Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Need blogging assistance

If someone stops by who is an experienced blogger, can you please tell me how to reply to a comment??? I'm really stumped!

Goodbye to My Sweet April

Feeling really raw and sad today...Yesterday I had to make the decision that every pet lover fears and dreads. My cat April, almost 19 years old, was diagnosed last Thursday with kidney failure, and due to a bad heart and the numbers from her bloodwork, she was classifed as untreatable. She was the most wonderful and loving of cats, and my ever faithful sewing companion. I am going to miss her for a very very long time.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Are you a treasure hunter?

Do I have some fellow treasure hunters out there? I simply CANNOT resist stopping at yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. I know, alot of people would never want anybody elses "junk", but there are some real treasures out there mixed in with the junk! My mom, who is 79 years old, is the Queen of the yard sale. I believe that there may be some gene that I have inherited from her that compels me to look for treasure amongst everyone else's castoffs. Now, take a look at this footstool...I can't claim to be the one who found it, but my mom found it at a yard sale for $30. She didn't need it, but knew it was too good to pass up, and that I happen to love, love, love unusual old oak pieces. I should have taken a "before" picture of it...it was very black looking with old varnish, and the fabric on it was worn, faded and very stained. Just a few hours of stripping, sanding, staining and recovering, and I am now the happy owner of this little oak footstool. Isn't this absolutely the ultimate in oak cuteness?



An added bonus to this little footstool, is that the top cushion is actually a hinged lid which swings open, and I can use it to hide all my hand-quilting and applique supplies that I like to use while watching t.v.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Shabby Stars Update


Here is my progress to date on the Shabby Stars project that is posted here.   I am 3 blocks behind on this project, but I did that intentionally because I enjoy making several of the blocks in one sitting.  That way I can drag all my fabrics out of my project box, and really spread out and look at the colors I'm using and make each block really scrappy and different.  Here is a photo of the setting blocks, I have those all made.  This quilt is going to go on the bed in my spare bedroom, which is yellow.  I have never worked with pastel colors like this before, and I'm really happy with the way it looks. I can't wait to start putting this quilt together!

Patchwork Times Star BOTM

Here are the fabrics that I have selected for the Star BOTM that is starting at Patchwork Times. The only fabric missing from the photo is my main background fabric, which is a beige color; hopefully it will arrive in my mailbox tomorrow!

I am anxious to get started on this project. I really love the fabrics that I have chosen.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

6 Years Isn't Really That Long, Is It?

My family comes from the south - Tennessee to be exact. Although I was born and raised here in lovely VA...my mom, dad, and all of their immediate family are from Tennessee. When I visit these relatives in the south, instead of being "Martha", I become one of those southern girls with two first names...."Martha Faye". (When I was little, one of my cousins pronounced it "Wash your face".) Okay, that was kind of a long way of getting around to telling you about my Aunt Faye. I have always loved and admired her, and wanted to be just like her when I was a little girl. There is a family story that I learned to knit at about 6 years old, lying flat on my back in bed next to my Aunt Faye who had just had back surgery....I think that my Aunt Faye is also behind my love of making things, and even more important, my love of quilting! About 10 years ago when my Granny Kate's health was failing, Aunt Faye was her full time care-giver; she spent many hours bedside of my Granny Kate, and spent her time cross-stitching 16" quilt blocks. About 6 years ago, she passed the blocks to me and asked that I set them in "some kind of quilt" for her. So I procrastinated just a little bit. But this past 4th of July weekend I made up my mind to just do it. Here is the result....I still need to add some borders to the outside, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. I can't wait to see if Aunt Faye likes it! (By the way, if anyone has any of this older Thimbleberries fabric from the Sugarhouse line that is used in these setting blocks - I'm desperately looking for some more for the borders of this quilt!)

Quilt for a Cause


Wow - I took a bit longer of a blog break than I intended. (I actually did not intend to take a break at all, but got really busy with life stuff, ya know?) I also have had some nice sewing time over the past couple of weeks, so will show some photos of what I've been doing....I have been working on a quilt which I call the "Breast Cancer Quilt" that I'm donating to a local golf tournament here in VA for a silent auction. This is a queen sized quilt, and I just finished machine quilting it yesterday. This quilt is actually made and donated in memory of my friend Dale McGee Fry, who lost her battle with cancer in December 2006. I think of her often, and I hope that this quilt brings in lots of money for the cause, and that whoever ends up with it uses it and loves it alot!