewExcitedQuilt. Something new!

Sharon says embroidery needles won't bend in freemotion quilting like quilting needles do.

A quilting sampler.

Are you warn out yet? I am. Time for a break.

Alex is making raspberry tea:)

LUV this traditional design. Surprise, it's not English Paper-Piecing. 

Have you tried Sharon's Piec-lique technique?

This epaulet edging has hand stuffed cording.

Sharon develop this technique when she was a wedding dress designer.

What did you do in a former life that contributes to your quilting?

Seriously, tell me! I love those stories:)

Sharon says UFOs are like Ex-husbands. Why would you go back?

Here is an exception. Once Upon a Time is all hand made, needle-turn applique, this quilt waited 14 years for finishing.

And then won NQA best of show.

Sitting Bull's portrait in quilting.

I think Sharon would say the secret to her infinite design styles is having enough technique to go wherever you imagine.  At least, that's what I learned from her quilts.

Beyond unique: Crimson Promises blocks and borders are joined by lattice cording. 400 yards.

No worries, there's a DVD  if you want to try this.

This is a good pic! You can see the variegated dies in appliques and in the cording too.

No to mention, THE QUILTING!

Did you know, the original Emerald Reflections was destroyed in a truck fire?

 This one is a remake. Imagine!

A Perfect Moment also has a sculptured edge,

like her green sister, Memories of Emerald Reflections.

That looks like a great place to end.

packing quilts



Sewing for Music

This was Bill from Canada's idea. Bill is tenor in our community choir. Alex and I both sing in the choir. Well, Alex sings, and I am learning :)
Choirs don't use music stands like other musicians. Sometimes it can be challenging to hold all your music. Bill made a super sewing project that solves all that. Really!
Are you ready to see it?

 

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Ta-Da!

Bills genius idea is to sew an elastic handle on your music binder!

 

 

• I used 7" of one-inch-wide plain old braided elastic. I'm wishing I would have used 9".
• Tape elastic in place 1/3 of the way from top of binder. Make sure you can close the binder without stretching the elastic.
• Machine tack ends of elastic in place. Use any old needle that you are ready to throw out. I used darning foot and covered feed dogs.
• Bill was right, you must hand turn your machine. Not that it's not strong enough to sew on the binder, but the thread keeps breaking unless you hand turn.

You never know where you'll meet new sewing friends! And I'm always pleasantly surprised when the defi de jour is solved with stitches:)  ---Mom

Flowers in the Kitchen

Alex, the best stitcher in our family, crossstiched blue (of course!) roses on these fluffy waffle-weave oven mitts. Nice how she mirrored the design. Just wanted to share a project that's really finished!

So thankful for my daughter, Alex :)
I know this is a crazy busy week, everyone getting ready for holidays. But if you have a minute, please share: What are you thankful for this Thursday?

 

Thanks for sharing,

Happy Holidays --Mom