Friday Feature at TN&TN

Today I am so excited to tell you that I am featured over at The Needle & Thread Network!!

If you are new here, Welcome!!  

and if you are a regular, please head over to TN&TN where you can find out a bit more about me!

I would like to share a few photos today.  These are some of my favorite finishes.  I hope you will browse around and feel free to go check them all out.

My first quilt

close-up of the hand-quilting done by my mom and grandmother

mini quilt I made last June
You can read more about it here.

Baby quilt
You can read more about it here.

Landscape mini
You can read more about it here.

colibri - challenge quilt
You can read more about it here.

A Tisket A Tasket
You can read more about it here.

Another Baby quilt
You can read more about it here.

My daughter's quilt
You can read more about it here.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR VISITING!!

There is a lot more about me and my quilts here on this blog.  I hope you will drop in again sometime.

Tomorrow I will be posting my blue star for the Color My World Challenge over at Quilt Matters.

Today I am linking up to Friday Felicities because I am so excited to be on Feature Friday!!

The Art of Fabric Making

I saw this video this morning on Facebook and I just had to share!

It is a 10 minute video created by Ken Kaufman, CEO at Robert Kaufman to give a behind-the-scenes look at the printing process.

It is amazing to watch how fabric is made from start to finish!

Enjoy!

some weekend embroidery

I got to play in my studio on Sunday. 

I made these for some patient people who have been waiting.

And this little cupcake was made a week ago but I got to piece it into something.  Unfortunately that has to stay a surprise for now, but I really wanted to share the applique with you.

Isn't it cute?!!

a little sewing can do you good.

My big girl has a cold and stayed home with me today.  I love having one on one time with her, even if she isn't feeling 100%.  It wasn't hard to convince her to take on some calm activities today and I was really happy when I asked her if she wanted to sew and the answer was yes.

She started this pillow for herself back in June.  The 9 patch in the middle was done so we simply had to add the borders.

She is getting so good at sewing all by herself... She knows to put the fabric right sides together and keep the edges even.  She even knows how to follow the quarter inch foot without any help!

She loves this variagated thread!

She loves doing embroidery because she gets to design everything on the computer and one of her favorite parts is picking the thread colors.

Minky!

She LOVES the minky on the back of the pillow!  She spent the rest of the day laying down on it and petting it!

I am so glad she loves to create and play with fabric!  She's already learning that it can be therapeutic too.  It helped her feel better today.

And this is a little bit of what I sewed today:

This little baby should be getting her quilts soon!  Better late than never!

Something new

I brought my PFAFF in for servicing on Wednesday because it has been acting a little funny.

Last night I really wanted to sew so I went up to my studio and looked at my Husqvarna which I usually only use for embroidery.  I have had this machine for 2 years now and have always wanted to try appliqueing with it using embroidery stitches.  Since my PFAFF wasn't around, I didn't feel too guilty not working on my WIPs.  I thought this was a perfect opportunity to try the applique.

It took me about an hour to produce this:

Isn't it the cutest thing ever?

I am totally in love with this method of applique and could easily become addicted to this.  Be prepared to see a lot more of these on my blog!!

Why I have been MIA

It's been a while since my last post.  I have been quilting, but mostly Christmas gifts that I can't yet show you anyways.  

Although it is not quilting related, I thought I would let you all in on what I have been working on.

Last Saturday we hosted a Super Mario Bros Birthday Party for my daughter's seventh birthday!

We bought the Super Mario dinnerware and decorations at Party Mart.

I always like having coloring pages for the kids to color when they arrive.  It keeps them busy as we wait for everyone to arrive and also gives them something to do during transition periods.

I got this one here.

We started with a craft.  This is the part that took the longest to prepare.

The kids made t-shirts!  I bought 10 white t-shirts at Michaels and pre-washed them.  I then printed a picture of Mario's face and traced it onto the t-shirts using my Frixion pen.

Then I went over them again using black Tulip paint.  It took me a few days to do this as I did a few at a time and then let them dry completely.

We set up a folding table in the kitchen with all the t-shirts and some fabric markers.  I bought the Graffiti ones at Michaels.  The kids had a lot of fun coloring their t-shirts and a few of them put them on when they were done!

I also did a little face painting.  The birthday girl opted for a mustache like Mario's.  Some of the other kids wanted one too but most of them preferred a mushroom.

My cupcakes left a little to be desired... they were suppose to look like mushrooms... I think this is where I can honestly say I do better with fabric!

I think the kids favorite part was saving Princess Peach (the treasure hunt!).  My husband and I came up with clues for everyone.  It was truly like an adventure game where they each had something to do in order to help us find Bowser and save Princess Peach.  

The clues for the adventure game! (sorry for the bad lighting!)

I got the clipart for the clues here.

Bowser was hiding here!

We had trouble getting Princess Peach out of there so my husband took out the big guns!! 

The kids were so excited to find the coins and the Princess that were hidden inside.

We also played Super Mario Bros Bingo and a hot potato game where everyone received a Super Mario Bros eraser.

We have a very happy seven year old and all the kids had a blast!  

It is amazing all the resources we have on-line!  My daughters and I had so much fun researching and planning this party!

I am hoping to get more quilting done soon but both my machines need to be brought in for check-ups as they are acting weird, and I have a snowman birthday party to plan for my baby who turns 5 in three and a half weeks!

Color My World Grey

October's color in the Color My World Challenge was grey.

This was a tough one for me because I never use grey in my quilts.  I did manage to sort through my fabrics though and find some greys.  

This is one of my favorite star blocks.  I got the pattern from a class I took back in 2000 called Century Stars.  Although I am not a big fan of solids, I am very pleased with the look of this block.

I just love the fabrics in the center of the block!

Only 2 months left for the challenge!  November is blue and I already have my block all cut up!  I had no problems at all finding blue fabric in my stash and I want to get a head start because I know time will fly by again this month.