Odds and Ends

My daughter returned from her mission to St. Louis, MO. So we took off on a trip to visit with friends and family before she went back to school (BYU). Unfortunately we ran into some difficulties in Nelson, British Columbia (Canada). The car would not turn off and shut the motor down, so we had to have the ignition replaced. The car happens to be a Saturn which is no longer being made, so we had to wait about 2 weeks to get the part in and get it replaced. We ended up being in Nelson 2 weeks longer than we intended. So we left there and went to Utah instead of going to California... We had intended to go and visit my parents in California... We didn't get to because of the car problems. Now it's December and it just isn't possible to get over to California to see Mom and Dad. I'm quite dissapointed in that. After the new year (Jan 2) The girl will be back at school in Utah.

I did get the quilt done for my nephew... but things are being difficult here right now, so the picture will have to be uploaded later. I also started a quilt as a Christmas gift for one of my son's. It was inspired by the autumn leaves seen around town there in Nelson, B.C. I took a guide book on plants of the Rockies and selected 3 different leaf shapes, an Oak leaf, a maple leaf, and a leaf from a shrub (gooseberry)... drew them to fit the size of the blocks (10 1/2" unfinished). I went through fabrics and scraps of things I had laying around, with no 2 leaves being the same color. I then machine appliqued them on the background fabric. It was quite fun and a great way to use up scraps and things... It's sort of like a charm quilt in being that no two leaves are the same color. However, then I will put in some lattice work using fabrics I did use for a leaf, and there will be some borders, so the charm quilt ends there.

While I was in Utah, we stopped in the local "Michael's" and while browsing through some of the free project sheets posted around the store. My daughter picked up a project sheet for a knitted sock monkey. Which I decided to give a try as a gift for the new grand-baby we're expecting in our family (the same son who's getting the "Autumn Leaf" Quilt as a Christmas gift.) I didn't like some of the proportions shown on the little Free Project Sheet, so I did tweek the pattern just a wee bit. Also the project sheet said the finished monkey should be about 4 1/2" tall....LOL, there is no way that monkey would ever be that small... not possible with the directions given. I didn't bother with the swatch for knitting to fit the measurments... but I don't think anyone could have gotten that monkey that small. So with my tweeks for proportion, my monkey is about 8" tall. Which I think is just about perfect for a gift for a baby.

I have also started another knitting project as a Christmas gift for my Mother. The pattern comes from the magazine "Knit 'n Style" December 2011 issue. The project on page 84, project number 35 Woven Square Wrap. It's a knitting method I've been wanting to try, and I thought this would be a fun way to try it out. I'm using "Heather Blue" fuzzy yarn from Lion Brand, that came in a 12 oz size... The label says "1, 2, or 3 Kids in a Jiffy". I found 3 large balls of this yarn at a thrift shop for for 1.50$ each ball. I think this project will use just a little more than one ball.

I do love to browse thrift shops and yard sales... I consider the finds there as recycling-rescuing, things some one else would have thrown out. I quite often pick up fabric, and yarn, notions, and more stuff to use.

Welllllllll, for some reason I was unable to load pictures up this afternoon, so I'll add them as soon as possible. I do want to show off all the things I've been up to. I haven't gotten the Winter mini quilt done for my Calander holder yet, but we have an idea waiting drawn by my grand-daughter. I plan to have it done before the 1rst day of winter. Hopefully I can get the photo's of everything I've mentioned uploaded soon. Look for part 2 of this post. It will be the photo's.

playing around with the blog design

I thought I'd play with the site and make a few changes... I'll leave it here for awhile and see how I like it. Next, I've got to figure out how to keep the print closer together without the spacing in between the text lines. That drives me a little bit crazy. I've gone back and eliminated the spacing more than once, and still had it come back up. Just going to throw in a few pictures here for fun. No quilty stuff this time.

A few of my favorite things... Nikita, doorway in Antrossano Italy, and Cinque Terra Italy.

Sorry to say, Nikita (Niki) is no longer with us she was 15 when she passed away a couple of weeks ago. We (me) do miss her, she was a faithful friend and companion for lots of adventures, though we did have to leave her with a son for the 2 years we lived in Italy for husbands job.

This and That

Just some random items I've been working on.

Found the small quilt pictured to the right,

I'd made it around 2002...

It was my 4th of July quilted wall hanging.

I had a lot of the rust colored plaid squares

decided I like the tan and dark blue stars print

with the plaid...

Put it together in a round the world pattern.

Added star applique's in the corners.

I was delighted with the way the quilt seemed to float

when I added the dark blue boarder,

You are actually looking at it sideways,

there is a sleve sewn into the far right side for hanging it up.

When I say found,

it wasn't really lost,

just packed away

because if my unusual living conditions the last several years.

The next photo,

is the Autumn block for my Calendar holder...

The Calendar holder is explained in previous blogs.

I saw a quilt block in a magazine

that had two trees with autumn colored foliage...

Done in the no sew method.

ie.;

iron on fusing,

pieces cut out and ironed onto the back ground.

Since this is for a Calendar wall hanging,

and there will never be any washing,

this was a chance to play with this method with no worries.

I went with one tree,

and if you look closely, maybe you can see

the young child playing in the pile of leaves,

with a rake leaning against the tree

and a pet dog watching and maybe waiting to join in the fun.

I did minimal quilting around the larger objects and a couple of clouds in the sky.

Photo number 3,

is the next applique block

for "My Whimsical Garden."
I've mentioned this quilt many times before,

So I'll not go into too many details right now.

I've got one last many leaved stalk to do

on the right hand side of the square...

You can just make out the sketch on the paper...

It's my travel project,

and I take it with me when I'm off traipsing around the country side.

Not a quilt I'm in a hurry to complete.

But it's getting there one block at a time. This is the third block of twenty.

The last photo is a sweet water color painting

Done by my 6 year old Grandson.
I loved the fat little bird...

and the colors he used.

It is so cheerful and happy-

It's maybe going to need to be a little

Quilted wall hanging someday.

His sister is pretty talented also,

She has a drawing for me of how she thinks

the Winter square for the Calendar Holder should be.

I think her idea is perfect with a snowman at winter.

Looking forward to getting that done...

I didn't take a photo of the other project I'd been working on,

It wasn't my quilt to show off really...

My next door neighbor Marti,

Had taken some quilting classes;

and she has discovered that she likes the quiting part of the process,

and not the sewing together of the quilt tops...

She was stuck after a mystery quilt class,

and just did not want to finish or even look at the quilt top-

So she'd asked me to suare up what she'd completed

and add the borders, so she could get on to the part she likes

the actual hand quilting...

I did get that done for her also this past bit of time since my last blog.

summer continued

soooo, I chose to do this blog in two parts,
this one is the quilty crafty one.
With photo's of what I've been doing.....

This first photo is of the book "Speed-Cut Quilts,"
by Donna Poster.
The book says there are 1200 blocks
but there are actually only 400 in 3 different sizes for the 1200.
I kind of wish it had actually said that instead
(you almost feel cheated out of 800 blocks)
It was published by Chilton in 1989.
I do not know if it is possible to find this book in print anymore.
My husband picked it up for me at a yard sale.
So, I really cannot complain about anything in the book.

Meanwhile,
My nephew was getting married and I needed ideas for a quilt
for him and his new bride.
Their favorite colors were blue and green.
So I poored over my books for ideas and I quite liked
the one I found in the book mentioned above.
In the colored photo section of the book
I found the one pictured below...
originally made by Teresa Kline in Aqua tones at 86 X 103...

The blocks were diagramed out on page 76 of the book...

as shown in the next photo...

it seemed to be a quite simple quilt,

and yet very stunning in it's layout...

And since the sample in the book was already done in the blues...

I could very easily picture it in the blue and green colors for

the nephew and his bride to be...

I went through my stash to find several blues and greens

to use for the project,

I decided to go with the 12" sized blocks,

The center squares are 4 1/2" cut (4" when sewn)

the strips around the outside are 2 1/2" cut (2" when sewn)

the next picture shows the squares in progress...

and that is actually where I'm at as I am blogging today.

I bought a box full of stuff to work on the quilt

while I am here in British Columbia...

I did not have to transport my sewing machine,

because my daughter left her's here in storage while

she's been at University and serving her mission.

So I've been using hers for the sewing.

She has a basic entry level
Viking 325 Daisy.

It's not computerized like mine back home...

but it works great.

I probably should have reversed the last image above,

and the next one below...

But oh well.

The image below is showing the fabrics I chose

for the quilt I am making...

I went with 4 different blues and greens,

pairing them together with the white,

for continuity.

The larger piece of fabric across the top of the

selection,

I am planning for the main larger border

around the outside of the quilt

to tie everything together.

My only problem is this,

I need at least one smaller border

between the blocks and the larger outer border,

and I am struggling with what to use for that one.

I have a gorgeous dark dark blue I'm thinking about,

it's darker than the one in the photo above...

I most likely would look almost black in a photo...

But I am not convinced yet.

I recently saw a quilt show on television

discussing the Amish quilts...

(I think it was a guest on "sewing with Nancy")
The Amish use plain and not printed fabrics...

with beautiful colors -just no yellows.

but then they use a color not used anywhere else in their quilts

as the first border surrounding the squares.

So I am playing with that idea in my head.

What if I did something like that,

and used maybe a purple or red.

Well,

the wedding was in July...

I am behind on the quilt already.

I am going over to California in October.

and plan to have this done so I can give it to them then.

LOL

I think I'll get the blocks done, and sewn together...

then I can audition some of the different color choices

for the borders.

I will try to remember to post them to show the thought

process I went through for the finished project
Hopefully my next blog in September will have that

as a finished project.

I also have planned to do when I get back to Idaho...

1. the neighbors quilt -she'd asked if I could finish it up for her,

that just involves puting the borders on

-it had been a mystery quilt class she'd signed up for.

2. finish the wedding project I mentioned above.

3. the autumn/fall block for my wall calendar cover.

whew, I think that's enough...

We shall go from there and see what happens.

I am still working on my travel

applique hand work quilt.

Though I haven't done anything on it this trip.

Thus no updates on the progress of that one.

I am thinking about the "Farmers Wife" quilt I want to do...

(Or was it -Farmer's Daugher?) I'll have to look it up later.

I have begun gathering fabrics for that one

as I go through my stash.

I want to use 30's & 40's reproduction fabrics for that one.

Then my goal is to begin those blocks as a block of the month kind of thing.

Doing at least one maybe two blocks per month.

I will be blogging about that when I get that going.

I think I am aiming to start it with the new year 2012...

and finish it out by the end of the year.

It will be my new years resolution for 2012.

Plus I need to finish out the seasons of my Calender cover

with a winter block...

I have fabric set aside for another quilt

with a pattern called "Pushing up plaidsies"

I have a few other tops to finish and get quilted.

I have been knitting hats...

I didn't have any photo's to publish here

which is why I'm only mentioning the knitting.

LOL

I will never run out of things to do.

Don't 'cha love the quilting crafty life.

summer stuff

What can I say?

It's been summer...

most likely for everyone and not just me.

Anyhow,

I have been up here at my house in Nelson, British Columbia for all of August.

Where we've participated in a family reunion-

(My husband's family)

and

We have spent a lot of time out doors...

(In case someone doesn't know,

Nelson is located on Kootenay lake in the Selkirk Mountains.)

Our house does not have lake access,

It would have cost 3 times as much to have bought a place on the lake,

But... we can see it through the neighbors accross the street who do have lake access.

And the neighbors accross the street are relatives,

so we can access the lake there anytime we want.

They kind of like us, LOL.

The first photo at the top is of the lake from Uncle Marv's house,

across the street from us.

The dock and boat actually belong to his neighbor.

The second photo at the top is the the River Trail near Kaslo...

which is located up near the top of the Kootenay lake.

Kootenay lake is long and narrow,
sort of north and south...
with a west arm (like a sideways T)
And Nelson is inland on the
west arm.
We live about halfway between town
and the main part of the lake.

I have also been busy with the 2 dogs I have here with me...
They've been members of our family for a long time.
Joneser is my son's dog and he's 16 years old,
Nikita (Niki) is my dog and she is 15 years old.
They came up here with me on this trip only because
there was no one to watch them back home.
They've been with our family since they were puppies.
Now they've both reached an age where they are having a lot of problems
and will probably not be with us very much longer.

Basically we are waiting for our daughter to return home
from her mission for the LDS church in September,
and let everyone have a chance to say goodbye to them.
It is a time of saying goodbye to them for myself.
And they've always loved it up here in Canada.
They've been here for summers since we bought the house in 2000.
I must say that this place will not be the same
when I come back without one of them.
They have been good companions and friends.
I will miss them both.

thrift store find

First of all, an update on my travel work...
I did get square one totally done,
Having embroidered the black of the eye.

I have also completed square two...
and begun square three.

Both from the "My whimsical Garden"
Piece-O-Cake designs...

They are supposed to be pretty scrappy looking

when completed...
not all matchy-matchy in the prints...

At home my stack of things to do has been
piling up....
I have a bunch of things from my sister-in-law

shirts and pants to hem up...

It's what I get for letting the family know I can sew...

Ha ha ha ha ha...

I really don't mind most of the time...

I also accepted a request from my next door neighbor

to help her with a quilt she doesn't want to look at anymore...

She started taking some quilting classes...

I've helped her with a few of her questions before.

But she signed up for a mystery quilt class...

and she got most of the top done,

but not the borders...

She likes doing the hand quilting not the piecing.

She has requested that I help her finish the top...

And she will do the quilting and maybe the binding.

I also took the room apart again to get a bed set up for my daughter...

She's been serving a mission for the LDS church,

and will be returning in September...

too late to return to university

so she'll be staying here until January when the next semester

starts.

now,

as the tittle indicated

I have been to the thrift store...

actually I go quite often.

you never know what you'll find there.

but

recently I found a quilt top

that I just had to rescue and bring home...

it's approx. 62" square.

and some of the fabrics I think I actually have

in my stash...

Mostly from the 80's and 90's...

I think someone went to a lot

of trouble to sew a bunch of fabrics together

random shapes and colors...

then cut them out into the diamond shapes,

trimmed the diamond shapes with the red...

I think there may be a little bit of a problem

in the shapes not laying quite flat...

but I think with ironing and a lot of quilting it will be alright.

I'm excited to finish it...

I don't know who to give credit for the top piecing.

but

I feel good about rescuing it.

And

it was only 3$.

sooooooooooooo...

my pile of things to get done seems to be getting larger,

not smaller.

to do-

-hemming

-neighbors quilt

-thrift store quilt

-my travel project (My Whimsical Garden)

plus not mentioned today

-fix that shirt I made

-make a quilt for my nephew's wedding

-several other unfinished quilts

including my own mystery quilt

and I purchased a book a few months ago

which I really want to do...

"The Farmer's Wife"

which I have started gathering fabric for...

I also want to have it scrappy looking.

I have decided that I want to use

those reproduction fabrics

that look like they came from flour sacks

in the 30's and 40's.

I don't think I'll ever be caught up,

with projects...

there'll always be new ones on the back burner.

Musings from Utah

Lots of things on my mind today...
As you can see by the tittle I'm over here in Utah again.
I've been spending my time getting caught up on some podcasts I subscribe to.
Though I have a long way to go...
maybe I subscribe to too many?
Nawwwwwww.
I just need to keep still and listen;
it's the one complaint I have with my IPOD,
it will play continously through the song list,
but not the podcasts.
I have to tell it to start them each individually.
So I can't really listen to them while I drive,
can't take the time to change from the finished one to the next.
Apple and ITUNEs listen up...
We need to be able to play the podcsts on a continuous loop.
OK,
enough of that.
I have also discovered through the podcasts,
that I missed a whole lot of stuff going on here in Utah.
Annie Smith was here as were several others from the quilting community...
Oh well.
There is a quilt show going on out here in Eagle Mountain
in conjunction with the pioneer days celebrations going on this week.
I've been meaning to look up on the internet other events
in the Salt Lake City area
as well as here in the Utah county just south of Salt Lake City.
I came down here to spend some time with hubby...
He gave me tickets to the 360 tour with The Fray and U2.
That was a lot of fun.
I must admit that I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll.
Actually more on the rock and roll side.
Loved U2...
The Fray aren't too bad either.

I did finish the first applique block
in my current traveling quilt project.
Actually, I do still need to embroider the center of the eye on the bird.
(pictured below)

It's from the pattern "My Whimsical Quilt Garden" by Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins.
From Piece O' Cake designs.
Not the first quilt pattern I've purchased,
but,
The first one I've actually started working on.
It's the whole road thing.
I did buy it here in Utah. (Broadbent's in Lehi)
While I was at home in Idaho,
I also finished a shirt
(pictured below)
One of the projects I had on my New Years resolution list of unfinished things to do.
I had promised I'd finish 6 things this year.
This now makes 2 items I can check off.
It is from a Butterick Pattern (B5538).
Which was a multi sized pattern,
and was supposed to be easy to adjust to fit.
I did the 3/4 length sleeve for more versatility,
I think it turned out pretty cute.
But...................................................
It has reminded me of why I don't like to do fashion sewing anymore.
Maybe I didn't follow the instructions closely enough,
but the shirt doesn't fit me right.
It will need some altering before I will be comfortable wearing it.
The sleeves are too tight around the upper arms.
and too loose and baggy around the bust under arm area.
I need to take the side seam in and let out the arm seam.
So I won't be able to wear it until those alterations are made.

Anyway,
While I was listening to the podcasts...
Annie Smith (Quilting Stash) in particular.
I was thinking about my own sewing experiences.
I'm referring to podcasts number 200 & 201.
In 200 she talked about her grandmother's and learning to sew,
and in 201 she was talking to Jenny Wilding Cardin (sp?)
about repurposing used things by sewing them into new things.
I don't know if my grandmother's sewed.
I'm sorry that I don't know more about them than I do.
I lived close to one, but not the other.
The one close by did beautiful crochet work,
don't know what the other one did.
I'm going to have to ask my mom about her.
I''ve often been a little bitter about the one who did the crochet work.
I did not ever get anything hand made from her,
there's a wall hanging in her church of "The Last Supper"
that she had crocheted.
My brother's ex-wife somehow got all of her crocheted items from the house
when she passed away.
They have all vanished from the face of the earth.
No one knows where they've gone.
This is what I'm a little upset about.
I would have cherished the items...
Now they're lost to the family.

I learned to sew from my mother,
I remember learning how to make doll clothes.
I also learned from her to keep all of the scraps of fabric from any project
to use someday in a quilt (or doll clothes, ha ha ha)
I did take sewing in school,
I did a lot of fashion sewing for myself as I grew up.
I made my own wedding dress.
Then the kids came along (6 of them)
and I did a lot of sewing for them.
I took a class when the first 2 were babies,
and the instructor showed us how to use old clothing and things
to remake into clothes for the small children.
(Annies podcast #201 -reminded me of that)
I had a lot of fun doing that.
A friend saw some of the things I had made,
and shipped me a big box full of old clothes they didn't use anymore.
Some of the things I sent on to the thrift store
I just couldn't see making clothes for little boys
out of dry clean only stuff.
But other than that I had well dressed boys.

I did make a few quilts when they were babies,
but they were the whole cloth kind that you lay out and tie with yarn.
There came a time several years ago,
can't tell you the exact date...
When sewing wasn't fun anymore.
It wasn't pushing any of my creative buttons.
I found quilting shows on TV,
and quilting magazines in the stores...
I took a quilting class.
And I discovered that I could fill that creative itch in me.
I've been quilting ever since.
One more thing I want to mention here...
From the time I was a small child.
I wanted to be an artist...
I took art classes all through school,
including a few in College...
I came to the conclusion that I would never be any good at art.
I am not good enough nor driven enough to be any good...
But I believe I've found a place in quilting
to pour out all my creativity
and claim the tittle of Artist.
Even if my family and friends are the only ones who ever see it.

Quilted Calendar Holder

Well,
the time just keeps moving on
doesn't it?
I don't know where it all goes.
Sometimes it surprizes me
that so much has passed.
I had not gotten much quilting done for a while,
but recently I was able to finish a couple of things.
I have finished the calendar holder...
whoopee!!
I use a tension rod
to hold it up between two door frames in my kitchen.
the calendar holder has added
a nice quilted touch to the kitchen.
I know that I've mentioned the
plan to have a different square for the 4 seasons.
the first is of course the spring season
with my humingbird square.
Also the inspiration for the entire project.
I have now finished the 2nd season
summer...
I did a lot of thinking about what summer means to me.
I could have done a simple picnic type thing...
you know
the watermellon, the kite flying, the running in the sprinklers.
Any of those would have looked summery.
But my most favorite memories of summers,
were the family camp outs in the mountains.
So I did a simple sketch of a tent in the woods.
You have to have a camp fire in the camp.
My grandson thought I needed to have water nearby
for fishing of course.
My granddaughter thought there should
be snow on the mountain tops.
And
we all thought
(grandson, granddaughter, and me)
that it needed to be night time under the stars.
I found this great tie dyed purple that
I thought looked like snowy mountain peaks in the dark.
the trees close by needed to be a little brighter in the firelight,
as did the front of the tent.
and there needed to be a reflection of the moon
on the calm lake in the background.
I used the same silver thread that I
used for the braces on the girl,
to make the french knot stars in the sky.
They sparkle just a little...
I used the sketch as an idea only,
and free cut the mountains
to fit the dyed purple fabric.
And did the same with the trees
and the flames in the fire.
which was another piece of tie died fabric I found in my scrap box.
The moon was done using a penny,
and a slip stitch drawing the fabric taut around it.
I pressed it well,
then clips the thread to remove the penny.
then I pressed it again.
The penny was a little thick for this proccess
-so it the moon is not exactly round,
that's my excuse
and I'm sticking to it.
I am quite pleased over all with how it turned out.
My granddaughter is already
planning out the next two squares
for autumn and winter.
I decided to sew three buttons across the top
of the calendar holder...
and 3 pieces of ribbon sewn into the binding
across the top of the square to hook over the three buttons.

Everything but quilting in Canada

Sorry to all,

I've been up at my house in Canada.

(The photo by the way- is baker street in Nelson, BC...)

I haven't done any quilting...

I did bring my applique project to work on.

But I've been spending my time

with friends,

and just chilaxing.

I did buy a ball of really yummy yarn

at the local shop here.

("That Craft Store")

The brand is NORO,

from Japan.

It's

50% Wool

30% Angora

20% Silk

color no 73 lot A

It is a multi color yarn

with pinks, greys, blues, & greens.

I only bought one skein because of the cost.

I decided it needed to be a hat.

(I'm going to have to start wearing hats)

I'm actually working out my own pattern.

Not the first one I've tried doing,

I have a pair of slippers I need to finish...

I wanted it to be as little bit slouchy,

but I didn't want it too big.

I have gotten about 1/2 way done with it.

I'll put up my pattern and a photo once it is done.

Also...

I have been wanting some new shirts/tops,

and I just cannot find stuff I like that fits me right.

So

I broke down and bought some patterns

and

I'm doing some fashion sewing.

I have that about 1/2 way done as well.

Again,

I'll post photo and pattern information

when that is done as well.

One of the things I do with friends here in Nelson,

is scrap booking.

They get together on the 3rd thursday of each month

and visit,

scrapbook,

share supplies.

Laugh,

catch up,

eat, etc.

I join them whenever I can be here on the right week.

Right now I'm working on my

scrapbook journal from my 2 years living in Italy.

Soooooooooooooooooo

like I said;

No quilting,

but other craft activities going on here in Canada.

no quilting this week

just thought I'd put in an update on my activities...

of which there haven't really been any.

I caught a cold when I got back from Utah.

Then I had some Church obligations,

and then I had other errands such as

picking up my new eye glasses.

The one fun thing I did do,

was go and watch the pine wood derby.

The local scouting group invited the girl scout group to participate

in the pinewood derby activity this year.

I don't know if they do this every year or not...

My grand-daughter who is a brownie,

got to create a car and race it.

She didn't win any races,

came close a couple of times.

But her car won 3 awards for the design.

She wins prizes quite often for her artistic endeavers.

no quilts this week,

but the pinewood derby was fun.

I included a picture of her here with her car.

Utah trip

Well, in my last blog, I'd said I was on the road again... In Utah to be precise. Since I didn't have much new to write about, I thought I'd talk about our trip into Salt Lake City on Sunday the 27th. My husband and I decided to go in and see the Church History Museum there across from Temple Square in SLC. The Church keeps these types of places open on Sunday's... They consider it to be a type of missionary work. In the museum there was a quilt exhibit.

(I did have permission to take some photo's)

Silly things didn't load up here in the order I'd intended.

They're actually backwards. But oh well.

I'll describe the quilts in the order they are now.

I thought I'd share two of the quilts I found very interesting.

The first one here and the close up

was actually made in an insane assylum.

The doctor thought it would give the patients something to occupy their minds and their time.

The little diamond shapes are only about two inches long and about 1 inch wide. Very small.

The second one and the close up,

is a single large piece of fabric, with clothing labels arranged and sewn down on it.

I thought it was very cool.

An interesting recycling project.

Not only labels from the clothing lines, but also labels including the sizes like Med.

and I think also the care and content of the fabric used in construction.

I don't know where they got the long roll of labeling stuff, but one of the borders is uncut

labels from a clothing line also.

I thought they were both interesting quilts.

I thought the ideas behind them were inovative and fun.

The one from the assylum,

(where I think I belong sometimes)

and the ultimate recycling quilt.

There were many others,

but I thought these were the most unusual.

This coming week,

when I have time...

I plan to finish the calandar wall hanging,

and hopefully I can share that next time.

I have the wall hanging part done.

I need to finish the decorative panel,

and figure out how I'm going to attach it.

I'm thinking buttons on the wall hanging part

with ribons along the top of the decorative block

to fasten it to the buttons.

I also need to finish the quilt from the

mystery quilt day I was able to attend a few weeks ago.

We'll see what the week brings.

this and that

Well,

as I'm out on the road again...
I may seem a bit flittery.

(I think I made up that word.)

I just hope it's not too odd.

I'm over in Utah,

and I did stop in at Broadbent's again.

Over in Lehi,

It's right between the place we stay

(Eagle Mountain- br0-in-laws house)

and my husbands place of employment

located in Lehi -over next door to Alpine.

I'll not name his employer

as I don't want to seem like I'm advertising for them.

I brought my travel project,

I'd pictured it before...

it's the applique project

using the pattern "my whimsical quilt garden"

by Becky Goldsmith & Linda Jenkins

I'm pleased to say that I'm a lot further along now.

I had stopped in at Broadbent's to pick up some fabric for the sashing,

and a few fat quarters to use for the applique's.

It's supposed to be scrappy looking.

Meaning that there are different combinations in each of the applique squares.

That was all I bought.

I am trying to not over buy right now.

I have a new photo of the square I'm working on,

and as the applique spills over into the sashing

I have also added the sashing piece to the one side.

(The photo has been added to the text part of the Blog -at the top of the page)

So you can see the fabric I purchased at Broadbent's.

I am laughing now,

I didn't want to mention my husbands employer...

But I've named the quilt shop several times.

They are not paying me.

I promise.

Anyhow,
The bird (which will be blue) is the part that will spill into the border.
Haven't quite gotten to that yet.

Another thing I thought of this week that I wanted to mention.
Is a quilt I made for a Christmas gift.
The one just past (Dec 2010).
I don't know why I'd forgotten to post a photo of it.

Last summer when I gave my grandson a quilt for his 2nd birthday...
My middle son, asked sort of jokingly
Why he never got a quilt from me.
I'd actually set aside some fabrics to make him one.
His favorite colors are red and black...
I'd purchased a few fabrics...
I'd raided my stash for other fabrics.
I had even started it before he'd asked me that question.
Any how,
Some of the fabrics had Canadian motif's on it.
Fabric's I'd purchased up north.
(We have a home in British Columbia as well as Idaho)
I'm afraid that his brothers-and his dad,
were a bit envious of the final product.
I had not intended the quilt to have a Canadian flair.
It just happened.

My husband is Canadian,
he's here with a permanent residency card.
Our kids are all blessed with dual citizenship.
I am an American with a Canadian residency card.

Anyhow,
his quilt has been added to the left hand photo column.
I will try to keep the works in progress within the text,
and the finished projects in the left hand margins.

Mystery Quilt

Saturday morning, 9am.
March 12
I went to my local quilt shop...
Bluebird Quilt Studio
in Nampa, Idaho.
Packed along my sewing machine,
and a few accessories I thought I might need.
Scissors, thread, that kind of stuff.

I had signed up the week before,
and chosen a colorway for the day...
I picked one that looked bright and cheerful,
one that I would have probably not chosen on my own.
I thought -why not be bold and go for something different.

I set up my machine and got my first clue.
I have to say it was pretty exciting...
I had never done a mystery quilt before.
I enjoyed the company of other excited quilters
also working their way through the clues.

It was arranged for us to have lunch next door
at a Viet Namese restaurant. Ummm, good food.
A chair massuese came
and offered massages at 10$ for 10 minutes.
Some of the women took advantage,
others didn't.

There were 9 clues in all,
and there were 4 different colorways that I could see.
It was pretty neat seeing everyone's projects coming together.
There were quilt fairies to help with pressing,
and unpicking mistakes.

I made the first mistake of the day that needed unpicking.
I somehow managed to get 2 greens stuck together and sewn to the white.
I think my making the first mistake eased the tension in the room.
I even made the anouncement that everyone could relax now that
I had made the first mistake. Ha ha ha ha ha.

At one point some one made the statement that we were not in a race,
we were supposed to be having fun...
I think I said I was pretty sure there must be some sort of race going on.
By the way, I was the first one done with all the clues.
Then we were given the diagram of the quilt top,
and how to put the borders on.
I have the first border on,
but I do have to admit there are two more to put on.
And...
I haven't got them on yet.

The pattern is called "Hopscotch"
by Rita Fishel *Mystery Quilts.

There was a drawing for some door prizes,
and I got the first one,
it was a tote bag.
I think I heard one woman say something
about it not being fair because I had been the first one done.
I think I said something like...
see, I told you it was a race.
It was all in fun of course.
We were all laughing.

And,
the shop owner told us if we signed up for the next one...
which I think it will be in September,
that we could choose our own colorway
out of any fabric in the shop.
I think everyone there (including myself)
signed up for the next Mystery Quilt challenge.

I stopped on the way out to buy 2/3 yard of the green
used in my mystery quilt, the amount called for -for binding it.
so I would have it when I got that far.
The quilt is twin sized and
I am quite pleased with it.
Not sure exactly what I will do with the finished product.
But I have some ideas I can't really share right now.
(I have a few quilts promised to a few people,
and it might work as one of those.)

Fun day, I would definately do a mystery quilt again.

Hummingbird Haven quilt block

Several weeks ago,
I can't tell you the exact date...
I purchased the magazine;
"Quilter's 100 Blocks from Today's top designers" collector's edition vol. 2

On page 8,
there is a show and tell section...
from blocks in the vol. 1 edition of the same magazine.
I really liked the Calendar holder,
and want to make one.
My plan is to make the decorative block part interchangeable
for the seasons... maybe eventually include the holidays/ monthly?

Meanwhile,
I decided to do the challenge from the podcast
"Quilting for the Rest of Us" by Sandra Hasenauer...
It was to use things from our stash,
and be inspired by springtime.
So I chose to do the block on page 30.
Block #117 "Hummingbird Haven"
by Cathy Van Bruggen -Cathy Van Bruggen Designs.
Which I plan to use as my first decorative block on my calendar holder.
I love little touches of whimsy,
and the spiderweb and spider made me smile
when I first saw the block.
When I am doing things for myself,
they need to make me smile -or why do them.

I still need to get it quilted and the binding done.
I still need to make the calendar holder.
But I did finish the applique block-
I changed a few things on mine from the original.
Didn't do as many details in the embroidery work...
and I chose to go with a blue hummingbird rather than a green one.
Overall, I'm pleased with the finished block...
(Picture included to the left...)
The background was leftover from the "Mouse House" background,
The appligue pieces all came from my scrap box...
I have left over batting from another quilt project,
that I'd saved for these type of smaller projects.
Now,
I need to go through my stash
and find a piece for the backing...
and something to make the calendar holder.
(My goal for this coming week.)

This week,
I've also heard from my daughter
who is serving a mission for the LDS Church
in St. Louis, Missouri.
She's decided she needs to make quilts
for a couple of the people she's become friends with there.
Which means a bunch of my time in assistance,
and... I'm happy to help her out.
She knows how to sew,
she has her own machine...
But she always gets discouraged when things get difficult
and wants me to finish off what she started.
I don't mind helping her out...
I don't know when she'll quit asking me
so I'll help out as long as she'll let me.
She's always had a giving heart,
and loves to do things for others.
I am pleased to encourage this nature.

Till later.

podcasts and quilting

I haven't gotten much done quilty
while I've been here in Utah.
I brought stuff to work on
I talked about in the last podcast,
but haven't actually gotten to it.
I did finish stitching down the little leaves,
and cut out a brown branch to go with the leaves...
I didn't have brown thread with me.
I thought I'd stop somewhere and pick some up,
but I kept forgetting when I was out and about.
So,
Since I'm going back to Idaho tomorrow,
and I have brown thread at home,
it seems pointless to go and buy it now.

So I thought I talk about podcasts.
I love podcasts,
and I have about 30 that I listen to regularly.
I'll have to get the others down sometime.
But for now,
here are the quilt related podcasts that I follow
with a few comments about some of them.
I have them listed in alphabetical order,
'cause that's how they're listed on my ITunes page.
No other reason at all.

Annie Smith: Quilting Stash
this is actually the first quilt podcast I discovered, she is the one who told me about (in
her podcasts) Broadbent's in Lehi, Utah.

Jackie's Quilting Chronicles
-Jackie Kunkel

The Off Kilter Quilt
-Frances

Pioneer Quilter -Kelley
her husband interupts most podcasts with some odd remarks and trivia, I think it's fun
and makes me feel more like I'm listening to an old friend

Quilt Cababna Corner
Sandi Cowell

Quilted Cupcake
Jean (Gene?)

The Quilter's notebook
I've only been able to download 3 episodes, I don't know if there are any more, I think I
heard about this one from another podcast, but don't know which one it was (sorry.) It's a
great description of how she organizes herself, her home, & quilt stuff. If anyone's
interested in that type of thing.

Quilting For The Rest Of Us
Sandy Hasenauer, who claims she's not an expert. Love it!

Sew-Stitch-Create
Brye Lynn

Stash Resolution
Sarah

Within a Quarter Inch
Allison Rosen

then there's one vidcast I subscribe to
(I think they take up too much space,
and I can't listen to it while I'm doiong other things...
You have to sit and watch a vidcast.
But I have learned so much from this one
that I don't miss an episode.
(I do delete most of them after I've watched
and just kept the one's that have something I really want to try.)

Bonnie's Creative Quilting
Bonnie McCaffrey (SP?)

The reason I like most of them,
is that they sit and chit chat about what they are doing,
and about their families and friends...
about sewing experiences, including mistakes...
I feel like I'm listening to a friend talking to me.

They motivate me want to go and get to work,
so I have something to talk about also
(I choose to blog rather than podcast).
They motivate and challenge me to try new techniques...
to finish things I'd put aside,
to gift handmade things,
and more.
Sooooooooooooo,
that's it for this post.
I'll update on new podcast's as they come along...
I also listen to a few on knitting,
and several LDS podcast's.
but I think that's for another time.

Utah

Don't really have much quilty stuff today. But I'm writting anyway. I promised myself I'd post at least once a week.

I'm over in Utah for a bit, I did bring a new applique project to work on while away from home. I found those projects travel the best while I'm on the road. And I actually sew on them. I've tried hand piecing, but I just dont have the patience for that type of work. I know I have a machine to do that type of thing quicker. The pattern I am using (yes, this one is an actual pattern and not one that I add as I go until I think it's done, like the "mouse house") is one I had purchased here in Lehi. There's a great quilt shop here called Broadbent's. I had actually heard about it on an early podcast by Annie Smith. "Annie's Quilting Stash." It was the first podcast I found about quilting. She mentioned the shop, and I was here in the area so had to look it up. It has become one of my favorite stops here in Lehi, Utah. I try to stop in there every visit I make to Utah. It's in an old store down town, and has been family owned continuously for many many years. They have fabric and things for quilting, as well as some clothing for sale and in the back there is a gift/candy shop. Fun fun fun place to stop in at.

The pattern is called "My Whimsical Quilt Garden" and it's from C & T publishing, by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins at Piece O' Cake designs. It's bright and fun, with flowers and birds.
Don't know how long it will take me to get the actual quilt done, because I purchased it to be my travel work. So I haven't been working on it at home. I want to say I purchased it last time I was here at Thanksgiving, but I'm thinking it was the trip before that.

Meanwhile, on this trip I needed to go over to Provo, to take care of some business for my daughter. She's been a student at BYU-Provo, and is currently away serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-saints. She had filed a leave of absence to do so from the university. Anyhow, I needed to go in and extend that leave, because she's not geting back in time to get registered (sp?), find housing, and so forth. And, I should admit that I'm glad to have her to myself for a little while before she goes back to school.
But I divert here, I wanted to mention a little store in Provo that I finally was able to find and visit. I've probably spelled it wrong, but it's called "Hindselman's." It's a yarn/gift shop. Been there since 1907 -I think was the date on the sign. Another continuously owned family shop. It is on Center street in the historic down town area. A delightful little shop with the most helpful bunch of employees. Willing to go the extra mile to help out with your projects.

I just have to share this little story, that I overheard/saw while browsing the shop. (I like to watch people) There was a young couple in there, the wife obviously pregnant. They had brought in a couple of knitted projects, a pink baby blanket and a pink baby bonnet, to get help in finishing off the ends and sewing up the hat. Darling -well made items for a beginning knitter- from what I could see. What caught my attention though, was the person getting help in the finishing, was the young husband- he was the knitter. Isn't that just the sweetest thing.

I have a tiny little doll quilt stashed away somewhere, that I've had for most all of my life. It's about 10"x14." It is falling apart, which is why I have it put away for safe keeping. I just wish I knew where it was put away at. LOL. I hadn't known until a few years ago, that it had been made by my dad and not my mom. She had made a doll for me for a Christmas present, don't know -they didn't say- if it was my first Christmas or a second, etc. but I suspect it was my first. The little quilt is a simple pattern with rectangles about 1"x2" finished. All hand sewn. I can picture my dad sewing it at night, while listening to the radio. He's not done much other sewing, other than the odd button, or patch on His or my brother's scouting uniforms. The doll is long gone but I've managed to save the little quilt. I wish I'd been more respectful of it, and had realized what a treasure it really is. I thought of that dad knitting those items for his new baby girl, and remembered my own dad's work for me. I think I'm going to end here, I've gotten a little teary eyed thinking about my dad.

I guess I was wrong about not having much quilty stuff to say.

photo inspiration quilt

Soooooo,
I finished lesson #3 in the art quilt workbook.
I have the authors names in the previous blog -so I'm referring to that one if anyone needs it for reference.
We were to use a photo for inspiration.
The book had used a photo of a boy,
and for some reason I thought I had to use a photo of a person.
I stressed over this for a long time.
I've never been able to draw people.
Even though we were told we could enlarge the picture and trace over it with tracing paper, it still stressed me out. I think it's a mental block I have. LOL.
(When I say LOL, I really am laughing here at my lap top.)
I finally decided to use one of my daughter at age 14.
Got the picture all drawn out for making the applique pattern;
and read through the lesson one more time before cutting out fabrics and such.
Why is it that this time I notice that I could have used any photo for inspiration, and that the photo of the boy was just an example? I could have saved myself a whole bunch of stress.
But, since I had this one ready to go, I went ahead and used it.
I am actually pleasantly surprized at how well it turned out.
My husband recognized our daughter and knew the specific photo, when I showed him the finished little quilt.
But I do have to say, that I am dissapointed at one thing that I hadn't thought of while planning out the pattern and fabrics for this little quilt.
A lesson learned the hard way so to speak.
That is - the shadowing of the underlaying fabrics through the lighter top layers of fabrics.
So I need to figure out now, how to avoid that in the future. I think there was a little paragraph about that in the lesson that I overlooked. I most likely thought,"Oh I won't worry about that, a little shadowing won't bother me..." I was wrong, it does bother me.
During this time, my daughter had wanted to dye her hair a really dark maroon. I actually did it for her at home using a temporary style coloring -one that washes out over time. I figured it was better than other things she might want to experiment with, and hair does grow out, and the temporary dye washes out. It wasn't a battle worth taking up, and fighting over. I do know that this attitude of mine surprized a lot of people. But once again, it wasn't something I thought was worth causing a rift in our relationship. Also, I am not a hair stylist or anything, but on doing the hair coloring with her I could have some control over the kind to use (temporary -wash out type). When I found that piece of fabric, it very much looked like her curly red hair... I was happy with that choice of fabric.
I've included the inspiration photo, as well as the photo of the little quilt.
Just one last little side note, I couldn't resist buying some silver thread and embroidering braces to complete the little quilt. Details like that really add a lot of fun. I think I was giggling the whole 10-15 minutes it took me to do the little bit of embroidery.

Woo Hoo,
I finished the "Mouse House" wall hanging.
I started calling it "mouse house" while working on it,
and I think the name will stick.
I have several people who want it -the wall hanging.
But I had intended it for myself. So I'm at a loss here.
I may decide to give it up later.

OK, so here's how it came to be.
I'd been looking at my quilting magazine's,
and there was a photo from a quilt show -of a beautiful
woodsy quilt with lots of details including a mushroom on a decaying log.
I'm pretty sure it was an Ausralian Quilting magazine...
(I am trying to be better now about these things-noting where they came from)
I am not that type of natural -realistic- artist; I'm simpler, more cartoonish.
(did you notice, I owned up to being an artist- big step for me.)
It reminded me of my youth, when I used to doodle,
and one of the things I used to routinely doodle was the little mushroom house.

I was away from home, and bored, so I went to a fabric store and picked up
a few pieces of fabric... just small pieces, and started by appliqueing the mushroom house.
Then, it need more things, so I just kept adding until I thought it was enough.
First came the blades of grass and the first poppy on the right hand side of the house.
Then I just had to add the clothesline with some clothes hanging. It's a piece of string, and I picked up some real miniature clothespins at a little craft store. I didn't like how the whole clothespins looked, so I took them apart, and used the groves to stitch them down. I liked the half clothepins better. Then I needed an occupant for the house, so the mouse came to be.
Then I thought the left side of the house needed more, so I added more grass, and a couple more flowers. When I thought there was enough, I added embroidery, and a couple of beeds. I am quite pleased with the look; but I don't know if I could ever replicate it. Also, because it was a piece I worked on while away from home, it kept getting put aside and it took me about a year and a half to finish it.

I've posted a photo of it here. Along with photo's of the projects from the "Art Quilt Workbook" that I have completed. Project #1 is the goldfish... lesson #1 wanted us to pick a theme, and for some reason, the theme I chose to work on is water... lesson #2 (I could be wrong on the lesson numbers -I should probably call them project numbers) project #2 is shading, lights and darks, and using a pattern from the book we were to do a pear. If any one else is familiar with the book and projects, you might notice that I forgot to reverse everything, so my pear and shadow is backwards from the book's. Oh Well, it doesn't look wrong unless you put it next to the book. And then of course, I can't leave anything alone, so I used some iron on appliqued butterflies. I just hope they don't look too much like fruit flies.

The next project is to use a photograph for inspiration and make our own pattern with lights and darks. The book used a photo of a person, and for some reason I thought I had to use a person, on looking back and reading the lesson material again I could have used any photo that inspired me. I do have the photo selected, and the pattern ready to go. I need to gather the appropriate fabrics to do the project. (I did use a photo of my daughter -when she was about 14). I hope she won't be too mad at me when she see's the final product. I'll post it here when I finally get it put together.

FYI; The mouse house is 18" high by 28" wide. and the projects from the "Art Quilt Workbook" are both 9" wide by 12" long.

time really flies

Wow,
I'm astounded at how long it's been since I last posted.
Oh well.
I have a few new goals for the year.
they are as follows...
1) Clean and organize my sewing room
-so I can actually sew in it.
2) finish 6 things I'd started before this year
-quilting, sewing, knitting, etc.
3) participate in a challenge -from the pod cast "Quilting for the rest of us"
-involves using fabrics from the stash.
4) work on the "Art Quilts Workbook"
-by Jane Davila & Elin Waterston

I have a few other goals for the year,
that involve healthier living.

I choose 1 thing and work on it until I feel I have it mastered,

and then I will choose another thing.

The first thing I chose to work on is Soda.

I am trying to no longer drink Soda.

I have to admit that since I've set that goal,

I have drank 3 soda's (not all at once)

and so I feel I'm still working on that one.

Meanwhile,

I was tossing out a magazine...

and my grandson found a picture of a pillow in it

that he wanted me to make as a gift for his sister.

It was "First for women" 2/8/2010

I have a photo of the finished pillow if I can remember how to post it.

I have also been working on finishing a wall hanging

I'd begun nearly 2 years ago.

It's an applique project I'm calling "mouse house" for now.

I'm in the quilting stage -doing hand quilting for a change.

Then of course will finish it off with the binding.

So- thus far this year,

I've made that pillow -a new project using mostly stash fabrics.

I'm getting close to finishing that wall hanging -a project I'd started before this year.

I'll post that one and talk about it when I've got it done.