Piles of Stars as the Mystery Quilt takes shape

I made 24 of these stars.
I hadn't sewn this one together yet.

 

I believe my "mystery quilt", made up of various stars, may turn out to be one of the loveliest I've ever sewn. I am really happy with how it's taking shape. Since January, each star and its position is revealed monthly, and there's still 3 months left!

Popular topics: Chicks & Spring!

My post with photos of the applique chicks and the flowers of spring really attracted viewers! Thank you all for stopping by. Either we're all desperate for spring (probably!), or everyone really likes chicks! My sister, Diana, says I need to work on bunny appliques next.

Besides playing with machine applique, I'm still working on the mystery quilt sponsored by Eleanor Burns. Here's a sneak peek at the current blocks on my design wall (felt fabric tacked to the wall) and border panels that I'm working on for this month:

This hasn't been sewn together yet.

One of the corners finished in the past 2 months.

For those of you who are desperate for spring, here's the latest bouquet:

Camellias & daffies :)

For those who love food, here's the buttermilk dark chocolate cake I'm making for my foreign student's birthday, homemade (even using my own vanilla extract!): 

Yum! Never forget to eat chocolate!

Little Dickens, rest in peace :(

Have a wonderfully creative day, 

whatever your endeavors! 

Spring Chicks...Is it too early??

Applique Chicks

It's WIP Wednesday!

I decided to applique some chicks with my machine. My Pfaff Creative Performance is only a little over a year old, and I still have so much to learn about it. In the past few months, thanks to my sister's interest in purchasing some appliques and embroideries online to use on my machine (see her creativity at: SewCraftyChick.blogspot.com), I followed their instructions and taught myself how to do applique. While it's a bit tedious and time intensive (changing threads frequently for color changes, adding fabric bits for parts, snipping fabric to stitch lines), I really like doing it. The appliques turn out cute, and, one part I really like, I get to use bits of fabric lying around--got plenty of that! So I went a bit "chick wild":

I also made some lavender scones (homemade!)  and picked some daffodils from the yard. The weather's getting spring-y!

Crocuses in the yard are blooming, too!

Linking up with: