Sunday, June 26, 2011

Guild AAQI page

My guild made AAQI quilts for the recent show.  It was a great success.  The page for the Guild is up and here it is.  Not all the ladies were present for the photo.  I also did not include my quilts, you've already seen them!

Azalea City Quilters' Guild (Mobile, AL)

The Azalea City Quilters' Guild in Mobile, Alabama challenged their membership to make and donate Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts in time to display them at their 2011 quilt show. The show's theme was "Love and Remembrance." The only rule was that the quilts had to measure 9" x 12" or smaller when completed, following the AAQI's strict guidelines.

Twenty-two quilts were made for AAQI and on display in a special place at the show. The stories behind the quilts were touching. While members have made quilts for other charities, this was the first time the Azalea City Quilters' Guild has donated quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.


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7338 – Peaceful Valley7338 – Peaceful Valley

7339 – Daylight & Dark 7339 – Daylight & Dark

7340 – Home? 7340 – Home?

7341 – Mary Lee, Remember Me 7341 – Mary Lee, Remember Me

7342 – Home Tweet Home 7342 – Home Tweet Home

7343 – My Heart is With You 7343 – My Heart is With You

7344 – Lovely Hearts 7344 – Lovely Hearts

7345 – Grandma’s Sun 7345 – Grandma’s Sun

7346 – Missing Pieces 7346 – Missing Pieces

7347 – Two Stars for Grandma 7347 – Two Stars for Grandma

7348 – Houses & Trees 7348 – Houses & Trees

7349 – Hand-N-Hand7349 – Hand-N-Hand

7350 – Alzheimer’s = Blackness 7350 – Alzheimer’s = Blackness

7351 – Christmas Tree Ornament 7351 – Christmas Tree Ornament

7352 – Chickadee in Red 7352 – Chickadee in Red

7353 – Last Sip of Fall 7353 – Last Sip of Fall

7354 – Seaside Solitude 7354 – Seaside Solitude

7355 – Hearth’s of Home 7355 – Hearth’s of Home

7356 – Flowers as I See Them 7356 – Flowers as I See Them


7360 – Angels Among Us 7360 – Angels Among Us


Happy Quilting
Caren

Read more: http://www.alzquilts.org/azalea.html#ixzz1QQhEdJWY

Friday, June 24, 2011

New edition to the family....?

This is just a brief post.  We have a new edition to the family...
OK.. I need a better picture.  But you get the idea.  The girls went for a walk with Daddy and came home with a stray kitten.  They have named it Stripes!  Cowboy is not happy with this new development.

On the sewing front, I finally just did it.  I started my doll.  It was easier than I thought.  Although the hands were impossible to stuff and look quite manly!  I think the hard part will be the face.  What do you think.

I think she will be a nice blue green color.
Happy Quilting
Caren

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

New AAQI listings

I have 4 new quilts for sell on AAQI.

7164- Home Tweet Home  $65
7164 – Home Tweet Home
7165- Lizard King is $85
7165 – Lizard King

7166- Iris is $60
7166 – Iris

7167-Oak Tree with Ivy Vine is $85
7167 – Oak Tree with Ivy Vine

All of these quilts are being sold by AAQI here.  The money goes to help fund research for Alzheimer's.  It's a great organization that works for a great cause.  Check out all the quilts for sale.  Don't forget about the auction that starts at the 1st of each month.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Sunday, June 19, 2011

I'm Back....

I've been away for a week.  Did you miss me? 
This is where I've been...
Here...

Here...

Isn't he a lovely little fellow....

And of course here...
The Great Smokey Mountains.

Still tired, gotta go rest.
Happy Quilting
Caren

Monday, June 6, 2011

Tea Time

Some of you may know this already,   I love hot tea.  Whenever we go on vacation I always take a few bags with me.  I started thinking...I need a cute little carrying case for my tea.  Especially before we take our trip to the Smokies (Looking for good quilt shops in the Gatlinburg or Chattanooga area).  I have a while but I figured I'd better strike while the iron was hot.

This is what a came up with.  It took a little over an hour.
The little tea "tag" was my Sweetie Pie's idea.  I have to admit it was a good one.  I used my new fabric I bought at the quilt show.  The case is holding 8 bags of tea.  I think I can add a few more.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Mommie is taking a day off...

OK, well that is not entirely true.  I've spent 3 1/2 days at the "Quilt-o-rama", as my husband calls the local Quilt Show.  I have totally neglected the house, and some of the people in it!  So sweet hubby took the kids to church.  I stayed home and cleaned up clutter around the house.  I still need to dust and finish laundry.  But for the most part it is presentable.  Now I am Enjoying a little reward...
No one tell hubby that I am using the computer and eating at the same time ;)  This is a lovely piece of Dobash that has been in the fridge for 3 days!  Still tastes great.  Prefect with a cup of strong tea.  It's still steeping in the picture.  Don't you love my china.  This is my "good" china, although according to those in the know...it's not GOOD china.  It's was my grandmother Rivas' china.  Therefore it is good to me.  When I was making my tea I couldn't find a tea cup, only mugs.  You can't drink tea from a mug.  So I pulled out one of grandma's cups.  Then I needed a plate...so I thought why not have a solo tea party.  And that's where I am right now....

Rainbow Scrap Challenge....June is Yellow.  Yellow letters wouldn't show up.  And this just looks weird. Yellow is my favorite color.  Unfortunately, yellow can be a hard color to come by.  This is what I started earlier in the week.


 I dyed the yellow fabric and then painted over it with brighter yellows to make it splotchy.  Then I grabbed my flower book and fabric sharpie and wrote Latin names for flowers all over the back.  I thought it needed a little color and dropped blue in areas. Pieced the ground with bright greens and hand appliqued the stems, leaves and flowers.  With all the machine work I've been doing, I have missed the hand work.  I'm thinking about doing hand quilting as well.
I added hand embroidery to the flowers.  The blue flower center is filled with the bullion stitch with green silk thread.  That was fun.  The pink flower center was made with little loopy knots in shiny rayon thread.  This is going to AAQI when it is finished....hey it also works for the Scrap challenge.  Two birds with one stone.

Some of you may have heard me complain about the lack of Fabric stores in Mobile....we have none.  The 2 "craft" stores don't count.  So when we have the quilt shows we look forward to the vendors.  This is what I came home with...
3 beautiful, if not blurry, Batiks.  The yellow I bought 1 yard the others are 1/2 yards.  Daughter #2 said the yellow looks like a giraffe, she's right.  The purple looks like alligator skin.  Really cool.  No ideas on how to use them yet!

 These lovely hand dyes made me drool.  She had lots of beautiful colors and designs.  The top piece is dyed and rusted.  Very COOL!  These will be used in the quilt made from the drawing below.  No my little one did not draw it! :)
I also bought 3 yards of PFD, to see what all the fuss is about.  I usually use plain white, Kona, or really nice muslin.  I keep reading about something called Lutradur, so I bought a yard of that.  I think it's time to play!

Big Question:  We had the Hoffman Challenge "Dolls" traveling show.  I have to make an art doll.  Can any one recommend a good book for a beginner?  I checked one out from the public library, but would like a recommendation.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Great Show

The Quilt Show was AMAZING.  The ladies created some really amazing quilts.  I was shocked to learn I won a ribbon!   A really BIG ribbon.

The ribbon was bigger than the quilt.  This little guy won "best artistic design" and an Honorable Mention.  It's funny, the quilt I thought would win, did not.  The won I almost didn't enter, did win.  You never know what the judges will like.

This year my binding didn't get judged too harshly.  It was my thread tension that caused all the problems!  I'm definitely going to have to work on that.

I bought some really great hand dyed and rusted fabric, along with a few batiks.  I also bought this adorable wallhanging pattern for my girls' room.  It's called "Flamingo Cove" by Marcia Layton.  It is so cute, full of yo-yos used in unusual ways.

Happy Quilting
Caren

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Alzheimer Quilts

Today me and the girls helped hang the quilts for our quilt show.  They did great.  They joyfully helped for 6 hours.   I was shocked.  I kept them well feed the entire time. 

I have 22 quilts for AAQI.
They are all beautiful and very different.  I'm exhausted.  Day 1 of the show is tomorrow.  I'm so excited.

Happy Quilting
Caren