You Better Not Pout...Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Friday night I went to an Open Sew Night at PW (my local quilt store). I worked on this wall hanging...You Better Not Pout...Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. I love this quilt and can't wait to finally quilt it. Again I'm not sure how I am going to quilt it. I might just quilt around the appliques and around the various borders. I had to cut down the main portion, cut the borders, and sewed them on.

This is all I worked on ... I was having fun being social. Prior to going to PW I went to dinner with two of my friends...Sherry and Sue. We went to Baker's Square. I had my favorite .... Chicken Stir Fry Pita. February 23 was National Pie Day.

The Two Projects I Worked on at PW New Year's Eve

Here are the pictures I promised...

...the first one is Folded Fabric Wreath. I took it back in 2002 and had part of it completed. I decided to bind it in the teal color and it is now ready to be put on the wall or be used as a table topper. I started this one in a friend's class and it turned out so nice. It is a "winter" wall hanging. I am planning on hanging it in my bathroom next Christmas as we are having our family over.

The second one was a class called Rocky Mountain High which I took at a local technical college again in 2002. I only had to finish the piecing that goes in the border and then piece the border and sew it on. I now have to quilt it and I really don't know how to quilt it...any ideas? I am so happy that I am getting a lot of my UFO's either pieced and/or quilted. When I looked at what I had I came up with 60 quilts. There could be more in my storage shed but these are the ones that I have here. Hopefully I will get some more done on Friday when I go to my local quilt store for an Open Sew evening. Wish me luck on getting some of those UFO's done...I'll need it!

Mom's Christmas Quilt

This is my Mom's Christmas present. She loves it. In fact she used it again tonight. This quilt has gotten so much use since I gave it to her.

I took her to a local quilt store and she saw it there (it was the one that Jen had made as the store sample). Anyways she said how much she loved it and I had to look away before I gave the surprise away-I already had purchased the quilt kit and pattern for Let it Snow. I gave my Mom a quilt years ago and she loved it. She really loves quilts but she is not a quilter. She appreciates all the work that goes into it a quilt!

She did not have any idea that I was working on this quilt at Jen's house. Jen quilted it beautifully so that I could surprise her on Christmas Eve when we open gifts. I was over at Jen's on the pretense that I was finishing my brother's quilt. I was but I also had to get her quilt done.

I have to say I love batiks~my Mom loves them too. Blue is her favorite color so this was the perfect quilt for her. My Dad kept the secret for at least two months. I showed him the pattern and fabric and he said she would love it. Well she did! As a side note, Emma loved it as well! She laid on it the first morning I had it home and I opened it up to show my Dad.

My Brother's Christmas Present

My brother has been teasing me for years about wanting a quilt. Well for Christmas, I decided that it was about time he got a quilt. I have been quilting for over 8 years and I only made him and his wife a wedding quilt which was a signature quilt. That is a show quilt and not one that they use. His wife received a quilt when she stood up for me. I made all my bridesmaids quilts. I knew I wanted to do a Northwoods theme quilt for my brother. I had started one in flannel and knew that this would be the perfect quilt for my brother.

I gave him his quilt on Christmas Day and he said look a bear, look a moose, look a fish, look a canoe and I said look there's paddles for when you are up the creek. My brother said to his wife that he was going to put it on their bed but it is way too small. I made it so he could use it while watching TV. My brother is 6 foot tall or more so he needs a tall quilt!

As I was leaving he said to me that he wasn't sure if he would use it as the front and back are flannel and it would be awfully hot. I ignored him as only a sister can do and wished him a Merry Christmas. His wife e-mailed that he used it the next day! He loves it. I am so glad. Jen did the quilting on the quilt so that I could finish my Mom's super secret Christmas Quilt. I will put a picture of it on my blog soon...but if you want to see it you can go to Jen's blog where she has a picture.

Happy New Year

Wow it has been forever since I last posted but since them I have been quite busy quilting and will be sharing a lot of my projects. I started a UFO Challenge with my quilt guild and there were 60 projects that I own that need to "get done". I have already finished about 5 of them. The one I am the most excited about was my tree skirt. Jen quilted it for me but I finally got it put together, bound and it was under the Christmas tree! I do not have a picture of it but will take one and post it eventually. I am in the process of having my laptop worked on and then I will set it up so I can download my pictures to my laptop. What a new concept! I should have been doing that all along but now that I have had this hard drive fail I will be learning new things again.

I have the ability to go wireless once it comes back so that will be fun. I have to work on the quilt room that I share with my Mom...it's her computer space so we are making room and I still can't see the top of my cutting station. I also need to get my sewing machine set up so I can sew whenever I want.

I challenged myself to try to post once a week so that is my New Year's resolution. I am hoping to keep this one! I think having the laptop up and working will really help.

New Year's Eve I went to my local quilt store and had a great time. I met Jen, Cindy and Linda as well as some other friends there and we sewed the night away. It was great fun and I was productive. I swear that every time I am sewing with Jen I am extremely productive. I picked the binding for a wall hanging, cut it, pieced it, pressed it and sewed it on. Since then I have hand sewn the binding on. I also pieced some blocks for a pieced border and put them together and put the borders on. Both projects turned out really nicely. Again soon there will be pictures of them on my blog!

I was envious...

I was so envious of a friend's quilt! I had to make one. First I had to get the pattern...Jen, the friend I was envious of, told me it was Baker's Square, so I had to get my hands on that pattern. Then I loved the fabric so I was in search of the fabric. Which fabric line would capture my heart and imagination you might ask? SMORES! I had to find a layer cake so when we went to Madison that was the quest I was on. Then I needed additional fabric and the icon fabric was sold out at the quilt shop I normally go to...bummer. I searched in Madison...no go! Now what...I ventured out on the internet and there it was...the Smores fabric. I found an on-line store where I could purchase 1/2 yard cuts so I had more than enough. They also had charm packs so I bought two of those. Good thing I did because there was a little bit of a cutting fiasco with one of the major fabrics so I went into the two packs for that fabric (the rickrack fabric). So I cut the fabric to take it with me to my quilting retreat...but I decided to sew one row just to see how it looked. I ended up finishing all three of the A, B, and C rows so on retreat I only had to finish up the D rows and put them together as well as put the borders on. Here it is:

Well once that was done I then had to make a matching tote...what else is a girl to do? The only thing missing from the tote is a button on the front pocket and a friend of mine told me she had one for me. It is a snowflake, how appropriate for a Smores Charm Tote.

I still need to finish the quilt and add a button to the tote but I am much farther than when I left for quilt retreat. I sure love this fabric...thanks Jen for showing it to me.

Finally - A New Post

Thank you Jen for helping me update my Blog. Jen and Jill came up with the title and Jen came up with the new look to my blog!

Last night I went over to see Jen and give her this bracelet. There are so many stories involved in this bracelet. First of all I took the class years ago with my niece and I wanted to make one for Jen for Christmas, yes that is December 2007. Well first I had to find the pattern...easier said than done in my old quilt room. Finally it was found and I thought here I go. I am going to get this made but I didn't have pink crystals. So I waited. I was going to go out and buy them but I decided to go with purple because I had them. Something told me no...wait you want pink. So I did wait. Then I moved out of my house and in with my parents, well I thought that I brought the instructions with me. I went and picked up pink crystals and couldn't find the instructions. I really didn't want to go to my storage shed and try to find them. Not wanting to mess it up I asked my mom to ask her friend at work who also had the instructions. So only 10 months later and Jen has her bracelet. I had this beauty more than halfway done when opps I don't have enough fireline to finish it so I took it all apart and started over. I am so happy with the results and Jen seems to really like it. YEAH!

Not only did I work give Jen her new bracelet but I worked on some quilt tops! I finished putting borders on two quilts that I started last weekend. Last weekend I went on a quilting retreat in Lake Geneva with two friends and I finished up a bunch of tops and made a Charm Tote. Over the next couple of days I will show pictures and blog about them...How's that.

With all that has been going on I let blogging go and well I needed a new name for my blog so here it is Bear Paw Chronicles. Again I have to thank Jen and Jill for coming up with the name. I really didn't know what to call my new blog and well I was just not sure. So Jen asked me what my favorite block is and it is the Bear Paw. Mind you I have never made this beauty but someday maybe I will. I have so many UFO's that I just don't know when I will get the time to start one. That might be something to work on this winter...mmmm maybe some flannels? We will have to wait and see.