My Day, Dare to Dresden

Today is my day for "Dare to Dresden". My first Dresden is a turkey. He is made  from my vast array  of scraps, on a background of tea dyed muslin. His body and legs are pieces of wool.

Here is a closeup of "Turkey Lerkey"!  He was hand appliqued, and  machine quilted.

For my second Dresden I created " Sun Bonnet Dresden".  I started playing with different sized Dresden's , this time  with my 30's scrape fabric.  I love to hand applique and by the time I had her on the background, I had decided to hand quilt all of it.   You know how it is, one thing leads to another.

Here they are, my two Dresden 's.  Actually, I love to make Dresden plates.  I have made several projects using  it, a quilt, table topper, pincushions.  The  Dresden plate as you have seen on this "Dare to Dresden" has been used with a lot of creativity. It is making me want to cut out more and get creating.

I would like to thank Christine of  Quilt Monster in my Closet for being our wonderful cheerleader.  She has been a delight to work with.  Check out her map to see where all of bloggers come form.  It is quite impressive.
Thank you too, goes to Mdm Samm of Sew We Quilt. She is the ultimate cheerleader.  She cheers and encourages us on.  If you want you can check the "Dare to Dresden" board on pinterest.  Talk about inspiration, it is to die for.  So many great ideas.
Please check out each of these great blogs today to see their creativeness.

 January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

Clothes and Crafts

It Seems to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

Have a super quilting day.

Mary

Easy Street Update

I have been working on Easy Street, Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery.  I wrote about it  a week or so ago, and showed this block.  Guess what, It is put together wrong, I mean really wrong! I just noticed that the 4 patches on three of the sides are set incorrectly, the blue and purple are too.  Guess what, I have a great piece of back art for this quilt!

Thursday Sew's I have not produced these correct blocks!  I have 4 done of the 2 designs.  Looks like I will need to create more individual blocks to make the block 2, I screwed up.  Amazing I can't even look at a picture and follow the design correctly.  How else do you get back art??

Have a great day.

Mary

Dare to Dresden

Good Morning,  I am not missing in action!  I am, however working on my project for "Dare to Dresden".  It is the latest, greatest, blog hop, from the wonderful Madame Samm. Our cheerleader for this awesome hop is Christine, at Quilt Monster in my Closet. 

There are so many wonderful, beautiful, great, super, awesome, spectacular Dresden's! I will be showing my little bitty Dresden's on the 30th. Stay tuned.

January 30^th, 2013

Charlotte H @ “that Other Blog”

Clothes and Crafts

It Seems to be Sew

Merry Gay in Stitches

Water Penny

Granny Good Stuff

Under the Presser Foot

More Stars in Comanche

Sew Me Something Good

The Day Before This Day

Farm Road

Livin' Blue Quilter

I Piece 2 Mary
Kwilty Pleasures
Espritpatch
Nutz4Redwork

Quilt Blocks from Party

Sunday afternoon Pride of the Prairie, of Plainfield, Illinois had their Holiday Party.  This year was a tad different.  Three guild members were on a committee to plan this event.  For the first time, it was held at the church were we meet once a month.  It was a potluck.  Ladies brought salads, appetizers, and desserts to share.  The guild supplied fried chicken.

One of the things the committee did was to make 12 quilt blocks that were raffled off. 

The blocks all had the same background fabric.  Use of our own batiks were made to finish them.  These are the 4 blocks I made.  They were all made to 12 1/2 inch.



I did not get pictures of the others, as the drawing for them was done first, then removed so nothing could splash on them. 
We played a couple of games, and had prizes.  A great time was had by all.

Have a great day.

Mary

Bee Holiday Party

Sunday afternoon was our quilt bee's annual holiday party. We all met in Naperville for a wonderful buffet, catchup on what is happening in our lives, and exchange secret Santa gifts.

This year I could only join them for a drink.  I was going to be at another holiday party two hours later.  They were just starting to open gifts and have dessert when I had to leave.

I so wanted to stick around, but I actually was on the committee for setting up the other holiday party, so had to leave.  Everyone was having such a good time.  We had not seen each other since November.  Everyone is so busy during the month of December.  I will take any time I can to bee with friends. A little time, is better then no time.

Have a great day.

Mary

Saturday fun

There was a Saturday Sew with the guild in Plainfield.  One of the ladies brought in this great quilt that she is piecing.  She wanted some advice on what to do with borders.  It is such a pretty quilt.

Here is my progress on Easy Street, Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt.  I decided to go along with her color scheme.  They are colors my husband loves.  One block, 4 corners, and 12 setting triangles are done!  It is a good start.

As you can see I did get these photos on my blog.  I had to do it by way of a Picasa Album.  These are definately things I do not understand. I have always, in the past, uploaded them directly from my computer. (grumble, grumble)
I hope things will go back to the way they were.

Have a great quilting day.

Mary

Help with pictures

Good Morning,

Today I wanted to do some posting and would like some pictures to be added. Blogger is not allowing me to add them.  Does anyone know why? Or how I can upload them? I think I have heard a couple of other bloggers that are having a problem now and then.  I would appreciate any help. Thank you. Mary

European Mail

The heart ornament and cd have came from my friend Magdi in Hungary.  The cd is of their quilt show in 2012. It is wonderful.

Here are the latest blocks from Isabelle in France.  She included a copy of the magazine "Quilt Country" (in French) and a cute bookmark.  We are almost done making our blocks for "Oregon or Bust" quilt.  Another Bonnie Hunter quilt to complete this year.

Happy Sewing

Mary

 

What I did work on over the holiday

Charlie, found a warm and comfy place to settle.

Charlie, Andy's kitty has come to visit.

I spent Sunday at the local Archiver's (scrap booking store) working on Christmas cards for the 2013 holidays.

More for the 2013 holidays.

On New Year's Day, I worked on making birthday cards for the coming year.

I have a lot of things pictures colored, and iris folded fronts ready to make into cards.  More of the "just in case" that needs to be used.

Need to work on my Bonnie Hunter mystery, "Easy Street."  I am up to step 7.  Now that I have seen the finished quilt, I want to get mine done.  I love it.

Have a great day.

Mary

First for 2013, Just in Case

Good Morning.  Here we are at the beginning of a new year.  From reading around blogland, a lot of quilters have made resolutions to continue on finishing up the UFO's that have accumulated through the years.  2013 was a good year on the sewing front, 165 projects were finished!  This included quilts, pillowcases and zippered pouches, plus an assortment of other fun things.  A lot of fabric was used from my stash.

 

So with the start of 2013 my plan is to use up even more of that fabric for pillowcases and quilts, and zippered pouches, and any other fun project that comes along. (Sound familiar?) The other "resolution" is to start using up "the just in case".  You know the things we save "Just in Case" that we have collected through the years. All those things we pickup, save,  or buy with a thought that we may need it in the future, "just in case."  Well, it's time to take a stand and start using the "just in case."  I come from a long line of "just in casers," and believe me it can be quite a project to have to take care of.

 

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and productive 2013. May it be a year of adventures and fun challenges.  Happy Sewing 

Mary