A Heartfelt Wedding Gift

A dear and talented friend made this quilt top as a wedding gift.  But she didn't make it all by herself.  She did something extra special.

Over 50 of my friends/coworkers signed pieces of the quilt.  How she got some of the signatures I'll never know.  I hope to baste and quilt it in time for Valentine's Day. 

Since November, I've been in "thankful mode."  I'm very thankful for dear friends.  They are truly a blessing!!  :)

Halloween 2013

This is the first pumpkin I've carved in YEARS.

It's it amazing how the smell of a fresh cut pumpkin can bring back a multitude of memories. Give me a fresh apple and the smell of burning leaves and I'm in heaven.  Good for the soul!

I carved this pumpkin for a contest - at the last minute - on a lark.  Didn't give any thought to what to name my entry.  So when they asked me what to call it, I just said the first thing that popped into my head: Arachnophobia!

Most of the other entries had already been on display for 3.5 days, so they'd had plenty of time to collect votes.  Mine was on display for less than 2.5 hours.  So I was VERY  surprised when Arachnophobia took Second Place!  All proceeds went to charity, but I have a nice little trophy and a coupon to McD's for my effort.

Being a dietitian who dislikes fast food - I find that VERY SCARY! LOL

Happy Halloween! 

 

Back to Quilting & Crafting

I haven't posted in a long time, but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy.  One year ago, my Sweetie and I decided it was time to sell both of our homes, buy one together and plan a wedding.  Pictured is our new home, and we were married a few days ago.  

Even our scarecrows dressed for the occasion!  After this picture was taken, I hung wedding bells from the tree.  They looked lovely, until it started raining.  LOL

I have a very talented and generous sister who made the flower arrangements for the altar/head table, bouquets, boutonnieres, table favors and even wraps for the bridesmaids.

 

 

 

With the help of a friend, I did the flowers for the wedding cake (not pictured) and the bird cage card box.

The entire day went off without a hitch.  We were surrounded by family and friends at the church and enjoyed a wonderful meal and music at the reception.  It was truly a dream come true!

As life gradually gets back to normal, you can look forward to more frequent blogs very soon! :)

In Loving Memory of Clara

This is my Grandmother in 1928, at age 19.  She passed this week at the age of 103.

Grandpa said it was love at first sight.  He saw her at a party in a blue dress and thought "I'm going to marry that girl."  And he did!

Here they are with their children, my dad and aunt.  Because my photo albums are packed to move, there is a bit of a gap here.  I'm missing pictures of my dad as an adult, and my own childhood - in which Grandma taught me to garden, bake, knit, embroider and sew.  These passions have shaped my life - and I've tried to pass them on to future generations.

This is Grandma in her 70s at my cousin's farm.  She loved animals of all kinds.

Here she is in her late 70s.  My first child had 6 months of severe colic, and Grandma stayed with me for a month, so I could get some rest.  She doted on him the entire time!  She loved babies - even a colicky one.

Here she is at 80, with my younger son.  I don't know who's cuter!

And here she is at 101.  Socializing and enjoying her birthday cards.

 

Today there were a lot of people at her funeral.  She had 7 brothers, all of whom had families, so there were 29 cousins in my dad's generation.  Most of them had kids, and a good number of them came to say goodbye to their Aunt Clara.  It was truly amazing how many lives she touched in her 103 years on this earth.  Many called her their favorite aunt and told wonderful stories of things they did with my Grandma and Grandpa in their youth.  She brought tremendous joy to so many. 

 

"Go in peace, faithful friend of God, as you take our love to paradise.  God's holy angels will lead you home to the wide waiting arms of the Lord."

 

A Little Quilting - Finally!

I've done a little sewing at long last!  Took me forever to find my fabric, thread, bobbins, to set up my machine and remember my piecing settings!  Have had my supplies packed to move (in just a few weeks now).  It actually took me longer to get set up than to make the block itself.  LOL

But I'm leaving my stuff out now.  It'll go with me to my next (temporary) home.  Can't wait until we get settled into our (yet unknown) final destination.  There WILL be a new quilting room in my future.

This block is for a group project.  It's perfect for a group project because it can be completed by all skill levels, even beginners.  While I'm kind of a particular about my points, its nice to know the points don't have to be perfect to look good because they don't come all the way to the edge of the block.  This is also a plus for the person putting all the blocks together! 

You can find the pattern at http://quiltbug.com/pdf/star-fling.pdf

Hope you have fun! :)

Garden Report

 

I no longer have to look to my garden flag just to see color. 

I dug up some perennials I'd like to take with me when I move. 

I have so many kinds of hostas, I can't leave them all behind.

The Licorice Ferns are in bloom.  Can't get enough of that smell.

I potted a small one to take with me.

I've never grown pansies before.  

With my big tree gone, I can grow sun-loving flowers.

 

I DO wonder where my flowers and I will end up. 

Everything hinges on when my Sweetie's house sells. 

Just goin' with the flow for the moment.

 

My day to play outside was delightful,

but now its time to get back to packing and moving!  :)

 

Back to My Original Idea

Make that 121 variations, and I've come back to my original idea.  I wanted a log cabin look, to make full use of the my beautiful jelly roll fabrics.  But I didn't want the images to get lost.  Decided to throw in some purple, and that really livened things up!

It's possible I'll do a little applique, to make the images look as if they're coming out of their frames (depending on how my upcoming applique class goes).

It's a simple design, but it'll complement the framed images nicely - which is the whole purpose of this quilt. :)

STILL Not Yet on My Design Wall

I've now made 117 variations on one quilt. 

All because I don't know what to do...

with 9 little novelty blocks. 

And now that I've finally figured out EQ6...

I'm having fun just experimenting.

 

I have still MORE ideas.  But they will most likely continue to swirl around in my mind as I have to put much of quilting stuff away as I pack to move. 

 

Still, I COULD wait until the very last minute! :)

Grimm Season Finale

I opened a small Etsy shop in December 2012.  Until recently, it contained these two purple bottles.  About a month ago I sold them to a gentleman from NBC Studios.  He said if they were approved, they'd appear in the season finale of Grimm.  Of course I had to start watching the show, and now I'm hooked.

The season finale is Tuesday, May 21 - 9 pm Central Time.  Can't wait to see how they defeat the zombie army with (hopefully) the aid of my little bottles!  :)

Not Yet on My Design Wall

How I love a rainy Saturday!  Been playing with designs. Which do you like best?

 

A. White Star on Blue, Brown Geese

 

 

B. White Star on Blue, Blue Geese

 

C. Blue Star on White, Brown Geese

 



D. Blue Star on White, Blue Geese

 



 

Please vote.  Thank you! :)

Doodles aka The Unconscious Mind at Work

Sometimes my hand has a mind of it's own.  Especially if I'm prepared to take notes, but find its not necessary.  In that case, I tend to doodle - and if I'm lucky, I'll inadvertently solve the problem of how to lay out a quilt I've been struggling with.

These two doodles are just such and example.  I have novelty squares I want to do something with.  Can't tell you what they are cuz I just might enter the quilt in a contest...if I can get it done in time.  I want a Log Cabin-y look, but don't want to be constrained by it either.  Hmmm....

Now to get these into EQ6 so I can play some more! :)

Sister's Choice in Pink and Green

I'm thinking about making a quilt that would look something like this - except  the border fabric would have some white and green in it.  A nice, soft floral maybe.

Here are some of the blocks I have in mind.  Funny how you can fall out of love with a project.  I was "in the zone" with this before I started getting ready to sell my house.  It sat, unattended all this while.  

 

Though I had fun designing, I'm not all that eager to sew these odd shaped 14" blocks.  The GOAL was to use them up in a table runner, but they're so big that they didn't look right.  I only have to make 8 total.  You wouldn't think it'd be that hard. 

 

Now that I have an accepted offer, and won't be closing until late June - I can resume a little normalcy (i.e. no more repairmen, would-be buyers, realtors, assessors, actual buyers, etc. coming through my home on a moment's notice). 

 

Now I can pack in earnest and (hopefully) sneak in a little sewing here and there.  :)

Happy May Day - Happy Spring!

What a delight to find a handmade May Basket

just waiting for me when I got home from work!  

Every April 1st, children at the nearby grade school make up May Baskets and leave them at neighboring homes. 

I've been blessed with these wonderful homemade creations every May Day for the last 15 years.  Ah the pure joy and delight of children - makes me forget whatever troubles I may have been thinking of and just feel happy through and through!

And Spring has FINALLY sprung in my neck of the woods.  What a beautiful thing.  I feel alive again!  Soon I'll have a decent lawn and garden report to share.  Can't wait! :)

Disclaimer: To my friends and family in Northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, I apologize for this cheery, spring-themed post.  I know you are being walloped by a May Day storm.  Ugggh!  Hang in there - winter surely CAN'T last much longer!

Spring, Interrupted

The drab landscape has grown tiresome, so I took matters into my own hands - and bought a bright beautiful flag to remind me that spring WILL come, as it always does.

These are my tulips. 

My ferns, hostas, irises, and bleeding heart look equally pitiful!

But all is not lost!  This little flower has popped up in my back yard.  I didn't plant it, but there it is.  One tiny little spot of color in an otherwise colorless landscape. 

I don't know where you came from, little flower,

but thank you for brightening my day!  :)

Crafters Meeting

Went to the church crafter's meeting on Saturday.  Some of the gals had a lot to show off!  Here one of the crafters is displaying a pillow case her 95 year old mother embellished by pressing and then hand stitching on these butterflies. 

She made 60 such pillow cases in about three weeks, and intends to make another 60.  Another crafter made a bundle of pillow cases as well.  Her work is showcased below.

Another gal brought a no-sew pattern for a fleece poncho.  Since she never sewed, she needed a hand with the cutting layout.  I was the only seamstress there, so we put it right out on the living room floor and got it cut out.  She was pleased as punch - all she had to do was cut the fringe.  The poncho was to be for a friend who is scheduled to have surgery in the next few weeks and won't be on her feet for a while. 

What a great bunch of ladies!  I do believe the Good Lord is smiling down upon them as they stitch, knit and craft for those in need.  :)

Lookie, Look What I Found!

A little baby hosta!  No Foolin'!

Been busy working inside and outside the house.  I'm hoping warmer weather will draw more people out to house hunt.

Today I found two buds in my flower bed!  

While I'm a little sad that quilting seems like the Impossible Dream, it's pretty hard to feel bad about ANYTHING when SPRING is right around the corner!  :)

Happy Easter...

 ...from Me & My Peeps! :)

 

Sewing Room Makeover

You saw my BEFORE picture a few weeks back.  So here's the AFTER pic:

The chest of drawers and sewing cabinet went into storage.  The chest of drawers contained fabric, patterns and templates.  So I packed what I thought I'd need in the next half year into clear totes, which are neatly stacked in the closet.  Other sewing stuff (4 additional totes) are stored in the basement - ready to move when the time comes.

Here's the south wall.  I've been trying to decide what to do with the four remaining blocks I won in a raffle. Black lattice and borders would make the designs look as though they're floating on air.  Might need to come up with a few more squares though.

While sorting and packing, I came across this leaf print I'd made in a class.  My "stampers" were autumn leaves.  I don't recall why I chose the spring greens, but I'm glad I did.  This would make a nice mini quilt, if I could decide how to frame it.

On the west wall I have a light that brightens up the entire room, my little cutting table (with TV) and my storage unit for fabric and books.  Fabrics are in clear containers and sorted by color and theme.  Sure makes it easier to find things!

The north wall gives me a nice view of the front yard.  In the summer I can see my flowers out the window, and watch the passersby as I sew.

The closet is on the east wall.  I made my sons come and get all their stuff from this closet and the basement.  I think they hauled away 4 vanloads!  This gave me some nice storage space.

This week I hope to finally get my machine out again, after several months of being without it.  Selling a home is SO disruptive!  There's been a flurry of activity starting with a pre-inspection, upgrades and repairs, painting inside and out, shampooing carpets, sorting items for the trash, recycling, donation or storage, and packing what's in your cupboards to make space to tuck away anything on the counter on a moments' notice.  Even the telephone is to be tucked away.  We've had one open house and a number of showings.  Recent wintery weather has slowed down interest.  For that I'm grateful.  I needed a breather before late March and April bring warmer temperatures and renewed interest in house hunting.

THIS week's goal is to try, try, try to do a little sewing. 

 

I've been in serious quilting withdrawal! :)