Shoo Fly Happiness

Penny E., from the Southern Tier in New York State, sent me this message along with the picture at the end. I have edited the email slightly to remove any identifiers.


"I follow your blog. I have taken a few classes from you and enjoyed them very much. My mom is the real quilter in the family. She is now 86 & made the decision to no longer drive- a hard decision when you live in the country. Quilting gives her great pleasure and fills her days. 

 She now wants me to bring her "mystery quilt patterns". At first I did not know what she meant as we had done a block of the month for years at a shop near us but it was no mystery! I then realized she wanted me to bring her patterns - from my computer-and then help her pick material from her HUGE stash, and then she would make the quilt. So I took her your free pattern you gave us on your blog "Shoo-Fly Friendship Quilt" in Feb. 2012. She loved getting the pattern and we went through her volumes/tubs of stash and came up with a lot of pretty bright fabric.She has now finished the quilt top and I wanted to share it with you and also thank you for this posting and for making my 86 year old mom very happy!" 

 

Can I just say "Wow"?  This makes my heart sing.  I am so happy that someone used the pattern and took time to share the results.  Anyone else out there who's used the pattern?  Send me photos and I'll post them!


Penny, thank you so much for sharing--and please tell your mom how proud I am of her!


Blissful hugs to everyone!
Sharon


P.S.  I am listening to Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb.

The Presidential Campaign Continues

I've spent most of the day appliqueing on something I cannot show you yet.  So, I decided to move forward with my presidential campaign.


When I am President:


Brown, black and white fabrics will cost less than their more colorful counterparts.  Now, I can see some of you raising your hackles and indignantly saying "But I LOVE brown (insert black or white) fabric.  How dare you infer than it is inferior!"  But wait...your fearless President feels this is a win-win for everyone.  Here's how it works.  For those of us who do not really care for black, white or brown fabric, we can pay less when we need it to complete a project.  For those who LOVE black, white and brown, YOU pay less for fabric you love!  So what's to complain about?  (In the spirit of full disclosure, I must admit that I am not fond of brown fabrics--of which I bought many yards [oops, not the right shades] last year when making Bliss 3--but I do love blacks and whites.  You may have noticed through the last 450+ posts that I tend to work very bright.  But as your President, I promise to make every color fabric available.


Think about it...doesn't it seem wrong to pay as much for black and white fabrics as we do for more vivid, colorful ones?


Have you tried the new Klondike Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches?  They will be the official Presidential ice cream treat.  Previously you could only get vanilla or neapolitan ice cream sandwiches easily.  And these are the best yet!  Chocolate anything will get the Presidential nod.


The best peanut butter cup Presidential Seal of Approval goes to Emily, who shall be the Official Peanut Butter Cup Maker to the President.  


As your future President, I bid you a good night and bestow upon you


Blissful hugs,
Sharon

Stained Glass Table Runner

Although this has been finished for over a week, it wasn't until today that I finally got pics.  The pattern is from the Snowball ruler set by Creative Grids.

Here it is, tastefully decorated and on the table.

And sans decoration.

I used a print that has Christmas decorations on it for the back, but you hardly notice the design. 


The quilting is done with a technique I call "fracturing".  I took photos as I did the quilting and I will put up a tutorial in the near future.  I thought it made the runner look even more like stained glass.

A detail from the back.

All the fabrics except the blue corners were from my stash and are all batiks.  Except for hand sewing the binding to the back, this is machine done.  


So there you have something I finished!  Who knew?


Blissful hugs,
Sharon