Raspberry Parfait

Hello... Hello... Hello!

I am back! I have missed you all terribly!!!

Please don't think that I have been ignoring you... I'm not...

I promise!

I have been a little overwhelmed! I even began to wonder if I was ever going to be able to get back into blogging... and then yesterday... with the surprise death of my

Aunt Edith...  my load got heavier. I am sure you all have heard me talk about her and will again... in my next post.  She was my second mom!

 Madame Samm was kind enough to choose my quilt

Raspberry Parfait

as part of her February banner on
"Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure."

Thanks Samm!

In addition she has asked us to share with you all a little more of our quilt on our blogs today.

I will tell you...

this is one of my favorite quilts that I have ever made.

I simply adore the pinwheels (of course)...

that the blocks create as you sew them together.

And... what a simple block it is!

I love how the pinwheels seem to dance across the quilt!

Thanks dear friends for stopping by...

I look forward to hearing from you all again!

Hugs and until next time...

Sew On Rae Ann

I'm SEW Up To Something!

Last week I spent some time working on a little project that I have been needing to get done... so now... I thought I might share it with you!

This is the first block that I finished.

The more I made... the more I fell in love with this block. I think I could go about making these all day... they're so fun!

Now... I can't show you more because I have sent it off to the quilter already. But...

I will be back Wednesday to show you the finished project! Any guesses?

Have a very productive Monday!

A Schnibble of A Valentine!

This is just a little nibble of my Valentine Schnibbles quilt. I finished it last month at my St Goerge retreat. I have been so busy with other things that I almost forgot to show it to you!

Making this really put me in the mood for Valentines. I could hardly wait to get home from my retreat and start decorating!

I have a little cabinet with a perfect table top that sits between my kitchen and my family room. It is the one place in my house that I always keep decorated for the seasons. 

The Schnibbles pattern I used for this was Winter White...one of my favorites! This is the same pattern that I made my last Schnibbles quilt out of for Christmas....the same quilt that I am using for my header.

Most of the fabric I used in this quilt was from Moda's line...Sent With Love...by Deb Strain. This line also had a few pieces of green in it that I chose not to use...so I ended up substituting a few pieces of reds and pinks from my stash instead.

My dear friend Helen quilted this for me and she always does such a wonderful job! I love the cute design that she did in the inner boarder. It is rather hard to see...but there are hearts in the red outer boarder. Very cute!

Just above the cabinet that I decorate, I have a quilt rack where I hung the Christmas Schnibbles quilt. I had a hard time deciding if I wanted to hang this one there...like I did that one...or use it as a table topper.

I guess it really doesn't matter.

Where ever it is...it will still be just

a Schnibbles of a Valentine!

Happy Valentines Day!

I Quilted Something! Yeah!

I must have alot of you wondering....does she really quilt or just take us on tours of quiltshops and quilt guilds? I do quilt and love it! I am a great starter of things....just a poor finisher at times, but I am working on overcoming that. Look, I actually quilted something!

I have concluded that my mind works much faster than my hands and before I can get the project done, I have cut something new out that I am dying to make, as you can see below! The pile in the basket is a project from last year that I hope to get completed this week. The fabric behind the basket is 3 new projects I have to get made right away. The fabric that is cut out, on the right, is what I am dying to make. Hopefully, it won't end up on the list of "Things To Be Finished". I plan to keep working on it instead of putting it away!

Another problem that I have is....when I see a piece of fabric, my mind goes into the mode of... color play. This is where I really get into trouble! I immediately start pulling fabrics and building a quilt off that one piece of fabric until I have another wonderful project to take home and start. That has to be one of my favorite things of quilting. I love putting colors together!  Does anyone else out there have these problems?

That is why I am anxious to show you what I actually started, finshed and already got it back from the quilter, all in a week's time. It was a very small something that many of you have already made.

Yes... It's a little Schnibbles quilt....Winter White....made with the same fabrics as the original...Glace'. I loved the fabric line so much, that I had to use it to make mine!

In my Dog Kennel quilt group, I am going to be teaching three mini classes in the next six months, so I thought it would be fun to teach them three different Schnibbles quilts. I have been asked to display the first one at our luncheon in December. That was just enough incentive to get me going and to get it done...finished...and ready to show. The pressure was on! I guess what I am saying is that I work better under pressure.

Beautiful Fall! Exceptional Colors!

I just love Fall! Last week I took a couple of friends and went to my cabin in Wyoming for a week quilt retreat. The leaves were just starting to change and the
colors were so pretty!

On Wednesday there was an outstanding rainstorm. The weather was just gorgeous in the morning and by afternoon there came a pouring rain pounding across the valley. It grew with such intensity. We all watched as it slowly crossed from one side of the valley to the other and by evening it was gone!

 I love the sunsets after a good rain, so I grabbed my camera and tried to capture the beauty of it all. I wish you all could have been there in person to witness this great storm and smell of the fragrant mountain air after the rain.  Hopefully through these pictures you can also enjoy the beauty of the world we live in.

This storm brought to mind a poem that I wrote when I was 14 years old. I couldn't believe how it triggered in me the feeling of the words I had expressed so many years ago. I will share it with you now, but remember I was only 14 when I wrote it.

                          

The sky grows darker as the unseen sun

lowers helplessly behind cloud covered mountains.

Then the dull chill of the whispering breeze

seems to open the sky's rain fountains.

Continuously these fountains pour

making streams of ever joining puddles,

as flowers and trees without a care

lift their heads from earthly huddles.

The rhythm of the beating rain

follows in almost every drop,

until it slows and slips away,

then comes to it's final stop.

Fall seems to do the same thing to me. Seeing the beautiful colors and feeling of  the cool crisp air inspire me. It triggers in me a creativeness and as a result I start dreaming of colors and putting together quilts.

Following is a quilt I made a couple of years ago on just such a day.

Quilt Photos by Kim Walus

Happy Fall to All!

Enjoy the coming weekend!

Welcome to My New Blog

My dear sweet friend Kim Walus took time out of her busy Saturday to come over to help me set up my quilting blog. I choose the name Cutie Pinwheel because I think there is nothing cuter in the quilting world than darling little pinwheels.

I actually have Kim to blame for my quilting and fabric obsessions, as she is the one that taught me how to quilt. It all started in the year 2000. Kim invited me to join the group of ladies that met on a weekly basis in her home. I can just tell you that she is one of the greatest teachers out there and her instructions on anything she does is very precise and easy to understand.

I am a lover of Vintage, 30's, and Civil War fabrics. I can never have enough of these wonderful fabrics. It seems like I can always find a little extra room to squeeze in a few extra fat quarters that find there way into my hands as I'm walking through a quilt store. In fact, I been known to make my purchase only to go back and make a few more purchases before I finally leave the quilt store.

 Fabric just SPEAKS to me!!! How can you leave when the fabric is calling your name and saying, "Take me Home, you know you want to!!!" I must have a loving and compassionate heart! I always remember first seeing Kim's collection of 30's and thought to myself, "I'll never get into collecting those!" Well, I must say, that I've since eaten my words and have a substantial collection of 30's fabrics. The first quilt that Kim taught us was a 30's sampler quilt.