Stitch and Quilt

Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Bill

2021-03-27T11:40:00.003-05:00

All 50 USA states are represented in this quilt.. Sue and Bill's clothing is from Northcott's state flower fabric line. This was a huge swap between 50 ladies. We all had to do 50 blocks using the state fabric we were assigned. At the end we sent them to the hostess and she gave everyone 1 block from each swapper. Was a lot of fun and a whole lotta work but so worth it!

In The Kitchen Stitchn' Blog Hop

2021-02-28T11:51:00.003-06:00

There is a new blog hop on the horizon called In The Kitchen Stitchn'! Carla over at Creatin' In The Sticks is our host once again! If you love to be a part of blog hops, head over there and look for the sign up details. Hops are a lot of fun and I just signed up to show my kitchen item I will be making over the next month and a half!

Giveaway Winner!

2021-02-27T09:30:00.002-06:00

Karrin Hurd from Karrins Crazy World has won the giveaway that I held during the Show Your Stripes Blog Hop! Congratulations! She left the 24th comment out of 33!

Thank you to everyone who came and visited my blog during the hop! Please come back to see what I will be working on this year!

Show Your Stripes Blog Hop! - It's My Day!

2021-02-24T23:23:00.002-06:00

Hello, thank you for visiting my blog today to peek at my contributions to the

Show Your Stripes Blog Hop!

Carla over at Creatin' In The Sticks has put a lot of work in to getting us all prepared for the hop

and this is a big thank you shout out to her!

I love to make charity and comfort quilts and am currently out of baby quilts. I generally have a stack in the backseat of my truck in the winter. If I see a mom with an infant and it is only wrapped up in a receiving blanket I can gift her a quilt right on the spot. So I have prepared some tops that I still need to quilt but it wont take me long to get them completed and in the truck.

My stylized rose will wrap some little girl up nice warm and cozy don't you think. The striped inner border just adds to the look.

I received these fabrics in a kit from a blogger several years ago and now have them in top form just waiting to be quilted. It is just a dab bigger so it can go to a 1 - 2 year old little boy. You will find some stripe fabric in the quilt and the jelly roll strips make stripes of their own. Some little boy will love this!

This is one of my favorites. I didnt use a jelly roll but cut my strips of fabric for this one. Lots of polka dots and sewn together in stripe form. :) Very bright and cheery. It could be for either a girl or boy. It needs an outer border but I dont have anything in the house to match.. I just might add a multi color stripe border on it or maybe bind it in stripes. Decisions decisions. :)

And I love giveaways so leave me a comment about your quilting endeavors.
Someone will win this Tree of Life panel. I will use the random number generator on Saturday, Feb 27 at 9am Central time to choose the comment number and whoever made that numbered comment will win!
I do have these for sale so if you are interested in one, just give me a shout!

Well that's it for me. I hope you have enjoyed being here! Be sure and visit the other bloggers that are showing their stripes today!

Thursday, February 25th

Becky’s adventures in quilting and travel

Patchwork Breeze

Kathy Kwilts and More

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Inflorescence: Starting to Bloom by Choosing Joy

QuiltFabrication

Stitch and Quilt

Creatin' in the Sticks

Be sure and go back to visit the previous bloggers in the hop!

Monday, February 22nd

Just Let Me Quilt

DayBrook Designs
VroomansQuilts

Tuesday, February 23rd

Life in the Scrapatch

Stitchin At Home
Websterquilt

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Wednesday, February 24th

MooseStashQuilting

selina quilts

Quilting Gail
Karen's Korner

Thursday, February 25th

Becky’s adventures in quilting and travel

Patchwork Breeze

Kathy Kwilts and More

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Inflorescence: Starting to Bloom by Choosing Joy

QuiltFabrication

Stitch and Quilt

Creatin' in the Sticks

Time For A Refresh

2021-02-14T12:39:00.005-06:00

Yes, PigTalesandQuilts is gone from the banner but the domain will always point here. I have been back and forth with this decision but I finally made a definitive decision and I believe it is time to retire the old name and bring in the new. Our lives have changed so much over the past 12 years and the old blog name centered around our pottery and the pigs we collected and since we no longer collect it makes sense to refresh the blog.

I am in love with my new blog banner!! I bought the image of the machine from a seller off of Etsy and with her permission used it for my blog. I took it in to my photo software and added the words. I love the saying at the bottom and that is SO me!

I have done some housekeeping on the blog this morning, deleting some irrelevant posts, so the dates will look out of sync but the remaining posts are what matters anyway. I am excited to get back to blogging and I hope you will all come and read my musings. I know it has been a long time and I have tried to get back to blogging a few times but the time just wasnt right. Our lives have slowed down considerably so I am looking forward to blogging and sharing my work. I hope to do a few blog hops again but I dont plan to get in as many as I once did. I just want to hang out with people of like-minds. :)

To give you some eye candy, I will share this quilt I made for a blog hop a few years ago. It was a lot of fun to make! My hubby still gives me grief for giving it away during the hop. Maybe I need to make a second one just for him. :)

Tshirt Quilts

2021-02-07T06:27:00.003-06:00

I completed these for different clients. They both were thrilled with how they turned out. They have become my favorite quilts to do for clients.

Lets Do The Twist-er!

2021-01-05T14:53:00.002-06:00

I am seriously going to try and get back to blogging this year! It has been a long time since I blogged regularly. When Madame Samm stopped the blog hops, it was like the air went out of my desire to blog. Couple that with selling our home in NC, moving to AL, then reselling the first home we bought there, renting a while and everything in storage, and then buy a home right when Covid hit. Well, you do the math. Not much creative spirit has gone on in my brain. lol I have had the pleasure of creating a few fun pieces lately and I will share them with you one per week. At least that will get me one month of new blogging to start off with. Maybe fill in an extra blog day if I can but I wont promise to blog every single day right now. But do check in weekly to see what I have created and/or am working on at the current time. I made this quilt to fit a king size bed! I had made a smaller version and gifted it to a child at the Masonic Home For Children in Oxford, NC back a few years ago. I had been wanting to do another one so I finally did! I hope you like the outcome!

Pieced Leaf

2020-10-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

Or else that is what I am calling this one..This is the largest quilt I have ever made from the ground up. 360 half square triangle blocks about drove me crazy piecing, pressing and squaring them to size...I am glad it is finished! I really enjoyed the quilting process though... Just low end custom..Nothing too fancy...Just keeping with the leaf designs...

Some Of My Stitching

2015-03-19T23:01:00.004-05:00

I would like to thank you all for coming by my blog to see what I have to share. I dabble in a little bit of a lot of things but one thing I am trying to sharpen, are my embroidery skills. I love to crazy quilt and embroidery skills are a must. Before I started crazy quilting I basically had never embroidered anything, but fast forward 8 years+ and my skills are getting better.

I have been a needleworker most of my life, creating my first quilt blocks by hand at the age of 8. My granny Ella taught me but would not let me use her sewing machine. Those are the only quilt blocks I ever hand pieced but I have been quilting, sewing and using a needle ever since!
Next to a needle and sewing machine is my favorite place to be.

Although I have been a quilter for the past 36 years, I have found that I can find contentment and enjoy just sitting with a different kind of needle in my hand at various times. I love to cross stitch, embroider, knit and needlepoint. But not in that order. I actually don't have a favorite any longer...
I just love to Create! no matter how!

The first photos I will share with you today are of some pieces I have done that involve creating trees. I want to do a study in trees eventually. My idea is to create trunks with various elements and then create the tree tops with as many materials as I can possibly find that will work.

First up is a tree that I did with a water theme. This is the likings to a weeping willow growing by the side of a pond. I used silk ribbon french knots to create the tree itself and did basic embroidery for the branches and other elements within the piece.

A close up of the embroidery work on the background of the piece.

This tree I call the fairy Goddess. I used large leaf charms and buttons to create the tree top and embroidered a simple chain stitch for the tree itself. I want to re-visit this tree and maybe do a satin stitch to fill in the trunk so you don't see the block background as you do here.

This tree is one of my favorites! I call it my Apple Tree... hence the red and green vintage buttons. I used tons of small buttons to create the tree top and then using silk ribbon, I created the tree trunk itself. I did not do french knots in the tree but only pulled the silk ribbon through so far and then stopped each time before pulling it tight.

I love the texture it gives the trunk.

To get away from the trees a bit, I have quite a bit of embroidery on this grandmothers fan piece. My chain stitch and back stitch still need some honing but I am getting there little by little. I enjoyed embroidering and beading this piece and the use of the birds all hand dyed is the perfect finishing touch. My friend Nicki hand dyes laces and I get my pieces from her.

I can't end without showing all of you my best masterpiece to date. In 2010 I had achilles tendonosis and was recliner bound for over 4 months so this piece was started for my oldest granddaughter as her 8th birthday present. It took me a couple of months beyond that to get it completed but it is my best work yet. There is a ton of embroidery work in this piece.

Allie's Tea Party

When I started this Allie's favorite color was pink... everything in her room was pink and just about every piece of clothing she owned had to be pink! She also loved to have tea parties in her bedroom with friends or whoever would oblige her... sometimes that would be my hubby. :)

Fast forward 5 years and her room has changed quite a bit.. now it has horses, lassos and camouflage everywhere. I asked her if she would like for me to bring her tea party piece home with me to safeguard it for her until she got married and she promptly told me it was not leaving her wall. So Allie's Tea Party hangs out with all the horses and camouflage and they all live happily together in her bedroom. She makes this grandma smile. :)

Here are several close ups showing detail work.

Thank you for your visit today. I hope that I have inspired you in some small way to go and pick up a needle and thread and stitch something.

The Tree Is Up and Another Gift Out The Door!

2014-12-08T19:39:00.004-06:00

We put up our tree tonight... and if you remember, it isn't any ole' tree. it is our non-traditional piggy tree. And what is laying under it... but a stocking, Tammy bag, candy and lots of surprises for someone! Another Christmas gift out the door. Hope she likes what she is getting from Santa. :)

A stocking with a vintage piece of linen to adorn the top.

A matching Tammy bag because the stocking just isn't big enough to hold it all. :)

The matching stocking and Tammy bag.

I just love the handle on this Tammy bag. It has scroll type swirls in the metal that match perfectly with the scrolls and swirls on the fabric.

My sweet hubby is playing hard to get! ha!

Comfort Quilt Presentation

2014-11-17T06:34:00.003-06:00

I have been traveling all week and wanted to share some things with you this morning. On Monday, my friend Libby and I drove up to Fredericksburg, VA for a 3 day sew-in with friends. We were on a mission to deliver a quilt that a group of 100+ quilters made for a friend who had lost her son. Our friend Tammy is the recipient of this quilt of love and was very surprised when we presented it to her. Some other friends on the forum had sent her a pillow and others had sent her something as well so she had no idea something else was in the works.

Friends who could not make blocks sent funds to help with backing, sashing fabrics and batting and all left over funds went to purchase a couple of extra keepsake gifts. Tammy loves sea turtles so I bought her a glass sea turtle at the Hallmark Store. I also had enough funds to purchase the friends hugging figurine. This symbolizes all of the many hugs she was sent and is still being sent by all of her quilting friends.

This is Tammy and her mom...

And friends Karen (left) and Libby (right)

I got home around 6pm on Wednesday evening and left again on Saturday morning at 7am to take my mother in law Mildred and sweet Aunt Neva to see their sister in Havelock, NC. We had a blast! Aunt Lynda made us right at home with foot soaks when we got there and a wonderful dinner of homemade beef vegetable stew with stove top cornbread fritters! yummy! We drove down the coast to meet up with Aunt Lynda's daughter for lunch on Sunday before heading home. Aunt Lynda treated everyone to a delicious seafood lunch! Mildred, Aunt Neva and I all ordered fried shrimp, Aunt Lynda had fried oysters and Leanne had the fish tacos. The food was excellent so we were all stuffed when we left!

And oh yes we spied a quilt shop... and yes.. we had to buy something.. But it wasn't fabric.. Actually it is the first quilt shop that I have been in that did not sell fabric. they had tons of ready made quilts for sale, gift ware, and antiques.

It just so happened to have been Leanne's birthday the day before so we bought her a set of placemats for her dinner table and a potpourri bowl that had the aroma of vanilla, actually called a wax pottery vessel. The Habersham Candle Company makes the potpourri bowls right here in the United States, down south in Georgia. These are not candles... they have a fragrance built right in so you only display them and enjoy the aroma without having to search for matches.

They did not have a photo of the vanilla vessel that we purchased at the Quilt Cottage so I will show you a couple of others. Go to the candle website to view them all and the other items they have on the market.

And my birthday is this coming Friday so my mother in law bought me this sweet and cuddly piggy for my birthday. It was between this and a new leather satchel (the satchel was not at the Quilt Cottage), and the piggy won! I just love him! Thank you Mildred!

We had an excellent time all the way around but on the way home it started to mist rain and the sky darkened up. It was a miserable 3+ hours drive home and I was so glad to be safely tucked under my quilt and in the recliner resting before bedtime.

Quilted Living Book

2014-11-12T23:07:00.001-06:00

Have you ever seen a copy of the book "Quilted Living". The book is filled to the brim with so many inspiring projects! You will have a hard time deciding which project you want to do first! Mix and match design elements of more than one quilt to create an entirely different look for a new project!

There are 10 designs inside the book and after a bit of deciding and undeciding, I chose "Liberty". There was a quilt and a tablerunner made from the design and I chose to create the tablerunner. I modified it a little in order to fussy cut the fabrics for the inner light colored strips. I wanted to showcase the farm animals in the print so I cut the strips 4" instead of 2". I also continued the border to the ends so it wrapped the entire tablerunner.

As you can see the model in the book is made from red/white and blue fabrics. My first initial thought was to stay with the patriotic theme but my kitchen decor is pigs and apples with black appliances so I knew I wanted to choose fabrics that would compliment my breakfast area. I wanted to be able to use the runner year round.

My husband and I collect pottery from the Western part of North Carolina and some parts of GA, SC and AL. When I was getting ready to make the photos I decided to show off a few pieces of our pottery with the tablerunner. A few extra quilted pieces never hurts anything either, right.

First up to adorn the runner, allow me to show off a couple of our many pigs we have collected over the years. Albert Hodge's swirl pig and David Bellar's round belly pig. The teapots in the display are also all by David Bellar. Last, but certainly not least, is Charlie Lisk's red pig in the chair, one of our favorites!

This is actually how we will use the tablerunner. The water pitcher is by Kim Ellington and the pasta bowl and mini dressing pitcher are by Sylvia Harrison. The tablerunner is a perfect backdrop for these pottery pieces! These pottery pieces have sat on the table for quite a long while and now they have a gorgeous runner to add a softness to all the hardscape.

I free hand quilted the runner with square spiral, ribbon candy, cross hatching and meandering. All of this was done free form so when you look closely, you will see nothing is really even. And rightly so, when you think about farm living. There is nothing like the carefree nature of living on a farm surrounded by nature and quilts!

Thank you for visiting my blog today! I hope I have inspired you to create something today!

Allie's Summertime Visit!

2014-09-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

My granddaughter Allie came for the summer so in lieu of staying online, I spent many a day with her as top priority. I think she spoiled me as much as I spoiled her. She was very good company for me while hubby worked in the tobacco field.

I worked on 3 projects over the summer, including one of those being made from Riley Blake gingham check fabric. I ordered mine from the Fat Quarter Shop, my favorite go to place for fabric. I love their customer service, the way they pack my fabric, and most of all the way they give back to quilters all across the world by allowing bloggers to host giveaways!

I have been working on a group project all summer trying to finish hand quilting a gift that is going to someone very special. I was waylaid by carpal tunnel when I was a little over half finished and then I obtained a very bad cut to my middle finger on the right hand. It was a really nasty cut that took almost 4 weeks to heal! No hand quilting for me during the entire time because it was my right hand on my thimble finger. I had offers to help finish but I was determined to finish what I started and finish I finally did! I was hoping to finish and get it delivered before my day on the hop but it is not delivered so only a small sneek peek will have to do for today. Once the gift is delivered, I will create a new blog post with a full size shot, close ups and a little story behind the gift. For now, you will just have to imagine the work that has gone in to it.

(I just noticed the 2 pieces of gingham in the cropped photo... How appropriate.)

Allie and I went fabric shopping to make her 3 dresses to wear to church while she was here. We got dress number one completed before the nasty cut to my finger happened and then the rest... well, they will have to be made next summer when she comes to the farm. She looks so pretty in her new dress.

After my finger healed I dabbled in a little bit of crazy quilting and finished this 6 inch block. I really like the way the background colors and the colors of my embellishing and stitching came together. It was nice to actually get lost for a day in my stitching. Allie worked on blanket stitching a cowboy boot to a batik background while I worked on my stitching. She gave orders not to show her work until she can finish her project. This is the crazy quilt block that I did.

I also did some canning and freezing which are shown in the post below this one. We make peach ice cream every summer... several times because it is hubby's favorite... not so much mine, so I put away 2 buschel of Big Red peaches. I also make 3 or 4 peach cobblers in the winter so a few were canned in jars... the ones for ice cream were frozen. We love strawberry freezer jam and this summer I have tried my hand at some peach freezer jam. I will let you know how it tastes when we break open the first jar and spread it over warm biscuits.

And now for my Riley Blake gingham project!

Madame Samm designed the Tammy Bag back early on in the blog hops and I have fallen in love with them. It has been a while since I made the last one so I knew I wanted to make one out of gingham! You can find the pattern HERE in her Craftsy shop! But beware, they are like a Lay's potato chip... you cannot stop with just one!

The hand dyed lace flower is from a shoppe on Etsy, RavioleeDreams, owned by my friend Nicki Seavey. She literally takes a paint brush and paints her laces! They are incredible! The light teal flower was perfect for this Tammy bag! Teal beads finished the frame perfectly and the vintage teal button was the icing on the cake! The heart shaped white lace adorns the front and the back. If you need laces by the yard for your projects I have it on good authority that you can find plenty with great prices at Crazy Quilting Supplies.

Allie and I are on to more adventures before she has to go back to Bama so I will catch up to you later.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Summertime Travels

2014-09-01T09:54:00.002-05:00

I guess you could say I have been on a blogging break. I had my granddaughter all summer. I think I have blogged 5 times since she came to the farm. But that is ok... computers can wait... grandchildren cannot. We stayed busy having fun and then I got to spend over a week in Alabama visiting the rest of my family when I took her home.

Allie has grown a mile since last summer!

So has Miss Emily!

Her momma is teaching her bad habits!

She should have on a ROLL TIDE shirt!

Ace came for play dates a few times.

He and Allie hit it off really well!

We have our farm up for sale and are moving to be near my family when it sells. My first cousin is a realtor and she lined up some available properties to show me just to get us started with an idea of what is out there. Never did I realize she would have 18 properties on Friday, the first day there after a 2 day trip in. WOW!! Talk about total exhaustion! The next day wasn't as bad but coupled with the exhaustion, it was... 10 properties on Saturday!

Parker is helping my cousin's hubby show us this place.

(which I hope we get a chance to buy!)

For the remainder of the visit, it was all about family and getting together with them, which kept me in the truck every day. My youngest daughter is building a new home with her hubby so I opted to stay in a hotel the duration of our visit. My friend Libby rode with me and it was always after 9:00pm before we were able to get back to our room. We basically just got in our nighties and crashed every night. I don't think she will be so eager to go with me again. I wore her slab dab out!

Sweet Libby

The trip was delightful regardless of how tired I was and it took me 4 days to get over the trip once I got home. I always put away fresh peaches for homemade ice cream and cobblers and I was about out of time by the time I got home so on Thursday my mother-in-law and I made a trip to the farmers market to get some Big Reds. Peaches will be gone next week so we cut it close this year!

Here are the fruits of our labour.

diced peaches over chocolate ice cream (don't knock it till you try)

1 large batch of homemade ice cream
19 quarts of canned peaches for cobblers
11 super-quarts of frozen peaches for ice cream
12 pints of peach freezer jam for warm biscuits
Large skillet of fried squash for dinner
12 quarts of squash ready for frying

Thank you Lord for our bounty.

Giving Quilts

2014-06-22T21:28:00.001-05:00

We have had out of town family this weekend from South Carolina and Pennsylvania. My father in law's brother and his sister both came for a visit. Uncle Don has a special place in my heart and I wanted to do something nice for him. He had a stroke a few years ago and during the winter his leg and foot stay really cold. So I sent him home with the picnic quilt I made for our picnic trip to Duke Gardens. Now he can be toasty and warm when he watches television.

When the realization set in that I was giving it to him, he became all smiles. He was pleased as a little piggy to be taking the quilt home with him.

Picnic At Duke Gardens

2014-06-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hubby and I chose to go to the beautiful Duke Gardens for a picnic. They are located in Durham, NC only 30 minutes from our home.

When we arrived we started scoping out that "perfect spot" to set up our picnic. We wanted to have lunch before roaming the gardens so the food would not have a chance to spoil... and because we were a little hungry. It took us about 10 minutes to uncover a hideaway spot just perfect for 2 romantics like ourselves.

Can you see the benches nestled away back there?

Perfect!

Looks like some other romantics found this spot too!

I made a picnic quilt special for the occasion. We spread our picnic quilt out over one of the benches and sat up our basket. What is in that picnic basket, you ask? Well, we all know you need fried chicken for any picnic, right? Hubby's favorite food in the world is fried chicken. He doesn't get it very often because I cannot fry it too well... the outer crispy coating does not stay on. This yummy chicken came from Popeye's. Perfect every time! And no, that is not wine in those glasses.. it is Coca Cola! ha!

A close up of the picnic quilt showing you that yes, I did use pig fabric! :) I bought these fabrics in 2009 in New Hampshire when I was on a quilting retreat with 70 friends from the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum and they have sat patiently waiting to become something. This picnic was the perfect time to get them out and make them useful. I made 10 1/2 inch 4-patch blocks and cut 10 1/2 inch squares from the pig print to create my quilt. I quilted it with a free hand square spiral.

I actually made it to fit my eating table but once it was finished and I laid it on the table, I am not so sure I want to use it there. I added the black to make it wider and longer and I just don't know if I like it in the end. I think I will put it in the charity cupboard and let a sweet child wrap up in it this winter.

I will tell you now that I cannot get down on the ground and sit so that is why we are not all snug as a bug sitting on the quilt. There was a second bench so we both sat there and secretly watched everyone coming and going as we had our lunch. They never knew we were there. :)

As we were leaving our picnic area, we went down by the pond and mama goose was there with a couple of her babies. Are they not sweet!

And way across the pond were some Canadian Geese. We are often visited by Canadian Geese here on our farm... 3-4 days a week, most weeks. I love to hear them honking when they get ready to fly away. It always makes me smile.

We started making our way around to the various flower gardens... But first I HAVE to show you this! Is it not the most incredible water fountain you have ever seen! I told hubby that I would love to have one just like it and he quickly replied, "well, you better win the lottery". lol

These photos are of some of the flower gardens that we enjoyed today...

And a couple of shots with the picnic quilt once again.. Did you notice that it has pigs on it!

I hope that you have enjoyed our picnic and the gorgeous Duke Gardens! Thank you for taking the time to come and visit today!

Quilt Of Valor

2014-05-03T20:56:00.003-05:00

Several quilters got together and made blocks, then sent them to me and I made a few extra blocks and then put the quilt together and quilted it. I then sent it off to the Magnolia Park Retreat Center where it was presented to Sara, a friend of mine and the ladies who took part.

Flags On A Stick For Myself and Marie

2014-04-02T23:00:00.000-05:00

Flags On A Stick have some amazing flags and flag poles! Visit their website to see the variety!

The owner over at Flag-Outlet.com sent Madame Samm 8 flag poles to send to some lucky recipients and I was one of the lucky 8! My pole has a horse finial and I am creating a flag for a very good friend of mine! Thank you Flag Outlet for my special gift!

My friend Marie loves horses... has one, and rides every day that she can. So I decided to make her a flag for her outdoor flower garden... I cropped the photo a little large so you could see her horse in the background. I didn't realize I had photographed the horse until I downloaded the camera.

Close up

I google searched for horse silhouettes and found this fabulous horse head. After tracing the outline on to wonder under, I ironed the wonder under to the black fabric and cut the horse head out, including all of the snippets inside the horse head itself. I love how the background fabric shines through these snippets. The background is a beautiful batik and the horse is black Kona solid. Inside, I added a layer of the fusible fleece that we use in the Tammy Bags to make it hang good and be a little stout.

I presented this to Marie on Monday and she loved it. But then again, I knew she would.

*******************************

I also made myself a flag... I bought these fabrics back in 2009 when I went to a quilting retreat called Circle Of Friends in New Hampshire. They have laid dormant in my sewing room waiting for just the right time to use them. Now was the time.

My flag.... amongst the buttercups... Yep, it is a pig.. Doesn't he look as happy as a little pig in the mud... dancing around with his umbrella. I found this image doing a search for pig silhouettes and I added the words Be Happy to the bottom. We all need to be happy. Life is too short for anything else. :)

I went over to our local Ace Hardware and bought this flag pole. It is perfect for my flag.

Close up

I made my flag the same way I made Marie's. I love this ticking fabric and if you look close enough, you will see hearts in between the pinstripes. The black in my flag is a black batik with hints of a beautiful dark blue in it.

The flag will be displayed by the front porch when we are expecting guests. I will keep it out of the elements in between times. There isn't anything blooming yet but you can see the hostas are coming up already. I think the flag looks right at home with our little pig friend who sits on top of the porch steps. :)

Thank you for visiting my blog today!!

Ruffled Pillow For Dear Charlotte

2014-03-14T08:50:00.000-05:00

This post is centered all around my sister Charlotte. Charlotte loves to read, has tons of flower gardens.. I think she and my hubby are in a competition to see who can have the most flowers... and she has a heart as big as Texas!
I entered a crazy quilt round robin a few months back and the theme was Kate Greenaway. I googled images from her works and found this woman sitting under a tree reading. Just perfect for my block. It was at that time I decided to give the block to my sister once it was completed. I have Carol, Diane, Judy, and Nark to thank for such a gorgeous gift to give to my sister.

Funny thing... tonight I was upstairs stuffing the pillow getting it ready to ship to her. I called Charlotte to chat while I was working. She could hear the beads clanging on the table as I worked the stuffing in and around the inside of the pillow. She asked what I was doing. I told her that I was stuffing a pillow. Well, she wanted to know why I was stuffing a pillow and I told her that I had made a pillow for her. She said "yeah, right"... you aren't making me a pillow.

After 2 or 3 counters back and forth of "yes, I am" and "no, you aren't", I gave up and said ok, I'm not. It is now in a box ready to head for Alabama tomorrow morning. Won't she be surprised!! haha!

Do you think she will love it?

Little Lamb Door Stop

2014-02-04T23:00:00.000-06:00

Meet "Blossom"

She is just the cutest little lamb you will ever see. I used 3 skeins of white knitting thread to make her body and tail. I used a little over half a skein of black knitting thread for her feet. Black and white felt for her face with button eyes and nose. Yep, I think she is right cute!

If you want to make your own little lamb the instructions and pattern for the face can be found here.

When you get there you will see the lamb came from a book called 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders: A world of possibilities inspired by just one skein.

Yes, the one in the book is made from one skein of yarn. Mine has 3!! So you can tell that Blossom is really a good useful door stopper! Make yours any size you wish... the "ball" of yarn is on your court. :)

What Is On My Needles

2014-01-24T10:31:00.002-06:00

I dabble a little in knitting. Nothing major, just your basic knitted blanket or afghan. I have made a few baby blankets and one larger afghan for my hubby back 12 years ago. I have also made some scarves for friends...none for me as I don't wear them. I have never been able to wear anything around my neck... not enough turtle neck tops. I don't have photos of the scarves but this one is of the afghan I made for my hubby so many moons ago.

I knitted one pair of house shoes in the 11th grade. That is the only item other than something "straight" that I have ever knitted. I don't know if I could knit another pair now or not. I did purchase a book to teach myself to knit more things than blankets and afghans and I am hoping to put it to use this year. I would love to be able to knit baby layettes.

I can crochet but my elbow will not let me. Crochet is so much faster than knitting. But I can crochet for 30 minutes and it takes me an hour to get the stiffness out of my elbow so I refrain. My older sister crochets beautifully so I leave it to her. She has made several baby layettes that included the sweater, hat, booties and blanket. She also knits and has made 4 blankets using the stitch where as you knit, you are building a cross stitch area. I will have to get some photos of those 4 blankets on my next trip home if I can. She cross stitched baby animals in each square and they are beautiful. Here is one of those type blankets that she did for me and hubby. She always finishes her blankets with a cute edging! I love it!

This is another blanket that my sister made for us. her hubby almost died 2 years ago rendering him unable to work and we helped them as much as we possibly could. She felt she needed to do something for us in return and gifted us this beautiful blanket. We will cherish it always.

This was actually the very first crocheted item that my sister gifted me with. Isn't it darling!

And finally... This is what is now on my needles... I have no definitive plans for this afghan. I saw the thread and thought it was gorgeous so I bought it and put it on the needles. I will most likely gift it to someone once it is finished but right now, I don't know who. The colors are what I use in my master suite so who knows, it may find a place across the foot of the bed so I can grab quick cover when I take a power nap during the day. :)

So, do you knit? If so, what is on your needles?

A Birthday and Albino Roosters

2013-11-20T23:00:00.000-06:00

Today is my birthday!!! Happy Birthday to me! My hubby surprised me with these beautiful roses yesterday! A day early... hmmm... Now how can he top that today on my actual birthday? :)

This is a wallhanging that I made with the Radical Rooster patterns. I just love the look of these albino roosters... and they turned out really awesome all done up in white on white fabrics!

I wanted to put them on black fabric to really show off the albino part of my idea and I added a moon to add to the illusion of it being nighttime. The border fabric came from JoAnns and is perfect for this quilt with its silvery irridescent moons! I fussy cut the fabric so the moons surround the quilt evenly. Perfect finishing touch!

I took my quilt to a neighbors who had a chicken coop to get photos but the photos did not turn out so when we got home, hubby put the quilt on the side of our corn crib. I cropped a rooster out of the other photo and transplanted him on to my photo. :)

I am in a quandry as to what to name the quilt.. I like Moonlight Serenade but I also like Moonlighting In The Barnyard. Which one do you like best?... or do you have any other ideas for a name? Any and all ideas will be welcomed!

For This Man of Mine!

2013-11-11T23:00:00.002-06:00

I was in Walmart back in 2006 and spied a blue flannel fabric with pink pigs on it. And if you have followed my blog for any length of time, you know our love of pigs is pretty big. Well, I bought that flannel and came home, quilted it up, and surprised my hubby with a couch throw. At first he was kind of put out that it had pink on it but as time waxed on he grew kind of fond of this old quilt. Even with all of the ribbing my brother has given him over it, he still loves it even now.... and trust me.. my brother can rib pretty hard.

As he has spilled chocolate ice cream on it, coffee, and anything else in his hands.. it has had quite a few washings. And what does flannel do when it is washed?...it shrinks... So now he has a hard time keeping his feet covered.

He has complained a few times that I needed to make his piggie quilt longer but as hard as I have tried, I could not find any more of that fabric. So I decided to make him a new quilt!

Now he is as happy as a little pig in the mud! You can see how much longer this new quilt is and it is wider too. And this quilt is perfect for a middle aged man... Warm colors, brushed cotton, boxy pattern design, nothing fussy... and critters in the quilting design.

I made the new quilt with brushed cotton fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop which feel and look like flannel....they also quilted up like flannel. One thing for sure, it is going to be a very warm and cozy quilt for hubby this winter!

My quilting design is frogs and lizards with stippling in between. I used a pantograph which had the frogs and lizards and other bugs and armadillos on it as well but it would have been ultra dense and most likely would have come out stiff as a board. So I chose to skip those elements and only quilt the frogs and lizards. Perfect for this man of mine! He loves bugs of all kinds!

I have put a white square around some of the frogs and lizards. Can you see them?

I asked him what he wanted to do with the flannel quilt now that he has a new quilt and he promptly said, "I want to put it in the cedar chest and keep it" ha! I figured he would say give it to someone but he wants to save it for Miss Allie one day. Isn't that sweet!!

We did threaten in one of our conversations way back to send the pig quilt to my brother if I ever made him a new quilt. The amount of ribbing that my brother gave him over having a pink piggie quilt would serve him right to open a package from us with the quilt in it. I know my brother... He would shake his head and say "good grief". lol

Quilted Finishes!

2013-11-10T16:57:00.002-06:00

I am ready to mail the Love Is Wicked and the Our Wicked Family Tree off to their new owners come Tuesday morning. (Monday is no mail - holiday). I had a lot of fun quilting these 2 little quilts. Hubby liked the family tree so well, he wanted me to keep it. i told him too bad... it was already promised. :) He didn't actually really like the cats... because we don't decorate for any holidays... he just loved the quilting... So I told him I would quilt another wallhanging that had a lot of background to it and do the same kind of quilting on it. I think that made him happy. :)

So here goes... I love the texture...Enjoy the picks..

I did the blanket stitch applique once this mini quilt was loaded... and how cool are their tails!

Creating Smiles One Child One Quilt At A Time!

2013-11-08T20:12:00.001-06:00

How do you make a child smile? Present them with a quilt!

Many of the ladies from the HGTV Quilting and Needlework Forum participate in sending fabrics, quilt blocks, quilt tops, finished quilts and funds to help see that the children at the Masonic Home and the children of the Central Children's Home, both here in Oxford, NC, are presented quilts from time to time. I have also had a few bloggers send in to help with this project as well.

My friend Marie and I were able to get an appointment for today and we presented 5 quilts to some fine young men and 4 quilts to some beaming young ladies.

We are now down to 1 finished and ready to go quilt in the charity closet and it is a baby quilt. I take the baby quilts in to town with me when I go for groceries and I have seen women bring babies out of cars with hardly any coat on in the really cold temps. I walk up to them and ask if they have a quilt for their little one and when they say no, I ask them if they would like one. You can tell by their facial expression, just how much they appreciate these quilts.

They are in awe when I tell them about our group and how the quilt came to be. These quilts have stories to tell and the story only continues when the recipient knows where they have come from. Can you imagine the chatter between these mothers and their friends when they show the quilt they received from perfect strangers.

Here are the photos from today's presentation. Faces are hid due to privacy laws.

Stitch and Quilt

Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Bill

In The Kitchen Stitchn' Blog Hop

Giveaway Winner!

Show Your Stripes Blog Hop! - It's My Day!

Time For A Refresh

Tshirt Quilts

Lets Do The Twist-er!

Pieced Leaf

Some Of My Stitching

The Tree Is Up and Another Gift Out The Door!

Comfort Quilt Presentation

Quilted Living Book

Allie's Summertime Visit!

Summertime Travels

Giving Quilts

Picnic At Duke Gardens

Quilt Of Valor

Flags On A Stick For Myself and Marie

Ruffled Pillow For Dear Charlotte

Little Lamb Door Stop

What Is On My Needles

A Birthday and Albino Roosters

For This Man of Mine!

Quilted Finishes!

Creating Smiles ~~ One Child ~~ One Quilt At A Time!

Creating Smiles One Child One Quilt At A Time!