Quilting Ideas and Photo Quilts

My great grandparents on my grandmother's side.

This weekend I made a trip to visit my grandmother and continued scanning all the family photos she has. It was amazing to see so many memories from so long ago. I even have pictures of my great, great, great, great grandparents! It is my plan to create a photo quilt of some of the photos and use some fabric from my grandfather's old clothes (he passed away two months ago). I am very excited about printing the photos on the fabric (which is super easy), but a little nervous about starting a quilt since I have never technically quilted.

My grandmother, Phyllis Fitzgerald.

I think I am going to sew a few border strips around each photo, then the squares together and keep it simple. Has anyone ever taken their finished top to a fabric or quilt store to have it finished with the batting and stitching on top? Do they use a clear thread? Anyone have any good quilting sites or locations around Indianapolis, IN to go to for these services?

Any help, tips, or suggestions would be great! I will keep everyone updated with my progress!

Updates and a Thank You!

Yesterday was yet another record!!! 219 Blog views!

Thank you to all who have been reading, linking, and checking day to day.

I heard from a satisfied Memory Blanket customer today. For those of you who are interested in ordering a memory blanket from my shop, I just wanted to give a heads up to put your order in EARLY. From what I have seen and orders I have taken, the demand is high and will continue to be over the next few months. 

GET YOUR T-SHIRT BLANKET ORDERS IN ASAP so you can get them in time for the holidays! There will be a deadline and a specific number of orders we can take before the holidays. These also make great graduation gifts for those winter grads or a perfect birthday gift for that someone who already has everything.

Hope everyone is having an awesome day. I am watching the olympics! Aren't they amazing?!

PURPLE TREASURY!

Purple is my favorite color, so my current Treasury is titled "Pretty in PURPLE">

Since this will only be around for about 8 more hours, I wanted to share some of my favorite items with you all.

The first one is the item pictured, "Wired Shell Pendant" by Etsian mybellebijoux. She has so many beautiful wire wrapped pendants in her shop, but I love this purple one!

Etsian HearMeRoar makes all kinds of beautiful quilts. The color combinations are stunning and I can just about bet that you can find at least one quilt you are in love with by the time you are finished browsing her shop! You can even send your own artwork or your child's artwork to the seller who creates a custom wall hanging with that drawing on it!!!!

Now that I am off topic bragging about her shop, her "Symphonic Gift" quilt is what I chose for my Purple Treasury.

Now, I love all the items I selected, but this is the final one I have time to praise, because lesson plans are calling me...

Etsian beadonawire makes jewelry from natural materials. I chose her "Pretty in Purple Necklace" (hum... I think we think alike because that was my title for the treasury.. maybe it was inspired by her and not my love for purple) because of its variety of purples and silver (I am a silver/white gold person and not gold). Very affordable too!

Well... that is all I have time for, but please check out my Treasury because it will be  disappearing soon!