Learning to Quilt

I have been blessed with a very talented mom who is an amazing quilter.  From the time I was a little girl I can remember my mom creating things with her sewing machine.  She would sew Barbie cloths for my family of dolls as well as dresses for my sister and I. We always had the best Halloween costumes made with the loving hands of my mom.  When I was about 12 years old my mom sent me to sewing class with the hopes that I would catch on and also develop her love for sewing.  Needless to say that love never came about.  I can remember the day that my mom purchased her first quilt magazine.  We looked through the pages together admiring those beautiful works of art.  Before I knew it she was creating her own beautiful works of art.  She would encourage me to give it a try but I loved to scrapbook and work with paper.  Recently I have been creating my paper quilts so the time seemed right to give fabric quilting a try.  This year for my birthday I asked my mom to teach me to quilt.   

We took a trip to the local quilt shop to choose the fabric.  I just love this fabric by Moda--Lily and Will.  By the end of the evening we had most of the quilt top completed.  My assignment--to finish the quilt top on my own so that I could return to have my lesson on completing the quilt.

Adding the batting

Making the binding

There you have it-----my first fabric quilt.  It is not a large quilt--just a little wall hanging but I was really excited with the end result.  Feeling pretty confident, I thought I would try one all on my own.  This time I used my cricut to cut the image for the middle of the wall hanging. 

A little help with attatching the binding.....

And Ta da.........

I think I may be hooked.  Creating these little wall hangings was really very fun.  I hope I have enough space in my craft room for all my new quilting supplies (lol)  Thanks Mom for sharing your talents with me. xoxox

Pretty in Pink

******The pictures will return soon****** This item is out for publication :)

I just love all things girly---the color pink, dainty flowers, sparkling gems, pretty pearls, oh and did I say the color PINK.  Of all the paper quilts that I have created so far I think this might be my very favorite.  I was looking through my stash of frames the other day and I came across this shadow box frame from Martha Stewart.  I had purchased  this frame probably over a year ago and put it away until I found just the right project to use it for.  I just loved the sweet scalloped edges and thought it would be the perfect place to frame my newest paper quilt. 

Because this frame is actually a shadow box,  it allowed me extra space to add some paper flowers....

tiny vintage mother of pearl buttons......

and to "pop" up the image created with my Cricut....

I just loved creating this shadow box.  That sweet little girl image just made me smile :)  Walking barefooted in the grass among the flowers.....

Ahhhh hurry Spring----we are looking forward to your arrival.

Snail Mail

Have you ever really looked at at snail??  I mean really looked at one??? Take it from me they are not that attractive.  In fact they are really rather ugly.  Well leave it to Cricut to turn something so unsightly into something simply adorable. 

This image came from the last of my new cartridges, Nate's ABC's.  It is the "brother" to Kate's ABC's and is filled with just as many adorable images.  I wanted to carry through with my paper quilting idea but found that the pattern I wanted to use didn't fit well on a square card.  When I found this package of 3 7/8" x 9 1/4" cards by Hero Arts I knew they would be the perfect size. 

In looking through my supply of patterned papers, I came across this sweet paper from Anna Griffin.  Oh how I wish I would have purchased more of this adorable paper.  I purchased it so long ago I am sure it is no longer available.  The tiny little snails matched the Cricut image so perfectly.  I created the pieced squares and then added stitching as if they were really part of a quilt. 

The end borders were created using a Martha Stewart border punch.  I added a few tiny pearls to the butterfly and two pretty little blue crystals to the snail's antennae.

The "little sweet pea" stamp is from the Paper Trey Ink --Baby Button Bits set. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit.  I appreciate each and everyone of you and the fact that you spent a part of  your day with me.  I have one more paper quilt that I have almost finished.  A few more little details to add and then I will be posting pictures.  I think this one is my favorite so far.  I hope you will visit again so I will be able to share it with you.   xoxoxo



Funny Little Bunny

****Photos will return soon***This item is out for publication

Just a quick post for today.  I am having so much fun playing with my new Cricut Cartridge, Kate's ABCs.  I wanted to share with you a sweet little card that I created .  This adorable bunny image is one of my very favorites on the cartridge. 

As many of you know, my mom is an amazing quilter.  I admire her quilts and her talents.  I never really gave quilting a try but I was looking at a quilting book recently and the idea came to me.  I could recreate that pattern with paper.  The background of this card was my first attempt. 

I am happy with the way it turned out so the plan for  today is to create more "paper" quilts.  Who knows these little "paper" quilts just might lead my interest to creating the real thing.  I know my mom will be happy.  She has been trying to teach me to quilt for years :)

I love this little dragonfly image.  It is so dainty and sweet.  I added a few tiny pearls to give her a little something extra.   

Well I am off to hibernate in my craft studio.  On a cold, dreary, rainy day I couldn't think of a better place to be. Hope you all are having a Happy weekend.   Stay tuned for more "paper" quilts :)

xoxox

Baby Steps and Kate's ABC's.......

two new Cricut cartridges that I have recently added to my collection. If you are looking for all things cute, then these are for you.   These two cartridges are filled with so much cuteness I could hardly wait to play with them.   The first cartridge that I purchased was Baby Steps. 

Here is just a sample of the images on this cartridge......

I know most of these images celebrate babies, but don't let that discourage you from purchasing it.  I created this birthday card for my friend, Joyce using this cartridge. 

I used the sweet little cloths line image. Instead of hanging the baby cloths from it, I made a "HAPPY"  banner in their place. 



The banner was cut using the "Straight from the Nest" cartridge.  I added some fun stitching, a scalloped sky and some grass using the scalloped border die from Paper Trey Ink.  A pretty  green gem adds just a little bling.

I think this next cartridge is my all time favorite (so far anyway) .....Kate's ABC's

The images on this cartridge are just precious.  I had a hard time deciding on which image to make first but I finally chose this one......

I added a little white pom pom for the bunny's tail and a few tiny pearls for the center of each flower. 

A paper flower, blue silk ribbon, yellow pom pom trim and some dainty white ruffle trim add the finishing touches to this sweet card. 

I was starting to get tired of all this winter weather that has come our way lately.  But with a recent trip to the grocery store we are stocked up on the necessities and now with all of my new cartridges I guess I don't mind being housebound.  In fact this is going to be quite fun.  I do have one more cartridge to share with you.  The fedex man brought it to my door this afternoon.   I have not had a chance to create anything with it yet so that will have to be a post for another day.  Stop back for another visit soon 

xoxox 

Where I Create

I have shared pictures of my craft room before but I thought it would be fun to take you on an updated tour.  The pictures in my previous post were taken right after the room had been remodeled into my craft room. If you would like to read that post just click here. These pictures I am about to show you were taken a few days ago---boy did I collect the supplies in the past two years. 

 My Cricut center.  I purchased this piece of furniture from Joann Fabric.  It came in a million pieces but I took my time and it went together easily.  It really is nice to be able to leave my Cricut set up all the time and the extra storage is really nice too.

I love to have things around me that bring a smile to my face as I create.

A few more of my favorite things.......

As I work at my computer, I can't think of two better foot warmers......

It's always fun  having this little guy to hang out with.   He is helping me "organize" the ribbon :)

I hope you have enjoyed the little tour of my creative space.  A tiny room that brings me such joy.

I Have Been Keeping a Big Secret......

Oh my goodness---I can FINALLY tell you!!!   I have been keeping this secret since September and if I don't let it out I am going to burst. (this is just a little hint) 

Back in September I received an excited e-mail from my friend, Joyce regarding a new magazine that was to premier in January.  It was going to feature items created with the Cricut machine.  She encouraged me.... " They are still looking for submissions.  I think you should send something"  So I thought sure why not--I will give it a try.  Imagine my surprise when a few days later I received notification that they would be publishing two of my submissions in this wonderful magazine.

It hit the news stand today so I can finally show  you the selected items.....

First was this sweet little sailboat card I created using the New Arrival cartridge.  The above picture was one that I took and here is the page in the magazine.

The second item selected was this wedding cake gift card holder that I created for a friends wedding. Again this is my picture.....

And this is how it looks in the magazine......

If you look closely the sailboat card was created by "Mimi Panormios" while the wedding cake was created by "Maureen Panormios"  A little confusing but we are one in the same.  For those who don't know Maureen is my given name.  No one usually calls me that except for my mother when I done something to drive her crazy which hopefully isn't often these days.  :)

I am so thrilled to be a part of this amazing publication and so excited to be able to  finally share my excitement with you. 

xoxoxox