Great Day With A Good Friend

Today I met with a good friend and we had a wonderful day of sewing (on our clients work), had lunch, cups of tea, planned a new quilt for just the two of us and then ran to the fabric store to purchase the fabric for the background of our new quilt. As always we talked and talked and laughed. Neither one of us had anything heavy to discuss, just a nice relaxed time together. We figured out that we had met 14 years ago, and through our love of quilting and sewing became friends right away. I feel very blessed that over the years we have become very good friends. She has always been there for me and has seen me through some pretty tough times and shared in some really fun, wonderful times. In my opinion she is the definition of a true friend.
I have read that if you can say you really have one good, true friend in your lifetime, that is really good; well I have been blessed with two people that fall into that category. My other dear friend lives miles away from me now, but I know that I can pick up the phone at anytime, after not talking for awhile, and it is like we have talked everyday. She is always there for me and accepts me just the way I am. Wow! She can always make me laugh, even in trying times, and she will cry with me too. She too, is my definition of a true friend.
I am truly thankful for these two amazing friends in my life.

My hope for everyone, is that each of you do have that special friend (or friends) in your life.

Blessing To All,

Jan

Loving Stitches, A Quilters Life: Pretty Horse Quilt Top

Loving Stitches, A Quilters Life: Pretty Horse Quilt Top: Hi, it's been a few days since I have posted! My, how the time fly's by, fast . I went into the quilt store, where I used to work, ...

Pretty Horse Quilt Top

Hi, it's been a few days since I have posted! My, how the time fly's by, fast.
I went into the quilt store, where I used to work, the other day to deliver some quilts for a friend of mine. They had just gotten in a beautiful panel of horses with the coordinating fabrics, which I fell in love with. Well, the assistant manager came over and asked me if I would like to make a sample for the store out of it. Of course I said "yes". The policy of the shop is if you make a store sample, they provide all of the fabric and after they are done showing it,it is yours. Yea! I took the top in yesterday and they were very pleased with it.
The pattern that went with the fabric made up very long and narrow, which I wasn't fond of. So, I added a fabric and adjusted the borders to make it wider. Well, the first attempt didn't turn out very good, just didn't like it. Here is a picture of the first one.

The lighter border on the outside and the dark border just on the sides just didn't look 'right', made it off balanced.

Here it is after I took off the last two borders and rearranged them. Looks much better, don't ya think.

Now, back to work. Making a T-shirt quilt for a lady to give to her son for a High School graduation gift. Got to get it done so she can get it to the quilter, then back to me so I can get it bound.

I am still working on the double wedding ring repair job too. Wow, lots of hand work on that one!

Blessings to All,

Jan



Amazing Galloping Horses 1080p HD

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Loving Stitches, A Quilters Life: Raggedy Ann and Andy

Loving Stitches, A Quilters Life: Raggedy Ann and Andy: When I was a little girl, one of my favorite dolls was my Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy. I remember Mama saying that every little girl s...

Raggedy Ann and Andy

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite dolls was my Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy. I remember Mama saying that every little girl should have a pair of these happy little rag dolls. They had a special place on my bed pillows where they would sit and wait for me to come and talk to them. I didn't really 'play' with them, but I loved to talk to them and tell them all about my day. I just knew they understood me because they had hearts. All true Raggedy Ann's and Andy's have hearts stamped or sewn on their chests. Some even have candy hearts sewn in them. They would also sit with my friend and myself, on my canopy bed, while we played paper dolls. When I got in trouble, or was sad, they were always there to help make me feel better. Their soft rag bodies and happy little faces made the perfect cuddle companions and always lifted my spirits. After I got older I thought that I had gotten too old for them, so they were packed away with some of my other dolls. Years passed and then I had a little girl of my own. One of the first dolls I got her was a set of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. She loved them and almost wore them out playing and cuddling them. I even got my son a Raggedy Andy doll when he was very small. As with myself they soon outgrew their Raggedy dolls, and they were packed away too. Now, many years later I have come across the box holding our Raggedy dolls! What a wonderful find! Seeing my dolls, now with no clothes on, don't know what happened to them, brought back so many warm and happy memories. My son's little Andy was in there and the first tiny Raggedy Ann I made my first granddaughter was there along with a pair I had made several years ago for the spare bedroom. The one pair that wasn't in there was my daughters, not sure what happened to them. The creator of these wonderful dolls was Johnny Gruelle, he was an illustrator of children's books. Here is a good link to go to that gives the history of these dolls,   http://www.raggedy-ann.com/patty.html.

Here is my little crew of Raggedy Ann and Andy's

The little Ann sitting on the chair is the one I made my granddaughter and the other one is a prayer Raggedy Ann she got at a christian camp.

This picture was painted by my Aunt Bonney for my daughter after she was born. She was a published artist at the time.

Two of the little books that my children and grandchildren loved to have read to them. We had a couple of really nice hardback story books too, but haven't been able to locate them. 

Hope you will go to the link I provided and find out more about the story of these wonderful little dolls.

Blessings to All,

Jan

Little Felted Bunny

I came across my wool roving and felting supplies the other day. I love the feel of wool and really enjoy working with it. I was teaching myself to felt animals when my parents became ill and I didn't have time to work on it anymore. So, I packed everything up and put it away. It was so exciting to try my hand at it again. Thinking about spring coming and Easter I decided to try and make a little bunny. I was surprised at how fast this little guy came together! I got it done while watching TV the other evening. The supplies called for a light pink for the inside of the ears. Well, I didn't have that color, so I took my white roving and dyed it with some strawberry juice, got the perfect light pink. Not having the correct color sent my on a search for wool roving. I was surprised to learn that Walmart has it online, it is also available on ebay and amazon. I have a friend that lives in Montana that raises sheep, am going to check with her to see if she has roving for sale. If she does I will share her address here.
Here are a few pictures of my little felted bunny.

 

My felting supplies

 

 

Little Bunny all done!

 

 

Working on this little guy gave me a nice break from the big quilt repair job I'm working on . The double wedding ring that I shared in an earlier post. If you like wool and have thought about doing something like this, I would encourage you to try it. So much fun!!

 

Blessings to All,

Jan

 



Double Wedding Ring Quilts, So Pretty!

Well, here it is the first of March. It has certainly come in like a very cold lion!! We have sleet, ice and snow in the forecast for this weekend!

I am now doing a repair job on an older double wedding ring quilt for a client. Wow, what a job it is turning out to be. When I first looked at it I had no idea how many little pieces were going to have to be replaced. At last count there are about 68, that is a lot of hand sewing. I was fortunate to find some greens that are fitting in nicely, even though the quilt is quite faded. Here is a peek at what it looks like.

The Double Wedding Ring pattern is a beautiful quilt and as the name suggests it has been a wonderful wedding gift for many a bride & groom. It is a good scrap basket quilt or it can have a color theme. Either way it makes up very pretty.

Here are a few pictures of the different ways they can be made. 

This last one made in all tan & light brown is very elegant. I would think any bride would love to receive this one.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Blessings To All,

Jan