Browns is done!

Well I finished the browns top and pinned the flowers on the "Smell the Flowers" wall quilt. I still have to figure out how to do the wonky alphabet letters that Tonya is know for (http://lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/). I am wanting to put Smell the Flowers on the bottom of the quilt. I am excited about this.

Today I am planning on sleeping when I can. I was on ambulance calls last night and did not get much sleep. ARRGGGHHHHH! But, that is what I love to do.

I am in charge of the huge Christmas Day community dinner at the fire department now. We serve the community a free meal for whomever wants to come eat with us. I am wondering if anyone has some real easy recipes they could share with me? I have decided that since I am new to this fire department tradition, I would shake things up a bit. I have changed the recipe for stuffing and am making a yummy fruit salad. Of course there is not much I can do for the mashed potatoes and regular trimmings, but the side dishes are another story all together! Oh, I am such a rebel!

Anyway, need to go and get ready for the babies to be dropped off for my love and attention. Hopefully they all want to take naps!

FINALLY!!!!!

Can you believe that I sew with such a mess on my table? It usually is not quite so bad, but lately I have just been tossing things on it.

I wanted to post something so you all did not think I had quite this blog. But I am very busy babysitting 3 babies almost every day. My days are usually 15 hours of childcare. Thankfully not all at the same time, but it does make for a long day.

I am showing a quilt that I cut out and started sewing at midnight last night. I have always wanted to work in browns and tans. So, thanks to my "Stash Bashers" club at The Stitchin' Post I have begun one. Hopefully I will have the top done this evening depending on how the babies are. I will post a picture when it is completed.

I also wanted to post some pictures I took last evening at dusk. The moon was so full and the sky so clear. The picture was at a pasture just east of Sisters. The Mountains in the other picture are called The Three Sisters. They are part of the Cascade Range. These are south of Sisters. Then I have a pictures of myself and my sister-in-law at a Christmas party last Saturday night. I am the one with the huge smile on the right. Yes, I did get another haircut. WAY WAY WAY too short. Looked nothing like the picture I took in, but I keep saying "It will grow".

Anyway, I do need to go and get ready for the babies. I hope you all have a wonderful day and plenty of sewing time!

Hugs!

Denise

My Sesame Street personality

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

My new things

OK Ladies, here are a few of my latest blocks. The tie shaped ones are just 2 of 20 that I made and donated to be used in auction quilts to raise money for breast cancer research. All the ties had to be pink and they had to be on a white background. They turned out very cute I think. They ended up getting so many ties that they can make quite a few quilt tops. I was thrilled and honored to participate in that "Quilt Pink" day at the Stitchin Post.

The Halloween patch is for a block raffle. The fabric in the middle of the block was given to us and we had to use our own fabrics to finish out the block. Next quild meeting we put our blocks on the design wall and our name in a basket. Whoever has their name drawn gets ALL of the completed blocks. I am really hoping that I get them since I do not have a halloween quilt. Well, I don't have any quilt for that matter since I give mine all away!!!!!

Anyway, I promised to put up some photos and now I have. I will try to get some nice ones of more tops I have not completed yet. Maybe this winter I can get something finished?????

Happy quilting!

Denise

Moved!!!!

I have finally moved into my new home! We are still unpacking and trying to organize things.

I have my own quilting studio now and a huge design wall! Can you believe it? I am so excited. I am still arranging things there, but soon will have it just the way I need it.

I will post some pictures when I get a chance. PROMISE!!!!! I was internet-less for 3 weeks. Almost killed me! But now I am back on-line and plan on doing more with this blog.

Have a great day!

Denise

Had to make a change!

Due to the spam porn that was sent to my blog as an anonymous poster, I had to change my preference where you could not post comments as an anonymous poster. I also had to make it where you have to type in the code before posting. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but my daughter checks this for me now and again. Maybe if these people took up quilting, they would not feel like looking and sending porn????? LOL

Denise

Fires, Fires, Fires

Hello all!!!!!
I have been so busy lately. Fire season has finally hit with it's full force. Recently Dave (my wonderful hubby) and I have been assigned to the Black Crater fire. THAT one was too close for comfort but is pretty much non-threatening now. HOWEVER we have ANOTHER fire burning in the area. Just 5 miles from Black Butte Ranch and 6 from Sisters. Check out www.nuggetnews.com for fire information and some AWESOME pictures of the fires!

I am posting a picture of my new haircut.

I went from long and curly to short and straight! What a change for me. I have to learn how to use a straightening iron better, but it will be OK with practice. The back of my hair is really short and spiky. I love it! I went to Three Sisters Salon and Spa. Nicole was my beautician. She did EXACTLY what I wanted. I paid more money than I had ever paid before, but I think it was worth it!

Sorry I do not have any real cool pictures to post of quilts this time, but will have some after the weekend. My friend, Teresa, and I are going to the coast to see the Tillamook quilt show. Hopefully I will remember my camera! I have been such a ditz lately that I probably will forget it.

Anyway, I will update this site after the weekend. Thanks for checking in!

Quilt till you wilt!

Denise

Fun little quiz

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

This is so true!!!! Take this quiz and see what comes up for you!

Need to go and take my brownies out of the oven. I have the sheetrockers working in the house today and I like to bribe the workers with sweets!

Happy quilting!

Denise

Some more UFO's for your enjoyment

Here are a couple more projects I just have not got around to finishing. I have this real cute table runner that I decided to do patriotic. I absolutely loved the backing fabric I found for it! It has a bunch of things that symbolize America. The tulip quilt is the product of a mystery class that took place over a month. I did not get to finish it like I was supposed to because we had a large wildland fire that I had to go work on. So I missed the last class. I did learn however that I really do not like checkerboards as they never some out even for me. I chose the colors to match a pillow that my daughter had made me for Christmas back in 2001. I loved the pillow colors and wanted to make something to kind of go with it. I have the pillow packed or I would have added a picture of it too.

I am very anxious to get into the new house with my very own studio and 2 (!) huge design walls. I bought a book about designing your studio space and different ideas for storage. I have a feeling that Dave is going to be busy making me some shelving units!

While working at the Stitchin' Post I bought some wonderful fabrics and also a real neat pattern called Memories of Sisters. It is all paper pieced which I do not know how to do correctly. My friend Teresa is going to help me with it. She also got the pattern. We are making a trip to a new quilt store in Bend that specializes in batik fabrics to get everything we need for it. I am excited.

I currently am working on some cross-stitched bibs for my niece. They are patterns of Eyore from Winnie the Pooh. They are so cute! She is due in October so hopefully I will have them done by then. With all the house stuff it may be close.

Anyway, just wanted to add something to this blog so people can hopefully inspire me to actually FINISH something!!!!!

Happy quilting!

Denise

Almost Quilt Show Day!!!!!

Well, I have been working my butt off at The Stitchin' Post!!!! Talk about a ton of ladies that truely love quilting. If you ever get a chance to come to Sisters, DO! It is something like you have never seen before! An amazing experience. My last day will be Sunday and then I will require a few days of sewing to recouperate!!!!

I attended the Camp Sherman Pine Needlers quilt show today. Also, another show you do not want to miss. It is very cute and held in a historic building. Maybe you can find something on the web about them???? Give it a try. I am actually a member of the Pine Needlers Quilt Guild since I lived in Camp Sherman for 5 years. They are a fantastic group of ladies that use funds from the shows they do and the sale of pot holders to fund scholarships for local students going onto college. Very cool!!!!

I am adding some photos of a few of my favorite quilts that I saw at the Camp Sherman show. I did not write down who made them. There were so many cute things. I will add pictures as time goes on.

I also added a picture of some fabric postcards. I joined a swap through a yahoo group called Quilt-Europe. There was a flower swap and a heart swap. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do more of these.

Well, need to go to work!!!! Poor me. Having to cut all that fabric and talk to all those quilter from all over the world. **SIGH** I will just have to sacrifice and muddle through it...LOL

Hugs all around!!!!!

Denise

My coming week

Good morning to all of you!
Yesterday was my first day working at The Stitchin' Post here in beautiful Sisters, Oregon! Check out their web site at www.stitchinpost.com. I was hired as extra help during quilt show week. What an exciting opportunity for any quilter! Yesterday was real busy and thankfully I had a short (3 hour) shift! It was crazy! A lot of ladies (and some men) have already arrived to partake in the classes being offered all week long as part of "A Quilters Affair". Seriously, ladies, if you get a chance to come to Sisters for quilt show DO IT!!!! It is an awesome and inspiring time.

I will post some photos when I have a little bit more time and let you see what I have been working on.

Hugs to all!!!!!

Denise

Some UFO's

OK, I am worse than some and not as bad as others when it comes to UFO's (Unfinished Objects) in my quilting endeavor. I have decided to attach some photos of some that I have laying and hanging around in the hopes that guilt will make me finish them. The problem is that I do not know how to machine quilt so all of my quilting is by hand. It takes me FOREVER to finish something! I am thinking that I am going to hire a longarm quilter to do these for me and I can finally have something accomplished.

I had mentioned photographing my flag quilt with the Statue of Liberty freehand quilted on it. I am in the process of packing and apparently have it packed. So I will get that pic on later when I move and re-establish my studio. But I will tell you that it is one of my favorites!!!! Plus the backing is fabric with the Seal of the United States Army. Since I am prior Army, I take a little bit of pride in that, too.

Speaking of Army, OK, so this is a side note, my oldest brother is in the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan last week. His son is a Marine and currently deployed to Iraq. Please keep them in your thoughts along with their families.

OK, back to quilting... The first pic is just a scrappy 4 patch that I use (unfinished) as my tree skirt at Christmas! I do plan on finishing it as it will be easy to quilt. The second one is a Trip Around the World that I made to represent fire. It did not turn out as I wanted and maybe that is why I have not finished it? The third one is so fun. It is the result of my first "Stash Basher" assignment. I used so many UGLY fabrics and it turned out BEAUTIFUL! I love it. I am actually going to add some hot pink (my favorite color) borders and then bind it in black. It will be my snuggle quilt.

I am not going to post anymore UFO's today as I do not want to show all that I have in one shot. So, check back now and again and see what I have.

Another side-note for you. My new house is looking good! We are painting it this Saturday and it should be completed the beginning to the middle of August! Take a look at the progress on my family news site www.wheelersinor.blogspot.com

Have a great day! Quilt till you wilt!

Denise

Not much better

Well, here is my chipmunk faced (post surgical) daughter holding my quilt out in the yard. Of course the wind blew right as I was taking the picture so there is a huge shadow. Oh well. You will have to trust me that it is beautiful.

I am going to dig through my finished quilts and find one I am especially proud of. It is a patriotic one that I did right after the horrible events of September 11th. The quilt has an outline of the Statue of Liberty that I hand quilted freehand. It is really awesome if I do say so myself! So check back in a few days.

Until then...HAPPY QUILTING!!!!!

Denise

REAL BAD pic of a beautiful quilt

This photo really does not show how beautiful this quilt turned out. I will take another photo tomorrow out in the yard as long as it is not raining!

So, this is the quilt top I made with those batik's I showed a few days ago. I started it yesterday and did not get too far before an ambulance call postponed my sewing for the night. (Remember, I am with the fire department). I sat down and sewed all afternoon and this evening and just finished it. I tacked it up on the wall in my "studio" (aka: the guest room) and snapped a pic. I think in natural light it will look much better. I will say the quilt did not turn out as I had pictured, but it is still very pretty. The variety of prints is lost in the photo.

I will go for now. I worked all morning on the new house and am pooped!

Let me know what you think!

Denise

New Project

I belong to a group through The Stitchin' Post called Stash Bashers. Each month we are assigned a new quilt to make and we are supposed to just use fabrics from our stash. Well, I have such a hodge-podge stash that I did not have enough of "Like" fabrics. SOOOOOOO... I just had to go and get some fabrics. Ohhhhh, the sacrifices I make for quilting! I chose to make this top with Batik fabrics. I have never used them exclusively for a top before. This should be interesting. I attached a photo of the top layout. I have seen it done and it is wonderful. Measures about 59 inches by 59 inches.

Anyway, I am beat and have things to do. My middle daughter just had surgery day before yesterday so I should go and check on her.

Happy quilting. Thanks for stopping by!

Denise

This is a quilt I purchased at a garage sale! Can you beleive it????? I was so thrilled to see this. The maker is a friend of mine and so I asked for the pattern too. AND GOT IT!!!!! This is SO my style! It is hanging up in my sewing room for now. I think when we have the new house built it will go into the guest room right above the head of the bed. I will not even tell you how much I paid for it, but I am sure she did not even recover her fabric costs, much less the time involved in the HANDSTITCHING of the applique!

I am a huge fan of a local quilt store. You may have heard of it...The Stitchin' Post. (www.stitchinpost.com) I belong to a group that meets once a month called Stash Bashers. The reasoning behind this group is to help us dwindle down our stash by assigning a new quilt top to make every month and also to help us organize our stash. It is wonderful! I finished another top yesterday but have now decided to add some borders. It is a HUGE quilt! Made out of Civil War flannels. It is gorgeous even though it is not very bright. I attached a photo of when I had it all laid out on the floor so I could number the strips. Needless to say it looks better now that it is all sewn.

I belong to a group on the internet called Quilt-Europe. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quilt-Europe/) We share ideas, coordinate swaps, and just support other quilters as friends. It is wonderful. We are currently involved in a fabric postcard swap and also a block swap. I am behind as usual but plan on sewing all day tomorrow with my good friend Teresa. She also belongs to the group.

I have made a wonderful friend in Italy through one of my other groups. Her name is Simonetta. We have been writing almost everyday now for months. She is a fantastic quilter and sweet as can be. She has a blog at http://myquiltdream.blogspot.com/. Take a look. She has a lot of talent.

I need to go and get ready to work in my daughters classroom this morning. I love teaching 1st graders how to do math! What fun. Maybe there are some future quilters in there??? We can hope.

Have a wonderful day. Make sure you do some quilting!!!!!

Denise

Hello! Welcome to my new blog!

Hello! Welcome to my new blog!
I am going to start this new blog with an introduction of myself! Not that I think I am soooooo wonderful or anything. I just want people to know who they are reading about.My name is Denise Wheeler. I am 37 years old. I have a wonderful husband named Dave. I also have 4 children. Nicole is 18 and married, Jake is 16 and currently resides with his biological father, Kyrsten is 12 and in the 7th grade, and Kady Jean is 7 and in 1st grade. We have 2 dogs. Barney is our Beagle and 16 months old. Gunny is a Black Lab mix and is 13 months old. Gunny is my husbands pride and joy as he is an excellent hunting dog. Barney is my dog and is very good at cuddling. We also have a Gold Fish name Big Bird who is 3 years old. I am a volunteer with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). My husband is the city's fire marshall. He also is an excellent firefighter and a paramedic. I do many crafts but quilting is my passion. I have been quilting for 7 years now. I am not very good, but I enjoy it a lot. I am working on improving my techniques. I do not have a lot of time to sew but do what I can. I like to watch movies while I sew or listen to books on tape. I enjoy country music and also some opera. I read a ton of books.

Well, thats me. Nothing too exciting.I am doing this blog just for my quilting and ramblings. I have another blog with family news and tons of photos if you are interested. It is http://www.wheelersinor.blogspot.com/ . Check it out if you are interested. There are a lot of photos of the house we are building right now.

For those die-hard quilters out there that live in the states, you are going to appreciate this...I live in Sisters, Oregon! Home of the largest outdoor quilt show in the world and the world famous Stitchin' Post! (www.stitchinpost.com) This is a quilters heaven!!!!! How lucky am I?????Well, I will be adding pictures on this blog as I get them. Check back often and be sure to say HI!Have a wonderful day...

Quilt till you wilt!

Denise