National Quilting Day

 

Today is National Quilting Day! Wow, isn't it amazing that a whole day is devoted to a hobby that brings us so much fun and joy!!

Read about it HERE .

The Manhattan Confessions

 

The Manhattan Confessions by Jocelyn Green is a Christian historical romance set in New York City in the late 1920's.

Ivy Malone is a librarian with the New York Historical Society. She has a passion to preserve the history of early New York. When wealthy socialite Adeline King anonymously shares her life story with Ivy, she must keep Adeline's identity secret. Which ends up becoming a burden to Ivy.

Tom Lightfoot tries to protect Ivy as those who would invade Adeline's privacy become bolder, putting Ivy in danger. Ivy's Italian cousin Gina becomes entangled in sinister dealings as she tries to legally immigrate to the US. 

The characters were well developed. The story was gripping and engaging.  Clean, faith filled romance between Ivy and Tom. This is the best book written by Ms Green in my estimation. It was hard to put this one down.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, which I received from the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Pretty in pink

 Every baby girl needs a pink quilt.

Sew and Tell NTT  Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

Chasing the Clouds Away

 

Chasing the Clouds Away by Debbie Macomber is a delightful romance novel. 

Maisy Gallagher gives up her dream to study to become a nurse after the death of her father. The family pulling together to make everything work. But hard as they try, it doesn't seem to be working.

Chase Furst, an arrogant self focused banker, meets Maisy at the Chicago airport. He is rich and thinks money can solve anything. He is on the way to make arrangements for his mothers funeral. But his whole life changes after meeting Maisy. 

This whole story flows so beautifully. From the meeting, to the clash of their different worlds, to the blossoming of romance. The characters were well developed and the story well written. A clean, uplifting, faith based read. Could not put it down. Perfect for something hopeful and heartwarming. 

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Doll quilt from scraps

I found I had quite a few blocks that were cut but not put together. It looked like there was enough to make something.

I started putting the squares together and came up with this little doll quilt!

Yay!! I love it! Do you make doll quilts??

Sew and Tell NTT  Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

O Scrap

Bunny tutorials

Do you have a little one who would enjoy a little bunny  These look like so much fun! 

See Kate Sew had the cutest little bunny slippers.

 

How about this cute Sock Bunny from Craft Passion  

 

 I think this adorable Bunny Pillow from Fab Art DIY is just about my favorite.

 

And wouldn't you love to have a Mooshy Belly Bunny by Chez Beeper Bebe? 

 

Have fun!

Journal Cover

I used to journal all the time. But in recent years, it has fallen off, mostly due to time constraints. My son and DIL gave me a book to use for journaling, so I thought I would make a cover.

I cheated a little bit by using pre-quilted fabric I had among my stash.

I also found a suitable coordinating fabric to use for the inside.

It was easy to turn down flaps, and sew the ends.

 Good fit!

 And wha-la! The finished journal cover :-)

Using the pre-quilted fabric made this a snap, but I think I'll quilt my own next time.

Happy Quilting!

Sew and Tell  NTT  Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

Yardage Chart

 I've shared this before, but I think it's worth repeating.

One little hint about using yardage for a charm pack pattern is how many 5" squares can you get from a yard of fabric -
1/4 yard = 8 squares
1 fat quarter = 12 squares
1/2 yard = 24 squares
3/4 yard = 40 squares
1 yard = 56 squares

I thought I would go one more step and add the yardage guide for strips. I always find this information helpful when trying to decide how much fabric to purchase.

Width = Strips Per Yard -

1.5" = 23 strips
2" = 17 strips
2.5" = 13 strips
3" = 11 strips
3.5" = 10 strips
4" = 8 strips
4.5" = 7 strips
5" = 7 strips
5.5" = 6 strips
6" = 5 strips

Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Happy Dreams

Where We Belong

 

Where We Belong by Kim Vogal Sawyer is the most heartwarming story I have read in a long time. 

Hester Haak is a childless widow who desires to be a mother. She opens her home to three orphan children that have come west on the Orphan train.  Eviee insists that she and her little sister are not an orphans. But with the New York Orphans home closing, and the matrons unsuccessful attempt to contact their father, they are sent to Kansas on the train.

Callum Holbrook is unable to care for his girls after the death of his wife. He places them in the Home temporarily. But as so much time passes, he is devastated that the girls have been sent away.

Kim Vogel Sawyer has written a very sweet and moving story. It engaged me from the first word. The element of faith in the characters was very endearing. Clean Christian fiction. Very well written. I would give this story a 5+.

 I received an ecopy of the book via Net Galley. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

Winter Olympics

 The Winter Olympics is in full gear. So why not join them.

The inspiration for this quilt was from the book Accidental Landscapes by Karen Eckmeier.

It is fun to take a picture and recreate it in fabric. My kids loved to snowboard, so when I found these  stormy and mountain fabrics I fussy cut the snowboarder and placed him on the mountain. 

Create with your imagination.  

Words to Live By

 

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Easy peasy

I love this pattern.

It's my go-to pattern when I need a quick gift. 

I've had this book for years, so I'm not sure it is still in publication.  Easy to follow directions, and the points always line up!

Sew and Tell NTT  Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

Love/hate relationship

It's a love/hate relationship. I love cutting fabric, putting it together, quilting it. But when it comes to the final phase - sewing down the binding - my love turns to fatigued dislike.

I finished quilting this quilt (don't you love the backing?) and all that was left was sewing down the binding. I sometimes try to use the backing fabric, pulling it over the sides and machine stitching. But this backing was different than the quilt fabric, I just couldn't do it.

Sitting in front of the TV, I stitched night after night. It felt like forever. I'm just not a fan of hand stitching of any kind. But finally it was done.

I loved the fabric in this quilt so much that I scavenged the left over fabric and made a table runner.

My daughter happily absconded the table runner :-)

Happy Valentines Day

 

Scrap Quilts

 I have amassed quite a collection of quilting books. And sometimes I wonder if I will ever make even one project from the books. I found this book at a thrift shop a couple of years ago.

I thought this book looked very familiar. So as I am leafing through the pages I recognized several of the quilts. And now I know why.

I loved making Button Box. It was such a fun quilt.

And the Bow Tie quilt

was another fun one to make

Cracker on the other hand
was never finished.

While making the blocks for this quilt, I had so many blocks left over that I made another quilt and gave it away. So the borders never were finished. Now I don't even know where the borders ended up :-( Have you ever had that happen?

Catching up

 I have been without a computer for about a week.. My son was loading up a new one when the old one broke. I mean physically the top half broke :-( But thankfully he has it fully loaded now and I recently picked up.

So what have I been doing? Well, I made more pillowcases for Ryan's Case for Smiles. 

And I finished piecing the Valentines quilt.

I have enough Charms left over to make a table runner.

Now I just have to learn about the new computer. Which has a few new things. Like downloading pictures. Sigh.... :-(

Sew and Tell NTT  Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

More Than Friends

 

More Than Friends by Denise Hunter is a heartwarming friends to lovers story.

When Jenna Greene ends things with her boyfriend, she is fired from her job for refusing his marriage proposal, she is stuck without hope of finding a new job. She returns home to find her mother has brought home a man from a cruise. Jenna is immediately suspicious. Jenna's long time friend, Tyson Parker, tries to help Jenna play detective to find out where this man is coming from.  

The story is a departure from others as it is central in Chincoteague, Virginia, where the wild ponies live. Jenna takes on a part time job as a tour guide. Tyson is a volunteer firefighter, which opens Jenna's wounds as she lost her father in a fire.

This is a heartwarming story and a reminder that some love stories are worth the time and patience for feelings to come full circle. Clean, well written characters and interesting. A worth while read.

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Inspiration

 I am not an artist, but with Valentine's Day so close, I thought I would share this quilt with you.

I made this quilt for my late Mother in law several years ago.  She had undergone open heart surgery, and when I found this pattern in a book by Gai Perry, I couldn't resist making it for her.

So go be inspired by something beautiful today.  And be sure to share that beauty with someone else.

Happy Quilting!

To Win A Crown

 

Scottie O'Shay has her life laid out for her. She will take over the family business. But when she is called to visit her ill mother, Queen Catherine of Lauchtenland she leaves with the promise she will return to Tennessee. 

Scottie finds herself torn between her business world and the royal world. She didn't know she had royal blood until a few years before. She is awestruck with the beauty of royal life and the dangers it presents. 

Michael Cross has been given the task of protecting the Lady Royal, Scottie. Romance blooms slowly but Rachel Hauck gives this fairy tale story wings. Characters are well written, giving them depth. As are the encounters with Emmanuel.

This is the third and final book of True Blue series. A faith filled story that I think it is the best one yet. 

 

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary advanced e-copy of this book. All views expressed are my honest opinion.

Valentines love

 Don't you just love Valentines Day? I love decorating with all the hearts. Last year (or was it the year before) I made this quilt. 

The center was a free pattern from the Fat Quarter shop. I added more borders to expand the size.

This year I am working on a quilt, pattern by Diary of a Quilter.

My sister love gave me two charm packs and this pattern is perfect for it.

I found this on Instagram and wished that I had known to do this when my kids were little. But maybe someone can pick it up and glean from it.

Isn't it the sweetest thing to do for your kids. 

Valentines Day is only three weeks away :-)

An open letter to No Reply Comment

 I am sorry to say that many of my readers are no reply comments. And unfortunately when you ask a question, I have no way to respond. So I would ask if you see that your comment is no reply or anonymous, and you would like me to respond, can you please leave your email or some way for me to answer your questions. I don't want you to think that I am not responding. It would be very helpful.

Thank you.

Declutter

 This bin was filled to the brim.

For the last few days I have been going through the bin with all the left over pieces of fabric. The goal is to see if there is any usable fabric. And there was. Plenty! So I am ironing them and packing them up to send to someone who can use all of these scraps.

Yay!

Little Red Schoolhouse

 In all the years that I have been quilting, I have only made one Red and White Quilt.  It was a commissioned quilt in 1997 and the only one I ever sold.  

The pattern originated from Eleanor Burns, but I designed the checkered border.  

I can't remember how large it ended up, as the original pattern only gave directions as a wall hanging, using 6 Schoolhouses. I saved all the directions and hand drawings in hopes that I would make another one.  

Happy Quilting!

Snow with a forecast of quilts

It's been cold here in the south, but this is the only snow we have at our house :-)  

I made this landscape quilt a couple of years ago, when our family went on a trip to West Virginia.  My kids love to snowboard.

Happy Quilting!

A clean plate

 Keeping the plate clean on your iron can be troublesome at times.

My biggest problem appears to be the plate seems scorched in places. 

I recently found something that works not only on the scorch marks but on gunk that may accumulate on my iron.

Using a damp Magic Eraser (that I use to wipe away marks on my painted walls) I found that it also works on removing every mark on the iron faceplate. I had to use a little more pressure on the indention's as they were well baked onto the faceplate. 

YAY!!!

Clean iron!! 

Pillowcases and cookies

 Not much sewing going on over the holidays. But when I need a creative boost, I always start making pillowcases for Ryans Case for Smiles. 

 A good way to work down my stash.

You remember yummy Girl Scout cookies? Its that time again. If you have any interest in purchasing Girl Scout cookies, please leave a comment and I will send you the Girl Scout link. They can be shipped anywhere in the continental US. This helps my little granddaughter reach her goal.

Thanks! And Happy Quilting.