Garden Path - More of Chocolate, Aqua and Misty Green

Front and Back

Don't you just love the Garden Path Block?
I wanted to make the  Garden Path block having seen it on another site - soo why not as a medallion on the back of quilt? I had tons of fabric left over from the blocks but nothing large enough so piecing was my next option.

Like it? Here is a free pdf pattern at McCalls Quilting - Garden Path Block.
Of course I had to take pictures of it in my garden.

To see the complete Craftsy Block of the Month quilt go here.

Linky Parties I am linking with:

While outside taking pictures I snapped a couple other pictures.

Momma Robin was having fit attack while I was taking shoots of her eggs in my Granny Smith apple tree.

My tree is laden with apples this year. Last year there were maybe a total of 5 apples, and the year before there was 1 apple, yes only one apple. So I am quite pleased that I may get a couple more this year if  the squirrels don't beat me to them!

Don't you love these colors - red and pink begonias and yellow marigolds. I planted them this morning. 

My one and only miniature sweet pepper plant. I placed two whirl-i-gigs hoping that they will frighten away the nibblers.

I hope this doesn't encourage the nibblers.

Not busy now but it does once the birds realize it is filled again. We had a couple visitors this morning.

The Oakleaf Hydrangea Bush has great blooms this year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Chocolate, Aqua and Minty Green - Craftsy BOM 2012 Quilt Top

Quilt top is done!

Remember Amy Gibson from Hickory Dickory Dock who led Craftsy's Block of the Month in 2012?

She chose some fantastic blocks. Many were new techniques for me such as: Hexies, Asteriks, Dresden Plates, Chevrons and Drunkard's Path. Not new were Log Cabin Variables, Nine Blocks, Paper Piecing, and Nine Blocks.

Below is the link to access monthly patterns and instructional videos on Craftsy's website:

http://www.craftsy.com/class/The-Craftsy-Block-of-the-Month/50

It was a good day to sew since it is a rainy one. More rain is predicted to come with Tropical Storm Andrea heading our way. We have flash flood warnings with the possibility of 2 to 4 inches of rain. I hope it isn't more than this. It will be a great weekend to sew.

Wishing all of you a safe weekend especially those of you in the path of the brewing storms!



It's Friday - I am linking with Richard and Tanya Quilts!

Another Quilt is Finished!

Caleb's Quilt

It is 99.9 % finished and I am so pleased with the end results. It still needs a label. It has been designed but need to make a trip to the fabric store to purchase printable fabric sheets. Caleb, my grandson, did see it in the real on Mother's Day while visiting. He asked, " Does it need to be finished?" At that time it didn't have binding. "Yes it does need to be completed" I responded.

The quilt was stitched in the ditch around the frames and around the pictures. The shirts were stippled, a large design of stipppling.



I will be joining up with Connie's Linky Party today at Freemotion by the River! I've missed participating!

And on May 31, 2013 I am linking with Link-A-Finish with Richard and Tanya Quilts. Thanks Richard and Tanya!

Mother's Day

Thank you Ty and Mindy for a lovely Mother's Day! 

Vase of flowers that I brought home with me.

 Each side of the arrangement boasted of different and gorgeous flowers. 

Beautiful roses, peonies, lilies on this side.

Mini yellow roses, dark pink roses on this side!

Things I Won!

Remember when the Quilters Gallery Blog Hop was happening? Well I was fortunate to win from two different bloggers. This prize/present/gift - it feels like a gift was sent by Christine Mann from Quiltersdiary.com. She sent a DVD by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins of Piece O' Cake Way. It is "Teach You to Applique."  Sounds like I have an evening with a bowl of popcorn and learning how to applique. Fun!

Christine also sent me two Thimbleberries' "Warm & Cozy charm packs. I see another charm tote bag in my future. I have the perfect pattern for them.

Thanks so much Christine!

Another giveaway I won from Butterfly Threads Quilting. Diane designs patterns. Isn't her "Mr. Knott's Neighborhood" pattern adorable?  I love, love all those bright cheery houses. And look I have a fat quarter she sent for a green house.

Thank you Diane, and Michelle from Quilters Gallery for sponsoring the Quilters Blog Hop Party.

Last evening I attended the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild's meeting. Oh what a fun evening we had. Everyone needs to meet our dynamic, happy, zany, and fun President, Bianca.

She came up with a game where we were divided in groups of 10. She read a story that had "right" and "left" throughout the story. Every time she read right or left you passed a fat quarter (each was given a fat quarter) to the person to your right or left as heard in the story. The speed increased and the number of rights and lefts increased. The fat quarter left in your hand was yours to take home. Tah dah! this was the fat quarter I won - well sort of!

Above are two Shona Congo bags that I purchased. The fabric is high quality and has fled with them when facing danger and had to be on the run. I was so touched and inspired by these 4 gals who sew with limited resources having many odds against them living in a land of many hardships. There are a couple of videos showing them sewing with treadle machines and singing as as they make their wonderful things. In their words from their website - shonoacongostore.com, " Shona is a group of 4 young women from Eastern Congo, facing significant physical disabilities, but also facing life with a huge amount of determination and hope, not to mention excellent sewing skills."Go and be inspired! They will encourage you!

Catching up After 2 Very Busy Weeks!

My goal was to have this baseball t-shirt quilt finished by the end of March. I was being motivated to finish with the assistance of several WIP Challenge linky parties. But here it is mid-April and it's not completed! It's just the way of life where things pop up that change priorities. Maybe before the end of April.

By the time last Friday rolled around I was exhausted and stressed to the max. I needed some stress re-leasers.  So I took my dog for a walk on a beautiful spring day with camera in tow.  Here is the first picture showing a sign of spring but it also was inspiration to weed and clean up. Notice the poison ivy with all the leaves and a few weeds.

Continuing walking down the street I captured a picture of these beautiful pink tulips. The soul sure can be soothed with a walk enjoying the things of nature. There were many creatures too, a rabbit hiding himself not to be seen, birds twittering in the trees beginning to bloom, and a woodpecker pecking away at a tree.  Now I was able to return home and complete my work.

How do you like my new desk? Since it was a bit larger than the table I was working off I had to rearrange my quilting studio/office again. I purchased a wireless keyboard so I can place my laptop on the left side of my table and have workspace to spread out papers and documents. The center drawer is a pull out drawer with the front that can opens outward. I love the fact that I can lower my arms and shoulders and have better posture while at my desk.

Here is a picture of me dressed for church. I am down 3 dress sizes. Whoop! Whoop! How did I do it? Changed the foods I ate and exercised. I quit counting calories. Even though I was eating 1200 calories a day and exercising everyday for 1 1/2 hours I was not loosing weight! So, I began to eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts, continued to eat some red meat but less of it, more chicken, turkey and fish, upped the fish oil tablets and gave up processed foods such as flour, white rice, and packaged foods. Now I only exercise 45 minutes to 1 hour a day, 3 times a week vs. 5 times a week.

I hope the next time I write a message I will have a finished quilt to show!  Thanks for stopping by.

Chip It!

Now that I have become a Pinterest addict I have seen many of these color cards that are so wonderful. So I decided to explore it a bit. Sherwin Williams has a website where you can download a picture of a setting of your preference and it will pull all the colors that you can use to recreate a room or a quilt. I have been wanting to do something to bring out different colors in my living room and was surprised by some of the colors. I want to use more greens and other colors to make it more eye appealing. Try it is fun at Chip It.

I took a picture of a pillow that is made of the same fabric in my window treatments against a love seat that I have. I was very surprised with some of the colors that chip it showed.

The colors printed are lighter than what is shown in the chip it card above but are still in the same family. Daring, Torchlight and Rockwood Jade are brighter colors. I have a Judy Niemeyer Mariner's Star quilt pattern and think I will see how I can incorporate these colors! A wonderful quilt in these colors as a wall hanging would bring life to my living room, as well as other items too to pull it all together.

Very Little Quilting - But Great Time with Friends

We try to get together once a month but sometimes that doesn't always happen with busy schedules. But when we do it is always a sweet reunion. We have deemed ourselves as the FLAW (Former Ladies At Work). We were all on staff with a crisis pregnancy center.

This past Saturday we who live in Charlotte took a road trip to Winston Salem to attend an Easter program and visit our former Director who now lives in Winston Salem, NC. One of us is missing since she is involved in her own church's Easter program. Lunch was at the Village Tavern and their Spinach Chicken Salad was wonderful! If ever in that area I would highly recommend the restaurant.

After chatting and visiting we left to go to the Easter program at Calvary Baptist in Winston Salem. The program was well done with a crucifixion scene that was so close to real that played on the emotions and served as a reminder the huge sacrifice Jesus made to atone for us. Prior to that scene Jesus rode in on a beautiful white donkey while the believers waved palm branches honoring him as the king.

To conclude our time we all went to view Bobbie's new home while she served up a small cream cheese and chocolate dessert to get us home. Below is a picture of the stage before the program began. 

Sunday, was such a blustering day of rain and wind. When the weather changes so dramatically I end up with headache that debilitates, thus I was not able to do much quilting. When I was feeling better we had an unannounced visitor at the door.