Times are a-changing...flowers in the snow

With the time change here in Ohio this weekend,
there comes to me, not just a 'spring forward' on the clock,
but a change in perspective, too...

Whilst there is still snow covering the landscape,
drifted high against the wrought iron fence that is my rose trellis,
I feel that there is the warmth of Spring coming:

Snow drops, a rambling rose (or three), daffodils and tulips,
fruit ready to bloom and birds ready to chirp...
all kinds of signs of the Spring-to-come in the melting snow:

Winter IS slowly melting away, and though I don't have the hanging-sleeve stitched down to the backing, I feel that I've a finish for the coming season.

 Even the local wildlife came to inspect,

when they saw flowers in the snowy garden:

Our Flower Garden: a Hot Pad Quilt

The backing fabric was the main inspiration for my design...

 isn't it gorgeous??

I just fell in love with the 
faded pink and coral colors of the large floral print, 
which then made me think 

I NEEDED TO MAKE A QUILT FOR. THIS. FABRIC. !!

So, with the fabric of Rouenneries by French General in my mind,
for my own pattern design, 
I took inspiration from both
the blocks of an 1850's New York album quilt,
and the block setting style of Sally Post in her 1854 New York quilt
(Sally Post quilt pattern available from Gay of Sentimental Stitches) .
I came up with my own garden of faded, pink flowers, 
finished in the Hot Pad method used in Civil War times, 
and it all started because of that WONDERFUL French General floral!!

I designed the four-part pattern (of three blocks each) for this quilt
for a beginner's four-month quilting class,
The first two classes were methods of applique,
followed by accurate piecing techniques, and finally
with the finishing method in the Civil War Hot Pad method 
(The Hot Pad method is finishing each block individually, 
including binding, then whip-stitching the finished little quilts together).
The gals in the class were so taken with 
the finished little quilts of the Hot Pad method,
that I designed a fifth, bonus pattern (of four blocks) 
so they'd end with 16 blocks.
Each block measures about 14 inches,
so this sixteen block finish is 56 inches square.  
I designed it so that if the student wanted to make a queen quilt, 
they could make each block of the pattern
(in different colorways) twice plus 4 blocks, to end with a 96-inch finish
(or make the pattern three times, plus one block,  and end with a king-sized, 112-inch quilt).

If feels good to have the last of the stitches 
in this quilt as the time changes.
Springing forward, 
flowers in the snow!

Thanks for visiting, and
Happy Stitching!!

pink flowers and paper snow

My thanks to all who "voted"  with positive comments

on my PINK flower garden fabric choices
from my last post.

As I look back on it, it is definitely very Spring-y looking, isn't it?!
This pink applique project is really screaming pink!

Since I lean more toward jewel tones and autumn colors

(in quilting and clothing),

the pink-ness was making me doubt

choosing and purchasing these light-colored fabrics.

Anyway, the last couple of days,
I've let my fingers do the stitching and

here's my first *finished block:

of "My Sally Post Garden".

AND here's the back view:

(Aren't those floral fabrics gorgeous?)

*Finished block, as in I've decided
to make this quilt in the Hot Pad or Pot Holder Method!

First, needle-turn applique for the flowers.
Then machine-pieced and sashed around the applique center.
Layered, hand-quilted, and then bound...
FINISHED!!  One block down, and only 35 more to go!

And, I still love the large, floral fabrics and the pink!-ness!
(French General - Rouenneries fabrics)

Oh, and there's still snow around here:

Paper snow flakes inside

and heavy snow flurries outside!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

ps - for more information on Hot Pad or Pot Holder Quilts
I have info at this post or this post on Sanitary Commission/Civil War quilts.
Barbara Brackman also has a recent blog write-up here about Don Beld's
Civil War Quilts from his book of the same name.

gardening in the snow

All the snow we had accumulated the last two weeks has melted, 
but there's a little more snow blowing in today,
so I'm stitching away...

working on My Sally Post Garden...

Very Spring-y looking, don't you think?,

what with the snow a-blowin' around outside:
The stitching is going pretty well.
Pictured above are my January applique blocks...
(I'm trying to meet my goal of three blocks a month)
and below,

I've laid them out on some gorgeous fabric

to audition

the setting, sashing and cornerstone fabrics,

along with my backing choice:

What do you think?

The floral cream on pink would be setting triangles, 

(French General - Rouenneries, the newest line),

the lighter pink would be sashing 

(a little check by Buggy Barn Basics),

the green would be cornerstones

(it's an Itsy Bits by Andover),

 and the larger, floral on cream for the backing

(also from the Rouenneries line).

 

I'm doing the floral applique using some of

the Rouenneries fabric line,

and when I saw the large florals?  

I fell in LOVE!!!...

Happy Valentine's week all over again!,

with pink and cream floral fabric! 

 

This whole P-I-N-K , Spring-y look 

is NOT my usual colorway, but I'm liking it :).

 

 Because the pink, Spring-y thing

is not my usual,

I'd appreciate

any thoughts on my fabric choices...

 

Hope your weekend is wonderful,

and you get to do a little stitching too!



I'm going back to gardening in the snow:) 

I still have issues aka: vacation pt.2

After a very nice week plus of vacation
I found all of this in the back of my vehicle:

Yep, that's my haul from vacation.

Top to bottom, left to right:

Row 1:  a couple of out of print magazines, a Blue Hill/Sara Morgan fabric, some fruit/canning jar fabric, a chunk of fleece for a friend, and a fat quarter stack of the original French General
Row 2:  a Hoopla pattern/Monroe quilt, some older Rothermel fabrics, and a chunk for an eye spy.
Row 3:  Tidings of Great Joy and Peanuts Christmas, both by Quilting Treasures.

And there's more, but that's enough textile overload for today...

See? I have issues.

conundrum

The puzzle.  The mystery.  The riddle.  The problem.  Conundrum.....
I am not a worrier.  I don't stew over things, usually.  I think I must be just the right amount "naive".  I just don't let "things" bother me. 
So......many tasks probably should come first, but if they don't, the world won't stop spinning. 
Examples:  laundry & dishes & dusting & vacuuming, you know, fun stuff. 
I will tell you in confidence...I did not dust this week.  Nor did I dust last week.  Not even the week before I think.  And cobwebs?  They are around.  Yeah,  if it's a really big cobweb I'll take it down instead of walking through it.  I figure, if it really bothers someone else, I can show them where the duster is! 

I think, from personal experience, that life is too short to be all about worries and making sure things are spotless.
Now, I don't don't want to give the wrong impression.  I am not living in a pig sty.  I always almost always know where things are.  There are socks to wear, and spoons for soup, and I love to cook, so most of the time the shelves in the fridge are full. 
After all of that:  MY CONUNDRUM?
Which quilting project to start/finish first in no particular order: 
A:  I signed up for the "Snowball quilt challenge" (thanks Nicole!) ( http://sisterschoice.typepad.com/sisters_choice_quilts/ ) so fabric washed, pressed, cut and ready to send on to fellow swappers & start making my snowballs.
B:  I have the new line of Rouenneries/French General fabric in my sweaty little paws. I swear it's callin':  "Start me, start me!"
C:  13 quilt tops awaiting my hand-guided meandering -I am keeping close to the two week turn-around :)
D:  "Crazy Christmas" (by Lynette Anderson) quilt applique and piecing
E:  LQS shop sample: Ring in the New" (by Kathy Schmitz)" for sit & stitch this Thursday p.m. (which I am leading)

There, that's not really too many, is it?  I am, of course, leaving off many things that could be on that list, but, hey, not important.
 So.....do you recognize this?

I washed up some fabric. These are color catchers. See all the color caught? Lots of red fabrics!

Then, see the the stuff in the next picture?

These are special  packages for special people.  Ready to stuff into envelopes and drop in the mail tomorrow a.m.

See the note listed above as item A?  Yep, you're right...fabric packages all ready for my exchange group for the snowball quilt challenge!  Here they come: Katy, Julie, Jennifer, Kathy, Christine, & Esther!

Then comes the picture on the right:

EXCITEMENT!!!  These came in the mail today!!!

I received my first two packages from my Snowball Quilt Challenge and fabric exchange!!!  Thanks Kathy and Christine!!! 

I am going to try going to keep them unopened until I receive the packages from all six of my peeps!  Really, I can.  It will be like Christmas if when I save them and open them all at once!!!

Then On To "Item C" on the above list:

This is Mary H's - a Jo Morton pattern.  See the pic on the right, yes, that is cross-hatch stitching every 5/8 inch. 
And yes, it took a while !!

This one was made by Mary M. for a raffle to raise money for Christmas for People In Need in Delaware, Ohio. 
And on the right, a close-up of the "flame' stitching.

This quilt is Bev C's and is about 60" x 70", I love all the colors in the batiks!  And on the right the close-up of the stitching.

And, finally, another block of the month in scarlet and gray.  Don't know how many of these I have quilted so far this fall, but I think I'm getting pretty good at stitching OSU things in the gray "on point" setting squares .

So, I am working on some of  my conundrums......November has started, daylight savings has come, and, and, oh yeah, I like the word Conundrum!

Life is too short, so stitch a little every day!

1st: Happy Halloween and 2nd: It's Here!!!

1st:

Happy Halloween!

The weather came in rainy and cool in the a.m., but during the day it had dried off and warmed up just a little, so by trick-or-treating time it was a beautiful autumn evening.  (Only 3 little beggars stopped by.) 

 We set up a couple of small awnings, strung up some lights and put a couple of tables underneath.  Looked very fall-ish.  Here's some stuff I took down to the bonfire:

Weenie roasting stuff, hand wipes, chili toppings, cups with ballots for the best chili voting, smores fixin's.  Oh, and Prizes!  Runner-up ladles, and grand-champion Chef hat and chef-looking glasses with wiskers.  (A lot of those professional chefs have facial hair, don't they?)

 The bonfire/chili cook-off/reverse trick-or-treating was a hit! 

Hard decisions on the grand champion chili! 

There was a white chili, a 3 Bean Italian with spinach and a kick, and three, more traditional versions: one with sour cream, one with cheddar cheese and corn chips, and the last with a side of pasta, three beans, chipotle and jalapenos topped with fresh onions and cheddar cheese-this one had an after kick also!  Really, hard to just vote for one, but we did!  The 3 Bean Italian, spinach,kicker won!  Winners below, right:

Had to keep tasting and tasting and tasting though!  

Look at those slow cookers...15 or so of us and we pretty much wiped them out!  Yum!!! Thanks to all who participated in the cook-off.  It was nice to see everyone and visit and the friendly rivalry was a blast.  We will definately do this again!

And 2nd:

It's Here!!!                                     Rouenneries:

  the long awaited line of fabric by French General for Moda.  It arrived in my mail box today.  I think I might have done a little dance roadside at the mailbox when I saw that box had arrived!  I'll have to ask the neighbors later if they saw mailbox dancing!  And they know me well enough to not think I'm really nutso.  Not crazy for mailbox dancing and not even crazy for asking if they saw me mailbox dancing!  O.K., maybe a little, but hey, this is worth it!

I checked around all the local quilt shops AND the not so local quilt shops and no one had ordered the line, so I ordered from http://www.quilt-this.com/ .  It's a great on-line store.  They get the complete lines of fabrics and the customer service is extraordinary.  Shipped within 24 hours, plastic bagged inside the box and had a nice, personalized hand-written note and ink pen as a gift! 

Thanks, Jennifer!

Look, what do you think? 

Doesn't that make you want to dance just a little?

The red print fabric on the right will be the outside border and some of the piecing.  The cream fabric second from the right will be the background for the hand stitchery for all the birds and applique baskets.  The rest will be all the Irish chain piecing. 

And leftovers for my stash!

I am planning on making the "Irish Birds" quilt, pattern by Lynette Anderson. 

I'll post this pic again:

That is Lynette and me standing in front of her origninal "Irish Birds" quilt at the quilt market in Houston last month.  Isn't it just gorgeous?  I can't believe I have so many things lined up to do this week already, when all I want to do is cut into this delicious stack of fabrics!  Patience, patience, patience.  I keep telling myself this.  Maybe I can start with some of the hand embroidery tomorrow night!   Oh, yeah, patience.  I almost forgot!

Thanks for stopping by, hope your Halloween weekend was spooktacularly beautiful!