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!

SARAH'S SAMPLER SWAP BLOCKS ARRIVE

My blocks from the Sarah's Sampler Swap arrived yesterday. I made the schoolhouse blocks for this swap. Each block is so very precious! I will be trading one more one-on-one with a gal who couldn't meet the swap deadline, due to an unplanned move. I will probably set these blocks just like Sarah did in Jennifer's pattern book.

Funny how you have no size perspective in photos. These are 12" blocks, and my little klosjes that I posted yesterday are 2 3/4" blocks. Interesting.

KLOSJESDAS -- KLOSJES DAY

My wall of klosjes is growing. Four more tiny spools were added this week, during quick moments. I have also prepped blocks to piece.

DOWNY QUILT COMPLETED

This morning I finished my Downy Quilt. In the end I decided to name it "Hugs" because I have huge writing, and it's a relatively small label, LOL! I used a simple grid quilting with a walking foot, and stitched the binding down with a swirly flower stitch that goes with the focal print. This has been a fun donation project.

ADVENTURES IN WOOL FELTING

Here's my stash of home-felted wool, so far. I have learned so much, especially from my on-line friends. There's a treasure trove of collective information about this at the Wooly Buddies yahoo group.
1. When thrifting for wool, pants and skirts will yield more wool than blazers, that contain so much tailoring.
2. You do need to soak it in the hottest of water so if you have a front loader, use a tub.
3. Stir it in the tub with either JetDry, or Tide without bleach. Both are known to be excellent at loosening the fibers. Others say any laundy detergent/soap works.
4. I found it helpful to wash it first, then do the soak thing, then wash again in the machine, and then dry on hot. Once dry, dry on hot a bit more.
5. This really isn't "wool felting" but everyone calls it that. It is "wool fulling" because the fabric was woven when I started. Wool felting is starting with wool from the sheep, and felting it. No weaving. Who knew?
6. This has been really interesting and fun! And I have a nice, soft, fluffy stash of wool to use for needle keeps, applique, etc. The possibilities are endless as to what you can do with it.

KLOSJEDAG AND MORE

I made another nine klosjes this week, bringing my total to 19. I also stamped and cut some more, to keep my work basket full of supplies.

Today I met DJer, Alice from Central Florida, at a quilt shop for a sit and sew. We had such a good time, and found we have much in common, including daughters with the same name, Melissa, we have the same profession, elementary school teachers, we both took a class with Thimble Lady while she was here, etc., etc. Alice worked on her DJ and I worked on my klosjes.

The shop, The Apopka Quilt Co., had all FQs on sale for $1. Not just the picked over, left-overs, but ALL. The batiks, the blenders, the geometrics, etc. All. Well who could resist that? I also picked up a 'Ewe Old Bags' kit. It is knit, then felted, then appliqued. I'm into felting right now, so............

2010 DEAR JANE SIGGIE QUILT FLIMSY

Here's my 2010 DJ Siggy Quilt flimsy. I'm making a simple throw from the blocks. I still have siggies from two prior years to make something with. Perhaps something fancier with more flair will strike with those.

Oh, and about the wool, I posted about it on Woolie Buddies yahoo group. Some great advice and expertise there! More on that later.

Now I'm off to meet a DJer from the big list, for a sit-and-sew at a LQS in Apopka. Who knew?

FELTING WOOL FOR APPLIQUE

Felted wool is so very expensive, but so nice. I've heard you can felt your own, so I gave it a try. I pulled a pair of off-white wool pants from my donate bag and cut them apart. I washed the resulting fabric on high, and dried it on high. Not quite good enough. I have a front-loader, and I think it needs to soak. So I then soaked the wool fabric from the pants in a hot tub of water, and stirred with a wooden spoon. After the water cooled on it's own, I again ran it through my washer on hot and high, and high in the dryer. Voila! Really nice felted wool.

So then I pulled two wool blazers from my donation bag. Nice buttons to harvest there too! Then I went thrifting. What fun! I didn't care the size or condition of the garment. Just the color and quality of the wool. I found these four blazers. They are getting felted tomorrow, and I'll let you know the result. For very few dollars, I expect to have some nice wool felt. Now I'm on the look-out for some green wool thrift items, for stems and leaves.

Oooh, also found a really nice pair of silk ladies slacks. $6. Didn't buy them, but if they are still there I might. That's a lot of silk, and I have been collecting silk ties too. Oh, the possibilities. So many projects, so little time.

TRIMMED SIGGIES

When something new arrives in the mail, I just have to play! So it is with these siggies. Other projects are slid down temporarily. It's a really bad habit!

I trimmed up the siggies this morning, so they all have a more uniform look now. I've tried laying them out light to dark, trip around the world, and as they are, rainbow. Not sure what I'll so with them, but they'd make several great tote bags to take to retreat, shows, or class. They'd also make great pillowcases at retreats. Hmmm.............I'll probably make a throw, but ideas are dancing all over the place in my head!

DJ SIGGIES ARRIVE

Look what the mail lady brought yesterday! It's the siggies from the Spring 2010 swap with Dear Jane. These are all the same block, signed with name, date, and location of the creators. I put them up on the design wall for a better look, but they haven't been trimmed yet. We each trim our own, so it is normal that they look a bit rough around the edges and different sized too. I added two from the International Siggy swap to even it out. I love all of them, from the plain Jane's to the fancy stamps, and everything in between.

SIGGY ARRIVES AND A HEART GOES OUT

You have to love a calico cat, especially when she's on the center of a siggy. This is Miss Abbie, and she was sent by Carolyn from Iowa. Her bow is tied on and dimensional. Nice!

This heart block is going out to my on-line friend, Karen, whose mom died recently.

KLOSJESDAG AND KLOSJE CLARITY

Here's my klosje progress for the week -- nine little 2 3/4" spool blocks.

Elni, from Holland, was so kind as to leave a comment on my first klosje post explaining why we have 'Klosje Day' (klosjedag) on Saturday. It is not because we make them that day, it's because Saturday is the day that you post about your klosje progress on your blog. I'm so glad to know!

Elni, I tried to email you a thank-you for this information, but when I tried to reply to your comment it was a no-reply email setting. It is something in your settings. But thank you here, and good to have a friend from SBS drop by.