September Newsletter Part II

MORE about Life:


Before I left for Alaska, I had a very, happy birthday. My online quilt group did a birthday block swap. We chose the block that we wanted made and the colors we wanted for our block. I chose the block called Sunlight and Shadow. Here are 2 of 20 that I received from wonderful ladies all over the world!! What a nice birthday, huh?

After returning home from Alaska. I went with Ilene Kendrick, my quilting friend, to the Southeast Idaho State Fair. We had entered some quilts in the fair. Well, Ilene took the best of show for her quilted pillow!! She also took some other blue ribbons for her work!! Way to go Ilene!! Here is here pillow and another beautiful quilt she did.

Then, I had another wonderful surprise!! A lady came up to me and asked me my name. I asked, "What is your name?" She said, "Kathryn Evans". Oh, my goodness!! Kathryn, joined my online quilt group and she recognized me by my "cartoon" self portrait. She hung out with us the rest of the day while we looked and looked at all the quilts. She won a blue ribbon on her quilt that she entered! Here is Kathryn and her quilt. What fun!!! I drew a dotted outline around her winning quilt. Way to go Kathryn!!!

I had entered my "Barn Raising" Quilt. I got a 4th place on it, but the judges picked it as one of their favorites. I got a gift certificate to a quilt shop in Rexburg. Here I am in my living glory!!

I also entered my Grandma's Apron table topper and got 3rd place, I think. I had so much fun doing this one.

Oh!! This was so fun!! On our quilt group, we did an "Ugly" fabric swap. We chose an ugly fat quarter that we thought was ugly and sent to to someone. They were to make something with the "Ugly" fabric. I got some ugly fabric from Joleen on our group. As it turns out, Joleen goes to the fair every year. I told her that I was going to enter her project at the fair. She would have to go look for it and see if she could find it. Well, she found it! I acually got 2nd place for it. I don't think her fabric was so ugly!! It was fun having Joleen look for her project. I sent it off to her after the fair. Glad I got a picture of it before hand. Thanks for the fun, Joleen!!

I found a picture of the cutest witch table topper. I just had to have this for my own table. I went to work and developed a pattern. I shared the pattern with my online quilt group. I think this Classy Witch friends topper turned out so cute!!

Well, I can't think of anything I missed! I am continually working on something new, so until next time!!

Blessings, Susan

September Newsletter Part 1

A Bit about Life

Oh, my!! I just looked at my blog and I am WAY behind! A few things have happened since I last wrote. I have been on quite a road trip. I left August 16th for the longest trip of my life! My daughter and family (yes, the grandkids went too!) moved to Ft. Greely, Alaska from Boise, Idaho. I flew over to Boise to help them move out of there home. Then we started on our trek of 2800 miles over the Alaska Hiway.

I drove Eric's truck as far as Tacoma, Washington where it was put on a ferry bound for Alaska. Then I got in Amber's car to help with the kids. While we were in Tacoma, Caleb and his family came from Portland to spend the day with us. After a half a day trying to find a parking spot for a HUGE UHAUL Truck and trailer, we got to spend some time at Fisherman's Warf with Caleb, Bonnie and Bonnie's girls. Here is a nice picture of them. It was fun to finally get to meet them.

The drive was beautiful especially through the Yukon Territory. Here is a picture of the sign I took when we FINALLY left the Yukon Territory.

While we were driving, we came across this unusal forest. It is called the Sign Post Forest. I am wondering where they got all of these signs. Did they steal them? Is that not a Federal Offense? Just wondering? Anyway, it was very interesting to see SO many road signs!!! This picture doesn't even show HALF of them. It is literally a FOREST of them!!

There were a ton of beautiful lakes along the road while driving through the Yukon Territory. Here is one of them. The picture really doesn't do it justice. The view was AWE inspiring to say the least!

After 7 days of driving, we FINALLY made it to Alaska and back to the good ole' USA! It was so good to see a road sign that read 55 MPH instead of 100 KPH!! My brain was a bit confused with the metric measurments. And then there were the LOONEY'S (I'm probably spelling it wrong...) Anyway, a Looney, Luni, Luney? is a brass colored coin that the Canadians use for a dollar. Again, I was confused!

Here is Jonathan and Shandeigh indicating we have reached Alaska!!! Oh happy day!!!

We drove into Ft Greely late at night and stayed in lodging there on the base. Eric's "sponsor" had arranged breakfast foods, milk and drinking water for us for the next morning. I was impressed! We spent the next couple of nights in this lodging while Amber and Eric found a home on base. Then the moving in began. There was a group of seven men from their branch that came to help. Again, I was so thankful for good people who would give of their time to help!!

After getting them settled somewhat.... it was time to go to Fairbanks where I would catch the plane that would fly me all night to Salt Lake City, Utah. Before going to Fairbanks, we drove to North Pole, Alaska, the home of Santa Claus. Here are a few pictures of our visit with Santa. Here is Shandeigh reaching into Santa's mailbox to see what the other kids of the world wanted to tell Santa.

Here is a picture of Shandeigh with Santa. He treated her so special. I always knew that Santa was a kind and jolly elf. I was really able to see his generosity first hand! The boys were too shy to go sit on Santa's lap.

Here was one of Santa's Reindeer. The kids thought maybe he was Rudolph!

And here I am at the doorstep to Eric and Amber's home saying goodbye to the Shandeigh, Jonathan, Paden and Quinn. Thank goodness for cell phones, email and web cams!!!

After flying all night from Fairbanks, Alaska to Salt Lake City, UT. I met my long, lost husband, Roger at about 9:30 in the morning. He picked me up and we drove (again!) to Farmington, New Mexico. We picked up 7 boxes of roasted $chili peppers and bagged and froze them. We stayed 2 nights with Roger's parents and then got back in the car (AGAIN!) and drove home on labor day. All in all I figured road trip miles (not including flight miles) was close to 4400 miles!! Wow, what a trip!!!

July Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

Happy 4th of July to all USA friends! What a beautiful summer this is turning out to be. In southeast Idaho, we have had steady rain for about 2 weeks! The weather has finally turned and the sun is shining. Our resevoirs are full to overflowing and we ARE thankful for that! We have needed rain for the past few years.

My daughter and family will be coming to spend a few days. Our plans are to go to Glacier Park tomorrow if all goes well. DH works up that direction and said it is beautiful and wants us to see it as well. I am excited to do that!

I have been watching my other daughter's kids the past couple of days. My almost 10 year old grandson challenged me to a rematch of Monopoly. Sorry to say, I beat his socks off AGAIN!! We'll see if he wants a rematch today or wants to move on to another game.

Last month I showed you a picture of the unfinihsed Log Cabin quilt and had intentions of completing the quilting and make pillow shams. I am happy to say I finished!! I got it done just in time for my husbands birthday on the 13th of June. You can see how it turned out below.

A few months back, I mentioned that I was making a birthday present for my daughter. She will be here and I will give her the gift so I can post it here. If she sees it before she gets here.... oh well... It is a pattern from Kim Diehl entitled Every Heart Beats True. I scaled the pattern down to be used as a table topper. My daughter loves Americana decor and I thought this would be perfect for her kitchen table. What do you think?

Quilting Views and Tips:

I saw the cutest wall hanging. It was of some appliqued aprons. They were done in 1930's fabrics and then embelished with buttons, ric rac, yo-yo's, etc. It was so darn cute! I have been working on my own version. I'll let you see what I come up with.

I have also been thinking of a full size sampler quilt only done in miniature. I'm thinking of about 3 inch finished blocks. Somehow, the "lttle" stuff really appeals to me. I love to do paper piecing which allows these tiny miniatures to be so precise! Again, I'll show you what I come up with.

I have almost finished a set of embroidered herbs. My plans are to make quilt blocks and use the six inch embroidered blocks as the center of each quilt block.

It seems that I always have something mulling around through my mind. I love it when the plan actually comes together!!

New Patterns:

I have the August element for the Month after Month wall hanging ready. I call it Sunny Sunflower. What would August be without a Sunflower. You can purchase the pattern from my website by clicking HERE.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

I need to announce that my website - QuiltingForLess.com will probably come to end sometime next month. It has been a long uphill climb and a lot of hard work. It has been fun but "fun" doesn't pay the bills. I will continue to send out the Block of the Month patterns to those who have signed my guestbook. I love developing new patterns and will more than likely have a new Block of the Month for 2010. I will continue my blog and my online qult group.

Block of the Month:

The number 7 block will be going out soon! I cannot believe that we are over half way done with this Beautiful in Black series. I hope that you enjoy the July block. Here is what it will look like.

I enjoy your comments and the friendship that only a quilting community can bring.

Blessings to all,

Susan

June Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

May has been a whirlwind month! This month (May 29) we celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. I cannot believe how fast the years have gone by. We were able to go to Yellowstone, where we spent our honeymoon those many years ago. We love to go to the West Gate Playmill theatre. The play was Footloose and was a very cute performance. Then we went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and went to the Bar J Chuckwagon. We always love that place. It is good food and great cowboy entertainment. We did get to celebrate early as it was Memorial Day Weekend.

I FINALLY got my HUGE KING SIZE quilt ready to quilt. I was able to work on it for a while yesterday. Here is a picture of what it looks like before quilting. I am very pleased on how it is turning out so far. I was a bit worried about the size and being able to machine quilt it, but it is working GREAT!!

I have been working on our Birthday Block Swap. This has been a blast making so many different blocks. It was so fun, that we started another group and a lot of the ladies joined that one too! I can't wait until my birthday to see how everyone made the block that I requested. Hurry, AUGUST!! LOL!

My granddaughter, who is diabetic was in need of more packs to carry her insulin pump in. We had gone shopping for fabric some time back and I let her choose her own fabric. I got six of them made up and sent them to her without taking a picture!!! Oh, how I LOVE technology!! I called my daughter and asked her if she could take a picture and email it. She said the camera was with her husband, but she could take one with her phone. And.... here are five of the six packs. My granddaughter is wearing the other one. She was so glad to get them and loved how "her" fabric turned out. These have been such a life saver for her. She just wears them around her waste like a belt and she can run, jump and play all she wants without dropping her pump. And I guarantee, she does a LOT of all three!!


Quilting Views and Tips:


Last month I told you how inspired I was with Bonnie Hunter's scrap "using" system. This last month I was able to put to use this system. I had quite a few novelty fabric pieces that I wasn't sure how to use them. Well.... with Bonnie's help at quiltville.com, I put together this "Scrappy Happy House" quilt. I used the scraps that I cut as per Bonnie's system. It went together so fast and I was able to use up a TON of those novelty fabrics that I had. Here is how the top turned out.


Speaking of Novelty Fabrics.... A couple of quilting friends and I swapped 3 1/2 inch squares of novelty fabric. We made sure that there were 2 of all the fabrics squares we cut. Then we pieced them together to make an I Spy quilt. The quilt also doubles as a matching game. Here is my I Spy quilt which the grandkids already love! I had some squares left so I put the leftover squares to use on the back of the quilt. Here are the pictures of the top and back of my I Spy Quilt.




New Patterns:


This month I have 2 new patterns for the Month after Month wall hanging. The June element is "Building a Barn" and the July element is "Sweet Land of Liberty". These elements can be added to the Month after Month Wall Hanging or use as a table topper or a seperate hanging wall decoration. Hope you enjoy them. Click HERE to find the patterns.



Block of the Month:


The June block will be going out to everyone who has signed the guestbook. The Beautiful in Black series is on the number SIX block. Come and join our Beautiful in Black series group and show us your progress on the blocks. Also, see what others have done. The blocks are so beautiful! Click HERE to find the finished blocks of some awesome quilters! Here is the block for June.

The Quilt in Pastel blocks have come to an end. This month the instructions for finishing your quilt top will be sent to those who have signed my guestbook. How did yours turn out? I would love to see. Come and join our quilt group and show us what you have done! If you haven't joined already, you can click HERE to join. It is FREE to join.


I hope you have enjoyed my newsletter. I would love to hear from you! Until next month!


Blessings, Susan

May Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

Holy smokes! April has come and gone in a hurry! Can you believe that we got about a foot and a half of SNOW on Sunday? When we went to church the ground was covered and it was snowing like a Banshi! When we got out of church at 2:00 pm. It was almost all melted. What can I say? I live in Idaho! :o)

I have been so busy this month. I finished a quilt for someone special for Christmas. These blocks have been in a drawer for a couple of years. In all honesty, I hated them. The colors all seemed to be so dark. I was seriously thinking about giving them away, or better yet... finding a home for them in the TRASH can. I have a great quilting friend who encouraged me to get them out and do something with them. I finally did and I have to admit that the results are so much better than I expected. In fact, it is the most gorgeous quilt I have made! I especially love the big flower border. Thanks to Kim Diehl for her insperation for the applique design.

I wanted the back different. Not a standard piece of fabric, but something.... I decided to make one LARGE block and then border it to fit the top. So, I made a HUGE Bear's Claw block for the back.

I also decided to go completely outside the box on this one and quilt every block differently. I did the whole thing without a pattern and just thought about the block and what might look good for the quilting. Here is the pictures of the quilt. I am calling it the Royal Sampler. I think it is very rich looking. Let me know what you think!

Quilting Views and Tips:

I have also been inspired to TAME my fabric scraps. Bonnie Hunter and Quiltville.com has been my inspiration. I have been using her system to cut scraps into blocks, bricks and strips. I can hardly wait to try her leader and ender idea. Go check out her website. Maybe you will be inspired too! I have been cutting for days and hope to see the end soon. Then I will be able to keep up as each new project evolves and I will have a beautiful "Scrappy" quilt as a BONUS!!

We are into full swing with our Birthday Block Swap at our Quilt group. We have started a second birthday block swap. Anyone is welcome to join. There is a GREAT bunch of quilters here. Click HERE for the link.

Block of the Month:

The May block will be going out to everyone who has signed the guestbook. The Beautiful in Black series is on the number FIVE block. Come and join our Beautiful in Black series group and show us your progress on the blocks. Also, see what others have done. The blocks are so beautiful! Click HERE to find the finished blocks of some awesome quilters! Here is the block for May.

The Quilt in Pastels is on the very last block! Only the sashing and borders are left. Here is the final block for this series.

Well off I go to do some more cutting! My bins are getting fuller and fuller.

Wishing you "Piece"

Susan

April Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

I can't believe that it is April already! Sunday, we had one of our worst weather days! It was blowing and snowing. I would call that blizzard conditions! I had to get my winter coat out to wear to church. I thought I had put it away for the winter! I should know by now after living almost my whole life in Idaho that I should expect that kind of weather!

I have been busy this last month quilting up a storm! I was in the process of working on my "Barn Raising" Quilt and got sidetracked. I am sure no one else ever gets sidetracked! LOL!! I found a pattern from EQ6 using their kalaidascope disk. The pattern is called Congregation of Poppies. This really intrigued me. I love to do paper piecing and use up my scraps. (somehow, I never use them ALL. Scraps begat SCRAPS!) Anyway, here is my Congregation of Poppies. It was even featured on the EQ blog. You can scroll down and read the article HERE I loved the color of the Poppies on the black background. I had fun drawing the vines, leaves and poppy buds. They are all hand applique. What do you think?

I did finish my "Barn Raising" Quilt. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was making a quilt in honor of my Great Grandmother Lillie Viola Chicken House. I made a scrapbook page entitled "BRAVE betrays her name". Here is the scrapbook page.


I wanted to make a quilt with chickens on it in honor of her name. I am proud to be part CHICKEN! LOL! Here is a picture of the quilt I made in her honor. I call it "Barn Raising".


When we had our local quilt show in January, I took a class from Delene. She gave us an embroidery pattern for the saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without" She also gave us some creative ideas and instruction on how to make a cute wall hanging. I love that concept and have learned it all my life from my mother and grandmother. Here is my version of Delene's Wall Hanging...

I am working on something for a birthday present. I can't show it now, but I will "After" the birthday! Shhhhhh.... LOL!!

Quilting Views and Tips:

I found a really fun video on how to make 3D Faux Cathedral Window Quilt Blocks. I love the Cathedral window and this tip makes them so simple. Check out the video by clicking HERE

Mystery Patterns:

I am going to leave the Mystery Tote Clues up for just a little while longer. If you haven't collected them, hurry! This tote turned out so cute! See what others have done with their tote by looking HERE I love everyone's version of the same pattern. Here is a picture of my "Flower For You Tote"
Keep checking back to see if a different MYSTERY has started. Click on the big question mark after clicking HERE.

Block of the Month:

If you signed my guestbook, you will receive the April BOM patterns in your email. You can see some of the blocks others have done in the "Beautiful in Black" Series. Click HERE. These are turning out so BEAUTIFUL!!! Come and join us and let us see YOUR blocks! Here is what the April Blocks will look like.

If you want to have some FUN, join in our Birthday Block Swap. You can read all about it HERE. Come and join us!

I hope you are having better Spring weather than we are in Idaho. I know that it will get better soon, it sure couldn't be worse than Sunday!

Keeping you in stitches!

Susan

http://www.quiltingforless.com/

March Newsletter

A Bit About Life:

Can you believe that March is here? Holy smokes! The months are flying by! I just returned from spending a few days with some of my grandkids. They were fun and were very good! My four year old Paden is so funny. He wears glasses and of course looks so cute. Some lady at the store told him that he was the cutest boy she had ever seen. His comment was, and I quote, "Yeah, and I am smart, too!" These grandkids are so fun! Here are the grandkids in Boise. (Okay, their parents are here too...)

I am so excited to tell you about this! I have started a quilting forum. I love my quilt group that I go to once a month, but I thought how fun it would be to have one online that I could go to anytime I wanted. I have started a group for our next Mystery. You will be able to post pictures of your progression of the mystery and share comments. Click HERE for the Quilt Forum. I hope you will join in the FUN!! There will be more details for the NEW Mystery posted there.

Quilting Views and Tips:

Have you checked out this site? I just happened upon it. You are probably saying, "Where have you been?" What a neat site to help you in every aspect of quilting. It's called Quilting101.com. Go check it out if you haven't already. Plan to spend a little time there and by all means, BOOKMARK it!! Click HERE to go there. Have fun!

New Patterns:

The last Mystery has been solved and the pattern is available for sale. It is called Bear's Paw in the Cabin. A picture diagram is below. If you collected the clues, make sure that you make 16 blocks for the first clue instead of 12! The purchased pattern has been corrected. BOY OH BOY!! Those little typos get ya every time!

Bear's Paw in the Cabin

Since St. Patrick's Day is upon us, don't forget these cute patterns. "I'm Irish" and "Luck of the Irish" Click HERE to purchase the patterns.

I'm Irish

Luck of the Irish

Block of the Month:

We are in the 3rd month of the Beautiful in Black BOM patterns and almost finished with the Quilt in Pastels for 2008. If you signed up for the BOM patterns you should have received them at your email address. If you would like them, just stop by and sign the guestbook and you will receive them automatically each month. I started a group to discuss and share your blocks. Make it fun for you and everyone by sharing how yours turned out, or if you have questions, let's discuss and get your answers. Click HERE to join the group.

March BOM "Beautiful in Black"

Quilt in Pastels Block #17

Mystery Quilt Patterns:

A NEW mystery will start on Tuesday. Click HERE and follow the big ? for the clues. If you would like to join the group in making this fun tote, click HERE. You will see the fabrics that I have chosen for mine. Look through your stash and pick out some fun colors. Hope you will join in the fun!

Clocks and Socks:

Do you need a unique gift for a birthday or wedding? Or do you need a new clock for your sewing room? Check out the fun clocks by clicking HERE. Below are just a few. It is NEVER too early to order Christmas Stockings. Beat the Christmas rush! Order HERE

Until next time!

Wishing you a "Pieceful" Day!

Susan

http://www.quiltingforless.com/