That Surprise Quilt and More

I eluded to a surprise quilt I was making and I got it finished.  It is now safe to share the photos of the process....since the recipient now has possession of said quilt.

When my sister was visiting she happened to see some fabric in my stash that she said she really liked.  Her birthday was coming up so I decided to make her a quilt.  I had to choose something rather simple if I were going to get it put together in a day or two.

 Here I am zipping along.....I just pieced and pieced and pieced.

McSteamy saw that I was working feverishly and he offered to help.  I'm no fool...I said sure thing...you can help me cut the borders.  He wanted me to cut the 7" border straight down the length of fabric and was frustrated when I told him I wasn't going to do that.  The large piece above....yes that one....McStamy thought it was scrap and I would be throwing it away.  I laughed out loud for quite some time.  Then I explained that Mary Jane and many other quilting friends keep even the smallest of scraps and he could be shot for even thinking about throwing away such a large piece of perfectly good fabric.

Then he asked if this tiny piece would be ok to toss...well...that is small enough...don' you think?

 I was floored that he spent the evening helping me and even spent time pinning the borders with me. Sooooo sweet.  I had not met George Siciliano at this point...and thank God because I would not have let McSteamy near my quilt if I even thought for a minute that he would take off and become an amazing quilt artist...LOL.

Two days and it was in the mail to Joanne over at Splitting Stitches Blog and at Insanely Cheap Quilting Blog too.  Joanne does such a beautiful job and she is so fast.  I don't think you can beat the quality and price anywhere...I've always been very pleased when I got my quilts back :)

From start to finish this quilt was completely finished in about 8 days and then given to my sister.

 Here she is...Tracy absolutely loves her quilt.  I even made a pillow case to match and she is tickled pink.  I'm in a heap of trouble though....now my Mom wants one for her birthday....which is TOMORROW.  Yikes...hope she doesn't mind getting an IOU.

Last week was nuts....Thursday night was guild, Friday night both boys had baseball games, and Saturday was Cub Scout Crossover.

 Each year I add to the banner.  I join each panel with a large zipper so they can be removed and changed.  My girlfriend, Diane, saved my life and embroidered all this years names at the last minute.  I had the banner ready but forgot the names may change....ding dong...LOL.

Then on Sunday we had a birthday party at the house for Zachary's classmates.  We had 15 little monkeys

here at the house and Zach had a ball.  Afterwards we gave him his gift from the parents....oh he was excited to get a new bicycle.

As if all that was not crazy enough....I then had to get everything done for the IHAN Blow Out Sale on my website.  I guess I just don't plan ahead very well....I am truly flying by the seat of my pants each day and I'm frequently amazed that I'm still breathing at the end of the day.

Here are a few examples of the amazing deals to be had over at I Have A Notion: 
 

 Save 50% on this Mettler Modern Mix Mini Thread Assortment

I think these bags are an excellent value.  They are top quality and you could not make one for the price.  They are all from the Bagamore Collection and are $40.00 OFF!  Click here to see them...scroll down the page.

Save 50% on this Moda Solid Fat Quarter Bundle

Save 30% on ALL Floriani Thread and Stabilizers

There is so much more....14 pages of amazing deals....the sale ends tomorrow so hop on over and help me out....please!  I need to reduce my inventory as it is taking over my house....LOL.

Smiles,

Kelly

Virginia and George Siciliano visit the Toledo Gathering of Quilters

It's not just the Flamingos who have been crazy busy....I have been too.  I can't believe I'm just getting to share the pix I took last Thursday night at one of my guild meetings.  Virginia and George Siciliano came and gave a wonderful lecture and then George had a class at Quilt Heaven the following day.  I could not find anyone to get the co-workers off the bus ....sadly I was not able to make the class.  I was told it was a great class....next time.

Thursday night was EXCELLENT!  I had such a good time and I'm only a little embarrassed to say I thought it was an "interactive lecture"...as I interjected probably a few times too many.  Honestly...I was so blown away by George and Virginia's work that I just could not help myself.

George started by telling us that he and Virginia had gotten into an argument in the car prior to arriving at the meeting.

Then, Virginia appears with a very large pair of scissors in her head...YIKES.  The smile on her face gives it all away, don't you think?  

George and Virginia have been married for 47 years and I'm thinking one of their great strengths as a couple, would be a wonderful sense of humor.  Without one, who could stay married to this guy 47 years?  (I say that with great humor and I'll elaborate more later in this post)

Ladies First :)

"In The Gloaming"  by Virginia Siciliano

Virginia has hand quilted this amazing beauty.   I tried to take a few close up photos so you could see the beautiful hand quilting...it is absolutely lovely.

 

 The border of this quilt is stunning as well.  That is a pieced border....isn't it amazing?  I just love the colors Virginia chose, the purple-ish and gold-ish thinner borders...the quilt really just pops because of the colors she chose. 

 Who could resist a photo of Virginia posing with Waldo in front of that beautiful quilt?  Not me :)

This was the first time I have had the pleasure of  attending a lecture by George and Virginia.  George does most of the talking....it is a very good thing this man has a great sense of humor....I would have hated to hear a dry or smug mind blowing quilter.

If you are wondering what I mean....check this out....below is George's first quilt....

Below is George's second quilt....

Are you ready to smack the guy yet?  What the heck....first and second quilts looking like this?  REALLY??? (calm down...y'all know I'm a peaceful person at heart...I just could not believe my eyes)

Quilt number 3.....

Oh and by the way...quilt number three was made from just two blocks...the two he is showing you here in the picture.  "Can you see the two blocks" he asks.  I was thinking..."HE double hockey sticks NO I can't see them....I can't even being to take in this quilt much less see it was made from two blocks"  My mouth was hanging open...I'm sure I looked like a real fool....I was just blown away.

George's talent was discovered because Virginia threw his "one" magazine away in the bathroom.  He was left with a hundred quilting magazines.  I cracked up when George told the story...she thought his magazine was and old issue so she tossed it.  Funny how our quilting magazines can be from the 80's and we hand on to them....but a guys magazine...older than a few weeks....must be trash...LOL.  

A Log Cabin Pineapple Variation. 15 1/2 x 21 inches with 2,842 pieces. 
George was offered $10 for this one and the lady that offered it wanted 5 more for place mats!!

Can you imagine...a place mat?  Really?  I would have only agreed to that price if the person allowed me to run them over with my car afterwards!!!  What was this woman thinking?  2842 pieces of fabric all amazingly placed....a masterpiece for sure....and she wants to eat on it....LOUD GASP

Well...if the someone is crazy enough to want it for a place mat...think how nice this one would look on the back of my toilet tank. ROFL

Paper piecing is definitely on my list of must learn.  I bought George's Seam Allowance Guide and Foundation Stuff....I figured this man knows what he is doing and I know I could learn a lot from him.

If Virginia had not thrown away George's magazine...all this amazing work and creativity may not have come to be....I'm so glad Virginia tossed that magazine in the trash :)

I did not fill in all the details of George and Virginia's lecture....I wouldn't want to spoil it for those of you have not had the wonderful pleasure of hearing them speak.  You can visit their website and learn more about both of them by clicking HERE.

All I can say is THANK YOU to George and Virginia for not tossing out the strange gal in the audience....I had an absolute wonderful time.

Smiles,
Kelly

UPDATED NEWS: Blow Out Sale

UPDATE: The IHAN website did not update with newly added items and many products did not have the sale price listed.  It has all been corrected....or should I say I sure hope the prices are now correct.  

Some products ordered did not include the price....I have e-mailed those people who's orders were affected.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me at IHaveANotion@yahoo.com.  

New items added daily...so check back often.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE GREAT DEALS....MANY 50% OFF AND SOME UP TO 70% OFF!

Oh yeah...and this is what the flamingos are up to today.

Smiles,
Kelly

IHAN Blow Out Sale - Excellent Deals!

It is not just a rumor...it's true.  Click here to see all the amazing deals.  Limited quantities available and items will be removed from the website once sold out....shop now :)

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.  IHaveANotion@Yahoo dot com

Smiles,
Kelly

Running Horses

I've heard it said, "if you can't see it on a running horse, than it's good enough."  Well, in this case the horse would need to be upside down!  LOL

Saturday is the Cub Scout Cross Over for my co-workers. I have to up-date the banner by Saturday and you can clearly see, I've been in a hurry.

Here is a close up....yep...I put the Wolf emblem on the fabric with the words up-side down.  Do you think I noticed that before I stitched it all down?  You are absolutely correct!  I did not notice until everything was stitched down.  After removing the stitches around each square, I then noticed I had stitched all around the wolves head too.  Oh joy in the morning! 

Start over?  No way....I just cut that part right out and flipped it around.  Now I'll stitch the Wolf emblem back on and no one will be the wiser (except for all of you :).

You can see I had a lot of little threads all over the place where I had pulled out the stitches.  My lint roller is downstairs and I needed to be upstairs watching for the school bus.  Scotch tape dispenser was empty....darn.  Then I noticed all those holiday address labels that everyone and their brother sends to us.  Mr. McSteamy hates them, but I can't stand to see them go in the trash....soooooo.....I used the adhesive side to take off all the threads.  Hurray!!!  Another re-purposing of things that just sit around :)

Sometimes ya just have to make lemonade :)

Smiles,
Kelly

Flamingos,Flat Stanly's Travels and A Quilting Blogger Hook Up and

Flamingo Update:

The Flamingos are now playing soccer....

...and I've also seen them riding their bikes too.

You just never know what those Flamingos will be up to next!

Update on Zachary's Flat Stanly Travels:

You won't believe how busy Flat Stanly has been.  I know I was shocked myself and very surprised how long it took me to organize Flat Stanly's photos with the narration of his travels.

You are looking at 33 12X12 pages of Flat Stanly's Travels up until May 14, 2012.  I've since received many more trip narratives and photos that have yet to be added to his album.  Stanly has been to Philadelphia PA, Washington DC, Toronto, Nevada, Smithville Ontario, Arab Alabama,
Hover Dam and Bridge, Budapest, Copenhagen Denmark, Council Bluffs Iowa, Schenectady New York
Leominster MA,Columbia South Carolina, Yamhill County Oregon AND that doesn't include all the recent pix I have received.  I am totally shocked and blown away by everyone's kindness in taking Flat Stanly with them on their travels.  I THANK YOU and Zachary also Thanks you :)








A quilting blogger hook up :)

Pam is a blogger from North Carolina and she was in the area last week.  We made plans to meet up and had lunch together.  Oh it was a ball.  I was tickled that we got to meet.  She had received this beautiful quilt from her mother-in-law so she brought it to show me. 

(After writing this post it dawned on me that the term "hook up" is slang and it can mean several things.  I couldn't come up with another catchy phrase that means meeting up with a blogging friend so I'm keeping this term until I can invent another one :)

Smiles,
Kelly

Sometimes Ya Just Need A Little "Quiltspiration"

Yep...it's true...sometimes we all just need a little "Quiltspiration."   Many of you may know Ebony Love from Love Bug Studios.   Ebony has invented "Quiltspirations" a card game for quilters and I am fortunate enough to have received a deck to review. 

 I've had time to look through each one of them and I have to say Ebony has a good sense of humor. 

The deck has seven categories (shown by different colored cards above) that include: Colors, Shapes, Styles, Embellishments, Borders, Layouts and Whimsy. 

Here is an example of one of the cards.  "You put a Hex on me" got a good laugh out of me.  She is so right....if you make one hexagon...you'll want to make 4...when you make 4....your want to make 10 and so on.  They are very addicting...don't ask me how I know!

I found the Quiltspirations cards to be fun.    It is not a traditional card game like poker or spades. I think of Quiltspirations as more of a energetic and fun way to start a project.  You can play alone or with others at a retreat or gathering.  The deck comes with a copy of printed rules....but I think Ebony already knows that many quilters don't follow the rules and she has made provisions for "those folks!"

I don't want to ruin the fun by telling you what is on every card....but I can't help but share a few more with you (Ebony...please forgive me...I can't help myself).

I sure hope you can read these cards.  They just crack me up!  The last card says that if you complete the task and send a photo to them...they will eat a piece of celery for each photo sent.  That is just way tooooo good.  If I had invented them....I would have promised to eat a chocolate chip cookie or an entire bowl of ice cream.  I'm soooo bad and Ebony will be much healthier as a result of her choice :)

Ebony has definitely had fun making these cards and I've had a ball just looking at them...playing with them will be even more fun.  I think they are a must have for all retreats and certainly would make a fun gift for quilting friends.  THANK YOU Ebony for my set of Quiltspiration Cards...I just love them.

Speaking of being inspired....below are some pictures of a bowl my friend Diane made recently.

Waldo and I got together with a group of friends and made fabric bowls.  After the "Bling Your Thing" challenge, Diane had the great idea of adding beads to her bowls.  Sometimes all it takes is a little challenge to get your mind moving in a whole new direction.  Beautiful bowl Diane!  Thanks for letting me share it with the rest of my friends.

Smiles,
Kelly

Happy Mother's Day

IHAN wishes each and every one a Happy Mother's Day! 

My definition of Mother is very broad....I include all people who have nurtured a child, another person, an animal, mother nature or have given birth to some great ideas....everyone gets included.

Smiles,
Kelly

Wedding Pix

Isn't the bride beautiful!