Thrilled!

Do you remember this 16 patch quilt (on the left) I showed several months ago? This is my pattern and it came about strictly by accident. I had these four patches that weren't playing well together so I made 16 patches...... and on and on and on. I finished the quilt, posted it on my blog. Carol asked me for the pattern - what????? - there is no pattern - well write one she said and I'll test it for you - what????? LOL! To make a very long story short - I looked at my quilt and sent instructions over a period of several days and her quilt was finished! (on the right)

I love Carol's quilt as much as I love mine and am thrilled beyond words that she wanted to make one. I can't help but smile when I think about or write about this little venture. No, there is still no pattern. LOL

I hope you're having a wonderful week! Thanks for stopping - come again soon.

In Friendship!

From My Heart!

Over the past few months I've received some thoughtful, surprise gifts from some blogging friends - these treasures touched my heart in ways that I can't express. I decided that I wanted to do something to thank them so I've been working on some small quilts to say thank you. These are the first four and I have a few more to do.


Do you remember these? A couple of weeks ago I made these four using one Civil War Crossing Layer Cake (by Moda). I finished quilting and binding these and they are now winging their way to their new homes. I'm not ashamed to admit that after I finished quilting and binding these I have been VERY fearful of sending them to their new homes. Why??? Well, they are not perfect - I did a very simple meandering so I fear judgement. If you know anything about me then you know that I seek acceptance and don't like judgement. So, I'd almost decided to just keep these and go shopping for some treasures to send. Then my sweet hubby reminded me that I made these from my heart with my hands and a very willing spirit for four lovely ladies. So, hopefully they won't be judged and just accepted as a gift from my heart. Sigh!!!!

So, tell me - do you think they will be surprised? I'm not looking for compliments just your thoughts!

I do appreciate your visit - come again soon!

In Friendship!

Pickin' Cotton

I haven't done much sewing this week however this evening (well, Sunday evening) I got a major burst of energy and worked on my 'High Cotton' quilt. It's officially a flimsy! WooHoo!!!!

As I was making the blocks I was second guessing my fabric choices and now that it's all done I'm beyond excited - I love it!

I ordered the border fabric for my '1930's Black & White quilt and it has arrived. All 25 blocks are finished so now I just need to start sewing it all together. WooHoo!!!

Thanks for popping in to visit - come again soon.

In Friendship!

"High Cotton"

"High Cotton" is a Southern-American term used to reflect the best of times; a time of well being. The term originates from the rural farming community in the Antebellum (pre-Civil War) when "high cotton" meant that the crops were good and the prices, likewise, were better. It is commonly used in conjunction with several phrases such as "We're in high cotton now" or "You're in high cotton", meaning all is going very well.
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Transwiki:High_cotton"

A post from me - just ME and not the Wabbit Daze Gang - LOL! I wanted to be mad at them for hi-jacking my blog but it's obvious they had a ton of fun, and hopefully you did, too, so how can I be mad? Goodness, they even had a giveaway and then informed me that I had to go shopping. LOL

Thank you so much for all your wonderful cheers, compliments and comments. Things have settled down and hopefully will remain that way. :-)

I spent Saturday in 'high cotton' - a truly blissful day! I was up and out of bed at 5:00 am and the sewing machine was humming by 6:00 am. At the end of the day I had a total of 20 blocks for my "1930's Black & White" quilt - 5 to go. woohoo! This pattern is called "1930's Black & White" and it's by Lori Holt of Bee In My Bonnet.

These blocks are adorable but can be a bit tedious so I took a break and started a brand new project! I couldn't help it, I could see the book out of the corner of my eye and the quilt on the cover was taunting me. So, what's a girl to do? :-) This is from Kim Diehl's new book, "Simple Comforts" and the quilt is called "High Cotton". When you're making the blocks you actually make two idential blocks so I have a total of 16 blocks and need 63 for the center of the quilt. I'm making my quilt very similar Kim's but rather than 4 lights, as she has in her pattern requirements, I've chosen to use 8 lights - just wanted a little more variety. I really enjoyed making these blocks and am looking forward to doing more digging through my stash.

Thanks so much for popping in to visit with me. Come again soon!

In Friendship!

Stuffus!
(catching up - whew!)

I'm sorry we've been MIA. Mr Hubby Daze has been busy and we needed his help to do all of this - he's a real keeper! teehee!!!!


From Joy: Here's the scoop on Darlene's recent finish - the hourglass quilt I found draped on the small ironing board. The fabric is called Miss Jump's Scrapbag by Moda (it was a fat quarter bundle with 40 fat quarters) and she cut two 10" squares from each fat quarter (two layer cakes ;-0) and then made quarter square triangles aka hourglass blocks. Each block is 8 1/2" finished and there are 8 blocks across/10 rows = 80 blocks. She doesn't plan to add a border - it's finished just like it is and she'll make a scrappy binding from the remaining pieces/parts of the fat quarters.




I'll bet you think we've forgotten about the drawing - if you left a cheering comment to help Darlene finish her "1930's Black & White" quilt. Without further ado we have a winners ............ yes, we have winners, as in more than one - woohoo!
Come on down!!!!!

1. Kaaren, The Painted Quilt (#16)
2. Carol (#12)
3. Allie (#25)

Please send an e-mail with your complete name and address and goodies will be coming your way vewy, vewy soon. Mr Hubby Daze says that Darlene will get your prizes together and get them mailed - OK?

Darlene has had some vewy, vewy busy days and she wants to thank you for all your good thoughts, too. Remember when she asked for prayers for her daughter a couple of months ago? Well, all your good thoughts and prayers are helping because things are starting to look much better.

Thanks for playing along with us..................The Wabbit Daze Gang will ride again vewy, vewy soon!!!!

Remember....

Naughty can be nice,
The Wabbit Daze Gang

Psst - over here!

My name is Joy and I'm a member of the Wabbit Daze Gang! I was out for a little ride and slammed on the brake to come to a screeching halt (dragged my foot) when I saw this flimsey. I don't know anything about it but I'll do a little snooping and get back to you! Just felt the need to share!

The Wabbit Daze Gang will ride again later today to announce the winners of our "Cheer Darlene On" contest! And, I'll have all the facts about this flimsey! See you soon!

Remember.....

Naughty can be nice :-)

Just Joy (a member of the Wabbit Daze Gang)

The Wabbit Daze Gang Rides Again!

Remember me, Nibbles? Yesterday I was left out of the picture because I was taking the picture! No more, Mr Hubby Daze has told us that he'd help us keep this blog alive! WooHoo!!!!!

So, to reward me he took a picture of just me after we (the other wabbits & I) loaded Darlene's latest quilting finish onto our Radio Flyer wagon. We huffed, we puffed, we pushed, we pulled, we tugged, etc and finally did it. Whew!

We thought loading the quilt on the wagon was a major feat! Well, that was nothing compared to unloading it, unfolding it and spreading it out so Mr Hubby Daze could take a picture. Darlene needs to sew down the binding but it's too darn hot to hold this beauty on her lap so it could be awhile.
Here's what we know about this quilt - it's called "Confetti Cake" by The Pattern Basket and a Primary Primer layer cake by Minick & Simpson/Moda was used.

Wow, 36 left cheers for Darlene to finish her "1930's Black & White" - thank you, thank you! Mr Hubby Daze is going to help us with the drawing so stay tuned - we'll be back to announce the winner!


We need a nap zzzzzZZZZzzzZZZZzzzz but we'll ride again very soon!


Remember....
Naughty Can Be Nice
The Wabbit Daze Gang

Wabbit Daze

(beware ---- long post)

Darlene is busy taking care of all the curve balls and feels that she needs to take a blogging break - well, we can't let her blog just sit.

B-O-R-I-N-G

We can't just let this blog sit - let's find a project for her to work on - we must show the world - come on, Joy, hold the blocks; no, you hold them; she's not going to be happy with us; does "Wabbit Stew" ring a bell with anyone; who's going to protect us from her (maybe her sweet hubby - he likes us, doesn't he?). Oh my goodness, I can't believe we're doing this - we're going to be in so much trouble - SIGH!!!!! Whose idea is this any way????

I was reading her e-mails last night and she's committed on Charming Girls Quilt Club Blog to finishing an older UFO so let's put this one out and "commit" her to finishing it. teehee! Let's make this official - snicker -

Darlene is going to finish "1930's Black & White" by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet by the end of July

It's really a cute project and I remember when she started it.

Oh my goodness she has to finish this project; it's really, really cute; and remember when she searched high and low for this pattern. Let's share the story (as we remember it)

This pattern is "1930's Black & White" by Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet. Darlene saw a picture of the quilt on somone's webshots album and couldn't get a response from the owner of the album. She knew it was by Lori Holt but had no other information, so she Googled Lori's name and found that a quilt shop in Utah might carry the pattern. Excitedly she called and was told that they carried other patterns by Lori Holt but not this particular one but would get it for Darlene. Darlene waited several days - NOTHING! I think she called Lori at home and found that Material Girls might carry the pattern so she called Nadine - - POOF in a matter of days Darlene had the pattern in her possession. She was a very happy girl and started searching for the fabric (especially the black and white prints) and made the black and white nine patches in no time (quick like a bunny - teehee). Then she started working on the blocks but needed a good variety of 1930's solids - ordered those from someone on the web - made four blocks and then the project sat. Huge Sigh!!!!

We're going to put the project box by her sewing machine and hopefully she'll take our BIG hint! LOL I think she'll be so excited, she'll forget about our antics and get busy sewing. LOL

Please join us - The Wabbit Daze gang - in cheering Darlene on to finish this project by the end of July!!! Darlene finished quilting one of her flimsies earlier this week and if we can load it in our wagon, spread it out and take a picture we'll be back to share with you vewy, vewy soon ---------------

So, leave us a comment to cheer Darlene on to finish her "1930's Black & White" project and we'll toss you name in a drawing and send you a little something. teehee!!!!

Remember.........
Naughty can be nice
The Wabbit Gang

Happy 4th of July!

Oh Life!

Life has thrown a few curve balls my way so I must take a blog break for a bit! As time permits I will visit your blogs but I can't promise many comments. Thank you!

I hope that you'll visit again when I return!

I appreciate your visits!

In Friendship

Fabulous Giveaway!

You must visit Lori's blog to enter a drawing for a fabulous giveaway!

In Friendship!

Saying Thank you!

Here I am - have you missed me? I can't say it's been an extremely busy week but there have been things that needed to be done practically every day - sigh!

Friday morning I finally had an opportunity to play in my sewing room. I bounced out of bed with a bevy of ideas so I got busy before I could second guess my plan(s). LOL I sewed Friday afternoon and all day Saturday and am pleased with the results. :-)


It started with a Civil War Crossing Layer Cake by Moda and some background fabric - the results - four small quilts. There are four lovely women in the Land of Blog who recently sent surprises my way and this is my way of saying thank you! While I really like the quilt in the lower right hand corner I'm thinking it might need a very narrow border of the background fabric. HMMM! Do you have an opinion?

After they are all quilted, bound and in the mail I'll share who received these quilts.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit with me - please come again!

In Friendship!

Smitten or Bitten???

I can't decide whether I'm smitten with or bitten by the small quilt bug!

I've seen some small quilts around the Land of Blog over time and recently - I must make some - I simply must!!!!! I've been thinking about this for a couple of days and yesterday while standing at my cutting counter I was suddenly distracted. Over on the far side was a nice stack of 1/2 square triangles with the triangle paper still attached; leftover from my Sallie's Quilt project. I only needed 4 for each block but made 8 instead - why? I had an idea formulating in my mind but that's all changed now - teehee!

I cut them apart, sorted and pressed them. I needed to make four more because I only had 32 and wanted to make a square quilt. I was having a ton of fun so I made two of these little cuties (a surprise for a friend who's encouraged my small quilt bug). I've decided that no border is needed and I'll just bind them with something to provide a nice frame. At this point it's 18" x 18" so it's a perfect little decorative tidbit for my home.

I want to make a few more - teehee!!!! Such silliness, I know.

Thanks for stopping by - please come again and come often!

In Friendship!

My "Country Cousins"

This was one of my first projects when I took the hand applique plunge not long after I started blogging. This is "Baltimore's Country Cousins" by Susan McKelvey and it was being offered as a block of the month by The Quilted Crow. I was thrilled about working on this because the pieces were large and I felt I could do it and do it well. So what happened? I wish I knew - three blocks done and the rest have been kept in the dark - silently and patiently waiting.

Do you remember when I let it all hang out and showed you all my UFO applique projects - here (scroll down)! Well, fast forward to June 2009 - chatting via e-mail with Karen at Log Cabin Quilter and I gave her a good laugh one day when I admitted to her that I have yet to finish one applique project! She does beautiful applique projects! Anyway, I started looking through the 'projects in waiting' and decided that this was the one I needed to finish. I spent Tuesday afternoon prepping a new block and last night I started stitching. There are 12 blocks so I'll be sharing more of this project over the next couple of months. This is assuming that I don't decide to abandon it again! LOL

I've been spending quite a bit of time focusing on a variety of hand work projects (hand quilting practice, assembling my GFG blocks, embroidery projects, and hand applique). This doesn't mean that I've abandoned my machine piecing - there is a project in the works as we speak. :-)

Thanks for your visit and comments! Come again soon.

In Friendship!

An Explosive Giveaway

You must visit Kaaren's blog today and leave a comment for your chance to win one of four treasures! Kaaren is one of the most talented women I know in the Land of Blog! Therefore, I know that if you're one of the winners you'll experience fireworks in your heart!!!

Go now - tell her I sent you!

Good luck!

In Friendship!

Another "Click"
(by George I think I've got it)

Sometime in 2007 I decided I wanted to work on a Grandmother's Flower Garden - loving what I saw on Libby's blog and receiving encouragement from her, I jumped in with both feet. I pulled out my Rhubarb & Ginger fat quarter bundle, got very organized and assembled many GFG flowers. Oh, I was so proud!!! Then I came to screeching halt (yes, a complete stop)............no matter how many diagrams I saw I simply couldn't figure out how to put all the flowers together to make one quilt - I truly felt dumb!!! So, I put the whole project away in a pretty box and decided it just wasn't meant to be. Deep huge SIGH!!!

On occasion over the last two years I pulled out the pretty box - spread my flowers out and simply released an even bigger, deeper SIGH - still receiving encouragement from Libby - alas I just couldn't see it. I even joined the Great Hexagon Quilt Along and asked for help and after receiving advice I still couldn't see it. More sighs!!!

Well, yesterday I decided enough was enough - it was time! I looked at the pretty box and all the flowers and said "It's ON"! LOL

I don't know what happened but this time it clicked! I am well on my way to assembling my Grandmother Flower Garden quilt top - yet another deeper & bigger SIGH (this one of relief - whew)

It's probably going to be a long time before I see this quilt top completed but I certainly feel much better - I can pull out that pretty box and feel good that I know what I'm doing.

Thanks for stopping by! Come again and come often!

In Friendship!

By George I Think I've Got It!!!!

If you've ever chatted with me then you might know that I've had a very strong desire to learn how to hand quilt. A couple of years ago I tried to learn but it just wasn't in the cards. Sigh!

Well, last Thursday I had the opportunity to take a class from a very talented and skilled hand quilter. When I heard that she was going to be teaching at one of the local quilt stores I was excited beyond belief and waited patiently for "the" day to arrive. There were only four students in class so the teacher could spend lots of one on one time with us - bliss!!! Initially, I was all thumbs - frustrated, flustered and anxious because I simply couldn't get my fingers coordinated and then it clicked! I swear I heard the Angels sing - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! LOL


I know that in order to get better skilled I need to practice, practice, practice but I haven't picked this up since then. Sigh! Libby gave me some wonderful advice - suggesting that I take the time to stitch at least one length of thread every day and it'll soon come very naturally to me. I must heed that advice soon!!!!! Thank you, Libby!

Remember I mentioned that there were only four students in class? One of the students was Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co fame. I've known Carrie for approximately 10 years and chat on the phone on a very regular basis but I don't get to see her very often. I knew she was going to be in the class and enjoyed spending a few hours in class with her - it was fun to watch her struggle with the tiny needle, as well. LOL

I appreciate your visit and your comments - thank you! Come again soon!

In Friendship!

Oh My Stars!!!!!!

I'm sure you got tired of seeing my stars over the past two weeks but I have to ask

How do you like 'em now??????

I am crazy about this quilt and can't begin to express how much fun I had putting this one together - kept me smiling!!! :-)

This pattern is "Sallie's Quilt" by Bonnie Blue Quilts. I fell in love with Bonnie Blue Quilts last year when I made "Second Hand Clothes" (here) and can't wait to do another.

My Lunchbox Sewing Tin giveaway was a huge success - thank you so much for playing along with my silly game. And, thank you, as well for all your comments, kind words and compliments - I sincerely appreciate them and you.

Thanks for popping in to visit - come again soon and often!

In Friendship!

The Winner!!!!

Hello, my name is Nibbles and I'm the newest "wabbit" in Darlene's sewing room. Mary at Quilt Hollow stuck me in a big brown box and sent me to live with Darlene. She thought that I'd be very happy living with Darlene and the other Wabbits (Thimbles, Joy, Millie, Bea Bunny & Snippet) and she was right - I love it here. When I arrived I didn't have a name but my new friends named me Nibbles because I enjoy nibbling on their ears (I'm much bigger than they are - teehee)

OK, enough about me - I have the privilege of announcing the winner of The Lunchbox Sewing Tin and 10 treasures (Easy Dresden quilt template, seam ripper, needles, glasshead pins, flowerhead pins, 1" x 6" ruler, embroidery needles, Triangle Trimmers, Gingher Snips & small candy tin. So.......................................

Karen at Sew Primitive Quilter you are the winner!!!!
(send Darlene e-mail with your address and we'll put your prize in the mail soon)

We must say thank you for all your wonderful comments and for playing along with us! Darlene will be back later to show you her completed flimsy (it's the one with 32 stars - she's been working hard - whew)

We hope you'll visit again and often because we love that you do!

In Friendship,

Thimbles, Joy, Millie, Bea Bunny, Snippet and Nibbles

Party Time

it's my 3rd Anniversary!!!!

(this party is over - I'll be back later this morning to announce the winner!)

I hope that you'll join me in celebrating my 3rd anniversary in blogging! I can hardly believe that I've been blogging that long! Indulge me for a moment and come along down memory lane with me.

I have always referred to the quilting blogging community as my "International Quilter's Guild" - so many friends in this guild (some would argue that we're not friends but I strongly disagree). Many stopped by over the last three years and left a comment or two (actually over 12,000 comments); I've posted almost 500 times; thousands of you have stopped by just to have a quick look; two special bloggers pushed me off the hand applique fence and I discovered a new passion; many encouraged me to reconnect with hand embroidery and discovered yet another passion; more flimsies have been added to the ever growing pile of flimsies (LOL); yada, yada yada!!!

It's time to get this party started..................remember this little cutie????

I've added a pin cushion to the inside of the lid and tossed in a few things! Do you like what you see? teehee



So, what's inside???? I hope you'll agree - lots of wonderful treasures, but how many????

Three simple rules - it's all about the number 3. :-)

1. Please tell me why you stop by to visit with me
2. Tell me how many things you see inside the "Lunchbox Sewing Tin"
3. Promise that you'll show the tin and the treasures on your blog if you're a winner (if you don't have a blog then I'll post a picture) You do not have to have a blog to play! :-)


Leave your comment by midnight PST, Friday, June 5th.

Thank you so much for playing along with me!

See you Friday night! Good luck!

In Friendship!