May 18, 2012

My Quilt Design


In late 2008, I was asked to design a quilt for the City of South Jordan's Sesquicentennial year/celebration. You can read about it on Lindsay's blog

These are close ups of the quilt, but some of the pictures are blurry!
I asked 8 women to help me, and they were delighted to be a part of the project.  I made little kits for each of them with the patterns and fabric they needed to cut and sew their blocks.



Gayla Nielsen sewed 5 of the blocks surrounding city hall. The purple 4 pointed star, the blue and white block underneath the gold leaf, on the right, the red and gold monkey wrench block, the green diamond on gold block, and the brown basket.




These three photos are of statues in the city, and the fountain by city hall. 
My daughter Rebecca sewed all 12 stars, she is a new quilter at the time, too!



My daughter Lindsay sewed the four tumbling leaves around the city hall block, and 3 spinning geese, one is to the left of the trees,it has a greenbackground.



The clock tower stands across the street from city hall, in the town center. Betty Peterson appliqued it, and the block under city hall, that says "South Jordan, Sesquicentennial 1859-2009". She embroidered the words. She also sewed the six purple bowties. I used one on the back of the quilt, by the label. She sewed the pink "Sister's Choice" block, under the top left gale tree. 






Betty also embroidered the words under one of the black and white photos.  These two photos represent the past of South Jordan.



Marianne Marlor embroidered the words under the other black and white photo. Marianne also sewed eight pinwheel blocks, 4 blue ones that are on the corners around city hall, and 4 red and gold ones that are on the corners of the quilt. She also sewed two of the flying geese strips that point toward city hall.














Cindy Geilmann sewed the pink and beige nine patch to the right of the clock tower, and two of the flying geese strips pointing toward city hall. She also sewed the 5 pink and beige rectangles that separate the two black and white photos.




The tree is called the "gale" tree. South Jordan City used to be called Gale City, because the wind blew a lot. The wind is blowing the trees to the east. Nanette Davis sewed those four blocks. They have so many pieces in them.





Liz Copeland sewed these 6 spool blocks, in brown. She also sewed the "log cabin" block that is on the top right of city hall, to the left of a blue pinwheel.




Cindy Paulson machine quilted the quilt. She does a fantastic job, I get her to machine quilt all of my quilts.






This is the label on the back of the quilt, giving recognition to everyone who helped.








Material Girls Quilt shop donated all the fabric for the quilt. I loved the process of designing the quilt, from drawing the blocks out on graph paper, to choosing the prints and colors.  My daughters and friends were so wonderful to help me with this quilt. They sewed all the blocks and I sewed everything together.  It was a group effort.
This quilt now hangs at the Gale Museum in South Jordan, Utah.

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May 16, 2012

Domestic Diva Table Runner

I saw this table runner at Pleasant Home almost two years ago.  I thought it was so cute, with those vintage ladies completing domestic engineering tasks.  Jodi from Pleasant Home also provided the tutorial for the two pinwheel baby quilts that I made.


I really wanted to make the table runner, so I went online and bought the fabric.  I finally got around to making it.




I cut each of the divas out by "fussy cutting".  That is a fancy way of saying, "cut out the lady and waste the fabric".  Ha ha!!


I paired up the divas with the fabrics I chose to compliment them.


I added the red polka dot fabric, I wanted some of the domestic divas to "pop".


Jodi's table runner is 72" long.  I was planning to put mine on my long black dining room table.  At the last minute, I made it to fit my square kitchen table, so I configured the quilt blocks differently.


The table runner isn't quilted yet, but this is how it looks with a pot of red geraniums.



How about my blue ceramic berry container with beaded strawberries?




Or even a bowl of lemon slices.



Which centerpiece do you like the best?


May 14, 2012

I Am A Lucky Girl !


I have pinned a few ipad cover tutorials onto Pinterest.  
This is my favorite one.
The tutorial can be found at Fresh Lemons Quilts.

iPad cover tutorial

I decided to make one for myself.



Isn't it darling?  I love "Walk in the Woods" fabric by Aneela Hooey.  I thought this would be the perfect project to show off "little red".  The top is covered with little toadstools.
 Unzip the zipper to reveal the gray lining and a full sized pocket from the top of the case to the bottom.



Inside the bag is a pretty pink lining.


Isn't this beautiful?



All pictures look incredible on this ipad with its HD resolution.
I am a lucky girl because my dear husband took me to the mall, straight to the Apple store and let me pick out my very own ipad.  He always knows how to spoil me.  


Thank you Ricky, I have been a lucky girl for 32 years :)



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May 11, 2012

Look What I Won!!!

I love to read other people's blogs.  When I find an interesting one, I follow it.  Blogs give me ideas, including  lots of inspiration.  I sometimes enter giveaways, and have won a couple of things lately :)  I was reading the Vintage Trailer Lady's blog.  She had a yard of some really pretty fabric,  and asked what project she could use it for.  The suggestion she liked the best, would win a fat quarter bundle.  




I said:  CynthiaMarch 22, 2012 9:56 PM
You could make a one yard apron. Use the cute western print as the skirt and use a contrasting print (like red polka dot) for the waistband and pockets. Then trim the skirt and pockets with jumbo pom poms :) Can you picture it?

She said she loved the idea, and this wonderful bundle came in the mail:  The 5 fat quarters came in a cellophane envelope, tied with ribbon and raffia.




There was a really cute tag under the ribbon.



Yes, it did feel like my birthday :)  


I spread out the fat quarters so you could see the colors and the prints.  Aren't they cute?  Very retro.  Thank you Vintage Trailer Lady!



Every week, Randi at I Have to Say has a fat l/8 Tuesday. All you have to do is leave a comment, and you could win one of her fat l/8th bundles.  I was the lucky recipient!!!  Mine are called "beachy" colors.



Randi even included a little button pin, the silhouettes could be me and Kennedy :)



Randi runs a great shop on Etsy called Fresh Squeezed Fabrics.

Randi also has a monthly sew along on her blog.  I have a board for it on my Pinterest  called Randi's Sew Alongs.
Thank you so much for creating such an interesting blog :)

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May 9, 2012

DIY Fireplace

We have been in our new home for less than a week.  There is a wood burning fireplace in the family room.  It was dirty looking from the smoke stains.  I thought it would look really clean and fresh if it were painted white.  Went to Lowe's and got some paint for stone, a white satin.  I never like flat paint, and gloss would be too shiny.  Satin was just right!  Like the three bears and their porridge....lol




Do you see how the stains make the paint look dirty?


The blue is tape.  I enjoy that part of the painting, taping out the areas you don't want painted.


The white fireplace will match the wood entertainment center that our TV doesn't fit into!


The white paint really makes the beige paint look dirty!


Finished!  I think it looks great!  It was really easy, the paint didn't soak into the stone.  The paint went over the existing color so easily.  A really simple and inexpensive way to spruce up a room.


I came home from teaching a quilt class and my husband had the mantle completely decorated :)



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