Happy Memorial Day

Take time this weekend to remember and honor all the men and women serving our country here and abroad. As we honor and remember those that have gone before us, take time this weekend as I do each day to thank them and pray for their safe return. Bless them and their families while we all enjoy the freedoms they protect.

Dear Hannah

these are a few of my Dear Hannah blocks I have all the applique blocks done, and decided not to do the pieced blocks, I even have the fabric for setting them, I might set them with an alternate block like courthouse steps, still thinking about that........now just to find the time!
I used lots of hand dyed fabrics and batiks, I think the black really sets them off, the setting fabric is a blue green batik I think it will be so pretty. I think I have all the blocks I made in my webshots
gotta get stitching so many projects to work on
sew till later

Calico Garden

I fell in love with this quilt after seeing it at the Shelborne Museum, so I got the pattern and really got going, but them for some reason I put it away. Calico Garden is such a delightful quilt so I decided to drag it out and get a few blocks prepped so I have some small carry along blocks. These blocks are so tiny they will finish at 3"

I do tend to like these tiny treasures, I also have a Dear Hannah and a Dear Jane in progress

sew till later

Happy Anniversary May 24th

Have you cake and eat it too!

Well I sure don't know where 38 years went!! but Happy anniversary to us!!

Look how young and innocent we were??? What did I know at such a tender age!

I really was a child bride by todays standards.

This year he didn't just send me roses he planted me a rose garden.

I remember those funny little machines that the fabric went thru to be measured, they used to fasinate me. I always loved going to the fabric store, some things never change, I can still see that shop and what a wonderful selection of fabrics they had, I also remember going into NYC for the speciality fabrics, stores no bigger than a shoebox with just buttons from floor to ceiling and the bead and lace shops, I get to go back occasionally when I visit back home.

Back to Endless chain, I hand pieced the quilt, it was a carry along project for several years, then I decided it had to end!

Endless chain is by Barbara Brandeburg, "Fancy things cabbage rose"

Sew till later

mini quilt and endless chain

This mini was the pattern in the little tin Sanctuary line by Moda

the quilt is backed by wool and I used some vintage buttons for the tacking

easy LOL Hand blanket stitched the outer edge and the melons were hand appliqued down.

It feels great to have something finished and looks great on my coffee table, and is perfect with

my Endless chain lap quilt I made a few years ago, scrappy and the backing is

from a piece of fabric that I found in the cedar chest when I was cleaning out my

mother's house. My sister and I had dresses out of that, mom used to buy fabric by the

bolt, do any of you remember when cotton was only 36" wide? seems to me that

the manufactors are heading back in that direction?

Need get back to sewing

sew till later

Vintage valentine

Block 4 of Vintage Valentine, I finally finished my April block.
I will cut out May's block today, and work on a new summer purse,
I also have Moda's Sancutary tin that looks like fun.
I have been spending so much time working in the yard that my
quilting has taken a back seat, but that all changes today!!
The weather has been really wonderful, so I hope to sit outside this afternoon
and do some stitching and relaxing in my secret garden.
Sew till later

gardening

Oh MY Can you see those metal Palm trees??

we call that house "hooter's" good thing I can't really see it from my house, think I need to plant another tree.
Front 2 tier basket, can you see my old garden shoes??
the bird and butterfly garden is coming along

The view from my inside my secret garden

Little Brown Bird

Some of you wanted to see more close ups of the blocks.

These are the 1st 4 blocks I made, I did end up redoing a few, but this was a learning experience, so I didn't redo any till they were all done.

The fancy fruit basket was the last block, before doing the borders that took me almost a year of on and off sewing

Little Brown Bird

I started Little Brown Bird in 2000, I finished it in Jan. of 2007, when I started this quilt I knew practically nothing about applique, but I fell in love with this quilt the pattern is by Margaret Docherty, I had the honor of meeting her in Paducah several years ago.

My favorite block is the rose basket, so much life happy and sad has occured while I worked on this quilt as I was working rose basket over Mothers' day weekend 2001, my mother passed away shortly after that . Mom loved seeing all these beautiful blocks, she wondered if I would ever finish this quilt so Happy mothers' day mom I did it!!

sew till later

quilting

Oh the Kentucky Derby was so exciting!! I did this quilt for a guild challenge this past summer. The pattern ( Slice of summer) was started in a Pat Sloan workshop and has lots of things that KY is famous for.

I named this quilt "Lucky in Kentucky"

quilts and gardens

My secret Garden, and the quilt I designed of my dream secret garden. The quilt has a poem that my grandfather used to recite to me when we had tea parties in the backyard

"In the in the dell, in our garden the dolls and I take tea, and days when I have raisins the catbirds dine with me"

These photos were taken last June, I think there are so many things that quilts and gardens have in common. The quilt was made in 2002 for state guild challenge, Pot Luck" I won viewers choice and it is one of my favorite wallhangings.

All the same design options/decisions go into planning a quilt as you would a garden. One is on a bed, the other is a bed, both use texture, color, shape, and size to create the design. I just wish the garden didn't keep tossing weeds into the mix! and then the volunteers that pop up where they were not planted!!

I have fields behind my home and keeping the weeds at bay has been a challenge, I really love a wild looking border, which attracts so many wonderful birds and butterflys, but controling it is a big job. I have spent the last 10 days trying to tame the wild, for my efforts I now have a nasty case of poison ivy!

I love to sit back in my private little garden and sew or read, great place to relax and enjoy a bit of quiet.

sew till later