His Hands at Work

Hi Everyone -

Yesterday was His Hands and with 6 of us we really accomplished a lot! Hang onto your hat because I have oodles of pictures - I was feeling "snap happy" yesterday. I've posted some of the quilts that are finished as well as the industrious women at work. They certainly earned the delightful German Chocolate Cake provided by Becky!



















We are blessed to have work for our hands - it is always a joyful time together - encouraging one another and getting caught up from month to month. Thanks for viewing our work and happy sewing!

A Wonderful Way To Learn!

Hi To All!

I have to tell you that through the years I have learned to quilt through books and friends and odd and ends but as a perfectionist ( I know, I know - I just am!) I wanted my blocks to be straighter, my points sharper, etc. you get my drift. Well, I stumbled across this fantastic book I just had to share with you!


It is by Harriet Hargrave who is a wonderfully talented quilter who has been teaching her art for over 30 years. She and her daughter Carrie are working on a series of books called Quilter's Academy. Volume 1 starts at the very beginning - a very good place to start (are any of you Sound of Music fans? If so, then you probably know the rest of the song) Sigh, I digress.

ANYWAY, this book is perfect if you are a beginner or a seasoned quilter - as for me I'm using it to go back to square one and unlearn my bad habits and re-learn so that I'm happier with my quilting!

Volume 2 is due out in a few weeks - can't wait to see what it tackles!


So check it out on Harriet's website www.harriethargrave.com and see all that she has to offer. One of Harriet's most popular books (and I highly recommend it) is Heirloom Machine Quilting.


If you ever get the chance to take a class by her, go for it! And let me know how it goes! Happy Sewing!

Another Pinwheel and Stitching Progress

Hi Everyone!

I hope this finds you all well and enjoying whatever you are working on! I just finished another pinwheel for my BOM "Pinwheels in My Garden" by Kansas Troubles
I am just using two colors for contrast in each pinwheel - last month burgundy, this month navy. I really want the stars to steal the show when the quilt is finished.

I've done a bit of stitching on my Wool Crazy block - but not much! I've decided to do this 24" block with the theme of spring - I'm aiming to have it done for 2011 :) Here is my center block - still in need of more embellishments.


Last but not least, I was given a gift certificate to a near by quilt shop back in September but was waiting for just the right thing to purchase. As you all know, I've gone head-over-heels with the Australian stichery/quilting combo so here is what I found by Lynette Anderson - Spring and then Summer:



There is actually four patterns - one for each season - and it can be made into a quilt as seen below:


Do visit Lynnette's blog and take in all that she has to offer.

Take care and happy sewing!

Wool Fix

Greetings to All!

Yesterday I went with a very dear friend to a wonderful quilt shop in Louisville, Ohio. It is called AnnaLouisas Needlearts and is a delightful shop! Barb Stevens is the owner and she has the shop full of irrestible items. There is a Civil War room, complete with reproduction fabrics as well as a Civil War uniform and pictures.





Then you can travel into the wool room - actually the needlearts room - as it has oodles of wool - both hand dyed (gorgeous!) and on the bolt as well as wool for knitting and also items for embroidery. She has a wonderful 1930's era display and so much more - great pattern selection and extensive wall of notions.

So you are probably wondering - what did Kelli buy? Well........... wool of course! The great thing about this shop is that they bowls and baskets of wool scraps you can sort through and they sell it by the ounce. I plopped down on the floor and went at it. I'm still gathering wool for my Wool Crazy block so it was fun to sort through the scraps and then I purchased pieces of hand dyed wool as well. The pictures don't do it justice! Go online and view them for yourself!


Do click on AnnaLouisa's link above and take a tour of the store. And if you are ever in the area - make sure you stop in as Barb and her staff are so warm and welcoming - you'll feel like you are in your own home! Thanks Barb and Staff for making it such a special place to come and "let your hair down!"

Happy Sewing!

A Special Find!

Greetings to All!

I hope your weekend was a relaxing one and that you had sometime to stitch! A dear friend of mine sent me a link to a stitching blog that is delightful. Val Laird, an Australian designer, has generously designed a free BOM called Gifts of Grace. You can see all of her beautiful work on her blog as well as her patterns. Hand work is so relaxing so take time to stop over to see all that she has to offer. If you click on the "Gifts of Grace" button on my left side bar, you can see the BOM's.

Happy Sewing!