Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival

If you have never visited my blog before, welcome!  My name is Amanda, aka "Busy Little Quilter".

Every time my neighbor, Pushpa, calls me, the first thing she says is "Amanda?  Are you busy, busy, busy???" in her high pitched voice.  She knows I'm always busy doing something; there's never a dull moment around here. If I say that I'm busy quilting, she says, "You're such a busy little quilter." So, that became the name of my blog.

Not only do I love quilting, but I love to garden, as well.  Sometimes my quilts are inspired by a color combination that I see in my garden ( I love pink petunias and yellow marigolds together) and every once in a while, by a flower bed theme.  

   

It wasn't until my first grandchild was born that I was inspired to make a quilt that reflected my love for my butterfly garden.  Since I had a butterfly garden I thought my little grand daughter, Alexis, should have one, too. I looked in quilting magazines and quilt books for ideas, took bits and pieces from each one, and came up with "Alexis' Butterfly Garden".  The fabrics are 1930's reproductions.  It is machine appliqued and the antannae are hand stitched.  The quilt is machine quilted by Judy Laquidara.

(Photo snatched from the pages of a scrapbook.)

It's amazing how a sweet little 6 pound 13 ounce baby can make a baby size quilt look huge and bring such joy. 

Thank you for visiting my blog today.  Thanks, too, to Amy for organizing this event and to the many sponsors.  The quilt festival is from May 21-28. 

Have fun! 

Amanda

Spring Quilt Market and the Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival

It seems as though everyone has gone to Minneapolis, MN for the 2010 Quilt Market. I wish I could be there, too, but I don't have a quilt shop, I'm not a designer, but I do love to shop! It will be exciting to see the new fabrics, patterns, and gadgets that will be in our local quilt shops or our favorite online quilt shops, soon!

Just so I can make sure I don't miss out on too much, I'll be tuning into KMKM's Quilt Market Reports with Pam Kitty Morning and Happy Zombie, as the weather girl.

I'm sure Miss Happy Z will see clear skies with lots and lots of sunshine as she debuts her first fabric line. Check out her blog, too! There's free patterns and more!

And to add more fun, Amy is hosting Spring Bloggers Quilt Festival. It's a virtual quilt show that starts tomorrow.  If you have a quilt you would like to enter, it's not too late.   I have my post written and ready to go, so be sure to come back to see what I entered.


Amanda

Thank you!

Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and sweet comments concerning Izzie.  My family and I  have loved seeing your cats, dogs, and the stories that you have shared about them and their quilting adventures.  I didn't realize there were so many quilting pets in blogland!  I love it!

Thanks, again, for thinking of us. 

Big hugs to you all. 

Amanda

My Cat Izzie

Izzie Harvey

August 2000-May 5, 2010

It's too sad to write about Izzie, today, but I had to honor him in some way because he was so much a part of my quilting life. 

He was terrible at arranging quilt blocks, but he always approved the way I arranged them and sewed them together.

He would sit and look at them, or he just had to touch with his paw,

or with his tail.

 

He was a funny cat and always made me laugh.

Last year  I rearranged my sewing room much to Izzie's surprise. I wrote about it here, but it seems fitting to have the pictures in this post, too.

Izzie was with us for almost 10 years.  He was left abandoned in an old farmhouse where the farmer fed him cornbread and bologna.  The farmers daughter (my neighbor) told him that she knew someone that would love him so much and take good care of him.  We did.

When I first saw Izzie I thought "she" looked like Liz Taylor with a big fur collar and that cute little spot above "her" lip, so I named "her" Lizzie.  I took "her" to the doctor to find out that "she" was 6 months old and weighed 3 pounds.  For two weeks I treated "her" ear mites and other things that were wrong with "her". 

I took "her" back to the doctor and when she kept saying "he" I said to her, "My cat is a girl."  She said, "No.  I don't think so!"  I was in total shock!  I guess I didn't get as up close and personal as I thought I had!   I said, "I guess I should have named him Richard!".  You know, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton?  The young girls in the office didn't know what I was talking about.  Since I had been calling him Lizzie for two weeks, I decided to call him Izzie instead. 

I will miss our quilting time together, playing hide and go seek, his cute little back leg that always stuck out (you can see it hanging off of the fabric cabinet), our little afternoon "cat naps" where he would jump in the recliner with me and take a 15 minute nap, his hugs, his constant need to be in my lap,  and his adorable personality.  I will be forever grateful that God blessed my life with something that loved me and my family, brought us much happiness, and taught us all about unconditional love. 

We love you, Izzie! 

Friday Night Sew-In Project

I hope it's not too late to show everyone what I sewed on last night for the Friday Night Sew-In with Heidi.

I woke up early this morning only to find that the Internet wouldn't connect.  We had a storm last night, and I guess it knocked the cable out, along with the high speed Internet.  I'll have to admit, though, it was kind of nice to be unplugged to the outside world. 

Here's what I made:  another bag.  I keep making bags!  They're so fun though.

I bought the pattern from Alicia last year.  It's her "Jane Market Bag". 

I sewed the pattern just like she said, but I added cotton batting to it to firm it up a bit.  I like the softness of the batting, and yet it helps the bag to maintain it's shape.

It's perfect for my "Party in a Basket".  I sell Scentsy Wickless Candles.  The "Party in a Bag" or "basket party" is an alternative to a home party in that the hostess gets to carry a warmer, all 80 of the scents, catalogs, order forms, and a hostess handbook everywhere they go to share with their friends, family, and co-workers.  The hostess doesn't have to clean house or make refreshments, but she still gets the same hostess rewards.  I thought if someone is going to take the time to sell Scentsy for me, the least I could do is make a cute bag for them to carry everything in. 

Of course I get the bag back for the next person who wants to host a "Party in a Bag".

I do home parties, too. They're fun.   Every time I go to work I go to a party! 

I can't wait to see what everyone else was sewing on during the Friday Night Sew-In.  It's fun the think about all of us sewing at the same time. 

Have a great weekend! 

                                                                        Amanda