Happy Memorial Day! A future soldier perhaps....

I couldn't resist sharing this picture with everyone of my grandson Cole!

I rushed his mom to the hospital last night. She had a tubal pregnancy. When she went to the ER here in Panguitch, they wanted to take her in an ambulance to Cedar City for surgery. She refused. Felt like it was too much money.

I look for my keys, only to realize that Kenny Roy had them....and he happened to be out at the property with my son working on a shed. 

I call him....frustrated to say the least.

He tells me, he is on his way in to the hospital here with 'said' grandson above. He stepped on a rusty nail out there while helping them.

Brooke drives over to the hospital to sign papers saying it is okay for his grandpa to bring him in for treatment.

Finally...we are on our way.

So here I am....mom...hauling bananas trying to get her to the hospital  which is an hour away knowing full well that this thing could burst at any minute. At her age 21 years ago I had a cyst the size of a tennis ball that burst and by the time I got to the hospital I was almost dead.

Once we got into the hospital and saw the ultrasound I really knew that God was watching over us. The doctor said it was very rare for a pregnancy in a tube to even reach 4  to 5 weeks let alone  for it to have a heartbeat. The technician said only once before in her career had she seen this.  Brooke my daughter was 6 1/2 weeks along .... and there was a heartbeat. Oh so sad! Both her and I started crying... just to know what had to be done to save her life.

She is doing well physically, but pretty scared emotionally. They have been trying for awhile. And there only other child, Cole, above is almost 7.

So my friends, instead of camping this weekend, or sewing...I spent it taking care of  the sick. I was so wishing I had a hand project ready to take to the hospital to work on while I waited. Lesson learned!

Please if you are so inclined....pray for my little Brooke.

Thanks from the itsy bitsy teeny weeny depths of my heart!

Whimsy Lane (EZ Dresden Ruler Tutorial)

Good Morning!

I've been promising a 'Tutorial' on how to use the EZ Dresden Ruler for those of you who have seen me at the shows, so here goes!

(The following quilt was pieced and quilted by Marla McDermott of Kanab Utah)

  

Cut strips 2 1/2" wide (or use a Jelly Roll)

Using your EZ Dresden Ruler place the ruler straight on the fabric from 0 - 2 1/2". 

Using your rotary cutter slice your first set of blades.

Turn the ruler the exact opposite way and slice your next set of blades.

Continue to the end of fabric.

 

Fold blades right side together and sew across the widest portion with a 1/4" seam. 

Chain stitch several through the machine. Clip apart.

Turn inside out and using a blade turner poke out your point as best as you can being careful not to poke a hole through it.

Press. Your blades will look like this when they are done.  

To make the full flowers alternate your lights and darks paying attention to values and scales.

Start by lining up two blades right sides together and chain piece through machine sewing them together with a 1/4" seam. Clip apart. Continue joining 20 blades together. Join the circle by sewing the first and last blade together.

 

Center of Flower:

After cutting out your template for either the full flower, quarter or half, place it on top of some  iron on stabilizer which has the sticky side face down on top of the right side of the fabric for center piece.  Cut out circle (or half circle, quarter circle):

 

Sew a scant 1/4" seam around circle. Clip edges. Put a small slit in the stabilizer at back to turn the unit inside out. Make edges as smooth as possible. I run my blade turner all around the seam edge of the circle.  Do not press until it is on top of flower and ready to be applied to quilt top. Otherwise you will have it sticking to your ironing board.

 

Top stitchthe  flower petals on following your quarter inch foot on your machine. Find a decorative stitch to topstitch on the flower center. (It is hard to make a perfect circle. If you use a straight stitch to sew on the flower center all of your imperfections will show. I use the #19 stitch on my Bernina 125)

For Quarter Fan Blade Unit covers you can either finger press the cover 1/8" down, or use a circle like above and cut it into quarters OR: in the picture to the right, you can take the plastic template you made (as long as it is the NO MELT mylar) and adjust it where it is about 1/8" down from the top and use the plastic as a guide and iron it over it.

I like to use some spray starch at the top to help it stay folded down before stitching it on. When making the Quarter Fan Blade units, you stitch the fan blade cover on as close as you can to the edge.

I hope this helps!!

We have a winner! Congratulations Jesse #28

Ladies and Gentleman....
I am so very humbled by all of your kind comments and generosity of spirit in this my first Give Away. I couldn't believe when I looked at the Live Feed that people from countries all over the world have stopped by. And of course all of you great US and A people too!! Thank you so much!!

The Random Generator pulled up #28 (Jesse)  CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

And happy sewing, quilting and crafting to all you awesome creative people out there!
Quilting Hugs,
John'aLee

Sew Mama Sew Give Away!! Don't miss out on this!!!!

My Quilting Friends! It's time to get on the band wagon for my first   BLOG GIVE AWAY!!!
I am so excited to see how all of this works. As I meander through Blog Land I agree with others that 'Quilters' are definitely the most generous people on the planet.

So here is what I am contributing for the give away.
Yummy Christmas Quilting Fabric to get you started early on some homemade Christmas gifts and some darling Christmas embellishments to go with it. As well as a miniature book on Quilting and a miniature display of fabrics on bolts that I picked up at a "Country Store" in Yuma during  their annual Quilt Show.

All you have to do is leave a comment and become a follower! Please leave me a way  to get a hold of you, and you will be entered into the drawing.
Here is a close-up of the fabrics:

Make sure to head over to Sew Mama Sew to see all of the/bloggers that are participating in this wonderful give away: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=7239

Quilting Hugs,

John'aLee

P.S. I ship internationally

Home Machine Quilting Show

There's nothing like a shot of inspiration in the arm that one gets from a Quilt Show! We were happy to be invited to vend at the Home Machine Quilting Show in Sandy Utah last weekend. It was so great to see all of you...our faithful customers and to catch up a little bit.

I thought I'd share some of the quilts that were hanging in the show. Both batteries went dead on my cameras as I was taking pictures the last day, and because I was working I couldn't go and buy some new ones. So there were several other beautiful quilts I wish I could have taken pictures of.

This is a close up of the following quilt. Magnificent work! It is amazing how much embellishing adds to a quilt. This was so stunning!

The picture of the label I took on this one didn't come out. So if whoever made this wants me to add their name and story about this quilt please email me.
I loved this color variation of this pattern. It is a super popular pattern out there on the quilt circuit. It's fun to see what all you creative ladies have done with it.

This pattern is by my good friend Verna Mosquera. If you have never checked out her website you must: vintagespool.com

That's all for now folks. I'm headed to St George to spend some time with my kiddos and grandkids!