Wrapping Up Summer with a Giveaway!

Does Labor Day weekend mean the end of Summer to you? Time to start thinking about the new school year and all the holidays and activities ahead. Yikes! 2015 isn't that far off and I have a fun giveaway that might help you in the next year {maybe this year too!}

 Martingale just released their 2015 Quilt Calendar! The cool thing about this one is that not only do you get a beautiful calendar, but you get the full patterns for each of the 12 quilts featured!

My Peppermint Float quilt from Simply Modern Christmas is the December quilt...

It's a really pretty quilt and actually very easy to make!

It just so happens that Martingale sent me an extra copy of the calendar and I'd love to send it off to one of you! It's easy to enter - leave a comment and be sure there is an email address associated with your comment. I'll pick a winner - how about Wed, September 3rd. Good luck!

In other news, one of my goals this Summer was to get rid of some of my quilts that have been sitting and filling closets. It's not an easy thing for me to do. I love all of my quilts and they carry tons of memories, not only of why I made each one, but what was happening in my life at the time. But as difficult as it may be, I have to let go, and allow them to be loved by someone else.

I sent 3 quilts home with my son this Summer and 4 quilts home with my daughter. The haul included the first quilt I made for each of them - hand-quilted, worn, soft and faded. Tears well up just thinking about it.

I did some research, trying to find the best homes for about 15 quilts and 20 wallhangings.

A half dozen of the more masculine quilts will go to Quilts of Valor. The more feminine group will go to the Sharing Shed, a local outreach serving families and individuals in crisis. Many of their clients come to them with nothing but the clothes on their back. I'm hoping one of my quilts will be a breath of fresh air for a new start.

I also have a good number of wall quilts and table runners that will go to our local YMCA. A beautiful group of ladies meet weekly to make quilts which are auctioned off to supply scholarship money for those in need at the Y.

I'll spend some time this weekend taking pictures of my donations. Each one still has a special place in my heart. At least they will no longer be taking up space in my closet! Room for more as I have no intentions of giving up quilting soon :-)

To those of you in the US, have a wonderful holiday weekend! Don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway!

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Flowering Snowball Quilt

I shared a glimpse of my Flowering Snowball Quilt and several of you asked for more info. I'm back today with more pictures and the scoop on just how to make it!

I started with several pieces of Emmy Grace by Bari J for Art Gallery fabrics. It became my color inspiration of greens, blues, pinks, gold and grays. Then as usual, for variety I added lots of coordinating prints from my stash {and because, really, I have to use some of this stash!}.

The pattern is from Mary at Molly Flanders Makerie. You can find the full schedule of posts here. I chose to buy templates and got them from Custom Plastic on etsy. If they're not listed, you can just send Rodney a message and he will list them for you.

The only change I made to Mary's instructions was the pressing of the seam allowances. For half the blocks I pressed the seams toward the print fabric and for the other half I pressed toward the white fabric. I alternated the two blocks in the quilt so the seams were easier to match up. And it seemed to work perfectly...

I'm so enamored with the circles that form when you put the blocks together!

Up next is quilting this one and I'm seriously considering hand quilting it - very simply - just echoing the pattern. 

You can see more Flowering Snowball quilts on flickr or Instagram using the hashtag #floweringsnowballalong

Linking up to Molly Flanders Flowering Snowball Along!

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Life is good. Always remember that.

"The earth has music for those who listen"

Shakespeare

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone, or weary of life.

Rachel Carson

 Nature is not a place to visit.  It  is home.

Gary Snyder

It is only a little planet but how beautiful it is.

Robinson Jeffers.

If you really think the economy is more important than the environment, try holding your breath whilst you count your money.

Dr Guy McPherson

 The forest and I was all there was. In the deep still silence I could feel the Earth's beating heart.

Druids Trees.

When a man moves away from nature, his heart becomes hard.

Lakota

 

tenalach, n., the relationship one has with the land, the air, the water; a deep connection that makes you one with nature.

 tenalach: a word used in the hills and mountains in the west of Ireland, allows one to literally hear the earth sing.

The human spirit needs places,  where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

 

If we surrendered to earth's intelligence, we would rise up rooted, like trees.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Honor the sacred. Honor the Earth, our Mother. Honor the Elders. Honor all with whom we share the Earth:- Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones, Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people. Walk in balance and beauty. "YES"!

Native American Encyclopedia

 

 “If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

I am grateful for today.

Absolute quiet, clear blue skies, sparkling clean water, loons, eagles,  good friends, warm sunshine.

No worries allowed.

Life IS good.

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Minutiae

My baby boy Roy is sick......he has kennel cough,  and would prefer that I not take his picture right now.
He started with the cough, sounding like a kid with whooping cough.  So off to the vet he went.
The medicine is helping, but we have to keep him kind of quiet.  Short walks.  No running.
He is not happy with this plan.

I got it in my head that I wanted to make some pickles this summer, like I haven't done in years.
Last week 14 day sweet pickles, this week, Winter Salad.

DH said, "you make some weird stuff."

Hmmmm.
It's delicious, let me tell you.

I will post recipes for both of them under the RECIPE tab.


My friend was visiting from Georgia recently........I was admiring her handbag.  Leather, with straps that you can use like a backpack.   She paid $140 for hers, on sale.  I was in need of a new bag.

I found one like it, in a different color, on Ebay.  NEW, never used.
$29.
Don't you love a good deal????

I am still weaving off the 8/2 cotton warp on the AVL.
I did find  the paper that I wrote out on the day we warped it, and now I know that I put 30 yards on it.
I better get weaving.

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A Special Sampler Quilt

I started making these blocks in January of this year. Six-inch Sampler blocks to turn into a special quilt for me. My pile of 63 blocks...

The idea came from the Farmer's Wife QAL craze of a few years ago. I decided to simplify and primarily used this book - 501 Rotary Cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins. The blocks will alternate set straight and on-point, so I kept a list, recording each pattern as I made it, hoping to avoid any duplicates.

The goal is to complete the quilt by my birthday in December. You see, I have a big one coming up - it ends in a "0". 

2014 also marks 30 years of serious quilting for me - feels like a milestone. I took my first quilt class in 1981. I had a baby and a job which didn't leave much time for quilting. The baby became babies and the job continued, so sewing time was pretty nonexistent. In 1984, I kept the babies, but quit the job and nap time became quilting time. And the story began - fabric collecting, quilt guilds, sewing and working in a quilt shop - all became a big part of me.

As I've worked on these blocks, it's been fun to think about how things have changed and how they haven't. I still have favorite blocks - stars and pinwheels - and I still have favorite colors - blues and greens. But I have evolved as a quilter.

As I made each block, I carefully chose my some of my all-time favorite colors and fabrics, both old and new...

I tried to add some whimsy and a surprisingly new favorite color for me - purple...

I added at least one fabric from all of my favorite designers...

And as organized as I felt, ended up with 2 blocks of the same pattern...

Ten of the blocks were made by five very special friends. I think I need to have them sign at least one of their blocks.

Some of my collected lines - Flea Market Fancy and Bonnie and Camille.

I'm excited to sew the blocks together, and I'm hoping it doesn't look like a hot mess. If it does, I guess it will be my hot mess and I know I'll love it!!

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What's Lois doing????

No, she hasn't escaped Crazy as a Loom.  Yet.

She is busy, too.
Weaving Rosepath rugs on the Cranbrook.

If you squint, you can see the diamonds.  They will be easily visible when it is on the floor.
 We are hoping to have a few of these for the Southern, Adirondack Fiber Festival on September 27 and 28, in Greenwich, NY.

Remember the refrigerator pickles I made not long ago??  I got the recipe off Pinterest.  I don't know why I didn't stick to the tried and true recipes that I have had for 30 years.
These pickles were horrific, and tasted like pure vinegar.  I dumped them all.

I got out an old cookbook, and made my "14 day Sweet Pickles".
As always, they rocked.

I made a mistake when I first made them, back in the 70's.  The recipe called for celery seed, and I used mustard seed.  The pickles were so good, I changed the recipe.  No one will ever know what they taste like made "by the book".  Ha!

September is MONKEY SALE month.
Stay tuned.

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Hello there.

Busy, busy, busy.

I am so busy.  How did I ever find time to do nursing?  I'll never know.

Of course, two days a week, I am loving my time with baby Dale.  She is on the move, and she has my heart in her fat little hands.  
Back in the winter, when I told my daughter I would watch the baby two days a week, until she is a year old, I wondered.   Would I be able to do it, with my HEAD????
Would the headaches allow me to do it??  Would it all be too much???

I won't lie to you, there have been mornings, when I didn't feel as good as I would have liked.
But I managed.  And for the most part, it has been just fine.
It means so much to me that I have been able to do this for my daughter, and it has been a very special time, to be with this lovely little girl.  
I am so grateful.

I think back to my three surgeries, and marvel that I am here, and able to experience this little
 wonder.

And I don't even mind that I sing Sesame Street songs for days after I see her.
It's ok.
I like Elmo.  I do.

The studio is undergoing some change.
The side yard is all fenced in now, for Roy.

 Black chain link, 5 ft high, tensile wire along the bottom, two gates.  It is very nice looking, and blends in well.

Roy is one spoiled boy.

I am moving everything weaving related out of the living room, to make it more comfortable for us when we stay there.
It's all about downsizing, and evolving.

I guess it's a lifetime process, this evolving thing.

 I am hoping to have an OPEN STUDIO TOUR, and a SALE, this fall.  I have way more yarn and thread than I will ever use.

Time for a cuppa tea, and some of that yummy glazed lemon zucchini bread I just made.  
I'll let you know how it is.

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