What's on the line?

It's August, a time when the butterflies are usually quite plentiful. However, it seems there are not quite so many of them this year and I read that it has something to do with last year's drought. Perhaps next year, there will be more real butterflies. In the meantime, I am sharing this vintage butterfly quilt that was made by my Great Aunt Bell and my mother, Mary.

Many of the butterflies are from Feedsack fabrics. They were placed on squares of white cotton and my Aunt Bell started the embroidery around the blocks but it was my mother that finished stitching the blocks. She sewed them together and added the borders, too. I love the placement of all the butterflies! She took the top to the ladies at our church (United Brethern Church of Lehigh, Iowa), sometime in the 1950's, and paid them to do the hand-quilting. The quilt belongs to my brother, Doug, but it is "visiting" me right now because Doug has asked me to repair some of the embroidery around the butterflies. Time has worn away some of the black embroidery floss so I'll take a "before" photo and then an "after" photo after I make the repairs. To see a close-up of one of the butterfly blocks, just click
here for another blogpost on this quilt.
I have shared a couple other blogposts about quilts and quilt tops that were made by my Aunt Bell. The quilt top that I have from her is a "Trip Around the World" quilt top. It was made by her and her mother-in-law, Granny Blair. I featured that quilt top in my first post of my "What's on the line?" feature and you can read about it here.  The quilt top that my sister received from Aunt Bell can be found by going here.  It's probably time for me to decide whether to quilt the top I have or just leave it as it is. Oh, my decisions, decisions, decisions!

And speaking of decisions...........I made a decision not to show you the four quilts I mentioned last week that were made by Delores Jebron. It's not that I'm never going to share them, it's just that I haven't had time to take the photos. I'm going to need help from my husband as they are large quilts and just like this butterfly quilt, they are going to drag on the ground. I'm going to spread a large plastic tablecloth on the ground and then have him help me get them on my clothesline. He's too busy right now because he's staining our deck. I figure it will be early September when I can share those quilts.

 

Fortunately, our son has been helping him and it's almost done. While they were doing staining this week, I was juggling meals, laundry, quilting projects, and a sick dog. Kaiser, the Wonder Beagle picked up a bacterial infection and he was, well...........he was "sicker than a dog" as the old saying goes. He's doing much better now, but taking care of a sick dog is not an easy task. Kinda like taking care of a toddler that can't really tell you when they are gonna be sick.  

It will be good to have the deck finished as there's another project that I'm anxious for my husband to get to..............and that's UV protection on windows in our living room. I am anxious to hang some quilts up on the walls but hesitant to do it until there is proper protection on the windows. More on this project in a future blog post. Before that project happens, though, the two guys are planning some car repair projects. Me? I'm just going to try to catch up on blog posts and quilting projects!  Coming up this week will be posts about some Henderson events........Classic Cars and Hummingbirds and a quilty project that will be a tutorial. Oh, and pics of family visitors and quilty outings. Lots to share. Just wish I had more time and was more organized!! That's all for this Monday. Make it a good one!

Sandi

 

 

What's on the line?

I missed posting a quilt "on the line" last week. It's just been really busy. Our grandson was here for a visit and it was more important to enjoy time with him than be at the computer. Plus, we had special visitors........my husband's cousin, Paul, and his wife Connie came for a visit! I have pictures and I'll get them shared soon but since this is a "quilting blog", I decided I'd better share a quilt picture. So, this afternoon, while my husband, Steve, and our son, Devlin were staining our deck, I trooped out to my clothesline in the trees to take a picture of this cross-stitch beauty...........

And I realized immediately that I was taking the photo too late in the afternoon and the sun was creating too much shadow from the trees. So I left the quilt hanging on the line and waited until later in the evening and almost forgot about it. The sun was almost down so this photo isn't all that good either.

 

Now the story behind the quilt............It was made by Isabelle Bertha Elm sometime in the 1950's to 1960's and is hand-quilted.  Her daughter, Delores Jebron, gave me the quilt because I already have four quilts that she and her mother made. Funny thing .......... I just realized that I have not shared them here on my blog. In order to tell you the story of the quilt that is "on the line" today, I will have to do that. I can't believe I haven't shared those quilts but a search of my blog told me I hadn't!  Wow, I will get to that next week. Look for four awesome quilts coming up on the next four Mondays!

In the meantime, here is a picture I took of the deer in our neighbor's back yard. I have seen this doe and her twins several times lately and finally I got a picture of them! 

 

 

One more thing for today and that is the names of the winners of the poinsettia fabric boxes...........

 

And the winners are.........Gene Black and Margie.  I've sent e-mails to them and await their replies. Thank you for all your comments about your silver and gold friends for the contest. After reading all your comments, I wanted to be able to send fabric to all of you and could easily do that..........if I could afford the postage. LOL! 
Another busy day tomorrow. I'll be heading out to a nearby assisted living facility to share some of my quilts and pretties. We are having some gorgeous weather here in Minnesota so it is just awesome to be out and about!
Have a good week!
Sandi

Like a Streak of Lightning!

I love a good book, be it long or short, I just love a good book. I like to hold my books, too. I enjoy reading before I go to bed and I like turning the pages. Yes, I am a bit of a "dinosaur" when it comes to e-books but that's okay because .........I am reading. No matter how you read a book, if you are reading..... then that is awesome!  When Mary at Penquin Books sent me an e-mail and asked if I'd review this special e-book from Clare O'Donohue, I was delighted because I've read Clare's books and really enjoyed them! (You can read my review of her novel "The Devil's Puzzle" here.)  I replied right away but told Mary, I just wasn't an "e-book" reader but that didn't matter........she sent off a paper copy and my friendly UPS guy dropped it off on Tuesday afternoon. I looked forward to reading the book on Tuesday night because I needed to relax after some stressful days. But.........a funny thing happened. I started to read and then realized as I started Chapter 2 that I had read the words but my mind was still on "stressful thoughts". So, I closed the book and decided to try again the next night. And so I did. Started at the beginning and this time my mind was only on the storyline in the book. I enjoy the "thread" in the books that "ties" the main character, Jesse, to the quilt shop, Someday Quilts, and her quilting friends. This little book is a good bedtime treat and almost like a "real" snack. I just kept reading, you know, like someone who just keeps snacking. LOL! And before I knew it, I had finished the story and I loved it. Can hardly wait til the release of Clare's next book The Double Wedding Ring. If you'd like to enjoy "Streak of Lightning" just go here.  Enjoy!!