Quilt Crazy Debbie

Linen Quilt

2011-08-27T11:05:00.001-07:00

I took a class at Thimble with Cindy Needham. The Linen Lady. I just love her! She is a great Teacher and I highly recommend taking her class. I have marked my Linen and I'm ready to sew. I might have to put aside my Garden Window Quilt for awhile. I am easily side tracked. :)

I have been quilting!

2011-08-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

I have been quilting ,really! I started this project in 2007. It was the Challenge for my Friendship Group that year. (The Material Girls) I finished the center but didn't get into the rest of it that year. I wanted to do something special. I added a small border Sawtooth border and then a large Machine appliqued flower border. I finished it with another small Sawtooth Border. (1 inch).

Now I'm Quilting it! This is the part I really enjoy. I know I'm Crazy! It has been very time consuming. I've use Bottom Line in both the top and the bobbin. Also some Glitter with Bottom Line in the bobbin. Some Brytes with Sew Fine in the Bobbin. Rainbow with Bottom Line in the Bobbin. I'm not near finished, but thought I would show you a sample.

I'm also going to add some embellishments. So, more to come.........

Oh, and I used Dream Wool for the Batting.

2 More Purses

2011-07-04T19:25:00.001-07:00

I made two more purses today. They are suppose to be for gifts. But...... I really like them. I guess I could keep one. Which one should I keep?

Pillow

2011-07-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

I love having days off work! I can get so much sewing done. Here is a cute pillow all out of scraps! Even the pillow back is a recycled man's shirt!

Tulip Purse

2011-07-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

The pattern said Two-Hour Purse. Yeah right. It took me more than 2 hours just to read and re-read the pattern. It's called the Long-Stemmed Tulip Purse by Janice D. Pope of Anything But Boring. It turned good. I used my Beautiful Red Fabric that I purchased 5 years ago at a Ricky Tims Lecture. I love that fabric so I better like the purse!

Ready to Quilt!

2011-06-28T19:50:00.001-07:00

This has been a long running project, as most of my friends know. I think I started it in 2007. As a Material Girls Challenge. It is finally ready to quilt! I finished sewing on the last 1" sawtooth border tonight. All of the Applique is done by machine with an invisible stitch. It was done using the glued stabilizer method. With a turned edge. With a 4 day weekend coming up, I should get a good start with the quilting!

Artichoke Flowers

2011-06-19T17:51:00.000-07:00

I bought these Beautiful Artichoke Flowers at the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. I was told that they would dry beautifully too. We'll see.

Time to Block

2011-06-19T17:49:00.001-07:00

Finally finished quilting my Nine Patch Pizazz. So now it's being Blocked. It shouldn't take long to dry in this weather!

Sew Eclectic

2011-06-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Evening Mel and Pat Bell hosted a wonderful dinner for Sew Eclectic. We had a wonderful Dinner and a great time sharing. I just had to take a picture of this work of art! Wouldn't it make a great Ruth McDowell Quilt?

Material Girls Party

2011-06-11T18:21:00.001-07:00

Today was a wonderful day! I had fun with the "Material Girls"! Diane Mitchell hosted our Spring Summer Brunch at her house today. We had great food and wonderful company! We also got a little work done. This quilt above is a Quilting practice piece I did after watching Patsy Thompson's DVD about Leaves and Vines. That is a great DVD! I want to watch her Feather DVDs next. Today I finished the Binding. All I need is a label. Now I'm off to finish quilting more Leaves and Vines on my Nine Patch Pizazz Quilt.

Retirement Quilt #3

2011-06-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the Retirement T-Shirt Quilt that I made for SueAnn Hillman. It is made with the T-Shirts from all of the Schools in the Tulare City School District. SueAnn is retiring after 31 years of service. Good for her and she will be missed.

Retirement Quilt #2

2011-06-02T19:43:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I attended a retirement party for an old friend. I have worked with Rachel Rodriguez for 34+ years at the Tulare City School District. And before that I went to Jr. High and High School with her. She is retiring this year after 39, yes I said 39 years with the School District. I presented this quilt to her. I hope she enjoys it. It is a signature quilt with many, many signatures of people she has worked with over the years.

I am now officially the longest working employee at the District Office. Wow! Time does fly when you're having fun. And you might as well have fun. Because it will fly anyway!

Retirement Quilt #1

2011-06-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

I presented this retirement quilt to Barbara Xavier. She is a Principal at Garden School in Tulare. She is retiring after 37 years of service to the children of Tulare. Barbara is a wonderful caring lady and has always been a great supporter of my quilting. I thought I would surprise her with a quilt and I did!

Then today she surprised me with this beautiful bouquet of flowers! I thought the receptionist had called up the wrong Debbie! This was a nice surprise.

The Finish Line

2011-05-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

What a great time! My Wild Women Friends and I finished up at Thimble Town today. Barbara did a great job driving. I only had to shut my eyes and hold on twice. I got some great stuff! It was fun just putting it all out on the bed to take the picture. I'm glad we finish today. So tomorrow I can work on some of this great stuff I got.

Shop Hop starts Tomorrow!

2011-05-19T19:52:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow starts the Central Valley Shop Hop. Can't wait. I didn't go last year, so I'm a newbee. There are 4 of us going together. We should have lots of fun and laughs. Just as long as we get potty breaks at each stop we should be fine. We will be Power Shopping! So we have to keep Elaine focused.

Retirement Quilt Done!

2011-05-19T19:41:00.000-07:00

The T-shirt Quilt is finally finished. I finished the binding yesterday and added the label last night. It turned out pretty cute. It's for a friend I work with at the Tulare City School District. She is retiring after 31 years of service. (I remember when she started!) The School District has 14 schools and I needed 16 blocks. One of the shirts had a nice saying about Educators and I had Kathy Morrison make a large label for the last one. It says "Presented to SueAnn Hillman in appreciation of 31 years of service to the students of the Tulare City School District" Linda Matthews quilted. I wasn't about to take that on. I couldn't have possibly finished it by June 2.

But anyway, Linda did a wonderful job on it. I'm sure SueAnn will love it.

My Doggies

2011-05-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple of cute pictures of my Doggies. Cocoa is the top picture and Katie is the bottom picture. Katie must have found a bug.

More Purses

2011-05-16T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here is a couple more purses that I finished yesterday. These are the Bow Tie Pattern. I would really like to add a zipper. If anyone can tell me how, I would appreciate it.

Visalia Dames

2011-05-16T19:36:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the Visalia and Tulare Material Girls "Visalia Dames" got together at Diane's house to sew. I made this cute purse. I used some beautiful Hand Dyes that I bought at BOTV from Kristin Eilers. And some Batiks that I had in my stash. It turned out bigger than the pattern said. But I like it. I can get more stuff in it!

I've been Lazy about Blogging

2011-05-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

I'm back! It just seems hard to find the time to blog. I'm sorry. I need to make the time to just do it!

This is a really cute picture of my Mother and my 2 little dogs. Katie is the new one on the left. And Cocoa is the little one with the beard on the right. And Mom is in the middle. All 3 of them are really cute.

We rescued Coca about 2 years ago from Love of Animals. And we rescued Katie a little over a month ago from The Valley Oak SPCA. Cocoa is not to happy about it.

BOTV 2011

2011-04-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Janice Minyard. She is the Featured Artist at the Best of The Valley Quilt Show. She is a wonderful Quilter and you must see her booth!

Diane Mitchell and I went to the show today and we sold tickets for the Orange Blossom Quilters' Opportunity Quilt. It won an Honorable Mention and is a real Beauty. If you would like to buy tickets for it just let me know. I posted a picture of it earlier on my Blog.

We also shopped til we dropped.

These glasses are so cool. They have lights on the sides of them. "the better to see with my dear"

The light fabric is for an Antique Linen Quilt that I plan to make. And the Black pieces are for the May Guild Class. It is Thoroughly Modern Dresden by Analie Belden.

Two Purse Patterns and a Book on Applique. And 2 Big Buttons for my Purses.

Here are the beautiful Hand Dyes by Kristen Eilers. Aren't they beautiful? I plan to use them in my Purses.

Cocoa's New Jacket

2011-03-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

My Little Dog Cocoa gets so cold. She needs to wear a Jacket. So my husband Larry and I picked out a cute pattern. I had some leftover Flannel and Batting, added some cute Doggie Ribbon and some Ric Rack. And here are the Results. She doesn't care much for it, but it does help keep her warm.

9- Patch Pizzazz

2011-03-20T09:03:00.000-07:00

2 weeks ago I took a class with Judy Sisneros called 9 Patch Pizzazz. It was sponsored by the Common Threads Quilt Guild in Hanford. I used my Marimekko Fabric for the Solid Blocks. I had to order some extra fabric for the Borders because I didn't want to piece them. It arrived yesterday. So I finished piecing it last night. I love it! I can't wait to quilt it. I'll have to live with it for awhile to decide what to do. Do you have any ideas? I would love your suggestions.

Another Retirement Quilt

2011-03-20T08:48:00.000-07:00

This will be a Signature Quilt for Rachel Rodriguez. Rachel has worked for the Tulare City Schools for 39 years. She started when she was a Co-op Student in High School. See the green Snowball Blocks? Those will have signatures from fellow employees. I used my Hand Dyes for the nine patches. I Dyed those with Kristen Eilers. She is great at Dyeing Fabric. (Amoung other talents). Kristen will be selling her Hand Dyes at BOTV this year. I have seen a Sneak Peak of the fabric and I can't wait!

This one isn't Quilted yet. I will have Linda Matthews quilt it. She does a great job with her Long Arm. And that will free up some time for me to make another Retirement Quilt. It will be a T-shirt Quilt. My Material Girlfriends gave me some ideas for that one. Hopefully I can post a picture of it in a few weeks.

Retirement Quilt

2011-03-19T18:41:00.001-07:00

Finished! I made this Quilt top last September while at my Pismo Beach Retreat with the Material Girls.

At the Orange Blossom Quilter's Christmas Party I won a Gift Certificate from Linda Matthews to have a Quilt top Quilted. So I used it on this Quilt. She did a fantastic job. I love it!

I work for the Tulare City Schools. There are several of my friends retiring this year and I am making them Quilts. This is the first one. It is for Barbara Xavier. She is the Principal at Garden Elementary School. She is retiring after 37 years of service to the Tulare City School District. I can't wait to give it to her. She has always been very supportive and interested in my quilting. So I think she will enjoy this. I hope so.

Embroidery Machine

2011-03-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

I've been busy with my Embroidery Machine. On Sunday I got out my Embroidery Machine for my Bernina 200. I made Quilt labels and more Quilt labels. I had been saving up. But I also made these cute little iphone cases. They were made entirely in the Hoop. So fun and so easy. I surprised myself. I thought the zipper might be hard. But it was easy too. The pattern is down loadable from DigiStitches.com. A very fun website.

Tomorrow I take a quilt case with the Common Threads Quilt Guild. The teacher is Judy Sisneros. The class is 9-Patch Pizzazz on Point. Should be fun.

Sparkling Gemstones

2011-02-26T20:25:00.000-08:00

I finally finished Sparkling Gemstones. I have had the top completed since September. I just had too many other projects to finish before I could quilt this one. It is made from a Jelly Roll of Kaffe Fassett Fabric and I used White Fairy Frost for the sashing. Very simple, but Bright and Summery. I'm happy with it.

Tomorrow I bring out the Embroidery Machine and make labels. I have a ton of them to make.

Flower Postcards

2011-02-20T16:10:00.000-08:00

I joined an online Postcard exchange group. Here is my first project. I copied my Precious Memories Quilt and made my postcards. My theme is Flowers. I hope my group will like them. I will mail them next week. I'm looking forward to seeing what I will get in the mail.

Precious Memories

2011-02-20T15:59:00.001-08:00

I made this quilt from a class with Terry Waldron. I started with an antique hankie that had Roses printed on it. I then added a vase with Appliqued Whimsical Flowers and silly button centers. It has my Mother and Father's wedding picture on it. My Father passed away September 15, 2010. So I gave this Quilt to my Mother for their 64th Wedding Anniversary on October 16th.

2011 Orange Blossom Opportunity Quilt

2011-02-20T15:51:00.001-08:00

This is the 2011 Orange Blossom Quilters Opportunity Quilt. Isn't it a Beauty? Diane Mitchell and I were the Co-Chairmen for this Quilt. Janice Minyard Quilted it. (She is the Featured Artist for the 2011 Best of the Valley Quilt Show). The other members that helped with the quilt are

Nanette Blumer, Juanita Cairns, Lynn Drennen, Sue Rowell, Kathy Elick, Eileen Pitts, and Elaine Berry. The name of the quilt is Blueberry Wine. Because of all of those itty, bitty circles it was almost named Blueberry Whine.

Too late or too early?

2011-02-20T15:47:00.001-08:00

Am I too late or am I too early? I'm too late again! This was the Material Girls 2010 Challenge. I made the center Medallion and the Material Girls made the signature blocks. I finally finished the quilting. It's name is "Scary Girls" I think it turned out cute. And I love the signature blocks from my friends.

Valentine Postcards

2011-02-04T20:26:00.001-08:00

I've been really bummed lately. I've had little inspiration to do much quilting. So I decided to do something small tonight. I made 4 Valentine Postcards. I used a pair of my old Cropped Pants that had a Floral Embroidery at the hemline. (The zipper had broke) I added the Heart Ribbon and the Ribbon with I Love You printed on it.

For the back of the Postcard I use the Shout Color Catchers that I have been saving. (I always knew I would find a use for them)

I think they turned out kind of cute.

Back from Road 2 Ca

2011-01-22T19:33:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful time at Road 2 California. The Quilts were wonderful! I can't believe how talents those artists are. I was honored to have my quilt Blue Berry Wine juried into the show.

I traveled with 3 great gals. Barbara Sindlinger, Diane Mitchell and Kathy Morrison. We also took the same class together. It was David Taylor's Advanced Pictorial Applique. I am working on a picture of my little dog Cocoa.

Here is Diane and the picture of the flower she is making into a quilt.

David talking to Kathy and Barb's group.

I also did a little bit of shopping there. Here is a picture of my great finds. At least I think they were great finds.

Road to California

2011-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sewelectic

2011-01-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

Last night I met with the little Art Group "Sew Eclectic"that I belong to. We decided to try a challenge for this year. We have a list of Play on Words that we can choose from. We are to make a 12" X 12" Quilt using that Play on Words. Once we get one made we will bring it to our meeting to share and then hopefully make another one and another one. I'm really going to try to do this challenge. It just seems that everything I do these days is a challenge though. Some of the phrases or Play on Words are:

Swine Flu
Boot Camp
Flower Child
Oopsy Daisy
Fruit of the Loom
Feeling Crabby
It's a Jungle Out There
No Spring Chicken
Pass the Buck

and on and on. You get the picture. Well ,what da ya think? Sounds like fun?

Don't Fall Over! I'm Blogging!

2011-01-09T18:05:00.001-08:00

I don't want anyone to hurt themselves. So don't be too shocked! I'm Blogging again. I'm sorry I don't have any real excuses other than I'm just not good at it.

My life last year was very stressful. I lost my Daddy in September and I lost my Little Squirt in December.

So now I'm ready to get on with it!

If you are going to Road to California, keep your eye out for my Quilt "Blue Berry Wine" it was Juried into the Show!

I sent entries in for 2 other Quilts, but they didn't get in. They were "Autumn Wood" and "My Little Squirt" Those two got into PIQF in October of 2010.

I have been Quilting my "2010 Material Girl Signature Blocks". I had everyone make Halloween Blocks. They turned out so cute. As soon as I get it finished, I'll post it.

I have no idea how I got the top section underlined! Barbara I need your help!

2010-04-17T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yes I really do work on projects. Here are my 16 Blocks Done! These are my Signature Blocks that are done on June the 12th. I hope everyone else will have theirs done. I know Barbara Sindlinger has her blocks done. Does anyone else?

2010-04-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

It such a beautiful day! I just thought I would share how beautiful my yard is right now. Before everything gets burned from the summer heat!

Well, I'll be off to the Best of the Valley Quilt Show in a little while. My Mother and Husband are going with me this morning. I'll be working this afternoon.

Best of the Valley Quilt Show

2010-04-09T20:01:00.001-07:00

Here is the "Best Use of Color" winner at the Best of the Valley Quilt Show! Janice Minyard! It was so exciting walk into the show with Janice. She was so surprised and happy. She told me she never wins. Well she did this year. Good for her.

This quilt was made by my friend Diane Mitchell. It is the Vintage Moments Pattern. She received a second place ribbon. Congratulations Diane! A really Beautiful Quilt.

These two Quilts were made by my friend Barbara Sindlinger. Aren't they Beautiful? They both received Honorable Mention Ribbons.

Here is my quilt "Autumn Wood". It received a First Place Ribbon. I'll show more tomorrow.

"Little Squirt"

2010-04-09T19:56:00.000-07:00

I finally finished "Little Squirt"! I'm so please with this project. It really looks just like my Little Squirt. Squirt is 16 years old now. I love him dearly.

Empty Spools

2010-03-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

I bet you have been wondering if I had fell off the face of the earth! No, I have not! I've been very busy quilting and having fun. Last week I spent a marvelous time at the Empty Spools Quilting Seminar. My class was with Ruth McDowell. She was a wonderful teacher. I highly recommend taking a class from her. Next year will be her last at Empty Spools.

Here is Anna and Barbara. Anna is resting after all her Quilting with Don Linn. She loved her Class. Barbara is doing her Therapy for her Shoulder. She wasn't to happy with her class choice. It was not what she expected.

I was lucky to have my work station next to the Artist in Residence, David Taylor. What a wonderful and gifted Artist he is. And a very fun fellow. He will be teaching next year at Empty Spools. I would love to take a class with him.

This is Ruth McDowell's Quilt. It is her Daughter's Dog. It was my inspiration for my Quilt.

Here is my design. It is my 16 year old dog Squirt. I took the picture years ago. It is one of the best pictures I have every taken.

This is what it looks like as of this morning. I worked on it yesterday for awhile. I'm really happy with it. Someone in the class said to me, "This class makes you look like an Artist, even if you can't draw." I think that statement is true.

I had a great time at Empty Spools. I met a bunch of wonderful, talented people. And I will remember last week for a long, long time.

2010-02-14T16:02:00.000-08:00

This year at the Orange Blossom Quilt Guild we have something new. Becky Hoskins is leading us in a theme quilt. Our Quilt is from the Seasonal Delights Book by Nancy Smith and Lynda Milligan. "1776 Let Freedom Ring". Here is my first month's project. I used only fabric from my stash. I did not have to buy anything. So each month we will make the next section and by the end of the year we will each have a completed quilt. This should be a nice project for me to do.

I haven't done any piecing for a few months. So this weekend has been nice. I've been worked on the Material Girls Challenge. The Material Girls is my friendship group from the Common Threads Quilt Guild. This year we are making signature blocks. Each of us picked a theme or a set of colors. We each stated the size we would like. In June we will get together and exchange blocks. Then we will have to create a quilt using those blocks by our December Christmas Party.
Last night I made 5 blocks. I only have 11 more to go. I think I'll work on more tonight. I can't show them yet. It's another secret.......

2010-02-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

Here is my 3rd entry for the BOTV Quilt Show. It's called "Edith's Hankie". It was an Old Hankie that belonged to my Aunt Edith. It is yellow with Flocked Flowers. I set it on top of yellow sateen. I Quilted it and did Trapunto. I added some little white lace at the edging. I'm happy with the out come. Now we'll see if any of them get juried into the show.

This morning Diane Mitchell came over and we did some planning for the Orange Blossom Quilter's 2011 Opportunity Quilt. Here are the fabrics we are using. I wish I could show you one of the Blocks, but it's a secret......... I can tell you that it will be an appliqued quilt. We think it will be beautiful! We hope everyone else will too!

2010-02-06T18:12:00.000-08:00

I was told I needed to update my Blog. It won't happen very often. I've been working on this for 30 minutes already. I'm just not good at this, I don't know why I thought I should have a blog....

Today I took a beading class with Tom Adkins. I was really disappointed that I didn't come out of the class with a beautiful work of art! Ha! Just kidding. I would love to make something like this beautiful flower.

Instead my project turned out like this.

So I came home and started quilting on my Table Cloth that I purchased 2 years ago at Road to California. I like the way it is turning out.

Well, I'm going to get back to my Table Cloth. Beading is just too stressful!

2010-01-31T18:33:00.000-08:00

Well I've done it. I started my Blog. What am I thinking???? I don't have time for this! When am I gonna quilt? I just felt so left out. All the Cool Quilters are blogging. So I want to be cool too.

So here goes.

Today I took pictures of the quilts I want to enter into the "Best of the Valley" Quilt show. I took pictures of 2 of them. The third one doesn't have a sleeve yet. So it will have to wait.

Here is the first one. I named it "Autumn Wood". It was made for my Friendship Group, The Material Girls, 2009 Challenge. It was a Paint Chip Challenge. We each drew Paint Chip Cards and had to make a quilt with those colors. We could add one other color.

The second one is an Antique Dresser Scarf. I just did the quilting on it. I took a class from Cindy Needham last year a Road to California. She is amazing. If you ever get a chance to take a class from her, take it! It was great fun.

I'll have to get the other Quilt picture next week.