Pin cushion partners

By now, everyone who wanted to participate and sent me their addresses has been paired up with someone!

The pin cushions should be received by Oct. 15th.  I'll try to figure out how to do the linky thing so be sure to take a picture of the pin cushion you make.

You can stuff the pin cushion with crushed walnuts or polyfill.  Just make sure it's full enough to hold pins!  Any little quilt block can function as the top.  I suggest that you line the top and bottom with muslin or something similar--it gives the thing a nice body, but it's not mandatory.

You're free to email your partner to ask for preferences in colors or designs but it's not required, either.  I'd recommend that you email in advance so she'll know to be on the lookout.

Obviously when you receive your pin cushion, please be sure to thank the person who sent it to you!

Thanks to everyone who participated!  We wound up with close to 20!  I hope you enjoy making the pin cushion and receiving something from a different part of the world!

Dotti Hossler, I don't have your correct email address... please get in touch with me ASAP!

Love to you all,
Pin Cushion Mistress

Mystery revealed

Janet O. and I agreed to a small personal challenge using my leftover French General fabrics. I mailed her a small package of fabrics, of which I kept a bunch too. 

We had to use the  same fabrics and agreed to make a little 12" block for each other. 

Oh my gosh!  The pressure!!!!  She's a master miniature quilt maker as well as machine quilter!!  How could I compete??

I mailed mine off yesterday and will wait for her reveal later this week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she likes it!!

Hers came yesterday and I'm just over the moon with it!

You know I love stars and she made 9 beautiful ones, all fussy cut!

Yup they are all of 2"!!! And perfect!!

Look at these corners:

Cute or what?? Catch the quilting!

And her feathers??!!!

Gorgeous!!

Her label was equally amazing:

As if this wasn't enough, she also got a jump on the pin cushion swap and sent me a great one:

Thank you, Janet!!

On the subject of pincushions, you will receive the name of the person you're going to send to today. Yay! Get those crushed walnuts ready!!

This just shows you that with a little inspiration and motivation you can do something outside your comfort zone that  turns out fabulous! Thank you Janet for that nudge. ❤️❤️❤️

Tapestries

Last week I went with a friend to an event at Filoli which is a garden/estate in a beautiful area not far from San Francisco. They had many examples of beautiful embroidery I couldn't resist photographing. 

And the gardens were gorgeous. Colors couldn't be beat!

This is a sampler from 1695!

I love tapestries!

And dresses!

And statutes!

Just for a change!!!

Voilà!!

A Bag!  You can never have too many bags!

This is the pattern I used. 

I had a little trouble the first time I made it but didn't struggle this time. It even has 2 pockets inside. I decided to make this because I needed something to carry my projects on the way back home Wednesday!

Now back to my regular projects including the mystery challenge!

Anybody else going to make a pin cushion?  I found another one:

Have a great Labor Day!

New project

Can you guess what I'm making!??

Didn't want to start a new quilt so that's not it!

Hope to have a few more pin cushion participants!!  Just need to have it done by mid October!

Here are a couple more ideas:

This one has lavender filling. Smells so good. Look what I found!

My next pin cushion is going to smell amazing!!

Moving along

I made my Circa 2016 blocks for this week and have to say that I think this is my favorite block so far!!

These are only 3"!!

Bindings put on 2 more quilts!  Yeah

And the mystery challenge is ready for quilting!

These are blocks I made and rejected. Very cute but didn't fit in. The project is all of 12"!

Are you going to join in the pin cushion swap?  Deadline for sign ups is Monday!! We have room for more!! 

Happy September!

Hard to believe that the summer has come and gone. Here in Central Oregon one feels the coming of fall in the brisk morning air and cool evenings. I love watching the leaves change colors!

We are spending the weekend at the cabin and I've been trying to get bindings on long awaiting quilts. 

I finally did this one for a quilt I made years ago. This is a Lori Smith pattern and it represents my first attempt at wool appliqué!  I love the colors. 

My birds need eyes!!  I may try to find some tiny buttons. I am thinking I'll hang this on a wall. 

In my search for the perfect borders for my challenge quilt, I was particularly interested in the next show at Quiltworks. Here is a sneak preview!

All these strips finish at 1/4"!! I think they're not as hard as they look because you trim them after each round. The full exhibit goes up Friday night and I'll get over there before we head back to California !

Next up is the binding on the cheddar quilt!  Stay tuned!  Have a fabulous weekend!