Raggedy Ann

I'm missing my boys this Halloween Eve.  A bit of the empty nest syndrome I guess.  Halloween was so exciting when they were young.  The chill in the air, the frantic last minute costume finalizations.  Seems like that's when a lot of sewing got done around our house too.  Costumes...making them or adjusting the store bought ones to fit.  I really miss that!  That's something that my mom always did for us too.  Made our costumes.  My favorite was the year I went as Raggedy Ann.  She sewed the apron and put together the rest of the outfit but the part I remember most was the red hair.  She made it out of a mop head...dyed it herself.  I recently went rummaging through my folks picture boxes but all I could find was a couple old slides.  So this print isn't the best.  But here I am as Raggedy Ann.

I actually think I look a little sad here...but my make up was running (after bobbing for apples...do they still do that?).  At least real Raggedy Ann dolls have that permanent smile and wide open eyes.  Not to mention the hidden "I love you" heart.

Raggedy Ann was my favorite doll as a child.  And when they came out with the 85 year anniversary version, my mom bought me one.  I think it was in 2000?  Anyway, I had put that in storage several years ago and recently went foraging through mountains of boxes trying to find her.  Fortunately, I did. 

So just in the last few weeks I have been entertaining the thought of making a Raggedy Ann quilt.  Specifically, I want to do one with embroidered blocks. In fact, my mom is going to help with the embroidery. At least that's my plan.   ; )   She used to do that too.  A very talented woman who passed on her love of sewing to me.  I'm thinking maybe a redwork type quilt.  If you've seen or know of any nice Raggedy Ann patterns out there, let me know.

One (Sun) Flower Wednesday

It has been one crazy week.  I am in the middle of a move, entered my first ever quilt show, came down with laryngitis AND all in the pouring rain.  I actually finished this flower at the end of last week...my version of a SUNFLOWER...not knowing how much I'd need the reminder of the sun and some cheering up.  So here it is in spite of the craziness...One SunFlower Wednesday....

My First Show...Done!

So, I finally transferred the pictures from the quilt show we went to this weekend.  It was the first time I ever entered one of my quilts to show. Although I didn't win any big prize, I got a nice participant's ribbon and it was a great experience.  Especially given it was a very rainy day up in the hills that day AND I came down with a cold and laryngitis just in time!!

Here's our first glimpse of my kite quilt.

And that's ME of course, trying to smile (feeling miserable with a cold/cough)!

Nice participant's ribbon, huh!  And the card with my quilt name and story.

My FAN club and Cheering Section!
Tabatha, Betty Jane (aka mom), Charlotte

MOM and me.  She's the one who started it all because she the one who taught me to sew.

Yes, the 'crew' that endures my fabric obsession.

And there it is...Flying to New Heights.  Follow the link to really appreciate the 3D effects of this quilt. It was super fun to make and I had fun sharing it.

Oh and it rained SO hard I didn't get many pictures of the grounds of the winery.  But even in the mist, it's pretty.  You can see the hedge shrubs carved to spell out Ironstone in the background.

See...beautiful, gorgeous...wish you were here?
Ironstone Vineyards, Murphy's California 2010

Tomorrow's the Day!

Two years ago, I attended a quilt show for the first time.  It was held at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys CA,   a venue I have come to love.  Anyway, I was an inexperienced quilter and was amazed at beautiful quilts displayed.  My friend told me I'd be entering my quilts there someday and I kind of laughed and shrugged off the idea.  Well, here it is, 2 years later, and I have an entry on display there.  It took a lot of courage to do this...I'm always so hard on my own work.  Anyway, the day is finally here!  Tomorrow, some of my closest friends (including my mom) and I will be heading to the hills.  Despite the rain (first of the season) and a bout with laryngitis, I'm determined to have a great time!  It will be a privilege to see my quilt among so many other's beautiful work.  I'll report back of course!

peRFect in purple

Finally I was able to work on more hexie flowers this week.  In fact, my color choices were inspired by a tennis match I was watching.  You see, I'm a tennis fan and a Roger Federer Fanatic and he wore a very nice shade of purple at this tournament in Shanghai.  Normally, I'm not a fan of purple, but I have two very close friends who love it AND of course there was my hero decked out in it.  So, my One Flower Wednesday post is in honor of the Shanghai tournament (even tho he didn't win in the Final) - here's to Roger Federer, peRFect in purple. (And yes, TabbieG, that is your purple racket).

Fun Fall Runner

Oh my, what a busy week and weekend but I did manage to snap some photos of the runner seen in my last post (that some of you asked about). 



Wish I could take credit for making it myself but I actually bought it at a department store several years ago before I ever started quilting.  It helped inspire my persuit of quilting for sure.

Hiding In the Pumpkin Patch

Here's one of my "autumn" hexagon flowers....hiding in the pumpkin patch.  This is my first post for One Flower Wednesday.  Hexies are great because of all the possible color combinations you can make.  Love that Fall is finally back in the air!

Flower Finale

Finished the Final (hexagon) Flower for my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt.   I used the fabric favors we got at the Oakdale Quilt show last weekend and here it is.....

I watched the last 20 grow on my design wall over the last few weeks.

Then added them to my Flower Tower of 60.

And there you have it...an accordion of hexie flowers...80 to be exact!

Reminds me of that book...the VERY Hungry Caterpillar ; )

And now to get going on those gazillion white border hexagons!  Haven't begun to calculate how many I'll need.  But I will eventually...cuz it's what I do...math...(and so should you)!

'Tis the season....for Quilt Faire's.

So this year I looked up some local quilt shows ahead of Fall to be sure I'd make it to a few.  There's so much on the internet these days but it's not the same as seeing them "live" and getting out of the house for that matter.  Took my mom and TabbieG with me to a small local show/auction in Oakdale CA (cowboy town).  It was nice and as always run by friendly women of the sponsoring guild.  Anyway, here's our favorites and if you are interested in seeing more, come back in a few days and click the Oakdale Quilt Show tab at the top of the blog.  Enjoy!

MY FAVORITE

Notice the petals being plucked from the flower around the border (above).

Love the way the flowers petals are layered  (below).

MOM'S FAVORITE

This is a Civil War Reproduction pattern made with reproduction fabric from 1860.

TABBIEG'S FAVORITE

Pretty Purple Hearts

It was a very nice day and saved me from suffering through the 49ers disappointing last second loss, Ugh!

Accepted!

Well, been checking my mailbox every day this week and after a very long, stressful friday, look what I found. 

I've very excited since it's my first quilt show entry ever....and I'm relatively new to quilting. 

And this show is at one of my favorite places...the Ironstone Winery in Murphy's CA.  Such a beautiful venue.  Can't wait !