Happy Thanksgiving

Here is my cutting table piled high with table runners all prepped and ready for me to machine quilt. I think I'll be working with pebble quilting - maybe. So you can see I have my work cut out for me.

It is a busy week. Cleaning, cooking, eating, playing bingo with family and having a good time with some work thrown in. And then Friday and Saturday are busy with a big (uninteresting) project. So like you, my week is full. So I'm taking a tiny blog nap and I'll be back in a week or something. Not long, but long enough to get my tree up and get moving on Christmas prep.
In the mean time - Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for so many things. Among them I am grateful for so many friends all over the world.

-nanette

Whitney's After Baby Shower

Saturday was a baby shower for Whitney and Allison at our house. We decided to wait until after Alli was born to shower her with fun and wonderful gifts. This way family and friends were able to pass her around during the shower, too. I made this little banner for the nursery.
This little sheep is covered in Minkee and is from Justin and Natalie. I love this picture.
Here is Whitney opening the fabulous gifts for baby Allison. I can't believe the cute stuff! They never had baby clothes like this when my girls were born.
Quite the haul, really. This little girl is so spoiled.
We had a circus/carnival theme for the party and we decorated the house a bit.The shower was in the morning and I made brunch. Brunch is always fun I think.This is what you get at a party at our house. The kids are always playing tricks. So Laurie was made to be the bearded lady.And Allison got to be unibrow baby. The kids thought it was hilarious. It is a bit funny. I have to admit.

Thanks everyone for coming and for your thoughtful gifts. Everything was just lovely.

-nanette

Jodi's Pinwheels for Christmas

Whew! what a busy weekend. As the seasons are upon us for Thanksgiving and then quickly Christmas, our schedules get packed tighter and tighter. I know you are with me on this. Of course it is good and keeps us pacing ourselves to stay up to date with friends both online and off.
It is so nice to go to my computer and come away with brilliant ideas from so many of you to help get me through the holidays and other events. Reminds me of the Beatles song: "With a little help from my friends". Recently Jodi from Pleasant Home has given me a few ideas to help with holiday gifts. While looking through her blog and her etsy store I saw something that caught my eye so I emailed her. And she came through for me - evidence above. Thanks so much Jodi. I love it all. But since it is for gifts I can't really show more right now.
I also enjoyed Jodi's tutorial on pinwheel table runners she showed on her blog and with a baby quilt version on Moda Bakeshop. I decided I would use Jodi's idea and adapt it to Christmas table runners.
My pinwheels are red and green but not made with Christmas fabric but just from green and red fabrics from my regular stash and then bordered with that sweet Alexander Henry Christmas Birdie fabric I showed last Friday called Santa's Sparrows. I think the idea is simple and classic. Thanks for the idea and tutorial Jodi.

And Jodi's got another cute idea for Christmas: A patchwork Christmas Tree.

-nanette

Fabulous Fabric Friday - What's in the Bag

Today's Fabric Friday shows what was in my shopping bag when I spent my afternoon with Lori.
Neither of us spent much $, but that wasn't the point. The point was looking at fabrics and patterns together and enjoying the afternoon.
I bought a fat quarter of the Sherri Berry fabric on the left. I really like all those fabrics in that line. And also a whimsical fat quarter of birds, trees and Christmas joy. Delightful.
These 3 fat quarters Lori and I both purchased. The green on the right is an obvious purchase because we both love bees and have them on our blogs. The other 2 we just really both liked. Look how great the red looks with that aqua, of course.This red Hello Betty is a print that has been out for a while but I didn't realize how beautiful it was until shopping with Lori. I think I was overwhelmed by the whole line looking at the bolts altogether. But look alone how sweet and simple the fabric is with just red and white. And I needed red rick rack.
We also both purchased this pattern. Neither of us have any idea when we can make this bag but we both want to so maybe we'll have to make it together when we meet in April for a retreat.

I really like Christmas fabric. These 2 fabrics in birds are just so cute. I've already used some of it. I'll show you what I did with it next week. So that was it for me. Lori bought some of the new Heather Bailey felted wool blends. The colors of that felt is so pretty, not crayola at all but deep beautiful colors. Maybe she'll show you that on her blog.
My friend Sandra works at the fabric store closest to my house called Just Sew. It is fun to see Sandra when I go to the store. She told me she had a little present for me the last time I was in to see her. And here it is! Thanks Sandra!
I hadn't seen these 3 fabrics yet and they are so cute. I can see a little zipper bag made out of them. I love novelty fabric and of course Sandra knows that. This fun sewing themed fabric is really a delight. My favorite little scene is the one with the woman at the sewing machine and she says "If I sit here long enough maybe they will fix their own dinner" Sounds like my house! Ha.

Busy weekend ahead here.

-nanette

Afternoon with Lori

Lori Holt, local quilt designer and girl about town, and I had a fun afternoon together last week. From the moment we start talking til the time to say goodbye we laugh. We have so much in common and have such a fun time together I wish you could all be with us. You'd have a ball.
My photo of Lori and I together was totally blurry so I had to swipe this from Lori's blog. Not our best pose but don't let that fool you. We were having a great time.
Lori is amazing. She can do everything. Lori made me the best gift. See this sweet necklace above. It has my photo of me in my "Nanette" dress that my mom made me for Easter one year many years ago. I really cherish that photo. She couldn't have picked a better choice. Lori made herself a matching necklace with a photo of her as a little girl. She needs to show her necklace on her blog.
The back of my necklace charm has my "Freda's Hive" logo quilt picture on it. And then it is placed on the fabulous silver ball chain at the perfect length. Isn't that fantastic! I really love it. I have worn it non-stop and show it to everyone. Thank you Lori. I love it so much. We met for lunch at "Food for Thought" in Draper. It is a great little home town restaurant serving fresh food. We both had the butternut squash soup - so yummy. (By the way I took this photo of the restaurant during the summer.)After that we went to Nadine's Material Girls. Nadine always welcomes her customers with a smile and treats everyone like they are her friend. But when I'm with Lori, I feel like I'm family. It makes it more fun. Nadine has a blog, too, in case you didn't know.Here is my "take" from the trip to Material Girls. More on what is in the bag on Friday. It is so fun to shop with Lori. We are drawn to the same fabrics and ideas.
Next we went to Aunt Elsie's Trinkets and Treasures located just up from Material Girls on Redwood Road. Fun fun store. This is the inside of the front door. My photos were not wonderful so I missed some of the lovely treasures we saw.There was fabulous vintage jewelry. I wish I had Freda's stash of jewelry. I used to love to play in it when I was a girl.
I picked up a set of cups and saucers at a great sale price. These lovely floral dishes are perfect for a gift idea.
I want to make pincushion holders with the teacups and saucers. I know these are also cupcake holders but I'm trying to think what else could you put on top of these little plates that would be cute?

I told Lori we need to get together once a month and make it a date. If you happen to be in town and want to go along with us just let me know. You'll have a good time.

-nanette

Catching up . . .(as if that is possible)

Friday my dish cloth tutorial was on Sew Mama Sew Blog for the Clean and Tidy Day tutorial day. November is tutorial month with so many good ideas for Christmas on Sew Mama Sew. If you haven't been following this event, it is worth your time see what they are showing.

Because I don't have my weekend photos loaded I thought I would swipe some photos from friends for today's quick post. First I will tell you I'm one of the most forgetful people. If you have sent me a photo or have made one of my pattern designs and I told you I wanted to put your project on my blog and didn't - it is because I forgot. Duh. So resend that stuff to me, please. And my excuse is I have 8 children. I feel my excuse is justified.
Sherri at A Quilting Life is a good friend and she's a dynamo. I think smoke must come out of her ears when she's in her sewing room because she's so fast and so good. She has made dozens (well it seems that way) of my "Mixed Bag to Quilt" pattern. The one above is made by Sherri and it is so darling. Go to her blog for a complete description. The top row 2nd square is my favorite of the fabrics she used.
This wonderful baby quilt was made by Pratima of Peeps in the Pepal Tree. Pratima is a sweet friend as well and one of my original blog contacts. She used my "Cascading Blocks and Stripes" baby quilt pattern that was published in Fons and Porter last year to make the quilt above. Go to Pratima's blog to read how she made it. I love how Pratima took the pattern and made it her own. And of course I adore the fabric (and have some of it, too) and how she fussy cut the cascading blocks. Great job Pratima.
Allison came to visit Friday and Sunday. She's wearing the cupcake hat Shelbie made her. I didn't get the red pom pom cherry on the top of the hat in the photo. Shelbie will have to show you that another day.

Tomorrow I'll post the photos from my afternoon with Lori Holt. It was so fun!

-nanette

Fast Fabric Friday

I've got full day ahead of me and couldn't find the camera yesterday to post ahead. So I'll zoom through.
I've had this feedsack piece for several years. I love the whimsical birds, the colors and how the birds are positioned on the rough weave of the feedsack. I show this photo so you can see the slightly frayed feedsack edge. I also have this feedsack in a pastel colorway.
I have cut into it a bit (you can see through the fabric) fussy cutting the birds for different projects, but I've been using them sparingly.
Well much to my surprise, Andover fabric has come out with a line of fabric called Feedsack Melody by Gloria Leonard. And they used the image of my sweet little birds.
I've been through this before when I've had a feedsack and a mostly direct copy has been made. See the comparison above. My feedsack is on the left. The Andover birds are slightly bigger, slightly different in color and have the gold swirl. Of course I prefer my real feedsack birdies but I did purchase a fat quarter set of the Andover fabric. It is kind of bitter sweet for me. I like having yardage of my favorite feedsacks and I'm happy to see them come back to life but I kind of feel sad for the original fabric. Weird I know.
Some of the companion fabric I really like and some I don't. I like these first 3 fabrics but not some of the others very much.
I pulled out my Christmas stash. It is time to do some Christmas sewing. I took a little time off this week to start some sewing. I really didn't get much done though.

Today I'm off to meet with Lori Holt! I know. Lucky me! Baby Allison is coming over later today. And it is a very special birthday today - Laura, my friend and neighbor. Happy Birthday Laura. She is like me. She hates too big of a fuss so I'll probably get in trouble for saying something.

Gotta go! Happy weekend.

-nanette

Finishes

Oh I love a good finish. It is so satisfying to lay out your work in front of you and sit back to admire.
In this case most of this wasn't my work but I did have the chance to finish this project and put it together. It is more scrappy than my sister would have chosen to finish this quilt off so I hope she will like it. The blocks came together well and it is just a fun little quilt.
I have the binding machine sewn to the edges all ready for her to hand stitch in place. I hate to mail quilts but since she lives in Nevada I just may have to do that. I have both her quilts all ready for her and even though it took a few months. They are done!
I quilted my table runner/table topper project. As I said before they are gifts for friends as a thank you for helping me with the wedding. I hope they like them. I detail quilted the kitchens and kettles and then stippled the rest. I was deciding on what button to top the kettles.
I like wading through my button jars. The buttons are fun to play with and position over the kettles while I stand back to decide what is best. I love the fabrics in this little quilt.
Oops that button looks like I got it a little off center. I went with a plain blue. It was hard to decide.
I went with a little white button on this one because the red buttons just seemed to blend in too much.
I saved the red for this kettle on the square table topper (to fit a round table). I wish I had an apple button but this red round button works.
And so here is half the finish on the table runner.
And the other half. I think the yellow makes the whole thing rather story book illustration-like.
And here is the finish on the table topper. It has upside down cottages so when you are at the other side of the table there is still something to look at.

Finishes=wonderfulness.

-nanette

Tonight is the Liver for LuLu Benefit

Remember last week I told you about the quilt I donated to the Benefit for LuLu. Well, so incredibly many preparations are going on for the LuLu benefit tonight. My neighbor Laura and her daughter Leslie have been preparing and working so hard to help raise money for LuLu's liver. Laura called me to come over and see what they have been working on. The items below are for the silent auction.
Leslie and Laura made wedding cake cookies as samples for the highest bidder's wedding or wedding shower. So so cute.
Leslie is a fabulous cake baker/cake decorator. She and Laura made the cupcakes for Natalie's wedding. This is a cake to represent what Leslie could make for the highest bidder's wedding. It is lovely. It could be compared to any perfect wedding cake in Brides Magazine. All proceeds go to LuLu.
Laura is donating spots in her Soup Cooking Class. Laura is a fabulous cooking teacher and chef. Her soups are amazing.
This might look strange. But it is a Hershey Kiss cake in the making. All it needs is the foil cover wrapper.
I had to go to Leslie's truck to take this photo as they were packing up some of the items to take to the benefit.
And this was what was packed in the truck - Rice Crispy Suckers all decorated so darling. Can you believe how talented Laura and Leslie are? I couldn't do this if some one paid ME.
Fall cookies ready to frost . . .
along with cupcakes ready to frost. You can believe all this will taste as good as it looks. I am exhausted just thinking of all the preparations and they aren't even finished. And this is just Leslie and Laura. So many other people are donating their time and talents for this sweet little girl. I hope that the benefit is super successful.

-nanette

Sample Quilt Ready to Go

I've been working on several sample quilts for my Kettles in the Kitchen pattern. I am taking them to local quilt stores in my area.
It was nice to have some time to finish this sample quilt and a few other projects over the weekend.
This sample is made mostly in reds with some blue, yellow and green thrown in. I love red. But you know that already.
I used some of my Japanese fabric in the kettles, kitchens and to border the quilt. I love this fabric. But you know that.
I used Texture Magic on the roof above. It is on the kitchen with the apples. Wendy at Eagle Mountain Quilting commented on how much she liked how it gave life to the roof. Wendy quilted this sample quilt with strawberries. Hard to see but it really turned out sweet. The background fabric is strawberries and cherries. I love cherries and strawberries. But you know that, too.

-nanette

Fun Fabric Friday from Japan

My source for Japanese fabric recently sent me a package full of (free) sample fabrics. Lisa is a sweet girl and she goes the extra mile for me.
I can see stripes on the roof tops of houses and cottages.
These bright 60's flowers will be used in some future project I'm sure.
The flowers in soft pastels can be added to prints to soften the feel of a quilt.
Combined stripes and flowers - lovely.
I love polka dots and I can use these in lots of projects, maybe even some for Christmas.
This is a larger piece and I think this would make a really great floor cloth for Allison.
And I could use this piece to make her a dolly quilt when she is just a bit older. I love the window in the fabric.
This fabric has a carrot and strawberry to make for a plush toy. This might go for either Allison or our dog Shadow. If I put a squeaky plastic thingie in it then Shadow will want it for sure.

There were some other lovelies in the box from Lisa too. I'm sure they will all be used. It was so fun to open the box and discover the mystery fabric. Thanks Lisa.

-nanette

Fun Projects with Kettles in the Kitchen w

Making the 2 quilts for my "Kettles In the Kitchen" pattern was so enjoyable and I was so happy with the results that I decided to use the kettles and kitchens design to make some gifts.This is a table runner in progress. I bordered it in the "Grandmother's Flower Garden" fabric by Lecien.
I hope to have time this week to quilt this table runner. I am excited to get this project finished and give it to my friend. Picking out fabrics and putting the colors and prints together really is so much fun.
This is a 2nd project with the same pattern. I'm making a table topper and the open space between the roofs created a place to applique the kettle. I'm using the Lori Holt method of applique for my kettles. My applique got so much better after my personal Lori class she gave me several months ago. Lori is an applique STAR.
The color palette for this project is different. I had to really search my stash to pick out fabrics that I thought went together.
I am not sure how I'm going to finish off this project around the borders. I'm still trying to decide if I should keep the border large or small. After I applique the teapot I think I'll know how to proceed.

Projects like this fuel my life with creative enjoyment. I know I use the word fun a lot but making these 2 table toppers is really so much fun. Women work so hard and life gets so busy that we all need play time in our lives.

-nanette

Quilts to Give

My quilt for Ashley's daughter came back from the quilter and it turned out really cute, especially for a quilt that started out being wrong.
I used the Hawaiian fabric from Lisa along with some stash fabric. I think it turned out very sweet.
I love how it was quilted. It is quilted with hibiscus flowers all over which fits perfectly with the theme of the quilt.
The quilt back is fun fabric but really soft. It is from a fabric line that says "premium cotton" on the selvage and it feels like really expensive sheets. The name of it is Girly Girl Pink Vines. Laurel showed it to me when I was at Broadbent's. I can imagine after it is washed that it will feel soft as a cloud. I took the quilt to Ashley's baby on Saturday. She's so cute.
I'm donating this quilt I made from my pattern that was in Fon's and Porter last year (it isn't the quilt that was in the magazine but one I made later) to Lu Lu. Lu Lu is the daughter of Liz and James, our friends. Go to Lu Lu's blog to read about her.
Friends of sweet little Lu Lu are having a community benefit to raise money for a liver transplant. The benefit is November 10 in Murray, Utah.Any help you could offer to Lu Lu would be of great benefit. You can email Julia at urlgurl77@gmail.com for more information. Look at her, she is so sweet.

-nanette

Halloween

October means cake. We celebrated the cake part joining Shelbie and Laurie's birthdays. The cake turned out so cute. Lehi Bakery, again.
The pic of Halloween past in homemade costumes. This was 15 years ago in a rental home while we were building our existing house. I was still pregnant with Mason. It is funny now to look at this picture and pick out personalities as they are now older/adults and connect to the kids they were. Tracey (back row far left) was sick that Halloween. She had strep. You can see how sick she was. Poor kid, what a horrible time to be sick. Next to her is Whitney (Tracey's twin) the new mom. Whitney was a cat. What else?, she still loves kitties. Shelbie is next to Whitney and it was Shelbie's birthday. She has her zombie beauty queen with sash and blood make-up. She and Whitney are striking a pose. Next to them is Mr. Hive. A man of much patience. Front row in the Barney suit is Jamie. She loved that costume and loved Barney. I think Jamie wore that Barney suit nearly everyday until it gave her the "thong" effect. Next is Laurie. I belive she was a witch. But of course a witch sporting a pacifier, so a sweet little witch. Both Jamie and Laurie rocked the pacifier well into their 4-5th years. Oh well, they don't have one now so what does it matter? Right? And then next to her is Chelsey. Of course, Chelsey the princess! She's playing for the camera in her crown and lovely lilac dress. I don't know why Natalie isn't in this picture. Oh, those were the days.
Baby Allison came yesterday with her mom to spend the day with us. You can see from her little chin she's growing and doing well. It was a fun day.

Hope you are having a good Halloween. Bring on the trick-or-treaters!

-nanette

Fun Fabric for Friday

Sew Mama Sew has some great new fabric from Lecien. It is by designer Rosalie Quinlan. This fabric speaks to me.
It is called Grandmother's Flower Garden and it comes in several colorways. The yellow with the teapots and flowers/fruit/house/bird/etc. is my favorite.
If there was a perfect line for my patterns - this would be it. Can't you see teapots and little houses and kitchens out of this fabric? I will definitely have to make another Kettles in the Kitchen quilt with this.
The pink is very cute too. I love the strawberries and the little birds flying over the house. And look at the darling bird bath.
Here are some of the companion fabrics. Classic gingham never goes out of style. I like how the gingham is behind the wreaths and designs on the fabric to the left. It is nice to see this line of fabric is being sold at more main stream sources for us in the USA.
This is my Halloween cottage quilt I made last year from my cottage tutorial. I have had the quilt hanging in my sewing room for all of October. I do love it in the Halloween fabric. But can't you just see this same quilt made with the Grandmother's Flower Garden fabric above?

Allison comes to visit Nanny today. The whole family is excited to have her here. And tomorrow is Shelbie's birthday - my Halloween pumpkin baby from 26 years ago. Unfortunately you only see Natalie's face in this picture but I wanted to show the 3 of us together on Halloween 26 years ago when Natalie came to visit me and Shelbie in the hospital dressed in her costume that I made. I think it was a mouse costume (much as I hate mice!)

Happy Halloween. And Happy Birthday Shelbie.

-nanette