A Visit to Mama's Quilt Shop

 Saturday, after my sister (Sew Much and More) and I converged at my mother's home in Hammond, La. for the Christmas holidays, we made a trip to Mama's Quilt Shop in Independence, La., a country drive 30 minutes east of Baton Rouge, and 45 minutes north of New Orleans.  

Its a quaint little shop nestled behind live oak trees and sits in front of a large peaceful pond. Entering the quilt shop is like coming home. You are greeted with warm welcomes and an array of bolts in current trends of fabric design.

Ms. Martha from Living Life was working on finishing up these cute "twister" wreaths. These were made using the medium size twister ruler. These beautiful projects measured about 14 or 16 in square from my "eyeing" estimation... correct me if I'm wrong Ms. Martha. I have the twister ruler but I've never used it...I think I should use it. 

Ms. Martha was also working on this faux red-work rag quilt. You had to touch the fabric to feel that it was actually stamped on the panel. 

Here are two quilts that were hanging in the shop classroom. The camera does not do them justice. They were very eye-catching hanging in the store.

I love the star border on this one. The contrasting colors really gave the quilt depth.

Patty was working on this cute applique' for her 4-year old grandson. She was doing an excellent job. Applique' is a technique that I've not tried yet...another technique that is on my "To Do" list.

I thought that her choice of colors were great!

There is so much detail in applique'.

My sister, mother, and I had a nice time at the quilt shop. Visit my sister at Sew Much and More and check out all the fabric goodness the store has to offer!

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Quilting! Happy Living!

Travel Sewing Pouch

Merry Christmas to all!. 

I'm sure you all have been as busy as I have in getting your Christmas sewing projects completed. It has been a wild and busy month. Why can't I start on my projects in January and not be so stressed out during this joyful time of year. Who else does that?

My niece requested a travel sewing pouch for Christmas and I came up with this. I sewed it together on my serger and used my embroidery machine to make the pretty front pocket and back design. It was a fun and quick project.

The pouch was too small to hold a pin cushion so I stuffed batting between the outside canvas and the lining and made a pin cushion next to the outside pocket.

My niece likes blue and I found this pretty blue and brown fabric in my stash for the lining.

And the back... I love this jacobean design and have been wanting to use it on something. It is an Anita Goodesign from their Jacobean collection.

Here are the items I bought to put into the pouch. It's more then what can fit but I figured she could pick and choose from these items and it would give her a good start. 

I collect chicken figurines and some roost on my mantle. I was voicing to my husband that I was not looking forward to removing all my chickens and finding a temporary place for them so that I could put out my mantle Christmas decorations. He came up with the idea for me to make Christmas hats for the chickens and at the end of the season all I needed to do was take the hats off the chickens and store them for next year.  How ingenious is that? I then went around the house looking for other items that could use hats...but that will have to be a project for next Christmas that I guess I need to start in January. 

I hope everyone has a Joyful and Merry Christmas and treasure this special time spent with loved ones. 

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Quilting! Happy Living!

A Giveaway!

Friends at Mama Quilt Shop is giving away a copy of Turning Twenty Slapplique!  And...enough fabric to make a sample block. I've seen the book and it's a great!

Visit Bits and Pieces and leave a comment for a chance to win!

Good Luck and thanks for visiting. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Nurse shoulder tote/supply bag.

Good Morning! What a beautiful day it is here in north central Georgia. Not a cloud in this great big blue sky. The temps are in the 60s with a light breeze. What a day! Okay...now that we've had the weather report this is what I've been working on. 

As many of you know I'm a nurse, and a nurse needs to carry around supplies such as alcohol wipes, syringes, tape, pens, etc. I generally carry these items in my pockets and have to fumble through my pockets to find the items I need...not to mention my body feels loaded down with stuff. 

I was at my LQS recently and they had this oh so cute nurse fabric panels...of course I had to have some but at the time didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I was studying the fabric while sitting at my sewing machine and a light bulb went off...a pouch to carry all my nurse items in! This is what I came up with and it was a hit when I brought it to work.

This is one side of the pouch. It's as big as what the panel is.

This is the other side. I did some deco stitching around 

   picture which made it look like a separate panel from the background panel fabric. Then I added a long black webbing shoulder strap that could be worn around my neck and arm and hung to about my waist.

I attached both sides with a one inch strip of black fabric.

Oh..of course I lined it too.

Findings after testing it at work:

1. It needs some small inside pockets to hold my alcohol wipes and smaller items. I found I was fumbling through the bag to get my small items which of course went to the bottom under the tape.
2. It can be slightly wider. My black side strip needs to be about another inch wider.
3. Strap needs to be adjustable. I just need to find out where to get the plastic adjustable thingie to run the webbing though.

It was a hit at work. I had lots of compliments on it. Then I realized..wait a minute..it doesn't just have to be a nurse on it...I can embroider anything on fabric cut to width and make my own panels! More to come on that idea!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is as beautiful as mine is. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

DeAnna S.

Some Recent Embroidery Projects

I made these cute bookmarks for our nursing techs as a "Thank You". I love the lace look of these bookmarks and love embroidering anything lace.

I also did this one for one of our male nursing techs who just got back from the beach. The In-the-Hoop projects are the best. I love watching them come to life in front of my eyes.

Here is a block that I'm working on. I'm calling the quilt "Gate to My Garden". The block consists of 4 embroidered squares that are then sewn together to make a block. One good thing about this block is that as it's embroidering it's also quilting. All I have to do is sew all the blocks together, back it, then just stitch in the ditch between blocks...uh...sounds easy.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Living! Happy Embroidering!

DeAnna

Look what Santa has brought me in October!

Santa came early to my house this year...he wanted to beat the crowd, traffic, and hustle and bustle. My items were delivered to my LQS. This is four of the seven boxes that were delivered.  Can you guess what they contain? 

And the fun begins....

My DH...who loves me so much...began unpacking the boxes for me...after coming home late from an out of town business trip. But alas, this was as far as he got. Bright and early the next morning we began again with the unpacking and putting together. Have you guessed what it is yet??!! Surely you know by now.

Here is another hint...it's about 12 feet long....

and has legs...

and takes up a lot of space in my studio...

My DH is such a great guy...he worked hard on putting it together. If I had to do it, it would probably still be in boxes.

TA DA!! 

It's my Crown Jewel Longarm by Baby Lock. 

 I'm so intimidated by it. 

And now the empty boxes on the staircase landing to deal with...Oh so many empty boxes.

And now...the fun begins...practice, practice, practice. I did these leaves using the Crown Jewel's laser light and following a motif.  It is fatter then the original motif.

I also did these feathers using the same method...it's fatter too! Practice, practice, practice!!

I decided to try some freehand work...it's hearts but I guess it can also be leaves...and it's fatter than what I wanted!! Practice, practice, practice.

I'm quilting on some old sheets that I had...I couldn't bring myself to practice on good fabric...or even good cheap fabric. Maybe I will make a quilt out of my practice bed sheets.

I will keep you all posted with my progress. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!...

...and remember...practice, practice, practice.

A Prayer Quilt for Dad

 

I've not posted for a while due to my Dad's illness. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May and God took him in his arms in late August. Above is the prayer quilt that my family made for dad which comforted him and now comforts us. Please visit my sister's blog to read the touching story behind the quilt and a family's love for each other.

 



Love you Dad...you always thought of your family in everything that you did.

I will always miss you and you will forever be in our hearts.

 

 

Thanks to all for stopping by. Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

 

DeAnna S.