We interrupt the winter blahs and bring you.........

"Quilts in Bloom"

Some of you may remember that last summer, I told you I would post photos of the quilt show that my friend Pandora hosted in her back yard. It was a fundraiser with all monies going to help abondoned African children. I never posted the photos as the day after I took these pictures, I suffered a herniated disc and back pain issues consumed me most of the summer. However, it was a lovely day at the quilt show and thoughts of it made me think that it was high time I shared these photos. There is more winter weather in the forecast for our area.......snow flurries and temps in the teens and twenties, but I am in serious need of some summer sun! You will see lots of it in these photos. The day was so beautiful that you will almost be able to feel the sun's warmth as you walk through Pandora's garden and view all the gorgeous quilts and flowers. Let the tour begin.........

When I arrived and parked my car, I saw this and said "oh, my!"
I paid my admission and entered "Quilts in Bloom".........
but I stopped first to say HI to Pandora and bring her a little gift of flower seeds in a planter. She has a green thumb and a sewing thumb. :-) She made many of the quilts on display and friends shared the rest.

There were so many beautiful quilts. I loved this one and seeing it hanging in mid-air with that blue sky in the background was awesome!

Pandora encouraged us to bring "garden/floral themed" projects. This one is like a garden in itself!

The path through the quilts took me past a few tables with lovely jewelry, scarves, and artwork. I found a lovely little bead bracelet that called my name that day. :-)

Quilts were tucked in everywhere. This one looked like it grew right along the fence!

Aren't Pandora's flowers beeeeeeeautiful?!!

I loved these so much, I took two pictures!

As you came around the corner into the backyard, there was a little "treat tent". I stopped for goodies, of course. :-) One of the items that I shared is the penny rug (a Ginger Sanchez design) hanging on the iron display rack.

Don't think this is the end.........oh, no, there are enough photos to share for the next four days. I'm going to spread it out so you will have something to look forward to! If winter must hang on outside, I will at least enjoy some sun and quilts via the computer. Have a good day ahead!

Sandi

Meeting the Kindred Kwilters!

Last Thursday evening, I was the speaker/program for the Kindred Kwilters group in nearby LeSueur, MN. I was asked to teach a little project in woolfelt. I decided the time was right to share the pattern for my little Spring penny rugs. I have had enough of winter and I thoroughly enjoyed gathering lots of pretty pastels for the project.
While the group held their business meeting, I set up all the supplies and samples. You can see some of the little egg-shaped penny rugs (made them back in 2005/2006). I had pre-cut the egg and background pieces to save time. Everyone could pick the color they preferred, then it was over to my scrap basket to choose colors for a flower or a bunny, etc. Some of you may recognise the designs on the penny rugs as they are based on the little Spring Egg pin that we did last spring in my Wooly Buddies group. :-) I have not put the pennies into pattern format although for the workshop that night, I made up a pattern page for everyone. There are sixteen different designs. :-) I set out my boxes of embroidery floss so they could choose the colors needed for their project.

Then it was time to start cutting and stitching. Everyone said they enjoyed the project and since we chatted and laughed a lot, that is always a good sign. :-)

There was even more chatting and laughter when it came time for Show 'n Tell. However, I must apologize to some of the members. They allowed me to take pictures and had no problem if I posted them to my blog so I took lots of photos. Unfortunately, I am better at stitching than at taking photos. So, I have posted the best ones and hope that you enjoy these.

I loved this little heart quilt and if you double-click on the photo you can see the neat quilting detail in the hearts. I must also apologize because I can't remember most of the members names. The room went from ooohs and aaaahs over the hearts to awesome laughter at this Snowman quilt. He has a "3-D" carrot nose. It was soooooooo cute.

This quilt top was just beautiful. Everyone gave the name of the pattern used but in addition to not taking good photos, I also wasn't taking notes.
I've seen this pattern but can't recall the designer.

This was the night for sharing their "Challenge" projects and there were a lot of really neat projects. The challenge fabric that they all had to use is what you see in the squares in these stars. The other challenge was that you had to use a star in your quilt design. I really liked both of these projects.

The quilter in the picture above, also made this "Quilt Diva" wallhanging (designed by Amy Butler). There was so much beautiful applique work done on this piece. It was really amazing! You can imagine that there was a lot of laughter when everyone saw this quilt. :-)

I was invited to join their group and am seriously considering it. Especially after this quilter shared her story. She was one of at least three - I think it was three - quilters who misplaced their challenge fabric. Everyone laughed about this and I knew this was a group that I could feel comfortable in. I am amazed how often I can misplace a project and have it not show up for days or weeks. Yep, I loved this aspect of the group. LOL!

All kidding aside, this was a beautiful tablerunner!

And this one really showcases the "Challenge" fabric that was used. They were all really lovely!

You'll need to double-click on this one to see the pretty butterflies that have been machine quilted into the squares. I just loved this quilt! It really makes me thing SPRING!

One of the last quilts to be shared was this little log cabin work of art. It's maker shared that a great deal of the hand-stitching on the blocks was done by an elderly friend and so it's a treasure to her. You can see by the look on her face, just how much the quilt means to her.

Yes, it was a wonderful night of Show'n Tell, a fun workshop and delicious treats. And, yes, I really do plan to join the group. I love the name they chose - Kindred Kwilters. And everyone was so friendly and they all had so much fun, plus, it's just a seven mile drive from my house. Winter is on it's way out.......... I hope........... and spring can't be too far away so how many more snowstorms can keep us homebound? We shall see. :-) I'll be sending my check for dues and hope to make it to their March meeting. Then I'll be a Kindred Kwilter, too. :-)

Happy Monday!

Sandi

Age is no barrier to friendship!

It's a good day here in Minnesota. No snow is falling and nothing measureable is in the forecast for the coming week! I think this means spring is trying really hard to make it's arrival! There are still mounds and mounds of snow everywhere you go, but the roads are clear so no blowing snow to worry about. That means that my date tonight won't be cancelled. Yep, it's Saturday night and I am going out to a Valentine Dinner. It's the "Faith in Action" fundraising event in the nearby community of Arlington. My friend Joanie bought tickets and then had a family event that took precedence, so she gave her tickets to me. How nice! I am taking my friend Carolyn. She is a young 96. My husband preferred to stay home and start working on taxes and watch the Olympics. His loss, Carolyn's gain. LOL! Earlier this morning, my friend Lois called. She needed to know when the next meeting is for our Crazy Quilt Group. Told her it's Thursday night and I could pick her up. She is also 96. Yep, age is no barrier to friendship!! And these two are so much fun to be with that I always look forward to their company! My grandpa Thurman and his mother/my great grandma Lillie each lived to be 96. They were blessed to be active up to the last year of their lives. Knowing them all has been a gift. I can only hope to be so fortunate. Just think .........that would mean I still have at least 35 years to finish all my quilting and stitching projects and maybe time to start new ones!!
And speaking of new projects.........look what I found at Firefly Quilt Shop yesterday............
This is a line called Aunt Lindy's and Janice was just opening the bolts. I bought these two pieces and will go back later to get the coordinating fabrics that go with them. I loved them and some I'll use in a project for my little green bedroom and some I'll send to my mom. She will really like this fabric!
My purpose in being out yesterday was to do my grocery shopping. I love to go grocery shopping. I think that's because I always make a stop to buy fabric. LOL! And I always check the clearance counters for goodies. And that's when I found...........

the cute little bear sitting on that satin box. All the Valentine stuff was half-price at Wal-Mart so I bought this one for me. Then when I was at the grocery store, I decided to "gift myself" with the red carnations. I couldn't resist. They were only $4.99 for the bunch! :-) When I brought them in, I told my husband ....... "look at the lovely flowers you bought me! LOL" Last weekend, he offered up pizza for Valentine's day but that wasn't quite what I was looking for. I love real flowers but he thinks they are a waste of money. I think I'm going to buy flowers for me everytime I go to the grocery store. I'm a thrifty shopper and so a bunch will go in my cart each trip. They will look really nice in my thrift shop vase and the pretty plate it sits on. Sometimes it just works better to do your own gifts. :-)

That's all for now.............

Next post is lots of quilty fun and photos from the program I did for the Kindred Kwilters in LeSueur, MN. See ya later.

Sandi

Back to the '50's and '60's!

For a long time, I've wanted to post the items in this photo below and tell the story behind them. Interestingly, it took a post from Pat*Sloan to finally make me do it! In her post today, she shared a picture of the new Engineer Barbie and mentioned that perhaps we could lobby for Barbie to be a fabric designer or a craft spokesperson in her next career? (You can click here to read her blog post - don't be frightened by the polar bears, just scroll down, then pass the Lizzie B chocolate quilt and then you'll see Engineer Barbie.) Her post got me to thinking of my first and only Barbie and how I wanted to be a fabric designer. It really brought back the memories. I knew I had to write this post. And so, what you see here is the stuff of dreams............

It may just look like a couple of Barbie doll dresses and some little sewing accessories but oh, it was so much more to me when I was growing up in the 1950's. Yes, I had dreams that I would grow up to be a fashion designer. I bought every Katy Keene comic book I could find! I loved to go in the drugstore and see a new issue on the magazine rack. I'd buy it and go home and read every story and then cut out the paper dolls (too bad I didn't save even one of them!). I would also draw my own clothes for her, and then Barbie came along! She was the model for my designs! I got a Barbie doll for Christmas (1961), the one with the bouffant hair, a brunette, a real beauty!! I also got a Barbie light-box so that I could draw designs of my clothes just like a real designer. I remember it so well! That package of Wright's trim is a reminder that I would often save up three wrappers, enclose my dime and send away for a "generous package of clippings of wright's Trims suitable for trimming dolls' clothes." The packages came in white envelopes and I loved to watch our mailbox, Box #2, to see it stuffed with that envelope! I still have bits of those trims!!!

Sadly, though, my Bouffant Barbie is long gone. Oh, she was with me for quite some time but she has a sad story. Family friends with their kids came to visit one night. The parents enjoyed playing cards, usually 500, while all of us kids had a great time dragging out all the toys! This night, one of the little girls......name withheld to protect her identity :-) .........bit the nose off of my Bouffant Barbie! I was so sad. But in spite of her missing nose, I kept her. She was in a shoebox when I got married and traveled along to San Diego. She survived Hurricane Camille in Mississippi. She made the trip across the ocean when the military transferred my husband to a base near Tokyo. She made the return trip to Iowa and then we moved to New Jersey. When our household goods arrived at our apartment, the boxes with Barbie and other treasures, plus most of our daughter's toys, never made it to our door. They were either plucked from the warehouse in Newark or delivered to the wrong address, but no amount of tracking ever found the boxes.

So, you might wonder, how did I end up with Barbie's dresses? My mother kept them in her cedar chest and I didn't even know it!!! She pulled them out of a box a few years ago and I was thrilled to see them! I remember making that black and white sundress - separates so that Barbie could wear the top with shorts or slacks and the skirt could be worn with another top. The wool sheath is sooooo 1960's. It's fairly worn and the wool is beginning to deteriorate. I keep the dresses in this little case from my mother, along with the Sunbonnet needlecase she gave me and the chalk marker in the felt case that she made me in the late 1960's. The felt strawberry is made with a hair clippy. How many of you remember those? And, of course, there were a lot of sequined felt crafts done in those years and this little birdie is one of them. Yes, these are the things of dreams.
I never became a fashion designer. My high school guidance couselor thought that was too hard a field to get into and advised that a secretarial course might be a wiser choice. I can still feel my heart sink. I remember that day clearly and can see the road, the houses, the cornfield beyond the window next to his desk. My fashion design dreams died that day but it didn't stop me from sewing or designing. I sewed for me, my husband, our daughter. I made curtains, bedspreads, upholstered furniture, and made my first quilt. In the 1970's, I began making 1" to 1' scale miniatures for years and put every ounce of talent I had into all those miniature scenes. You can see them at these links........ TeenyTinyQuilts ..... ValentineMinis ..... EasterMinis ..... HalloweenMinis ..... MiniatureChristmasTree. There are more mini scenes. I just haven't taken photos of them yet!

These days, I don't do too many miniature projects .........the eyesight gets to be an issue when you get older! Now, I enjoy my quilting and I really love working with wool and making penny rugs. If you follow my blog, you know I do a few programs on my collection of old quilts (some family quilts and many bought by my dad at auctions in Iowa). I love to teach at quilt groups/guilds and also offer a "Wooly Wednesday" class at FireFlyQuiltShop. I love to share my designs and enjoy my Yahoo groups. I always have "too many irons in the fire" but that translates to.......... "I am never bored!" As I told my son tonight - I am having "sew" much fun!

I am getting a bit tired, though, and have lots to do in the next few days. I need to finish a block I designed for the Cotton Spice BOM that will be posted in March. I have a new block - tulips for spring - to post to my Seasons group and a new design to sketch for my Wooly Buddies group. Plus, I have a guild workshop to teach on Thursday evening and need to assemble kits for that. I should close up shop for the night (or morning as it's after midnight).

Hope something I shared reminded you of some "pleasant memory" from the past! And I must add.........Thanks, Pat, for your post about Barbie. It was the inspiration I needed to get this post out of my head and here on my blog! Oh, and if they ever do a Barbie Fashion Designer, I will be right there to buy one!!!!

Lights out! Sleep tight...........

Sandi

Reading and having my cake, too........

Last fall, I spotted this book at Barnes and Noble.............

I had to have it but I never quite found time to start reading it. Things got busy with the holidays, my mom's health and the crazy weather. But now, with everything Christmas all packed away, I decided it was time to really read this book. The author is Tara Frey and you will find her blog here . It's a very interesting book. Lots of familiar blogs are highlighted in the book. There are great tips and a lot one can learn. I have learned a lot since I first set up my blog but I realized from this book that I have a lot more I could learn!! I think this is going to be like taking a class as I read this book. If I say I have to quit blogging to "go study", you'll know why!

Would I recommend the book to other bloggers? Yes, I would. You might check your local library so you can see for yourself or stop at a bookstore and thumb through it. If it's a book you know you will want to add to your library, then make the purchase. I do that with most books. I love them and have a huge library of quilting and crafty titles but I don't buy a book without being able to see what's between the covers. I almost ordered a quilting book on-line because I was so sure I would love the book. Then I happened to find it at a quilt shop and when I flipped through it, I realized it was not what I thought it was and decided not to purchase. That doesn't happen very often. I simply like books and just like fabric, can't turn a copy down! With George Washington's birthday coming up, I cannot tell a lie. There was one book that I ordered "sight unseen". Mark Lipinski recommended it on his Yahoo group and I ordered it right away. It was "Crazy Quilts" by Cindy Brick and it is awesome, one of my favorite books!

Okay, so let's change the subject to food..........like something really good from the oven! Last Saturday, our son and his girlfriend came out for the day and stayed for dinner. I fixed a roast and real mashed potatoes and carmelized carrots and then.........there was dessert. That morning, I mixed up a yellow cake mix and poured the batter into two round cakepans. I sliced up some cooked apple slices and placed them in one pan. Then I sprinkled Heath bits over the apples. Finally, I crumbled brown sugar (about a 1/2 cup) over the top of the entire cake. For the second cake, I used chocolate chips, then the Heath bits and the brown sugar. They looked like this before I popped them in the oven...............

And then they looked like this when I took them out of the oven!

I cut slices and added ice cream and then..........there was Hot Fudge to drizzle on the chocolate chip cake and Caramel topping for the apple cake. It was really good and was my Valentine treat for our dinner. :-) So, are you hungry yet?!!! This is an easy way to make a coffee cake and it is really quick. Change the fruit to peaches or add peanut butter chips to the chocolate chip cake and it just keeps getting better!

That's all for tonight..............

Sandi

Mother Nature.......

seems to think we need more snow. It is falling as I write. And then the wind is going to blow. Not good! Bet there will be more late starts for the school kids. Wow, this has been some winter!

Today is a holiday here in the U.S. It's President's Day. It should be a day to observe our presidents. Unfortunately, as with so many holidays, it's become a big day for commercial businesses to have huge sales. I won't be out shopping, though. Instead, I'll be working on blocks for my "Grace and a Prayer" quilt. I was going to do one on Friday in honor of Lincoln. I couldn't come up with anything other than a log cabin block and I want something different. I want to do a Washington themed block, too, so it may be the end of the week before I finish these blocks. I'll post my results when they are done. :-)
I also have two deadlines this week. One, I remembered. The other one, I kind of forgot about and now I have to "scurry". Sometimes, I do my best work when I "scurry". :-)
Have a good Monday!
Sandi

One last note on my blog tunes.............

Well, almost one last note, for my tunes will disappear from this blog at midnight tonight. It's best to remove them from this blog but I had some messages from some of you that really like my tunes. So, if you click here you'll see this........................and then...............well, take a peek right now. :-)
Sandi