Christmas in July!

I love the whole season of Christmas,  don't you?!  I know it has become ridiculously commercial but the main reasons I love Christmas are because: it is a reminder of the birth and love of Christ and his reason for being born; and, I love all the joy everyone shares; and I love all the wonderful smells from cooking and candles; and I LOVE all the most beautiful Christmassy fabrics!  I had a chance to enjoy one of those beautiful fabrics as I finished a quilt that will be hanging in our local quilt show in mid-August.  It is jut stunning.  I love the Cardinals!

Black, red and white seems to be popular at this time of season!  The quilt is to be used for snuggling so the quilting was kept somewhat simple.  The middle bird blocks were quilted with swirls, but not too small.

The black border surrounding the birds and then used as the inner border, was quilted with a very simple and loose squiggle to keep the quilting open and not distract from the fabric.

I switched up just slighty and had to do something else fun for the piano key border so the middle of each strip has a simple serpentine line but I felt the quilt needed a little more for stability so rather than stitch in the ditch, I did a small squiggle on the seam line.  Different but interesting.  I figure it matches the large one in the border.

The back was a large black plaid flannel.  Nice and snuggly feeling!

The quilting actually showed up quite well on it.

This quilt was a joy to complete because I just love working on a Christmas quilt, especially my favorite, Christmas birds.  I think after I finish my current client quilts, I will take a break and start my hunter star quilt I am so eager to do for Christmas.  More about that later!

Have a glorious week and join me as I link up with http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com, http://myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com, http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com and http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com.  

My Own Jesus Goggles!

Before I get to my own little wall hanging for my quilt studio, I thought I would share a small taste of Wyoming with the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days & Rodeo held the last full week in July.  

Besides a circuit rodeo and all that goes with it, one thing that is actually fun, is the pancake breakfast held Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Thousands of people file through for a free (yes FREE!) breakfast of pancakes with syrup, ham and coffee.  The most amazing part of the event is how it is pulled off.  How, you say, do they handle all the pancake batter?  No problem.........

A cement mixer (I'm sure it's up to health code) holds all the batter you will need along with huge griddles for the cooking:

Boy scouts are behind the cooks with large trays.  The cooks flip the pancakes in the air and the boy scouts catch them on the trays.  I was unable to get a photo of that in action this year.  

The line to get your breakfast is probably at least a half mile long but it moves incredibly fast and the wait is probably no more than 15-20 minutes and the morning is filled with entertainment and fun.  Everyone needs to experience the Frontier Days Pancake Breakfast!  So if you are ever in Cheyenne, Wyoming the last full week of July...........!

My Own Jesus Goggles

If you followed the quilts my friend Debbie and I made for Elijah and Autumn following their automobile accident, you will probably remember the small momento I made for Elijah's mom called "Jesus Goggles".  She had shared a post of one of her darkest moments and called it Jesus Goggles because God showed her how she needed to look at the entire situation with Goggles that would allow her to see things as Jesus would see them.  Check out my prior posts for a photo.

Well, I loved that so much that I decided to make my own Jesus Goggles wall hanging from scraps for my quilt studio.  I am needing some cheery quilty hangings for it and this would be perfect.  So, here is my own rendition of Jesus Goggles:

At the bottom of the inner border I uses the alphabet on my Nina and wrote "A reminder to look at every moment of life through Jesus Goggles"

I had a little fun with  of the quilting:

I often forget to take photos of the back but caught it this time:

I love this little quilt and need all the reminders I can get.  Once I get a sleeve put on, it will hang above my sweet sixteen.

Hope you enjoyed my quilty fun and a fast of Cheyenne.  Have a fantastic week!

Lavender

Oh my goodness!  Where is summer going to so quickly?!?!  Life has been busy but very delightful.  We spent nine days in Cody, Wyoming in the outdoors and playing tennis tournaments.  While there, I stopped here:

What a fun quilt shop!  It has everything!  I usually plan to leave at least two hours open to spend some time at Friends and Company.  So if you are ever in Cody, check it out.

I also spent time in Denver with Hubby while he was working.  While there, I visited quilt shops in the area and spent a couple of days with Elijah Lowry and his family.  I had the opportunity to give his family a couple of breaks, attend some therapy sessions and feed him lunch.  I was so blessed.  I understand that since changing his medicine right before I left, Elijah is progressing rapidly and is reading and talking a lot!  I truly praise God for that progress.  It was awesome to see everyone.  You can find out about Elijah and Autumn here:  https://elijahandautumn.wordpress.com

Not only have I spent time "running around", I have also started working just a couple of afternoons each week at Blakeman Vacuum and Sewing here in Cheyenne.  It's just enough and I love it!  Because I own the Bernina 750QE and the Bernina 350, I will be providing customer support and education for Berninas, the Tiara and Handiquilter sit-down machines and the Babylock sergers.  Mid October will find me in Aurora, Illinois at the Bernina training center.  Oh my, I hope I am ready for this!  I will also still be moderating the Quilt Club each month.  

Finally, quilt shows are beginning to fill the late summer and early fall months and quilters are finishing up their winter projects and I have been hit hard!  Photos will be coming in the near future of some of the quilts I have been working on.  But first, those quilts for show were put on hold for just a bit while I quilted an adorable baby quilt for a precious quilting friend.  I call this quilt Lavender because the lavender colors in it, actually all the colors in it, are stunningly beautiful together.  The quilt is very simple but quite lovely.

The center area was quilted with echoed swirls:

while the inner border was very simple with loops.

The outer border was quilted with what I call pansy feathers with a vine coming into each pansy petal.  Each corner stone was embellished with my favorite:  a feathered heart. 

 I just love this little quilt.  It measured approximately 42 inches square and will be much loved by a much loved grand baby and her mother.

Have an awesome weekend and join me as I link up with http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com on Wednesday, Needle and Thread Thursday at http://myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com and http://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com and http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com on Friday as I check out what other quilters are up to.