Setting The Record Straight

First, I did survive vending at the Kaleidoscope of Quilts in Sylvania this past Friday and Saturday. There were times I wasn't sure I'd be able to walk on my own accord....but I made it! Setting up a booth entails hauling tons of stuff and I was short a few tanks and military personnel. 

There were two huge highlights for me.  The first was being able to see lots of friends and receiving so many loving hugs. 

The second....this is the part where I'm setting the record straight....and a wee bit of the background story.

When my Mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told she had 4-6 months to live in February,  I was beside myself....naturally.  My girlfriend, Diane, asked if there was anything she could do to help.  The very first thing that came to mind was "Momma's Quilt."  She had selected the fabric (from my stash) and the pattern and I was going to make her a quilt for her birthday, May 25.  I asked Diane if she could ask some of our mutual friends if they would be willing to help with the quilt for my mother.  Within an hour of sending the e-mail....she had lots of help.  In 3....yes THREE days...."Momma's Quilt" was made.  I asked Diane to leave off the binding so I could do the stitching thus having a part in making the quilt. 

Diane wanted to enter the quilt in the Kaleidoscope of Quilts as a group quilt but somehow the label does not indicate who the real winners of the First Place ribbon belongs to.

 The TRUE WINNERS of the First Place Ribbon belong to the following amazing ladies:

Diane Giveins (she made the beautiful label too)

Sandy Dallas

Marty Deer

Carol Eiben

 Linda Hill 

Joan Jaffray 

Nancy Lee White

Peggy Mlynek

Ellen Snyder 

Lynda Torres

and Dale Burnett who did a beautiful job long arm quilting "Momma's Quilt."

"Momma's Quilt" hung in the back left corner at the show, a perfect place because I felt as though it was somehow sacred space....like Momma was there with me.  She was able to enjoy her quilt for almost 8 weeks before she passed.  I don't think I could express my gratitude enough for the gift these ladies gave to me....the ability to give my Mother her birthday present. 

In my mind, these ladies are truely the:

With huge smiles of gratitutde,
Kelly

Flamingo Update & More : )

 Yes, the Flamingos are alive and well.  They are there every day but I have not been in a mental space to stop and take any photos....until yesterday!

Apparently momma flamingo is taking care to watch over her baby flamingos as they swim :)

 photo credit click here

I'm up to my ears!!!   I'm preparing to vend at the Kaleidoscope of Quilts this weekend (see this blog post) and typically the IHAN® store does not put prices on everything so I'm writing as fast as I can.  If you are local...I sure hope you will come to visit : ) 

Please forgive me if you have seen this already.  This is the very first time I've ever copied a e-mail and posted it to my blog....but I just could not help myself!

 When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.

I loved this and I hope you enjoyed it too.

Smiles,
Kelly
 

IHAN is Vending and Jean Overmeyer is Teaching....This Week :)

 The Kelidoscope of Quilts!!!
 Quilt Show, Classes/Lectures, Special Displays and Merchant Mall
where IHAN will have our first vendors booth.

Hosted by:

 The Glass City Quilt Commission

The Exhibition Center at Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter

7060 Sylvania Ave.

Sylvania, Ohio  43560
July 19th and 20th
10AM-5PM both days

One of my friends, Jean Overmeyer, will be teaching a class on Saturday.  You won't want to miss it....trust me!

I know you recognize her from my previous posts.  She is my extremely talented quilter friend who started as a traditional quilter and has transitioned into a wonderful art quilter.  Jean will be teaching a class I've taken from her and loved:

  Expressions of the Heart

Saturday, July 20th, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Cost:  $40     Number of participants:  12 to 24

Expressions of the Heart Saturday July 20, 10AM-4PM.

Here are some samples of Jean's "Expressions of the Heart" design.

Jean has personalized this design by writing or stitching a person's name, wedding date, birth date etc...in the center of the heart. 

"Jean Overmeyer has designed this project and developed this workshop specifically for the Kaleidoscope of Quilts XVI Quilt Show.  The class is for students who would like to make a simple, but jazzy, art quilt.  Students will learn to use decorative threads and yarns to enhance a design, as well as, couching fusible appliqués on a provided pattern.  Optional beading, free-motion quilting methods, and alternative methods for finishing the art quilt will be taught, to provide students the opportunity to express their own unique preferences on a pattern designed by Jean.  The techniques learned in this class can easily be applied to other patterns/designs."
 Source: GCQC.org

  

 Click HERE to register :)

IHAN will be vending at the Kaliedoscope of Quilts on Friday and Saturday from 10AM-5PM.  so please come by and introduce yourself.  If you would like to pre-order something prior to she show, you can e-mail me at IHaveANotion@yahoo.com and I'll have your order ready to be picked up. 

 

We will have tons of quilting, sewing and machine embroidery notions as well as  a huge variety of specialty threads and embellishments to support Jean Overmeyer's class, Expressions of the Heart.   I hope to see you there.

Make sure you stop by and see some of my other friends who will be vending at the show too:

Patsy Thompson - Patsy Thompson Designs

Lisa Spalding - The Quilt Foundry

Marcia Derse - Marcia Derse Fiber

Smiles,

Kelly

Rose of Sharon Quilt & More PA

The last blog post I shared a few photos of Eleanor's (my girlfriend) Rose of Sharon quilt blocks. There are several of us from the PA Tuesday applique group who have the book but she is the first that I've seen to finish so many blocks.  I bet many of you also have this book:

Rose of Sharon Block Book

By

Sharon Pederson

These are Eleanor's blocks.  She laid them out on her bed and I tried to get a good overhead photo but that wasn't possible.  You'd think all quilters would have a sun roof over their beds so we could open it and stand on the roof to shoot our photographs....but no...giggles!

Eleanor is very good...or should I say...excellent with colors.  She doesn't need the fabric with her at the store either....she just knows what will coordinate and what won't.  Amazing!

All needle turn applique....impressive aren't they?  I'm with MJ, if I just had a kit I'd start the project but I just need that jump start.  Know what I mean?

If you like having additional color and layout options, there is also a Rose of Sharon DVD.  There are over 200 printable blocks on the DVD. What color combination would you choose?

Smiles,
Kelly

More "Barn" Quilts of PA

 Ok, so know you know I'm not really fishing on my family vacation.  What I have caught is several new "Barn" Quilts in PA that I've not photographed before. 

 All of these "Barn" Quilts are from Stephensville, PA.  I got lost trying to find a strawberry farm and past Camptown, PA and kept going.  I'm so glad I did.

 Love, love, love that "Quilt" Barns are popping up everywhere...on the side of garages, houses, and even as stand alone signs in the yard. 

 And the view....it is amazing as well....mountains, trees and blue sky. 

 Fortunately my PA Tuesday Group met last week and MJ and I were able to attend. This is an applique block that Eleanor is working on.  One of the things I admire about this group of women; they teach one another and share tips and ideas.  I've always liked how they mark blocks with a thin overlay of interfacing.  Marking on the interfacing keeps the background block from needing to be marked.  An excellent way to check placement.

Eleanor is a very gifted quilter and this is just a tease.....I'll show you the rest of the blocks in the next post....and I just may share soime pix of the co-workers fishing too.

Smiles,
Kelly

"Going Fishing" and Needle Turn Applique

It is the week of the 4th of July, if you've been an IHAN blog follower for a few years, you know what that means!  Our annual pilgrimage to Wyalusing, PA.

I'm working on a moldy oldy....a needle turn applique project that I started at least 3 years ago, no kidding.  It was lost for awhile and then it laid on a table for at least a year.  While packing for our trip I saw it and noticed it had a needle and thread and some thread in it so this is my car project.  I'm so glad that the green piece was basted to the black fabric, otherwise this would have been a hopeless endeavor (thanks to MJ who told me to do the basting!)

How many UFO's are too many?  I think I have enough UFO's to last me until I'm 200 years old.  Perhaps it is time to get realistic and either finish them or hope a "magic sewing Genie" ends up in my Christmas stocking!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend and all is well with you and yours!

Giggles and Smiles,
Kelly

Bloglovin, trying something new :)

 Ok, call me silly, but this is what the Bloglovin Help said to do, so I'm giving it a try :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Have you started using Bloglovin?  So far, it has been easy....for me....that's new!

Smiles,
Kelly

The Quick Ripper Product Review

I noticed The Quick Ripper recently and decided to give it a whirl.  You know I am in love with my Famore Seam Rip but I wondered if The Quick Ripper would be handy for taking off all those small threads on the back of my machine embroidery. 

Any idea how difficult it is to hold an I-Phone in one hand and use The Quick Ripper with the other hand?  Suffice to say, it was a bit of a trick.  I was able to take those small threads off by keeping The Quick Ripper parallel to the piece.  The threads were shaved off in a jiffy. 

 It also removes seams and serger threads.  

AND....it trims up those fuzzy edges on fabrics, loose threads on raw edge applique too :) 

The teeth on The Quick Trimmer and very fine and it catches the threads very well.  The AA battery is included as well as a small brush to clean out the teeth.  

If you were hoping it would remove Machine Embroidery Stitches on the front of a design like I did, well, it doesn't do that....darn!

I think The Quick Trimmer is a handy tool and it is reasonably priced in my opinion :)  

How is that for getting back to work?  

Smiles,

Kelly