A Project to Abide In….

On Thursday, I talked about wanting to slow down and “abide” in my life in 2026.

As part of that idea, I am starting a BIG…….SLOW……PROJECT!!

In December, I talked about making this cute Snowman applique quilt…

…and how much I enjoyed using the Apliquick System.

WELL, for many years, I have thought about making an appliqued garden, a cacophony of colors and blooms.

In 2023, I did something similar using machine applique….

“Botero Flower Field”

…but I have always wanted to one by hand.

I started the planning process by searching for fanciful flowers and downloaded a TON of ideas…..

I then put my favorites into a PowerPoint project so that I could manipulate the sizes.

I printed out my favorites and roughly cut them out…..

These are my “seeds” for the garden!

Come back tomorrow and I will show you how I “planted” my garden!

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One of my favorite things about quilting is motivating others and helping them in their quilting journey. As part of this endeavor, I LOVE to present programs and workshops to groups and guilds around the world. All of my programs work well with Zoom meetings, and I would love to speak to your group.

You can find out more at this link…..

An applique FINISH!!

Yesterday I showed you the preparation that I made for making a cute snowman applique.

I truly enjoyed the applique process, and for the most part, it was easy. I am not happy with one of the points on this star…..

…but the other star is wonderful…..

When I had finished with the appliques, I added a border and sat down to quilt, with my thread tower pulled up next to me….

It took about an hour to pick out thread colors and perform the quilting…..

I especially like the snowflake background quilting!!

This was such a fun small project and now I am thoroughly excited about the thought of making a larger quilt with tons of applique!!

WHAT WILL IT BE?

Something with flowers you can be sure!!

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Subscribe to my mailing list and receive this free pattern for “Dancing Squares”…..

You can sign up HERE……

A Little Hand Applique

A few weeks ago I posted a YouTube video about buying and using the “Apliquick” system to prepare appliques…..

Since I found it so easy to use, I decided to try it out on a REAL project.

I found this fun snowman design….

…and decided to “give it a go”!!

I was quickly able to prepare the pieces….

…even this tiny carrot nose….

Isn’t this amazing…….

I would NEVER have been able to prepare this without the Apliquick tools!

I started out by appliqueing the “snow….

Well, THAT worked!!

Next, I used a glue stick and stuck all of the snowman pieces together into one piece….

It was so relaxing to sit in my recliner and perform the slow, rhythmic stitching….

Come back tomorrow and I will get this finished up!!

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You can find out more at this link…..

A Christmas Eve Memory!

This post is about a quilt that I made in 1992 for my daughter, Jenny. She was never into Dolls, but she LOVED her Teddy Bears, so I decided to make her this quilt for Christmas.

I found wonderful patterns, many given to me by quilting friends. And, they all reminded me of Jenny’s pursuits.

Then there was one pattern called “Lonesome Bear” and I felt that he couldn’t be on the front with all of the other bears, so I decided to piece the back and include poor little lonesome bear. The idea behind the back was that he walked all around the edge of the quilt and then curled up in the window and fell asleep….

This quilt has been much loved over the years and has survived two disasters… the first being a black pen breaking on top of it (note the black spots), and the second being a can of pink hair spray leaking onto the front. Jenny was horrified when these things happened, but I think that they give the quilt more character!!!

As with many of us, I had planned too much for the holiday season and was running out of time to finish it.

The reason I remember this quilt at Christmas was because of a poem that I wrote to read when I showed the quilt at my guild Christmas Party…..

Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the house, not a creature was stirring….except for Mama Mouse.
The stockings were appliqued, quilted and hung with care, in anticipation of the goodies that would soon be there.
The presents were wrapped before Turkey day and now lie under the tree in much disarray.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of “Baby Crimp and Curl” and “Super Mario” danced in their heads.
Many hours ago, Dad had gone to bed, while Mom went searching for needle and thread.
And now she sat sewing binding on the sides of a quilt made for Jenny who was then only five.
The idea was born in September with much love and care and……”Yes Dot, your right. It must have a bear”
Or two or three or maybe eight plus five or whatever it takes to bring the quilt to life.
That special brown print was bought from Melissa’s store and Dot and Dale sent bear patterns galore.
The patterns were enlarged to make the size just right and that polar bear block wouldn’t go together without a fight.
The Ballerina must have a Tu-Tu of net. Now the blocks are together, the top is finished and yet….
It still needs a border to set it off right. What about Bear’s Paws…..so I sew with all of my might.
The back of quilt must be special too. It needs a lonesome bear and more Bear’s Paws…at least a few.
But now it’s Christmas Eve and time is a slippin. Oh not another mistake…I dont have time for more rippin.
At last now it’s finished, the final stitch has been taken. Once it is all wrapped up, then the kids I can waken.
And so I exclaimed as I wrapped the present tight. “Merry Christmas my Jenny and may it keep you warm many nights.

I hope that you have finished all of your Christmas projects and that you can dream tonight of the many new quilts to come!!!!!

Dresden’s go Bye-Bye….

I have shown the making of this guild challenge quilt, using all different sizes of Dresden Plate blocks…..

“Dresden Field”

I had such fun making it, trying to see just how SMALL I could go, and how many different styles of Dresden Plates I could use.

The quilting was equally fun, using some of he Grid quilting that I had practiced during 2023.

AND, it won two ribbons at my local show….. First Place in the Challenge Category and Judge’s Choice.

I was pretty excited about the quilt!!

THEN, a friend contacted me and asked if I would consider selling the quilt to her for her Granddaughter’s birthday. She had seen it hanging at the show and had fallen in love with it.

My initial reaction was no, but then I started thinking “did I REALLY need another quilt to hang on my walls”, and “hadn’t I had a blast making it?”

So why did I need to hang on to it??

After some soul searching, I decided to sell it!!

I found a pretty bag, some pink and white tissue paper, and I rolled it up and handed it off…..

I am excited that a young girl will be able to continue the enjoyment that I had in making it!!

May it bring a smile to her face day after day!!