Nine Patch

Here's my nine patches for Anina's Three By Three swap. I think they turned out fairly well.

Not to sure about these last two...I promise they're not as wonky as they look...I straightened the photos in the photo editor.

Which one is your favorite?

Enjoy!

Heart Quilts

Goodness gracious....isn't this beautiful, happy, upbeat, and encouraging! Honestly, it just makes me want a hand dyed stash! Melody at Fibermania does such nice work, this is one of her beauties. She's a master at the creative process...everything is an original and her color is smack on every time....I'm pretty sure she hand dyes a good bit of her fabrics...she also has great tutorials on how to do everything from beginning to end, dying, piecing, fusing etc. I see a little Kaffe in here which is unlike a majority of her quilts...I like it though.

Want to see more Heart Quilts...click here. There's a whole slew of them...like hundreds!
Enjoy!

Salt Lake City Quilt Squares

My sister saw these in the airport in Salt Lake City. pretty neat, I thought. More art quilts than patchwork. It was a good reminder to me that a quilt project doesn't have to be a huge undertaking; but, instead, it can be a small project with a lot of bang!





There are several different techniques here and looks like a lot of hand dyed fabrics as well. Salt Lake City, is apparently a beautiful place and I would assume provides inspiration galore.


Enjoy!

Needle Case

I'm loving this little needle case that I made while my card reader was missing in action....the fabric line is Maywood Studios, all flannel.


The wonky flying geese are left over from the quilt I made for my Nutcracker last year.
I wanted a little travel sewing kit "ish" sort of thing and came up with this...it should get me through the 2-3 hours of waiting at ballet!


I do think I'll explore the possibilities of something a little larger that would hold scissors and a spool of thread. This has 2 large pockets and one small one....plus a few pages for needles and pins.



but, in the meantime...I'm going to enjoy this little beauty.

Can you hear me patting myself on the back?

Nine Patches and a little Jane

These are for the Three by Three swap!


These are my fave.....red looks good with anything.




And here's dear sweet Jane....I'm nervous as a cat to try to applique it....I'm too afraid it will look like a very bad home ec class. Wish me luck!

She'll Make You Laugh, She'll Make You Cry

Folks who have been through the ringer....the medical ringer...I believe, have a different perspective. It's a piece of something you didn't sign up for and frankly thought would never happen to you. Does it make me better or worse than the next Sally or Sue....absolutely not. But I can sympathize with the ones who are going through it or have been there...

What's the perspective part?
1-Looking at your husband and both knowing "this is different"...
2-Wishing for the life you had just 3 hours ago when all was bliss...
3-Knowing that my heart disease has changed the childhood of my three babes....
4-Thankful for a moment to have any silly thought...
5- Believing that someday, my mind will think of something other than "is today the day?"...
6- Hating the memory of my nine year old son feeding his 10 day old sister while watching his mother gasp for her last breath...and
7- 5 years later know she's flying away in a helicopter with 20 minutes to live.

What prompted all of this?...Danielle's post today called, The Quiet Place. A fellow blogger friend once said of Danielle, "She'll make you laugh and she'll make you cry".

And tonight, she made me thankful that....I am here...that I can say prayers with Baby Girl tonight and hug her as tight as I want to....that I can tell my teenage boy I love him, unabashedly, knowing time with him is so precious....that I can sit at the ballet today, in a beautiful theatre and dream with my Nutcracker.

I am here.
Thank you Danielle.

Black Quilts

Well...you know what a fool I am for black quilts....here's one I couldn't resist. It's Mennonite c.1895. I'm more astounded by the processes of these quilts than the product. These women were not running to the local quilt shop or pulling from their stash. They produced for a purpose, not entertainment. Am I getting too deep here?

I'm moving in that direction....would like to have no stash at all, have the attitude of "use what you have", be a good steward and all that other stuff. Could it be that I've been Amish all along? hmmmmm......?????

Excuses, Excuses

I promise, I haven't fallen off the edge of the quilt...but here's...

The Top 10 Reasons why I haven't blogged in the last week:

10- Too busy working on my Three By Three Swap with Tweedletails - I'm pleased with them so far and am kind of getting addicted to them.

9- Too busy admiring the fabulous fabrics I received from Wanda at Exuberant Color for my Cathedral Window quilt. All vintage and fabulous. So generous...thanks so much, can't wait to show them to blogland.

8- Too busy doing standardized testing with the home school group. (yet rejoicing at the same time that school is almost out!)

7- Too busy admiring my new Aldi products...a market umbrella for $35.00, an awesome lipstick and facial stuff, to die for tinted lotion that looks like a great tan, ...any Aldi fans out there? It cut my grocery bill in half....I swear...I'm not kidding.

6- Trying to figure out some fun summer plans that include 2 "summer school" classes for a 15 year old boy. (arguably, number one on the list)

5- driving to ballet 4 days a week.

4- contemplating a whole house clean out that, I'm thinking, will change my life.

3- wishing my mother's day gift was already built....a garden box!

2- Putting off getting a learner's driving licence for that same 15 year old (waiting for that frontal brain lobe to develop a little more!)


and...the number one reason why I haven't blogged in a week is......

1- I can't find my card reader for my camera cards!!!! (which means I can't post any new pics of my 9 patches or the vintage fabrics for the Cathedral Window....


...my personal opinion...this is a rich person's problem....in other words...I have no problems!

Perspective....it's humbling.

Applique ER

Is there such a thing as the Applique Emergency Room? My poor Jane will have to suffer through my learning how to applique properly....I don't quite have the stitching down just right.
Any tips?

Affirmation is a Beautiful Thing!

How wonderful is this? (...blush...) I'm in shock, floored, overwhelmed, way too excited, and generally just full of joy. Did I say my heart is filled up to the brim? Does one ever tire of getting a compliment? Uh, nooooo, I don't think so! Gosh,thank you so much.

Linda at Two Succulent Sisters generously gave this award to me....I love reading about their fun life and especially about their almost 100 year old mother who is still crafty. That's what I call daily inspiration.

A great big blog hug to you, Linda, for this; it sure is a big "pick me up".

For now...I'll just enjoy the "breeze". {tee hee.}