virtual garden club

As I have mentioned before, one of my favorite things to do(besides quilting) is to work in my garden.

I feel like gardening is so good for the soul…digging in the dirt, breathing the fresh air,

hearing all the lovely outdoor sounds!  Well, I have joined a Virtual Garden Club and

thought some of you might be interested too : )

(I have added the VGC badge to the right, check it out!)

I started out my morning at a community garden close by my home.  It is always fun

to see what is happening there, and today there were 10 caterpillars on the fennel.

It is a great group of fellow gardeners, both old and new to gardening.  I found
it through the Urban Neighbors OKC Association.  It is fun to garden with
new friends, and I am unable to grow vegetables in my shady yard, so
I am blessed to have this community garden so close to my home!

Here are a few pictures that I have recently taken in my yard:

Purple Passion Flower Vine

Pagoda

Black Pearl pepper

Hope you had a chance to enjoy a little nature today : )

piece,

elizabeth

garden path quilt

I am happy to be back to my blog today.  I have been playing in my garden

these days, and spending less time in the sewing room.

I have finished my Garden Path quilt that I first showed you here.

I used both machine quilting and big stitch hand stitches to quilt on the diagonal.

I like the way it looks!  The texture is what I had hoped for while stitching : )

My scrappy binding was made from this leftover strip.

I am getting much more comfortable with making Modern quilts.

Working with the mint chambray and my favorite Kaffe fabrics

made this project a delight!

See you again soon…..

piece,

elizabeth

in the garden

Not much has been going on in my sewing room, but I thought I'd show

you where I have been….in the garden : )

Ready to plant!

I planted two lilac bushes.

Geraniums for the front pots.

There is still some space for annuals to plant….soon!

Hope you are enjoying your neck of the woods.

piece,

elizabeth

show off friday~~~a retreat and a finish

Show Off Friday

I have been in Colorado at a fabulous sewing retreat.  I have so much to show and tell, but I

am not quite ready(still doing laundry : )  I did finish my mini quilt for my guild challenge!

You will have to click on the picture for a better view.  I hand stitched with

crochet thread and used a scrappy binding.

I haven't done my laundry because today was beautiful and I spent all my time playing in

my garden....so here are a few more garden pictures.

Now it is your turn to link up something~~~~what do you have for

Show Off Friday

There are no rules for this link up party....this is just the place to show off

projects you are working on!

piece,

elizabeth

summer breeze

Summer breeze

makes me feel fine

blowing through the jasmine in my mind......

July is dressed up and playing her tune..... and I am going to take a break and get ready

for my trip to South Africa.  I will return to blogging in the middle of August.  I 'll still

be sewing, and quilting a few more baby quilts to take along on my trip.  I just

need to take a little blogging break for now.

There will be so much to tell you, and pictures to show when I get back!

Enjoy whatever season you are in at the moment and

I will be back soon : )

piece,

elizabeth

wip~~~wheel quilt top

I decided on the Moda gray for the Wheel baby quilt top.  It is ready to machine quilt!

I am also making more bow tie blocks.  They are easy to make like I showed you here. 

 They are fun to choose fabric for, and just like the granny square blocks,  

I have squares cut, sitting by my machine ready to sew when I have the time : ) 

It is a beautiful day, so that makes it hard to stay inside and sew.  I am ready to start planting some flowers in my pots.   I will probably spend some time doing both.  I love Spring!

piece,

elizabeth

I am linking up to WIP Wednesday.

january in review

Here is a mosaic of some of my projects for January 2012.

quilted bath mat, baby quilt,twisted pinwheel
velveteen pinkeeper, hexagon rosebud, yo yo mini
4 hearts mini, hexagon rose bud, hexagon rosebud

If I had to pick a favorite it would be the velveteen pin keeper : )

I am linking up to Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts.

piece,
elizabeth

more rose buds

I am enjoying making these rose buds : )  I haven't decided how I will use them yet, but I know that I will figure that out eventually.  For now I will just keep making my little rose bud hexagons.

It is fun to watch a garden grow in the winter!

piece,

elizabeth

rose bud hexagon

I plan to make a rose star block using the tutorial found here.  There are already so many darling ones showing up on flickr and different quilting blogs.  I started out with my hexagon of either 2 1/4 inches or 2 1/2 inches....which is correct?

Then I drew the lines on my hexagons for the rose star pattern.

I cut them apart and started my English paper piecing  and decided that some of the pieces were entirely too small for me to fiddle with, so that is when I decided to make rose buds instead : )

I am using my heather ross fabric for these and I think I am going to have lots of fun making rose buds!

I will try the rose star pattern again with a larger hexagon, but for now I am content with these cuties.

You may notice that I don't sew with the thread on top like the tutorial.  I learned to sew on the back, not go through the paper, and then I just leave the thread alone when I take the paper out.

piece,

elizabeth

vintage fabric

I have some vintage fabric yardage that I found in an antique store in Colorado that has been sitting in my stash for a while.  In the spirit of finishing a WIP, or as some might say a PIP(project in progress), I decided to use this fabric while I was here at the cabin.  It is a simple finish, but a finish is a finish : )

I cut the fabric in half and evened up the edges.  Then I ironed the sides over 1/2 inch and then ironed again 1/2 inch to give a neat edge.  All that was left to do was top stitch the sides that I had ironed, and now I have two cute vintage tea towels.   Do you call them tea towels or dish towels?

It feels good to finish some things that have been patiently waiting for my attention.  

I wonder what else I will find?

piece,

elizabeth

little quilt monday~~~christmas past

Little Quilt Monday

Here is a little quilt that I made years ago, and always enjoy getting it out when I begin my decorating for Christmas.

The quilt measurements are 24 X 24 inches.

The pattern is from a magazine and I will continue to look and hopefully find the pattern so I can give them credit : )  I hand-quilted with off white quilting thread, and of course, if I was quilting it today, it would be with crochet thread and a big stitch! 

I have been out-of-town, and unable to use my machine, although I have had a chance to do some handwork.  How about you?  Do you have something to link up to

Little Quilt Monday.

Let's inspire each other!

The winners of the lapel stick and charm squares were Heather D. and sunny...congratulations!

piece,

elizabeth

little quilt monday....fall wavy tumbler mini

Welcome to Little Quilt Monday

I have finished my fall wavy tumbler mini quilt first shown here, that I made with the help of my Go!Baby.  I am so happy with the tumbler die that I have ordered a few more dies(squares and rectangles), but it will be a few days before they arrive.

This little quilt measures 18.5 X 19.5 inches.  I think this pattern is sometimes called a thimble.

I used three different colors of thread to hand stitch this little quilt.....yellow, aqua, and coral.  The solid fabric colors really pop and look great with my fall decor.  I am linking up to Celebrate Color and Manic Monday and Quilt Story.

Now it is your turn to show a little quilt or project that you have made.  Please link up below and link back to Little Quilt Monday on your blog and let's visit each other and get inspired : )

piece,

elizabeth