A Very Giving Effort

For some time my friend Jean had a vision of starting a quilting group at church. She would teach the ladies how to quilt and then they would make donation quilts. What a delight to have seen this vision become a reality. The group meets twice a month for almost a full day. Some had not quilted before. Jean is not only extremely talented, but a patient and gifted teacher. A fabric company donated many yards of fabric and they all got to work.

The presentation at church one Sunday was quite impressive.

Unfortunately due to my work schedule, I cannot join this group, but I can encourage them, applaud them and pray for them as they continue to make another great batch of cheerful and beautiful quilts.

The beautiful quilts have made their way to Hospice and will soon bless patients. Hopefully the quilts will both warm their bodies and warm their hearts. I know they did mine.

New Blogger!

There are so many creative beings out there, and I love to see their latest accomplishments and ideas through blogs. I especially like to encourage new bloggers. A great new one to check out is http://elysesusan.blogspot.com. Above is a pic of one of her newest - a bright batik sewing machine cover. Also notice the shelf in the upper right corner - instead of the usual wood or metal brackets, she used ribbon! It's not only decorative, but does a good job of holding up the small shelf.

Although taught as a young girl, Elyse is fairly new to the sewing world. She doesn't mind new challenges and is fairly courageous (multiple zippers didn't eve phase her on one of her earlier projects!). I enjoy her choice of bold, bright colors and her use of large patterns in small spaces - something I just don't have the courage to do. I also love the generous spirit she has shown in making her friends so many beautiful gifts.

And yes, she's my daughter of whom I am very proud. Interesting is how I'm now learning from her. It's a direction I have embraced and would like to give her all the encouragement possible. She is a joy, and so are her talents.

Quilts for the Cubicle

I don't work in a cubicle, but if I did, I would definitely want to brighten it. I was so inspired to create three cubicle quilts for my daughter. The first one was this flower CQ that I gave her in May. I had fun using cording, paints and beads.

The second was inspired by her return from Quilt Market. As we quilters know, "Most Fabric Wins" - definitely! I wanted to make this one very three dimensional. I baked yarn for the hair (wet yarn wrapped around a dowel).

I filled the little pincushion and those are real pins in there - just made shorter with a wire cutter. The handbag, well, MK is her favoriate handbag designer and this was the only way she was ever going to get one from me! I went to GoodWill and bought a little purse, cut it up and began to sew. It so reminded me of when I sewed Barbie clothes - I never enjoyed that much either! But just this one was fun. The shoes were a challenge. I was finally pleased with them after I added the glitter paint.

To finish it off, instead of a traditional binding, I used yarn - zig zagged three rows around the edges.

The third was for the Fourth of July holiday. We love Lady Liberty, so I used a silhouette of the statue. Again I chose not to use a traditional binding. I used a "fabric fringe" binding - made it so much more fun!

Wouldn't it be nice to have a CQ for each month of the year?!

June Retreat

Once again a group of creative souls went to Waterfall Mountain to creat to their heARTS desire! And once again, SO much was accomplished! The weather for this retreat was perfect. Beautiful temperate mountain air and sunshine. Seven of us made it up the mountain to see the waterfall that was flowing full as a result of the recent rains. We saw deer and a busy groundhog that is apparently an unwelcome inhabitant under the house. Sorry Liz, no giraffe was spotted this trip! There was also all the beautiful flora and fauna. It was such a treat to see the beautiful maple tree outside the window in full leaf - quite a change from its bare self in March.

Jean has sewn quite a stack of her metallic squares. It is going to be such a pretty quilt!



Linda's taking a rest, planning her next move with the quilt she is generously putting together for a neighbor.

Cheryl diligently works on a handbag - wish I had a pic of the finished bag - it was wonderful!

Margaret spent the weekend appliqueing. Her work is just so meticulous.

This is a beautful pinwheel quilt top that Cathy put together - one of many projects she worked on over the weekend. She definitely took the prize for the most prolific quilter!

All their hard work just tuckered out Maryline and Marianne.

Unfortunately, we did not get a group pic taken. That will have to be done at the beginning of the next retreat.

I so enjoyed spending a weekend of fun and creativity with this group of talented and delightful women!

Back in Clay

I haven't "played in clay" in a very long time. I have a small handbuilding room and my own kiln, but I just haven't been inspired to go in there and and get my hands dirty. My friend Diane has a handbuilding studio, http://dianeomalley.com/creations/ , that I went to several Monday evenings. I built many things but am pleased with just a few. I made this textured vessel and love the earthy, primitive glaze.

Because I spend most of my creative time quilting, I thought buttons might be fun and I could incorporate my two crafts. I really like the larger one. This was experimentation and I'm looking forward to making lots of buttons using different techniques and glazes, especially now I have an idea of how they'll come out.

The best part about the time spent at the studio was the fellowship with other crafters. Three that were there were new to clay and it was so much fun to see their joy when crafting their creations. One young gal was a professional potter, having honed her skills in college. Much could be learned from both her talents and cheerfulness. Thanks to Diane for opening her studio for a fun experience!

Cute Gift Project

It's graduation time and the usual gift is a check. Although it is surely very much appreciated by the recipient, I wanted to make it just a little more special. I purchased a card, but made a fabric envelope - a little more special than a paper envelope.

Here's how: Carefully undo the envelope and lay it flat. Take two pieces of coordinating fabrics cut larger than the envelope pattern, and fuse them together. Trace the envelope onto one of the fabric sides and cut out. Score the fold lines and fold. I used a strip of fusible web to close the envelope sides, or you could use some glue.

I then positioned a button on the back so the envelope flap would slip under the button. I added a couple of beads to the button that just happened to match the fabric patters - how cute is that?! To personalize the envelope, I painted the graduates initial with Lumere paint on the front of the envelope. It was quick, fun, and easy and hopefully will be a little keepsake.

Who Who!

We have lived in our home for 24 years and have had many great "nature experiences." One of the great joys of having so many trees is that there is an amazing abundance of birds in our yard. We often hear owls hooting and on occasion see an owl in the woodsy part of our yard. I even had the incredible experience once of seeing an owl swoop down and catch its prey - what I believe was a baby squirrel. Last week Bob noticed that an own stayed perched in one spot for most of the day for many days. Then the ol' eagle eye spotted why - an owl's nest and a baby owl! This was such a treat and we spent a lot of time with the binoculars enjoying this young fuzzy creature. He left the nest sometime during the past two days and the adult hasn't been seen either. What a treat it was - worth the 24 year wait!