Updates and Sneak Peeks

This little couple sat on the railing of our deck for quite a while yesterday afternoon.


I'm not sure what that little plop of something is on the top rail, but if it's what I think it is, I'd be inclined to move this rendevous down the railing some!

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Remember this little quilt that I made for Doll Quilt Swap 6? It made a long trip and is now living at its new home in Australia...how fun! My swap partner, Lurline is the sweetest gal and I'm so happy to say she loves it:) Please check out Lurline's Place! for a most enjoyable visit that includes pretty quilts and her wonderful life Down Under!

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These are two "fill-in" blocks I made for Jacquie's Project Improv charity quilts. The deadline for blocks for the project was April 1st and at that time Jacquie could see that she would need a few more blocks from each color combo (pink/orange, red/aqua and blue/green) to make the quilts come out even. I said I could help out and was asked to make two blue/green fill-ins.



While sewing these, I remembered how fun those improv-style blocks are to make!

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My picnic table runner made with blocks from the Flickr group, My Favorite Quilters 4-patch block swap is quilted and finished. I really love the fabrics and colors and the combination of blocks that were sewn by other quilters around the country.


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I'm going to close with just a sneak peek of what I put in the mail this morning.



It's for another Flickr group, Swap Til You Drop, and is my creation for the "Spring Flowers" mini quilt swap. Partners for this swap are not kept secret so I want to wait until my partner receives her mini before I post a picture of it--you know, to keep the suspense going for just a couple more days:)

I hope you're having a nice day...we actually had some sunshine here today--woohoo!

Marilyn

Craft Day and Inspiration

We had a lovely day on Tuesday for craft day at Karla's. So lovely that I didn't take a single photo! It was just nice to sit and visit and craft...and enjoy a pitch-in lunch that was delectable and spring fresh.


I started a project that I read about on Mary's blog. She calls it a glue book and at our last craft day I had the pleasure of seeing it upclose. In a Moleskine pocket size sketchbook, she limits herself to paper and glue only (no paint, rubberstamps, etc.) to create lovely collaged pages.

I was enamoured with her little book and the idea of using paper and glue only. Sometimes (often?) I find myself overwhelmed by the possibilities in a mixed media collage project and spend too much time making decisions instead of enjoying the process. Probably that pesky perfectionist in me that I'm constantly fighting! The glue book would also provide another place for some of the ephemera I've collected over the past many years.

On Tuesday, I glued backgrounds to a half dozen or so pages and completed two pages. It was fun and something I could easily do while we talked. I'm really looking forward to doing more too...remembering that it's supposed to be fun and to shoo away those perfectionist pests should they show up to "play"!

Marilyn

Earth Day

This beautiful image, "How Flowers Changed the World" by Mary Southard, CSJ, is courtesy of Ministry of the Arts.

Marilyn

More Miss Frenchie's

A few more pictures from Miss Frenchie's April in Paris show...


and a look at my purchases. These adorable Bingo cards are


from Beth's booth.


Next to Beth was Karla's booth where I bought a pretty flowery tray.


And on the tray are two French chocolate cards purchased from Gwen (French by Design at Mission Road Antique Mall).


Mary and her sister were there Friday night too.


Mary and I swapped ATC's recently. She sent me this one using a lovely opera singer image. I love it!


Mary is an incredible artist and does awesome collage work! You really should check out her blog if you haven't yet been there!


She wrapped my ATC in lace and ribbon and mailed it in one of the delightful
envelopes she creates--a gift in a gift:) Thanks VERY much, Mary!

Marilyn

Miss Frenchie's

What a fun evening...Shawn and I went to Miss Frenchie's April in Paris Show. I bought just a few small items but there were so many beautiful pieces that caught my eye!











And these were just a few of them.....(sigh)

Marilyn

Me & Insects...Loving the Blooms

I am so enjoying the spring flowers this year...and it looks like the bugs are too:)



Marilyn

Signs of Spring

I know it's spring because we celebrated Easter and second daughter's and daughter-in-law's (baby-mama) birthdays this past weekend. But, little by little, it's even started to look like spring in places besides the calendar. The Redbud tree in the backyard is blooming, and to me, that says spring even more than the daffodils and the tulips which, as you may recall, were blooming when we got our last snow!


So today, in true spring-fever fashion, I ignored anything prefaced with "must" or "need to" and played in the craftroom, sewing up this little quilt top.


Last month, in the My Favorite Quilters Flickr group, we had a 4-patch quilt block swap. We made five 4-patch blocks each for five other quilters and received back the same number of blocks. One of the swappers sent me an extra block and another sent two extra so I made two more to bring it to an even thirty blocks, measuring 24 x 28 inches.

I love the random variety of fabrics. After quilting and binding it, I think I'll use it for a table topper here at home or take it along on a picnic for two--you know when you don't want to mess with a full size tablecloth on the picnic table but would like to have something to eat your deli sandwich over:)

Hmmm, picnics...another sign of spring?

Marilyn

Happy Easter!

During this Season of
New Beginnings may
God's Easter Promise
fill you with these
Blessings of Renewed Life

Joy-filled hope. . .

Unexpected blossomings. . .

Profound possibilities. . .



Happy Easter!


"Easter Allium" photo and design by Kattalina M. Kazunas.
Card is courtesy of Ministry of the Arts

Marilyn

Tablecloths and Tulips (surely there's a better title for this post!)

There are some things that just don't seem to translate well to blogging. This is one of those things, even though it's what I've been working on for the better part of the last 5 days. Tablecloths. An essential foundation to holiday table decor, but alone, just how much is there to say?


Well...

I can tell you that I made them for tables at church for Easter Sunday. The colorful ones on the left will be used on two hospitality tables and the lace one goes on the communion table.


And, I can tell you that sewing on this scale is much different than sewing mini quilts or doll quilts. The hospitality table cloths are rectangular, measuring 130 x 88 inches. This morning after I finished the sewing and was ironing them, Rick said it looked like I was trying to iron a parachute...and it kind of felt that way too:)

The communion table is round, 48" diameter with a 33" drop. I used six lace curtain panels, and a lot more physical activity than I planned, to make the tablecloth for it. It ended up being easier for me to spread everything out on the living room floor to put it together, but that also called for bending and kneeling and stretching that I'm not accustomed to when sewing.

Maybe I can look at it as warm up exercises for the bending and kneeling and stretching that comes with yard work.


Fortunately, all of that happened last fall when I planted these tulip bulbs and, now, I can just sit back and enjoy the blooms.


But wait, does it look like this flower bed could use some fresh mulch? Maybe...but I think I'll pass on that this weekend, thank you.

Marilyn

Play Time

A package of fabric that I ordered came in the mail late last week. One of the pieces was turquoise with orange dots and the colors inspired me to play. So I pulled out pieces of fabric from my stash and my scraps and made this block...or mini quilt...not really sure yet, or if I'm actually finished with it. It feels finished to me right now but I think I'll let it sit on the cutting table a while longer, just to be sure.

Remember this group of fabrics that I said I was going to use for Doll Quilt Swap 6?


Well, I started working on it--made four small blocks--but just wasn't feeling it. I went back to it the next day...still nothing. I decided to just start over.

It's times like this that really justify (hehehe) having a stash of fabric, and after a session of pull it out/put it back, I ended up with this grouping.


One more audition that eliminated two of them and, finally, I was sewing a doll quilt that I could get excited about...and voila! I really like the colors in this one.


For now, my partner is a secret and their location is a secret, but I can say that I'll be mailing it to them sometime next week. Which means I'll have time to wonder who's making a doll quilt for me...and where it's coming from:) Isn't this fun?

Marilyn