June Happy Mail

No better way to wrap up a long month than with some happy mail!

My monthly fat quarter delivery arrived today:

Along with this wonderful H2H prize package from Katie Q who blogs at Katie's Salt March Path. Thank you Katie!! All the little extra were so kind and thoughtful. I love them!

I especially can't wait to play with this Oink A Doodle Moo jelly roll!

Stop by for Tuesday Archives tomorrow as we begin with themes in the letter E.

Tomorrow's archived themes: Easter and Echo Quliting.

See ya then! With smiles,

Val;)

June RSC: My Final Yellow Blocks

Happy Scrappy Saturday!

I had fun adding a yellow girl and house to my neighborhood today.

I also moved the whole neighborhood to a larger design wall and I'm loving how they are coming together! This quilt top is going to be so fun to embellish. I'm envisioning appliqued trees, doors and windows along with a few button accents and perhaps some yoyo flowers added to those green lawns.

Looking forward to adding next month's color.

With smiles,

Val:)

Mini Twister Wallhanging

Sorting through college daughter's things, I came across this little wallhanging I made her one Christmas. These batiks are so "her" and I love that it gets to hang in our house for the summer. (As she was pretty adamant that it was only on "loan"). (love that!)

I'm behind on all my sewing. I haven't even looked at my yellows for the June RSC and my ALYoF June Goal still sits exactly where it's been. But that's okay! I have five days of summer school left then watch me sew. And so far, it looks like I have a sewing weekend coming up, which means I just may meet those June goals yet! Yah!

Just curious, what are your weekend plans?

With Smiles!

Val:)

Tuesday Archives #17: Dogs and Dots!

Welcome to the linky party that let's you rejuvenate your old quilting/sewing posts! I'm so glad you stopped by as this week is all about sharing everything and anything in the themes of dogs and dots!

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DOGS 

Boy we quilter's sure love our cats and dogs!  (Ya know I have plenty to share about Jackson!)

But I do have to say, for this week's highlight I looked forward to sharing this wonderful dog quilt made last summer by blogging friend Marianne at The Adventurous Quilter . So many cool details and techniques on this one! Be sure to grab yourself a highlighted button from above Marianne!

DOTS 

Okay...who doesn't just love polka-dots!?!  Don't they just inspire you to play!

I got my Hexi back!

We were off on a quick road trip yesterday to move our youngest daughter home from college and I was able to get an entire hexi flower sewn. Felt soooo good to be hand sewing again. This will be part of my Hexagon Memory Quilt.

I plan to pre-cut a few more flowers to have on hand for some more relaxing summer sewing. Off to link up with other slow stitchers at Kathy's Sunday Linky.

With smiles!
Val:)

Flannel Twister Quilt Finished

My parents have been visiting for two weeks and my mom cracked up when she got to see for herself how Jackson thinks every quilt I lay out is for him! She snapped this picture as I was cutting the batting off my finished flannel twister quilt

The Front

Here it is all finished. Cousin Amber had to get in the picture and we really love the scrappy binding! This quilt is soooo soft and warm!!

The Back

I used all my left over flannel and created strips for the back. I really like how it came out.

This quilt will see many more adventures than me, as my dad will use it in their motorhome during their summer travels.

The Quilting

 I quilted it using a dog pantograph:

 and loved that it had bones

and a doghouse too!

Here's where it will "live" on my parents' motorhome bed on the Underground Railroad Quilt I had made them for their 50th Anniversary earlier:

And here's where it will be used by my dad in their motorhome while he spends afternoons watching golf and baseball all cozy and warm.

The perfect quilty hug don't ya think!

With Smiles!

Val:)

One Year Blogging Anniversary!

I didn't really realize that this week celebrates my first year of blogging, until my mom commented the other day on how much progress I've made in my quilting life over the past year.  But yep! It was a year ago today that I transitioned from being a curious blog reader to a creative blog writer! It's so wierd to remember how nervous and unsure I was. You can check out my first post in the linky party below.

Have you gone back and read your first post lately? Pretty fun! Remember those first posts when your only "traffic sources" where spammers and/or wierdos and you were begging your family members to comment just to make sure your comment button worked!!! LOL!I love this virtual quilting guild we are all creating and am curious of what your first post looks like and says about you! Just for fun....feel welcome to share.
With smiles!
Val:)

Tuesday Archives #16: Design Walls and Directional Prints

Welcome to the linky party that let's you rejuvenate your old quilting/sewing posts! I'm so glad you stopped by as this week is all about sharing Design Walls and Directional Prints. I found two archived posts on the below blogs that are wonderful resources. I hope both highlighted blogs grab a button:

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<a href="http://myplvl.blogspot.com/" title="Val's Quilting Studio"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjutD7tRLup6XPOfBW37FljOItOInStQju8NyyFXgKpbjRWlXv-7KC9pxbI8Wml8gGWhrJ6YMcP090ccK4LWqTJi2QjOM6KPgI4tngYsnoFlSXEBzY5g-MCh9DveXQdSjV_nqJEtetBmzsk/s1600/untitled3+(150x109).jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" alt="Val's Quilting Studio" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

DESIGN WALLS: 

It's hard to live without a design wall (or floor) as a quilter. I've used everything from the back of  flannel tablecloth to finally, creating my own design walls. I've seen so many unique and inventive design walls out there and am looking forward to having this collections of links to refer to in the future! Dig through those archives or even create a new post and share anything and everything that has to do with design walls. (Even if it's just a favorite WIP) Oh and here's the tutorial I used over at Ellison Lane Quilts to make mine: 

DIRECTIONAL PRINTS: 

Directional Prints are so much fun yet can be a little confusing to use.  I found this informative post on identifying and using directional prints at Sew, Sew, Happy.  Seriously, any and all projects that include directional prints are welcome today.

Reminder to Self

Wouldn't these make for wonderful applique leaves?

I'm creating this as part of my life and learning posts for quilting is one thing that I'm learning truly comforts me. It lets me be creative, expressive and quiet. I find comfort in the hum of the sewing machine and in slipping a needle through the edge of a quilt as I bind it's finishing touches. I find joy in the creation and gifting of quilts.

 Are you a parent to adult children? If so, isn't it a unique transition? I'm learning that in life, sometimes the only thing we can control is how we react to moments. It's rewarding and overwhelming all at the same time. I'm learning to accept and respect their decisions that may be different than our own. I'm learning to replace my own worries and concerns with faith and trust in how we raised our children.
Curious what parenting life lessons you may be learning along the way?

 As a nurturer, I'm admittedly learning how to not let my own emotions and energies overwhelm me during this transition.  I'm learning to take care of myself first and not my children. A weird, yet inspiring time  in my life that I notices actually helps them that I do this! I take comfort in knowing that I have and am doing the best I can. I'm reminded to be gentle with myself and not loose my own balance in life, when theirs falls out of balance.  I'm grateful, happy and proud of the life I created that includes: health, family, marriage to my very best friend, teaching, walking, and this wonderful hobby of ours.

With smiles,
Val:)

Sewing Cabinet Refurbished

Before

 After

THANK YOU for all your comments on my previous post. The wood of the cabinet was not in very good condition, so my dad decided to sand it down and restored it to "fit" into our primitive decor using a black satin spray paint. I love it so much that I decided to set it up next to a window in our diningroom. I plan to follow up on all your references and once I get the machine up & going I think this will be a perfect spot to start sewing my eye spy quilt. 

Meanwhile, the rest of my weekend will be spent enjoying a household of family. Umm...no body told me being a grandma meant rearranging all my lower kitchen cabinets! LOL!

Happy Weekend!

With smiles,

Val:)

Look what $15.00 bought me!

Treasure Find #1:

Hidden inside this case:

Was this:

For FIVE DOLLARS...and it works! 

All's it needs is a new light bulb and a belt: (ya think!)

Treasure Find #2:

Check out what's inside here: 

 Ta!Da!

 I seriously have no clue about either of these. (LOL!) But we were out garage sale hunting for a high chair and came across them. On day one, they wanted $100.00 for them both...by late Sunday afternoon...they were lined up on the sidewalk just waiting for my final return! 

And seriously,my treasure hunting didn't even end there 

as I found all this inside one of the drawers:

The best $15.00 I've spent in a long time don't ya think!?

I can't wait to research these and get them busy sewing. I guarantee future posts. But in the mean time, if you have any websites you would recommend me to use to start my research, please do leave them in the comments, I'd be sooo appreciative. Linking up with my blogging buddy Marianne at her linky: Thrift Thursday and a few other linky parties that are on my "party" page. Check them out.

With smiles!

Val:)

Tuesday Archives #15: Displayed Quilts & Diamonds!

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<a href="http://myplvl.blogspot.com/" title="Val's Quilting Studio"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTh-z8MMZ2VMG5eOk3VAQbw4e7l-v0gQQ1yBZyyvmagoeIAeuGX8qww-6JOmIkrtcFvNzCZEAkhaLp1oXC05Jlr-kIGufJ_gRTv3B7C0SVcKnPPa5aeQJUlvX65bsV-8ikQJ2KSxwSCDo8/s1600/Untitled2.jpg" alt="Val's Quilting Studio" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Welcome to the linky party that let's you rejuvenate your old quilting/sewing posts! I'm so glad you stopped by as this week is all about sharing how we Display our Quilts and well, Diamonds, a girl's best friend!

DISPLAYED QUILTS: 

My husband made me this ladder last summer to display some of my quilts.  It's perfectly located in our livingroom where quilts can be easily grabbed as we gather as a family and chat. This theme is all about quilts displayed in your home and perhaps ones you've even displayed in a show and/or exhibit. Please feel welcome to share them all...

DIAMOND PATTERNED QUILTS:

My copy of this February issue has a few sticky notes throughout, as I want to make a Diamond Medallion quilt like this one day. I've been seeing Diamond quilts popping up all over the place and I'm not sure if it's because I've been busy admiring them or if they are hip right now...never the less...please do share your Diamonds with us! 

Stash Busting with my Mom!

In January, this pile of fabric did not make my 2014 Goal List. I originally bought this as a kit about two years ago to make this basket pattern for my mom. The colors are beautiful and favorites of my mom. But, as I have progressed as a quilter, I realize I do not like detailed patterns like this, so the fabric has sat.

Well, my parents are visiting for two weeks and yesterday found my mom and I "relooking" at  this fabric. After searching through patterns and with the help of her cocker, Amber, we choose to make these into a simple chevron pattern.

After almost an hour of us saying: "Move that pink one there, and that brown one there"....we were both very pleased with the end result and I can't wait to get cutting.
(After I get my  dad's twister flimsy quilted that is!)
Mom and I certainly having fun playing with fabric!
With smiles,
 Val:)