A Little Last Minute Fun

Hi all!

Hope your weekend is going great!  I am enjoying every moment with my family!  We have a visitor for the next month.  I will be sure to share pictures of her periodically as she is as much a part of this family as can be!

In the meantime, I thought I would share a little last minute project.  Occasionally, I get the hankerin' for a new project, despite the long list of UFO's staring at me!  Well, the other day, I was flipping through a quilting magazine and the mood struck!  I 'needed' some fall decorations to liven up the house so I jumped in feet...ok HEAD first! 

I happened to be chatting with my dear friend and she was an easy sale!  She quickly jumped on my bandwagon and before we could say BOO, we had started a new center piece!  We love to make things more personalize by sharing fabrics for projects so we split the required (16) hexie count in half.  We both made a set of 2 hexies out each of the 8 fabrics we selected for the project and swapped the second set within 24 hours of starting the project!  (Yup!  We were a bit excited about this one!)

We are both finished!  She completed hers last night and I finished mine this morning!  I have it proudly displayed on our slate coffee table in the downstairs living room.  It is perfect! 

The completed center piece

A close up shot of the simple quilting and some of the hand embroidery

My pretty new fall center piece in its new home!

Isn't that just too cute for words?  Well, I guess you may not think so, but I sure do!  It is perfect and I love it!  Only one problem...we both like it so much that we have decided to continue making this pattern in other fabrics for each holiday of the year!  Whew!  Good thing it is a quick and easy project!  :-)

Hope you enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Until next time...

~ J

The BIG secret

Hello and happy FALL everyone!

Isn't this weather just glorious?  Here in North Texas we are sitting at a woppin' 53 degrees today!  It is absolutely wonderful!  Our 13 year old Alaskan Husky agrees!  She has been frisky and full of energy today!

So, you may be wondering "what is this big secret I have had to keep???"  Well, my brother and sister(-n-law) celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on August 15th this year.  They renewed their vows in Las Vegas  July 20th.  We were not able to attend due to the whole unemployment thing but we made up for that by my making them a very special and personalize gift.  :-) 

I subscribe to Primitive Quilts & Projects quarterly magazine.  If you are not familiar with this magazine and like primitive things, please rush to their website and take a peek!  (http://www.primitivequiltsandprojects.com/)  I promise you will NOT be disappointed!  Well, as I was trying to decide what in the world I was going to make Jerry and Tonya for their gift, I received the Spring 2012 issue.  Inside was a wallhanging called "Marriage".  I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the perfect way to express the pride and love we feel for Jerry and Tonya!

Well, I am not very good at waiting until the designated celebration/holiday to give a gift.  I have fought this battle all of my life!  I just get so excited and anxious that I cave and give gifts before the intended date.  This time, however; I was a good girl!  I made it 2 months past the actual anniversary date without spilling the beans!  I mailed the gift on Monday...insuring it so that I might be able to replace the fabric in the event it disappeared in the postal system... and they received it Thursday!  We Skyped so I could see them open the box.  I think they like it...at least a little!  ;-)

Here it is:

A full view of the wallhanging

A close up shot of the hand embroidery and quilting

I am proud of the way this turned out and so glad that they love it so much!  Was worth the anticipation and all the work put into making it special!

There are plenty more projects in the works around here.  I will be sure to share as I get things done.

Enjoy the rest of this beautiful day!

~ J