Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year's to the mamas and their families! Another year of quilting and laughs - thanks. On to 2013!!!

Here's a picture of a craft that Kelly and I did on Saturday - the idea came from a post I saw on the Polka Dot Chair blog.....

It's a display for her Disney pins - just a canvas covered in fabric, the pins pinned to it and the edges decorated. Now we can hang it in her room - cool. 

Rock on, ladies....peace.

Quiltmama Christmas Extravaganza....

Once again, ladies......a fun evening - great food, lots of laughs and some wonderful handmade gifts! Leigh Anne - thank you for hosting us in your lovely home.....the crackling fire, your beautiful tree....so festive! Pam - we missed you! LA made her famous chicken Leigh Anne - and bang-bang (bing-bing?) shrimp - delish!! Lots of delectable dessert treats too....Mare made the Rudolph cocktails from the Iron Horse - and used frozen raspberries which was simply ingenious!

We had some show & tell first - Cathy's cousin asked her to make a quilt from her baby's crib bumpers now that the child has gotten a little older - this is just adorable!!

And now - the gifts!! Lori had Consuelo - and made an adorable Santa hanging for a little stand - and gave her the stand as well.  Bright Christmas colors!

In turn, Consuelo had Lori....first - the ceremonial passing of the Star of Christmas - hers to have and to hold for the coming year before adding her touch and passing it along next year.

Next - her gift. Consuelo broke out the mod podge and made a magical box - covered in pictures of Lori's recent quilts - what a cool idea!

Leigh Anne had Cathy - and not only made her 6 pillows, they were themed and accompanied by a poem, describing each one - outstanding!! And the pillows are beautiful!

A nurses pillow....

A pillow to match her family room....

Cathy had Lois and made her a jelly roll 1600 quilt - the colors are terrific -and it is backed with a soft, yellow flannel covered in tea cups.  I'm thinking tutorial on our next sewing weekend!

Lois had Dolores - and she recreated Rocky in a quilt! So creative...

She also made her a cool little quilt with birds on it - the colors are fantastic!

Dolores had Leigh Anne - and made her a beautiful, two sided quilt, in typical Dolores fashion. I see a different pattern every time I look at it.

I had Mare - I gave her a table top stand also and made a little birdies hanging....

And a Christmas embroidery little quilt also - she had considered making the same one for me! How amazing is that?

Mare had me - and had a partner - Kelly! Kelly supplied my scraps and Mare turned them into a pillow and...

a sewing machine cover - something I truly need. So special - I see so many quilts that I've made in these gifts. She also made me two pillow cases.

This is the back of Leigh Anne's quilt - hard to say which is the nicer side! 

Another year is drawing to a close.....we've had lots of laughs, shared some sadness and helped each other through lots of things. So many beautiful things we created...most given away to brighten others' lives. We are quilters and that's what we do. I'm thankful every day for your support, friendship and love. Looking forward to another year of Quiltmama adventures. Happy New Year, mamas!

Wishing you peace.....

Merry Christmas to the Quiltmamas and their families!

Tis the season.....

Is Santa ready in everyone's house? Presents wrapped, cookies baked, tree decorated, halls decked? I'm answering no to too many of those questions...oy! On Parkside, Santa needs to get the sleigh in gear! Pronto! Anyhow - that highly anticipated event - the Quiltmama Christmas extravaganza is coming up too. I cannot wait! The date is set - Wednesday, December 26th at the McCabe residence. This is such a fun evening....looking forward to laughs, fun, good food and more laughs. If you want to leave a comment with what delectable treat you will be bringing, that would be appreciated. Wishing you lots of wonderful moments with family and friends in the next two weeks.....and see you on the 26th! Feliz Navidad!!!

For your holiday enjoyment.....

Rudolph Raspberry Love

 

1/4 oz dark creme de cacao

1/4 oz Godiva white choc liqueur

1/2 oz raspberry schnapps

2 oz cream

Weekend update....

What a weekend, ladies.....so much sewing and so many laughs! Had a lovely lunch on Friday, as always. We checked out the Bird-in-Hand fabric store. Hadn't been there in years. It changed hands and has some really neat fabrics and crafts. Hit the usual spots - and then checked into the mansion. We were like little kids looking around when we first got there - literally squealing and clapping. The house was very, very nice. It took us a little time to get settled int our 'spots'

Here's Consuelo in the special needs quilting room. We're hoping to mainstream her next year!

Hard at work....

The large open space was terrific for sewing and talking....

Working in close proximity to the snacks is vital....

We got so much accomplished.....take a look:

Lois completed this table runner for a Christmas gift - adorable.

Lois bound the brown string quilt for her sister. This is so striking when you step back and look at it.

Mare finished a cute snowman flannel top that was from a magazine - in 2005!! Lucky 7....

Mare made this cute snowoman flannel pillowcase....

and promptly gifted it to Dolores - who loved it!!

Mare made this pillow cover from a Peanuts t-shirt for her brother who loves that Christmas show.

Kevin is going to learn how to spell his name with these awesome letters...

Consuelo sewed her fingers to the bone.....and finished two, yes two, quilt tops - for her twin nephews. Here's #1....

Here's #2....wishing I had a picture of her face when she completed this second one at 12:30 or so on Saturday night....oy!

Lori came up Saturday morning and got to work....she made two pillow covers for the Santa Shop at Sacred Heart.

This is #2....

She made this for a newlywed couple who just bought their first house. Their names are quilted in the white spaces.

I made these little zipper purses for my student workers - six of them!

A student asked me to make his Mom a 'blanket' out of this t-shirt he wore as the Hawk.

I've been saying for ages that I want to make a quilt out of all the Sacred Heart track t-shirts we've accumulated. This is for Burkie and the girls for Christmas. It's a surprise.

Cathy completed these beautiful blocks for a quilt for her Mom. The colors are gorgeous.

She also whipped up this baby quilt top from a kit - the prints are precious.

Dolores doesn't remember making these blocks - but look at the resulting quilt top! Terrific!

She made these pillows from the fabric left from a quilt she made for her niece. So pretty....

This was made from the leftovers of Ryan's quilt - wow.

These colors are so soft and pretty - and so Dolores....

She bought this panel and fabric on the way home from lunch at Bird-in-Hand - and had it quilted by Saturday night! The background of the panel is all text from Dr. Seuss' book - so cool.

This is so soft - all flannel, of course.....

LA made two Sweet Treat quilt tops - for her girls - love the colors....

Here's the second one....

A pillowcase with firehouse fabric.

She made all these books for Kieran on Friday night - so cute!!

Whew - the colors and variety are just incredible. We kicked some quilting butt - no doubt. We've already decided to go back to the mansion in the spring....will book after Christmas. Well done, ladies.....and thanks for all the laughs. Piece.....