Another UFO Finished :)

My May project for the UFO Challenge is finished!   May's challenge number was #2.

Number 2 on my list was to bind (and thus finish) my Spring quilt that was from a past Thimbleberries Club that I taught at the quilt shop where I used to work.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm hand binding it and there are a few pins still around the edge ~ but it will be finished tonight.  I just wanted to go ahead and get this picture snapped :)

The beautiful quilting was already done for me a while back by a good friend of mine, Sheri Thompson of Pieceful Completion. 

...And the quilt has just been waiting patiently in the wings for me to get to the binding.

I'm really enjoying the UFO Challenge.  It gives me a real reason to pull these unfinished projects out and get them finished and on a bed :)

The UFO Challenge number for June is #12:  Now I'll pull out my blue/white Winding Ways quilt top and figure out how I want to quilt it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Civil War Sewing Time on the 4th

I hope everyone had a fun Independence Day holiday weekend! We had our Civil War Sunday sewing time on the 4th of July, and here are a few show and tell items that came. Peggy Poole was working on this beautiful nine patch quilt, and in very appropriate colors for the day!

This is Sheri Thompson's version of the same quilt done in different color tones. Sheri got her top finished on Sunday ~ nice progress for a sewing afternoon.

Peggy also brought in her huge, finished Thimbleberries Club project from a couple of years back. (This quilt is so big, the girls had to hold it up sideways, and I've turned the picture). It was quilted by Sheri Thompson of Pieceful Completion with a beautiful all over feather design, and now Peggy just has to bind it to have a lovely new bed quilt. I have this one in progress...somewhere, and this makes me want to pull it back out!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

How Time Flies

Wow, I just realized that this Sunday is Palm Sunday. Easter is almost here ~ time is flying again this year (what's up with that?). So anyway, in honor of the Easter season, here are a couple of blocks that I've recently done to get you in the Easter spirit. The first one is part of Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs' "A Tisket A Tasket" block of the month quilt from last year. You'll see these blocks here throughout the year as I didn't finish them last year, so I'm working on them bit by bit. They are still on my design wall.

And this block is part of the "Be Attitudes" quilt by Nancy Halorsen of Art to Heart. This poor bunny looks like how I feel getting ready for the Easter festivities :)

This is what I've been sewing on this week at the shop ~ kind of Springy. With everything that has been keeping me busy lately, I'm a little behind, these are blocks 1 - 7 of the Thimbleberries Club for this year ~ we are doing the "Midnight" colorway. (For those of you who are participating in our club, the Thimbleberries Club fabrics that were backordered finally came in this week and we now have the kits cut for blocks 1 - 4. So Thimbleberries Club will happen for April!)

...And on a side note, I heard one of my favorite songs first thing this morning. I'll be singing it all day long now, but it's making me smile ~ thank you John Lennon.
And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be

I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be

There, now it's stuck in your heads too :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

The Art and Simplicity of One Block at a Time

So lately it's been all about making blocks. Slowly but surely they will become quilts one day.

This first one is an addition to my Dear Jane collection of blocks. It's J-13, and again I used the tutorial that can be found on the That Quilt Blog. It came together like a charm :)

This is my first block of the Thimbleberries Club quilt for this year. I'm working on the shop sample now, and the fabrics should all be in for us to start the club in March. In Month One we will be making two of these little trees.

Sometimes just focusing on one block at a time, and not the whole quilt makes for a more relaxing and enjoyable quilting experience.

Enjoy the Process & Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Cute Christmas Quilt

Just a little Christmas quilt to share today ~ Sandy Lynch showed this cute Thimbleberries Christmas quilt at our meeting the other night and I just love it! You can find the pattern in Lynette Jensen's Thimbleberries Table Toppers book. I think I will have to make this one up for Christmas 2010...Oh no, I'm starting the list already!

Also ~ Quiltwoman.com has a promotion where you can receive $5.00 off of your pattern purchase when you sign up for their email list. (Great way to pick up my Rootin Tootin Cowboy or My Hearts Content patterns...just sayin') :)

And...24 years ago today I was missing my company's Christmas party to give birth to my oldest daughter. Little did I know then that she would go on to become one of my greatest joys, and closest friends ~ Love you Heather, Happy Birthday!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Thimbleberries Club ~ Friends & Quilts

Our Thimbleberrie's Club meeting was last Thursday, and I'm just now getting the pictures uploaded to my computer ~ wow, life is moving too fast, can someone slow the ride down a little?

We had a great turn out for the meeting, lots of friendship, laughter and some beautiful goodies to share. Mitzen brought in her completed October block and I'm pleased to say that most people seem to be keeping up with this block of the month :)

Sheri Thompson of Pieceful Completion Quilting brought in some of the quilts that she has recently quilted on her long arm for us to ooh and ahh over (and we did).

The all over design on this yellow and blue quilt was just gorgeous, but unfortunately it doesn't show up well in my photograph, so you'll have to just take my word for it.

And there was this past Christmas project that we think was a Thimbleberries pattern ~ I haven't had the time to research it in my Thimbleberries library, but it sure has that comfy Thimbleberries feel.

Jan Thomas brought in her House quilt from Thimbleberries Club 2007 just back from the quilter. Many of us in the group still have this one as a PiP (project in progress), so it was a real treat to see it all finished.

And Jan also had her completed Butterfly Kisses Quilt, which was a block of the month that we did last year at our shop. It's so nice to see some of these past shop projects become quilts to be loved and cherished :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Santa's Workshop in Full Swing

I have been busy sewing lately, but unfortunately can't show any of it because I've been finishing up some Christmas gifts, and Santa wouldn't be happy with me if I blew the surprises. But since tonight is Thimbleberries Club, and I'm in the Chirstmas Spirit, I made this little quilted gift bag from a Thimbleberries free pattern...just for fun.

I've had the pattern for some time, and am unfortunately unable to find it again online, but check out the Thimbleberries website for some other great Free project patterns. Lynette Jensen also sends out a great email newsletter called Catching Up with Thimbleberries that you can sign up for on her website :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

More Thimbleberries Extras

Tomorrow is the monthly Thimbleberries Club meeting at And Sew it Goes, and here is the extra project that I made for this month. The sunshine (or flower, or whatever it is) above the birdhouse is the same pattern that was for block 6 in the big quilt.

I played with Golden Threads paper, and quilted a little acorn & oak leaf design in the borders, but you can't really see it on this fabric unless you look really closely.

I actually got it all quilted and bound this month ~ and before the meeting! The fact that it was a cute birdhouse wallhanging, and a quick little project I'm sure had nothing to do with it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another Thimbleberries Extra Project

Last night we didn't have any show and tell at the Thimbleberries Club because most people who came couldn't stay and were just dropping in to pick up their new block and patterns. So I'll show my tote bag that I finally got made this month. This was the extra club project from May and I didn't get it done then because of attending Quilt Market (I know, lame excuse).

It's a nice size, large enough to fit quilts in as I go back and forth to the shop. This is the cute outside pocket that is open on the two top diagonal sides. The entire tote is very easy to make in one afternoon.

... And finally, from the "whether you wanted to know or not file": Pat Sloan had asked on her blog yesterday, "What's on your cutting table right now", so here is mine. I've got my jacket in progress from the class I took with Maria O'haver, and on the far end are two piles of fabrics I have from Cowboy quilt leftovers. I'm trying to make a couple more Cowboy quilts from these piles...So there you have it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Thimbleberries Club Extra Project

Tonight is the Thimbleberries Club at the shop. I made this little table topper from the extra project pattern for this month, so here's a little sneak peek.

I used my embroidery machine to quilt in the little "Spirograph" type designs in the snowball blocks. It made up quick and easy. Don't we just need some of those types of projects some days!

Also, for those of you doing the Gail Pan Christmas Wish Stitchery BOM, her July block is available. This month's word is Delight. What a great word! Check it out here.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Quick Little Project and the New Addition

Here's a peek at the table runner that I made for the Thimbleberries Club extra project this month. I did mine a little differently than the pattern called for. I cut my 3 1/2" strips from one of the TB Twice the Charms rolls. I used chenille on every other seam and quilted with a decorative stitch on the alternate seams. Large rick rack would have been cute too. It was very easy and quick, only about two hours start to finish! It would make a cute scrap project too.

And here is a picture of the "new baby" that I've been nurturing for the last two days. We've spent many hours getting to know each other and I'm starting to establish who is boss. I have all of my important files restored (I highly recommend Carbonite.com ~ made the process very easy!), I just need to install some more software for some of my design stuff. We opted for a desktop pc to replace our old pc and my laptop. I have another laptop for my "other job", and I don't really need two laptops. This gave us way more GBs for the same money. I also got a wireless printer so mine and the kids laptops can print from afar ~ at least in theory, I haven't tried that trick yet. I hope to tackle that today and then I think we are all up and running!

Thank you to everyone who emailed me, or made comments on facebook giving me recommendations on what to look for with the computer shopping! That was helpful in narrowing the search ~ it was kind of mind boggling!

So today is a work at home day and I am definitely wanting to get into my sewing room, I've missed it, and projects are calling my name!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

So Long ~ But Not Good Bye

Last night was our Thimbleberries club at the shop. Above is one of the completed block sets from last month (These are Karen Watkins' blocks). We had about half our members attend and had a great time, but it was a little "bittersweet" as it was the last night for one of our long time Thimbleberries Club members, Sherry Hazelhurst. We'll miss you Sherry!

These are some signature blocks that Sheri Thompson made for all of us to sign and give to Sherry as she starts her new adventure in Colorado. (I know some of you TB Club members are traveling, and a couple told me they wouldn't be able to make the meeting, so I have some extra blocks for you to sign for Sherry ~ just see me the next time you're in the shop, we want your signatures too!). We also had a really cute card made by Barbara Lanore that all signed.

Along with the food (thanks Barbara & Sheri!) and fun, we had some show and tell too. Above is Ann Hazelwood's adorable wallhanging done in my all time favorite Thimbleberries Halloween fabric, and the little striped inner border was a really nice touch! The pattern was from a Love of Quilting magazine.

This is Jean McDonald's breathtaking Trip Around the World quilt. It's huge ~ so much so, that I didn't get the gorgous border in the picture (the border fabric was just perfect for this quilt). You also can't see in this picture the wonderful quilting that she did on it. She quilted in a large vase with flowers over it and used great colors in the threads. I thought the quilting might show in the picture, because in person it just popped!

This is a cute quilt made by Sandy Lynch. I think she called it Cats in Paris. The fabric line was adorable, and personally I love this color combination. Below is a section of Sandy's pieced back that shows off the quilting that Maria O'haver did on her Statler. There are little mice scurrying all over the quilt ~ too cute!

I also had made the Thimbleberry's Extra Project Tablerunner, and of course forgot to take a picture of it, so I'll do that today at work and post later. I hope you enjoyed the show. It's like going to a mini quilt show at all of our club meetings ~ I'm always amazed!

We had a great time, some stayed, laughing and chatting until the shop closed. We're saying "So Long" to you Sherry, but not "Good Bye". We look forward to seeing you on visits to MD, and as someone pointed out last night, there is a great quilt show in CO, so you may just have some of us popping in on you! :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Back to a Little Quilting

Alright, enough playing around. I need to get back to some quilty stuff. Yesterday was a play day ~ we just ate, enjoyed the snow and read. I love magazines so I perused a lot of them yesterday (and have uploaded many more back issues to my ebay store). I have a new favorite magazine to add to my Top Five: Early American Life, it's not quilt related, but a great magazine for those who feel a kinship to old things ~ check it out!

This morning I got an early start on the sewing machine and finished a customer commission, and next I'm going to go and work on the extra project for our March Thimbleberries club. Pictured above is my completed club top ~ we are doing our shop's club in the Light colorway. I'm ahead of the club members and can now focus on the extras for the club meetings :)

I think I'll also catch up my Calendar Quilt today and start cutting up fabric for my son's graduation quilt, and then there's the OP top to finish...

Enjoy your day!
~ Dawn

Thimbleberries Club Show & Tell

Tonight was our Thimbleberries Club meeting and all of the ladies are keeping up with their blocks so far! We are doing the light colorway, and the January block was the teal and pink. The ones pictured above are Jean McDonalds (I took a picture of hers to show this months block). Mine are in the finished quilt top that I've just gotten done. As soon as I get it up on the wall ~ hopefully we will be hanging quilts in the shop tomorrow, I'll take a picture of the whole thing.

Below is Anne Troy's Christmas version of the blocks (She's making the block each month in another fabric line along with her Thimbleberries 3's Company fabrics, so she'll have two quilts done at the end of the year!).

Sherry Hazelhurst showed us her finished tablerunner from last year's Thimbleberries club done in the "Lodge" fabric line. We always like seeing projects finished and quilted!

Tomorrow I should have a calendar quilt update. I had a surprise visit from my daughter and son-in-law today and I got to babysit my 18 month old granddaughter! It wasn't what I had planned for the day, but it was a great treat and we had a lot of fun. With Elsie here I didn't get to do much in my sewing room except pull fabric strips ~ she is very good at pulling strips out! So we did alot of "planning" together, and I'm ready to sew some strips and get my January finished and my February caught up.

Enjoy!
~ Dawn

Thimbleberries 2009 Begins!

Well last night we kicked off the Thimbleberries Club for 2009 at And Sew It Goes with the January Blocks. Each month we will make one 12" block and three 6" blocks in the Light Colorway that will scatter around the quilt (plus there are extra bonus projects). We had a great turn out for the meeting ~ All seats were full ~ but we can make room for more! I can't wait until next month for the show and tell that we'll see! Check out Thimbleberries website and sign up for Lynette Jensen's free monthly newsletter full of tips, free patterns and recipes.

I'm working hard to get the whole Thimbleberries quilt top done. Right now I'm on block set number 9, so I am ahead of the class, but so many people are coming in the shop asking to see the finished quilt, that I want to get it up on the wall. We have the Beautiful Maryland BOM quilt in the shop now (it's really there this time) for a limited time as Maria may need to take it somewhere else at some point. Mary has finished the quilt top for the Buck-a-Block BOM, and Carolyn is working hard on the Centennial BOM. Lots of exciting new things going on there!

I've started working on the Cowboy Quilt for the magazine, but I haven't gotten much sewing time in as I had a funeral to attend. Yesterday we layed to rest my Aunt Marie. It was a windy day at the cemetery, but very appropriate for such a whirlwind of a lady. It was my Aunt Marie who introduced me to the ocean, taking me along on their family trips to Nags Head to hang out with my cousin Jill, but the deal was this picky eater of a kid had to taste the seafood while we were there. She was always challenging me, which could be a little scary but always interesting - she definitely kept me on my toes! She is the one who finally got me to stop biting my nails, even getting out a microscope to show me what was under them - and it worked...eventually :) My Aunt Marie was a great presence in my growing up years and I know I'm a better person for having her touch my life. I think I'll go out and see who I can touch today!

Enjoy!
~ Dawn