A barter?

About a year ago I got an email from Mary at Quilt Hollow with a rather mysterious subject line. “Barter” was all it said. I had no idea what to expect when I opened the email but was really intrigued after I read it. She wanted to know if I’d like to do a “trade”. She’d quilt one of my quilts if I would make her a set of the Tisket a Tasket blocks in wool. After thinking it over, I thought it was a great idea!

So, each month as I posted my finished block we would “wink” at each other.

(I created a cute collage of these blocks but can’t get it to load to my blog. Hmmm, bummer!)

I had a medium sized quilt ready to go and she told me to send it to her right away so we could talk about how I wanted it quilted. We have such similar tastes that I knew it was in good hands. Little did I know that I sent her into a tailspin because she usually just did “all over” designs and she knew that this was going to have to be a custom job.

I felt really bad that she was so stressed about it so I told her to send it back and I’d send her another one. She refused and took it to her long arm gatherings for advice. I hadn’t heard from her in awhile (lots going on with my Mom) and then all of a sudden a couple of weeks ago, there it was on her blog. OMG…I thought I was going to hyperventilate! It was so gorgeous. Funny thing was…I had just finished putting the borders on Tisket and was getting ready to ship it off to her. Great minds….right Mary?

When mine arrived here, I quickly made and attached the binding so I could stitch it down in the car on another trip to Calif last week. Finished it by the time we got home and Wa-La, here it is.

Check out the quilting…

Isn’t it wonderful? (Somehow I think I got the better end of this barter…LOL)

Have you ever thought of offering up your talents to someone who does something you can’t or don’t want to do or don’t even have time to do? If you haven’t, it’s something you might want to consider. After all, isn’t that the way business used to be done in the “olden” days?

I’m so grateful to Mary for suggesting this trade and in my opinion, it was a win win for both of us.

Thanks Mary. I love it!

(My quilt is a pattern by Jo Morton called “Jo’s Whig Rose” and is in her book “Traditions”.)

A Christmas Giveaway

After I posted the pictures from my stop at Folkart Gatherings Too in Centralia, WA, I got an email from the owner, Louann. She was pleased with the photos, asked if she could post them on her blog, and then offered a gift certificate if I wanted to do a giveaway. What a wonderful gesture on her part. It got me thinking that my 100th post completely got by me, so I thought I would add a few things to the pot.

How does this all sound? A $30.00 gift certificate to Folkart Gatherings which can be used at either of their 2 locations (Centralia or Sumner, WA) or redeemed online and… my contribution will be what you see in this picture.

There’s a 2010 Calendar, a set of winter blocks, and a bundle of 10 fat quarters from Jo Morton’s line, Stafford County.

(here’s a clearer picture of the blocks)

Now, I’m not going to make you jump through hoops by linking my blog to yours or Amazon’s or anyone else’s. In fact, I’d rather keep this between me and my faithful bloggy friends.

So, all I ask is that you tell me your favorite movie of all time (holiday or otherwise). Easy peasy, right?

I'll only take the first 18,000 who comment. Oops...that's Pioneer Woman. I guess I was dreaming. LOL (I keep trying to win a mixer from her).

I’ll do the drawing Wednesday evening!

Good Luck.

Hugs, Anne

Sample Spree surprise

As you might know, I wasn’t able to go to Quilt Market in Pittsburgh this year because Mason was due the day before we were supposed to leave.   One of the most fun things to do when there is to go to Sample Spree and I was really sad to know I was missing it.

Well, I got a phone call the night of Sample Spree from Anne telling me that I needn’t have worried about it (which made me think that maybe there wasn’t anything there I would have wanted – Horrors!). Oh no, that wasn’t it at all.   She shopped for ME, mailed the package from the convention center and I got it just as they were all coming home from another successful market.   Now…  how’s that for having a great friend?  

This is what she picked up for me. 

All the new Jo Morton fat packs (sitting on a Moda bag, LOL)

Lecien’s new line of Civil War fabrics  

4 great new books  

and a pack of Carol Hopkins’ Civil War Legacies patterns.  

Thanks, Anne.   There isn’t one thing that I wouldn’t have bought if I’d been there.   It was ALMOST as good as going but…not quite.  

Playing the waiting game

A couple of days ago, Carrie e-mailed me asking if baby grandson had arrived yet. I let her know that we were all on pins and needles "waiting". She then asked me what I was working on to stay busy. Well, truth be told, I wasn't working on anything because I didn't want to get interrupted in the middle of a project. I got to thinking about that logic and it didn't make any sense at all.

So, I pulled out one of the Jo Morton little kits that I bought way back last September at the Portland Quilt Show Expo. It was fast and easy and I finished piecing, quilting, and binding it...and still no baby call.

Look who wants another 15 minutes of fame.... See that little face to the right?

And as I snapped this picture, look who wanted to be a part of it?

No Jack? I must be quicker than he is...


And...remember Betty here? Well, it seems she's relapsed. She's going back in the shop for some more medicine! I guess that means more handwork for me!

And.........still no baby!

Works in progress (WIP's) and a challenge

Last night I was reading Carrie's blog and saw that she had posted some quilts she was working on. One of them is a top that I also started about 2 years ago and never finished. It got me thinking about all the WIP's I have going and so I decided to get them all out, take pictures of them for you, and give myself a deadline for finishing them. In my mind, my deadline was going to be Thanksgiving. Well, after pulling out too many to count, I realized that Thanksgiving isn't a very realistic date. So, I decided that I'm going to give myself until next Sunday (the 23rd) to get as many done as I possibly can. I know Thanksgiving is AFTER that, but I thought if I "power sew", maybe I can get them down to a manageable amount and then set another deadline. So, my challenge to you is...get out all your WIP's, UFO's, PIG's (projects in grocery sacks) or whatever you want to call them and either set a deadline for yourself or "power sew" with me for the next 10 days and let's see how much we can get done.

Here we go with mine.


This is "Birds of a Feather" by Blackbird Designs. It needs the applique for the borders prepped and sewn. I'm doing this one by hand.

Block of the month - Block #1. It's Jan Patek's latest Girl Gang project. Karen and I are doing this and keeping each other on track. We have to post a picture on Dec. 5th of the finished block. Want to join us? Just go to The Quilted Crow's website and order it for yourself.

Block of the Month - Block #1. This just arrived from Farmhouse Woolens and I want to keep up with it. I love working with wool.

This one still has some machine applique to finish and then it needs to be quilted.

All I have to do on this is prepare the backing and then it will be ready to go to the quilter. This is "Jo's Whig Rose" by Jo Morton.

This one has been finished for about 2 years. It needs backing and then quilting.

Even Jack is wondering what's going on with "Quilting the Garden", another Blackbird Designs pattern. It's supposed to have scalloped borders and I just keep putting off doing the marking before it goes to the quilter. The backing on this one is already done. It's just so large that it's cumbersome to work with.

This little one is another Jo Morton design. I can't figure out what design to use for quilting. Any ideas?

"Winter Wonderland" by Crabapple Hill has been in progress for over a year. I usually work on this when we're traveling. We'll be traveling for Thanksgiving, so I'll work on it some more then. I still have lots to do on it.

This one is called "Stars around the Garden". I'm not happy with the fabric I chose in a couple of the blocks, so am planning on re-doing them. Aghhhh!

I don't know why I haven't worked on this one in awhile because I really love it. It is "Reminiscence" by The Rabbit Factory. It's all hand applique.

Another Crabapple Hill design. Ready for quilting.

Emma wants a Minkee pillow. This one shouldn't take too long. It's for Christmas. (THIS year).

And don't forget the Tee Pee I showed you in the last post that's also for Emma for Christmas.

Just need to add the french knot berries and then make it into a little pillow.

While I was working on the little pillow, I started thinking about a project in this book that I've been wanting to make. It would be darling for Christmas... Should I forget it for now?

I just looked over at my machine and look what those little wool pennies have done. Do you think they are trying to tell me to get off the computer and start "power sewing"?

Wow, I'm so overwhelmed, I just might go out and join the wildlife that is in our yard.

So, that's what I have to do. How about you?