I'm as ready as I'm going to be...

Now that the baby shower is over I can reveal alot of the items I've been making and not posting so they could be a surprise. Here we all are at the shower. That's Jenny, our youngest daughter on the left who is actually Mark's daughter from his first marriage, but I claim too since she's been a part of my life for 21 yrs. now, me, baby Mama Stef my 2nd daughter and Jen on the right who planned the whole shower and is my first born, wonderfully creative girl. That's Luke in baby Mama's belly. Did I mention that he's due on June 9th?

This is the quilt top I made for Luke. I worked really hard to get it completed for the shower. The theme for his room is Under The Sea so I found this pattern by Java House Quilts at http://www.javahousequilts.com/

The designer, Karen Brow, has lots of cute patterns there, so take a look!

This is Otto the polar bear that I knitted for him too. I thought it related to the Under The Sea idea because polar bears swim alot and live near the sea. This pattern can be found at http://www.ysolda.com/

This is a little sweater I knitted for him. Let's hope there's a cool evening in June so he can wear it because it's 3-6 mos. size. This pattern is from the book, Knit2together. I loved making this! The shower was so fun! Stef got lots of great little items that everyone needs for a new baby. We're really excited for his arrival, but he has to wait until we get back from Italy! I made this little Ipod case for Maya so she can carry her Sanso in it. I call it an Ipod, but she keeps correcting me. I used my embroidery machine to embroider her name across it. This pattern was in the Winter 2007 Quilts and More magazine. This is a little Bunny Nugget that I knitted for Maya for Easter to put under her tree that holds all of her egg decorations. I think I'll have to make her a new one each year....we all know how bunnies multiply. This pattern is free and can be found at http://www.dangercrafts.etsy.com/ or http://www.rebeccadanger.typepad.com/

and this last photo is of my Kitty Pi. It's a felted cat bed that I made from all the leftover wool yarns I have used to make purses over the last few years. So far my 2 cats haven't bonded with it yet...surprising since they seem to want to lay on all of my quilt fabric during projects. You'd think they would really appreciate all the love I put into this bed for them. If they don't end up accepting it I may have to gift it to one of my grandkitties. Fun and quick to make...it's a free pattern that can be found at http://media.wendyknits.net/knit/kittybed.htm

That's it for now. I'm taking a few small projects to work on while flying across the Atlantic to Italy. I'll post some photos of that beautiful country when I return. Ciao!

The photos on my blog...

I just wanted to let you know that if you click on the photos I download (except for the photos on the right hand side of the page) you can see them enlarged which is nice for the detail of the applique and the Mourning Doves making out. You may also notice that I have done inking on the first three applique blocks but haven't finished the inking on the large center block and the last 8 1/2' block I just completed. For those of you who receive my blog through your email box, you'll get a much nicer look at things if you actually go to my blog website because I'm not sure you can click on the photos in the emailed version: www.bjkelly57.blogspot.com It just finished snowing here, such is Ohio...at least it didn't stick!

Birds & Bees

Saturday, April 4th, my friend from Salem, Linda and I sewed all day for the James Cancer Center Annual Sewing Day. We made quilts for the breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. This wonderful group of ladies who organize this project is called the James Stitching Sisters. There were over 130 of us there to sew these lap quilts. That's the biggest turnout we've had since I started sewing with them 5 yrs. ago. Since 2004, when this group was formed, there have been over 1800 quilts made for the breast cancer patients to chose from for their own. That's quite an accomplishment that we are all proud of.

Prizes were given away to everyone, plus some lucky person won this Pfaff sewing machine.

I'm dying to put photos of the little baby quilt I'm working on here on the blog, but my daughter reads my blog (she's the one who's pregnant right now) so in the meantime I finished one more applique' block to show you. Actually, I've put all 5 blocks here so you can see most of the idea I have for this quilt which is a Lisa DeBee Schiller pattern. This block is an 8 1/2" block to give you some perspective on size.

This is another 8 1/2" block.

And another.....

This is the 8 1/2" block I just finished (below)

This is the large medallion block that will be in the center. It's an 18" block.

As soon as the baby comes (around June 9th) I'll post the photos of his quilt and something else I made for him.

I was lucky enough to come downstairs yesterday in time to see these 2 mourning doves sitting on our bench out front contemplating whether or not they want to date.

This photo shows that they definitely wanted to pursue this idea as they started some serious necking and kissing! I thought it was soooo cute!

...and for the only knitted item that I can show you at this time......I made this little knitted Easter Egg for my granddaughter, Maya. She has a tree in her room that she decorates for each season of the year.

I also am making a Kitty Pi for one of my cats to use. It's a cat bed made from lots of my leftover wool from purses and bowls that I have made. I'll post the before felting photo and the after felting photo when I have it finished.

Also coming soon will be photos from the Equine Affair that was held here in Columbus. Hi yo, Silver....and away.......