Scarecrow and Friends – Block of the Month

This is the second quilt in my new “Through the Year” block of the month series. He is a companion to Santa. The program will eventually include five quilts that will all finish the same size so that you will be able to switch them out throughout the year.

Scarecrow is very fun to make and he includes lots of extras. The patches on his face and hat are raw edge applique, and his eyes and the buttons on his flannel shirt are real buttons. The spider web is sewn into the upper left corner in the quilting and there are extra quilted textures in the goose and pumpkins. The squirrel is peeking through a ripped pocket and a mouse is darting into a hole in the flannel shirt to escape from the cat.

The outer border can be made from one of two different kits. You can applique and quilt the leaves as I did in the larger photo or you can get the busy printed leaf fabric for the outer border. These patterns are $17.50 per month and this price includes all the fabric to make that month’s animals. They are available through Timber Lake Quilts.

The animals included in this quilt are: quail, bluebird, Canada goose, red-winged blackbird, crow, turkey, squirrel, two cats, frog, turtle, mouse, inchworm, caterpillar, and grasshopper.

Two things that I learned while making this quilt: 1.) that thing that dangles down off a turkey’s nose is called a “gobble”. 2.) that thing that is on a quail’s head is actually feathers and is called a “topknot”.

Little Sunshine Quilt

My digitizer, Anna Aldmon, has finished her work with my Sunflower Baby pattern. She has included many options to make the machine embroidery fun and easy. She also has added three different sizes for the face. I made this little 28″ baby quilt from the smallest size (the center block with the face is just 8″ square) and we have included the instructions for this baby quilt on the CD along with the digitized files. I’m calling it “Little Sunshine”.

I have the pattern available for traditional quilting here.

And Anna has the machine applique CD available for embroidery machines here.

Pink Flamingo in Wool

I stitched my Flamingo Pattern up in wool just to see how it would look. Then, I added tabs around the exterior and made it into a wool penny rug. (Click here for the wool pattern.) I used plastic safety eyes on this one. The shanks were fairly long so I cut them off flush with the washer on the back. The other thing that I did differently on this piece is that I used glass beads in the buttonhole stitching around the black background. I think I may explore this beaded buttonhole stitch a bit farther in the future. It has possibilities.

You don’t normally think of wool and flamingos as going together, but I think it turned out pretty cute.

Pink Flamingo Quilt Pattern

I’ve just finished this new pattern… it is a large scale pattern that includes ten different flamingo applique patterns and several different small critters including fish, a frog, and a shrimp. I’ve got the patterns listed on Etsy and Billie has kits available at Timber Lake Quilts. There are lots of pictures and many different ways to make the eyes included in this pattern. The legs are made from two different fabrics that are strip pieced together first, then appliqueed, so that the color changes where they go under the water.

Sunflower Baby Pattern — Digitized!

My digitizer, Anna Aldmon, has prepared my Sunflower Baby pattern for embroidery machines. Aren’t they coming out cute? These are ready now.  Check her website for details. She has instructions for several quilts, including the Little Sunshine quilt, included on the CD.

Introducing Timber Lake Quilts

I’ve teamed up recently with Billie Corgan who ran Patchwork Place, the quilt shop in Norman, OK. The store is now closed, but Billie is still very much a part of the quilting community. She has renamed her business “Timber Lake Quilts” and is operating an on-line store as well as vending at all the local shows.

Woodland Santa – Block of the Month

This Woodland Santa Block of the Month is available as a six month series only from Timber Lake Quilts. The kits are $17.50 each and include all the fabrics and patterns. The first month includes the fabric for the center panel background and the four animals that are behind Santa. The second month is Santa himself. You will receive the remaining animals in months 3, 4, and 5. Month six will have all the fabrics and instructions for the outer borders and binding plus a special label for the back.

The animals in this quilt include a raccoon, owl, bluebird, cardinal, chipmunk, squirrel, ferret, deer, mice, armadillo, rabbit, wolf, and a luna moth.

Double click on the photo to zoom in on the details.

 

Hand Embroidered Tea Towels

I embroidered these cotton tea towels with a bunny from my first book “Grandma’s Bunnies”  and the little horse is from my book “Horsing Around”. If you like hand embroidery, this was very quick and easy, and the pre-made towels (ask for them at Timber Lake Quilts) stitched beautifully. I was able to hold the towel over the pattern in the book and trace it with a pencil. Then I simply stitched over the pencil lines.

Digitized Bunnies — Applique in a Hoop

I’m very pleased to show off these expertly digitized versions of my bunnies. Recently, I joined forces with Anna Aldmon of Anna’s Awesome Appliques. Anna has taken on the daunting task of digitizing my patterns. She has already finished Claire’s Cats and Darling Little Dogs and is now working on Bunnies and More. Each of her applique CDs include a copy of my book.

Stillwater Quilt Show

I met up with some good friends at the Cimarron Valley Quilter’s Guild’s 25th Anniversary Quilt Show this past Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma. And like a knucklehead, I forgot to take my camera, but they had a great show! Not only that, but they were also having an art show downtown. The streets were blocked off and they had street vendors and the local downtown shops were offering specials, it was a wonderful day! I picked up another distressed chair at an antique store. This poor thing never had the wood finished so it was dry and splintery, but it was only $6 and looked like it had potential so I took it home to fix it up. Here are the results:

It’s a small little thing and it folds up nice and flat.

I got so excited about working on it, I forgot to take a “before” picture, but here is a photo of the old seat. As you can see, it “needed” me to save it — LOL!