Summertime Mystery Challenge..........

It's summer , well almost. Tomorrow it will be June. I have decided to post a mystery quilt challenge for whoever might be interested......Are you interested? This will be a short project and finishes to be a lap size quilt. The Mystery will be revealed as you finish the blocks. For the challenge...... I challenge you to pull from your stash only (at least for the blocks) You may need to buy for the backing and borders, but try to use your stash if possible. For those who may not have much stash  (Yah... right!) I will give yardage requirements too. I plan on posting every one or two weeks, depending on work and life in general. Come on and join me....... Let's bust that stash !    Jeri

Charity Quilting

Today I am finishing up the binding on the quilt that I made for Quilts for Kids. This was a fun project and very easy. I think once I send this back they automatically send another one. I will definitely make more of these. Kind of fun to work with new fabric and sew for a cause. This is the nearly completed quilt.

This is a great way to practice free-motion quilting.....

Does thread choice really make a difference....? You bet it does. I was a big fan of this thread and it has been my go-to brand for many years. I love it for piecing and also for machine quilting. It comes on large spools that seem to last forever. It is getting a little hard to come by lately however, probably due to the price. I think it is about $9 a spool.

It's been a good friend.......

When I recently taught a class on quilting, the shop owner gave me a spool of thread to try. It was the same weight (50) as my Aurifil. The brand name was Robison Anton. I tried it on a few sample blocks just to look at the tension and how it went through my maching. My Bernina seemed to sew quite nicely with it. Last week at JoAnn I noticed they sold the same thread in their Viking sewing machine shop, and of course it was a "buy 2 get one" opportunity. I picked up several spools and tried them on both the piecing and the quilting of the charity quilt. I think I may have found a good substitute for my cherished Aurifil , and I am told it comes in economical MEGA cones. Very economical.......

My new find.......

So funny to go on about thread, but if you sew much you know how important our notions are to us!

Enjoy your day.......Jeri

Charity Quilting

Last week I discovered a website http://www.quiltsforkids.org/. It is a site sponsered by downy to make quilts for hospitalized kids and infants. I requested a kit and a few days later this came.....

It is a complete cut out kit for a childs quilt. It needs to be pieced and quilted and bound. All I will need to add is the batting from my stash. The fabric is so cute and I am looking forward to making it. It looks like it is a fairly simple pattern. This may be the start of something fun and helps others while I get to sew!

So cute. I will post a picture when I get it done. Jeri

Happy Birthday to my mom......

This week I am enjoying being with my mom and family for a visit. Her birthday is Saturday and we have a big celebration planned. The weather has been amazing, in the 70's and sunshiney. Of course the yard here is beautiful, thanks to my sister Janets' green thumbs. Here is a little look at the splash of color out there.

                                                                      Wow...................

and Wow......

and more Wow.......

                

                      Yesterday we took a drive out to a great quilt shop...The Buggy Barn.
                                                      http://www.buggybarnquilts.com/

Look at that weather......

                                          I love this shop, and don't get there too often.

We took Janets' new quilt to show and tell. It is one of their patterns. The ladies admired it and told her to get it bound for the Quilt Show they have out there in August.

What a great day! Mom enjoyed strolling outside up and down their road.

And today we have more beautiful weather and a celebration with the family for moms' birthday.

Life is good......................................... Jeri

MOMS

It's Mothers Day today. I truly am blessed to be a mom. Jon and Alison, Kristen too... love you guys!

I have a dream........

    Someday I dream of owning a longarm sewing machine. It may happen, at least I can dream. But, for now I am super happy with the setup that I have.
   Last summer we were in Sisters Oregon and I just happened to stop by the Stitchin' Post during their garage sale. Out behind the shop in the parking lot they had tables of odds and ends that they were selling at pretty cheap prices. I found two duffle bags with "Complete " on the tags and a little description of HandiQuilter on the tag. I asked the salesperson about them and she told me they were the poles end pieces and carriage to turn the domestic home sewing machine into a table top sewing system. The price tag said $100.00. My husband was skeptical, but I paid for one and put it in the car.
   After getting it home I got the How To video out and discovered we no longer had a VCR to play it on and so it sat.........until I found an inexpensive player and watched the setup. I put it on a table and set it all up. The poles were very flimsy, my table wasn't long enough, the side supports were not very well constructed, and so it sat........................................
   My husband is very handy and an engineer and so for my birthday I came home to a new custom table. I talked about sturdier poles and so he also remade the end pieces and bought 3 new sturdier poles, and then for Christmas he made a new cage to put my machine into.
   During all this time I also purchased an industrial straight stitch only, fast......sewing machine, which now I use in this setup. Recently I also purchased a stitch regulator for my machine/Juki.
   Today I finished a quilt on my system and am very happy with it. It only took 9 months to get my setup to this point! It was worth it.

See how neatly finished the cage is!

just another view. Sew much fun!

and so the quilt I just finished (well almost) was from the Paintbox Quilt Alonghttp://www.ohfransson.com/.I still have to handsew my binding and label it, but I am loving it .........

 

The front, all stippled.

and the back with a few extra blocks and pieces.

:) Happy with the way it turned out.

My spiderweb is also growing. I have decided to make 30 blocks for a square quilt. I have 13 made so far. That means only 17 left to go.......

Hope your weekend was a good one.  Jeri