Kwilty Pleasures Goes "Down Under" Bloggers Quilt Festival

Amy's Creative Side Blog is hosting the 

You can vote for your favorite in each category

You will find my entry in the Baby Quilt Category

and any vote for my quilt is appreciated!

Click here to see all the baby quilts...

  

The fabric is "Down Under" line from Northcott

in a fun rectangle design measuring 52 x 56"

Front

Close up of the meandering quilting I did on my Bernina.

The meander softens all the straight lines piecing.

The "back" was fun to create using some leftover pieced blocks with a gray.

View of front and back 

Stacked view shows the dark gray binding. 

I hope you have enjoyed my Kwilty Pleasure's

Bloggers Quilt Festival Entry!

OZ-solutely a great time!

My friend, Kathy Guenther and I were retreating 
from everything 'cept our sewing machines, 
in the Ohio Land of OZ...Amish Country.  


We hid away from the flying moneys...
nope not gonna get us. We are sewing, sewing sewing!



I promised to show you the results..

Friday night I sewed the rows to make the top for 
a fun toddler quilt.  Pattern is "Perfect 10" by Swirly Girls.

Then I layed out the WONKY CROSSES for 
my Zen Chic "COMMA" quilt.
I found this block tutorial at SewMamaSew

I had to let this one simmer a while before I sewed it together.  
I have more fabric at home to make it a big bigger. 

While COMMA was simmering...I worked on a  "stash buster"  baby quilt. 
The pattern is  "Flip Side" and it was a quick and easy
with fast chain piecing!   

Sunday, I was charmed, working on a PLUS quilt.

This process took much more time than I anticipated.

AND LOTS OF SEWING SEAMS! (tutorial on In Color Order)

Most of the rows are sewn, but I burned out on it and pinned 

the bottom rows to the design flannel...to be finished at home. 

It is now laying on the pool table til I take decide to finish it

or a pool tournament begins.  

 Next project... WONKY SANTA log cabin blocks.  

I fussy cut the Santa's and added wonky strips at random.

THEN Jenny Janome began growling and snarling.  
She's never sewed so much in her little life!
We were both worn out...time to pack it up!!!

And I have to show you my quilting partner's work. 
Here are the two "STUNNING" tops Kathy made...
This thoroughly MODERN MILLIE is something else.  
A perfectionist at heart but so inspiring.  
I think her quilt tops were the most photographed of the weekend!
And rightfully sew!

How bout a DS "Point Me" pattern, queen size top,
in Flea Market Fancy fabrics.  


 "Up a Notch" pattern by Faith Jones, can be found at Fresh Lemons.  Just click here

And finally some shopping on the way home.  A few fun things for my stash.  I have a low volume quilt running thru my mind!  

Thanks for "Following my Yellow Brick Road" to see 
 my "OZ-LAND" Kwilty Pleasures.

I need to pop the DVD in and watch the movie again.
Who is your favorite character and why?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

Just call me Dorothy cause I am headed to the Land of OZ. 

In Ohio, that's Amish Country.   

Dorothy may think "there's no place like home" But I know better!

 I'm meeting up with a great group of quilting munchkins for a quilting retreat.   
A long weekend of whatever we want to do...quilt, eat, shop, eat, chat, eat...you get the picture.

The Tin man, Scarecrow and Lion may show up...

  in fabric form or perhaps in personalities of the fun quilters.

Auntie Em will just have to wait, cause my red ruby slippers 
are getting kicked off and I'm kickin back!  

The Great OZ, is Connie, the organizer of this retreat.  She can't hide behind any curtain cause we will find her and thank her endlessly for such a great time.  She does a wonderful job and makes a gift for everyone, provides discount coupons for the quilt shop, assigns us to our own 8 ft table to work on, organizes the food.

Toto is out of the basket and its filled with all these fun projects to work on.  Starting with this...
Wonky Cross Quilt Top with Comma Fabrics by Zen Chick for Moda

Up next is a toddler quilt right off my design wall.  The Swirly Girl Designs Pattern "Perfect 10" 
(uses 10 FQs) in Lecein Woodland Collection by Natalie Lymer

Next up, summertime FQs, pulled from my stash, to make my first Modern PLUS quilt, using Jeni Baker's pattern from her In Color Order blog.  Click here to for the pattern.

"Flip Side" is a fun pattern that looks like half a log cabin block.  

Using up lots of scraps in soft greens, blue and gray for a baby quilt.  

This stack of 2 1/2" strips is leftover fabric from a quilt I made a couple years ago. 
It's Michael Miller Metro Green.

And if the Christmas Spirit hits me I have "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Andover for a wonky log cabin. The pattern is in Sunday Morning Quilts book.    

If the wicked witch of the west thinks she can show up and try to ruin our fun... 
there's a house waiting to make a landing!  

 I will do a post to show you what Kwilty Pleasures ACTUALLY get done...in the Land of OZ!

A Mom to Remember...

I was lucky to have Mom for many years.
Alzheimer's took her from me before she left this world
so I really lost her twice.  

Cora Clayton lived to be 92 and today I want to share
a few photos and a few ways I got through my loss.

Here we are at her 92nd birthday, Oct 10, 2006.
Looks like I was annoying her, as usual!

And here I am fixing her hair at her 90th Birthday Open House

Over 100 people stopped by to wish her a Happy Birthday.

I'm probably annoying her again!  

And here she is a bit younger.  

Mom was a quilter who hand pieced, scrappy quilts by sewing strips together. 
She was scrappy before scrappy was so popular.
She made quilts for all her grandchildren.  

I just about lost my mind after loosing her, so I had to find a way to heal.  
I did it with fabric, the fabric from her clothes. 

The first quilt I made was an applique quilt (and I knew very little about applique).  
I used her aprons that she wore EVERY Sunday when she made her family Sunday Dinner.  
She made the BEST fried chicken. YEP - Fried Chicken!

I made this lap quilt - replica's of those aprons.  

Although you can't see it...I machine quilted her name
in the top border.  

"Sunday Dinner At Mom's" by Kathy Gordon, 2007

The next quilt I made I used all her house dresses and
just did a scrappy block design.
My BFF Shirley, who grew up with me and Mom
hand quilted this one.  The quilt won 1st place, hand quilting
in the 2010 Common Threads Guild Quilt Show.

"House Dressings"  by Kathy Gordon, 2010

Mom would be so proud that I am a quilter and I made these quilts.
BUT she'd be made as hell that I cut up her clothes to make them. 

Here I am with my son Eric, last Mother's Day, at the beach.
He puts the Mom in my little world.  

Wishing you all a Happy Mother's Day ! ! !