Toot Toot My Own Horn!

Piece Name: "Florabundance" Quilt

Well, you might recognize this quilt from several blog posts ago. I made it for my quilt guild's 2007 quilt challenge. The pattern is from a book called "Floral Abundance" by Rosemary Makhan. Great book!!!! NAYY! Anyhow, every year a little, quaint shopping village called Peddler's Village in LaHaska, PA puts on their Quilt Show in the Gazebo. We'll this is the third time I've entered and this time I chose this red and white quilt. I have been lucky in the past with my only other two submissions to win Second with the Blue Jacket (see previous blog post) I made for my guild's 2004 Quilt Challenge and a little wallhanging I made took Honorable Mention last year. The show is VERY small compared to what quilters are used to but the judges are sticklers and ribboning isn't easy even with the very small competitive field. They always get me on my binding (and rightly so)!! Anyhow, I entered the red and white quilt into the Potluck category and not the Applique category because Pot Luck allows machine quilting and Applique must be hand quilted (in fact other than Clothing, Pot Luck, and Kids they all pretty much require Hand Quilting). I haven't gotten the official letter yet, but I cheated and went to their website. My quilt took First Place - Machine Applique!! They apparently moved it out of Pot Luck and into Applique, and then split the Applique group into Hand and Machine. I am tickled pink (or would that be red in this case?)! I hoped that I might get a second, but didn't think it would get first because the binding on the back is typical Melissa (meaning not always even, though not too bad!). Yay! I don't quilt to get ribbons, but dangit they are fun to get!

If you go to Peddler's Village in LaHaska, PA between now and April (and I recommend it for the shopping and the brownies) please stop in in the Gazebo and check the quilts out! Some are even for sale (though not mine).

Christmas Windows

Piece Name: "Cathedral Window Ornaments"

I took a Cathedral Window class though my quilt guild with Linda Victor (scroll down a few posts) and really enjoyed it and made a pillow. I wanted to try a few ornaments on a far smaller scale. These were the result. Fun, fast, and pretty! They came in handy too. I have been giving the wife of my former Pastor handmade Christmas Tree Ornaments for years. The fabric ornaments slipped very nicely into their Christmas card!

This was made with muslin and metallic Christmas fabrics and pretty buttons. Pieces completed 12/2007 sometime.

Catholic Rosary

Piece Name: "Catholic Rosary"

My sister's mother-in-law prays the rosary every single day and sometimes several times a day. She wears her rosaries out! She saw the Franciscan Crown Rosary I made and her eyes fairly lit up. My sister told me that if I made one for her it would make her day! Well I did, had it blessed, and we gave it to her for Christmas, and I am happy to report she loved it!

This was made with 8mm Rose Quartz round beads, 6mm purple (her favorite color) Cats Eye beads, Sterling Silver medals and bead caps, and Argentium Sterling Silver 22 gauge wire. Piece started and completed 12/20/2007

All Wired Up!

Piece Name: "2007 Yearly Christmas Craft - SS Wire Ornaments"

Every year going back to my teens I have made a Christmas Craft as one of my gifts to people (at least 16 years). The crafts have encompassed many different materials and

techniques and the people that get them tell me they look forward to seeing what I make from year to year. This year I came right down to the wire (no pun intended)!!! I had a few ideas floating around but saw a picture of a wire ornament (very similar to the simple bells above) on the internet and was inspired. I got crafting that very night! The ornaments would have all been the simple

bells but I ran out of the heavy guage wire I was using and went improvisational with the remaining ornmanets. The star is the only one I kept for our tree.











These ornaments were made with varying guages of Argentium Sterling Silver wire, glass beads, rose quartz beads, and new jade beads. Pieces completed 12/14/2007.