Irish For The Day!

Nobody said I had to be Irish!
St. Patricks Day is only a few days away. 

So I wanted to share a few projects with you.

This is a Shamrock Table Runner.

It is made the same way as the Fall Leaves--you can click HERE for a tutorial I had made earlier.

Last night was our guild meeting and I made Irish Bark.
 It was a big hit. Even though I don't use a recipe you can get one by clicking HERE. I didn't use anything with mint
 because I know of several who do not care for it. 
I use whatever I have in my pantry. Nuts, raisins, marshmallows candy and pretzels.
 It is a great way to remove extra calories from your house.

This it what I used for the Shamrock template.
 I either picked it up at the Dollar Store or Walmart.
It is a plastic  placement.

This dress I got at a second hand store with the hopes of recycling it. It is rayon batik and has a Celtic design that I liked. However I was not sure what
I was going to do with it.

A closeup of the Celtic design.

My mother suggested that I line it.

I am glad I did, the rayon was so.. light weight and

droopy that the lining gave it shape.

Click HERE for the link to the vest pattern.

Laying out the pattern to get the best use of the Celtic design. It was a easy project to do.

And the Vest!

I hope to find more fun things to recycle!

While in Sanibel, Florida we visited the islands knitting
store where I got this yarn for this scarf.
I like making small things on the beach.

Isn't this a Fiber Freak's Fantasy!

Last Night at our guild meeting. It was Quilto Night!

Yesterday it was SO.. BEAUTIFUL on the coast of New Jersey. My mom, son and I went to the beach. Normally we would have to protect ourselves from the wind and sand amongst the sand dunes,
but yesterday we were down near the water.
It was perfect!

We really should have put on SPF.

I went to the guild meeting glowing!

Who would have thought March 14th and Sunscreen
 would go together.

And of course I had to bring a project with me.

I am knitting a Infinity Scarf for my niece.

It is in the colors of the college she will be

attending  come the fall.

Enjoy the beautiful weather!
Calling for 75 degrees this and next week.
So what day and time shall I meet you on the beach?


Till We Quilt Again,
Helen

Start Your Engines

2012

Jelly Roll Races

Create your own picture slideshow I learned my lesson: When posting blogs--watch the buttons you press.  This is the 2nd post. And somehow I lost the photo of Doreen with her quilt. What fun we had! I highly suggest doing this with a group of quilters. A Stress Free Day! And Lots of Laughs. The Speed Racers won a gift card to race  out to buy more fabric. First Place- Doreen  (To the left) Second Place-Sharon Third Place-Diane Click Here to get directions and see a video on how to do this fun project! Till We Quilt Again, Helen

A New Award!

A New Award!

Thank You Barb



A few months ago Barb from Mountain Quilt Works 

and I became buddies while chatting about this new blogging world, we both had recently gotten into. 

And now Barb has presented me with
 "The Versatile Blogger Award".

My job is to copy and paste the Award on my page, share 7 things with you, that you may or may not know about me, and then link 15 fellow blogger's who also deserve this award

and pass it on to them.    

Here goes:

1. My favorite neutral color is Black. Most of my quilts have black in it somewhere.

2.  I live in a seaside resort area.

3. Why must I like Pep's so much? And now they have them for every holiday. What is that about!

4. Love flowers but I was not gifted in the art of Gardening.

5. I recently have joined the Knitting World--is there a 12 step program somewhere?

5. Call me crazy, but I prefer chocolate chip cookies WITHOUT the chips.

6. Some of my fondest memories are sitting together with my husband and our boys, on our back deck--- talking! 

7. I get to spend most of the fall and winter playing in the fiber world! Life is Good!

And now the Blogger's I am passing this onto:

Maggie May Quilts

Quilt Crazy Debbie

Quilt Vine

Quiltnut

Sampaguita Quilts

The Casual Quilter

The Quilted Pineapple

The Vintage Bicycle

Cat Patches

Bejeweled Quilts

Bumble Beans

Craizee Corner

Wiquilter

One Wild Stitch

Pink Penguin

 

I hope you enjoy reading these blogs as much as I do.



Till We Quilt Again,

Helen

"The Retreat"

During the past 14 days, I held a Quilting Retreat with some amazing women, flew 2446 miles, meet up with another group from Virgina, North Carolina, New Jersey and Switzerland, refreshed the body and soul on Sanibel Island , visited my wonderful in-laws in Fort Myers and had a

way-to-short visit with my cousin in Punta Gorda.

 And during all of this, I was lucky enough to be able to do all this with my mother

 and my sister in-law joining in for the warm weather events.

The best way to show all fun things that has been going on,

 is with Smilebox.

CLICK MY BLOG MUSIC OFF AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FIRST 

This is my 1st attempt at Smilebox

Keep Your Fingers Crossed!!!

                                                

This photo album made with Smilebox

Here are a few things that was demonstrated at the retreat.

The Six Sided Pillow

I first knitted and felted the bag.

 And added handles. 

 Then added Fold Fabric Flowers

here is the link for a tutorial.

I made this to be a wine bag.

It is very sturdy!

This is a piece of fabric that I practiced

free motion on.

Added binding and a few pieces of hardware.

And you have a Easy Casserole Carrier.

Here is the tutorial.

So here is just a few things that we have been doing.

I would love to show the project we worked on at the retreat.  But that will have to wait till

someone has COMPLETELY Finished one!

In a few days I will be posting photos from our Sunny Florida Trip!

Till We Quilt Again,

Helen

Welcome, How Would You Like Your Coffee?

We have been in the process of remodeling our kitchen. 

Here are a few photos of the process.

Hard to believe that ALL our cabinets are in those boxes.

Our kitchen came from Ikea.

The dining room was in need of a new color.
 And the kitchen needed new cabinets.

We also replaced the island.

It was bitter sweet to see it go.

One day, many years ago, Jim and I tiled the top,

while Nathan was napping. 

Many celebrations and smorgasbord style gatherings had

 been served around that island.

What the kitchen looked like when the cabinets had been removed.
They were installed in 1985.

Behind the cabinets was some old wallpaper.

The color was mauve (not pink) and gray.

Our boys kept commenting on the Pink wallpaper,
 and kept saying
WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!
You can also see the original linoleum floor!

And the Redo!

 The cabinets now go up to the ceiling.
Love the under cabinet lighting.

The TV is now a flat screen up on right wall.

Repainted the chairs and added fabric.

You can see a tutorial here.

Ikea has so many incredible storage systems.

 The white cabinet to the left, is the concealed dishwasher front.

 Jim and the boys installed the subway tile.

Under the counters there are metal bars to either hang

utensils or little pots.

Now that the holidays are over, I plan to alcohol paint them and/or even cover with fabric for the spring and summer.

I picked up several pots to change for the seasons.

Here is a photo during the day.

 Was lucky to get a farmers' sink too.
I had sewn a curtain and rug.

And had seen on the internet how to turn
your cloth into a wipeable floor cloth.

I will be doing this again!

Click Here to be linked to the site that has
at tutorial.

This photo was taken at night.
Has a yellow glow--but it is white and black.

The counters and island are now granite.

What a GREAT spot to cut fabric and make some delicious pie crusts.

The photo above is of a challenge project our guild had at a retreat.

 We were given--ok, forgive me-UGLY FABRIC!

I know for some of you, this is very hard to hear. 

I just love how it turned out!

The kitchen remodel only took a few weeks, however I just never

 seemed to have the time to blog. And recently I was reading

Karen's post "Why We Pick A Blog Name" .
And this is what I wrote on her blog:

Helen said...

"Till We Quilt Again" is the name of my blog. I hope when you visit, you feel a Warm Hug at the door, smell of coffee brewing and something just coming out of the oven. We get lost in time, chatting about quilting, family and food. And because you are so incredibly creative--we share so... many great ideas. And as the time comes to a end, we are both a bit bummed. But we keep in mind that we will do this Very Soon and say our good-byes.... while thinking of "Till We Quilt Again". That is what I hope to convey in my blog name. I Loved this post so much Karen, that I am inviting you to my house.

HOW DO YOU LIKE YOU COFFEE?

I realized while remodeling, Christmas, New Years and everyday life,

that I will be putting final touches on for a long time.

 So if I wait till I am done--

I would not be blogging for a VERY long time.

*So as Friends Do*

I am pushing aside my piles of mess, 

opening my door and want to say 

"Welcome, How Would You Like Your Coffee?

Till We Quilt Again,

Helen