Haiku Contest

Just a quick note.... Some of you have asked to see the haiku that I wrote for the contest. Actually, I submitted several haikus. I just found out that EQ printed the winners' poems in their July Newsletter. You can see my winning haiku here and also on that page my other haikus that I wrote. There were a lot of people who entered, as you can see. I was so happy to win!

July Star

I am off to the dentist early on a bus tomorrow, so I am posting this today.
It is my pleasure to introduce to you Lurline , my July Star, who has a wonderful blog called Lurline's Place.She is such a talented lady, but more importantly, she is a sweetheart. I am thrilled that we have met through our blogs, and she is a good example of the wonderful people one can meet through blogland. Please enjoy her interview and also the pics of her astonishing works. She will truly inspire you!




Interview for July: Lurline Geoghegan

• A Bit about Me:
  I live in Perth, Australia with my husband, my 91 year old mother, who I care for and and adult son who does fly-in/fly-out work in the mining and construction industry. Mining provides the livelihood for the majority in this huge sandy state that is so rich in minerals. I was born in Charters Towers, a mining town in Queensland and educated in Brisbane, Queensland. I have spent 30 years of my life in remote mining towns in Australia. I loved all those years, but am a city girl at heart - just love life with all it's conveniences and vitality.
  
  I have four children, all of whom are now adults - two of those are twins, a girl and boy and two of my daughters have girl/boy twins. My youngest grandchildren are 5 and the first I have seen grow up from babyhood, so this has been such a gift and a joy. We have two Maltese puppies, Georgina and Alice who are now getting quite old.
  
  Over the years I have travelled extensively overseas and am so happy I did it in the days when I had so much energy to walk and walk and soak up the culture of other countries.
• What Inspires Me:
  Oh, now, that is a loaded question! Beautiful fabrics, I guess! I get a lot of inspiration from books, magazines and blogging, of course - possibly most importantly from friends. I belong to several quilting groups locally and in both Queensland and Western Australia have been very active in the state guilds. There is so much inspiration there, particularly in the quilt exhibitions. I was lucky to the International Quilt show in Houston, USA in 2007.
  
  In the past, I eagerly entered quilt shows and had a lot of success. I have also had my work published several times - that was then. Now I quilt for the love of it.
• What I Love to Do the Most Creatively :
  Again, a loaded question! At the moment patchwork and quilting. Though over the years I have dabbled in crochet, knitting, hardanger, embroidery, porcelain doll-making and aculpted doll-making. I think patchwork and quilting will always be my favourite as it has been for the past 13 years..
• My Favorite Fabric and Designer:
  Lots and lots of favourite fabrics and I move with the times. Since I started patchwork and quilting I have worked extensively with reproduction fabrics and always go back to them. The bright, pretty ones are the ones I love so much and though many people think, Civil War, drab! - that is not the case, there are so many wonderful reproductions these days.
  
  I really enjoy modern fabrics and can see how they come and go on the market - always something new. I love all the little Japanese novelty prints of the moment. Kaffe Fassett will always be a favourite, though too much can be overwhelming - one needs great colour skills to keep his fabics under control.
• UFO I Intend to Finish First:
  Oh, now - I really don't have any great intentions at this time. I have several beautiful UFO's that deserve to be finished - one an antique 4-block with lots of applique and lots of fine handquilting yet to be done.
• What's on the Design Wall Now:
  I have been playing with smaller projects lately - making bags, runners and sof toys. I also have a redwork project on the go and find the embroidery with just a skein of variegated red/pink thread so relaxing and tidy to do at night. Right at this very minute, it is 'pincushion passion' I am suffering, using a wonderful pattern of Heather Bailey's making pincushions out of fruits. I have fabrics prepared for a shaggy baby quilt.
• Who Would I Love to Meet:
  I admire so many greats in the quilting world and would be happy to sit in on talks by any one of them.
• If I Had One Wish:
  Related to patchwork and quilting - a perfectly decked out studio with fabrics that jump out at me then jump back into their proper place.
• Plans for the Future:
  Lots and lots ! In quilting - to keep on enjoying the way I am going now, with no pressures or time restraints on projects I am doing. At the moment, I am having so much fun blogging and meeting new people, making new friendships and this has been one of the best adventures of my life, so let's hope it continues!
  

I was lucky in that Lurline sent me several pics of her beautiful works or art. Wow, is all I can say! Get ready for a lot of inspiration :

First of all, Lurline did this American Beauty Quilt, and it is quite a beauty!











Then there is Angela's Quilt:











I love applique and this is drop dead gorgeous!









Don't you just love the blocks and the colours in the KC Quilt?









You know how much I love stuffed dolls and animals. Look at all of these.... Super cute!

Finally, I loved the Red and White Quilt! I will have to make one like that one day.












Thank you Lurline for a wonderful interview and for allowing me to get to know you. You truly are a sweetheart!

My Gosh! I Won a Giveaway and a Poetry Contest

I just found out that I won a wonderful July 4th Giveaway that was at Joanne's blog Splitting Stiches. Here is the announcement of my winning, and you can see what I won here.
Thank you so much Joanne! I can't tell you how much this means to me, being a Philly girl from the U.S.A and not being able to get all those wonderful patriotic items here in Ireland. Of course, we also do not celebrate July 4th here, so this is doubly nice for me. I will cherish everything, and I can't tell you how happy I was when I found out that I won tonight.

Thanks again, and please do visit Joanne's blog, as I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her and reading all her posts each and every day!

PS: I have to tell you that I found out about Joanne's giveaway at almost 1 A.M. in the morning. I was really tired, and ready to go to bed. Then suddenly, Joe told me that I had won the giveaway, and I couldn't believe it. He was reading the comments of the posts that I had and saw that I had won. I was thrilled!

Big News!!!!.......I am also adding that this morning, I got an email from Sarah Shriver from Electric Quilt. A month ago, I entered a haiku contest, as I love to write poetry. I really didn't think about it, as there were tons of entries. Well, it appears that I won, and I get to choose between Quiltmaker Volumes 1-6. I decided to take Volume 6 as it is the latest program, and it has hundreds of continuous quilting designs that I can use in my quilts. I was told that they really loved my haikus....What an honor!
I think that Robyn was right when she said that I should enter the lottery. This has been a very lucky time for me.

Escape of the Sheep, Aggie's Completed, and Some Information on Doll Making

Today, we had a funny occurence in our community in Dunfanaghy. Several sheep got out of the field and were wandering in our community. They went into people's yards and in the street, and boy was it funny! Joe took these pics which are a hoot. Hope you enjoy them!!!Don't worry, they were finally rounded up, but it wasn't easy. LOL

Yeah!!!! The fabric pens just arrived in the mail for Aggie's face, and I completed Aggie.The original pattern didn't have much of an expression, and I wanted her to have some personality. I think that she has a very sassy look to her. She definitely has an attitude!. Her lips are red, but the camera is portraying them darker. Anyways, I do love her! Someone emailed me that they would be nervous drawing the face, as she thought she would ruin the face of the doll. Well, I initially use an air water soluble pen which disappears in the air , and I get it at Barnyarns. It makes drawing the faces less stressful. If you mess up the face, it will disappear, but if you do it perfectly, you can then go over it with the permanent fabric pens.

Several people emailed me some questions about doll making.I get most of my doll supplies from two places: Dollmakers Journey and Jan Harrox Cloth Doll Supplies. I love Dollmakers Journey, as they have tons of patterns developed by famous doll makers like Patti Cullea and Jill Maas, and they have tons of supplies. There is also Joggles, which is very good. Some people have written me that they would like to get into doll making, so I will provide you with some neat links. There are also sites on line where you can take doll making courses. This site gives you a listing of the places where you can take coures online. Cloth Doll Classroom gives you a wealth of information on doll making and you can find that here.

Hope that answers some of your questions!

Nedra's and Kim's Great Giveaways, A Tutorial and Intriguing Product, and Teasing You All a Bit About My Irish Giveaway

A quick post to tell you about Kim's giveaway. Go to her blog and see what goodies she is giving away. Also, Nedra is having a 5 day giveaway...How neat is that!

Also go look at a great tutorial on the Patriotic Star Pillow at Moda Shop using a wonderful product called Texture Magic. I am definitely trying this out!

Just to tease you a bit about my Irish Giveaway , which will be in July... It will be all Irish products, one of which will be a bundle of Irish Tweed fabrics that are drop dead gorgeous. Also, there will be a stunning Irish Pattern, an Irish Quilting Magazine and some other goodies, which right now are all hush hush. A forthcoming pic will be posted in July with details of the giveaway. This is going to be a great bundle of prizes for some lucky person. Oh, I have to mention that this giveaway is to celebrate my first anniversary blogging and also for passing 10.000 hits...It is amazing that over 10,000 people came to visit me!

A Peek at Aggie

I have been working on Aggie the doll. The pattern was created by Natalie Ross and I love her. I am having so much fun creating her, and yesterday Joe called me Dr. Frankenstein....LOL She is almost done. The little gathered skirt has a waistband, and she is rather pretty and sassy.The hat really gives her character, but as you can see, I have not finished her face yet , as my fabric pens have not arrived from Cotton Patch yet, and I still have some finishing touches. I can't wait to put a face on her. I have been practicing drawing a couple of faces, and finally came up with one that I really liked, and it suits her to a tee. She is very patiently waiting for her face, but no mail today, so hopefully, the pens will arrive on Monday.

She is 20 inches tall, and sits rather perfectly. I changed the position of her arms from the way they were in the original pattern, as I wanted her to appear to be posing, and that gives her the look of movement.

I have included a pic of Aggie with her blouse tucked in...It does give a different look to the doll, and you can see the waistband that I made on the gathered skirt. I think that I like it better with the blouse tucked in, even though the original pattern shows the blouse loose and outside her skirt. What do you think?

Hope you like her!!!!! It will be a surprise for you all when you see her face.

Have a wonderful Saturday

Some Gifts and an Inspiration to Make More Pincushions

I received a few things in the mail today which also prompted me to sew some more pincushions. First, Natalija sent me my giveaway prize which is a lovely Christmas Cross stitch of Santa Claus, as you can see by the pic. I already started it, and although it will take me a long time to do, it will be cute! Thanks Natalija!

I also got a siggy from Renate Gesse, who lives in Germany, and in the middle of the siggy was a wonderful good luck shamrock , and the fabric was a lovely green. She also very generously gave me two lighthouse panel blocks. I thought to myself, that I could use them to make two pincushions. One of them, I am keeping for myself, and one is a gift for someone, but I can't say for whom. Thanks so much Renate! I hope that you read this post, so you can see what I did with the lighhouses you sent me.
I then made a patriotic U.S.A pincushion that is like the American Flag. All great fun!

I was thrilled that my doll stuffing finally arrived and I used it a bit for the pincushions, but that means that tomorrow, I can start the Aggie doll, and I am looking forward to that. I ordered some fabric pens too for her face, but they have not arrived yet, but by the time I finish the doll, I should get the pens.

Joe and I went to Letterkenny for our food shopping, and that basically was our day. We are excited because in our main street, a Chinese restaurant is opening this week, and that will be so nice.We will have to order some Kung Pau Chicken and see how good it is there.

Katie the Owl, a Fabric Postcard and a Great Book

I had a blast today making Katie the Owl. She turned out so cute. I wanted a girl owl, and of course I had to make her in my favorite colour pink. I gave her a wisp of pink curls on the top, and she is just cute as a button.

I was also happy that my friend Katrin , who lives in Germany, got her fabric postcard that I made for her as a surprise. I didn't post it earlier, as I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but here it is. I appliqued a flower on the card, as I do love flowers

Finally, I have to tell you about a really good book that I discovered through The Quilt Show called The Lover's Knot: A Someday Quilts Mystery by Clare O'Donohue. It is a book about quilting, friendships and a murder thrown in. A body is found in the quilt shop. You can see it here, and it is very good!

Couldn't Resist Another Sunbonnet Sue PinCushion

I couldn't resist making just one more Sunbonnet Sue Pincushion....I wanted this one to be huge, so I chose Sunbonnet Sue taking her Scotch Terrier for a walk. I got a real laugh when I saw the one that I did yesterday next to the huge one that I did today. Oh, so fuuny to see them together! Well, they are both sitting on my sewing table next to my Pfaff 4.0 Expression. I am still waiting for the plastic pellets to arrive from England, so I can do the owl and Aggie the doll. I can't wait ! All the pattern pieces are ready, so I am set to go.Hope you get a good laugh when you see the two pincushions together. Both of them are so cute!

Well, I have my miniature wallhanging that I am doing of Sunbonnet Sue with my International Friendship Group. Each month up to and including October, we are getting patterns to make. That will probably be my last Sunbonnet Sue.Anyways, here is a pic to remind you what the miniature looks like.. I did post about it before. I love Sunbonnet Sue going techy, so I had to do it. If you are a lover of Sunbonnet Sue, you know how hard it is to resist making her.

Well today, I told my friend Simone that I thought the Sunbonnet Sue patterns so cute, but I have so many other designs that I want to do, so after I finish my miniature, and machine quilt my other Sunbonnet Sue wallhanging that I showed you in a previous post, that is it for me as far as Sunbonnet Sue is concerned. I do have to say that I absolutely love her, so it is with great love that I say my fond farewell to her!

Sunbonnet Sue Pincushion and Stuffed Doll/Animals

Simone, whose blog you can see here, gave me the cutest Sunbonnet Sue pincushion pattern that I talked about in a previous post. I decided to make it today, and boy was it fun. All the fabric was included. I used Heat N'Bond Fusible to do the applique pieces. It is now sitting on my sewing table, and I just love it! You can see the pics of the front and back of the pincushion.

Thanks Simone so much for you kindness!!

I also cut out all the pieces for my Aggie doll, and I am waiting for the plastic pellets to arrive to begin the doll. I decided also to do a Hoot Owl Tutorial that I found at Daisy Quilts, which was just too adorable to ignore. I have also cut out the pattern pieces for that, so I will do that in conjunction with the Aggie doll. How can one resist this face! I am mking mine in pink, as that is my favorite colour.

I am obviously in a stuffed doll/animal mood.LOL I guess that I am a kid at heart.

Actually, I am enrolling in a great hand felting course called Felt Alive given by Kay Petal, and I will be hand felting an old man, as you can see here:

I am purchasing four dvds which will encompass 10 hours of instruction. I will show you stages of the doll as I felt it. I will be getting the dvds in July, so I will start then.
If you are interested in seeing Kay Petal do some hand felting of sculptured dolls, she has snippets of her dvds on You Tube. it is amazing!

I am really enthusiastic about starting the course, as I have always wanted to do hand felting. I have been doing machine felting with my Babylock EMB`12, but I have wanted to venture into hand felting, and I love the idea of making sculputred figures.Later in the summer, I will also be taking a course in cloth doll making. It will be fun to see the dolls evolve. It is all very exciting!

PS: I am getting into dolls, but I will never give up quilting...someone asked me, and no, I would never stop making quilts. I am just eclectic and love to do a lot of things: sewing, quilting, machine and hand felting, knitting, crocheting, etc. Love it all! I guess it is the Gemini in me. LOL Hope that answers your question!

Puzzle Bag Completed

I completed my puzzle bag....I used batiks for the body of the bag and gusset, and lovely African batik fabric for the handles and inner lining of the bag. It really is so unique with the four puzzle pieces, and I think that is why I love it.

It is a not a typical summer day as you know it here in Dunfanaghy....It is more like cooler Fall weather. I think that we are skipping over the summer, or at least it looks that way. Joe and I are off to take a walk. We will have to put on our jackets, but we will enjoy the lovely scenery.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday!

More Special Deliveries

Funny enough, I love gifts that come after my birthday...They make my birthday last even longer. The mailman brought two packages to me. One came from my blogging friend Simone, who sent me a lovely Sunbonnet Sue Pincushion...It comes with the fabric, and all I have to do is stuff it. It is so cute! In addition, she sent me some Dutch De Ruyter sprinkles in chocolate and fruit flavors. She explained that you put the sprinkles on bread. We can't wait to try it for breakfast. Thanks so much Simone!

Then, my good friend Jeri in Florida sent me a hilariously funny Quilt Diva pattern that is all done in fusible applique. Isn't it a hoot? It is pretty large...it measures 24x49 inches, so I will hang it on a door with a hook. It should be so cute! It came with a Quilt Diva pin, and it made me laugh out loud. Jeri said that as soon as she saw the pattern, she thought of me. It really is "me". A big thanks and hug to you Jeri.

Well, I had to add this post , as my deliveries were so special.

More Mail, an Advent Swap, and I Won Another Giveaway

I received more FQ's in the mail from La Vella , Cindy, and Pamela, who are in the Friendship Group, for my Birthday FQ Swap. That extends my celebration by a bit. Thanks so much!

I also got my prize from Cindy that I won in her giveaway.It was A Very Merry Summer cross stitch, and you can see it in the pic. I also won another giveaway...I just found out today in the morning. Natalija posted the winner today and I won this prize. I was so happy with that. I will have tons to stitch in my lounge chair, and I do love Santa! After winning so many giveaways, I should concentrate on entering the lottery..Joe does it, but I should give each card a lucky Irish kiss, and hope that it makes us win.LOL

Today, I went to the local quilt shop to buy some fabric for my Aggie Doll. That is one of the prizes that I won in Robyn's giveaway. I love making dolls, so I will have a blast with this. I have included a pic of Aggie, and as you can see from the pic, I also got some neat fabric.The flowered fabric in blue is for the dress, the polka dot, yellow fabric is for her blouse, and the darker blue flowered fabris is for her cuffs and feet. I got neutral fabric for her body and face.Joe said that she will be dressed fancier than we usually are.LOL I ordered two bags of plastic pellets to stuff her with from Jan Horrox Doll Supplies and you can see the stuffing here. and the Tivoli Mustard coloured yarn for her hair, which I got from The Yarn Room.

Finally, I joined an Advent Swap which should be loads of fun! If you want to read about it and join, here is the post at Fiona's Mothers Cupboard blog. It is going to be so much fun making that package for someone, and then being able to open each and very little gift from December 1st till Christmas Day.

Have a wonderful Friday!

The Day's Happenings and Many Thanks

Joe and I are back from the Chinese Restaurant. We had prawn crackers as a starter and then both of us ordered Kung Pao Chicken. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves, and it was a yummy meal. We took a lovely walk through Creeslough, and we had a wonderful time. I have included a few pics of the restaurant. The scenery from the window was gorgeous, and the dinner was so romantic and incredible!

This whole day has been extroardinary. In the morning, we went to a pub called McColgans and we had Irish Creams to drink. Funny enough, we had the whole pub to ourselves too, but that was because it was 10:30 in the morning. We sat in the snug area, and had a lovely time chatting. We then went to the book fair at the Workhouse, and I bought two mystery books. Then, I got my gifts from Joe and the boys, and we headed to the Chinese Restaurant. Luckily, when we were waiting for the bus to go home, a friend of mine, named Kathleen, was driving by and saw us by the bus stop, and she gave us a ride home. Perfect timing, as it was starting to rain pretty hard.

It has been such a nice day, even though I turned 59 years. My friend Kathleen said that next year when I hit 60, I should have a really big celebration. I don't even want to think about hitting the big "60" right now. All I can say today is thank you to everyone who wrote me and wished me a Happy Birthday. I can't begin to tell you how appreciative I am that you would all write to me. Every time that I left the house with Joe and we came back, there were more emails and good wishes. Thank you so much for being such good friends and blog buddies! It has really been an incredible year for Joe and me...we moved into our cottage, settled into our new life in Dunfanaghy and best of all, I have made so many wonderful friends through my blog.

That is why I want to have a giveaway in July , because I want to say thanks in a special way to all the people that I met this year as a result of starting my blog.

Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart for making my birthday even more special! Thanks also for the lovely FQ's and gifts that I received in the mail. It was all very exciting!

My Birthday and More Goodies in the Mail

I am 59 years young today. Someone emailed me and said that, and I liked the sound of it. It's all in the mind, and I have always been a kid at heart. Anyways, I started my birthday today by going to a pub in the early morning. We sat in a snug and had Irish Creams, and we had the whole pub to ourselves. How nice is that! We then went to The Workhouse to check out the used books for sale.

Then,I got some lovely gifts in the mail again. Robyn sent me my giveaway package that I won in the mail. This week, I am heading to the quilt shop to get fabric for the Natalie Ross in Stitches Pattern for making a 20 inch doll named Aggie. I am excited about that! It is so cute. I got two yards of lovely, red fabric, a lovely flowered plastic carrying bag, some ric rac,a large white button, embroidery thread some essence of oil, and a lovely card from Robyn. I was thrilled with it all, and thanks so much Robyn!

Also, in the mail was a birthday postcard from Katrin in Germany...it was lovely, and I thank her so much too. I am really building up my collection of fabric postcards. Last but not least, my friend Mary in Australia got me a wonderful book for my birthday called Luminous Landscapes.

I love it! I will be doing an African landscape that is in there, as the pattern and directions are provided. It will be done as hand applique.

Joe and I will be going to the Chinese Restaurant in Creeslough called The Red Roof. I will have some pics of the restaurant later on in this post, so look for that. It is a great place for its food, but it also has wonderful scenery looking out from the window by the table where we will be sitting. We have decided to order prawn crackers as a starter, and then both of us will have Kung Pao Chicken.....yummy. We will take a long walk there after dinner before we have to hop on the bus to go home.

Birthdays are so much fun! I got a gigahoop and a tutorial from Joe , and that will allow me to do much bigger designs, borders, and lacework. I am excited about that. I got a huge card from him, and the day so far has been so nice.

PS: My two boys, Rufus and Charlie gave me a card that said:

"Dear cool, young-looking mommy. We hope that you have the best birthday, 'cause you deserve it! We love you mommy! "

Charlie and Rufus

With that card, I got a Butlers Mint Truffles Chocolate box...needless to say, Joe and I had a few pieces, and the Chocolate Mint creme inside was so, so delicious!

Thanks Boys!

Check in later for pics of the restaurant!

Sneak Peek of My Puzzle Bag and Some More Giveaways

Well, here are another three links to wonderful giveaways: First, Joanne has some lovely patriotic prizes in her giveaway. Another great one is from Joy who is giving away a Dragonflight Pattern . Wait till you see the quilt that she made from it!Finally, Karen
is having a 4th of July Giveaway, and she is giving away some lovely gifts.

Also, I started a puzzle bag. I appliqued four puzzle blocks (that I received in a swap) on the front...all embroidered by hand. This is just a sneak peek, as I have tons to do on the bag.

Back to painting...UGHHHHHH!

Lots of Mail Today and Another Great Giveaway

First of all, let me tell you about a great giveaway that Miri is having on her blog, which you can see at http://milkandhoneyquilts.blogspot.com/ . I have just entered, and anyone who wins that prize would be a happy camper.

As for today, we took a little break from the painting, and we went to Letterkenny to buy more paint, and I had a dental appointment. We had coffee and yummy cake, and I bought myself the book 4th of July by James Patterson. I can't wait to read it! When we got home, I had tons of mail. I got three fat quarters from Carmela, Azra, and Laura. This again had to do with my Birthday FQ Swap from The Friendship Group. Thank you so much for such lovely fabric!!! The bad news was that I had my tooth capped, and a few hours after I came home, it broke off again. I couldn't believe it! Well, it is back to the dentist. Finally, I did get a siggy block from Angelika who is from Germany. Thanks for a lovely block! I now have 110 siggy blocks. I still need more than 50 to complete a quilt, so I will have to wait patiently.

Tomorrow, we are back to our painting. I have one more day to my birthday. I can't believe that I am 59 years soon. Oh God!

Painting All Day and a Giveaway

Joe and I literally painted all day. We spent 8 hours painting, and finally finished the bathroom and hallway. We had to put two coats of paint on and mind you, it was not easy work. I stood on the ladder most of the day, but sometimes bent over and did the skirtboards, which is very precise, tiring work. We will continue tomorrow with the storage area, and that will be it till we get more paint. The bathroom is a lovely pale pink and the skirtboards are a darker pink, and yes, even the door is pink. With the shower curtain and window curtains having a lovely pink pattern, in addition to a pink rug , toilet seat cover, and towels, it is lovely. The hallway is a a beautiful light blue colour, and the skirtboards are a darker blue...We have painted the door to the storage area the darker blue, and the storage area will match the hallway. Well, tomorrow is another day of painting, but I hope that it won't take as long. The two pics of us painting are the ones that I love the most...We are very stylishly dressed, aren't we? May I also add that every bone in our bodies are hurting.LOL

I wanted to tell you about a July 4th giveaway that is being held by Joanne at the following link:

http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/2009/06/july-4th-giveaway.html I think that you will enjoy entering it, as the prizes are so neat.

Birthday Fabric, A Kitchen Tablecloth and a Lace Doily

I received three lovely fat quarters for my birthday from Karen and Shelley, who are in the Birthday Fat Quarter Swap in my Friendship Group. Thank you two so much for such lovely fabric!

Also, I finished our appliqued table cloth, but boy was it hard for Joe to take a pic. You had to have seen him on our ladder trying to capture the whole thing. We had to put it on the floor, and then it was impossible to get it totally straight, so it is a bit wrinkled. The other pic he took with the tablecloth on the table. Anyways, you will get the idea. It really brightens up our kitchen. We are going to paint the kitchen yellow and two storage cabinets green, thus I used those colours in our tablecloth.

Someone asked to see my largest white lace doily. It is really lovely, and very detailed lace made from white Madeira Embroidery thread. Happy Friday!

Mid Week News

Joe was busy today working in the garden. He was mowing and using the strimmer for hours, and boy does it look good now.I was busy in our wee cottage. I machine embroidered the centre piece and one of the sides of a lace doily, and chose lovely Madeira embroidery threads to match our decor.I did the stitching of the doily while I watched the movie Twilight yet again. I have seven more sides to make for the doily. Then I decided to make yet another pot holder from a FQ that I received from my Birthday FQ Swap. It turned out so colourful! Someone asked me why I make so many potholders. I just love them! I have potholders for every occasion, and change them to fit my mood or create the look that I want in the kitchen . I then enjoyed reading the James Patterson book called Judge and Jury and managed to finish it. Off I went to the quilt shop, got some fabric that I needed for a table cloth that I am making for the kitchen .By the way, here is a peek at our quilt shop, at least a wee section of it:

Finally, I took a lovely walk with Joe . Of course, that was the best part of my day.

PS: Tonya is having a wonderful giveaway, so check it out at

http://tonyassewingroom.blogspot.com/2009/06/100th-post-giveaway.html

Free Patterns, a Great Book, and Some Interesting Information

I watched The Quilt Show this morning, and I loved the show with Susan Schrempf called Machine Ribbon Embroidery. Here is the link, but you have to be a member to see the show: http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/shows.php . By the way, joining the show, is something to consider, as Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims are wonderful and their guests are out of this world. Anyways, I am getting Susan's book, as I am excited about trying the machine ribbon embroidery techniques. It is called Simple Silk Ribbon Embroidery and you can get it discounted at 20 percent off at Soft Expressions, which you can link to here: http://www.softexpressions.com/software/books/EmbrConcepts.php. It was incredible how she demonstrated making the roses, petals, etc with the silk ribbons. She lowered her feed dogs, took off the foot, lowered the upper tension to .75 , used Superior Thread on the top, and Bottomline thread in the bobbin, and the results were incredible. I found a wonderful shop where they sell silk ribbon packs at Silk Shop Deland, which you can see at http://www.quiltshopofdeland.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=quiltshopofdeland&Category_Code=SilkRibbon Also Susan Schrempf has a site where you can buy the book and supplies at http://www.victorianventure.com/. Doesn't it look like great fun?

Alex Anderson also demonstrated how she made pillow cases with her latest basket pattern called Baskets of Romance, and it can be downloaded free on this site http://www.pbtex.com/html/free_patterns.html which gives you tons of wonderful free patterns. Don't we all love free patterns?

Thought you would like all the information!

I am making a doily today, as I have to wait till the quilt shop opens up tomorrow, so I can get the batting for my Sunbonnet Sue wallhanging. Then I can machine quilt it.
Have a great day sewing and just have fun!

Sunbonnet Sue Wallhanging, One More UFO, Birthday Fat Quarters, and an Anniversary Giveaway

I went through a storage box that I had and found three Sunbonnet Sue blocks that I did. I then appliqued one more block and put the top together. I was so happy that I did that, as I had put so much work into making those blocks. They are all hand appliqued. I had several colours to choose from the top for the border colours, and I decided on the pink and the flowered darker border, as it matches our decor in the living room. I now have to put the layers together and machine quilt and bind it. I am thrilled that once I complete this, I only have one more UFO to do...machine quilting my Thimbleberry quilt, which I will do in July, then I don't have anymore UFO's.

Besides, winning the giveaway today,

( which was discussed in an earlier post this AM), I got two fat quarters in the mail from Connie and Pat who are members of my Friendship Group, and that was so nice. They are so lovely, as you can see by the pic. Thanks so much to the two of you!

Lastly, in July, I will celebrate my First Blog Anniversary with a huge giveaway. It will be a big bundle of goodies. Just to spike your curiosity, I will be including some Irish Tweed fabric. I will be posting the giveaway in mid July, so look for that post and enter to win. I will try to make it very special, include Irish items, and make it really unique.

Off to watch Oprah Winfrey and put the stuffed chicken roast in the oven.

I won a giveaway!!!!!!

This morning, while I was a bit bleary eyed from just waking up, I went to my dashboard and saw that I won Robyn's May Giveaway. My Goodness! This is coming right before my birthday which is next week, so isn't the timing perfect! Here is what I won. You can see it at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/2009/05/im-having-giveaway.html and here was the announcement that I won: http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ There were so many entrants that I couldn't believe that I won. I must be a lucky bunny.How cool is that!

Today I am working on a SunBonnet Sue wallhanging. I am doing all the hand applique and I will post a pic soon.
Well, this week has got to be a good one...what a nice beginning to a week.

Second Oriental Cushion Finished

The second oriental cushion is done. The two of them look grand on our bed and they match perfectly to the geisha quilt. Onward to my next project. The fun is thinking of what I want to do.

I had the fun of talking via Skype to one of my blogger friends named Janice, who lives in England. You can see her blog at http://craftlady-searchfamilies.blogspot.com/ I finally got to talk to her as if we were face to face which was cool. We talked for a long while, and that was such fun!

Joe and I then had a lovely, quiet Sunday. It is now late afternoon, and we are going to take our long walk in the hills, as it was so sunny all day that Joe wanted us to wait till the sun wasn't as strong. All the precaution is due to my having had skin cancer, and once you have had surgery on your face and on the top of your head, you think twice about going out when the sun is shining so brightly. Well, it is like someone said recently...that is why I guess that I liked the Twilight Series, as sometimes, I am like a vampire myself.LOL I always head outside with long sleeves, leggings, a baseball cap, and tons of suntan lotion.

Off to take our walk! Enjoy your Sunday!

Oriental Cushion 2

I finally completed the second cushion top, and I will finish the rest of it tomorrow. The pattern on this cushion is different than the first one, but as both are in a circular design and are oriental patterns, they coordinate with each other perfectly, as you can see below by the completed first cushion. I did the machine applique today, and I used various Madeira embroidery threads. It was so much fun! I just love doing applique!

Joe and I are having a very quiet day at home. The weather is sunny, but cool, and we are planning to take our long walk through the hills soon.
Happy stitching and have a wonderful weekend.

Wow,I've been Interviewed!

Darlene from Insights from Sew Cal Gal has interviewed me, and she has posted it on her blog. I was so honored and touched that she would ask to interview me. She did such a wonderful job on it, and I was so excited to read it. Joe and I were very touched that she wrote about our love story, and she emphasized that we were soulmates. It meant so much to both of us. She wrote that I could have been a character out of a Nora Roberts book, and our romance was just what Nora would have written about. How sweet is that! I humbly admit that I never read Nora Roberts, and I will definitely have to read one of her books, thus, I have asked Darlene to recommend me one of her really good books. I am a sucker for romance. All, I can say is that I am living the life that I always dreamed of through my marriage to Joe and my life here in Ireland. I sometimes have to pinch myself to see if I really met such a wonderful man like Joe. He is my best friend and truly my soulmate. All the crafts that I do are just the extra icing on the cake. It is just wonderful to be retired and to spend each and every moment with Joe.


Thanks so much Darlene, and I hope that you all visit Darlene's blog at http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/2009/06/meet-micki-butler.html to read the interview.

All The Latest News

Janice from Crafts and Genealogy which is at http://craftlady-searchfamilies.blogspot.com/ sent me two lovely potholders for our Quilting For All Swap. They are so cute! They are both hanging in our kitchen and they look lovely indeed. Thanks so much for that!

Also, Cindi from Lonestar Stitcher and Ramblings located at http://lonestarstitcherandherramblings.blogspot.com/2009/06/giveaway-results.html had a giveaway and I won one of the stitcheries called "A Very Merry Summer." When it arrives, I know what I will be doing in the evenings...I will be sitting in my lounge chair stitching away happily. Thanks to Cindi for that wonderful prize, and I can 't wait to get it!

As to our weather, it is much cooler here in Dunfanaghy today...thank God! I do not like the really warm weather. Since Joe and I take long walks, it is always so much more pleasant to do so in the cooler weather. As you can see, it is so green here now, and the ocean is a beautiful blue.

Besides ordering The Circle Amish Quilt ( which is at http://www.amazon.com/Amish-Circle-Quilt-Block-Patterns/dp/0873498917 in case you missed it) , I am getting from Jan Krentz's site a book called Diamond Quilts and Beyond. Jan teaches you techniques that creates a colorwash look that looks like an Impressionist painting. You can see it at

http://www.jankrentz.com/store.php . Since I love to create paintings too, I thought this would be so neat!

In addition, Kath from http://railwaycottage.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-look-for-spring.html inspired me to get a new blog look. Go look at hers too. You can download a new look for your blog for free athttp://itkupilli-cutencool.blogspot.com/. It is nice to vary the look every once in a while.

Finally, I found a wonderful giveaway that you may be interested in at http://yellowbirdart.blogspot.com/ Check it our and enter...you never know, you may win.