Beginning Quilt Fun!

Several years ago, I began teaching a really basic beginning quilt class in our Community Ed program and in free classes in the Scott County Library System. I have wanted to offer the same class here in Henderson and finally it happened. This past Tuesday evening I set up the table at the library. Lots of samples to inspire and all the fabrics needed to make the project..........

There were just four students but we had a fun evening and plan to get together again. That's Diane on the left, and Nichole with daughter Lydia and Darlene. I brought pretty pastels and also some of Jacquelynne's fabrics lines. The project we're making is just twelve 4-1/2" squares sewn together into a placemat sized mat .........or a doll quilt in Lydia's case.  She's going to learn to sew and one day make a project for 4-H. How cool is that?

If you live in or near Henderson, MN and want to learn the really beginning basics of quilting, stay tuned as I'll be posting dates and times for future meetings. Looking forward to sharing the joy of stitching with new friends!!
Big weekend coming up in Henderson..........it's the annual Sauerkraut Days Festival! Looking forward to lots of classic cars, the tractor parade, mini donuts, the big parade on Sunday and lots more. And the best part?  Our kids are all coming out for the weekend so it'll be lots of family fun! 
Back soon.......
Sandi

What's on the line?

The little quilt "on the line" today is so sweet...........

I bought it at PJ's Scoops, the ice cream place here in Henderson. Almost forgot that I bought it as I picked it up sometime back in March when winter was hanging on forever. It was a nice reminder that spring and flowers would eventually return.  I don't know who made the quilt but it's all hand-appliqued and hand-quilted. Measures about 20 x 24 " and it was only $10! Could not believe the price when I saw the handwork on it. Scooped it up right away! ;-)  It's hanging on the line in this photo but it's "in house" spot is hanging on the wall in our family room off the kitchen. It would be easy to make a little quilt like this as the flowers are just appliqued circles with a small applique for the center. The pots are all cut form the same fabric. Very cute and these flowers will never wilt.
I can't say the same about the real flowers that I planted yesterday. We finally got some large pots for our front porch and I added flowers to them and also some more pots with half-price bedding plants. It all looks really pretty and I can only hope that I will water them right and they will continue to grow. I'll get some photos later this week and let you know if all the pretty petunias are growing or wilting. :-)  It was fun to play in the dirt and plant real flowers. I'm pretty good at decorating with artificial flowers but you really cannot beat the beauty of the real blossoms. And the scent of real flowers is really sweet.........just like this little quilt!
It's the start of a good week..........Enjoy it!
Sandi

What's on the line?

A little quilt that was made by my mother, Mary, is on the line today............

 

This was a remnant that she bought of a panel fabric that had all these cute houses and little quilts on it. She added a top and bottom strip of fabric, hand-quilted the piece and then added colorful yo-yo's. She did a lot of little quilting projects in the last few years but now her hands just don't stitch as well so she doesn't do any quilting anymore. She still likes to crochet, although she hasn't done any since moving to the Care Center. She told me, though, that she's going to "get back to it soon". I hope so, as it really is something that helps pass the time.

I went home to Iowa this past weekend to vist my mom and took her to the Lehigh Public School Alumni banquet. We had a good time and visited with lots of old friends!

Today will be a day for laundry and cleaning as we have friends visiting from California tomorrow, plus it's my husband's birthday so I should probably bake a cake. Such a busy summer already and so much I was planning to blog about and just can't get to it! I've decided not to make any more promises about being a more regular blogger........sporadic blogging is now my new regular. LOL!
Back soon.......

Sandi

What's on the line? and a little update.....

This pretty quilt that is "on the line" today is one that my dad, Melvin, bought for my mother, Mary. It's machine appliqued by a company in New York. Will research the name and will be back in a bit with more info......

Okay.........so I intended to be "back in a bit". Got sidetracked, of course. Lots of projects going on at our house and I didn't stay focused on doing the research on this quilt. But, now I have info about it, sort of. Here's what I discovered........While the quilt is very pretty, I had the funny feeling it was not made in the U.S., even though there's a label on the quilt that says "Arch Quilts, Elmsford, NY".  So I googled the name and if you go here, you can read where this quilt was likely made. I am sure that the colors "caught the eye" of my dad when he saw this one. He may even have thought it was a vintage quilt but the applique is heavily machine stitched and the edging is just not very well done. It just looked like a manufactured quilt and that's most likely what it is. Regardless.........it still has charm, looks lovely on a bed and is really pretty hanging on my clothesline. :-) 
So, it's late Monday night as I update this so .............. here's wishing you a really good week!
Sandi

"What's on the line?"

Finally........there was no snow..........there was no rain.........just a beautiful, sunny day yesterday! And so I took my camera and a bunch of quilts out to the back yard for some pictures!  Here is is the quilt I made from a pattern offered by Dana over at Old Red Barn Quilt Co.  I love this quilt because I love all the pink and green fabrics I had in my "collection". And I love it because I machine quilted it!

My machine quilting doesn't show up in this picture but if you could see it up close, you'd just see loops and meandering.........and a few words. The word "LOVE" is written in the quilt and my mom and dad's initial's "M & M" for Melvin & Mary. I also wrote "Lehigh" for my home town in Iowa and "Mrs. Parr" who was my music teacher and it's because of her that I love pink! She lived in a pink house and most everything in the house was pink. She was that teacher who........if I was asked the question..........is there a teacher who really made a difference in your life? And she would be the one. I've mentioned her before. She was my music teacher all through school.......from 1st grade through 12th grade and during my high school years I took private voice lessons from her. She was a wonderful teacher and so good with all her students!
If you want to make the quilt in this photo, just go here and check out Dana's blog. She did the project as a Quilt-A-Long back in the summer of 2009. Yes, that's 2009 and I am just now posting this project. Actually, I finished the quilt top at a retreat hosted by Heidi Kaisand back in March of 2010 and then I got to machine quilt it at the retreat. So much fun using a long arm quilting machine!! Would be cool to have one of my own but can't justify the cost at this time. Anyway, the quilt top was completed, the quilting was finished and then it went into a pile "needs binding" where it stayed til last Fall. I finished the binding and have been using the quilt all this past winter. And that's good because it was a long cold winter! As you can see in the photos, though, winter has finally made it's exit and lush, green summer is here! 

The day was so lovely yesterday that I took time to take pictures of several quilts.........just in case it rains again. And let's not even think about snow! I have enough pictures of quilts to last for several weeks of "What's on the line?"  :-)  And since it was such a nice day and because it was my birthday, I asked my husband to take a picture of me with this quilt. He started singing "when I am 64" because........this birthday is #64. :-)  The weather was perfect but as usual there was a little too much wind. The quilt is back on the bed again and will be needed tonight because it's going to be a bit chilly. This is Minnesota.......Land of Constantly Changing Weather. LOL!

I enjoyed my birthday by sleeping in, then sorting through some projects in my sewing room, chatting on Facebook, a call to my mom, didn't cook because I told my husband that all I wanted for my birthday was pizza so he ordered it up and it was very good. Even better were the Cini-Mini dessert things. I mean they were really good! My friend, Sue, stopped by with a gift of fabric and will share about that tomorrow. Calls from my kids topped off the day and so turning 64 turned out pretty well. :-)
Now.........I promised to announce the winner of the Grab Bag of goodies from my last entry......it's a celebration of five years of blogging.......and the winner is.........Rachel! I've sent her an e-mail and await her address. I'll have more giveaway's as the summer goes along. Got a really fun one planned for later in August. And my "Christmas in July" project is really coming together. Very excited to share it come July 1.

That's all for today. Have a good one!
Sandi