Blowin' in the Wind!

Yesterday afternoon I took a break from cleaning chores and decided to go outside and hang some quilts on the line and take pictures. It was overcast when I gathered my stuff together and sunny by the time I got outside. Not great for taking pictures. And that breeze I was lovin' so much from inside the house, turned out to be a little too breezy when hanging quilts and taking pictures. I hung the name quilt that I wanted to tell you about and the wind would just not calm down so that I could get a good picture!

Thar she blows!! The wind just kept whipping the quilt back and forth and I decided that was fine because it probably needed to aired out anyway.

This was the best picture I could get so I will have to try again another day or take a picture inside.

Now to the story behind this piece. A few weeks ago, my dad's favorite cousin Shirley told me she had a family name quilt that she was going to give me. No one in her family wanted it, in part because it wasn't made by my Aunt Elsie, her mother. Instead this was a celebration quilt. And before I go any further, I know it's not really a quilt because it doesn't have batting and isn't quilted. It's easier to call it a quilt although it was probably a bedcover based on the shape. In the upper left corner the words "Birthday Greetings" has been embroidered and on another block (mid-quilt) is the date March 26 and 1930. There are many local last names that I recognise. I have never seen anything quite like it. I love the embroidery on the piece and am so glad that Shirley "gifted" me with this as I will happily add it to my treasures.

Shirley gave it to my mom to give it to me so the first time I saw it was the night of the quilt program that I did for the Women's Club in Lehigh, IA almost two weeks ago. And yes, there are more pictures and stories to share. I'll post a couple of times during the day Friday and again on Saturday just to try and catch up! Now if I just had a magic wand that would get the laundry done, and provide meals, oh, and walk the dog.....well, then I would be able to get caught up on my quilting/bloggy stuff in no time. Actually, I have a magic wand that was given to me at a training session when I worked at a computer company years ago. It didn't make the work go away then and it's not going to work now!!

More later today........

Sandi

And my rug choice is.............

this beautiful Surya - Augusta Judson Woven Oriental Rug made in Egypt. I picked another one at first and my son liked it, husband didn't but I convinced him it would be okay. Then we were revisiting the rugs and saw this one and we both liked it. We think it is a nice compliment to the one on the wall that we bought in Turkey in 1998. Thanks to Khara at CSNRugs for allowing me to tell you all about the rugs at CSN Rugs. This was a really neat opportunity. :-)

Plus, I found rugs for other rooms in the house, so I'll become a "real" customer soon. Actually, I already have as I ordered a small braided rug and when it comes, of course, I'll show it to you and tell you my plans for it!

What a gorgeous day! and my rug is on it's way!!

Wow, this is a beautiful day here in Minnesota! Perfect temperature, around 70, I think, and a perfect breeze for hanging clothes on the line except that they are in the dryer because I don't have a clothesline! I did string some clothesline between two trees so that I could take pictures of quilts but that doesn't really work for hanging clothes. Nobody wants bugs and sap on freshly laundered towels and sheets. Later on, I'm going out to take a couple of photos of quilt tops that I'll share this evening. Right now, I am cleaning some windows, doing laundry and have almost every window in the house open so that I can feel the breeze and hear the birds sing. I stood at my kitchen windows and listened to the sound as I ate my lunch and I felt like I was in an aviary at a zoo. What a chorus they were! I'll be back later but right now, I am off to wash the entry floor so it's ready for that rug I chose from CSNRugs. According to the tracking info, it's only 30 miles away and so it should be delivered later this afternoon. I'll be sure to share a photo of that along with quilt tops later this evening. Later........
Sandi

The finished quilt top for Emma's Hope!

The quilt top for the Emma's Hope fundraiser is finished! I used every single block that was sent to me! I bought a blue fabric and cut it into 1-1/4" strips and used that to set each block apart. I really love the end result! When it was finished, I could hardly wait to take a picture. I took several shots to get the best photo I could. In fact, I took several shots before I noticed the problem in the upper right hand corner. See that?

Yep, I managed to sew the fan block in the wrong direction. It took only a few minutes to rip it out and sew it in correctly, but I marveled at the fact that I took so many photos and it took me so long to notice my error! LOL!! Here it is after I fixed my mistake.

This afternoon, I took the quilt top to Connie, my Postlady, who will deliver it to the church ladies in Plato for the hand-quilting. She was so pleased with the finished quilt top. After the quilting is done, Connie will do the binding. The corners will be rounded and I think it will look awesome. I loved the variety of blocks that came in and I was amazed at how well they all complemented each other. As previously posted, I chose to make one large quilt from the blocks and a smaller quilt that will be a memento for the family. I got that top sewn together, too. I am going to do some embroidery and some other embellishment to the top and then I'll finish this one. When that's all done, I'll tell you why I selected and positioned blocks as I did. I'll also tell you exactly who made each block.

I kept almost every envelope and can tell you that blocks came from England, Australia, Canada and the states of Texas, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Delaware, North Dakota, Alabama, Missouri, Ohio, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah, and Minnesota!!! That's a photo of my "filing system". In addition, I took a photo of each block with the envelope from the sender so that I would be able to accurately identify who made what block(s). The newspaper article was one that was published a few weeks ago in our local paper. You can see Emma's photo and you can also go to http://www.hopeforsweetemma.com/ for further information.

I thought I'd also include a picture of Connie, Emma's grandma, and my Postlady. This was taken last summer when my grandson, Jacob, and I were taking Brown Bear for a visit around Henderson and photo-taking ops. :-)

SO, with the Emma's quilt off to be hand-quilted, I will move on to the next project - getting caught up on posting and loading photos to my blog!!!

Here's a peek at a quilt top that I was "gifted" with on my visit to Iowa last week. You'll find out it's origin and I'll take a full view photo to share in my next post. Til then.........it's lights out and off to bed.

I'm beginning to think I should sign my posts.........

The NightOwl!

Sandi

So much to tell you but no time to blog!

I have been sewing all day on the quilt for the Emma's Hope Fundraiser and it's still not quite done. I wanted it finished tonight but I just couldn't make it happen. The dog was sick again this morning so my day got off to a rough start. Steve and I had to take turns taking him out and I didn't even try to go to church. It was after 1:00 before I got back to sewing.
There's good stuff to tell you when I share about last week's quilt program and visits to quilt shops. Then tomorrow night (Monday) I have another program to do, so there will be more to tell. I have lots of pictures (although I haven't had time to load them onto the computer) and I brought home lots of fun vintage things that you will all enjoy plus an autograph quilt top that is so unique and it's mine. My cousin, Shirley, gave me this family piece as no one wanted it in her family. I was thrilled!! And my grandson had a great birthday last night and he loved his gifts so that was good fun. And good cake, too, made by his Aunt Mandy who is a cake decorator. More on that when I finally post for real. It will be late Monday night or Tuesday before I will find time to load photos and type up a post.
It was a nice day here today and supposed to be even nicer tomorrow. Love that spring sunshine and warm temps!
Gotta get some sleep now.
Sandi

The Joy of Giving May Baskets

As you know, I am not really giving away a May Basket but this book by Eleanor Burns is the next best thing! My husband drew a winner and the name is Ida. I have sent her an e-mail with the good news. As always, I had my husband draw a second and third name in case I don't hear from the first name drawn. Congratulations, Ida!!
I really enjoyed reading the comments you all left. I have more to share on that in a minute.
First, I said I was going to tell you the changes that will take place in my BOM and here's the scoop.............I have set up a Yahoo group called SeasonsBOM and that is where I will post all the PDF files for each month's block patterns. I am thankful to have blogger where I can blog for free. I looked at other services but they all charge a fee and I don't mind sharing my patterns. However, Blogger doesn't have an option for loading PDF's so I had to find a different venue. I have my Wooly Buddies Yahoo group and it works very well there to post patterns in PDF format. Membership is required, though, but it's free. I will "activate" the group next week on May 8th when I post the patterns for May. As I mentioned in a previous post, the need to go to Iowa for a quilt show and to take care of some things for my mother and just to visit with her, took precedence. I've spent the last few days there and have some fun stuff to share. Today, I was doing some shopping for a birthday gift for my grandson and shopping for a Mother's Day gift. I found perfect items in both cases. It's birthday cake time for my grandson this weekend and then Monday, I'll mail the gift off to my mom (I should have given more thought to this and shopped before I went to see her so I could give her the gift in person!). It's been a busy and enjoyable week.
So, now to the "Joy of Giving May Baskets"...........last year on this day, my grandson, Jacob and my niece, Sue Ellen delivered May Baskets to the residents of the Care Center where my dad had lived. I had planned to share them with all the residents, including my dad, but he took that drastic "turn for the worse" and passed away. He loved sweets, though, so the kids took the baskets to each of the 20 some residents and it cheered them up. A small care center is like a home and my dad spent the last two years of his life there. Everyone was sad that he had passed and any little joy would help bring a smile to the day. It's been a year since he died and the pain and sadness has softened and the tears don't come so easily now. Sometimes it just takes time and then you know everything is still going to be okay.
I'll be back later tonight - or tomorrow (just a bit tired so we shall see) to begin sharing the details of my trip to Iowa. I saw so much gorgeous green grass and so many tulips. Awesome!!
Sandi

Wishing you.............

a H A P P Y M A Y D A Y !!!

I'll be back shortly after 8:00 this evening with the winner of the Basket Book (see the Giveaway below as there is still time to enter) and the info on changes to my BOM postings and some other news. Have a sunny day!!

Sandi