Note book cover Start to Finish

One of my good quilting friends Linda just happens to have the same birthday as I do. We get together at the Patched Works on the 4th Friday of the month and a group of us sew together. Last month Linda and I decided that we'd celebrate our birthdays together since we'd be sewing. I'm going to do the cake and she's going to do the punch. We know that this is going to be a great time and I'll be sure to take pictures of the party.

Anyway for her birthday present I decided to try something new. Jen showed me how to do a method called quilt as you go. I made a cover for a spiral notebook. This was so much fun to do and so totally out of the box for me. I made the cover last night out of Batik strips that I cut from my stash. I finished the last bit of hand sewing on it tonight. I really love how it turned out and I know she's going to love her's. I plan on making a few more to put aside as gifts since it was so easy.

Pumpkins Gone Wild

Last week we celebrated my Mom's 89th Birthday. Since there isn't a whole lot that she needs I decided to make her a wall hanging for her birthday. I picked up this panel at the Patched Works and had fun making it for her. I decided that it needed to be quilted and have binding on it. Over to Jen's I went and she put it on her frame and in a matter of 10 minutes she had it quilted. Then of course I forgot t0 take it home once it was done and had to wait a few days for it. Then it was time to make the binding and finish it off. In the end I used some crystals to "jazz and sparkle" it up a bit. I had thought it would hang on the outside of her door but when we got there she had a pumpkin hanging on the door. Anyway it ended up inside her apartment on the double doors that close off her washer and dryer. This way she gets to see it all the time. In the picture you don't get to see the crystals but they really added something to the panel.

Pillows

It's been a long time since I've posted so here I am again. Things have just been moving along so quickly that I can't keep track of time. We had another stop in the ER with my Mom. It's been a week since she was there and I can say she's on the mend. She fell in her apartment and has to compressed vertebra. She's in a back brace and staying with one of my sisters. In the next couple of weeks we'll be packing her up and moving her out of her old apartment and then soon into her new one. Times are exciting but tiring.

I've been trying to do a little sewing but these last couple of days nothing has been happening. Last weekend we celebrated my best friends birthday and I made her a couple of pillows. If any of you remember I tried making her pillows for Christmas but they just didn't turn out. It turned out it wasn't me but a mistake on the pattern. I bought a pattern at a quilt show and the pillows turned out great. I have learned something about pillow forms though, when you put them into your pillow case they don't fill out the corners. Next ones I make I'll stuff batting in the corners first and then put the form in.