Do you hate to baste?

If you are like me, I thought that basting was the worst part of the quilting process! No matter how hard I tried, I ALWAYS had puckering! Not to mention, my knees and my back became sore from sitting on the floor!

I no longer have this problem, thanks to my Portable Dream Board by Batesco. My husband spotted the company's booth at the San Diego Quilt Show and he knew that it was something that I would find handy( Yet another purchase that he picked out for me!)

Anyway, it fits right over my ironing board and extends the size of it so that I can press the largest of quilts. However, the best part is its use for basting. I layer a portion of the quilt on top of the board and snuggly secure the layers using the largest size binder clips, which you can buy at any office supply store. The quilt remains in place and I can STAND at my ironing board and baste away!

When I am finished basting a section of the quilt, I remove the binder clips and move the layers up and repostion the binder clips. I keep doing this until I am done and VOILA, "no puckering or back ache!" This is the back of my wall hanging and I think that it actually took me 15 mintues from start to finish to baste this wall haning.

Anyway, I hope that you find this information useful! Until next time...Happy Quilting!

Check out this giveaway!

My gal pal at the Quilt Nook found another great giveawy for us! Visit JoJo at Home Sweet Home and let her know which prize you would choose if you are the winner! Good Luck!

Tonight I am going to continue working on the binding for my Prairie Paisley quilt. I am still working on my applique for my Friends quilt . I guess that I will have lots of time to complete them now that American Idol is over!:(

Until next time Happy Quilting!

I'm Back....Finally!

Thankfully things have gotten back to normal around here! Last week my husband returned home after completing his 7 month deployment! Yeah! After he got home and we adjusted our schedules, we made a "last minute" trip to Yosemite.
It was the perfect time to visit Yosemite. The snow on the mountains had melted, which made the waterfalls flow at their peak. We enjoyed the hiking because the weather was perfect. We were lucky enough to eascape the "heat wave" that California was experiencing. A few deer even ran across our path. I could sit and watch the waterfalls all day long!


Along the way, I was able to stop at a few quilt stores. In Fresno, CA, I stopped at Quilter's Paradise, Inc.
This is a cute little quilt store located in the historic district. The store has been open for over 30 years!They had lots of yummy fabrics and quilt patterns! The bathroom wallpaper was made out of old quilt magazine covers, which was very cute!

Then on the way home I stopped off at The Quilter's Coop in Temecula, CA. Sorry guys but they don't have a web site, which is such a shame because they have the cutest stuff. Anyway, here is a sample of the goodies that I bought.


Finally I was able to complete a project! I finished this February banner by Joined at the Hip. I have the entire series, but as you can see I am far behind! At least this one will be ready for next year! LOL! I even started a new project using my Praire Paisley fabric (check back later to see the completed work).


Today, I am going to enjoy a quiet day of quilting! Maybe I can complete some more projects or just start new ones!

Until next time...Happy Quilting!

More Goodies!

Hi Everyone!

I know that it has been a few days since my last post, but things have been CRAZY around here. However, I do want to share some of the things that I have been up to since my last post. First, my gal pal at the Quilt Nook sent me an awesome birthday package!

The package was so fragrant when I opened it, which is right up my alley! Thanks girl!

Next I surprised her with a goodie package of her own.I can finally write about it because she received her package yesterday. My theme was flowers---"April showers bring May flowers". I made her this flower pincushion and I filled her box with stuff for her "garden stash". You will have to visit her blog to see everything.

I really made four pincushions, but the first was was so horrible that I had to eliminate it from the bunch. I kept that blue and yellow one for myself. I sent the other one to my Mother-in-law as part of her Mother's Day Gift.

Finally, on my weekly trip to Rosie's Calico Cupboard, I picked up some fabric from Moda's Praire Paisley line. The fabric has been calling my name, so I decided to take it home with me. I think that I have an idea for it.

As usual, I have a few other projects "lined-up", which means more fabric and not enough time to do anything with it! One could only dream! I'll keep you updated!

Until then...Happy quilting!