Spotlight on Barb

Today I want you to meet my wonderful friend, Barb Perkins and see some of her amazing work. Barb is the founder and leader of our quilting group, "Sisters'n'Stitches".  Over the last year, I have been highlighting some of the studios and quilts made by members of our group, and now it is Barb's turn. She has made so many stunning quilts, that it will take a few more posts to show you, but I wanted to start with this quilt because I love it so much.

I'm going to show you different sections of the quilt so you can appreciate the precise applique and wonderful detail work. This was actually several blocks joined together, but you wouldn't really notice that to see the whole panorama.

She has embellished it with silk ribbon embroidery. Can you see the little flowers the sheep are grazing on? Each one is a silk ribbon flower!

I love the colors in this quilt also. If you can enlarge this picture, please do so you can see the silk ribbon bees flying around the beehive.

I LOVE the bunnies!

Can you see the graveyard next to the church? Each little gravestone has embroidered flowers on it. Amazing!

Notice the boy in the tree and the birds on the branch.

All the leaves on the tree are silk ribbon.Such patience!

Here she is! Our very talented and generous leader, Barb has always shared her talents with those who want to learn how to sew and quilt. She had introduced the joy of quilting to many women and girls in our area.  She is in her studio...a VERY neat and organized place!

This darling quilt hangs in her sewing room. I love the vintage-y fabrics with the Mary Englebreit panel.

Her international thimble collection is displayed on the wall.

In the tall bookcase, she had dozens of notebooks with patterns and projects. In the foreground, you can see her Super Duper sewing machine. She does beautiful machine embroidery in addition to hand work.

A portion of her stash. I have many more amazing quilts to show you in the next few weeks, so please visit again. Thanks so much for stopping by. -Derrith

Apron Day

I've been working on a few projects and one of them was this apron I made for a fund- raising church auction.

I had four co-ordinating fabrics to play with in an attempt to produce a contemporary looking apron. I am also working on a Make-0ver for my laundry room which it turning out to be pretty fun and I will share pics of that next week. I will be back soon, so I hope you will be too. Thanks for visiting! -Derrith

Making Progress...

Just a quickie post today. I finished block #4 of my "Pumpkin Hill" quilt by Bunny Hill Designs.  Three more to go. That wouldn't take long if I didn't have 13 other projects going-I know you ALL know what I mean! Thanks for visiting today. Please come back again soon. Love, Derrith

2nd Drawing Winner

After stirring all the entries for the Grow Your Blog Give A Way in my pink Pyrex bowl, I had my husband draw out a winner.  She is Tisha Dalton of April Songstress.

She wins the vintage Pyrex bowl, the two hand appliqued kitchen towels, assorted ribbons and trims and a cute little notebook. Thank you to all of you who left very kind messages and entered the drawing. Thank you to my new followers. This was a great party!  Love, Derrith

February Fun

Our happy quilt group met last night and our hostess, Darlene had little hand made valentine boxes on a pink tablecloth for us. Sooo Cute!

We had each been assigned to bring a valentine to share. The only requirement was that it had some fabric on it. This was the fun variety we ended up with.  We drew numbers so we all went home with a different one.

Jayna showed us her pretty table runner she can use for Valentine's day, Christmas, and the 4th of July or even for a picnic. Pretty clever!

Pat H. made this beauty. Being snowed in for 4 days can really help getting projects done!

Darlene showed us some fun machine appliques projects she was working on too. There was one more really fun quilt, but it is a gift for someone, so I can't show it yet. We also have a message for you, Lorali. WE MISS YOU SO MUCH and send our love. 

Thanks for visiting today.  I will be having my second drawing for the Grow Your Blog party in a few days!  -Derrith

Winner of Drawing #1

Amy from Sew Incredibly Crazy is the winner of my first drawing from the "Grow Your Blog" party.

She will receive the vintage valentine tote, hand sewn kitchen towel set, the pot holders and "flossies". Congratulations to Amy. My second drawing will be next Saturday. Thank you to all of my friends, old and new who left sweet comments. -Derrith

Andy's Quilt - Finally Done

Today is my son Andy's birthday. He is 37. About 3 - 4 years ago he asked me to make him a quilt with his beloved vintage International Scout on it. After a few false starts, I finally decided on the pattern and began sewing (what seemed like) hundreds of log cabin blocks. For the center block, I tried to make it look like he was "off roading" up in the mountains.

Here it is in it's entirety. Fortunately, he was very thrilled and didn't seem to mind waiting a few years for it. My good friend (and very talented quilter) Darlene did a great job on the machine quilting. Thank you for visiting today. If you are looking for the "Grow Your Blog" post, it is below and it's not too late to enter the drawings!  -Derrith

Grow Your Blog

I'm so happy to welcome "Grow Your Blog" party goers and wish to thank Vicki at 2 Bags Full   for hosting this great event. I'm starting off with my give-aways this year. I have TWO prize packages. The first one is pictured above: it includes a fun vintage valentine print tote that I just found at an antique mall, two hand appliqued kitchen towels and two hot pad that I have made for you and five of my "flossies" which are little dress shaped embroidery floss holders. Due to the valentine theme of this prize, I will hold the drawing on Feb. 7th.

This is the second prize package. It includes a rare, vintage Pyrex bowl in a peachy pink, two hand embroidered kitchen towels, a package containing some ribbons and trims and a little notebook for your handbag. The drawing for this prize will be on Feb. 15th.  All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment. You will be entered in the drawings for both prizes. It's that easy.

I will tell you a bit about my blog. I started it 3 years ago and it is a place for me to share ideas, projects and a lot more. It is primarily a quilting blog. This is a quilt I finished earlier this year.

This is a quilt I did a few years ago, displayed in a little vintage shop that I am involved with.

I enjoy making aprons (it's one way to use some of the fabric I've stockpiled). This is a set I made this summer for a Mom and her little boy and girl. I enjoy designing them and embellishing them with hand applique.

I do quite a bit of handwork...it gives me something to do in front of the TV in between quilts.

You will also find on this blog that I share pics of my adventures in shopping and traveling in and around the northwest (this was at a local lilac festival).

This gorgeous garden cottage in actually in the backyard of a friend. I love sharing special places I find.

You may wonder how my blog got it's name. Well, I do love ribbon and glitter and gift wrapping, but I love so much more and would like to share it with you. I hope you have enjoyed your visit and will want to come again. I love visiting other blogs and look forward to meeting you.  -Derrith