It's Quilted (and a question for you)

The Riley Blake 'Neverland' baby quilt is quilted.

That is blue Minkee, from my stash, on the back. 

Now, I have a question for you.  I have 2 choices for binding. 
#1.  Big piece of material with a kinda stripe to it.
#2.  Same greenish fabric that surrounds the flying geese.

binding choices on quilt

Let me know which one you like best, please.  I want to stitch the binding on at Saturday's sew-in.

On Monday afternoon, after I finished this quilt top, I decided to trim some burp rags that I'd purchased.  The first one, I tried adding the trim (extra strips of the Neverland jelly roll) to both sides of the burp rag.  This didn't work very well.  I thought it was all lined up nicely, but, it wasn't.  Oh well, the baby won't notice.

double sided burp rag

After that, I decided to just add trim to one side of the burp rags.  I like this better.  Yes, the bottom one is pieced with 2 different colors.  No waste here.

5 more burp rags

If I get around to it, I might try embroidering Gwendolyn's name on some of these, with my Janome.  The Janome has lots of fun stitches, and a small font for Embroidery (nothing fancy). 

My Christmas trip to Texas was super busy.  I didn't get to any thrift or antique stores, like I normally do.  I DID get to see a special blogging friend.  Sue, from Collecting Texas Gal, has a fiber arts shop at the Chicken Farm Arts Center in my hometown. The Chicken Farm Arts Center was having a special night for Christmas celebrating while I was there.  I only got to go for a few minutes, but, that was enough to finally get to see Sue's shop.  I got 'Betty Sue' the purple featherweight, from Sue.

Sue's shop

me & Sue

 This visit was the only shopping I got to do (besides IKEA with my son and daughter in law) on the trip. 

Let me know what binding choice you prefer.  Thanks!

Expo fun and some bloggy friends

This weekend was the Sewing & Quilting Expo.  I worked both the Quilts of Valor booth and also as an ambassador in the Make-It Center on Thursday and Friday.  The Expo was MUCH smaller than it has been in the past, but, it was still fun!  I didn't get any pictures of the Quilts of Valor booth (oops!), but, I did get pictures of what I got to make, then help teach at the Make-It Center.

Box Bag

Box Bag, open

Beth Bradley, from Sew It All TV was the instructor. 

Beth Bradley from Sew It All TV

This was a fun bag to make!  You can get instructions for a larger bag on the Sew It All TV site.  This bag is designed by Stacy Schlyer, and is on episode 704.  Here is a link to the instructions.  It takes about 45 minutes or less to make this.  This was my 3rd ever zipper. 

I'm not on Facebook, but, there are pictures on Sew It All TV's Facebook page (open to all to see).  Here are links to 2 pictures with me and my bag. 
Me, making my bag.  And me, with two of the ladies I helped (one is a friend from the quilt store Thursday sew-in's).

I got to meet up with a fellow blogger, Andrea (Sew Divertimento).  Andrea won my first ever giveaway.  Andrea knows that I love teapots (see the title to my blog, teapots came before quilting).  Andrea found a cute teapot for me, and brought it to the Expo (along with some great fabric for Quilts of Valor, woohoo!).  This is the teapot Andrea gave me. 

teapot Andrea gave me

It's so cute and little!  Guess what?!?!?  My mother gave me a teapot similar to this one, way back in 1995.  Now I have the 'mommy' and the 'baby' teapots.

teapot from mom and teapot from Andrea

Aren't they cute together?  So special!  Thanks Andrea!!!!!!!

Last weekend I went to Joann's.  Not only was everything I bought on sale (most of it at 40% off), but, I also had a coupon for another 25% off my entire purchase!  Woohoo!  I bought lots of batting, thread and some Minkee.  I also bought a magazine that I've been wanting, McCall's Quick Quilts.  Three of my blogging buddies have patterns in this magazine issue. 

McCall's Quick Quilts (April/May 2014)

First is Erin Russek from One Piece at a Time.  Her pattern is 'Go Fish!'

Go Fish! by Erin Russek

The second pattern is by Cory Yoder over at LMS (Little Miss Shabby).  Her pattern is 'Weekend at the Lake'

Weekend at the Lake by Cory Yoder

The third pattern is by Jean Kritenbrink over at Jean's Quilting Page.  Jean's pattern is 'Twist & Shout' (she also called this her Snake Dance mystery quilt pattern). 

Twist & Shout by Jean Kritenbrink

I like all these patterns.  Now to find time to make them.....


I have been sewing, just now pictures yet.  I'll have a post at the end of the month (Monday or Tuesday) with what I've been doing in March.  It's been a busy, non-sewing month for me, but, I have gotten some things done. 

My Bags are Packed, I'm ready to go....

I was gone for 8 days.  Lots went on during those 8 days.  This is the first post, covering the first 2 days.

Tuesday morning, I headed to Iowa, to meet up with another blogger, Michelle. 

Michelle and me

Michelle and I had a great morning and early afternoon together.  We chatted, had lunch with her sweet Louie, and came back to her home to check out some of her vintage sewing machines (sorry, no pictures of those, but, you can check most of them out on her blog, ~Life With Lou~).  

Michelle works with the Sewing Machine Project in Madison, WI.  I took her 2 machines for the project. 

Singer Stylist

Kenmore

Michelle will check out these machines, and make sure they work properly before taking them to Madison, along with other machines that she has collected for this project.  Michelle is great at working on machines.  The mechanics of machines still scare me. 

Michelle had made me two great gifts, too.  First, she gave me this quilted bag, with lots of pockets.  I plan on using this bag as a project bag in the near future. 

great bag from Michelle

outside double pockets

inside double pockets

Love all that RED, with the blacks and whites.  Michelle has a directions for these Market bags here.

Michelle also made me a great car litter bag.  She has a great tutorial for this, over on Mdm. Samm's blog, here. 

car litter bag

car litter bag

More RED, and DOGS, too!  Woohoo!   See that cute paw print material that it is lined with?  I didn't use mine as a trash bag, but, it was great on my trip, to hold my gas book, Mento's and gum, and a few other items.  I was in and out of that bag several times a day.  Thanks Michelle!

On Wednesday, I arrived in Kansas City, MO. at the Naval Reserve Center.  I delivered 50 Quilts of Valor quilts, for the upcoming Returning Warrior Weekend, later in May.  These quilts were made by my local, Land of Lincoln Quilts of Valor chapter. 

50 quilts in my SUV

It was easier for me to deliver these quilts, than to have them shipped, since I was picking my mother up at the Kansas City airport the next morning. 

After dropping off the quilts, I stopped at 6 different thrift stores in the area.  I saw several machines, but, I didn't get any of them.  I was a GOOD GIRL! 

More on this trip shortly!