Happy Anniversary Caitlin and Jim!

My daughter Caitlin, her husband Jim and my granddaughter Madison

Congratulations Caitlin and Jim the first year went fast!

With her dad

With her brothers

With one of her best friends

Jim waiting

Philadelphia Art Museum steps

It was a happy happy day!

Kelly

Creativity

Creativity is an interesting thing. Where do you think you get your creativity? I was talking with a fellow blogger, Katherine from Sew Me Something Good in an email earlier today. We both have very vivid memories of stitching with our great grandmothers.

This lovely tea towel was stitched when I was 4 in 1960. My great grandmother, Grandma Dolly lived with my grandparents and I remember when we would visit she was always stitching. One day I asked her what was she doing and she showed me. She pulled out a brand new tea towel, asked what color I liked and threaded a needle! She showed me a few stitches and then let me have a go at it.

I had always been a little afraid of her because she had thyroid disease which made her eyes bulge, that along with thick magnifying eye glasses made her look a little scary. I remember relaxing as I sat on her lap and she told me what a beautiful job I was doing. I do believe  looking back, that was my entrance into all things fiber! As I got older I pulled this out and added a few more stitches here and there. I thought it was lost until my parents cleaned out their house to move and there it was in a box with embroidery floss. Memories instantly came  flooding back.

Fast forward to today. I honestly think Grandma Dolly got the ball rolling for me. I can't imagine not doing something with my hands in a creative way. When I had my neck accident I didn't sew for about 6 months and I think it hindered my recovery!
I believe everyone is creative, some of us work at it, to some it comes easily and some haven't found it yet, but we all have it.

So pay attention, you never know who you may be inspiring!

Kelly

Blue Scrap Bag Winner

Orange Peel

I went to Target today and look what I found......quilt patterns everywhere!

Half Square Triangles

I think there is money to be made with the back to college crowd.

Hexagons

All of these were found in the College Dorm Bath section of the store

Maybe their buyer is a quilter? I just thought these were fun but did not buy any (yet).

So remember now a 6 year old made up the rules and picked the winner, I had no say at all in this giveaway.
The winner is...............

Debra G who said:
I like #1. I like Maddy's creativity and sense of fun and ability to see potential in things! I'm working on a blue scrappy Leaders and Enders project now, so I'd love your blue scraps!
Congratulations Debra!
The criteria for the pick was, "whoever picks the number 1 quilt wins the fabric". So there you go!
Thank you for playing along and for all the nice compliments and comments. She checked the comments every night to see which quilt you were voting for. I was a little worried how this was going to go.....

Kelly

Finished Quilts

My little raffle quilt is finished. This will be one of the mini quilts raffled off at our quilt show next spring. All members are encouraged to make one. Size is 16 x 16, mine is fused and machine quilted.

My inspiration came from  another sunflower quilt I made a while back and tweaked it to fit the size. Do you ever do that, use a quilt you made as inspiration for another? I think this is a first for me.
I am happy with my machine quilting, the thread in the petals make them look more real.

The little seeds were made using a paper punch from Martha Stewart. I fused my fabric, let it cool, peeled off the backing (very important!) then punched out the circles from about 4 different colored fabrics. Trust me if you don't peel off the paper first you will be saying some very bad words. I like how they turned out and because this is more of an art quilt, I don't feel the need to make sure there is stitching on top of them.

I very much enjoyed this QAL with Quarter Inch Mark. It was fun and low key and I am happy with it. Perfect it is not but colorful it is!

Kelly

Around the World Blog Hop

One of my virtual quilt friends, Helen of Till We Quilt Again is participating in an Around the World Blog Hop. Please stop by her blog and check it out.
We have never met but I am sure our paths will be crossing one day. It is fun to make connections with people you never may have met.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter The Blue Scrap Giveaway. I was with Maddy today and she told me how she is going to pick the winner, so get your votes in.

Kelly

Happy Birthday Dylan!

This could be the start of a new quilt, we will see. It is also one of my favorite colors. Some would say aqua, some would say light blue and today I am calling it baby boy blue.

Dylan, Elliot and Griffin

Because today is my baby's 36 birthday! Happy Birthday Dylan!

Mom

Pink

My pink baby quilt is finished and now just needs some quilting. A lot of times I just skip the border or slap on a plain border and call it a day. I really like this border and it was easy to make.
My favorite part is little red riding hood in the center.

I played with the borders before I sewed them on. I have always wanted to make this zig zag pattern, now I really want to make one!

This was an interesting design too.....

A garden update.....isn't this an awesome sunflower? It is black when it first blooms, I find it a very interesting addition to my garden, it has multiple stems.

My Gerbera Daisies are flourishing this year, maybe the cooler temps?

As long as I live I will always have black eyed susans and

zinnias in my garden. Mother nature gets her colors perfect everytime!

Your comments on the Blue Scrap Giveaway have been fun to read. One person wants Maddy to start her own blog, please don't give her any ideas! She already is begging for her own cell phone.... Check it out if you are interested in winning a big box of blue scraps.

I never do this but I am today. I got my lone star quilt back from Barb Persing, the long arm quilter. It is amazing, she did a super job. It is supposed to rain all weekend so there is a good chance I will get it bound this weekend.

Ok, one more.......

Kelly