Easter Blessings

Wishing you all of the blessings of Easter this weekend!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Grad Quilts to Make

It's Grad Quilt time of year! Do you have any graduation quilts to make this year? I've made grad quilts for each of my daughters as they graduated high school. Heather graduated in 2003 from Hammond High School and the school colors had just been changed from brown & gold to marroon and gold. I made the one above for her using Talking Quilts Quote blocks (they are the center of each of the snowball blocks). The center of each of the ninepatch blocks is a fabric that represents something that Heather likes, ie. hiking, musical instruments, and sports she played. My other two children and I had quite a "treasure hunt" looking for all of the fabrics we needed!

Funny story about Heather's grad quilt: My old Kenmore sewing machine died while I was making this quilt and I went out an bought my Bernina ~ hey I had a deadline to meet, right! Well I had to pay for the new Bernina, so I went looking to see if there were shops in this old mill near me that needed things sewn to sell, and And Sew It Goes Quilt Shop was just opening up there...I was hired as her first employee and the jouney began! You just never know :)

...Anyway, this quilt was Lisa's, she graduated in 2006 from Hammond. Her quilt is actually quilted and finished now, I had just taken this picture while it was still a top. Lisa's quilt also has a couple of Talking Quilts Quotes in it, and I added her graduation picture and one of her pitching (I didn't think to add pictures to Heathers). I made Lisa's during a Crooked Cabin Sew Along that Pat Sloan was hosting online. The Maroon and Gold borders and spacer blocks are "made fabric" from lots of small chucks sewn together and cut into blocks and strips. The frames and some of the center focus fabrics in the crooked cabin blocks are things that interested Lisa.

Now it's time to be making a quilt for Bobby. Guys are a little different. He tells me he doesn't really want me to put in the different picture or interest blocks. I'm thinking to personalize his, I may make some T shirt blocks for the backing, but I'm looking for some other ideas. I do have a pattern that I've designed to make for his quilt top, and I plan to make one for Nicoll too.

However, I'm on this next magazine deadline, so they already know they won't get them by graduation! I've pulled a stack of maroon and gold fabrics, so while I'm trimming about a gillion half square triangles today for my magazine quilt, I think I'll cut up some marroon and gold block pieces...more ideas may flow just from cutting and handling the fabrics, but send me ideas from grad quilts you've made, I'd love to hear about them!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Spring Break in Baltimore

I took a day off from sewing yesterday to spend a day of Spring Break with my son Bobby and his girlfriend Nicoll. We went to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and to the National Aquarium. I've always thought the art on the front of the Aquarium looks like a quilt, so this is kind of quilt related :)
It was very windy and still pretty cold, but the daffodils were blooming and Opening Day for the O's at Camden Yards was Monday, so I know Spring is here somewhere. It's gotta' be, just look at this sky!

As we walked, we came upon this very pompous duck and he made me smile.

We hit the Inner Harbor shops, and Nicoll spotted a shirt with her favorite book...

...and we went to Barnes and Noble ~ it was a book themed kind of day!

In the Aquarium Rainforest I fell in love with the birds. I took many bird shots, but won't bore you with them all here, but these characters were very friendly and I got several pictures of them.

...and of course, I took dolphin pictures! These guys are hard to catch with my little camera, but this fella posed for a nice long time for me.

I even got Nicoll to snap a picture of me with the elusive Bobby before we left (somehow he usually manages to not be in the photos), so it was a good day all the way around!

This is Bobby and Nicoll's last Spring Break before they graduate high school this May, so I'm glad I took the time off to remember this day with them. And the sewing was waiting for me when I got back home :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Words of Wisdom

This is Millie & Tillie. I named the crow Tillie, because she just looks like a Tillie to me, and the sheep got Millie of course because it rhymes. I picked them up on one of my many foraging trips in the cute little shops outside of Gettysburg PA when my daughter was going to college there. They sit on the back of my stove and their sole purpose in this life is to make me smile every morning...and they do :) For some reason I am tickled by the look on the sheep's face. It's a simple thing, but important I think.

I like things with little messages on them ~ words of wisdom, if you will. I need to see these little prompts to keep me centered. I like words on quilts too. Here are a few of the quilts I've done with words or messages on them.

Many Thanks designed by Nancy Halverson (pattern can be found in book with that name). The center block says, "For These I Give Thanks" and each block has something to be thankful for. These words are done with stitchery.

Pat Sloan designs many quilts with words on them. This is Be Merry and this pattern can be found in the Quilt The Seasons with Pat Sloan book.

Jane A Stickle stitched on the simple phrase, "In War Time 1868" to the corner of her "Dear Jane" quilt, and has touched quilters for over 140 years. Words are powerful.

What words inspire you? I keep this little create shelf sitter in the window in my sewing room. You can find words like these in the primitives section of my ebay store, and right now they're on sale! Take a moment to be inspired...or tickled today!

~ Dawn

Next Bunny Basket Block

Yesterday we had some beautiful weather and I got all sparked and did some work out in the garden, washed windows and put the screens back in for the warm weather (hoping this nice weather will become a little more consistant). It was so nice to get out in the sun, and to get alot of work done around the house for a change. I'm having all the family for Easter next Sunday, so some housekeeping was in order!

After collapsing in the evening I got to do some stitching and finished my little A Tisket A Tasket block for March. The bunny is a soft pink color with white polka dots, but does show up a little better than this picture represents. I'll probably add a little bow to the bunny's neck, but I've decided to leave off the buttons on this block I think. And my timing was great, because Anne released the April block yesterday too. If you haven't downloaded it yet, hop on over to her blog to get this cute pattern! She even has the yardage requirements for her sashing and borders listed.

Today, I'm off to my Baltimore Applique Class. I think I'll stop at Barnes & Noble on the way home and see if Quilt Magazine is on the newsstand yet ~ I just can't wait to get my copy :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

It's Official ~ I'm Published!

I'm so excited ~ I feel like doing the "Snoopy Dance"! This is my Root-N Toot-N Cowboy Quilt and it's in the June/July issue of Quilt Magazine that is arriving to subscription holders now. My friend Carol brought me her copy and I saw my design in print for the first time last night! I think it should be on the newstands this week. I have found Quilt at Joann's, Walmart, Barnes & Nobles, & Books-a-Million.

I'm in the same issue with Ricky Tims and Bonnie Sullivan ~ somebody pinch me :) This has been an awesome experience, and working with editor, Deborah Hearn, and technical editor, Linda Smoker has been a pure pleasure! I've learned so much.

The pillows and this toy/storage duffle are online web bonus patterns that I did just for fun. These pictures are ones that I snapped, the ones in the magazine are much better :) I'm not sure if they have updated the website with the new magazine yet, but you will be able to find patterns for the accessories on the Quilt Magazine website.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another Baltimore Block Complete

Last night I finished my applique block for my Mimi Dietrich Baltimore Album Class that I have on Monday. I wanted to be different and not do the heart red, and I was wanting to introduce this great gold into my mix of blocks. This one was done all Reverse Applique, where you put the colored fabric behind the background and cutaway the background fabric and stitch back the edges to expose the color. It was a challenging block, and my points are very rounded on most of the little teardrop shapes, but I'm still pretty happy with it (I'm especially happy that it's done!).

Tonight the Baltimore Bunny Group meets at the quilt shop and I'm working for Starlyn, so I think I'll take my Tisket a Tasket Block in and work on that. It's about half way done ~ maybe I can finish it before Anne releases her April block this week :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn