Good Monday morning.  Quilts and plates are two of my favorite things.  Blue and white quilts and plates are my VERY FAVORITE things!

I finally finished this blue and white 12 patch quilt that I started back in the fall. It is such a simple classic pattern. You may know that I love to use men’s shirts and other old pieces of fabric in my quilts and this is one that has a lot.  They have a softness to them that new fabric doesn’t have.

I love the look of a quilt just sort of thrown over a bed like this. I wish you could feel it.  It’s so soft.

 When I began this blue and white quilt, my plan was to make a tablecloth.

Maybe there are a few too many checks going on in this room.

Or on the sofa to cozy it up in the winter.

It would be great on our bed.

Also picked up a set of 8 dinner plates and 2 bread and butter plates at GW the other day.   Hard for me to resist a blue plate for only 49cents, actually 37 cents with the senior discount!

 I plan to use them for meals but for a little while I put them in the coffee table and they make a nice contrast against the black background.

                 Blue and white quilts and plates, that’s what I love.  Oh and of course I love a cup of tea.

I’ve got a pot of tea all ready hoping you might stop by today!

                                                                      Rhondi xo

Blue and White Quilts

Blue and white quilts again?  Can’t help myself.

Good morning dear friends

Ever since I decided to begin blogging again I have had the hardest time in being consistent with it.  So here I am again.  I finished a couple of sewing projects that I want to show you.

This first one is made with hexagons.  It is all hand sewn and took quite awhile, but I really enjoy hand sewing.  There is something about sewing by hand that is so relaxing.  I think it must cause the brain to go into a different rhythm or something.  I thought I might make a quilt but after sewing  lots of hexies, decided to cover a pillow instead.

           
           Now where to put it?  On the porch would be nice but don’t want to expose it to the elements.

                                                                   Maybe on my chaise lounge…

                                                            Or on the chair in my sunroom..

The other thing I have been working on is this quilt.  The pattern is called Irish Chain.  So simple and classic.

I wonder if you are thinking ” Enough blue and white!”  I probably have way too much of it.  I have made lots of quilts in different colors.  I’ll do  a photo gallery of all of them sometime, but I always come back to my favorite blue and white.

Do you have a favorite color combination that as much as you try to do something different , you always return to?

Rhondi xo

Joining Anything Blue Friday at The Dedicated House

Happiness is

Happiness is planning and working on a sewing project, especially a quilt.  As soon as I start to plan a sewing project, especially a quilt something inside me says, "Ah...this is what I was meant to do!"  It's like my brain waves operate  on a different  frequency or something.  I just feel so content.

My project right now is this quilt for our youngest grandchild, Pierce. His first birthday is next month, so I am a little late with it because it was supposed to be his baby quilt.  Anyway, his mom said she would like some thing in blue, so this is what I'm working on.

My sewing room has a bed smack dab in the middle but it comes in handy for laying our projects.  This is just a simple nine patch, nothing very complicated, a beginner could do it. But I love the contrast of the light and dark blues.

In my last post I said I'd have a cup of tea waiting the next time you come, but I don't even have the kettle on yet.  I promise if you drop by I'll stop what I am doing and make us a pot of tea.  It's very cold here in Charlotte today so a pot of tea will hit the spot.

Happiness for me is making quilts.  I'd love it if you'd leave a comment filling in the blank:  Happiness is _________

Looking at life through rose colored glasses,

Rhondi

Feeling Like Fall

One of the first signs of fall here are the berries and leaves on our dogwood trees beginning to turn red and the cardinals feasting on them everyday.

 The berries on the nandina bushes turn from green to this  beautiful burgundy color and eventually to bright red.  My Mr Rabbit vase is the perfect container for them.

 Oops, you can't see his little face... there it is!

 You can see here how the berries are changing color.

 If you've followed me for very long you will know that I love blue and white and yellow.  I don't know what got into me the other day but I had an urge to make an orange and white quilt!  Orange is definitely a color I seldom use in my house.  I often don't even have an orange pumpkin for Halloween.  Maybe it was because I covered a little pumpkin in orange and white polka dots ( I'll tell you about that project tomorrow).
Maybe it was because we go to Elevation church and our logo is orange and white.  Whatever possessed me, I made a little quilt, just big enough to cover a small table or drape over the arm of a chair.

 I haven't actually finished the quilting but put it on the table anyway until I can get time to finish it!

Orange and blue are complimentary colors so they go together very well.  The Goodwill pumpkin that I painted white with blue leaves can be all purpose fall, or ........

 turn him around and he's all ready for Halloween!

 I took down my blue and white quilt and hung this one.  The warmer colors are cosier for fall and the orange color of the tablecloth  picks up the orange  colors in the quilt. 

I have to go to work now but could you come back tomorrow and have a cup of tea with me?  I'd love to have a longer visit with you. 
Hope to see you tomorrow
Rhondi xo

Red and White

I made this red and white quilt in 2006.  Red and white is such a wonderful combination. Apparently a lady who lives in New York thinks so too because she accumulated 650 red and white quilts.  So last week, for her 80th birthday her husband had them all hung in a display,  in NYC so she could see them all at once.   It was open to the public.  I  would have loved to see it!

Here is a sample of what it looked like.  Amazing!!!  Makes me want to make another red and white quilt.

It was hosted by the American Folk Art Museum. You can see more about it here: display of red and white quilts.  When you get to the website, click on the photos it will give you a slide show.
Martha Stewart also blogged about it here. 
The funny thing was, the lady said she wasn't a collector...talk about denial!

Have a happy weekend.
Rhondi

Thanksgiving #5

I think I already told you that I won a giveaway from Lori at Bee In My Bonnet.  It arrived in the mail today.  I am thankful for all this free fabric!  Isn't it great?

 Lori is a talented designer and she also sent me two of her patterns.  They both look wonerdful.

 I especially like this one because it has teacups...perfect for me!!

I feel very lucky today.  Thank you Lori.

Rhondi xo

Bloom Where You're Planted

If you have been reading my blog for very long, you might remember this quilt that I have hanging in my studio.             

I have decided to sell it.  It is an original design and measures 36" x45"

Here are a few close ups:

The first photo below show the size of the dots most accurately

The price is $325.  If you are interested in buying it please let me know.

Hope you're having a great day!

Rhondi xo

For a Friend With Love

I love quilts.  They are so cosy and comforting.  On a cold winter day there is nothing better than to wrap up in a snuggly quilt with a hot cup of tea and a good book.

This pile of quilts on the chair is what I've been working on for the past while.  I have a dear friend whose husband died of cancer and she commissioned me to make quilts from his shirts, one quilt for each of their three adult children and one for her.

Her husband Larry, was a great guy, a fine Christian man, full of life, a good sense of humor and always thinking of others first.  As I worked on the quilts, I felt like he was watching over my shoulder, in a good way, cheering me on and enjoying the entire process.

The quilts for their sons were made with the more masculine looking fabrics.

I used some of the lighter colors for their daughter.

 I used what was left over for the quilt for my sweet friend Linda. We as parents often give our children the best and take what is leftover for ourselves, so I thought that seemed very appropriate.  I quilted their favorite bible verses from Isaiah 61 instead of quilting a traditional design.  If you click on the photo it will enlarge it and you can see it better.

When I delivered the quilts we both cried.  Sleep well my dear friend.
 
Rhondi xo

Bloggers' Quilt Festival

There is an online bloggers' quilt festival going on at Amy's Park City Girl blog today.

I am showing my favorite quilt. I named it Blue Plate Special. It's is 63" x63".




It is my own original design and the second quilt I ever made. I was inspired by the first quilt I made, called The Blue Collection, designed by Maggie Walker. Since I collect blue and white china I thought it would be fun to design my own quilt and use my collection as the inspiration. It is hand appliqued and hand quilted and I'm very proud of it because I won first prize in the applique division in our guild quilt show and I also won viewer's choice.

All the objects in the quilt are in our home and I tried my best to use fabric that was close to the pattern on the china. The vine represents the magnolia tree espaliered against the wall of our house. The pink flowers were in planters at the back door.

If you click here. you can see the quilt that inspired me, which I also hand appliqued and hand quilted and you can see the Blue Plate Special hanging on the wall in the front hall. Right now it hangs in the living room which I wrote about in this post.

There are so many wonderful quilts over at Amy's. Thank you Amy for putting on this wonderful event.
Make sure you visit her. I know you're going to enjoy the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Rhondi xo

Bonjour

Bonjour. I missed you! We were away this weekend. Do you know where this is?

We went on a Duck Tour

We walked around a college campus.

Did you guess Boston? The first photo is of the finish line for The Boston Marathon and the college is Harvard.

But we didn’t go to sightsee. We went to visit our son and his wife and to go to a baby shower for them. They are having a boy and they have chosen orange and blue for his room. They like very contemporary style, so this is the quilt I made for them. They loved it.

Their baby is due the end of November and we are so excited. It's their first baby and our 4th grandchild.

The “BONJOUR” teapot was something I purchased for only $3 when I went to some of the shops in Monroe which I posted about here.

Now I’m off to see what y’all have been up to while I’ve been gone.

Rhondi xo

The Shirt Off His Back

Awhile ago in this post, I showed you this picture and I asked you to guess what I was going to do with it.

I recovered 2 of our dining room chairs. The old covers had been clawed by our cats and were really a mess!

All the fabric except for the one with the white swirls came from men’s shirts that I bought at Goodwill and Salvation Army. It is such wonderful soft fabric to work with.

The chairs sit at either end of our table.

When we need extra seating in our living room, I just move them there and they look great and are comfortable too.

I still have some of the shirt fabric leftover. I wonder what else I could do with it?

We have a beautiful day here. Hope you do too and I hope you enjoy the weekend.

Rhondi xo