Visitors!

Hi! Padsworth and Dragondrop here!

We thought we'd tell you about Snoodles' visit at the lake . . . she was kinda busy and so we took pictures for her! Ribbit! Rawr!

Is it? 
Is it? 
It IS!!!! 
Yay! It's Snoodles! Run like the wind! Oh, I wish I could fly, but I can't yet!

Here we are! 

Hi!  

We're awfully glad to see you!!

Outa my way! I want to get a pat from Dad, too!

Did ya bring us something? Huh? Did ya?

I could swear I saw something in Mom's (Snoodles') hand . . .

I did! I did! Yum, yum! Lunch!

Our heads are moving so fast they are a blur!

There's plenty for everyone!

Ahhhh! Full tummies!

Hey! Are ya getting my best side, here?

See, it's best that Dragondrop and I were snapping photos, because now Snoodles is surrounded by duckies that want to be loved and patted . . . 

And then they are ready to go back in for a swim!

Love,

Blogger's Quilt Festival starts today!

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

Can you tell that I'm excited?

The Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival is here, and you can enter it, too! Just pop over to Amy's blog and join the linky party!

I'm entering my mini-quilt that you see in the picture below:

I created this in July for a blog hop, and it has lots of three-dimensional interest. You'll have to excuse Padsworth there....our popular mascot for this blog loves to photo-bomb, and get into the pictures! (Grin)

This mini measures twelve inches square, and the background is free motion quilted to show the movement from the firecracker's explosion!
You can visit this link to see a full tutorial on how to make the mini -- here are a couple of highlights for you:

Cutting out some fabric pieces for the firecracker . . .

Stuffing the firecracker with polyfil . . . 

Placing the rickrack and then quilting the project . . .

After binding, placing the firecracker just so . . . 

A few added touches like mini-rick rack for more color, and to add to the explosion!

 See the shadows from the three dimensional pieces? I love it!

Padsworth loves it, too!

That's my entry for the festival. I hope you enjoyed seeing a little of how it was made, and I hope you will check out the linky party at Amy's place.

Quilt Festival Stats:

Finished mini measures 12" x 12"

Special techniques: 3D embellishments

Quilted by: Snoodles (with help from Padsworth)

Category: Mini-quilts
BQF # 69

    
I'm hoping that maybe I'll be nominated for a prize . . . we'll see how it goes! There are always wonderful quilts to see in the festival!
See ya there!

Love,

 

Choirs singing, bells ringing . . .

Today I can reveal my finished Christmas wall hanging! Woot!

You may remember that during the summer we had a scrumptious giveaway of Jacquelynne Steves' fabrics, and that I've been creating a wall hanging from them, as well. It's the "Oh, Holy Night" line and you can get it in fabric stores now, and whip up some beautiful Christmas items!

My previous posts here, here, and here showed some of the steps involved, including some cool 3D embellishments on the border.

Now I have finished the outline quilting on the nativity scene, and my free motion meandering on the borders. It's even bound, and has nice triangle nooks for dowels to go into (on the back) so that it can hang nicely.

Would you like to see it? Would ya? Aww, please, don'tcha want to take a peek? It will make me feel better, if you say "yes." (Grin)

Here we go!

Well, that's not the best photo in the world....got some errant shadows and sunshine there . . . here are some close-ups whilst I look for a better shot of the whole!

These are examples of the cute characters on the panel . . . I outline quilted these to draw attention to them, without overwhelming them. Even the animals got the star treatment:

The borders with the ornaments and 3D embellishments got some free motion work. This was great practice for me --- yes, there are a whole slew of boo-boos and flaws, but they don't look too bad from about four feet away! (Wink)

Sorry the last one is blurry -- I love the mousie, and wanted to show him off!

All in all, I am pretty happy with how this turned out. I'm looking forward to hanging this at the Christmas season, and having some kids around even if they are on the wall! Have I mentioned that I seriously need some grandchildren frolicking (is that spelled correctly?) around in this house? 

I'd really like to thank Jacquelynne Steves for giving me the opportunity to design with her beautiful fabrics! I hope that y'all will check out these linkies ( here, here, and here ) and add some to your stash and enjoy them!

Here's my finish!

Thanks for stopping by today!
I'm linking up with the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop at Katherine's Corner and at Melissa's blog. Stop by and see all the creative bloggers!

Love,

Sunrise, sunset

I tried to find some music for this post. I really did. I couldn't find just the right mix of instruments and voices. The closest I came was the original version with Topol singing . . .

 . . . when did she get to be a beauty? When did he grow to be so tall?  Wasn't it yesterday when they were small? . . .

Well, it was bittersweet, because we have become so attached to this little guys and gals:

But this is what they looked like yesterday, when we released them at the lake where they were born:

Some difference, ay?

The larger duck (with the arrow pointing to him) is actually their papa.He hadn't seen them since their mama disappeared and they were only a few days old . . .

They seemed to adjust pretty well to being Grown Ducks, and grazed happily on grass seeds and lake goodies.

It was a little sad to leave them behind, but we know that they are going to be very happy here! (And we'll be back to visit soon!)

Love,

A Howling (or maybe meowing) Good Time . . .

I know that many of you are gearing up for Halloween. You may be working feverishly to complete costumes for your kiddos.  Just a side note here, but our kids never "did" Halloween -- I know, I know, I heard the collective gasp across blogland --- but it was because of our faith; we didn't think it was appropriate for our family. That doesn't mean, tho, that I get all snippety-frippety with others who do enjoy the activities. (Grin)

Whilst you are thinking and sewing, have you considered costuming your pet? I got a chuckle out of these dog and kitty costumes that were out there on the interwebs . . .

(Courtesy of the SewingDistrict.com site)

Remember? Ch-ch-ch-chia!

This one is cute, too!

It's from the blog called "Dogclothespatterns"

Even the kitty-cats can get in on the fun . . . pirates, cool dudes, and more can be found all over blogland:

(This one is from a blog that featured this and other pictures two years ago.)

So, will your pet be getting in on the Howloween fun this year?

Love,

Apple core, Baltimore . . .

Who's your friend?

Some of you may recall the hilarious episode of Donald and the chipmunks, Chip and Dale, when they use the old comedy routine of "Applecore" --- for those of you who don't remember it, here it is:


If you want to see the whole cartoon, it's available over at that place that rhymes with "boo-cube" . . . no need to give them any more advertising, eh?

Anyway, my latest portable project reminded me of that . . . I think it was sometime last year that Barbara at Bejeweled Quilts had a giveaway, and I won some yummy scrap fabric that she had cut into apple core shapes with her Accuquilt cutter. (Gotta love those machines; I pat my Go!Baby every day and tell it how much I love it!)

I wasn't able to get to it until last week, when I finished another portable project and was ready to start this one:

Isn't this fun? I especially love the pops of color from the Samoan fabrics that she included. Thanks, Barb!

The reason the left-hand side looks a little strange is that it's pinned, ready to sew, but not yet completed! I'm not sure how large this will get --- I'm thinking lap quilt here, and I may have to cut a few more to finish it out. 

Tell me --- do you have a POPR? We quilters love our acronyms, don't we?  (PIGS, UFOs, etc)  
I just made that one up . . . I think I'll use that to mean "portable project" . . . you like it? Do you take a project with you when you leave your sewing space?


I'm linking up today with the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop over at Katherine's place, and her cohost is Marla Martensen!
 
Love,

Once more, with feeling . . .

I'm channeling Padsworth today --- and getting up close and personally acquainted with my trusty seam ripper!  Ribbit, ribbit, rip-it, rip-it!

I started having some trouble with my free motion work. At first, I was working with shredded thread. You may know the drill: stitch for about three minutes or so, and then screech to a halt, tie off some ends and begin again. 

That got old, and I consulted Leah Day's site to find that I probably should switch out my needle for a fresh one. Done!

Then this happened on the back:

Ain't it lovely?
I hope you appreciate the fact that we have total honesty here at the Lilypad --- I show you my epic failures, as well as my successes!

I went back to Leah's site and decided to try her next suggestion . . . change threads.  (Side note: Thank you, Leah, for all of the posts and tips on your site. I am in awe of your work, and having fun trying to improve my own!)
I found a gorgeous variegated green King Tut spool in my stash and decided that now was the time for all good threads to come to the aid . . . well, you get my drift. I ripped off the plastic and put that bad boy to work.

(Bowing) Hats off to Superior Threads and this wonderful King Tut product! Look how much better it's going:

I really like how the light and dark sections of thread look -- I'm all happy with variegated thread now!

It adds interest to the quilting without screaming "Look at me!" and distracting from the rest of the project.

I'm linking up with Leah today, for the UFO party --- and I hope to finish this one soon, and take it off the UFO list!

Love,