Thank You.....

I treasure quiet cool mornings....I can sit with a cup of coffee and do a little hand quilting while the house is still and quiet....

This is the perfect "spring" quilt :)

Thank you to Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts for adding me to her Flickr Friday post! 

Jennifer has some fantastic quilts on her site....I love her recent solids log cabin quilt! And her Wonky Stars in Central Park quilt....perfect!

Thank you so much Jennifer!

I am off today to shop with Molly....tomorrow is her 23rd. birthday!!!  Yay!   An excuse to go shopping!

Happy Friday!

mary

EXCITED....EXCITING!!!!

Wow!  I have finished quilting the Gypsy Kisses {pickle-dish} quilt.....

The pattern is from Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke's Material Obsession 2....I started this quilt way back in October!!!!  Pickle-dish is a block design I have always loved...and since I knew the Quilting Fairy wasn't going to bring me one, I had to do it myself.  What's a girl to do?

The pattern calls for 4 rows of pickle-dish blocks (3 in each row), but I didn't need a quilt that large so I made mine 3 by 3....the final measurement is about 93 inches square....more or less....

The arcs are pieced using foundation piecing and then the entire arc block is hand appliqued onto the background....the center eyes are appliqued to the center section of the arcs....

I added a piano key border to the two sides and a background border to the top and bottom....and hand quilted the quilt with perle cotton...

I absolutely LOVE this quilt....as you can see by all the photos :)

  

Other news that has got my heart a thumpin'....I was tickled to find out that Carla is featuring my blog today as she celebrates her one year blogiversary.  Her blog is Lollyquiltz....she is one talented lady so I am thrilled that she wants to feature little old me.  And not to mention that she has been blogging for a year now....that is something to be applauded!!!  Visit her blog...she is planning a giveaway tomorrow!!! 

Now that my pickle-dish is quilted....it is time to start my Tea Party {Strawberry Fields} quilt....

This is a pattern by Sarah Fielke from the first Material Obsession book...I am telling you - I can't get enough of these books...these women are some seriously talented gals!!!

I marked my quilting lines with a Hera marker....

A Hera marker leaves a crease line to follow rather than an ink mark....

I have chosen my colors...perle cotton of course....

love hand quilting :)

Finally,  with all the excitement going on....my quilt, the quilt along at Lily's Quilts {which is just too much fun}, the tea party at work and all the fun stuff going on at Sew To Speak, and finals and cleaning the bathroom :(  ...... I forgot to mention that I won another award!!!  I was honored by Cindy at Rose Room Quilts with the Stylish Blogger award!!!

As a recipient of this award I have to list 7 little known facts {or not so little known} about me....hmmmm.....

1. I am a child of the 60's 

2. I was born in Ohio and attended THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY....Go Bucks!!!

3. I am married to Mike

4. We have 3 beautiful daughters and one mutt

5. Everyone in my family has an M name...which made it difficult to yell someones name without stuttering....Mike, Mary, Molly, Maggie, and Mary McNeil 

6. My dog's name is Flanders...and I love every inch of her :)

7. I want to live {at least part of my life} in Ireland...proudly we are of Irish heritage

I will need to choose other blogs pass on this award...YAY...another excuse to peruse the blogs!!!

Okay- sorry for the very wordy post!!!

mary

A Quilt Along, Some Basting and Some Binding....

If you haven't heard, Lynne, at Lily's Quilts is having a Quilt Along!  This is my first QA...but I couldn't resist when I saw that the design is a Dresden /  wheel design....and I love Dresden's!  I have done a few....here and here and here .  There have been a few wheels that have tickled my fancy as well.

So today I spent the morning mulling over the fabrics I want to use....

I want it to have a scrappy look...which will be easy since there are plenty of scraps to be had...and for the background fabric I am leaning towards Heath by Alexander Henry.

I also printed off my templates - so I am almost ready to go....

Then, I basted my Tea Party Quilt...

And I cut the strips for binding my Gypsy Kisses (pickle-dish) quilt!!!  Whoo- hooo!!!

Pretty good for a Monday!

mary   

Weather Forecast....

Gloomy with a chance of dreary!!!  This is the view from my kitchen sink window....this picture has not changed for the longest time....

I have been able to check off a couple of items from my list....some of those I will have to tell you about later....someone may be reading ;)

I want to get this pickle-dish quilted so I can start quilting the Tea Party quilt....focus, focus.....

But I did take a few to practice some free-motion quilting....

Then I did a little quilting....

Now back to that pickle-dish....focus....there is another one on deck and other blocks to be tackled!  Are you always thinking of the next block or quilt?  Or are you always in the zone? Ha!

mary

Wordless Wednesday....

mary

Peaceful Piecing....

Well, we finally have sunny skies and everyone is out of the house.  I am taking advantage of the quiet day to piece together the rows of my Tea Party Quilt.  It is almost the end of the quarter and I know my people-less days are numbered....so today a little peaceful piecing....

This quilt takes some time, as there are many points that need to come together nicely....most of the time they do cooperate and play well together....but every once in a while points need a little coaxing to meet nicely (or almost meet nicely)

I love the sweet nature of this quilt...hopefully I will have a couple photos later today of the entire quilt pieced **fingers crossed**.

Hope you have a peaceful day!

mary

Hello Friend.....

Well, I opened my door this morning only to find this little critter next to my step...

Now, he may look small in this picture, but he was by no means small...he had been eating and growing well...but for some reason he did not seem to want to leave this resting place and I knew we may want to walk outside today...I needed to get rid of this squatter.  I called the Ohio Wildlife Association and they explained that he was probably frightened by something and just playing "possum"....and if I thought he might be injured I could put him in a box (with a broom) and bring him in...ummmmm no.....I was not about to lure this guy into a box.  I gave him some time and about an hour later my little buddy slowly wandered off (he was perfectly healthy).  Whew!

I spent the rest of the morning getting things prepared for a beginner quilting class...we will make pinwheels...

And I worked on the Tea Party Quilt (Strawberry Fields)....I am loving this quilt....so sweet....

I ran a little short of the salmon colored Cloud 9 dot fabric....so I will need to pick up a bit of that tomorrow evening...

The border strips are not sewn together, but I do love how it looks so far...

.

And finally, I have been working on a little project that needs to be finished mid-month....

I purchased this precious ribbon some time ago...it has just been waiting for the right project!

mary ;)