A Little of This, a little of that

Hi Everyone, Well, here is the latest block for my Saturday sampler quilt. This is block 5 and I was lucky enough to get it made before this coming Saturday where I get block 6 for free. I really love working with these templates and Joy, Yvette, and myself (the three amigos) get a kick out of comparing what we have done !!!




















The three amigos, plus Joy's daughter Karen, (guess we are now the four muskeeters) had the pleasure of attending the International Quilt Show at the Long Beach Convention Center last Saturday. It was so overwhelming !!! SENSORY OVERLOAD is more like it. There was SEW much to see !!! We all want to make this an annual event.
















We were fortunate to meet and get a picture with Ms. Eleanor Burns of Quilt-in-a-Day fame and Joy even got her autograph!!! Ms. Burns also gave each of us purple boas....ha, ha, ha !!!

Another favorite of mine is Ms. Marty Michelle. She designed the wonderful templates we are using to make our Saturday Sampler blocks with. These are great and it was so much fun to finally put a face with a name.














While at the quilt show, we also ran into Jenny & Ellen, as well as Ann from our Sunday quilt class. We all enjoyed lunch together and met a few other quilt-a-holics....All in all it was a wonderful time spending the day with wonderful friends.

Love to all
Karene

Strike 'em Out for a Cure

Hi Everyone, well I finally finished the quilt to be raffled off for Craig's Charity Event, which will be held on Sept. 27th. Erin came up with a slogan and logo, taking into account Craig's love of baseball and Tug McGraw being a major league relief pitcher...(see below)

We will be sending out invitations shortly for the event with all the details. The quilt will be raffled at that time. The proceeds will go to the Tug McGraw Foundation, http://www.tugmcgraw.org/home.asp , and a link to our event should be on the event page within the next few days. This is really exciting !!! Right now, raffle tickets are available through me but you can get them at the event as well. You do not have to be present to win. We have approval from the Tug McGraw Foundation to use their name and tax ID number so now checks can be made out directly to the Tug McGraw Foundation instead of to Erin. Anyway, there will be more information to follow on this. I'll keep everyone posted as we get closer to it. If you have any questions, just call me or e-mail me.

Love to all my family and friends,
Karene

Charity Quilt - Almost Done

Well, today was a free sew day at Leah's and Joy snagged the room. A little while after I got to the shop, Ms. Janet, teacher extraordinnaire, opened the door and handed me Craig's Charity Quilt. OH MY GOODNESS !!! She did the most gorgeous job quilting it, which is exactly why I wanted her to do it for me.....SHE'S TOTALLY AWESOME !!!




















When I gave Janet the quilt she asked me how I wanted it quilted and I told her it was totally up to her. If she just wanted to stipple it that would be fine. Thank goodness I left it in her capable hands. She told me she made an "executive decision" when quilting it, and I love what she did !


She did a tiny stipple (meander) around all of the flowers and ribbon of the center piece and around the flowers on the corner squares. Then she "stitched in the ditch" along the inner border and piano key border. So, BEAUTIFUL !!








Here is the center part of the quilt.














Here is a close up of the quilting.

and here is the back of the quilt....



















All that's left now is the binding and the quilt will be completely finished and ready to sell raffle tickets. These pictures really don't even do justice to the quilt. You must see it in person to appreciate all of Janet's hard work. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Janet !!! You are truly AMAZING!!!


All my love,
Karene

Charity Quilt

my 50th

50 & More !!!

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's been very, very hectic here as usual at my house. Between working, quilting classes and birthdays, I haven't had a chance to update my blog....to which my good friend, Ms. Yvette, has reprimanded me for.....just kidding !


Anyway, my mom's birthday just happens to be exactly two weeks before my birthday (April to May) and I wanted to make my mom something for her birthday.



She's very picky about her purses, but I saw this material and pattern to make her this quilted tote bag. It really was very easy to make (not like the first one I attempted to make and didn't like so I made her another one with an easier pattern) !!!














It has a pocket on the front and two pockets inside.














Then, two weeks later, it was my BIG 50 !!! I knew Craig was not up to planning anything and I told everyone I did not want a party, but my wonderful sister-in-law, Missy, said that she just could not let my 50th go by without doing at least dinner. It was supposed to just be family and her good friends, Gayle & Bill, from across the street. Well, when Craig, Matt, Ruby (Matt's girlfriend), Junior & I were walking up the driveway to the house, the garage door flew open and EVERYONE yelled SURPRISE !!! There were people there I had not seen in a very long time, particularly, my good friend Elena and her husband, Neil. My other good friend, Linda, was there as well. I never would have expected those two to be there. Also, some of Craig's friends, Randy & Diana and Steve & Cathy, also were at the party to celebrate. Randy & Diana live in the San Diego area and Steve & Cathy in San Bernadino area. Anyway, it was so nice of them to drive all that way and I know Craig was very glad to see them....(for more check out the slideshow above).

I especially want to thank my bestest buddy, Joy, for all the great pictures she took to mark the event !!! I LOVE YOU, MY FRIEND !!!
















AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO MISSY AND BOBBY !!! You guys are the best !!!

Now, that all the birthdays are over, I finally was able to complete the charity quilt for Craig's charity event. Again, this is being planned by my wonderful sister-in-law, Missy. More info on that to follow but we will be selling raffle tickets for someone to win the quilt in addition to other items for a possible silent auction. I'm leaving all of this up to Missy because I have no idea how to even attempt to do anything like this. For a preview of what the quilt looks like, check out the slideshow at the top of my blog. I designed the quilt myself and picked out the colors. Everything on the quilt has a meaning....again more on that to follow. However, it is was KITE STRING that actually made the entire quilt come together (thanks to Ms Janet) and it is being quilted by my wonderful teacher, Ms. Janet Salceido. I wanted it professionally quilted and I think she's the best !!! We raised over $300 from the sale of the wristbands and pins. All proceeds from Craig' charity event will be added to what we have so far and sent to the the Tug McGraw Foundation to aid in brain cancer research . Tug McGraw, an ex-baseball player, lost his battle years ago to the same type of cancer Craig has and Craig wanted to support this charity.

So, those are just a few of the things I've been up to....

Love to all my family and friends

Karene

Quilting, Quilting & More Quilting

Hi Everyone...I just wanted to update you on a few things I have been involved in since Christmas.

Last Saturday, March 1st, my friends and I went to Claremont to work on a charity quilt. My mom's boss, Laura, is chairing an American Cancer Society walk in May and wanted to raffle off a quilt. She had seen several of my quilts and asked if I would like to help construct the quilt. She also asked if I knew of anyone that would also like to help. I promptly asked my two quilting buddies, Joy & Yvette. I wanted to ask Teacher Extraordinnaire (Ms. Janet) as well but I knew she was probably way too busy with teaching her classes, quilting for people as well as herself, and getting ready for Saturday Sampler to start too !!! However, she was with us in spirit as we RAVED about her often.

Anyway, Laura had already purchased the material and one of her friends did all the cutting. All we needed to do was sit and sew !!!! My mom was there and even though she doesn't quilt she was a HUGE help. She ironed for us, did our "reverse sewing" (i.e. ripping out our mistakes), and even ran out and picked up lunch for us !!! It was truly a rewarding day. Here is the quilt top, minus the borders. We sewed from about 11:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. and just ran out of time....but we did finish the hard part of sewing all those squares and rectangles together.

However, before I went up to Claremont, Ms Enabler (my bestest buddy, Joy), talked me into joining Saturday Sampler with her, Karen, and Yvette; AT 8:00 A.M. ON SATURDAY MORNINGS...Yikes !!!! I didn't really want to make this quilt because I didn't particularly like the colors of the quilt. However, I thought it would be great just to LEARN different aspects of making different blocks. This is how it works....You join Saturday Sampler for a small fee and attend the first Saturday of every month for nine months. You are given the option after nine months to purchase the remaining three blocks for $5 each. You are given material and instructions and then have to go home and cut out and sew that month's block. If you come the following month with the finished block, you get the next month's block (including material) for FREE ! If you do that for the entire nine months, you basically can make the entire nine blocks for like $30, which doesn't even cover the cost of material for anyone who knows about quilting. Anyhow, Joy cut out her block during class on Sunday, but I was working on other things. I was bound and determined to get mine cut-out and not fall behind. Then on Monday, I decided I was tired of working all day, so about 10:00 p.m., I decided to sew the block together. It really went pretty smoothly and I'm very pleased with the results:

Here is my first block of Saturday sampler !!! I can hardly wait for April to get here so I can work on the next block.










Also, here is a baby quilt I made and quilted it using my new Bernina machine with the stitch regulator. I thought it turned out pretty nice. I wanted to make a baby quilt because it is much smaller and more managable than a lap, twin, or queen size. Also, I figured if it didn't turn out I could just give it away to Project Linus or whatever because they would be happy to have it and I just wanted to practice quilting by myself. This pattern is called Little Blessings. You can click on the picture to enlarge it. All of the bugs, flowers, frogs etc, had to be cut out separately or "fussy cut" as we quilters would say.
















I found a delightful multicolored batik for the backing. Look closely and you can see the quilting....I made curly-Q's or attempted to anyway !















Lastly, as you all know, I'm working on Craig's charity quilt as well. I designed this quilt myself and am appliquing most of the quilt. All of the stems, leaves, ribbon, and flowers have to be appliqued. Then, I'm going to be putting on a "piano key" border .....for anyone who doesn't know, Craig plays piano (or at least he used to) and loves piano jazz music. Anyway, I was feeling like I really cut off more than I could chew, but again, Ms Janet (teacher extraordinnaire) came through with the most simplest ideas......KITE STRING !!! After I laid out the string to help me visualize the stems, everything else just fell into place.


This is a picture of quilt just three weeks ago after I replaced the string with the green stems. Unfortunately the ribbon (symbolizing the brain cancer color - gray) was way too small for the rest of the flowers and I didn't have enough material. Luckily, I was able to order more material online so I could make it bigger. It also needed more leaves and stuff.

I am working on it little by little and I finally got the quilt the way I wanted it. Now I am doing a blanket stitch around all the stems, leaves, ribbon, center of the flowers, and the flowers.

This is what it currently looks like and the stitching is very time consuming. I'm taking my time because I really want people interested in buying raffle tickets. I will post more pictures of the quilt as I get futher along on it with the borders and everything. I'm pretty proud of this quilt and it really is like painting with material.

Love to all my family and friends,

Karene

Learning Embroidery !!!

Hi Everyone ! Well, I finally finished my new owner classes on how to play with Bernie. What an exciting time I had. The third and final class was learning how to embroider. I have to tell you that there is so much information on how to embroider that by lunch time my head was spinning!!! It was amazing what steps you need to go through, but when you do, it's fantastic. The class started at 10:00 a.m. and went until 4:00 p.m. It was a really long day, but full of excitement and anticipation. We just learned about everything from thread, to stabilizer, how to hoop the fabric, temporary adhesives, etc.....It was crazy. We finally got to embroider around 2:30 p.m. With only an hour & a half before class was over, I picked out a simple design with only four color changes. This simple rose and my name was the first thing I have ever embroidered with a machine. I did hand embroidery many, many years ago, but I just can't do that anymore. My hands just can't handle that type of continuous motion.





Anyway, it turned out pretty good, except for one teensy-weensy mistake, which I learned very quickly!!! Unfortunately, I started with the wrong color so the rose doesn't look exactly right. I may attempt to redo it to see what it really should look like, but all-in-all, I'm proud of how it turned out.


Not wanting to forget what I learned....and it's amazing how quickly you can forget.....I attempted to embroider a label for a baby quilt I made, ALL ON MY OWN !!!. This was my first attempt at doing everything by myself and trying to remember all the steps. I used some of the backing material from the baby quilt and decided on pink thread.





The pink thread does not really stand out that much and since this was "practice", I might go back and make another label with white thread or green to see if you can read it any better. However, just having made the label and have it stitch just the way I wanted it to, I think it turned out well.






I can't wait to try different things with embroidery!!! I'm sure my mom can't wait either !!! She has lots of projects in mind for me....just kidding ! Now, that the baby quilt is made, I'm working on the charity quilt to be auctioned off for Craig's charity function. It's coming along well, but I think I bit off more than I can chew. We'll see how that goes !!!

Love to all my family and friends !!!

Playing with Bernie

Hi Everyone,

Well, it's been very eventful with the holidays and everything. I've been sew busy that I haven't even had time to take down my Christmas tree. Thank goodness it's fake....ha,ha,ha !!! Craig is doing well after his setback and has numerous doctor appointments, tests, etc. However, he is starting to get his appetite and taste back. He is eating much better now. In fact, he has regained four pounds....YAY !!!

Anyway, most everyone knows that in November I purchased Bernie (my Christmas, birthday, anniversary, and next Christmas present). I fooled around with him for a while until the new owner's classes that began this month. Wow, what a treat learning everything he can do!!! I have included a slide show below of all the things I learned in my class last Saturday. I can't wait until this Saturday when I learn how to EMBROIDER with him !!! I hope you can see all the details. The pictures aren't that great but hopefully you can see some of the details.





Thanks to my good friends, Joy & Yvette, I had to update my blog before they started to inundate me with IM's about my blog being outdated !!! So, I'll keep it short and sweet.....will post more after I get to play with the embroidery. I can hardly stand the waiting.

Love to all my family and friends......Hugs !!!
Karene

Playing with Bernie

Christmas,Quilts & More

Hi Everyone....well, Christmas blew in and out as fast as usual. The entire month is one big blur with the usual hussle and bussel of shopping, parties, visiting family & friends, etc.

Craig's company had their annual Christmas party and last year we had a ball with dinner, the raffle, drinks & dancing. This year, of course, was a bit different with everything going on with him. But, Craig wanted to go and at least make an appearance at the party, even if it was just for the dinner & raffle. We left immediately after the raffle, and he promptly fell asleep the minute he got home and changed his clothes. But, all in all, we had a nice time. He never left the chair. All kinds of people came up to Craig & I wishing us a better 2008, saying so many nice things to me about Craig and how much he is well-respected and well-liked in the company; from the head guys, down to the people under him. I almost cried from all the wonderful things being said about Craig to me. Someone at the party snapped this picture of us.....





After the party it was the usual shopping spree and decorating to get ready for Christmas. I actually made some time to go over to Joy's house and help her decorate her 1,568,477 cookies (kidding on the amount but not by much...ha, ha, ha) that she and Michael delivered to all of our doctors, his clients, family, and friends. We had so much fun and they were so good. Thanks to my bestest buddy for letting me share this with her !


Finally Christmas and Christmas Eve were upon us...We had a nice few days visiting with family and friends. Craig was able to make it for a few hours on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.


Christmas Eve we went to my brother's house for our traditional "pizza". Matt & Junior were there along with Melissa and Adam (my niece and nephew) in addition to my mom, aka Grandma Dorie. The only ones missing were Tricia, Aaron, Andrew, Benjamin, Scott and Audrey (my brother's kids / grand kids). Tricia & her family (Aaron, Andrew & Ben) moved to North Carolina this summer, and they were just here for her baby shower at the beginning of November so they couldn't make it out again. She's very pregnant and is due in three weeks with baby Kate. You will remember I made Tricia the Bambi quilt, and she finally sent me pictures of it in baby Kate's nursery...



Here is a picture of it in the crib. Look closely at the bumper pad and then at the quilt. I inadvertently matched the bumper pad material PERFECTLY !!! I found the fabric on E-bay and had never seen Tricia's nursery before this. WEIRD, huh!!!



Anyway, the nursery turned out really, really cute and I'm so happy that the quilt matched so well too.


Christmas Day we went to Uncle Dave & Aunt Cheryl's for Christmas dinner. Bob made our traditional "prime rib", done to perfection!!! I brought my usual 7-layer salad (recipe given to me years ago by Craig's mom, thanks mom). Cheryl made practically everything else: ham, green bean casserole, and a delicious peppermint and brownie dessert!!!

After dinner we finally opened presents, and I was just busting at the seams to give Taylor & Lexie their "memory" quilts. Their daddy passed away this past June. Anyway, I told Nicole (who has the same name as my niece) that I had brought them. She said....."Their here! You finished them!" She knew I was making the quilts for the girls but had never seen them. Nicole's sister, Angela, provided me with the greatest digital pictures, which I was able to print on fabric and turn into quilts. Anyway, I told Nicole I really wanted to give them to the girls because this was the first year without their daddy for Christmas, and it was important for me not to take too long in getting them done. God just had a way of making it possible for me to get these done in time for Christmas. I think they turned out really nice; thanks to teacher extraordinaire, Ms. Janet!

Here are Taylor & Lexie opening up the bags with the quilts.













Here is Lexie with her quilt, after finally getting it out of the bag and opened...













Here is Taylor looking at the picture of her with her daddy....













and here is a picture of Nicole sitting next to Taylor (in the white shirt) telling everyone sitting around what was happening when the pictures were taken. It was SO SPECIAL !!! (sorry I only got the back of her head).





Little Lexie came up to me, hugging the quilt, with a big smile on her face and then said to me, "I cried for my daddy last night." I fought back tears and told her that whenever she wants to "hug" her daddy that she can hug the quilt. I hope she hugs it to pieces !!!


Anyway, it was one of the most special evenings in my life. Looking at those little girls' faces and listening to the stories Nicole told about the pictures.....I just got that warm fuzzy feeling inside....you know !!! Here are a few more pictures from Uncle Dave's house at Christmas dinner...

Amie and Angela....














Nicole (my niece) with the "traditional" Boyd's Bear from Auntie, which by the way is appropriately named Amy Quiltberry!!!

















Lastly, here are a couple more pictures of Christmas morning at home!!!


Craig wearing his beanie from Matt & Junior















Grandma Dorie & Matt















And Junior !!!




Love to all our family and friends !
Karene

Miss Priss !!

Ok, ok....I know it's way, way too early for me to update my blog again, but I just had to !!! Due to the enormous amount of transcription I have had over the last several weeks and everything with Craig, I knew it was going to be tough to get any decorations up this year. Also, knowing that Craig would not be feeling up to decorating for the holidays, I wanted to make it nice for Matt & Junior....so I, (AKA: Miss Priss), decided to do a few things around the yard to decorate for Christmas. Anyone who knows me, knows that being a born-and-raised Southern California girl, I have always relied on my dad, my brother, or Craig to do stuff like this for me. But, my bestest buddy likes to play with power tools and always teases me that I should be doing some of this stuff myself, so I took on the task of putting up Christmas lights.....ALL BY MYSELF!!! However, Matt did offer to help (when I was practically all done) but he did offer a couple of times.

As you know, I used to paint (before I quilted), and I made this snowman and Santa. They have been collecting dust in the garage for years. However, I found them and cleaned them up to put along the path to the front porch.





Last Saturday, I had managed to get the reindeer up and put on the yard but wanted more.





Going on a mission, I went out and found the kind of lights that go over bushes....well, they were too small to go over the big bushes in the front, so I put them over the two small trees and the bush by the front door instead. It actually worked out well. But, I miss the colored lights that my dad used to put up every year. So, I managed to find them in the garage in opened boxes. Being the Priss that I am, I was very cautious about black widow or brown recluse spiders being inside those boxes and I pulled the top wire out until all the lights came out one by one so I could see if anything was going to "jump" out at me.....thank goodness nothing did!!! Anyway, I got two strands of lights out and decided that I was not about to climb a ladder and try to get the lights under the eves. I had already done that a couple of times to get the power cords to the outlet, and let me tell you.....I don't like heights, (again Miss Priss) !!! However, I put them around the front window in the yard.....It's just enough to make it festive and it was the best I could do all by myself.





So, here is the final outcome of Miss Priss and her decorating skills.....




Also, my good friends, Joy & Yvette, thought I was out playing with "Bernie" (my new sewing machine) instead of working today. I was even "LAUGHED" at and told I "was not a true quilter" because I didn't have a quilting project to work on !!! ...I politely mentioned I have TWO QUILTING projects in the PLANNING stages...not all of us have three-day weekends or a sewing room to retreat too (just teasing you, my friends, you know I love ya) !!! However, after another 2000 line day, I took breaks to try to decorate and rest my hands. So, now I've blogged it too and have to finish the rest of my 2,148,7999 line day.....ha,ha,ha !

Love, Karene

New Things

Hi Everyone, it's been several weeks since I last updated my blog as I been very, very busy. However, someone (who shall remain nameless, but you know who you are!!!) was giving me grief that I have not posted anything recently.....ah, I love you anyway !!! Well, I have been busy making baby quilts, attending a baby shower, doing Thanksgiving, taking care of Craig, and of course the most fun thing of all to do.....going to QUILT CLASS!!!!!

Here is one of the baby quilts I made since my last post. This one was made for Tina's newest granddaughter, Ava. Ava is a gorgeous little girl with dark brown hair. Tina's daughter, Tiffany, told me she wanted something in pinks and browns. So, of course I went on a mission. I found this really sweet pink fabric with little hearts on it. Then I found this brown material with pink roses.....I think they went together beautifully.








Because of the tendinitis in my hands, I have to do my binding by machine. As you can see, I put little pink hearts all around the binding !!!!














I made another baby quilt for Tricia's new baby out of Bambi material to match her nursery. She came out the first week in November for her baby shower. I just barely finished the quilt in time and forgot to take a picture. She moved to North Carolina now and am waiting for a picture of the nursery and the quilt so I can post a picture of it.


After finishing the baby quilts, I made two memory quilts; one for Taylor & one for Lexie. These are Craig's cousin's daughters. The quilts have pictures of the girls with their dad printed on material and sewn into each quilt. Their dad passed away this summer, about six weeks before Craig was diagnosed. Anyway, this is the first Christmas without their dad and I wanted to get them done in time. I had my teacher, Ms. Janet, (teacher extraordinnaire) quilt them and they are absolutely gorgeous. Since their mom, grandma, and aunt read this blog I will not be posting pictures of these quilts until after I give them to the girls on Christmas Day....I want everyone to be surprised when they finally see them.


SEW (pun intended).....ha, ha, ha.....Craig and I talked about it and I got an early Christmas, birthday, and anniversary present.....for the next several years!!! Enter "Bernie"....my new Bernina 640E embroidery / quilting machine. Bernie and I are getting to know each other and so far he's doing everything I want him to!!! I still have to take the new owners classes as well as the embroidery classes but I'll tell you I love him. He is SEW much fun !






I wanted to try something simple on him at first so I decided to make the Magic Corner placemats for my mother-in-law. Well, the first time I used Bernie on a "project", things did not turn out so well. Enter one of my good quilting buddies, Yvette, who also owns a Bernina (not the same one as mine, but she's gearing up to buy one too). She happened to come to the free sew day and saved me from tearing my hair out. She told me that I needed to adjust the tension when I was stippling, and it was smooth sailing after that. Since the placemats weren't exactly what I wanted for my mother-in-law, I was telling my mom that I'd probably just keep them. She promptly wanted them for herself....ha,ha,ha!!! Well, now my mom will probably get these for a gift, as they just so happen to match the decor in her kitchen.





Again, here is one of the decorative stitches (over 500 to choose from) that Bernie has to offer. I did the binding on each placemat with a leaf motif. It really did turn out great!





Ok, SEW, back to work for me !!! I promise to update again when more projects are done or when Bernie does something new for me !!! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

All my love, Karene