Tuscaloosa

I and my family are fine. Our house is fine. We were without power and such for 2 days but escaped relatively unscathed. My fridge/freezer bit the dust but I am very thankful and lucky that is all that immediately impacted us. Lots of our friends did not fair so well.

Contact me if you want information on donations or volunteering your help.

In the meantime I just want to say how proud I am of how the community has banded together to help their neighbors, friends and strangers in this heartbreaking time.

Upcoming!

Mark your calendars!!! I will have a table May 21st at the Kentuck a la cARTe fair in the Kentuck Courtyard of Wonders, May 21 from 12pm to 4pm. Please stop by!


http://www.kentuck.org/

Apples

the initial design

So my dear friend Sean has been blogging about various Apples and her objective reviews of them.  I have truly enjoyed reading about her musings and adventures.  I wanted to commemorate this venture (and her birthed day) with a quilt of course.

I found some charming fabric that said the names of all different apples and the perfect stripe fabric.  Thus insuring the completion of my vision.

Things I like about Sean.  She always can make me laugh.  She shares an offbeat sense of humor and never seems to get embarrassed by my antics.  Her Hair.  The way I can go a tremendous amount of time without seeing her only to fall right into our old ways within minutes of a reunion.  Oh, and how she is one of the best friends a girl can have.  Patrick likes that she picked him out for me :)

Anyway, enough with the mush.  Here are more pictures of her quilt.

These are pictures of me playing with the fabric and layout of the different elements.

I also had some leftover fabric and was trying to decide if I should hoard it or make something else for Sean with it....



Easy choice, I made something else for Sean.


It started out as a pillow case but then since pillow cases are such personal things (i'm very particular about mine and I think Sean is as well)  I changed it into a little carrying bag. Figured she can use it to store the quilt or as a pillow case or as an overnight bag on her adventures about Boston.

This is Patrick modeling the bag.

And last but not least.  A picture of the quilt finished, I only lightly quilted the top rather then an allover meandering or something along those lines as I actually wanted it to have a wrinkled well loved look.  Not sure if i chose right in the end... but...there we have it.

...and the pictures Sean sent me of the quilt in her room.  I think it was the psychic connection between her and I that lead me to pick colors that perfectly matched her coverlet and artwork. 

 

Uncanny isn't it

 :-)

OhhhhMmmmmGeee

I've been so busy getting new items finished, photographed and written up for Etsy today.  I made, what I think are lovely placemats that i'm selling groups of two.  I used some really nice designer fabric and no two are looking alike.  Now for small-ish items you would think i just banged out these four placemats.

But you would be wrong. I worked on them all day (except for a lovely lunch I had with E, C and O).  Perhaps I was being too fussy.  But I had a vision!  Each one had to be different from the other and they all had to feature some of the same fabric.

Then I decided they all needed to have appliquéd hearts.  In separate corners.

Then I decided they all needed to have different decorative stitching.

Obviously I am insane.

Cause then I decided they had to be photographed.. JUST RIGHT.

Which meant props.

Which meant polishing my dining room table (and clearing if off).

Which meant my husband got to play with his optics stuff from the class he's teaching.. Because its nighttime and there is no natural light.

Because I am insane.  But the end result is pretty.  And I got to have a cup of tea in my fancy tea cups since I went to the trouble of taking it out of the china cabinet :)

So yep.  Go to my ETSY and buy them please so I don't further obsess.  Or at the very least swoon over them and gush over how talented I am (wink).

What a Weekend

So this weekend started out with going to my lovely Quilt Guild Meeting where I learned all kinds of interesting information regarding copyrighting quilts PLUS of course I got to see projects other quilt guild members are working on, which is one of my favorite parts of the monthly meetings.

Are any of my readers part of a quilt guild or other craft group?  I don't know about you but I always feel so energized to get to some sewing afterward.  Very motivating.  SO I did lots of sewing. Unfortunately I can't share pictures for what I worked on this weekend as its all for future presents :)  So stay tuned!

my morning glory's are starting to sprout!!

Sunday was very busy.  Our local Arboretum had its annual sale so hubby and I went just to look.  And ended up buying, of course (who did we think we were kidding?).  Which then meant we had to figure out where to plant our new treasures which is a slightly daunting task as we live on top of very compacted clay.  We often wish for dynamite when digging.

roasted and grilled goodness

Seriously.  Sledge Hammers are a part of our gardening tools.


So we two tired individuals decided that since we had roughly 2 hours free before friends would come over for some bbq (yummers) ... we would build a raised flower bed.

it's starting to come together!!!

And this I am proud of. We designed said 20$ flower bed

first level complete

while sitting in the truck in the parking lot of our local hardware megatropolis.

To the right and left you can see my darling building away.  Patrick feels orange shirts and fancy hats add to the construction process.


And the result is I think wonderful :)
We planted some miniature tomato plants. Two kinds of basil, oregano, bay leaf and lemon thyme.  Plus some Red Sylvia and a Black Eyed Susan (a flower I can't see without thinking of my father).

Oh and don't think I managed to get away with not fabric shopping.  Hancock was having a big fabric sale so I stopped by on the way back from the arboretum to get a couple of things.  Most was only 1$ a yard!!!

Fanny's Quilt

Fanny in NY 1941

My paternal grandmother passed away recently and I'm not alone in missing her.  Her family and friends have had so very many lovely stories and remembrances of her that I decided to make a memory quilt in her honor.   I was first going to use her clothing (of which there was 3 carloads brought to goodwill besides those we distributed to family) or her silk and satin scarfs... but I decided that since I had people sign a plane white fabric rectangle at the first memorial service in Virgina, I wanted to choose fabric from my stash and make a more cohesive look. After all not only was my grandmother the original fashionista, I just couldn't bring myself to cut into anything!

So I had my colors and I had already drawn up a pattern that used a Fan Quilt block as it's star.  Now it was just time bite the bullet and make it happen!

So what fabric to choose.... this was a wonderful opportunity to think about what colors, patterns and styles that really spoke to me when I think about my darling Grandma Fan.  In the end, the choice was so obvious to me I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner: Red, White and Blue.  Grandma loved the Fourth of July.  She was proud to be the daughter of Joseph C. Baldwin and all that entailed and would make a cake decorated like the American flag and change out the wreaths on the front door to something patriotic every year.  And if there was a parade, you know she would be right in front cheering it on and waving a flag.

Since my husband I married, we seem to have thrown a Fourth of July party every year and I like to think that one day my grandchildren will celebrate the holidays with us and I can pull out this quilt and share stories of the amazing women who predeceased them.  I know reading the kind words that everyone has included in the quilt has helped me heal and I truly look forward to bringing the quilt with me when I visit other friends and family who knew Grandma Fan and having them contribute their thoughts.

So, what's left.... I have to find and buy more of the same white fabric and do some more sewing!!!  

Here is to you Grandma Fan!

 

a forest quilt and an update

I've been hording the designer fabric in this quilt for over a year waiting for inspiration to strike. And boy did it! The main fabrics are a purple forest scene and what I like to think of as a meadow or a garden floral print. I pieced the quilt trying to capture the idea of a meadow seen through the trees and then appliquéd green tree branches and little navy blue birds on top.



The quilt is a perfect lap size or large wall hanging at 51.5" x 44.5". I used all natural cotton batting and strip pieced the back in a soothing modern design that is almost as pretty as the front.  The quit is for sale on Etsy for 230$

On another note. I just got back from my friend Marcy's 'selling' party. Marcy sells Premier Jewelery and was kind enough to let me set up my wares as well.  

I brought over all the bags and towels and stockings I have ready or sell and at the last minute I also brought over some of my unfinished quilts to show my current projects. I think it went well.  At the very least it was exposure :) and I had allot of fun.


The towels are sold in sets of two with the idea of a person using one at a time.  You can switch out the ribbons and dowel from each towel in a set as they coordinate. 





The clutch bags, I can't say enough about these bags. I just love them. They simmer and sparkle and are the perfect size for a dinner or club or dance or wedding or luncheon or well just about anything. I love them!!!!

The stockings are based off of the Xmas stockings I made for Patrick and I a couple of years ago. I have so much fun making them and just love having something completely unique at that time of year when so many of the winter decorations begin to look alike.


As a last note... Blogger is being a real pain with the formating. Patrick and I have given up after playing with this post for over an hour!!!!!

What I'm working on

Sneak Peek at my new pretty project just in time for Summer!!!!