May the Joy of the Day Be With You and Yours

Relaxing in Sedona

Today we went to Sedona for a day of relaxation. I love the quilt shop there. Look at this gorgeous collection of batiks that I brought home.

http://www.quiltersstoresedona.com/

A Few of My Favorite Things

What is better than a fresh fruit tart? Yum Yum. Our local gourmet food store has a wonderful desert section that I enjoy frequently.

Blossoming Batiks Challenge

At the local sew-in today, I saw fabric for a challenge at the local quilt shop, 3 Dudes Quilting. The quilter creates a block from the preselected fabric and makes a 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 inch block to be submitted before January 1. Customers vote for their favorite and that block will receive a $25 store gift card. The blocks will be finished into a quilt to be donated to the winning customer's charity choice. I fell in love with the batik. What do you think? I'll post the block when it is done.

www.3dudesquilting.com

When Life Gives You Lemons

When you don't have the color that you need, make it! Look at the coordinating raspberry rickrack made out of this Ribbon & Lace Dye Set from Rynda Original Designs, www.ryndaoriginals.com out of Califoria. It will work perfectly in my new piece. I simply custom-dyed the rickrack and heat set it.

Machine Embroidery is Time Consuming

The double blanket stitch is my machine embroidery stitch of choice, but it is very time consuming. I set both the stitch width and the stitch length anywhere from 1.8 to 2.5, as long as they are consistent (both must be at the same measurement) so that the needle goes up and down at the exact same place. It makes your stitch look ever so much smoother and more perfect (which is after all the goal). It will be worth it in the end...

Desert Botanical Garden Visit

The Desert Botanical Gardens has a unique exhibit of Big Bugs sculptures made of wood. Enjoy these photos of our Sunday visit.

A Perfect Peach Rose

Here is a photo of a perfect peach rose from the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.

Symphony Continues to Progress

The newest Symphony quilt continues to be developed. Here it is with some of the appliqué.Of course, it is not yet completed. The middle light green block has not yet been developed, but I have a plan. Check back...

More Alzheimer's Quilts for Donation

Today I'm sending off more quilts for the auction to raise monies for Alzheimer's research. So far $699,000 has been raised. Yippee! Here are the new quilts...

Newest Symphony (In Progress)

I'm teaching Gloria Loughman's Symphony Quilt in  Gilbert in two weeks and I will be posting photos of it in progress for my students to see. This will be done in greens and related colors. Check back and watch it evolve.