Sharing

"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside." --Denis Waitley

Quilters love to share. This beautiful quilt, which now hangs in a friends home, was the result of a fabric exhange. (I did the machine quilting for her.) Each student in the quilt class brought 6" squares of brown-toned fabrics to exhange with one another. The result gave each student a good number of fabrics to create the centers of these sunflowers.

Hope you all enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day. The weather was beautiful here in southern California. It was 80-degrees.

Now back to work, Vivian!

Special Things

Recently I had the opportunity to machine quilt a darling dinosaur quilt. This special quilt is from a grandmother for her 3 year old grandson. It's from the Kansas City Star book, "Dinosaurs-Stomp, Chomp and Roar" by Pam Manning. I know the little boy will treasure it always.

I look forward to becoming a grandmother for the first time in Jan. Daughter #1 is due Jan. 20th and is expecting a little boy. I bought the Dinosaur book to make a quilt for my grandson someday. "When a child is born, so are grandmothers." ~Judith Levy

And here's something else that's special. It's very special to me. I see this on my front porch every time I enter my home. It's a plaque that my sister made for me while she was in Louisiana serving a church mission. It's actually made from a slate roof tile. She painted our name on it. I love it and treasure it always. This week she would have been 48, but to me she'll always be 32. That's how old she was when she left this mortal existence. I treasure these special little things that remind me of her...

Now get back to work, Vivian! This is your busy season!

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Asked to pick a number between 1 and 28, my daughter Stacy picked NUMBER 27...the winner is Jodi! I'll be sending your Scrabble Tile pendant soon! Thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate 300 posts! Now to do 300 more!!!

...In The Garden of Life

"Friends are the flowers in the garden of life" ??? Lately my garden of life has been full of some weeds! Many things going on but I'm hanging in there. This is my busy season as a machine quilter, after all!

(I quickly snapped these photos just before this quilt left my house. I had folded it up, so sorry the photos aren't the best...a darling Mary Engelbreit quilt...for your viewing enjoyment!)

I have so many stories and quilts to share with you! I have vowed to get back to my blog. I feel, at times, it is much like a journal and it helps to reflect and ponder on things going on in the garden of my life. It also helps me to "pull the weeds" from the garden of my life too!

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This is my 300th post! Woo hoo! That's right! 300 posts of stories/randomness/and quilts!!! To celebrate, I'm having a little 300th post celebration giveaway. You can win this lovely scrabble tile pendant/necklace I purchased from HomeStudio. Please go visit their etsy shop soon. These make great Christmas gifts. -->HomeStudio.

Yes, that's right! Leave a comment below and tell me why you love to quilt, sew, or tell stories. Deadline is Wed., Nov. 11th, 9pm PDT. (that's my bedtime!) Best of luck and thanks for visiting my blog! Tell your friends!

Slow Down Or You Might Miss The Details

This Mariner's Compass quilt was made by a woman who's son-in-law was just deployed to Iraq for his 3rd tour. I did the machine quilting on it. Take a look at the fabrics 'fussy cut' in the compasses!
Some of the soldier's favorites...Nemo... Mr. Incredible...And of course the marines are in there too!

Sometimes I think I move too fast and forget to look carefully at the details. This is a poem I heard recently that made me stop and think:

Slow Dance, by David L. Weatherford

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round

Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight

Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Do you run through each day on the fly

When you ask "How are you?"

do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,

do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores

running through your head?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

Ever told your child,

We'll do it tomorrow

And in your haste,

not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,

Let a good friendship die

'Cause you never had time

to call and say "Hi"?

You'd better slow down

Don't dance so fast

Time is short

The music won't last

When you run so fast to get somewhere

You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through your day,

It is like an unopened gift....Thrown away...

Life is not a race.

Do take it slower

Hear the music

Before the song is over.

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Now get back to work Vivian! But don't forget to slow down now and then...

Angels

Yesterday I had angels on my mind...much like I did when I machine quilted this darling angel quilt.

"I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." Doctrine and Covenants 84:88

"Behold, this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels rejoice over you." Doctrine and Covenants 88:2

Why did I think of angels yesterday?...because there was a strong earthquake in Samoa. I got a phone call yesterday afternoon from a lady from my church telling me to turn on the news immediately. After the strong earthquake there was tsunami watch in effect in Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand. Of course I was glued to the news for the rest of the day!
In case you weren't aware, my son is currently serving a two-year mission for the LDS Church in Auckland, New Zealand. Right now he is in a city called Tauranga, on the north side of the north island. As it turned out, there was a tsunami that came on shore just 3 hours east of my son's city. But now damage was reported. Thank God for GoogleNews! I was able to monitor the news from New Zealand all day long. I'm sure my son is safe and sound, but he was definitely on my mind, as you can imagine. I pray for him and all those in the Pacific South region. I know he's being watch over by angels.

Now back to work, Vivian....Breath a little easier today.

I Wish Every Day Was Thursday!

These days Thursdays are my favorite days! Why? Because of the television show, Project Runway. I love it! I started watching it a few seasons ago and got hooked. This year's another great season. Why do I love that show? Many reasons. I love Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. Heidi Klum is by far, one of the most beautiful women in the world.And I love the show because it's so inspiring. Every time I finish an episode I feel like I need to go sew a dress or something. Now of course I don't really have much time for anything other than machine quilting. Certainly I could never make dresses like those designers, but it's fun to dream!

Do you watch Project Runway? If so, tell me why...I'd love to know.

Speaking of dresses...Check out this cute little quilt I did the machine quilting on. The pattern is called "All Dressed Up."

I love the detail this quilter put on each and every dress! Isn't it cute?

Each dress was beautifully hand-appliqued with fabrics that belonged to the quilter's late mother.

Now, get back to work, Vivian! Is it Thursday yet?

What Will Be in THIS Grandma's Kitchen?

As I did the machine quilting on this quilt called "Grandma's Kitchen" (from Bee In My Bonnet), I wondered what kind of kitchen THIS grandma would have. Yes folks, that's right! I'm going to be a grandma!!! I'm going to be the proud grandma of a little baby boy, mid-Jan. Daughter #1 and her Sweetheart are expecting their first! We are thrilled!

What kind of kitchen would THIS grandma have?

Well, it may not be too much like this darling quilt...too many quilts--too little time--to bake! Shopping? Baking? Ok, there will be shopping, but baking? Not too much here at THIS grandma's kitchen! Perhaps I will be a grandma that will say to her grandkids..."Let them eat cake!" (of course they would have strawberries on top!...after all, this grandma is from Orange County, CA!) Can you see what's embroidered below? "Give us this day, our daily bread." Well at THIS grandma's kitchen, we'll have daily bread, but it'll probably be made in the bread machine!

Bowls? Yes. This grandma's kitchen will have bowls. Mostly for decoration of course! Will there be a juice squeezer for lemonade? Probably not. But we'll have lemonade from a mix. It's not so bad. :) Will there be cookies? Absolutely! THIS grandma's cookie jar will probably filled with Oreos. A rolling pin? Yes...again for decoration!

An apron? Yes, because they are fun to make. Fun to wear too! There's our lemonade below.(from a mix of course!) A scotty dog? Probably not! THIS grandma has a purse dog!

Cherry pie? Yes, THIS grandma will go pick one up at Marie Callenders.

I just hope that no matter what, lots of grandkids will love to come to THIS grandma's kitchen. My first grandbaby will be in Utah, so to get to THIS grandma's kitchen, he'll have to travel a bit. This makes me a little sad, but thank goodness for videochats via Skype! I've got mine all ready to read my grandson bedtime stories at night! And of course THIS grandma lives near the "happiest place on earth!"---Disneyland, here we come!

Now it's time for THIS grandma to make some baby quilts...back to work, Vivian!

Sometimes I'm In The Mood...

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to do something different.

I actually took a little break from my machine quilting to create something. I made this little bag as kind of an experiment. I found this tutorial on this website-->P.S. I Quilt. I made it as instructed in the tutorial, but then made another one. The second one was a little larger. I want to use it to carry my scriptures for church. I also added some pockets inside for pencils, etc. (the only thing I would do differently is use a thicker batting.)

I know. I know. I went a little nuts with the quilting. On the tutorial it said, 'quilt as desired'...well this is how I 'desired' ...

I even went a little further and heatset some Austrian Swarovski crystals on it too. (from Cheri's Crystals) I know I'm a little crazy. But I like it. And if you know me...this bag is so me!

*****

Sometimes I'm in the mood...

to miss my son.

In July my son left for Auckland New Zealand where he is serving a 2-year mission for our Church. I'm so proud of him. He's such a good boy and is working hard. I must admit, though, there are times I miss him soooooooo much. Todd and I are have always been close. I call him my BabyBoy. But look at how grown up he is now:

Pictured above, he is on the right with a young man who recently got baptized. Todd is about 8,000 miles away. I know I shouldn't think of that, but I do now and then. How lucky he is to be in such a beautiful place! When he first found out he was going to New Zealand he said, "Wow! The Land of The Lord of the Rings!" Yes, that's right, they filmed all three of the Lord of the Rings movies there. Beautiful place!

Now here's bit of irony...or perhaps it's just a coincidence...

Just before Todd left he and his sisters and their husbands all went to Disneyland for the day. There they saw Sean Astin, the actor who portrayed one the of hobbits in the Lord of the Rings films. His character was named Samwise Gamgee.

He was at Disneyland that day visiting with his wife and kids. Here is my family with Sean Astin in the center. I teased my kids..."you went to Disneyland to find Mickey Mouse--instead you found a hobbit!"

Notice the matching shirts. Todd's sister made them to wear in honor of Todd. They shirts said:, "New Zealand, EWE should come. Farewell Todd!" This was one of the last times my entire family was together. They won't be together for another two years.

Now, stop missing your son so much Vivian, and get back to work!

Facebook Fan Page Giveaway! Hurry!

Facebook Fan Page fleece blanket giveaway today! Become a fan of the Quilts With Love fan page, leave a comment and you could win this pretty fleece blanket. It measures approx 57 x 68. One side is bright pink and the other is black with bright colored flowers and dragonflies. (to enter, you must already have a facebook acct.) Become a fan and leave a comment today!

Giveaway ends tonight 9/4/09 10pm PDT. Click here to get to the Quilts With Love fan page--> Fan Page

"I Was Dazzled"...by a Twilight Quilt

"Do I dazzle you?" --Edward Cullen

"Frequently." --Bella

Last year I began reading quilter Shannon LaCount's blog, The Quilted Word by Freckles Quilts. She mentioned being a huge fan of the book Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. She also attached a link to a preview of the upcoming movie Twilight. I watched it with great interest. Oooo, this looks good! I had never read Twilight, but from the movie preview, I could see this was the kind of book I'd like. When I bought the book from a local bookstore, I recognized the cover. I had seen that distinctive cover before--two hands holding a red apple. A few months earlier I sat next to a 12- year old girl on a plane. She was completely absorbed in a book our entire flight. It was a thick, hardcover book. This piqued my interest. Such a young girl deeply immersed in such a big book? I glanced at the cover as she read. Two hands holding a red apple. I recognized that same cover when I bought my first copy of Twilight at the bookstore.

As I read Twilight, I continued to follow Shannon's blog. Soon she began to talk about working on a quilt with an online forum called The Twilight Moms. The quilt was to be a gift for Stephenie Meyer, representing all four of the books in the Twilight Series. A anxiously watched as Shannon and the others pieced their blocks. Eight of the Twilight Mom's communicated via email and on the Twilight Mom's forum to construct, what turned out to be, an amazing quilt.

None of the ladies had ever met before. What bound them together was their love of quilting and their love of Twilight. The ladies were from California, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, New Jersey, and Australia.

In April as the quilt was just about completed, I offered to quilt it for them. It was an honor to be involved in some way with these talented ladies. Throughout the entire construction of the quilt, the ladies worked as a team, giving ideas on the construction, layout, colors, everything! And all this was done via emails and on the Twilight Moms forum. The ladies named the quilt "Piece, Love, Twilight."

In the end of June the quilt top was finally constructed and ready for quilting. It was sent to me by Elizabeth Mills of Utah. I was anxious to receive such a treasured package. Once it arrived at my house, I called Elizabeth to let her know it arrived safe and sound. I'm sure she and the other had been holding their breaths and were relieved it didn't get lost. Above: The Twilight Quilt on my doorstep. I'm sure my mailman had no idea what a precious package this was! When I first saw the quilt top, it truly took my breath away! I could see the thought to detail, and excellent workmanship in each and every block. Included with the quilt were suggestions from the ladies. I knew that my job as the machine quilter would be to simply enhance the quilt. My job was to complement each block, not overtake them. Now to get started...

The quilt backing loaded.

Next, the batting. I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting.Above, the quilt top loaded and ready to quilt.

In each corner of the quilt were machine embroidered quotes from the four books of the Twilight series. Below, please enjoy some of the 15 blocks representing different locations, characters, and favorite parts of the books:

La Push First Beach (below)

Edward's Crystal Heart (below) The Volturi: Clock Tower in Volterra (below) Below, Bella & Edward's Stone Cottage (left) and the final line from Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight series (right). Below, Isle Esme (left) and Renesmee's Locket (right).

A quote from 'New Moon', the second book in the Twilight series. (below)

This block represents Jasper and Alice. (above) This block represents Emmett and Rosalie (below) The block on top represents vampire eyes changing color. The block underneath represents Carlisle and Esme. (below) Below, "And so the Lion fell in love with the Lamb" block (left) and Bella & Edward's Wedding Dance (right)

Below, Bella's Truck (left) and Jacob's paw print (right)

Below, the blocks represent Forks (left) and Charlie Swan (right).

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Above is the center medallion of the quilt. It includes parts of all four books in the series. I set the books with the quilt, so you can see how beautifully they included details from all the covers. Even the satin ribbon was painstakenly torn to look like ribbon on the cover of the Eclipse book!

Below, some of the detail work I did on the quilt...I changed threads frequently. Remember I just wanted to enhance the quilt...

Finally all the machine quilting was done. And it just so happened I was going up to Utah on a family trip, so I brought the quilt to Elizabeth and personally hand delivered it to her. Below we are pictured in Utah, together on the day we finally met. The very last thing I said, "You might think about entering this quilt in a quilt show...it's that awesome!"

I knew that Twilight fans would enjoying seeing such a beautiful masterpiece! So, Elizabeth consulted with the rest of the ladies, a vote was taken, and they decided to enter it in the 36th Annual Springville Quilt Show, held at the Springville Utah Art Museum. Elizabeth quickly finished the binding and entered it. Below is the information card to accompany the quilt...And what do think happened?....
It won a blue ribbon! It won for the Best Group Quilt! $100 was awarded. The nine ladies involved in this quilt decided to donated the prize money to a charity. :)

One weekend in August, during the run of the quilt show, some of the Twilight Moms got together to go see the completed quilt in person. Pictured below are four of the ladies. A fifth Twilight Mom, Wanda Beach visited the next day. This was the first time they met in person!

Left to right: Vivian Love (yours truly!), Shannon LaCount, Elizabeth Mills and Iris Fox, pictured with the Twilight Quilt in Springville, Utah.

Shannon LaCount--who first introduced me to the Twilight Moms and this wonderful quilt project--and I finally met in person. Having emailed and read each others blogs for so long, it was like seeing an old, dear friend. It was wonderful to finally meet her! We were brought together by Twilight and quilting! Thanks for allowing me to participate with you!

Shannon also created a blog to follow the progress and stories of the Twilight Quilt. Read The Twilight Quilters Coven to find out about the ladies and more projects they are involved in. The blog introduces you to the ladies involved and details about all the quilt blocks. From their blog: "We are a group who met online in support of a another Twilight quilting project. A few of us thought it would be fun to have a blog where we could continue to inspire each other with Twilight quilted projects, design, swaps, and accomplishments. The possibilities are endless!"

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And just like reading a good story, where you hope there's a good ending...

The ladies are still eager to be able to present the quilt personally to Twilight author, Stephenie Meyer. If you know of a connection that might help them, please email: twilightquilterscoven@gmail.com

The Republican Quilt Revisited

Hearing about the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy reminded me of a quilt story. Yes, that's right. I didn't make a quilt for Sen. Kennedy, but many years ago I made one for one of his nephews, Wm. Kennedy Smith. I wrote about it on my blog a few years ago. Enjoy!

Read here--> A Nixon Quilt for a Kennedy

Sometimes I Remember, Sometimes I Don't

Sometimes I remember...

Last Tues. on the KTLA morning news here in southern California, they were talking about how young people today aren't familiar with terms and names from even 20 years ago. This reminded me of a story about Daughter #1 when she was about 16. So during the news broadcast I went to the KTLA website and emailed the following story to them. And before the broadcast ended, one of the newscasters, Sam Rubin, read my email!

"Your water-cooler buzz topic this morning reminded me of a time when our daughter was teen. A friend of ours had the first name John and middle name Wayne. Once he was trying to get our daughter to guess his name. He gave all kinds of hints like, 'I was named after a famous western actor, etc. etc.' She could never figure it out. Finally he told her, 'My name is John Wayne!' She looked at him completely serious and said, 'You were named after an airport???'

They all had a good laugh. I called Daughter #1 immediately and said, "how many people in your neighborhood can say they had a story about them read on a news station in LA?" I'm glad I remembered that story!

Sometimes I don't...

Every now and then my quilting customers ask me to... "quilt mine like my friend's." Well, to be honest with you, sometimes I don't remember how I quilted their friend's quilt! It's a good thing I take photos for reference. These are 2 Christmas quilts I quilted the same. I looked at my photos for reference.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Here's 2 Block-of the-Month sampler quilts that I quilted exactly the same. They are the same quilts, but different fabrics.

Quilt #1

Quilt #2

Now back to quilting, Vivian! (And back to blogging too! I have tons of stories and quilt pictures to share!)

Would You Like This Quilt?

Well it can be yours if you win! Buy a Raffle Ticket from my friend Lisa (email LisaMarieV@aol.com). All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Drawing will be held on Aug. 8th, Yorba Linda Middle School in Yorba Linda, Calif. Hurry! Get your tickets today and tell your friends!
This beautiful quilt pieced in batiks and freehand machine quilted (by me), measures approx. 66 x 86. Batting: Quilters Dream Cotton. Thread: Signature Cotton Variegated.

Remember who you are!

I recently ordered these vinyl letters. I put them up myself. Well, acutally with the help of my son and hubby. I was so proud of us. My friends always pay someone to do this in their homes. But it really wasn't rocket science. Pretty easy.

This is one of those saying my kids have heard for years from their dad... Everytime they would leave to go out at night, he would remind them of that motto. I think it's a good motto to live by. And our 3 three children, all grown and gone, turned out just fine. Maybe that motto actually sank in!

Here are some pretty pictures we had done when our family was all together last month.
We had them taken at the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach, by Lillie B Photography. I love them. It was the last time my entire family will be all together for the next 2 years.
When it comes to quilting, my motto would be...Remember to do a good job, or else!

I've always tried to do a good job on every quilt.

Big or small...all quilts are important to me.

I'm trying to make the world a little more beautiful...one quilt at a time.Speaking of which, I have lots of quilts to do!

Now get back to work, Vivian!