AN EARLY BIRTHDAY GIFT

An early birthday gift arrived in my mail yesterday. My dear friend, Carol, made this thimble wall hanging for me. I just love how she fussy-cut the thimbles, and placed them in the shadow box. It is so special! As is our friendship!

Carol knows I always wear a thimble (thanks to Mrs. Ott in Home Ec class, where thimbles were required), and that I'm always curious to try new ones. This is just such a unique and special gift. I hung it on the line to take a picture, but it is going on the wall of my sewing area soonest!

Here's the back of the quilt.


And the label close-up.

ANOTHER HOUSE BLOCK

Here's another of my house blocks. This one has white birch trees and dune grass. The quilter in this window is very talented as she can hand quilt and hold her cat at the same time, LOL!

LOCAL HOUSE SWAP BLOCK

I'm working on my Local Houses Swap Blocks. We are making funky houses using materials that represent where we live.

My house in Paradise, MI is a little cabin in the woods, so that's what I used for the house -- cabin the the woods fabric. We are in a woods with pine trees, white birch, and other northern trees. Some will have pines, like this block, and some with have white birch. Wild blueberries grow on our property so that's my roof. The chimneys are cranberries, because our town of Paradise, is the Cranberry Capital of MI. There's a quilter in the front window of each block, and blueberry wallpaper in the kitchen window. We don't have a lawn, so I'm using beach sand, and some will have dune grass. Lake Superior is out our door, so that's on the side of my house, and there's shore birds in the sky.

These are really fun to work on. Can't wait to see what each quilter does with their houses.

SEWING WITH MY GRANDDAUGHTER

My DGD, Bri, age 10, made this cell phone purse this afternoon. A few months ago, she had no interest in sewing (after years of loving it). But when we stopped in at Village Fabrics and Crafts to pick up bobbins, she was right away back in her element. She loved touching all the fabric, etc. Several shoppers and workers commented, "You have a future quilter there, don't you?" I sure hope so. Makes a Nana proud.

She is just learning to use the sewing machine on her own. My Janome 1/4" foot really helped her stay on the line.


Lisa, one of the owners, was so right with her suggestion of what to make that wouldn't be frustrating, and would have super results in no time. Of the several patterns available, that have fusible with the cutting and sewing lines all marked, Bri chose this one. Of course she also selected her 1/4 yard of fabric, but everything else was in the kit. A good day, indeed.



It always amazes me when I go to Village Fabrics and Crafts, in Paradise, MI, in the middle of nowhere, and they have things I haven't seen before!

MAKE A BAG SEW ALONG

I just found this Make a Bag Sew Along today. They are already on Week 5 of 8, but all the links are there for the earlier directions. It looks like a good way to use charm squares. You can link here, and I'll add it to my sidebar too.

I WON THE BLOCK LOTTO AGAIN!

I was one of three winners in the May Block Lotto. All of these lovely black/white/lime reed blocks have now arrived at my house, plus 2 more that wouldn't fit in the picture.

I don't have a design wall here in Michigan, so I used the dining table. Sorry about the angle. The floor may have worked better, but then my little helpers would have wanted to help.

My son's family was here last week as the blocks were arriving, and my DIL really thought they were neat and enjoyed playing with placement of them. I think perhaps this will become a throw-sized quilt for her, or maybe a set of place mats.

If you are interested in Block Lotto, or playing along (you can't win if you don't play), click on the Block Lotto button on my side-bar, down on the left. There's a picture of my quilting helpers there too, if you don't know who I'm talking about, LOL!

QUILTER'S CLUB PUZZLE

My dear friend, Carol, gave me this Quilter's Club puzzle. I've seen them in quilt shops, but never bought them. This one is called "Shoreline Treasure" and is of all my favorite things -- quilts, a shoreline, a lighthouse, flowers, etc. Very traditional and very me -- she knows me well.

I started working on it with my granddaughter, but my husband must have decided, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," because he got caught up in it too.

This is the cute tin it came in. That's something else I collect -- tins.

Thanks again, Carol.

LAKE SUPERIOR BEACH STONES

One of my favorite 'at the cabin' activities is doing jigsaw puzzles. My DGD, Bri, age 10, and I worked on this 550 piece one for less than a week. We are getting good! The picture is of Lake Superior Beach Stones, and it really is just how it looks if you go to a rocky shore up here. Well, perhaps except for those three opened agates, LOL! They are a bit more elusive.

No, it's not quilting, but it is a lesson in color and patterns. God's artwork (a.k.a. nature) is always the best! And I do think the ability to 'see' how to dissect a quilt block pattern, and puzzles have lots in common.

Tomorrow I'll share a photo of another puzzle we finished today (my DD, my DH, and me). It one of those you see in quilt shops and was a gift from a dear friend. More about that tomorrow.

NEW BACKGROUND TWEAKED

I think you can put away the sunglasses now. Looks more readable to me, and less confusing at the top, the way I have it arranged and colored now. Much better! Still love the patchwork border.

NEW BACKGROUND

So many blogs have those wonderful, modern, backgrounds. I'm not much of a modern girl, but I decided to change to something a bit brighter and more with it. Hope you don't need sunglasses to visit!

DJ SS JUNE GIFT

 

My Dear Jane Secret Sister is so thoughtful. She even thought of me while on her vacation to Colorado. My whole family enjoyed playing with my 'Patricia' flashing Colorado key chain. Too funny! She visited the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Golden, and picked up a card for me there, as well as the brochure of the current exhibit. She included an emory board from Celestial Seasonings in Boulder and a post card from Central City.

There was also the vibrant blue FQ everything is sitting on and a Quilters' Tool Necklace.

I'm most appreciative of the DJ block she made. She sends me one every month, along with a nice letter. She sure knows how to brighten my day!

DESIGNS IN NATURE

 

While walking the Lake Superior shoreline this morning, I noticed how Mother Nature changes everything daily. Today what struck DGD Bri and me, was this lovely design in the sand under the shallow water. The waves vary daily, and so does the design. Nature is so inspirational for all sorts of arts, including quilting.

LeMoyne Star Arrives

My very first 'up north' mail is this beautiful LeMoyne Star block from Debbie M. That completes my Sarah's Sampler Swap. Hope to sash and border the blocks later this summer, when the company dies down, LOL!

BLOCK LOTTO FOR JUNE

The June Block Lotto blocks are liberated baskets. The backgrounds will all be yellow/gold, and the handles and bases are all red tonal. The baskets can be made from crumb blocks. All the cutting is without measuring -- just do it. Wonky is good in liberated quilting. I love this color combination, and was able to use up some strip sets of 30's fabric for the baskets. I've made these four so far. That may be it this month, as June is very busy for me.

I just found out yesterday that I am one of the three lucky winners of the May Block Lotto, so squishies of lime free form reeds on black and white backgrounds will be coming my way. Ideas are dancing in my head. Some of them involve frogs, tropical fish, and/or pink flamingos. We'll see.

If you are interested in playing Block Lotto, there's a button for it on my blog, scroll way down, on the left. You can't win if you don't play, LOL!