Row by Row

To celebrate National Quilt Month,

I wanted to share a recent project.

The pattern and all the fabrics

were purchased from a charming quilt shop discovered 

while vacationing in South Carolina several years ago. 

The sample quilt they had displayed on their wall

used all of the favorite colors

I selected when decorating my bedroom 

so I couldn't leave the shop 

without everything to complete the project.

The quilt features a center medallion 

embroidered entirely in a single medium shade of blue.

Here's a closeup of the partially completed embroidery

along with some of the fabrics for piecing the quilt.

The medallion is framed by a delicate floral border 

and a second frame of diamonds

 set in a neutral background fabric.

Here's the first border sewn to the center embroidery.

The quilt is growing with the addition of the diamond border.

A variety of checkerboard blocks were sewn next.

The quilt is finished with a ribbon border

featuring three fabrics. 

The completed quilt adds a bit of muted color

to the neutral bedspread.

Yes, all ten pillows are removed from the bed each night

and carefully replaced each morning.

  This pillow features a vintage postcard

that was printed on the center fabric.

I didn't make this pillow but it certainly belongs

in the home of a collector of antique postcards.

The pillow with the three hearts is one of my creations.

The hearts are formed using 

a package of ivory buttons, scrap fabric and fringe.   

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

Until next time, live and love well.

Join me this week at:

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants

Share Your Cup at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Many parts of the U.S. -- including Michigan -- 

continue to experience extremely cold temperatures

so I though this was a good time to share a small wall hanging

that I made to bring a bit of cold weather whimsy into my home.

Here is a closeup of the hand embroidery that was used

to give this snowman personality.

His hands may be cold, but he delivers

a heartfelt "Winter Blessings" greeting.

A chain stitch was used on his hat and gloves to mimic

 the cable stitch in knit garments.

Pearls and bugle beads embellish the body of the snowman.

And his heart is stitched with closely spaced french knots.

Crab-apple Hill created the pattern for this project, 

#410 Crazy Quilt Snowman.  

It was intended to be a pillow top

but by adding a few borders

it is just the right size to display in my foyer. 

Until next time, live and love well.

This week you will find me at these gatherings:

What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
Share Your Cup at Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!

Harvest Pumpkin Stitchery

In a September post I shared a photo of my Autumn

foyer decor that includes a pumpkin wall hanging.

Today I'd like to show you more details

 about that project that was stitched this summer.

The pattern was created by Crab-apple Hill

and was purchased from a quilt shop I like to visit

when traveling to Northern Michigan.

Look at all of the rich floss colors used in the stitching!

To transfer the pattern to my fabric,

large plastic paper clips secured the fabric to the pattern.

Since I have a glass top table, a lighted flashlight 

was placed under the table shining upward.

A colored pencil was used to trace the pattern onto the fabric.

The pumpkin outline was created using the fly stitch.  

The left half of the pumpkin features sunflowers.

Multi-color oak leaves and acorns

are a focal point on the right half of the pumpkin.

The Autumn themed words were the most difficult to stitch.

The letters were fairly small so extra care was necessary

to assure crisp, legible words.

My fabric stash included some striped fabric

 that repeated the floss colors so this was used

for borders and binding.

 A hand-written label on the back 

documents the history of the work.

Once the prep work was completed, 

this was a great project to carry when away from home

 and stitch when a few minutes were available.  

Thanks for letting me share this stitchery with you!

Until next time, live and love well.

Joining the fun at these parties:
Be Inspired at Elizabeth & Co.
Cottage Style Linky Party at Lavender Garden Cottage

Fall into Fall at DIY by Design
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!

Crazy About Blue

Crazy About Blue is the name of the quilt

that is hanging in my family room for the Spring season.

This style of quilting became popular during

the Victorian era and these were 

considered "Crazy Quilts". 

To the Victorians, the word crazy

meant crazed or broken into splinters.

The word crazy is actually a description

of the triangles and irregular shapes

found in these quilts.

Crazy Quilts are typically embellished

with a variety of laces, beads, buttons and ribbons.

A large focal point of my quilt

is a lace doily accented with a vintage-style button

and a remnant of fringe.

A hand-embroidered fan is also featured.

Brass charms are incorporated into this quilt.

Here an ornate key is secured

with a silk ribbon floral bouquet.

A trio of fabric yo-yos are centered

with decorative buttons.

And an organza-winged butterfly takes flight.

The deep-blue lace was crocheted years ago

by my grandmother and was discovered

in a box of her cotton threads. 

Traditionally crazy quilts have included

a spider web as an embellishment.

The Victorian era quilter thought

including a spider web brought good luck

to the quilter so they became a necessary accent

on each crazy quilt.

Here is a close of my version of the spider web

-- complete with a dangling spider!

This quilt was inspired by

Paula Vaughan's book "Romance with Quilts".

The author's inspiration quilt was also named 

Crazy About Blue.

Until next time, live and love well.

Sharing with 

Bunny Hop Party at Bunny Jean's Decor and More

Made with Love Link Up at Sew Chatty
Share Your Cup at Have a Daily Cup from Mrs. Olson

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!

Twilight Garden Quilt

March is National Quilting Month.

Although I haven't done any new quilting this month,

I thought this was an appropriate occasion to share the quilt

that is currently hanging in my family room.

The name of the quilt is Twilight Garden.

This is a lovely pattern designed by Jeanne Rae Crafts

that was a block-of-the month published on-line during 2005.

Keep scrolling down to see a close-up photo of each of the blocks.

This quilt was finished in 2011.

I did all of the hand applique.  

I am almost embarrassed to tell you

I worked on this quilt on and off for five years.

The lovely quilting in the background

was done by a local long-arm quilter.

The variegated multi-colored thread picks up the

varied colors used in the individual blocks.

All of the leaves were quilted with variegated green thread.

The pattern instructions said to use your
favorite applique method.
I have always liked the look of needle-turned applique.
This was my first project using this method.
I chose to try needle-turned applique.

This means that each piece has raw edges

that have to be turned under to finish the edge

 while you are sewing the piece to the background fabric.

All of the stitches are hidden -- 

at least they are supposed to be hidden.

  

Did I tell you it took five years?

Oh yes, I thought I did.

There are little pieces in this quilt.

Little pieces that still need to look somewhat like a flower

after they are sewn to the background.

This will be my only project using needle-turned applique.

Unique fabrics were used in every block.

Good to have a large scrap box since not very much

of any single fabric was used in the quilt.

The border's striped fabric 

 repeats all of the colors from the individual blocks.

All in all, I am happy with the end result.   

Until next time, live and love well.

Joining a special group of friends at:

Bunny Jean's Bunny Hop 

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.  We would love to create a special doll for you!

A Hug and A Kiss

As I started taking out my Valentine's Day decorations, it occurred to me that I had never written a post about my quilting projects.  I've been quilting since 2001 but I still consider myself a beginner.  I have made one large quilt and the rest have been lap size or wall hangings.  There are still so many techniques and patterns I want to attempt to master!

This wall hanging was made in 2010.  It is a two block applique quilt that I named "A Hug and A Kiss".  The  buttonhole stitch around the applique was done by hand.  The quilting on this wall hanging was done by machine.

The top block features a circle surrounded by hearts (the hug).

Crossed bars with a heart at each end (the kiss) are the basis of the bottom block. 

This wall hanging was was inspired by a quilt I admired in the July/August 2006 issue of Fons & Porter Love of Quilting magazine.  The quilt was designed by Mimi Dietrich in a Baltimore Album style.  Since the inspiration quilt was made of four blocks, the original name was "Hugs & Kisses" (plural).

My "A Hug and a Kiss" quilt was a low cost project.  The only newly purchased items for this project were the pink flower shaped buttons used to embellish the blocks. The log cabin blocks used as the background for the applique were left over from another quilt I made in 2006.  The appliqued pink hearts and green leaves were cut from scraps of fabric found in my stash.

My earlier 2006 project was made entirely from log cabin blocks and the layout forms a heart in the center.  Most of the log cabin blocks were made entirely of cream colored fabrics.  Two blocks are entirely made of varied pink fabrics.  Eight blocks were made the traditional way using half light and half dark fabrics.    I originally intended to use some of the half light/half dark blocks to add some pink in the corners.  But when I was working on the block layout, I thought the heart center needed to be the feature of the quilt and the additional color detracted.  That's why I ended up with extra blocks for the wall hanging.

Since the fabric used for the borders and backing featured the word Love in varied fonts, this log cabin Valentine quilt is named "Surrounded by Love".   I like to make my quilt labels using a miniature block that repeats a block from the quilt itself.

"Surrounded by Love" was hand quilted.  The outer cream portions were quilted in a grid pattern.  The pink fabric center is quilted with repeating heart wreaths.  You can see some of the hearts clearly in the darkest fabric.

Until next time, live and love well.

Joining these lovely parties this week:

Bunny Hop at Bunny Jean's Decor and More

Creative Bloggers' Party at Homemaker on a Dime
Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Little Quilt Monday at pieceful life
The Valentine's Party at Holiday Haven
Your Cozy Home Party at Cozy Home Scenes

This forum reveals random thoughts and reflections on topics of interest and events impacting the life of the founder of Doll in the Looking Glass.  Our boutique specializes in custom designed dolls that look like your child. We also design toddler and baby dolls that look real using vinyl doll components manufactured in Midland, Michigan USA by Apple Valley Doll Works.  The goal of Doll in the Looking Glass is to delight our customers with our creations.