FISHIING IN SHIPSHE

No quilter's trip to Shipshe would be complete without fishing in the old boat in Lolly's basement. If your net 12, the price of each goes down.

Here's my catch.

WITH BRENDA PAPADAKIS

Here I am with Brenda Papadakis. Notice our shoes. They were THE THING at Shipshe this year. Both Brenda and I bought them at the same time on Wed. -- too early to get into the room, and the sewing room wasn't open yet either. I had no idea who Brenda was when we were both shopping for shoes at Yoders. I just thought she had great taste in shoes. By the end of the weekend at least a dozen of us were sporting them! Very comfy, very creative.

Oh and Brenda, in case you don't know, Brenda Papadakis is the one who started this whole Dear Jane thing. She drafted every block of Jane A. Stickle's quilt and published the book.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! I'm thankful for all my quilting friends, both in person and on-line, and to those who are both!

AMISH COOKING DEMO

We were so privileged to see this Amish cooking demo. Elaine, our hostess, made cinnamon rolls. We were able to take photos, but not of their faces. Elaine was so funny. I'm sure she's never seen a tv cooking show, but she could surely be the Amish version. First she's mixing, and then, magically here it is after rising an hour, and here it is all bakes, etc.

We were served the rolls and coffee/tea as we watched, and also got a roll to go at the end.

Here are some pics from that part of our outing.

WITH THE AMISH

As part of the Dear Jane retreat, I was went on a field trip to an Amish farm this morning. Following a cinnamon roll baking demo (while eating cinnamon rolls and having coffee), we went to the quilting room where 3 frames were set up. We had an Amish expert at each frame. They will be quilting the interior of the quilt, and we worked on the borders. We signed our names near our work. It was interesting to see the names of women who have worked on the quilts before us.

The woman at our frame remarked that it was just like her quilt bees, with all of us gathered around talking as we quilted, rolled the thread to one another, etc. I learned much about her family and life-style too. It was really nice when she told us how much she enjoys these times sharing her life with others. We were allowed to take pictures, but not of their faces.

DEAR JANES IN SHIPSHEWANA

I arrived at the Dear Jane retreat this afternoon. I just love the 'buggy parking' spots and the yield signs on the buggies!

Here's the sign at our sewing room doorway.

DH and dogs are holding the fort at home. They are sooo not used to cold weather!

CHIPMUNKS

This chipmunk is holding tight to this pillowcase that I made for our DGD, Bri, 11, for Christmas. Here it is opened out.


While she was visiting us in MI last summer she fell in love with chipmunks. There aren't any in FL, where she lives. She even had them eating out of her hand and crawling on her. Now she's wondering what careers involve working with chipmunks. I think this gift will keep her fond memories alive. Of course she gets the stuffed chipmunk too.

Eating from her hand.

Crawling in her bag of Cheerios and nuts.

On her shoulder.

While there're many methods for making pillowcases, I like to use the Rolled Method, so that all the seams are encased on the cuff and trim, and then finish with French seams, so there's no raw edges anywhere.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS HOP

12 designers will be sharing their ideas and a cookie recipe each Tues. and Fri. The hop is already underway. Click here for more info.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, PART 5

This is as far as I got with Part 5 last week. I had just downloaded it and printed it when the power went out. So this is not complete.

I did manage to tape the packages under the tree together correctly and to the correct size. And since I've had power, I sewed my tree blocks together. However, I just couldn't find a suitable background in my stash, so I ordered that and also border fabric. They should be here Sat. or Mon. latest.

Meanwhile, I can move onto tracing the fusible for the parts under the tree, finding fabrics for that, and prepping them. I can also move onto Part 6 which is now up, as far as getting my ornaments sewn together. And of course, as always, I have a million other projects to work on too.

Esther is such a talented designer, her projects always turn out so nicely.

Back to Sylvia's Bridal Sampler

This is the first SBS block I've made in a while. This past week-end I downloaded the grid where you can drop your photos in and see your progress. That really motivated me to get back at it.

The BOW for this week is B-2, Gulf Star, and I made it this morning.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

 

Any Witch Way is the name of this quilt, which is one of my favorites. I made it last fall from a pattern in Quiltmaker Magazine.

Have a safe and scary day!

ACCUQUILT GIVE AWAY

Micki, over at Irish Muses blog, has been posting about all the fun she's been having using her new AccuQuilt. And now she has one for a giveaway! Wow! Who wouldn't love to be the lucky winner? Be sure to check out her blog here to see how to enter.

INTERNATIONAL SIGGIE SWAP

I received this lovely siggie from Saskia, from the Netherlands. She used the same autumn design on the siggie and in her letter. Very nice!

12 DAYS, PART 4

Lady Dancing

Lord a Leaping

Pipers Piping

Drummer Drumming

Here's Part 4 of Esther Aliu's 12 Days of Christmas mystery BOW. These were very fun to work on! Now that I have this itty bitty applique down, I almost hate to move on to the final two parts of the quilt, which are not applique, LOL! Remember my whining during Part 2?

It's a glorious day here. We are having our first snow. It's not sticking, but what started as little spits this morning, is now big fluffy flakes! Very pretty!

12 DAYS, PART 3 FINISHED

Tonight I finished Part 3 of Esther's 12 Days of Christmas mystery. This is a 6 week BOW, so I must be half way there. It feels good to be keeping up!

Maid a Milking

Swan a Swimming

Goose a Laying

Golden Ring


I'm sticking with fusible applique and then doing all the stitching by hand. My Maid's face/hair is a button, as is my diamond. The ring is some braid I found in my drawer. Thanks for the fun patterns, Esther. I love taking your super patterns and then tweaking them to make them 'my own.'

INTERNATIONAL SIGGIES ARRIVE

Several siggies have arrived recently. This adorable Dutch girl came from The Netherlands.

And these two siggies came from sisters, who live on the same street!

12 DAYS, PART 2

Partridge in a Pear Tree

Turtle Dove

French Hen

Calling Bird

These are photos of my baubles from Esther Aliu's 12 Days of Christmas BOW. This is Part 2, just in time, as Part 3 comes out tomorrow. Well actually it's already up a day early. I am really trying to keep up here, for a change!

The applique pieces are very tiny. I redid my first two baubles. I'm now using fusible applique with Steam a Seam 2 Light. That way I can place the pieces and stick them down, but still reposition them if needed, before the final adhesion. Some of the tiny ones (like beaks and eyes, I'm placing with tweezers. All of the stitching is by hand, using DMC floss. This first batch took forever, especially with the redoes, but now that I have my products and methods down, I think Week 3, which is 4 more baubles, will go faster.

You can find a link to this project in my sidebar on the left.

CHRISTMAS COTTAGES SWAP

These are the rest of my Christmas Cottages, ready for the swap. Seems that house blocks are everywhere just now.

CHRISTMAS COTTAGES SWAP

I had so much fun making Christmas Cottages. The fabric with Santa in his sleigh was part of my DJ secret pal gift. It was perfect for this swap. In the one set Santa is already in the house, and he's flying by in the other set. I have more sets done also, that I'll share later.

IN DISGUISE

Thought I'd share this funny photo of me. DH took the pic in our yard today. I've been having some eye trouble, and it is majorly exacerbated by sunshine, so I bought this new Tilley hat yesterday. Tilleys are made in Canada, and I've been paying more attention to where things are coming from lately. Canada is good!

It works! I wore it this morning walking Tahquamenon Falls in bright sunshine. Lots of 'Go Green' and 'Go Blue' being said there! Off to watch the Michigan State vs. Michigan game. You can tell which team I'm for! Go Spartans!

LOCAL HOUSES SWAP

 

 

 

 

These terrific blocks from the local houses swap have arrived! In this swap, we all used the same pattern, but used fabrics, etc., that reflect where we live and our interests. I LOVE how they turned out! I took individual photos so that you could see all the detail gals put in. I'm debating between making a wall quilt for my sewing room with them, or a cuddle quilt so I can hug my on-line quilty friends. Either way, it's a great neighborhood, and a great way to get to know each other better.