Just Joined F-r-i-e-n-d-s Swap

I just joined F-r-i-e-n-d-s Swap at Khris's blog which is called Sew Prim Khris . You can find the details of the swap at http://sewprimkhris.blogspot.com/2009/04/f-r-i-e-n-d-s-swap-open-to-all-bloggers.html. I am an official follower of her blog, and you will love it, if you check it out. I love any kind of friendship swap, so this one sounded like great fun.

May Star

I am going to get this posted a day early and tell you about my May Star. Pat is a lovely lady who has a great blog at Posh and Trendy which is at http://poshandtrendy.blogspot.com/ Get to know her through her interview below and visit her wonderful blog.

Pat's Interview:

ABOUT ME:

Hi, my name is Pat and I'm a wife, mother, grandmother and retired commercial artist that loves any and all fiber arts.
If someone were to ask me what experience has shaped my life and personality the most, I would say, without hesitation, growing up on a farm where I learned to understand plant, human and animal relationships, developed a sense of responsibility and gained skills and experiences that have helped me throughout my adult years.

WHAT INSPIRES ME:
Gosh, what inspires me? That's a tough one to answer because lots of things get me going. I have an incredible urge to create things.

WHAT I LOVE TO DO MOST CREATIVELY:
I absolutely love to take fabric scraps and sew them together into larger pieces that can then be cut out to make something useful... not just quilts but clothing and I love to design and make my own patterns.

MY FAVORITE FABRIC AND DESIGNER:
Fabric stores are danergous-magical places for me and I'm not sure I have any favorite designer but I do like Joel Dewberry, Heather Ross and Amy Butler fabrics.

UFO I INTEND TO FINISH FIRST:
My daughters quilt I started 10 years ago

WHAT'S ON THE DESIGN WALL NOW:
Christmas gifts. two knitted sweaters

WHO WOULD I LOVE TO MEET:
All my blog friends.. their my idols and inspiration

IF I HAD ONE WISH:
To have more time to sew.

PLANS FOR THE FUTURE:
Declutter my sewing room and take a long vacation.

Here are pics of some of the doll clothes that Pat has made:

Aren't they all just lovely? I am totally inspired by the talent that I am finding at various blogs, and this is a good example of how talented people are. Thanks for sharing about yourself, Pat and for being my May Star.

Another Spikey Block

I finished this spikey block in the morning, as we are off to the vet with the dogs. It is just their yearly booster, but the trip is an hour and a quarter one way, and the stress level is high to say the least. It will be wonderful being home again...boy, I am saying that a lot lately.LOL

The spikey blocks are going pretty quickly, so if I do one a day, I will be done in less than two weeks. It will definitely be my most colorful quilt.

I also found a wonderful site called Quilter Weekly Home Study Courses, and they are giving two free courses, one of them being on fabric postcards. So if you have always wanted to learn how to make a fabric postcard, you can take that course at http://www.quiltingweekly.com/homestudy/.

Horses , Spikes and Curves, a Button, and a Sentimental Story

Joe and I went on a lovely walk and saw two beautiful horses...a mare and the cutest foal that you could imagine. Pictures had to be taken, and thank God, we had the camera with us. The day was sunny, but cool, and we throughly enjoyed our hike in Dunfanaghy. I fed the mare carrots, but the foal was too young to eat them. I just loved them!

Then,Diana from Custom Blog Designs at http://customblogdesigns.blogspot.com/made me the cutest button, which I won for my blog. You can see it at the right. It has a pic of Dunfanaghy with the title Irish Muses and Life in Dunfanaghy. I love it! What a lovely prize for my blog and thanks for the wonderful design!

Then, I spent the early part of the afternoon making another block for my Carnivale wall hanging. I am on a roll now, and I am enjoying each and every one that I am making. I found the most wonderful pattern in Deb Karasik's latest book Quilts With Attitude called Harvest Moon...It is a very dramatic huge moon that is paper pieced against a dark sky background. Joe fell in love with it too, and I will make that one once I finish the wallhangings. It is stunning, as the colours in the moon are so vibrant! I think that I am addicted to spikes and curves!

Finally, a good friend of mine named Mary who lives near Young in the bush area, sent me a wonderful pic and story. I am putting it in the post, as I thought it was so poignant!

Here it is: The story of an Australian Digger in Afghanistan with his tiny plot of grass in front of his tent.

Here is a soldier stationed in Afghanistan; posted to a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt (Australian soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can smell the grass, and feel it grow beneath his feet. When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass in Australian soil - to bring them good luck.

(If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.)

I just thought this was so heartwarming, and really represented all the soldiers serving all over the world and how they must feel. Just thought I would share this.

Well, that was my day so far. I am heading off to make dinner for everyone!

Another Carnivale Block and a Nice Surprise

I am thrilled that I made this block today. I am completing my Carnivale Wallhanging and this is the one that I made this morning. It is going to be a very intricate and colorful wallhanging...I can see that! If you notice, the spikes have double colours, as the centre spikes only had one colour. All the rest of the blocks are like this pattern, but of course I will use different colours to coordinate with this block and the centre block. I am so happy that I could do the block after learning the techniques at the workshops. It has given me the confidence that I needed, and I wrote Deb right after I did the block and thanked her. Of course, I also sent her a pic of the block that I completed .

I am off to take a walk with Joe! This has been a lovely day so far!

PS: I won an award from Custom Blog Designs, which you can see at http://customblogdesigns.blogspot.com/ I won a choice of a blog button, a blog signature or a digital scrapbook page. I think that I am going for the blog button, as I thought that would be cute.

The way this day is going, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.LOL

Finally, just to tell you...I got an email that says that The Fat Quarter Shop is having a wonderul 30-50 percent sale on Candy Kisses and Love is in the Air Fabrics. You can see the sale items at

http://www.fatquartershop.com/Candy-Kisses-Moda-Fabrics-Sandy-Gervais.asp and also at

http://www.fatquartershop.com/Love-is-in-the-Air-Moda-Fabrics-Deb-Strain.asp. I buy all of my jelly rolls there for my hexagon flowers, but love their fat quarters, fabrics in general, and of course all the Michael Miller fairy frost that they have.

Carnivale Centre Block

I am posting the centre block of the Carnivale wallhanging so you can get an idea of what the spikes and curves are like. I didn't sew them together, as you are supposed to sew the blocks together in a certain sequence and then the rows together. I am so glad that I went to the workshops, as I learned how to make the spikes and curves, but also how to sequence the sewing of the blocks. Truthfully, I would have sewn the centre blocks together.LOL Also, I am including the blocks that I did for the other wallhanging. When I finish them both, they will be gorgeous. The patterns are so incredibly unique! If you want to get Deb Karasik's new book Quilting with Attitude, you can get it at her website store which is at http://store.quiltmavens.com/

I am happy to be home...I am a homebird at heart, I guess. I didn't like being in the hotel by myself, and talking to Joe on Skype was not cutting it for me. The dogs were upset, and I knew that Joe missed me as I watched his face on Skype.I guess that's the way it is with soulmates. I landed up leaving earlier with a friend named Harriet, but I was so happy to get the welcome that I did from everyone. I was thrilled to see Deb Karasik, and what I learned from the workshops was invaluable, as I never would have attemped her quilts without them. I always felt so intimidated when I looked in her two books, but now, I know that I can finish the wallhangings, and that is so nice!

Yesterday, I sat with Joe and the boys and finished another hexagon flower, using my latest purchased jelly roll fabric. What can I say? I was glad to be home. As Dorothy always said in The Wizard of Oz, "There is no place like home."

I'm Back from the Retreat

I have so much to tell that I don't know where to start. My friend Kathleen arrived to pick me up, and then we got to Belfast at around 9:30. They wouldn't let us register for our rooms till 4PM, so we headed to the first workshop.Let me mention the one negative point here...The workshops were located in the courtyard area a pretty good distance from the main hotel, so dragging our bags and machines was not an easy feat. The pic below doesn't show it well, but there were a series of steps all along the route to the workshops. The hotel is behind that table, so you can see that the far building in the back where the workshops were was pretty far when you are dragging bags.Boy, was I glad that I bought my featherweight, as most had brought their heavier machines, and they were regretting that decision.

We all finally reached the first workshop. I got to meet Deb Karasik whom I had written to for years, and who was teaching the workshop. I gave her a welcome to Ireland gift and a big hug. The workshop was brilliant, and we worked on a wall hanging called Carnivale. It has tons of spikes and curves, and Deb demonstated how to do them, and to my amazement, I was able to sew them. We then had a lovely lunch and we finished the workshop at 4:30. Here you can see in the pic the wall hanging called Carnivale that Deb Karasik created herself. She is proudly standing in front of it, and isn't it lovely? We all hoped ours would turn out half as nice as that one, and we were busily trying to create the blocks.

The evening was basically ours, and I met with the guild to have dinner, and we had drinks at the bar.

Saturday was our busiest day. We started the day off with a lovely Irish breakfast. We had our second workshop with Deb, who this time gave us a pattern called Autumn Calls. What can I say...more spikes and curves and lots of time to practice all of the techniques. It was not just creating the spikes and curves, you had to put them all together in the right order to create the block shape. I was so glad that I attended and learned how to do it all...Deb is a wonderful teacher!!!!!

There was a lovely lunch, and we finished again at 4:30. A friend of mine, named Harriet was not staying for the dinner and heading back, and as I missed Joe and the boys, I went back earlier than planned. I missed the dinner, but boy was I glad to be see them all and arrive home to a wonderful welcome. I think that besides learning all the techniques, I loved meeting new people. I exchanged details with a woman named Anne who lives in Kilkenny, as we really hit it off. You can see Anne in pink below working and Deb in the background.

If you ever get Deb's latest books called Quilting With Attitude, you will see how detailed the patterns are...I am just so happy to have learned it all, and I now feel confident to do her patterns. I bought some more paper piecing supplies from Deb: a large 18 inch pink quarter inch ruler...I alreday had the 6 inch and 12 inch ones...and a wonderful seam roller, which doesn't make it necessary to have an iron there.

So glad to be back, and I will visit all of your blogs today. I can't wait to see what you have been all up to.

I'm home....Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to the Quilt Retreat

Tomorrow morning at 7 AM, Kathleen is coming over and picking me up to go to The Dunadry Hotel/Country Club for the quilt retreat. It will take about two and a half hours to get from Dunfanaghy to Belfast. For those who missed it, you can see the Dunadry Hotel at http://www.dunadry.com/ I am all packed! I am taking my Mickey Mouse machine embroidered bag full of the clothes that I will wear, a larger black carry bag on wheels with the fabric and supplies, and my 1953 Singer 221 Featherweight, which I oiled throughly today. I am taking our camera with me, and I will be taking lots of pics which I will post on the blog on Sunday, which is when I am returning home...at approximately half two in the afternoon. I will check all the blog posts Monday morning early to see what everyone is up to.

Off to be with Joe! I have to admit that although I am excited about going, I would like to be back with Joe and the boys on Sunday!

Happy Sewing to everyone and a wonderful weekend!

Geisha Quilt Top Finished

I put the sashing and the border on the geisha quilt. I laid it on the floor so Joe could stand on a chair to take the pic. Excuse the wrinkles, but it is impossible to straighten it out on a floor.LOL

I like the oriental fabrics that I used, and nothing can beat those that you can find at Shibori Dragon which you can see at http://www.shiboridragon.com/ I will take the top to the guild tomorrow night to pin the layers together and then baste the layers together. I know that some of the gals will help me do that. That will be the last quilting bee till the quilting retreat this weekend.
I won't do the machine quilting till I get back, so that will have to wait till next week. I don't want to rush it. Well, I will take my long walk with Joe, probably on the beach, and then relax and read a bit...There is nothing like a cup of coffee, a comfortable lounge chair, and a good book.

Last Geisha Block

I did it...the last geisha block. I loved the one that I picked for the last one...the last one is always the saddest, but that means that I can start my new project. I will have to cut the strips for the sashing and binding. I got wonderful oriental fabrics from Shibori Dragon, and now the finishing of what was a long project.

We are off for our walk for the day. It is a bit cloudy today, so the sun is hiding behind a cloud, and it is cool, so I will need a lightweight jacket. Deb Karasik, who is giving the workshop on paper piecing at the quilt retreat is right now on a plane flying to Ireland. That is so exciting. She wrote me that she was visiting her grandkids before the big trip to Ireland. I can't wait to see her!

I will also cut out my hexagons for the next hexagon flower....as I want to use the jelly roll strips from my new jelly roll. It is always fun to open up a new jelly roll.

I have to add something...This afternoon, I watched the first Twilight movie and it was awesome...very romantic and exciting. I thought that they matched the actors to the book's characters perfectly, and I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon watching it while Joe took a nap. Also, Simone from the Netherlands sent me a lovely siggy with a hand embroidered birdhouse on it. It is so lovely, and the fabric is so colorful and cheery. Thanks so much Simone!

Another week...I am sure that it will be a glorious one for everyone!

Hexagon Flower and A Lovely Summer's Day

Joe and I enjoyed a wonderful walk again on Killahoey Beach..We had a warm and sunny day today that reminded us of a summer's day. I came home and found tons of email from quilters who had joined the Bloggers Quilt Festival, and that was nice. I have been attending a virtual quilt show from the comfort of my chair at home. What glorious quilts I have seen!

I finished another hexagon flower, and tomorrow, I will begin a new jelly roll that I bought from The Fat Quarter Shop called Basket of Flowers which is from Mary Englebeit Collection for Moda Fabrics...you can see it in the pic provided. I will be able to finish the rest of the hexagon flowers with this jelly roll.

Also tomorrow, I complete my last machine embroidered geisha quilt block, and then I will start cutting out the strips for the sashing and borders. Lots to do there!

I leave on Friday for my quilt retreat, and so I only have 5 days to go. Thursday, right before my trip, Joe and I are going to Letterkenny for breakfast at The Quiet Moment. That is our favorite place to have breakfast.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Park City Girl's Quilt Festival

Amy, at Park City Girl, which is located at http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/ is having a Bloggers Quilt Festival, and I thought it such a fabulous idea that I decided to join. The object is to tell about your favorite quilt and then read about all the other quilters' favorite quilts who have entered.

So here goes the story....Without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite quilt that I ever made was the Sylvia Bridal Sampler. I had read many of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek novels, and I felt a kinship to Sarah McClure, who funny enough was from Pennsylvania like myself and also moved to a new place and found a guild like myself. So making the Sylvia Bridal Sampler was an easy decision. I discovered that each block was 6 inches, and having never made a Sampler before, I never guessed what it entailed. My goodness, I found out it had 140 blocks, and many of them were very difficult indeed! Well, it turned out to be a wonderful learning experience, and it changed my life in many ways. I bought my favorite fabrics from the Michael Miller collection of fairy frosts, and began my journey. I took several blocks with me to the quilting bees, and as in the book, I worked on each block in conjunction with trying to form friendships in my quilting group. Everyone was amazed at the complexity of the patterns, and especially how small the blocks were, and through conversations about the blocks, I slowly worked my way into the group. I learned so many different techniques, and it was an incredible four months in my life. One quilter from the group has decided to make the quilt also, but most humourously said that they would never have the patience to do a quilt like that. I finally finished the quilt, after working on it diligently each and every day for four months. Joe and I had to go to the Workhouse to take a pic of it, as it was too huge to take it in our home. It was a day to remember, as we attempted to try to figure out how to take a picture of what turned out be a king sized quilt. Yes, king sized, and we have a double sized bed.LOL Joe finally took the pic, and even that day was memorable for me. Joe is the photographer of the family, and he is always there to stand on chairs or whatever is needed to take the best pic possible. I am sure that everyone has a story about a quilt that they made that made a significant difference in their lives, so you might consider joining the list. Oh, just to tell you, the Sylvia Bridal Sampler was made by the characters in the sixth novel called The Master Quilter, and I will never ever get the buzz that I received when I made that quilt.

I think that what I like about this bloggers event is that you get to read about other quilters' lives , and the list of the participants is now very long . I am enjoying reading the stories, and that is the lovely thing about sharing our lives through our blogs...we are forming wonderful friendships. As Jennifer Chiaverini said so eloquently about her characters in her books: "The Elm Creek Quilters learn that friendship is a most precious gift, and that even in the darkest of times, love illuminates the way home." I do agree with that wholeheartedly...We are sharing our lives each and every day, and even though seperated by great distance, we are forming wonderful friendships. So, if you decide to join in, enjoy all the stories and just be totally inspired!

Enjoy the virtual quilt show!

Soulmate Heart Wallhanging Finished

I finally finished the Soulmate Heart Wallhanging. Joe took a pic of it on our bed while he was standing on a chair. That wasn't an easy feat for him, as Charlie yanked him yesterday on the sidewalk and he fell, so he is aching everywhere. It is impossible to have the camera catch the words that are machine embroidered in royal blue in each corner heart, but the words in the hearts are: Soulmate, Anam Cara, (which means soulmate in Gaelic), Forever, and Sweethearts. I machine embroidered flowers over the words, if you can see that. I will make a label for the wallhanging tomorrow, and give it a good steam ironing, and then hang it up on the wall. Joe is thrilled with it, so that made me happy.

We are enjoying our weekend. We had a lovely walk on Killahoey Beach, and we saw beautiful horses in the distance, as you can see by the pic.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Two Siggies

I received the cutest siggies in the mail. One was from a woman in Germany named Petra, who said that she started doing patchwork and quilting when her son Max was a baby. The other one surprisingly enough came from Max, who is only 7 years old. She said that he is always hoping that my swap partners have a chold or grandhchild who might want to swap with him. I, of course, made two siggies: one for Petra and one for Max.It turns out that my siggy will be her 76th siggy. She wants a quilt out of it, and Max wants a wee wall hanging. I thought that was so cute! Hopefully, they will check my blog and see their siggies, as I really loved them, enjoyed the story and wanted to thank them both.

Today, I will continue to work on my heart wall hanging. I am almost finished the antique stitching that I am doing, and then I will put the binding on and the sleeve and do the final hand sewing. I will be done by the end of the weekend, so I will post a pic.

Off for a romantic walk on Killahoey Beach with Joe.

Heart Wall Hanging

I finally put the hearts together. I used Michael Miller's fairy frost in a pearly pink for the sashing, as I wanted the hearts to be floating. Then I got the best idea for the border. I put the border on already, but it is not in the pic. I machine embroidered more hearts in the border at each corner, and put flowers and sayings in each that are very sentimental to Joe and me like: Soulmates, Anam Cara, etc. I am working on machine embroidering the hearts now. I did two of the corner hearts and will finish the other two this morning. I will get the batting today in the quilt shop, and I should have it done by the end of the weekend and will post the final pic. The border fabric is a medium pink fabric and the hearts in the border are a darker pink...I have some smaller hearts that I am embellishing, and I have to admit that I am enjoying the whole process. Joe is so excited about it, and that makes it the more special. It will go in our bedroom of course, and I can't wait to start working on it again this morning. I can't wait to show you the border, as it really completed it so nicely!

I have one week till my quilting retreat, and I can't believe it!

Oh, I also found this great blog that has all this free stuff on it, like tutorials, patterns, etc. It is located at http://freebiesforcrafters.blogspot.com/ I am sure that you will find something that you like. I thought it was great!

Surprises Galore

Today was an incredible day of surprises. First of all, I got Lurline's giveaway prize in the mail that I won. It was a really cute Dove Easter Basket which included a chocolate egg, a card, and a beautiful pack of charms. I will have to pop over to Lurline's site, which is at http://lurlineg.blogspot.com/ and say a big thank you to a really sweet lady.

Then, I got a wonderful surprise package from Nat, who is my April Star and good friend, whose blog can be found at http://notjustnat.blogspot.com/ She dyed some fabric and thread and sent them to me. The pic that I have included does not do them justice. I will use the thread for my crazy quilts, and the fabric, I will have to think of some special project where I can utilize the fabric . I also got a paper hanger figure from Nat, which is now hanging by my embroidery machine. It is so cute. Thanks so much!

Also, I received a lovely fabric postcard from my friend Leah. I used to live in Arizona and taught English on the Navajo Reservation in Monument Valley, and this card definitely reminded me of Arizona. Thank you for a lovely card...the machine free motion quilting was so pretty!

Also, a siggy arrived from Edda in Vestmannaeyjar, and I just loved the hen and the chick in the centre with the pretty embroidered flower. Thank you both!

Finally, in the midst of all these wonderful surprises, I finished my ribbed purple scarf, which I will wear with my darker purple jacket. I was happy to complete it, and it will keep me cozy and snug when the wind is blowing, which is often here.

I also received my itinerary for my quilt retreat at the Dunadry Hotel in Belfast, and there are wonderful activities planned, like workshops with Deb Karasik, a talk by her, meals included served in the Gallery Suite, and a drawing for a Brother Innovative 10 Sewing Machine. They will have a Patchwork shop set up in the Garden Room, and then a show and tell on Sunday. It will be such fun, and I am looking forward the event, which will be next weekend on April 24-26.

Last but not least, Dzintra and Nat met at Cafe Altenberg and toasted a drink to me, and Dzintra sent me an attachment of the pic. It can be seen on both of their blogs, but boy did that mean a lot to me!! Joe and I will visit Australia one day, so I can personally have that drink with them and give them both hugs.

Well, that was my day.....so many wonderful and exciting things happening!

Hexagon Flower in My Favorite Colour, A Lovely Spring Day, and Disappointment In Masters' Results

I completed a hexagon flower in my favorite colour of pink while I watched the Masters Golf Tournament. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods did not win, but his performance today was incredible. He came from way behind and almost won, but it was just not meant to be. I have to admit that I was so upset that he did not win, but I did cheer him on all throughout the game.

Earlier in the afternoon, Joe and I hiked to the dunes area. We bought some carrots at the local shop for the horses, but unfortunately, they were not there, as they usually are. The sun was out and we really had a lovely spring day here in Dunfanaghy. The scene that I love to see the most from the dunes is New Lake with Muckish Mountains in the distance. The field in front of the lake is where the horses usually are, but as you can see in the pic, they were not to be seen.

When I came home I knitted for several hours, and I am almost done the purple scarf that I am making to coordinate with a darker purple jacket that I have. I used Aran Wool, and will post a pic as soon as I am done.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday!

Weekend at Last

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to everyone! This week has flown. Today, Joe and I are heading to the Country Market in the Ozanam Centre to see what homemade goodies that they have. Even though we are a small village, our Country Market has become very popular all around. You can see a bit about it at http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=FI_69575

Joe and I have a very quiet weekend planned...one of which is a 8 mile walk across the dunes to Tramore Beach. We will have the beach to ourselves...we always do...and we will have our packed lunch there. Here are some pics of it to see why we would walk 8 miles to get there.

Tory Island can be seen from a distance. We are taking a day trip to Tory this summer. It is a Gaelic speaking island and very lovely. You can see info about it at
http://www.oileanthorai.com/

Hoping everyone has a happy holiday weekend! Don't forget the chocolate, but don't eat one this big. LOL