plastic damage & the bluebird of happiness

A visit to the Good Wives Company,

 just a 40 minute jaunt up the road.

It was a good jaunt...

I did just a little retail therapy...that's my small bag on the right.  Some people did "plastic damage".  There were three more bags not pictured to protect the not-so-innocent...

Plastic damage is not hard to do in this shop!

Anyway,

I found this little project:

I had to make one right away...my own little Bluebird of Happiness...

But I can't leave well enough alone, can I?

I had to go out later and pick these up:  you are seeing this correctly...a whole 12 pack of shakers!!!

Now I will have to make my own FLOCK of Happiness, won't I? 

I don't know why I do this to myself. 

It's not like I needed a new project, let alone 13 new projects. 

But the fabric called for is just scraps. 

And I have scraps. 

And they will make nice gifts, won't they?

The Pattern is "Little Bird Pinkeeps" by Renee Plains. 

The pattern includes this little make-do on a salt shaker, and a chatelaine.  The little wing flips up to reveal a wool scrap to keep your needles.  Just so cute.

Yep, a whole flock!!!  What was I thinking? Spring???  Well, you can never have enough pincushions around, anyway.

I also picked up this kit; I loved the woven stripe and the bold reds in this one.  I don't usually do kits, 'cause for me that's part of the excitement of a project, choosing the fabrics.  Anyway, I started on it right away.  It's adorable, isn't it? 

It is by Blackbird Designs, 

in the book:  "Small Favorites for all Seasons".  I chose to do the "catch"  and flag in wool, not needle-turn as the pattern did.  O.K., I have problems following directions.  Needle-turn, wool, what's the difference?  Not much in my mind.  Still putting fabric on fabric.  And I had this great camp blanket that had this great stripe of blue with just a little stripe of red along side of it that was just calling out to be a "small catch" belly!!!

More on that later.  I also worked on my ongoing retreat project.  I started this a year ago at the guild retreat.  I cut, re-arranged, sewed, cut, and re-arranged fabric all weekend.  At the end of the retreat, everyone held up their accomplishments for the weekend. 

Everyone else was holding up these gi-normous finished tops and completely finished humungo quilts completely quilted.  I held up this: 

Yep, over a 48 hour plus weekend, I had completed this ONE BLOCK.

It is from the book "Certifiably Crazy" by Buggy Barn.

SOOO, back to this past weekend.  I worked and worked on this ongoing project.  I now can say I have this much done:

Twelve whole blocks!!!  and the pineapple tops for another twelve blocks.  The last twelve pineapple bottoms need little green corners.  What an accomplishment.  Wooo Hooo!

What I didn't realize when I started this quilt was that each block is 7 by 20.  I was making it to have a "small quilt" to hang in the front entryway.  Emphasis on the word SMALL!!  I'm not sure I would have done it if I knew that each flippin' pineapple was at least twice life-size!   I guess that's me again, not paying attention to the instructions.

And, I would've/could've probably had them all done, but I had to make a Bluebird!

You know how it is.

road trip and quilts

R O A D   T R I P...

Good Wives Company, just north of Marion, Ohio.

Worth the drive if you are ever in central Ohio.

They were chosen a while back by Better Homes and Garden "Quilt Sampler" as one of the top 10 quilt shops in the country.  Check out these photos and you'll see why! 

Kits and samples, galore!

And our little group did our part in contributing to the small business economy!

Then back to a friend's to quilt, quilt, quilt. 
There were seven of us "quilting in the barn".

A couple of the gals were from Minnesota.  So, if you hear a Minnesotan accent "aout" of me, you know where I picked it up!

Yes, that is a "grinning deer" on the table.  It was always around causing trouble!

In my project I had a block sewn in vertically instead of horizontally, and the "grinning deer" "did it", I'm sure.

Ah, Spring...

I thought I was ready for Spring. 

I even washed some of the throw rugs and hung them out to dry. 

They were still damp that late afternoon,

so I left them out over-night. 

Evidentially,

Spring wasn't quite ready for Spring, though...

as this was the next morning:

Yep, three inches of snow over night!!! 

Surprise!!!  Snow day on March 26th!!

So now the rugs were frozen and snowy...

So I shook them off (well, as well as you can shake a frozen rug),

 and hung them back up. 

And left them out again all day and another night. 

Finally, clean and snow-free and dry.

Then I quilted this for Colleen:

  I like it.

 I like it alot. 

Bet she keeps it for herself, and doesn't give it to me...

I even told her about my frozen, snowy rug problems.

She is a good friend,

but it made not a snow drift of a difference.

Oh, well, I'm still glad that spring is here!

Snow and all.

Hope your week goes well and is snow-free.

quilt lesson - quilt gift

I helped a cousin make her first quilt...
she wanted to make a special gift for a friend's 50th.  It turned out great!, and really fits the friend!  She chose tractors for the backing - another great pick.

I just did loopy meandering for the quilting.  She now has a couple of weeks to put on the black binding on.

work cut out...

New puppy...

bad puppy

bad, bad puppy.

Not my puppy, not my quilt.

Still a bad, bad puppy.

How long do you think this restoration will take me?

spring rabbits

So, I put out a little spring decor...glass candy containers and fake flowers in a cute pot.  But notice in the background???  Outside the back door?

(Yes, I still have my snowflakes up at the window, don't notice that...)

Notice that outside the window it is dreary and rainy and overcast and blah.  Just blah.  So overcast and blah that the outdoor lighting is on in the garden.  Please notice the birdfeeder.  The birdfeeder that is now hanging precariously.  That would be the raccoon in residence...he has decided that this is HIS back deck.  So, not only does he leave droppings where ever he wishes, he also feeds from the bird feeder until it is empty.  And it must be easier to eat from the ground after he tips the feeder than to stand in the bird bath and wash and eat!  And I thought that raccoons were supposed to be a little hygenic about their food and eating habits.  Enough of the racoon in residence... back to the feeling of spring.  I needed to forget about the resident raccooon and his issues, I needed more spring decor....

I was saying about the spring feeling....

I decided it was time to clean a little (very little) and put out a few pieces that might chase away the gloom.

These "wabbits" are papier mache'.  They are made in Germany by Ino Schaller.  They are reproductions, hand-made using the original antique molds used by the same family years and years ago.  Most of these pieces are candy containers.  And they make me smile.

Look:

can't you tell he is wishing you a good day?

Forget the resident raccoon and the blah, dreary weather.

Think rabbits - smiling rabbits.

Did I mention that some of these candy container rabbits have a deep, dark secret?

A very deep, dark secret.

  A    d - a - r - k    c - h - o - c - o - l - a - t - e   secret.

I knew they were my friends!

Now back to quilting!

spring, spring, spring

I finally feel like I am back in the swing:
spring-swing of things. 
I am blaming the recent time change thingy on my lackidaisical feeling lately...
Don't get me wrong, I am glad that spring has arrived,
but think I am going to miss winter ...
I like all the comfort foods, and wood fires, and hot cocoas and walks in the snow...
Anyway, back to the spring-swing...
The birds have been singing.
The resident racoon is showing himself from under the back deck.
There has been a little sunshine, and
warmer temperatures.  Yea!!!

I have been "swinging" through some quilting.        This one is Sharon's:

Definately, she is thinking spring...don't you love it?











Then, there is another Sharon - this is her first project

for a not yet born grandbaby - and she asked if I could quilt in some elephants.  I still have the water soluble blue marker on at this point.

I had to go look up the "saggy baggy elephant". I thought it was familiar, but couldn't remember.  It is a new "old" story, and very cute.  I didn't know that there was a fabric line.  Aaahhh, nostalgia.

And, finally, here is (another) one by Mary - she is soooo productive that I'm jealous.  This is from the new book "A Bird in Hand" by Renee Plains.  I love this book, too, and now that I've seen this quilt, double love!
Feathers were my choice of quilting on this one:

So, now that I am out of my "funk", whatever the heck it was, I am welcoming Spring- raccoons under the deck and all!

spring has...

Spring,          Sprang,          Sprung,

Sprouted!

Today at 1.32 p.m. spring arrives!!!

Do you have these signs of spring around your place???
We also have crocus blooming and other flowers showing their heads,
But, potatoes???
Are your potatoes sprouting???  :D

And, F-i-n-a-l-l-y,
a project finished and out the door...the wedding gift that went to Florida and immediately moved to the Seattle, Washington area!

This was a pattern from the "40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts" book.  And, bonus, I used up more of my scraps!
I really like the scrapiness of the creams and tans, but there are a few mediums that are a little dark, in my opinion.  But, all is well, I've heard that the recipient would like to keep it!

Happy Spring!

Thankful, St. Patrick's Day greetings

Luck of the Irish.....

I am sooooooo lucky! 

Check out the beautiful birthday violet in a little nest-basket. 

Lucky to receive this gift from a friend a.k.a. co-worker.

She didn't know the story behind me and violets, but intuitively gave me this on a day that I needed it.  (long story-maybe for another time, but involves my father's funeral).

And in the background, a cute, shiny-new, flowery, quilted looking soap dispenser that I really needed for my kitchen (now I can put away the snowman one that sits out all year and that I usually just turn around backwards during all the seasons other than winter!).

That is another lucky, lucky me...I recieved the soap dispenser from a friend/co-worker at the retreat this past weekend - just 'cause...

Then, here's the newest Mary Janes Farm magazine.
  This gift was also for my birthday and was given to me by my friend a.k.a. boss.  I love to peruse this magazine over and over.  And finally,

all of those beautiful flosses...to go with a Crabapple Hill pattern - Snowmen A to Z.  I chose this pattern for my birthday and Sweetie helped me find all of the correct flosses in the mega/fabric/super store (which he HATES to go into, so that tells you the love behind this gift).

Am I not just one of the luckiest people you've happened to come across in blogland? 

Lucky to have recieved all of these wonderful, thoughtful gifts;

Luckier still, to have the best of the best friends!!!

Just so very lucky to have such wonderful people in my life!!!

I'm telling you,

Luck of the Irish!!!

And me, not even Irish!!!

March Ides and weekend past

The term "Ides" comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome.  The Roman calendar organized it's months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

•Kalends (1st day of the month)
•Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
•Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months.
The day known as the Ides originally was set to correspond with the full moon...
(remember this part until later in the post, please).

This past weekend was the local quilt shop retreat weekend.
And I took a couple of pictures...

this was the corner where I was working- that's my candy dish and a commission project closest to the camera.

A generic room shot:
There were many projects finished...
not any of mine  =].
Many laughs,
friendships renewed,
new friendships made,
late nights,
oh yeah...and a full moon.

Wait, what happens at retreat stays at retreat...

Time change + retreat weekend = tired, tired, tired, me.

I second that!

A friend and I were just speaking about the job market and economy not just here in Ohio, but across the entire U.S. 
A couple of nights ago on the national news there were the lastest reports on unemployment and how our county here in Ohio had the lowest/best rating in our state, while neighboring counties had the highest/worst rating.  So we talked about this not just national problem but the local market, too.
And we had decided that we love our jobs!!!  
No T.G.I.F. for us!!! (ThankGoodness It's Friday), but that we look forward to going to work and the people we work with and see, no matter the day of the week.
We GET to work in a quilt shop, touching fabric, rearranging things, planning projects, making kits, stitching to our hearts content, and getting to visit with others who share the same passion. 
This morning when I went through my blog-roll and read the latest entry from Mark at SparkSpace, I was glad to see that he thinks the same thing - not about quilting, but about his job...
Selective dyslexia - not TGIF, but GIFT...
Check out his thoughts on this exact subject. 
I second that!

mostly misspent

I feel a little behind...
behind schedule that is.

Ohioan Ambrose Bierce said:
Day (noun) is a period of twenty-four hours, mostly misspent.

Bierce was a journalist after his distinguished Civil War service.
But he must have felt a little behind at one time or another, to come up with this quote.
And this was before the start of daylight savings time.  Wonder what he would say about this hour of time difference that is coming this weekend.

Anyway, that's me lately... misspending my time...
I take full responsibility....
My sweet daughter introduced me to a facebook game:  Mahjong Dimensions.
She warned me that it is addictive.
It's a three dimensional matching game.
It only takes one minute to play a game.
(Both my daughter and my little sis play.
They are whopping-up on me.
Big-time...by double and triple my score.)
It is only a one minute long game...
Problem?
I have played many one-minute increments.
(Good thing the Olympics were over before I started using my minutes elsewhere).
Besides playing this one minute game almost constantly,
there is this feeling that some things are hanging over my shoulder.

This week I would like to  need to  like to finish, in no particular order:

• a wedding gift that is one year late - wait, it's not late, now it's a wedding/ anniversary gift:...the bride chose neutrals...I wanted to throw in some purples for "punch", but I didn't.  So now I will make myself the same neutral quilt, but will throw in the purple punch.
• a girly baby gift going to North Carolina
• a girly baby gift going to Netherlands
• a boyish baby gift staying here in Ohio - the cute little boy is now one year old
• a girly baby gift going to Texas.
• a nephew toddler gift that somehow got skipped, so it needs to be bigger so he can use it now that he is three (!)
• a boyish baby gift staying here in Ohio - this is a newborn, only weeks old, so I have a chance to get this one done before he turns one.

I have tops made for all of the above (scratch that, I am a girly one short),
they are just waiting on the "quilting lady" to get her act in gear.
Yes, I am that "quilting lady" person, therefore that feeling of being a little behind.

I think it's do-able....
day light savings time, mis-spent time and all.

I wish I could eat more

All
home
made...
Pasta, marinara sauce, anchovy/garlic/oil sauce (which has a very lovely Italian name which I can't remember), meatballs, sausage,  green salads, and a more than wonderful stuffed cheese/garlic bread (above in foil).  Oh, yeah, there was also a baking dish of chicken wrapped with croissant dough, veggie tray with spinach dip, and, blueberry cheese spread with crackers. 
I won't show you the picture of the plate of food that I ate....but it was ridiculous. 
Yes, I had some of everything, and then some.

(My Aunt, the hostess, setting out desserts.)
My Aunt's In-laws are Italian and are both just adorable and love to cook...thus the Italian theme.  Her father-in-law wanted to make a meal like he had as a child back in Italy.

My family, well, we might think we are related to the Amish.
Or any other group of folks that love to cook massive quantities of exquisite food for family gatherings and for no special reason.

Anyway,
'Cause there wasn't enough food already...
Then, there were desserts!!!! Plural!!!
There was a strawberry/angel food dish, chocolate silk pie, chocolate chip cake, Italian cream cake, twinkie cake, and...a chocolate fountain with tons of fresh fruits.

This was my "sample plate" of desserts.  I tried to have small slivers so I could try everything at the dessert table too.  Didn't work...



So,

If you are ever invited to a family gathering with my people?

Come hungry.
And pace yourself.
And bring your hollow leg.

I'm just saying.

And I did quilt this weekend, but after all of this food?  I'll share that later.

thankful heart

I recently recieved a "thank you" in the mail...a thank you for the "Wool Crazy" book give-away... 

Betty from Missouri was the winner and as a thank you for the book - well, she just stitched me a thank you heart.  And doesn't it look like a thankful heart???  She also let me know in the thank you note that she now has a group of nine, I repeat, NINE!, women meeting to work on Wool Crazy!!  If you recall, Betty is a wool rug-hooker, so she said she has the wool scraps already, and she really was excited to win the book as she was going to try to talk her friends into doing the Wool Crazy along with her.  (She must not have had any problem talking friends into doing the project since she already has nine!) 

Look at her stitches in this wool heart...

she will have no problem at all with the stitching, will she?

The best thing about the give-away?  I feel like I won also!

Thanks from the bottom of my heart, Betty,

for the very generous thank you for the Wool Crazy book.

This is going right onto a patch in the first quarter of my Wool Crazy.

I will put Betty's initials and state on the corner of the patch and

will be reminded every time that I see it

of all  of the great people you "meet" in Blog-land".

That sure is a nice way to start the week!

Lookie, lookie, lookie!!!!

Check this out!!!
I had an email note from
Jennifer
last week.
Jennifer of "Quilt-This.com".
She wanted to let me know that
Lumiere de Noel
was going to be available in pre-cuts from Moda.
Lumiere de Noel early release...
Lumiere de Noel for special customers...
And I was a "special customer"!!!
(I told her I felt as if I was a "teacher's pet"!, getting this early warning/offer).

They, Quilt-This.com, only ordered the precuts of Lumiere de Noel to sell to "their mailing list members as an exclusive special event for them".  Isn't that just wonderful?  A special event just for being on a mailing list???

I had asked Jennifer from Quilt-This.com if they were going to get this Christmas line later this year, as I loved the colors. 
I didn't necessarily "love" all of the prints in the line, but I "love, love, love" the colors. 

I figure if you are going to loving chop up all the fabrics into little pieces and loving sew it all back together, the prints that I didn't "love" weren't really going to show up as much as the colors would. 

So, I just HAD to order an "exclusive, special event" pre-cut bundle of fat quarters. 

What with me being the teacher's/shop-owner's pet of Quilt-This.com and all. 

This is my favorite print today...in three different color-ways.

*drooling here, sorry!
This "special pet customer" is off to clean up some slobber, then play with some fabrics!
Happy Friday,
and hope your day is great, too,
slobber and all!