I'm back!!!!

Wrist healed.  (short story)  [You don't want to hear the long story.]

Stay tuned...more to come...new jumpers, baby doll backpack, lots more quilts,  BOM   Oh do I love what I do!

BTW:   no more website.  I let it expire.  Making life simple.  Facebook has pictures and link to Picasa albums too.  I will keep this blog so I can rant and rave and be long-winded.

Thanks for checking in once in a while.

Broken wrist slows me down but not for long...

Yes, I broke my wrist on April 28 on the last day of skiing!  I have one more week to wear the cast and then I'm back in the saddle.  Meanwhile, I've managed to do some quilting, and a couple of other projects.  Here is a little toddler dress I finished today.  It's an experiment in "Whimsey".  I made yoyos with buttons, added ric-rac and ruffles.  The pattern is simple, only one piece, a yoke.  The rest is length and width to fit, with faced slits for armholes.

It's nice to see a new face...

I thought I'd pop in here and say HI and tell you about the website.  It's new.  It's simple. and it's live!  Check it out at  www.bonniesews.com   In the Annex you'll find a dress and a Crazy Floor Cushion!  Check back soon for more goodies.  Thanks...Bonnie

Another Dottie Masterpiece

The link to my Picasa album will take you to the entire album with description.  Thanks for looking.

Dotty's MUD

New Album to view...

I finished another Dottie quilt.  Here is the link to pictures for your enjoyment.  Also, I am playing with a website...be patient.  I'm still learning the ropes and it may take a while to get everything up and running.  Thanks for looking.   Nuts and Bolts Quilting Company

Check these out...

It has taken me awhile to get to this point.  I hope you enjoy these pictures and thank you for looking.

These are the quilts that give us the name Nuts and Bolts Quilting Company.

Prize Winning Quilter

This is a quilt that my 80-year-old Aunt made, sent to me, and after returning it quilted, she entered it in their county fair.  We are very excited to see this bright shiney Best of Show blue ribbon!

Cherry Rose

This quilt top was hand appliqued several years ago.  While researching the quilt, I found a picture in the MAQS Quilts:  The Founders Collection, museum of the American Quilter's Society book.  This is the exact same quilt.  Dotty said she likes spider webs and since this top was done years ago, I thought it appropriate to use that motif in the quilting.  Crosshatching, SID, piano key border, and spider webs...a BIG project.  I used a thin layer of Quilters Dream poly upon a layer of QD dream cotton for batting, and white thread.  There are oodles of stops and starts, but that's the nature of crosshatching around small intricate applique such as this.  This quilt measures 90x90.  Don't worry, I chased all the spiders away.  Only the webs are left.

I'll be putting more pictures in a Picasa album soon.  Thank you for looking.   ~Bonnie

Stay tuned...more to come

Under construction at the moment...my camera battery is dead.  Be back shortly...thanks for your patience.

It's a Pineapple Express!

Pineapple anyone?  Isn't this delicious?  My first in a long time hand-guided quilt.  The borders are a custom pineapple computer aided design though.  Lady wanted SID in the pineapples and around the applique and just a meander in the background.  Count them...48 pineapples SID!

Introducing Morning Glory Medallion

I have arrived...the debut of Morning Glory Medallion, by My Lady.  I will let the pictures speak.  If this slide show doesn't work, go to my Picasa album to see the rest.  Thank you for looking.

The Making of a Beautiful Quilt

I began this quilt yesterday and as it usually goes, the beginning is kind of slow.  There's lots to deal with such as stabilizing the whole thing, deciding what color thread to use where, the best designs to fit in the right spot, time to ponder the sewing order to minimize changing thread constantly and much more work than you ever would think about.  The story of the ugly duckling comes to mind when I look at all the ruffles and excess fabric in places, and what to do with warped borders...  It may not be a very good looking job at this point, but I never lose heart...from past experience, it usually comes out in the end.  I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my life and the point of "agony of defeat" in this process.  I will wait for the "thrill of victory" in a few days.  Meantime, I plod away, chomping at it bit by bit.

Ray White machine repair classes

We just completed our third annual machine maintenance and repair workshop with Ray White, White Sewing Center, Belleview, Missouri.  Ray has been traveling to the West coast to teach groups of individuals who are interested in knowing how sewing machines work and how to save a bunch of money doing maintenance and repair at home.  If you are interested, go to Ray's website and read and learn.  We tentatively plan to repeat the classes next year, Lord willing, and if Ray is able to make the trip.  It's small and lots of individual attention is possible. Ray White has been teaching these classes for at least 10 years.If you Google his name you'll find it connected with machine repair classes, Elna sewing machines, and anything to do with parts for outdated machines.  Here are pictures of a couple of my projects.  I highly recommend his classes if you love to tinker with sewing machines and have a sincere desire to learn how they work. Ray can sit down at any machine and get into it and diagnose sometimes just by listening to it.  You might call him the "machine whisperer". 

Let Me Introduce Elsie's Double Wedding Ring

This is truly a fine piece of art.  Elsie used Judy Niemeyer's foundation piecing technique and did an outstanding job of making things square and flat.  Pressing was of utmost importance to eliminate bulky seam intersections.  Thank you Elsie!  I used Anita Shakelford's Amish Feather border for the outer border.  I drew a little embellishment for the flying geese border.  The setting triangles were fun to draw and aim for a twisting feather motif.  The ring center and melon center were designed by Judy Allen in her book The Art of Feather Quilting.  The arcs were done with a continuous curve pattern, grouped and repeated in Creative Studio4.  Enjoy looking at the pictures, and be inspired!  More pictures in my Picasa album. Elsie's DWR

Double Wedding Ring in progress

I'm going to put up only one picture for now.  This is a very traditional Double Wedding Ring and I find it a joy to quilt.  Elsie outdid herself in piecing, and pressing the seams--everything is flat, square, and precise.  It is truly a dream quilt. 

Surprise Dotty---Finished Finally!

Finish by trimming borders and hand finishing the binding.  What a lovely heirloom for her children.  Many hours...too many to count...but it was worth every second.  It really came alive with all the quilting. Thanks for looking.

Almost Finished

This quilt measures 104x104, Quilters Dream cotton and a thin layer of QD Poly on top, Signature 100% cotton thread, and it's almost finished.  It is on the rollers upside down to facilitate clipping loose threads on the back.  Soon I'll have pictures of the whole thing, but for today here are some teasers...

It's the real thing...

I had to take a break and post some pictures.  This is a big project and I've managed to grab minutes and hours here and there to get to this point.  You could call it the home stretch, but it's a big track...or a long row to hoe so-to-speak.  Here are some photos to satisfy your curiosity.  More to come...

Coming along nicely...

I love it when a project comes together nicely.  Here are some elements in the making...not finished by any means, and some changes being made as we speak.  Just enjoy the eye candy and imagine what it will look like finished.

New Projects

I'm in the process of some new projects and this is where you will see them.  It's been a while since I posted here and everything has changed.  Have patience with me while I learn the new ropes.  The following is a method of raw edge applique built on the longarm table, layering fabrics, stitching, and cutting away to expose the desired fabric.  Now I'm experimenting with quilting techniques.  Beadboard in the outer border, crosshatching background, feather motif in the swag, and various motifs in the applique.  Using black thread is not helpful because it's invisible so probably I'll switch to another color soon.  I am uploading pictures in progress to my Picasa album.  Enjoy the pictures and let me know what you think.