Something 'new" from something "old"

This is the challenge--we all have things we are unsure why we have them, why we keep them!  I had a customer give me a pile of grandma/great grandma hankies and wanted to have gifts made of them for siblings.  I got my creative brain locked in and decided to design and make "crazy quilt" wall hangings..everyone will have a piece of each of the hankies for the memory.  They turned out to be a nice size wall hanging that each got for a Christmas give and I got a note that said that all where happy and touched.  Here is what they looked like, I think I posted them when I finished them.

There happen to be about 6 hankies left that I could not bring myself to cut up....they are delicate, beautiful work and well you can see...full of memories.  I talked with the customer and told her that I had an idea about making little bags to give to her daughter/grand daughters as wedding gifts.....Here is what I came up with and they are nice memory keepers for a bride to be from the past!

I'll post a few more and steps on how I make them when I get a few more finished, if anyone is interested.......

Latest with "Betty"

I just finished  quilting a quilt that made me a bit nervous, but the end product looks pretty good, if I don't say so myself.  My customer brought the quilt and the picture of the pattern and wanted it to be quilted exactly like the picture....I was worried, but it is fairly close.   Thought I'd share a few pictures....

All stretch out and being quilted....lot's of rolling back and forth and changing of thread

Round feathers in the corner Half-square-triangles

Carpenter's Star complete...stunning pattern

Feather work all the way around and stippling in the outside edges.

The back of the quilt.  This is edge of the center star....the white feather work is at the center of the quilt, 4 blocks and then there were 4 small ones in the corners. 

When I first started this....I can tell you that I was so nervous that I was sweating bullets, but as soon as I started quilting....it just came together so nicely.  I am a free-motion quilter, I do not have patterns or computer generation, so you will see that it isn't perfect, but it still flows together nicely.  This quilt took about 3 days of working to get it finished....and I did rip out one of the points of the star that I felt just wasn't up to snuff.  All in all -----it is all about TRYING!!!  So get going girls!!

Hard at it...

Hello Ladies......sure have missed you all!!!!
I really have not been putting my blog as a priority...my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, so a lot of time has been spent with him and my mom...then Christmas, what a joyous time of the year--isn't it?  I have also been busy quilting and sewing for others....I really haven't had time to do anything for myself.  I like being busy, but I have realized that I am not a person that RELAXES.   Why is that????  I find myself getting nervous and fidgety if I sit very long....I have to be doing something or I feel that I am "wasting time", being lazy.....anyone else have that problem....what to do.....
After visiting with a friend, I realized that I am not the only gal out there that "has to be doing something".  I have a plan to try to do some sewing for myself,, to enjoy life and get back to doing what makes me happy.  That is working with fabric, colors, designing a d quilting.  For now I am finishing up quilts for customers.  So I thought you would like to see what is going on in the studio...."Ms. Betty", my quilting machine, and I have been very busy.....

This quilt was full of color and was 100X110.....I was thrilled that I was able to do whatever I felt would enhance the quilt....I was really unsure about thread color because it was so full of color....I wanted the thread to blend in and not stand out.  I used a blendable that had greys and browns and  I think it turned out pretty nice..

This is one of my favorite quilting patterns....it is easy and fills area quickly.  I was able to get this big quilt done in about 6 1/2 hours.

This quilt was 110X132 and hand pieced... and I decided to do swirls or innies and outies.....whatever you want to call them, they worked well on this quilt.  I used white thread to quilt the over all design. This quilt took about 9 hours to get done.
I will show you the newest quilt on the machine from a lady that just started quilting....It is really fun.  Hope to have it done in the next couple days.  Stay tuned for the newest and FEATHERS.  Lots of feather work!!!!!