What to do with a Giant Cucumber?

 Levi with Cucumber

Look what I found in my garden yesterday.  My cucumber plants have really been going crazy.  They are growing all over the fence and taking over both the inside and outside of the vegetable garden.  I didn't go into the garden one day this week and the cucumber twined itself around my gate, "locking" it.  Apparently it's been hiding this growing baby from me for a while.  What do I do with it??????

As long as we're on the subject of gardening, here's a lovely bouquet I picked from my yard yesterday.  I enjoy having fresh cut flowers on my table.  

Shopping update:  Yesterday my husband, also known as "the shopping-est man in America" brought home this big stack of quilting books.  Yippee!  Lots of page turning eye candy for those front porch evenings.

He also brought me home this stack of cross stitching magazines.   I do occasionally enjoy making a sampler, and it will be fun to look through these, too.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Thomas

July's Vintage Sewing Finds

When it come to shopping, my husband takes it seriously.  He is on the prowl everyday for the best deal.  He knows every thrift shop, every flea market, every yard sale, in every town.  He once got me a beautiful 1951 Featherweight sewing machine with case and accessories for $4.00.  It was marked $5.00, but he bargained them down to $4.00.  Although not as exciting as a $4.00 Featherweight, here's what he brought home for me yesterday.

Three crafting books.  Two not too old knitting books, and one vintage crochet book, Crocheting for Pleasure.  I was excited to have the crochet book, because I also own Knitting for Pleasure.  

I also received a tangled up mess of sewing trims.  I untangled them and wound them on some old wooden spools.  I saw something similar on the internet last week and I thought it was a great idea.  No more tangled up mess, and they look cute, too.  What a great use for old spools.  Now the trims are just begging me to use them as embellishment on a quilt.

He also brought me a rainbow assortment of different sewing threads.  I just threw them into one of my thread boxes.  I really need to find a good system for organizing thread.  Any ideas out there?

I need some help!

After all that excitement, I went outside and removed all the pesky bamboo from one of my flowerbeds so I could plant this pretty pink Zinnia. 

And the boys' gift for the day was this little blow up boat.  They had a blast playing with it in the pool.  It looks like it has a leak in it to me.  

Thanks so much for reading!  Oh, and take a look at Craftsy's newest quilting class,Quilting: Playing with Curves by Ann Petersen.  This looks interesting ~ I love curves!

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

New Craftsy Pattern

Alert!  Alert!

The Heart Match Pattern in the new bed size version is now available as a downloadable PDF pattern on Craftsy!

Please take a moment to look at it here:  Jennifer Thomas' Craftsy Pattern Shop.  It would mean so much to me if you just popped by for a little visit.  

New Blog Feature Coming Soon!

Oooh!  I am having fun with that red ink today!  But seriously now lovelies, starting this August I am adding a fun new feature to the Curlicue Creations Blog, the Star Block of the Month. I will be featuring a different Star Quilt Block tutorial every month, for the next twelve months.  Count 'em up!  That's enough to make a star sampler quilt, or twelve different star quilts, or a star quilted pillow for each of your friends, or whatever you like.  Get creative.  Think - STARS!

I will be using some gorgeous new Robert Kaufman fabrics for the Star Block of the Month feature, and yes, I will be having a giveaway of a nice fat quarter bundle of the same fabrics for one of you lucky readers during the first Star tutorial.  So if you haven't already, please become a follower of my blog.  You don't want to miss this!  We are going to have some quilty fun.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

A Trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art

On Friday morning I visited the North Carolina Museum of Art with my three boys.  Going to an art museum with three boys is an adventure.  You have to move quickly.  Overall they were surprised at some of the art, bored by some of it, and mentally stimulated by some of it, too.

The first thing we saw was this reflecting pool.  The building has some interesting mirrored surfaces.  It doesn't look like much from the road, but it is a work of art in itself.  

Levi and I, in front of the water.  We were curious as to how deep it is.  You can't see the bottom, but I think it's shallow with the illusion of depth.

This ancient tile mosaic is one of my personal favorites.  I think it is from the 2nd century, B.C.  Thousands of tiny tiles, precisely placed to make the designs.  Do you see a quilt in this?  Inspiration, maybe?  I would love to try a mosaic sometime.

Another piece I really liked was this cow vessel.  Do you see the design on the side?  It's kind of feathery.  I thought it was great for quilting inspiration.  

Waterlilies floating on another outdoor pool.

An interesting outdoor sculpture.  My oldest son, Gavin went to look at it close up.  He said it's made out of all squares and rectangles.  There is a complete outdoor trail with different sculptures all along the walk, but it was super hot and humid the day we went, so we only saw a few of them.

Levi, taking a "thinking" break in the Rodin garden.

And this is what I get when I ask my two youngest to smile for the camera.  Fantastic.

Thanks for coming along on my little art walk!

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Quilt Finishing Frenzy

I'm on a roll, folks!  I'm still finishing U.F.O.'s, and it's going well.  Last night I had three hours of uninterrupted sewing time with the ladies in my quilting group.  Quilting, girl talk, and chocolate.  The best therapy for me.

I finished the Christmas Star Medallion quilt that I started making to hang on the wall behind the couch in the house we lived in 6 years ago.  This is all hand quilted.  Yesterday I finished the binding and added a hanging sleeve.  I just need to sew a quick label for the back.  This is one of my patterns that was published in Quiltmaker magazine in the March/April 2010 issue as Wine and Cheese.

I also trimmed the edges and wove in all my quilting threads on the ABC cross stitch quilt.  The cross stitch patterns came out of a book.  I think it was "Country ABC's" by Gloria and Pat.

Here's a close up of one of the designs, "O is for Oak tree".  So cute!

This is the quilting I did in the two blank blocks.  It's part laser guided, part free-form.  I like it.

Now on to the binding for this quilt.  

P.S.  Have you heard about the new Craftsy class,  Machine Quilting Beautiful Borders?  I'm adding this to my wishlist, for sure!

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Quilt Trail of the Tar River Video

One of the local news stations did a story on the Quilt Trail of the Tar River. I'm so excited to be a part of this art and history in our region.

 Until next time...please visit theCurlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Get Creative!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas

Heart Match Quilt Pattern

This week I had a customer request for a larger version of the Heart Match Quilt Pattern, so here it is!

This newer version features 6" blocks, and finishes to 84" x 90", great for a full size or queen size bed.

I also still have patterns available for the toddler size Heart Match Quilt Pattern,

and the Animal Heart Match Quilt Pattern, too.

These quilts are great for children and the young at heart.  Each heart has a corresponding square made out of matching fabric to seek and find.  You can add a "challenge" for older children, by making one set that does not match.  Try to find the one heart and the one square that do not have a match!

These patterns use the needle-turn method of applique.  Hearts are a terrific shape to practice or learn hand applique.

Until next time...please visit the Curlicue Creations Shop...and have a super day!

Jennifer Schifano Thomas