Today is Mom's Birthday

This is one of my favorite of our family hand crafted ornaments.  Eric made it the first year we started the ornament exchange.  It is a copy of a painting Mom did of the Little Drummer Boy.  Eric put the copies into pretty little frames.  If I don't display anything else at Christmas, this ornament always comes out and gets displayed.

Bahama Santa

I decided to display my Santa Ornament - hand crafted by Leslie - with my Bahama Breezes quilt.  That way, on the really cold days I can dream of the warm breezes down south, and also my Santa will be warmer.

Santa's Sleigh Ride

I saw this Anita Goodesign creation last summer when Sharon, Krisha and I did a shop hop in West Virginia. I wanted to do it and found after I got home. It took weeks to do because each individual square averaged about 25,000 sitches and 25 to 30 color changes. But I enjoyed watching it come together.

Purse Challenge

Since nobody is paying any attention to this blog lately, I feel safe to post that I have started on my purse for the challenge.

My favorite quilt so far

I just finished this quilt, called "Snowglobe Babies"  I had sew much fun making it!  And, here is the label I put on the back.  This time, I machine stitched it to my backing before quilting the quilt!   Beats putting it on by hand!

Christmas Projects

These were SEW easy to do, and they are beautiful.....okay, the pictures aren't all that great because I was using my webcam, but I hope you get the idea.  The table runner is so long, I couldn't get it all in one picture.

Ninja Turtle Car Seat cover

My friend Jennifer is pregnant with a little boy and due any day now. She wanted to have a ninja turtle theme but it isnt exactly easy to find ninja turtle baby stuff. So I made her a Ninja Turtle Car Seat Cover! I used fleece for the applique so I wouldnt have to satin or blanket stitche the edges considering it is pretty complex. She loves it!

Purse Challenge

The purse challenge is underway, and I have got a good start on mine. I want to keep it! I hope everyone is having a good time. JoAnn and I are going to figure out a date for part two...the exchange. Do any of you have dates you can't go? It will be at JoAnn and Bob's.

Quilt Escape

Kim and I attended the Quilt Escape retreat weekend at Shawnee State Park this past weekend.  I had a GREAT time!  The quilt I made at the retreat is called "One Block Wonder", but I gave my own version a name.  I call it "Not Your Typical Grandma's Flower Garden".  This morning, I woke up at 3:45 and couldn't get back to sleep, so I got up and put the borders on.  Now it is ready to load up on the frame and let Madame Gazelle do her magic!

Purse Challenge

Trish and I had a purse challenge with some fat quarters I bought on clearance while at the Sokum Fest with Sharon. I just divied up the fabric, and we had to use each fabric at least once in the purse, but were also allowed to add fabric if we wanted. I guess Maggie picked Trisha's purse as the winner. She did a great job with this paper pieced maple leaf pattern, didnt she? I used some redwork to quilt some of mine, and some wonder under applique leafs.

ABCs and 123s

Here is my latest quilt. I am teaching myself to paper piece and thought these simple ABC blocks would be a good place to start. I found the 123 panels on Ebay and decided to incorporate them into the quilt.

I made my new grand daughter a baby quilt using some of the same fabrics from this quilt. I am going to save this one to send her for her first birthday.

Here is my latest quilt finished

This quilt is a mixture of paper piecing and applique.  I loved making it.  Got the pattern from a book called "Flying Colors"  It measures approximately 20 wide by 36 high.

Recipe for a Happy Life

I saw a plaque set that had this on it in a Figi's catalogue and I liked it sew much I decided to make my own version.

I know it is too small to read sew I will tell you that it says
Live like heaven begins tomorrow.
Love like you have never been hurt before.
Dance like no one is watching.
Sing like no one is listening.

Getting braver....

Sew...... had a few bucks in change today and Mom informed me that Butterick patterns were 99 cents at Joann's. Sew of course I had to grab a couple considering the normal price. I have always wanted a 50's house wife dress and though when I saw this pattern... what the heck. I'll try anyway. I am debating what fabric to make it out of. I think Im going to use something cheap the first time around to learn my way around the pattern and tweek it to fit me well. (the smallest size the pattern comes in is an 8 and I need more like a 4-6). Wish me luck!

Sew Day

I propose a Sew Day at Bob and Joann's the second Saturday in October. (10/9) Joann has already said that anytime is good for her, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a Saturday. I just thought it would be easier for those still working or going to school etc. I sent an email a while ago about this coming Saturday and Joann was all up for it but got no response from anyone but Tiff.

Sew what do you think?

Kim

David's first sewing project

David made this travel pillow for the car before his last trip home. He sent me a picture last night of two others that he made. He is getting really good at making a nice closure seam. He sent me a picture and asked if I could see where he closed it....hahaha. He is hooked!

I'm a girly girl

I'm working on making a girly shirt out of this man's work shirt.  I don't have anything on the front yet.  I'll post more pictures as I progress.

I'm changing the title

In case you haven't noticed, I changed the title of our blog to "Liz's Legacy".   Way back when, this blog was started by me, Kim, and Candi as a way to have a sister's show and tell.  But since then, the contributors of the blog has grown to include many who are not our sisters.

Liz was a nickname lovingly given to our mom when she started her own business in the Toll Painting world.  She was an exceptional crafter, and we often talk about how those of us who are her descendants inherited her creativity.  We are now renaming our crafting website in her honor and memory.

But we still feel like we are all sisters!

I am seeing double

I bought the double diamond ruler on the shop hop that Sharon, Krisha and I went on in West VA. I finally decided to make the wall hanging that came with the set as it goes so well with my room which is done in Southwest theme. ANYWAY here it is

Reversable Poncho

I made a few of these infant/baby ponchos, then decided to venture out on my own and see if I could make a reversable version. I love the way it turned out. There is not a lace, but a snap at the neck, and the faux lace with pom poms loops around the snap, so it is removable if the parent does not want that. It is made of fleece and jersey knit.

What I have been up to

I finally finished the wavy flag kit that Candi gave me.










And Today I made this shopping bag from a pattern I saw when Sharon, Candi and I went to Parkersburg for embroidery club.

It took forever and across the country

I have been working on this quilt and accessories for over a year now. through the move to Ohio and neck surgery and everything we have been doing I just got it completed last night! I am ssseewwwwww happy with the way it turned out. Thank you Candi for the extra squares and thank you Sharon for the coaching and the quilting! This was my first big quilt and I am very proud of myself and thankful for the help along the way!

Maggie's birthday dress

I haven't posted anything at a while... but I am starting to get pretty comfortable with making apparel! Jesse's mom got Maggie a light blue birthday hat so I decided to make a dress to match. There are two pieces... the bottom is the white eyelet and pink satin dress and the blue satin is a pinafore. Pretty simple pattern... love it! I am making a dress in the same pattern for the daughter of a friend of mine... her birthday is 16 days after Maggie's. =) That one will be hot pink with polkadots and monkeys. I will try to post that one. We have not had the internet for a while so getting on to see anything has been pretty difficult. Love you all!!!

A Little Quilt Story

I have to tell the story about this quilt. A couple years ago, I went up to Berlin with a friend to shop at the annual sidewalk sale at Miller's Dry Goods. They had some great deals there, and this was one of them. A little appliqued quilt top with the word Faith on it in pretty colors that would match my bathroom at my shop. They only wanted a dollar for it, so I couldn't resist.

I added a border, quilted it, and it has been hanging in my bathroom till this week when I took it down to enter it into the Quaker City Quilt Show. It won a blue ribbon in the Wallhanging category, but that isn't why I'm telling this story.

An older lady who works at the local hardware store was looking at it for a long time at the quilt show, and I walked over to talk to her. She said she just loved it, because she "collects" quotes with the word Faith in them. The next day, she showed me a couple journals that were filled with hand written poems, sentences, and paragraphs, and wherever the word Faith was in the quote, it was underlined. She said she has more of these journals at home.

Well, you have probably guessed what I'm doing with this quilt. I brought it home, took a picture of it, and gift wrapped it with a little card. Later this week, I'll drop it off at the hardware store for Bernadine. I just can't think of anybody else who would appreciate it more.

Look What Kim Made for ME

Last time Kim came over, she gave me this AWESOME afghan! It goes perfectly with my living room set, and I love wrapping up with it while watching TV at night. Thank you, Kim!

Eric's Gift to his Nice Neighbor

Here is a picture of a quilt I will soon give to Eric to give to his neighbor. His neighbor was super nice while Eric was having neck problems. He kept Eric and Leslie's yard mowed and trimmed since Eric was unable to do it.

Here are some pictures of a quilt I'm giving to Eric to give to his neighbor. The name of the pattern is "Rolling Stars". I taught a class on how to make this quilt three times, and many quilts of this design have been made by my students. Mine was in various stages of construction, as I was using it to demonstrate how to make the blocks. This last class, I decided to go ahead and finish the quilt. So, when Eric and I decided to give it to his neighbor, I was almost finished with it. I did the final touches last night.


Of course, it isn't free to Eric. He is going to make me a light box in exchange for this quilt. My light box is sure to be the envy of all when I get it.

Ladybug Ensemble

I just finished this dress for my chiropractor's daughter's birthday. His wife commissioned me to make her something with ladybugs on it, then never communicated what she wanted. She didn't even have time to look at embroidery websites, patterns or fabric. She did send me a invitation so that I could copy the ladybug on an embroidery project. The ladybug on the bib is the one JoAnn digitized for me. But again, I had no idea what she wanted me to embroider it on. I just happened to already have this fabric, and thought the ladybugs were about as perfect as they could be. The party is Saturday, and I just decided if she doesn't like it, I will give it to Maggie. I am half tempted to anyways. I worked hard on this and I have no idea if she even wants it.

OK, so, since I began posting this, I got an email from her that she only wants a bib.....guess Maggie gets the dress. I will never do this again.

Anybody Interested?

Is anybody interested in going to this quilting retreat with me? It's in November at Shawnee State Park near Portsmouth, OH. Here is a link for more information:

http://www.quiltescape.com/

Happy Birthday, Kim

I can't stand it any longer! Back when Kim posted the sad story how she had lost Cara, our quilt guild was doing a workshop on Picture Quilts. I needed a picture to create a quilt from, and I chose the picture that Kim posted of Cara. I have been keeping it a secret for way too long, and now I'm ready to show it to Kim. I decided to give it to you for your birthday, Kim.

This picture was taken at a quilt guild meeting a while ago, before I got my hair cut and colored, but it's a good picture of the quilt. Kim, when I see you again, I will give it to you. I hope you like it.

Sorry, Candi

Well, To make a long story short, I took my embroidery machine to another machine mechanic for a second opinion, down in Parkersburg. Later, after I did some more errands then arrived at home - 3 hours after dropping it off, Mack called me and said my machine is ready! I said "Already? What do I owe you?"

His reply: "Ninety Dollars"

He also informed me that the other mechanic had obviously not even taken the machine apart to look inside. Since I got a very strong sales pitch on a new Janome 11000, I assume he (the first mechanic) just wanted to sell me a new machine. I will never set foot in his shop again. Even though he has a lot of really cool classes there.

Oh, Man

My Designer One stopped working. I took it for repairs and found out the computer in it has died. All it will do now is straight stitch or zigzag. It will cost around a thousand dollars to fix. Now, I'm trying to decide between these options:

1. Get the computer replaced for a thousand dollars.

2. Start shopping for a new embroidery machine.

3. Survive without an embroidery machine since I already have three sewing machines, a serger, and two long arms.

Comments?

Little Girl Caplet

I made this for my chiropractor's daughter, Evelyn...I just fell in love with this little caplet pattern, and it is sew easy to make, and everyone just dotes over it. Sharon asked me to go to a show with her in September, and I am going to make sesveral of these and my snugglies to take with me. Since this cost me about 2 bucks to make, I think this will be a pretty popular item, becuase I can sell it reasonably priced....it is also relatively quick to make, so I won't have to price it too high for my time. It takes about 3/4 yard of fabric, so I can buy remnants...and there are ALWAYS fleece remnants...and fleece is ALWAYS on sale for 40-50% off, so remnants are about $2.50 a yard! The teddy bear embroidery design is a free retired design from bunnycup.com.

Brown Eggs for Sale

As many of you know, Paul and I are raising Chickens, and we frequently have more eggs than we can possibly eat by our selves (we get between 10 - 20 eggs a DAY). So, we sell our eggs. Now, I made this sign to hang out on the picket fence in front of my quilting shop. When I'm in my shop and I have eggs to sell, I'll hang this sign out. We'll see how that goes.

The eggs are really really good, and we sell them for 1.50 a dozen. That's about the going price down here. But we saw a show about eggs on the history channel recently where they showed a guy in California who pretty much raises his chickens just like we do - free range and high quality feed. He sells his eggs for eight dollars a dozen! Down here, people would tell us to keep our eggs for that price!

Recycling pet food bags

I found this dog food bag in a ditch when out on a bike ride recently, and since I had just read about this cool way of recycling feed bags, I made this little shopping bag out of it. The feed bag has to be made of that woven plastic stuff. Then you just cut it apart and make a tote out of it. This one is small, because some of the bag was unsalvageable. But you can make them pretty big.

Sew, from now on, I will be buying our chicken feed, cat food, and grain for the goats in these types of bags so I can recycle them....LOL. And, if any of you are buying animal food in these type bags, please save them for me!

Easter Outfits

Had my granddaughters pictures done the other day and they wore overalls that I made them. Roxanna's are a little big...and I made her the newborn size! Never trust the pattern sizes!

baby quilt

Okay so a friend of mine from Verizon Wireless is getting ready to have a baby. She is having a boy and told me a lot of what she had picked out was sage green, baby blue and brown but she didnt have any specific theme for her baby. Jenn is a very earthy person so while looking for fabrics to make her a quilt I decided up on using batiks because not only are they a soft fabric but they also make me think of earth. I used bold blue, green and brown tones and to tie in the baby blue flannel on the back I used a baby blue batik border. Because I dont have an awesome quilt machine like sharons I quilted my own stitch in a ditch which I think turned out really good. whatcha all think?

I saved 65 bucks!

I bought Pete an Barnes and Noble "nook" for his retirement. It is an ebook. I looked at the cases for them and a simple canvas case was 65 dollars. NO WAY was I spending that much for something I could make on my own. It turned out pretty cool and Pete loves it.

My current project

Trisha and I found this chair on someones tree lawn in her neighborhood this week. I passed it up then went back to look at it. The lady was in her lawn, she told us the only thing wrong with it was the ink stain. She forgot to mention the horrific cat piss stink...and we didn't notice till we came back to get it and put it in the car. It took days and secret cat pee stink extinguish recipes and house fumigation and airation before I could start covering the cushion. I still have some work to do, obviously, but does everyone like the quilt square seat cushion and colorful fabric? I will post a completed prioject picture in a few days.