TWO-COLOR QUILT CHALLENGE (oops! 3 color)

I joined in the fun of the "Two Color Quilt Challenge" with "Sisters Choice" but after I had it almost finished I realized I have 3 colors. I guess the cream threw me off. So now I have a 3 color quilt instead. I am not quite done with it, but thought I would show how far I did get and then kind of put it away after I realized it had 3 colors. I did have good intentions of creating a 2 color quilt. When I do get this done I will be putting it on my dining room table for the spring. I love Kim Diehl's patterns. I have her 3 books. This is a table runner from "Simple Seasons" everything in the book is great.

IN-PROCESS

I have this quilt started, it went so fast. I just have to applique the birds on the circles and then quilt it. I just love the pattern and the fabric. I think I am going to use it in my sunroom. Or it would be cute as a table cloth in the dining room. Amy Butler fabrics and the pattern is by Barbara Brandeburg. Love their stuff.

MINNESOTA QUILT SHOP HOP

While we were vacationing the Minnesota Quilt Shop Hop was taking place. So we stopped at a few of the shops along Lake Superior. There are some really fun shops along the way. And of course I had to buy some new patterns and you can never have to much stash. These shops are truly Up North quilt shops. Tucked into the woods and some along the Lake.

GRAND MARAIS

This is the Harbor in Grand Marias, Minnesota. Lake Superior. My daughter Hollie and I try to go here every year in August. It gives us energy for the coming year. She is a teacher so she gets relaxed before she starts her new school year. The splashing of the waves has to be the most calming sound in the universe.

Hollie and I are watching the sun set looking out at the Harbor in Grand Marias. We dont do a lot when we go to Grand Marias. We sit alot by the water and read our books and take naps. We think that Grand Marias is pretty close to what Heaven might be like.

This is the view from the deck at the Hotel. There is a class for Kayaking. It looks like fun but have never tried it yet. Maybe next time.

Hollie and I like to hike along the Lake. This is looking at the Light House in Grand Marais. The sun is getting ready to go down and it is so peaceful and beautiful.

This is my 2nd favorite place to visit, it is the "World's Best Doughnut" Shop. It sits right next door to the book store. So I get up every morning buy "SOME" doughnuts go and sit by the lake and read my bible in the quiet hour of the morning as the water is lapping on the shore and the sea gulls singing. The doughnuts are just so yummy, you cant have just one.

This is one of our favorite places to visit on vacation. It is a book store "Dury Lane" and it sits by the Lake. It is the cutest little shop and it is crammed full of books!! We go in there everyday and browse and buy a book. I have found some of my favorite books in this shop. Then we go outside and read and watch the water.

Anne & Buster

I won I won!!! I entered a drawing for the cutest print at "Donna (Cookie) Gotlib" from the land of "Cookie Sunshine". And I won this cute print. It is of Cookie's baby sister Anne and Buster. I found a frame at "Crate and Barrel", it is glass with a frame all around it, the print fits in there perfect. I have this hanging in my living room and it makes me smile when I look at. The poem that came with it is so cute too. I encourage you to visit Cookie's blog site. Her Art will bring lots of smiles to your day. Thank you again Cookie for your Art that makes me Smile.

I made this quilt for Hollie. She took a trip to Montana and brought back 10 fat quarters. So we used a pattern that uses 10 fat quarters, backing additional. It reminds her of all the pretty colors of Montana. She has this quilt in her living room

My Mom

My mom loves to drink her coffee out of a cup and saucer. I collect them, so when she comes I try to give her a different one each time. This is mom at my dad's tea birthday party. She is such a sweet lady. You would love her, everyone loves her. I wrote an essay on her one time and won! I had to read it in front of a group. I won the whole collection of "Dearest Dorothy Books" by Charlene Baumbich. If you need some light and fun reading, read that collection. My mom is great. Her faith in Christ has always been my inspiration. We lost 2 of my brothers when they were 21 and 22, they died a year apart. Her faith has held her up and she is just such a loving person to all who know her.

Dad

This is my Dad, we took him to the Veterans Hospital on friday for Cataract surgery. Lots of prayers going up. And everything turned out great. His surgery was a success and he is seeing much better. I took this picture of him last year on his birthday. We had a birthday tea and we all had to wear a hat. It was really fun. My dad just loves to try different foods. He is a really a good cook too. His name is Thelvin and a real norwegian. Love my Dad!

Shop Hop Winner

I went to the Quilt shop where I won a 2nd drawing in the Shop Hop. It is packaged really cute in this burlap bag. The pattern and materials are to make a belt. I think I am going to make a belt for my camera. The pattern and packaging are from Sweet Wraps by Sweetwater. Should be cute, a quilted belt. It is always so much fun to win something! I dont usually win anything. But I have been winning lately. God must have figured I needed a little reminder that life is good and He provides that good life to me. I will have fun making this belt.

QUILT SHOP HOP

There was a quilt shop hop in our area last weekend. It was really fun to visit some new shops I had not been to. One shop I fell in love with was The Yellow Bird Art in Lansing Iowa. The store was filled with all the new patterns and materials. The samples were fun to look at. It had ribbons and buttons. You can tell I really had fun at the shop. I had my Prince Philip (husband) with me so I couldn't linger too long. But I managed to buy this pattern by Barbara Brandeburg Birdie Big Blocks. Isn't it just the cutest. Then I bought this wonderful fabric by Amy Butler. I can't wait to get started. It will be fun cutting out the birdies. Love her patterns. The fabric is just so pretty to look at that I hate to cut into it. But I have a picture now so I can return here to look at it. That is the nice thing about blogging, you can keep a running diary of your work. And I did win a second drawing from a quilt shop. They called me on Monday night to let me know that I had won a prize and to come to the shop and pick it up. I haven't picked it up yet but can't wait to see what it is. Anything is just grand from a quilt shop.

HOLLIE'S FAIRY QUILT

I found this fairy material and just fell in love with it. It is so hard to cut into material sometimes. It just looks so pretty laying there. Love stash!!! But I did cut into it and made this cute quilt for my daughter. I think it is one that she snuggles with in every room. She says it just gets better the more she washes it. "Quilts from the Quiltmakers Gift" by Joanne Larsen Line and Nancy Loving Tubesing. It is a great book. I have both of their quilt pattern books. They are wonderful. Easy directions and beautiful quilts. The childrens story is filled with great pictures and a fun story. Love it!

HOLLIE'S LIVING ROOM WALL QUILT

I made this quilt for my kitchen but my daughter Hollie fell in love with it. It now hangs in her cute living room. Hollie is such a cute decorator. Her apartment is just filled with cute things. She really has a knack for decorating. Her place at Christmas time is just so enchanting. The pattern was in a Better Homes and Gardens quilt magazine and the pattern was by "Barbara Brandeburg". It was really fun to make. I used up alot of my scraps.

HOLLIE'S KITCHEN QUILT

I made this quilt for my lovely daughter Hollie's birthday last year. She has a horse and likes funky western. I found the pattern at "All Through the Night" . She has it on her kitchen table. I was just looking at the picture and noticed that I forgot to wipe off the white chalk marks. Hollie has several quilts that I have made. You know how it is when you have a daughter! They some how end of with them.

SPECIAL AUNTIE PRESENT

I have a special Aunt Joanne. She sent me a card for my birthday and this is what I bought with it. When I went to the "Minnesota Quilt Show" there was a fun booth called "Willow Wood Market". They had all kinds of neat things. I bought this pattern and wool. I have an old window with six panes in it that I am going to make those cute wools flowers and put behind the glass. I just couldnt resist the little wool bundle. I am not sure I will use the bundle, I just thought it was so cute. So thank you to my special Aunt! Everyone should really have a Special Aunt.

Yo Yo Winner

These are so pretty. I won these yoyo's about a month ago from a wonderful blog site http://www.blackberrycreek.typepad/ I have been waiting to post them until I had them in a project. But I decided I better post them before time goes on. I have decided to put them on a black purse I am making. I will turn them into flowers. In fact I got the idea from Susan at blackberrycreek. Her pink quilt she is working on has some yoyo's as flowers in a flower pot, it is so cute. Visit her blog site, it is filled with fun things.

Fun Booth at the Show

This booth at the Quilt Show was the most fun. It was displayed by colors. I had alot of fun browsing in this booth. I just can't resist buttons and lace. The booth was called "Nifty Thrifty Dry Goods" www.niftythriftydrygoods.com

Cream Puff

And of course I had to have nourishment! Walking through a Quilt Show is alot of work. I ate the top off the cream puff before I thought of taking a picture. It was one of the largest cream puffs I have ever had. It had fresh cream and real strawberries in it. It was wonderful!!!!

Minnesota Quilt Show 2008

This pretty quilt is called "Summer Garden" by Lin Hilgendorf.

Minnesota Quilt Show 2008

I can understand why this is called "Daydreaming" by Judy Alexander, because this is exactly what my daydreams looks like. It reminds me of the Northern Shores of Lake Superior. My favorite place to be.

Minnesota Quilt Show 2008

This was is called "Monkey Business at Grandmas" by Kathy McNeil, Geri Parker, and Judy Irish

Minnesota Quilt Show 2008

I loved this quilt. (I loved them all!)

This is called "High Gear" by Kathleen Moorhead Johnson.

Minnesota Quilt Show

It is hard to see all the fun thread work on this quilt. There were so many with fancy stitches and colorful threads and beads. This one was called "Sunflowers and Cabbage Whites" by Lauren Strach

PAPER AND TJ MAXX

I don't know what it is about journals and paper products that just touch my heart strings. I have a hard time passing by this stuff. I was at TJ Maxx (one of my favorite stores) and they had so many new journals and notecards etc. So of course I had to buy them, they were such a good buy too! The solid pink one I got at at store called "Papyrus" LOVE IT. It has a leather cover and and leather string to close. The paper inside is just so soft and fun to write on. I also could not pass up on the bird at TJ Maxx.

God Bless you all today!

It's My Birthday!

Today is my birthday. My mom makes me a cake every year and brings it to work so my co-workers can help me celebrate. She usually does a theme, tea cups, convertibles, oreos, etc. But this year she couldn't think of anything fun so she put the candle question mark on the cake. My mom is the greatest and she makes the most delicious cakes. She use to make wedding cakes etc. now she makes cake only for her family. My friend at work took this picture, she thought I should have a pic of my birthday cake. (p.s. I am 54 years old today) I was born in 1954 and am 54 today, I think I should probably get a bigger present or something for that!?! My birthday is on the 19th, but the post is showing it as the 18th. Computers are an odd lot.

PEONIES YIPPEE

I am so excited the Peony's are blooming. They are my favorite flower. I wish they lasted longer. My peony's are 50 or more years old. We are living in the house my husband grew up in (also his father grew up in the house). His mother planted the peony bushes over 50 years ago.

The glass bottles I bought about 24 of them years ago in Minneapolis at at place called Junk Market. The owners are Sue Whitney and Ki Nassauer. They are featured in "Country Home Magazine". I am not sure if the store is still in operation, but the ideas are still there and fun. I couldnt find the website for the store anymore, otherwise I would post it. But you can go to "Country Home Magazine" and view some of their cute ideas. I use these bottles alot. Once I had an outside tea party and put one at everyones place setting. It was so cute and fun.

Apron Fun

My 2nd Bernina Virtual Class was about all the different stitches your Bernina could do. We have to make a project using some of the stitches your machine can do. So I experimented with an apron. (the pattern is from Better Homes and Gardens Fast and Fabulous Quilting magazine). I put wash away stabilizer behind the material and stitched away. It was fun experimenting with the stitches. The stabilizer is really an important thing to use. It keeps the stitches stable on the fabric. I just used regular thread on top and bobbin.

I will be taking this project and the pin cushion to my next class on friday. Then the class is free if you bring a project back. This next class should be fun, it will be something about Christmas projects.

Monday morning and the birds are singing here in Minnesota. I think summer has finally arrived. The weather is perfect. It helps to have some days like this to remember when winter rolls around.

I hope it is sunny and the birds are singing where you are. God Bless.

I bought Better and Homes and Gardens "Fast and Fabulous Quilting Ideas" Magazine. It is full of cute ideas. I made a cute pin cushion. I made it a little taller than the pattern. I was experimenting with my Bernina stitches. It was fun and fast. I think I will be making more to have on hand for Christmas presents. I just love those flat quilting pins.

It is friday!!! The sun is shining here in Minnesota today. And we got some wonderful news last night. Our son and daughter-in-law found out our grandchild is a little boy. We are just so excited. The due date is in November. It is just too overwhelming the love inside, no words can explain what it is to be a grandparent. The little guy will be our third grandchild. Grandpa went to work this morning walking on a cloud. He is too funny.

Psalms 139: 13-16 This is really precious to me.

This was my first attempt at hand quilting. I finished the quilting by machine. I was in too much of a hurry to finish it by hand. But it was fun doing the hand quilting. When I am not in such a hurry to finish a project, I am going to do one in hand quilting. I had problems with the rocking motion, but with practice I am sure it would get better. It is fun, and that is the important part. I used a pattern called Star Party from "Country Threads" by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene.

Found Cutest Giveaway

I found another lovely blog, "Cookie Sunshine". And she is having the cutest giveaway. A limited edition of one of her lovely drawings with poem. "Little Red Shoes". Check out her other drawings. She has the cutest jewelry fairy poem and drawing, among other cute things.www.cookiesunshine.typepad.com

Grandaughter's First Quilt

I made this quilt for my grandaughter. It was the first one I made for her. The pattern was taken from a Thimbleberries Book by Lynnette Jennings. I just love her patterns and instructions. Her books taught me alot when I was learning how to quilt.