Bit 'O Green

Writer's Note:  This was suppose to be posted a week ago.....ugh....not sure what happened to it, I am sure operator error.  The amount of silly things I do or forget to do on some days is ridiculous.  

Top of the morning to ya.....trust me I have no Irish accent and don't drink beer.  But even still, I always felt like I should have some Irish ancestry, but to my knowledge I don't.  I really like Celtic music and enjoy listening to it.  I thought I would share some things of mine that are green.

Here is part of the green stash that is not batik or reproduction or homespun.  I keep most of my fabric in glass covered lawyer type book cases.  It keeps them dust free, but I can still see what I have.  I also fold my fabric in a uniform way so they stack nicely and can always be seen.

 Dear Jane block G-7 Indianapolis, I think it is the only green block in my quilt so far.

 Oh my cutting mat.....could not live without several of them.  I am working on some string piecing of selvages and this narrow roll of muslin type fabric and the other stack are stitched on used up dryer sheets.  These will make great borders or a strippy quilt at some point.

The stash 'o repro's in green, thought you might enjoy the little J & P Coats box too.  I got that from a neighbor of mine and have it full of vintage spools and threads.  It has a floral motif on the top of the lid.

We are enjoying a beautiful week here in Ioway!!!  70-80 every day.....it has been wonderful and the Silver Fox and I have been uncovering flower beds every day we have been home.  It is so nice to have his help.  I planted some new things outside my front door, so am looking forward to seeing how things are going to look as they all come up.

 Hen and Chicks......these are the tiny ones.  I love these things and have them in several varieties, sizes all over the farm.

 A green friendship star.....this is a great block to make and one I have enjoyed putting together over the years. This little beauty is a 3" block finished, so each one of the little squares is 1" finished.  This is from a charm patch quilt, so each patch is different.  You would need to cut your squares 1-7/8" and cut them once diagonally to have the correct size to piece.  You can see the quilting I did with my machine that looks like hand quilting.  I love to do that on small pieces because of all the seam allowances ....hard hand quilting if you ask me.

 Now hear is the whole quilt......  I really like charm quilts, but they are time consuming to cut out.

I kept some of the books from my Great-Grandma W.'s house.  I don't think I have read this one and I should.....I love the cover on it and from perusing the pages it has an Irish theme to the story.  Isn't it a charming cover with the pooch and the shamrocks?

What a lovely shaped pitcher in green of course.....It came from my Grandma K. and I like to put flowers in it sometimes.....sweet!

This little house was on my Grandma K's big gas cook stove and she kept her salt in it.  It is chipped up and has been lovingly used, but it reminds me of her standing in front of her stove making fried, crispy potatoes in bacon grease for me in her big cast iron pan.

Enjoy!!!!

Felt Easter Baskets

I bought these adorable Easter Buckets last year at Target on clearance after Easter.  I had planned to make something similar for the grand kiddos......but when I saw these at 75% off.....buying was a lot easier!!!!

To personalize them, I embroidered their names out on felt, cut them out, and sewed them to the handle of each bucket.  How easy is that!!!!

Aren't these colors wonderful?  .....they would make a great quilt palette.

I haven't looked in Target or any of the other stores to see if you can purchase anything similar this season.  I would think you could find something like these.  Let me know and I will pass it on.

I am so excited to have the kids use them in a few weeks.

Little Girls Name Bracelet

Here is a quick craft to do with almost any age girl that would like a little bling.  I have a craft box full of cheap beads and charms, etc., again thanks to my grandmothers.   I let her pick out what she wanted and helped her with the arrangement.  Using 7 strand beading wire........

she strung all the beads on, make sure you have a bead holder on one end to keep them from falling off the other end.  Or you will have a frustrated kiddo.

After she had got them all put on, I tried it on her wrist to see how we were for length, and we did have to adjust it some.  Then I add a claw and crimp bead on one end and a split ring and crimp bead on the other end to finish it like a nice bracelet.  Waa-laa!!!

A pretty excited 4 year old with her new bracelet that she had made herself!!!

NOTE:  You could also use elastic thread and string it and tie the ends into a know with a little glue on it for security.  This is cheaper, faster and adjustable.   I just happen to like a nice jewelry fastener better.


These ALWAYS go over big!!!!  Sometimes we match the beads to an outfit and do a necklace and bracelet....better yet.

The Year of the Little Black Dress Part Deux

Remember this?  I wrote about this at little lovely at Coldwater Creek right after Christmas while shopping for a pair of black jeans.  If you haven't, go back and check out the December 30, 2011 post.  So this won't get too wordy, I am going to add a few random valentine's pics for you to enjoy!!!! 

This week was a big week around here.  After 3 years of study for my "Silver Fox" it came down to 75 questions to pass his RN boards.  We ended up traveling to Rochester, MN to pass Iowa boards.....now doesn't that make sense?  It was the closest location we could find so he could take it this week.

A cross stitch piece I did several years ago, I love the frame too.

So while he was taking the test I was at the nearby mall, shopping and praying for my guy to do his best.  And what was the first store I happen to spot......Coldwater Creek, here I come.  Now just remember I don't have one close by.....  so this gets me excited.  I head to the sale racks and start going through every item and what to my wondering eye should appear but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer........no that's not right....couldn't help myself.  :)

But there was the little black dress I so loved 8 weeks ago, marked down twice since then and then an additional 50% off.  I was beside myself.  So I hauled two different sizes to the "dress up" room.  And while I was trying them on.....Adele came on singing .......Rolling In The Deep.....  which for some reason that is still not clear to me, I LOVE this song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV9IQ_JzDhg&feature=related

Well, I took this as a sign...the clearance price pretty much had me as long as it didn't look like a sack on......which it didn't.  So I now have this little sweet thing hanging in my closet waiting.......

I made this valentine for Jeff last year.  On a whim hung it in front of Susan  Banch's book.....looks so neat!!!

After checking my watch a couple times thinking of my guy killing himself on this test.  He finally called ....the test took a little over an hour and the computer shut down at question 75, which was the minimum number of questions you could take.  To say this was an emotional moment right there in Apache Mall was an understatement as he met me and burst into tears as soon as he saw me.  We stood right there hugging, crying and pretty much oblivious to everyone around us.  As we finally could say this journey is finished. 

A beautiful valentine that my Grandma K. received at some time....isn't it stunning?

After pulling ourselves together I told him about finding the dress, the song, the clearance, the sign......then the bag with said dress.  He loved it.....now where to wear this baby on it debut.......stay tuned!!!

P.S.  I am taking a little break, but will be back in a couple weeks hopefully with some inspiring things to share with you. 

Happy Valentine's Day To You

A fun stack of " embroidered love" on my old kitchen scale all gifts from my friend, Normajean.

A ladder full of red quilts and stack of "love" books.

Valentine Greetings!!!

A valentine to my "Silver Fox" several years ago.  Find a verse that you love and print it out in several fonts and sizes.  Audition on a light box and trace the lettering with your light box and pigma pen.  Beautiful!!!

I added some silk ribbon embroidery too.  I just saw some linens like this at the dollar store for a buck.

Still life on my treadle, the young girl is my Grandma T. as a young girl.

I love pincushions, this is a sweet little red beauty with crocheted blooms.

A treasure box full of pink loveliness.

A box full of red hugs and kisses.

Happy Valentine's Day from me to you.

(Right click on the clip art and save if you wish.)

Doll Quilt Retreat with Kathleen Tracy

Then.......

Iowa quilting bee c.1930

Now.....

Yours truly, Robin, Shelley, Karan and Carolyn
My quilting buds

A week ago today I was enjoying a wonderful weekend full of talented women, the whirring of sewing machines, the constant buzz of chatter, with the occasional pop of laughter.  The Grout Museum sponsors a quilt retreat during these cold, looong days of winter and happened to coincide with a new exhibit called Covered in Glory.  It is a wonderful collection of vintage and modern day commemorative pieces that relate to the American Civil War.  http://www.groutmuseumdistrict.org/

The Waterloo Courier also did a nice article sharing many of the details of the exhibit with a couple really nice photos as well.  http://wcfcourier.com/lifestyles/covered-in-glory-commemorative-antique-civil-war-quilts-featured-in/article_ab9c48cf-54f5-5342-a1db-9cf9c3776762.html

Civil War commemorative quilt with it's pins on!

I bought these blocks from Marion, my local antique dealer friend several years ago.  The blocks were not made well and were all over the place in size....the fabrics in the blocks are wonderful and they just spoke to me.  So I measured them and trimmed them all to a similar size, then added the over-sized black sashing strips.  Then from there I trimmed them again to identical size, so you eye really does not see the imperfections.  The double pink print and border print are modern day.  I made it long and narrow in the "spirit" of a civil war soldier's cot quilt and hand quilted it.  

One of the highlights of the weekend was to meet Carolyn (center) from Des Moines.  She is the first blogger friend that I have met in person.....I am pretty sure we are kindred spirits.  :)  We had a delightful time of getting to know one another and she shared the most wonderful stories of her mother and grandmother while working at a fine fabric store in Des Moines.

Kathleen Tracy (right) was our guest for the weekend.  She designs small quilts with a vintage look and feel and likes to include historical diaries and writings to set the context of these quilt pieces.  That's how I met Carolyn through the yahoo group list that Kathy started.  I love these connections.  smallquilttalk@yahoogroups.com

Check our Kathy's blog to get a glimpse of the Covered in Glory quilt exhibit that will be open until September 1.  She did a wonderful slide show that captures the spirit and ambiance of it.   http://sentimentalquilter.blogspot.com/

On Friday we worked on Clarissa's Garden and let's just say I had trouble knowing which of my repro fabrics to bring with me.....soooo I brought almost all of it in a very large suitcase that my husband could barely lift....not really.  But it was very heavy.  I called it my bag 'o fun.  I took a "little" grief for that, but not much really in these circles.....they totally get it.  When you don't bring it....you need it.  But since we were doing scrap type pieces I knew I wanted to use lots and lots.....and lots of fabrics and needed to be able to choose and it worked out well.  Thank heavens the bag had wheels and I only had to lift it once to get it back into the van to go home.

My friend Karan, made me this little thread catcher.  Isn't it darling?  You can fold it easily and makes a  great way to keep track of your threads while you are stitching and traveling.  I think you might need one of these.....

http://lisabongean.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/thread-catcher.pdf

Clarissa's Garden Workshop

Beginning layout of my hourglass blocks.

Saturday's workshop doing the album block.

Carolyn brought this wonderful needle case to share out of salvages and tied closed with an old measuring tape.  She added decorative stitches and tea dyed them to give them a blended look.  Love this!!!

I enjoy Carolyn's blog too.  We like vintage finds and I always enjoy her photos of her home.  So you might want to take a look see.

http://leeprairiedesigns.blogspot.com/

Civil War Collection and Pattern

I just ran across this pattern using the new 1862 Battle Hymn fabric collection.
This quilt called the Checkered Past 1862 was drawn up by Barbara Brackman and the directions are found at the link below.
https://acrobat.com/app.html#d=5zuBtmwF6YnnxsgFNaNaZQ

I am sure most of you quilters know about Barbara's blogs.  They are wonderful and she has several going, which you can sign up for.  I would highly recommend the Civil War blog.

http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/