Merry Christmas, Oliver!

This is the Christmas gift quilt that I made for my nephew Oliver, a 20 yr old college student in Vermont. And this is Domo (below) a little character that is special to Oliver and his mom and his sister. They have a little soft toy version that they hide in the refrigerator or under a bed pillow or even mail to each other. I told my sister that I was making this quilt and she sent me this 3" tall Domo patch. Oliver laughed when he saw this. In the full quilt photo above you can see Domo in the lower left hand corner. 

Oliver has a little kid quilt that I made for him a long time ago. It was time for a grown up quilt. I really like the fabrics in this quilt, especially the old NYC street scenes, rulers, and batiks below.

And the garlic and polka dots too.

The quilt measures 65" x 80." The backing is black with a tiny gray geometric design. The binding is the same as the back. The batting is Warm and White, and the machine quilting is wavy parallel horizontal lines done in gray thread (on the front) and black thread (on the back).

Felted Brooch from Lithuania

These felted brooches were made by Brigita Re in Lithuania and are offered in her Etsy shop: Bridget Studio. Aren't they beautiful? Imagine how they would look on a crazy quilt. Over the top! :)

Elf Donuts!

What a great idea! I'm on the hunt for candies that would look good on gingerbread houses.

This would be a perfect addition! 

This photo was posted by Courtney Luper on Facebook. Thanks, Courtney!

A Gift for Your Pastor - Day 5

Scholarly clergy stole with marbled paper design makes this a very nice pastor gift.

See the whole collection at: Shadrach's. 

A Gift for Your Pastor - Day 4

Mosaic style poinsettias have a metallic gold background. Very pretty in the light.

Great for festive Christmas celebrations. Lovely pastor gift.

Visit Shadrach's.

A Gift for Your Pastor - Day 3

Elegant red silk clergy stole makes a great gift for the new seminary grad or for your pastor at Pentecost. Visit Shadrach's to see more.

A Gift for Your Pastor - Day 2

In case you're wondering, clergy stoles are worn by ordained pastors in many Protestant denominations. In some churches the colors are determined by the season, for example white stoles are worn at Christmas. 

See the entire stole collection at: Shadrachs. 

(P.S. I appreciate social media love. Thanks.)

A Gift for Your Pastor

Here's my latest clergy stole: red shot cottons from a package of 16 fat eighths that I bought at the quilt show in Houston. This stole was pieced on a foundation. The back is red Kona cotton. The length from the back of the neck to the bottom is 54" (total 108" end to end). 

See all 70 clergy stoles at SHADRACH'S.

Christmas Tree Quilt

Treez, an improvisational batik quilt by Jan Mullen of Stargazey Quilts in Melbourne, Australia.

Very clever, Jan!

Global Textiles and Gifts from More Love Mama

Carrie Wood in Houston, Texas offers some of the prettiest global textiles out there. Take a look at the Java print above. The selvage says "Veritable Super Java." So you know it's good, haha. I've been searching for (and collecting) interesting African fabrics for years and Carrie's Etsy shop More Love Mama is one of the best. You can even choose 5 of your favorite fabrics in her shop and she'll sell you a custom made package of fat quarters. Carrie is mom to 6 adopted kids from all over the world too. Visit her shop and say hi. 

The Australian fabric shown above is called Bambillah.

Mayleen Vinson's Fabulous Selvage Star Quilt

This stunning selvage star quilt is the creation of Mayleen Vinson in Kansas. 

See her blog post here: Q is for Quilt. 

It was on exhibit in Houston at the recent Quilt Festival. 

I love how the red and green solid color fabrics lend some 1800's charm. 

A very wonderful quilt! Nice work, Mayleen!

New Location for the Quilted Ewe

Mary Watt's Quilted Ewe quilt shop has a new location, now in New Hartford, CT. Marie Bostwick, (quilt novelist from nearby Northfield, CT) is shown above visiting the new Quilted Ewe with a friend. It looks like they did a little shopping. 

The new larger store is in a charming old brick mill building, not far from Rt.44.

Mary offers machine quilting. You can do it yourself, or Mary will do the quilting for you. She also has enough space for 18 quilters to sew together (each person has their own big table). She offers classes as well as open sew time. 

And of course Mary offers a tempting selection of gorgeous fabrics as well as tools, books, wool and other goodies.

See details here.

Dolls by Sarah Campbell

Vintage Liberty fabric dolls from Sarah Campbell Designs. Sarah is a fabric designer and lives in the UK. See her other blog too. 

Yarn Bombing in Finland

Granny square afghans on the steps outside Helsinki Cathedral in Finland. According to FB comments, there were more afghans than they had room for on the steps. After this event, the afghans were delivered to hospitals, day care centers, convalescent homes, etc. Wow!

Patty High's New Ferris Wheel Quilt!

This beautiful Ferris Wheel quilt is the creation of Patty High of Florida. 

I especially like the striped fabrics she used...and all the reds. 

Visit her quilt shop: Red Amaryllis Quilts on Etsy. 

Patty used my Ferris Wheel pattern to make this lovely quilt.

Click to see all my patterns. 

Diane Volk Harris' Honeycomb Quilt!

This fabulous Honeycomb quilt is the creation of Diane Volk Harris of Nebraska. As you probably know, she is Associate Editor and Writer for Quiltmaker Magazine. She made this at a recent quilt retreat. You can read more about it in her Facebook post. I love Diane's version. Nice job!

Here she is with a very cute little buddy. Aww.

See my pattern for the Honeycomb quilt (below). 

Christy's Selvage Block!

"Wee Snails Wanderin' at Twilight," an August challenge block by Christy Yates, from Modern Quilts Magazine. Thank you to Pamela Smith for showing me this block!

Very nice job, Christy!!

Wedding Guest Message Quilt

Our son Brian married his sweet girlfriend Lauren in May. Seventy of the wedding guests wrote messages on 5" squares (backed with freezer paper) using fabric pens. And here's the finished quilt. It was hard to get good photos, but you get the basic idea. The squares are Kona White, the dark fabric is a batik, and the outer border is a Hoffman print called "Kaya." The backing is solid blue and the binding is solid gold. 

New Book: Splash of Color!

Keep an eye out for Jackie Kunkel's new book: Splash of Color from That Patchwork Place.

See Jackie's website here: CVQuiltworks. And visit her blog too. Jackie is a dynamic quilter here in Connecticut who is also a pilot! She's a certified Judy Niemeyer quilt teacher, and she's the founder and organizer of the New England Air Museum Quilt Show (coming up later this month). 

And not only that, she's a wonderful person and lots of fun. 

Sewing Machine Thingys!

Thanks to Joan Jordan for this educational diagram. Finally, answers for inquiring minds!

I'd like to have an "unobtainium," but you just can't get them! Know what I mean?

Gas Fueled Iron

Have you ever seen a gas-fueled iron? It's listed on Etsy for $90 from Wisdom Lane.

You can find the strangest things on Etsy! The iron was made by Coleman in the 1920's. 

Now we've seen everything!

Glamping in a Gypsy Trailer

Vintage Gypsy Wagon Travel Trailer for sale on Etsy from prettyware of Arkansas, priced around $3,500. It has a bed, seating, storage and a cooker. See interior photos in the ad. Vintage cute and clever. Seeing things like this fuels our creativity, don't you think?

Doily Quilts

This sweet baby quilt is featured in the book: Make it Sew Modern: Gather, Twist, Pleat, Texture by Vanessa Christensen. Nice!

Made by Marlis1 from Tortosa, Spain. She collected doilies from her family and flea markets, then made this quilt. Photo found on Flickr.

I Brake for Fabric Too!

Haha. From Wish Upon A Quilt. 

Lego Shoes

 Amusing uses for Legos. Have a creative day!

Lego House

"Top Gear presenter, James May, built a new house in Surrey made entirely out of Lego bricks. This two-story Lego palace, which resides in the middle of a vineyard, has a working bathroom, and is covered inside and out with over 816 million Lego bricks." - Zuza Fun

Thank you to patty a. who told me about this yesterday.

Lego Street Art

This painted bridge, embellished wall and tree house remind me of good times with our sons and make me smile. I like happy street art.

Lego Wall

Our family is past the Lego phase now, but this clever idea caught my eye. 

I remember stepping on Legos when checking on our sons during the night. 

That's a real eye-opener!

Selvage Fabric by Timeless Treasures

This fabric by Timeless Treasures is printed to look like it's covered with selvages! 

What would you call this? Down-cycling?

Novelty Fabrics Add Interest

I'm always on the lookout for interesting novelty fabrics like the little red tiger shown above from Cotton and Steel. The branches, the postmark, and the big black dot add some interest too. 

My favorite quilts have a good number of these little surprises. How about you?

The quilt photo above is from the Optimist string quilt pattern. 

Here are two more interesting prints from Cotton and Steel.