Cute Critters!

Recently, I've been working on one too many projects and so, the current state of my sewing room is creatively messy. I decided I had to bring some order to my room before I began another project and I thought that if I was going to clean then I would "really clean"! So, I moved furniture, vacuumed behind this and that, dusted, etc. And when I moved my sewing chair away from the wall and got behind it to vacuum, I was staring face-to-face with my little shelf that holds these cute critters.............
I thought, "I've got to share these because they are so sweet, so intricately made". I just have to share. :-) Plus there's a story behind them. I bought them several years ago at Villa Maria, the retreat center where I host retreats for my quilty friends. They were brought to the Villa by a Sister who was helping a prisoner raise funds for his legal case somewhere in the southeast part of the U.S. I don't know what the case was all about but interestingly, he was allowed crochet thread and used wire in some way so that he could crochet these. When I bought the first one, I could not believe the workmanship and so the next year I went to retreat, I bought two more. And when I went the next year, I would have bought another one but the prisoner couldn't make them anymore. That's because he was no longer allowed to have the wire to use to crochet. Now, I spent almost ten years volunteering (crafts) at the Minnesota Correctional Facility nearby and no one there would be allowed wire. In fact, offenders must earn a "craft permit" to have even a small number of items that they may use to paint, etc. I had to be very careful of what I brought in for the card crafting and clay classes that I taught. Everything had to meet certain requirements, otherwise, it's considered "contraband". So, I guess somebody must have decided that the wire and the crochet thread fit that definition and the man wasn't allowed to make any more cute critters.
I've mentioned before that I don't knit or crochet but I sure can appreciate the art. The size of these critters ranges from the puppy at about 3" tall to the sheep which is just a bit more than 4" tall.

Here's another view............

I have no idea how you would do that loopy stitch on the lamb but it sure looks cute. The other items in the first photo are .......... a piece of crewel work that I did in the late 70's and I love it because of the bright colors. And then the little quilt was cross stitched by my mother and she made it into a little quilted wallhanging. I bought the shelf at Michael's and stained and varnished it because it was just right for my cute little critters and the quilt. :-)

It has been pretty hot and humid here the last few days. However, it has not been as hot as it is for some of you in the northeast and along the east coast. This past weekend, it was a very quiet holiday weekend for us so I suggested that we go to Toody's Sweets and Treats for something to cool us off........like ice cream. :-) We got our cones and then went outside in 90 degree weather just to enjoy the sun and small town life. We sat on the bench in front of Toody's and our view across the street was these flowers.........too pretty so I had to share........

The flowers sit in the front of Wager's,the local grocery/gas store. It's a building that is on the National Historic Register, as are many of the buildings on Main Street in Henderson. I think it's the prettiest Main Street in Minnesota. :-)

Today is to be much cooler so I might just open the windows while I do some more cleaning. :-)

Have a good one!
Sandi

What's on the line?

There's just one little item on the line today. It's another of the small quilts that I made in 2000 to celebrate the Millennium. It's called "Flowers for Mama" because it was the quilt for May and in celebration of Mother's Day.

Now I know it's long past May, but recently I enjoyed having my mother come for a visit. And this coming weekend I am going home to Iowa for a visit and a family reunion. Thoughts of the reunion and family and friends that I'll get to see have been on my mind all day. I've also been thinking of those that are no longer here to join us. Kinda sad but at least there are many good memories. I've thought a lot about my Grandma Goldie today. This day, July 4th, was just about her favorite day of summer. She loved the parade and watching Bill Reilly's talent show (this was in Iowa) in the park band shelter. I have several clear memories of her sitting on a bench watching the show or waiting while the rest of the family made the rounds of the carnival in the park at Gowrie. I also have clear memories of her at the church playing the piano and at Ladies aid meetings quilting with the ladies, shaking rugs on the front stoop at their farmhouse, letting me go get the mail, the raccoons that wouldn't leave her garden alone, and going to the chicken coop so there could be fried chicken. Oh, and I remember the night we stayed with her when my brother was born. My dad brought M&M's to me and my sister and told us we had a baby brother. I really remember those M&M's. LOL! You know, I have a good friend who says I'm a "sentimental slob"......she said it lovingly.....and I think she's right. LOL! I do love a trip down Memory Lane!!!
When I made the little quilt that's on the line today, I was thinking not just of my mother, but also my Grandma. I made this one in blues because my mother loves blue but I also gathered some browns and amber colors because they were colors my grandma loved. I had planned to make another one of these little quilts in those colors and never got it done. But soon I'm going to get to it because this little quilt is going to be a challenge project in my Season's BOM group and I'm going to do it as a tutorial here on my blog. It won't be this week because I'm busy with reunion plans and another little quilty project (soon I'll be able to share it!). But by next week, I should have it ready to share with you all. I have a whole bunch of ideas for how you can vary this design and give it your own "stamp". :-)
Here's a close-up of the little quilt. It's super easy and goes together very quickly. Plus it doesn't take a lot of fabric. Fabric requirements and all the details will be in the blogpost sometime next week.
Hope you all had a nice weekend. I'm headed to Firefly Quilt Shop this morning for some quilty fun. Have a great Monday!
Sandi

Come and see the parade!

That's right, I promised that I would share photos of Henderson's Sauerkraut Days parade that was held last Sunday and here they are. I know this has nothing to do with quilting but you never know when you might see something that will inspire a quilt. I heard "inspiring words" all around me as the parade came down the street..........parents urging their children that they needed to stand and salute as the Color Guard marched by. It was like a ripple that went through the crowd as the men marched by and then men, women and children stood in honor and respect of those who have served and those who are currently serving our country in the military.

If my information is correct there is at least one grandfather and grandson pair in the photo above. The Color Guard stopped to salute with the firing of their guns. They were almost right next to us.

I love the sound of the rifle salute but my grandson has some hearing issues and loud noises really bother him. He covered his ears during the firing of the guns (and when the fire trucks came by, too).

Every parade has to have a Grand Marshall ...............

but not every parade has a Kraut King!

The history of Sauerkraut Days is sketchy but sometime back in the 1930's a festival began that would celebrate that great German treat and, of course, there was a contest to see who could eat the most in the shortest amount of time. That tradition continues today. If you go here you can see a black and white photo, likely from the 1950's, with folks ready to down their plate of sauerkraut in record time. My Aunt Bell used to make sauerkraut and I am sorry to say that memories of the smell of it, do not whet my appetite like a brat cooking on the grill will do. :-)

There were lots and lots of queens and princesses on a number of floats. Here is the newly crowned Miss Henderson and her court.

You can't have a parade without kids.............

and you must have a band........this is the local LeSueur-Henderson High School band.

And here is another float with some more local royalty.............

You may notice that their waves are synchronized. I wonder who started that wave? I just remember that when I was a kid, the queen's waved their hand like they were really waving at you. Made me feel special. Sorry but I am not a fan of the current wave. Enough on that, however...........anybody have an idea what "Kolacky Days" is? Since this is a celebration day and it's associated with the flag and all things red, white and blue, how about a prize if you can answer that question. Since this is basically a blog about quilting and fabric, I'm inspired by this colorful float and will send four pretty patriotic fat quarters to the person who correctly tells me what "Kolacky Days" is and also, you must tell me what a "Kolacky" is. :-) I know the answer.........I'm just giving you a chance to have some fun. :-) If more than one of you has the right answer, I'll put the correct entries along with your name into my basket and let my "Random Number Man" draw a winner.

Okay, back to the parade............

Two little girls were pulling this wagon with two tiny kittens in it. My daughter said she needed to stay away from the wagon or she'd end up bringing one of them home. She already has two cats that were kittens that she couldn't say no to. LOL!

The area Shriner's from the Twin Cities entertained with their driving skills in these mini Corvettes. There was also a Shriner's Motorcycle group and I missed that picture. They really went .......zoom, zoom, zoom!!

There were a few rain showers during the parade but entrants and the crowd came prepared with umbrellas.............

This next entry comes from the Sioux Falls, South Dakota area and they are an awesome drumline!! Before we moved to Henderson, I'd never heard of them. Now I love to hear them. To read the history of the group, just go here . If you live in the midwest, they may be marching in a parade near you, so go here for their 2010 schedule.

So, I really like the drumline but two of my favorite things in a parade are ..........the tractors...........

and the horses............

Riding a horse is on my "bucket list"............someday...........

Does this dog remind you of the "Shaggy Dog" movie starring Tommy Kirk? Loved that movie.

The parade ended with some classic cars. These were what my grandson, Jacob, was waiting to see. This purple chevy is awesome..........

My dad would have liked this coupe.........

But Jacob's favorite was this Mustang!

That's all folks..............

The End.


Happy Independence Day!!

And the winner is............

I wasn't planning a blogpost again until the 4th of July but then I realized that I hadn't announced the winner of my giveaway in celebration of 500 posts and two years of blogging. I waited until my "Random Number Man" got home from work and then he drew the name of .........

Nanette~at~Freda's~Hive!

It's a little hard to read but that tiny slip of paper says Nanette's name. I pinned it to my lucky drawing basket. It's one that my mother made back in the 80's. You can tell by the color and the style. :-) Now I know that I could use a random generator program on the Internet but this old-fashioned way is more fun and it gets my husband involved. I usually have him draw a back-up name in case the winner doesn't reply to my e-mail. I didn't have to do that this time because I've been lucky enough to "know" Nanette for most of the two years that I've been blogging. It is actually very fitting that her name would be drawn because when I first began blogging, she was one who faithfully commented and encouraged me along the way. So, not only do Congratulations go out to Nanette, but also a big Thank You for being such a good blogging buddy. :-)

There's one more winning name that I need to share and that's for the CSN Bathroom giveaway that I posted recently. The winner is Amber of Wambers~Whimsies blog. My husband drew her name and she has replied to my e-mail and has received her gift card from CSN. Thanks for all those great bathroom decorating ideas that you all shared. I'll be following up on that post when I actually make the changes in that little bathroom sometime later this summer. :-)

Have a great day! I'm planning a good one filled with stitching and lots of red, white, and blue fabrics!

Sandi

A Patriotic Angel!

First of all, I can hardly believe that it is July already. Summer just flies by and this one seems to be going exceptionally fast! This coming month is a busy one and it starts with the celebration of Independence Day on July 4th. Audrey the Angel is ready to celebrate what that day is all about.....

"Life, Liberty, Peace"

Yes, I know that the more common saying is "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but I like my version better. Happiness can come with peace. If there is no peace, then happiness eludes us. Just my thoughts on the subject. :-)

The detail on the flag in this design can be a challenge to stitch. I used just one strand of floss for all the stitching on the flag and for the tiny dove in Audrey's palm. If you are stitching these and you are not from the U.S., you can replace the flag with your own country's flag. To access pdf files for all the angels that have been posted since January, just click on the Angel button on my sidebar and join my Seasons BOM Yahoo group. All the patterns are there along with other block of the month patterns that I've designed.

Just a reminder.......I share these patterns for your personal use only. They may not be used in any class or for sale of any kind. I drew the designs during a time of personal challenge and each angel was inspired by a family member or friends or both. This month's angel was inspired by my Grandma Goldie and her love of the July 4th holiday, plus it's my son's birthday on the 5th. He was born in 1976. I remember the 4th of July very well that year as there were so many varieties of celebrations going on. My favorite was the big ships that sailed in honor of our countries big birthday. I also remember that my back ached all that day and I knew my time was soon.......just not soon enough for a July 4th baby. That's life and I was just happy that my baby was healthy. :-)

To all my blogging friends, followers and readers who are celebrating Independence Day.......I wish you a very Happy 4th of July!!! Stay safe on the roads, in the water, at the beach, watch out for the other guy and all that stuff that a mother says to her children when she wants them to return home safely. It applies to friends, too. :-) And to all my friends in Canada, this is a celebration day so "Happy Canada Day!!"

I'll be posting next on Sunday, July 4th when I share the photos of the parade from Henderson's Sauerkraut Days. Til then ....... have a great weekend!!

Sandi

A collection of odds and ends........

You may wonder what this picture has to do with quilting........
Actually, it has nothing to do with quilting but the items in the picture have a story, just like my quilts and stitcheries so that's why I'm sharing it. We all have things we love no matter our age or stage in life. The toy garage you see in the photo was a Christmas gift that Santa brought to our son, Devlin, a long time ago, probably some time in the early 80's. It got a lot of play time as he collected lots of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars. Time came when the garage and the cars got packed away in a box. I didn't want to sell it or give it away for I knew one day a grandchild might enjoy playing with it. Sure enough, grandson Jacob loved the garage, in part because it had a "sound panel" and with just a press of the button (battery operated) you could hear the sound of a horn, or an engine trying to start, etc. Whenever he arrived for a visit, the first thing he would do is go to the bedroom where the toys were kept and he'd get out the garage and the cars and begin to line them up, position them just so and have a great time just playing "cars and trucks". He came for a visit this past Sunday because it was Sauerkraut Days here in Henderson. But I had to chuckle because after we returned from watching the parade, he came in the house, went right upstairs and got out the garage and the cars and trucks. :-) He played for a bit and then he was ready to play games on the computer. It struck me how comforting we find certain things......a quilt, a doll, a favorite knick knack, something, anything special. It usually has some connection to a good memory of a time, a place or a person. There will come a day when the garage will no longer be taken from the closet and when that time comes, I'll pack it in a box, along with the cars and trucks. I'll label it so one day it will go to Jacob and he can give it to his children (I like to think there will be great grandchildren one day). And hopefully, he'll share stories of visits to Grandma's house and playing with cars and trucks and doing crafts and other fun stuff. I just had to share these thoughts. There's so much depressing stuff in the news that I had to offer something more comforting. :-)
Now, I mentioned that it was Saurerkraut Days in Henderson this past weekend and it was to be an event-filled weekend. However, Mother Nature had other plans. We got some pretty severe storms on Friday night that cancelled the Classic Car Cruise. Saturday dawned cloudy, hot and humid. You could just feel the weather was going to get "rocky" and sure enough around 5:00 p.m. storms and tornado warnings started to pop up in our area. Saturday night's events were canceled due to the storms. At around 8:00, the sirens went off and I took the dog, some sewing and went to the basement to wait out the wind and rain. Eventually, even my husband decided he should head downstairs. As always, with severe storms, some areas got more hail, wind and rain than others. There were lots of branches down and some very tipsy trees...I think because the wind blew so hard and with the ground saturated, the trees just leaned over. Both our kids had water in basements to contend with at their business places and our daughter's car suffered some hail damage. Everyone was okay, though, so plans were still on to attend the big parade at noon on Main Street. We found our favorite spot for watching the parade and hoped that there would not be rain. Looking to the east, you could see that big thunder clouds were billowing and the storms were heading east. This was just before the parade began at noon..........
I love to take pictures of clouds. :-) There was lots of sun and we were ready for the parade to begin. We were not dissappointed as it was a great parade even though a few rain drops fell on the crowd. And what a crowd! I'm going to share my parade photos with you all but I'm not going to do it today. Instead, I'm going to post them on July 4th. When I was a kid growing up in Iowa, we always went to the town of Gowrie for it's big "4th of July Parade". I miss not seeing a parade on the 4th. So, I will be blogging about the Sauerkraut Days parade and it will be almost like having a parade on the 4th. :-) You just won't be able to hear the music or see the live action of all the queens and princesses as they wave to the crowds! Oh, and you won't be able to gather candy that is tossed to the crowds. LOL! So, if you live nearby and didn't make it to the parade, you can see it here on Sunday. And if you don't have a parade where you live, then you can stop by and "watch" the parade, too. :-)

As my title noted.......this is an "odds and ends" post. That's because I didn't know what else to call it. LOL! I have lots of "odds and ends" that I need to finish up, but here I am at the computer. I find I am at the computer a lot (maybe even too much). Anyway, I might not have much computer time for the next couple of weeks as I'm going to be kind of busy with some family reunions, etc. Don't be surprised if I don't post regularly. Speaking of posts, be sure you go over to visit Nanette's blog as she is the hostess for Sarah's Placemat Party today. I'm guessing it will be something really cute as she finds the best fabrics for her quilting projects! I took the placemat that I made to my daughter and she's going to give it to Jacob. He was at the park with a playgroup so I missed seeing him. She liked the placemat so much she asked if there could be two more...one for her and one for Daryl. So, guess what I am going to do today? I'm going to make two more placemats! And then I'm going to make a table runner for me and I'll be sharing about that on Friday. :-) Time to get off the computer and get to those "odds and ends". Oh, and the July Angel will be posted tomorrow. See you then!
Sandi

It's a Placemat Party!

A few weeks ago, Sarah of SewJoy blog sent me an e-mail and asked if I'd like to participate in her "Placemat Party". She designed a cute and simple placemat pattern and all we had to do was make a placemat from her pattern and then join in the fun of a blog hop party!! I love fun, blogging, and fabric so it was easy to reply with a "yes"! For all the details on the blog hop just go here to Sara's blog, where you'll find examples of her design done in different fabrics. Plus, there are even prizes!!
Once I decided to join the Placemat Party, I let Sarah know that I would be using patriotic fabrics for my sample. Here they are.........
I have had these fabrics for quite awhile. I won the four large print pieces at a quilt club meeting in 1999 when Hancock fabrics did a trunk show and those four fabrics (1/2 yard cuts) were the door prize. I like them because they have "sparkle" so when I found the two blues and the flag print that also had "sparkle", I had to have them, too. When I unfolded the "patchwork" looking piece, an idea popped into my head..........

"fussy-cut squares"..........and that's just what I did to get fabrics that I could use for the corner of Sarah's placemat design! And here is my finished placemat...........

I followed the pattern but made one variation.....I added a pocket to each side of the placemat so that tableware could go in one pocket and a napkin in the other pocket as you see here.......

I made this placemat for someone special........my grandson, Jacob. He's going camping this weekend so I thought it would be fun to have a special placemat for the picnic table. He was here to visit this past Sunday and I gave him some patriotic tinsel garland that he can use to decorate his tent. And this afternoon, I am going to go visit him and take him this placemat. He's young enough that he'll think this is cool. :-) I even bought some patriotic plates so when he parties for the 4th it might look like this ...........

I used a mottled red fabric for the backing and sewed it together "pillow-case style" as I call it. Translation.....I sewed backing, batting and quilt top together and left a small opening so I could turn it inside out. Then I slip-stitched the opening closed and did some machine quilting along the border and along each block. Then I added a label because as I was making the placemat, I realized that the fabric is from the same year Jacob was born! This then made me realize that he's growing up too fast and also, that I really need to use my stash and not buy any more fabric for awhile. Ha! Jacob will continue to grow and I will continue to buy fabric! :-)
So, there you have it ......... a patriotic placemat that was as fun as a party when I was making it! I enJOYed making it a lot! Seriously, it was very easy and went together very quickly. Thanks, Sarah, for a fun pattern which gave me the opportunity to make a special gift for my grandson! And yes, I have enough fabric left that I will probably make more of these. I think they would also be really cute made up for kids in bright prints with polka dots and zoo animals and other fun kid prints.......and in Christmas fabrics.........and in cute kitchen prints. Oh, yes, lots of variations and I have fabric in my stash for all of these ideas. LOL!

Now........be sure to check out Sarah's blog for details on how you can win her pattern, fabric and some other goodies. She is also offering each of us on the blog hop, a pdf of her pattern so one lucky winner will get a copy of Sarah's pattern just by leaving a comment on this post. And to sweeten the JOY, I have added a journal for keeping track of your projects ....... and...... a new little pattern (from Valorie Wells) for a wallet so you can make one and then tuck cash in it so you can save to buy fabric.........and then there is a pair of my favorite little scissors from Singer (so sharp for cutting tiny pieces and snipping threads, plus they have large rubber handles for easy grip!).

All you have to do is leave your name and a link to your blog and/or your e-mail address so that I will be able to contact you if you win. Comments are open now through Friday evening. A winner will be announced on Saturday morning, July 3rd. Good luck and enJOY!

Sandi