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