You MUST see this quilt!

I am a follower of Diane Gaudynski's blog and read her latest post following the American Quilter's Association show in Paducah. She has a link to the winners, BUT she had a picture of an absolutely incredible quilt with a link to Sandra Leichner's blog.

Diane said that this quilt was "her treat of the show" and admitted that her mouth must have been hanging open when she saw it. Apparently word of mouth between quilters had her anticipating before she got to the show. Do you need to ask if I hit the link for more info after seeing the picture?

I don't want to break any rules by copying, but I must tell you that I pre-ordered the book due out in October. That's the picture above. Can hardly wait for it to arrive!

First, she quilts herself (no long arm machine), the applique work is incredible, and the hand embroidery is to die for. Links below are for 2 posts and you will be amazed!

http://sandraleichner.com/wordpress/2010/04/21/tea-with-miss-d-in-paducah/

and

http://sandraleichner.com/wordpress/2010/04/26/some-more-detail-shots-of-tea-with-miss-d/

The detail of her work is incredible. Be prepared to spend some time and enjoy!

I'll bet that there are a lot of the professional experienced quilters who are as astonished as I am that she didn't win a prize.

Mary

I found it!

I have been looking for pictures of this quilt I finished in 2006 forever. Darn! I sometimes hate this "age" thing creeping in. Found the disc today while looking for something else...

It is based on an Atkinson design called Country Lanes. On one of our visits to see Theri in Dallas, we walked into a quilt shop and there it was. She loves to take me to new (or favorite) shops whenever we go down. Always costs me money!And it is the first quilt that I bought ALL the fabric on the spot. Not for just one, but two!

A neighbor always took care of the fish pond for me--even on the summer trips when cleaning the filter was no pleasant task. Pretty yucky, actually. When I said who it was for, Theri told me that I could certainly bring her a "thank you" gift that didn't cost quite this much! But I went ahead (and the extra set was for hubby because I knew he would love it). The neighbor had said how much she and her daughter loved sitting in our swing and enjoyed the time together and the garden...I thought this might provide a pleasant memory for the favor!




Don't you just love the flowered panels?



And I pushed myself to sit and practice digitizing a quilting design for the embroidery machine. I used a transparent thread on the flowered blocks so that it would not distract from the design. Don't know if you'll see much from this back view.




A friend watched it's progress and kept saying "if she doesn't want it, I do!" Think that was a heavy hint?



So now that I've found the pictures AND the pattern, do you think it's time I got around to the one for us?

Let's see...near the top or the bottom of the list?

Mary

It's not just fabric

When I mailed the floss organizers to Christine, I did forewarn her that I might be creating a monster. This is why...

This is the whole collection, minus the threads separated for the current project. Each of those rings represents threads in numerical series: 100-199, 200-299, etc.

It's probably an illness, but I don't know who I should make the appointment with...


This is the thread separated to use on the current project.

And notice the DMC thread color card? This is probably 20 years old by now. Go ahead....pat me on the back and offer congratulations! I never updated and bought a new one. I do NOT want to know how many newer colors are available.

I LOVE the "Q Snap" frames. This is the 8" size and I can work for hours without my hands aching.

And THIS is my evening project. Isn't he magnificent? Loving birds runs in the family, don't you think?

He is on Aida 18 (that's
eighteen squares to the inch for non-cross stitch followers). Puts me right up there in the idiot group for working on this in the evening, I guess. My eyesight might need to be checked when this is complete!

We have a fabulous shop in Indianapolis called Needle Fever. I stopped in one day and this fellow was staring at me from the corner. Can you understand why I bought the directions?


An here's one of the hawks that sometimes visits the garden. I was quite upset the first time he caught one of my bird friends and thought maybe I should stop filling the feeders...sort of like setting them up, you know?

And then one of my sons (Dave) talked to me about "everyone" on the food chain needing to eat. Nice to know that when they grow up they can teach us things too! But I do insist that they fly off and eat their dinner elsewhere...

Mary

Was it an illusion?

Don't I remember showing you pictures of the organized sewing room just a few weeks ago? So what's this mess?

That's right! It's all Katie's fault! She issued a challenge to use up our scraps.

Look how organized I was... All the strips were gathered from drawers, bags and bins and hung on the drying rack behind the sewing machine.

And the next picture shows all the colored strips disappearing! Wow!
And then I went to pull more colors to hang on the rack... There's definitely something wrong with this theory! My scraps are NOT diminishing... If anything, I would swear they are multiplying in the dark. Do you suppose I should leave the lights on 24/7?

Doesn't look like I've accomplished much in the last 2-3 weeks, but here is the scrappy star quilt that "Love", Ann and Theri convinced me to keep working on. The 12 inch squares are great to work with and certainly helps fill up space. If you have any great ideas for finishing, please send them on!

I need to apologize for not keeping up and commenting on your wonderful projects or great news. I find myself in a situation similar to Connie's--medications not working or nobody has a clue what will work. But enough of that!

I am amazed at what a diverse and wonderful group I have been lucky enough to join! We have different styles and tastes in colors and projects--yet we have meshed together quite well, don't you think?


Oh! One last picture.... Should I send these for April or mix them up in another batch?