A Scot in Tennessee

Inspiration Blog - The International Quilt Challenge

2011-09-26T08:27:00.004-05:00

To quote their own blurb - "A group of internet artists from all over the place who have decided to give each other a challenge every few weeks, on a theme chosen by each in turn. We have different ideas and styles, but share a love of textiles, and want to have some fun."
This group of textile artists is currently wrapping up their first challenge "Light and Shadow" and moving on to "Through The Window" Lots of interesting interpretations to see and be inspired by. The blog has only been running since July so I will be interested to see how the themes develop over time.
The artists "in residence" are :-
Deirdre Abbotts www.deirdreabbotts.com/
Esther Aliu www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/
Marion Barnett http://artmixter.blogspot.com/
Sally Bramald http://quiltfeather.blogspot.com/
Jane Davila http://janedavila.com/
Felicity Hopkins http://textileseahorse.blogspot.com/
Angela Huddart http://angelasquilts.blogspot.com/
Sue Krekorian http://magicarmchairstitcher.blogspot.com/
Claire Lynch http://millypenny.blogspot.com/
Julie Mackinder
Liz Plummer http://lizplummer.com/blog/
Paula Rafferty http://paularafferty.blogspot.com/
Annabel Rainbow www.annabelrainbow.com/
Margaret Ramsay http://magsramsay.blogspot.com/
Elma Richmond
Sandra Wyman http://thedyershand.blogspot.com/
Hop on over to http://internationalquiltchallenge.blogspot.com/ to see some interesting "inspiration" photos and thoughts that lead to the finished pieces. (I'll up-date the personal links as I find them.)

My favorite interpretation of the Light and Shadows theme is "Indigo Hill Arches" by Margaret Ramsay with Esther Aliu's "Shadow and Sunrise" nipping at her heels :)

The London Hippodrome

2011-08-08T08:06:00.001-05:00

Now there's an interesting looking building. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me so I asked my daughters to take a few shots for me. The building dates from 1900 and was originally used for a circus and variety performances. It then became a music-hall and variety theater. In 1958 the inside was demolished and turned into a cabaret restaurant. It is currently undergoing more renovation.

"Hello down there, why not come up and join us !!!"

We also passed Ripley's on our mammoth walkabout. A visit inside will have to wait for another jaunt across the "big puddle". Piccadily Circus has changed somewhat since the days my mother worked there at Drummonds Bank, and unfortunately looks even more "signage tacky" since I lived in London.

I feel like I've been busy the past few weeks with a lot of traveling - college visits for daughter #3, volunteer work, a visit to Ohio to do some house painting for my mother-in-law, shopping trips to help daughter #1 get ready for her mission in California, woodwork project in our house, and a bunch of other stuff locally. We are currently dogs/house sitting.
It's been way too hot and humid for me to sew much, (though I have been helping my daughter with hers,) so I've been doing a lot of productive genealogy research related to my great-uncle and one of my cousins. (That internet travel has taken me to New Jersey, Ontario, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, England, Scotland and India !)
School starts back up at the end of this week for my two youngest. Summer break has felt really short this year. Daughter #2 is flying in for a short visit in a couple of weeks and hopefully we will get together when hubby and I are doing an overnight layover in Utah in September.

Colourful Friday - Leaves

2011-07-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

Want to see more fun ideas? Hop on over to Robyn at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com

Scots Corner - Camera Obscura

2011-07-27T08:38:00.000-05:00

After a visit to Edinburgh Castle we decided to try out the Camera Obscura which is located just outside the castle. It was built specifically as a tourist attraction in the 1850's by Marie Theresa Short. We had a whooole lot of fun in the "World of Illusions" exhibit, most of which is hands on. The short Vortex Tunnel at the end took me a wee while to stop feeling like tipping over :)
The Camera is at the very top of the building, about 5 flights up with no other access, and we were fortunate to see through it on a lovely day. (When it rains hard or is foggy there is not much to see.) There is a walkway outside on the roof that gives great views over the rooftops of old Edinburgh.
We opted to start at the top and work our way down. We all enjoyed ourselves, though it took me a wee while to regain my balance once we were done :)

http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/

Scots Corner - Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

2011-07-20T07:33:00.000-05:00

Plan on spending at least a day at this wonderful, free to the public, museum in Glasgow. After all the wonderful exhibits we saw, my favorite part of the building was the Central Hall of all places. The pipe organ was played at lunchtime which made for a nice ambiance as we ate and wandered round.

And then there's the "Hanging Heads." On their own, amongst the light fixtures, they look somewhat out of place but in context with the rest of the exhibit they make more sense. The expressions are hilarious.

Once we got to Glasgow we took the underground to Kelvingrove and then a short walk to the museum. There's lots of other sites to see in the area but we opted to spend the day inside this impressive building. Definitely a must see again.

Being Creative- July-Summer

2011-07-19T09:44:00.004-05:00

A while ago I mentioned that Julia Crossland has a fun activity, Being Creative, going on at her blog. http://juliacrossland.blogspot.com/ She currently has some lovely crocheting happening.

The theme for July is "Summer" and I realized that I already have a number of "in progress"pieces of art work/textiles that would fit that theme. I've picked out my sunflower and butterfly vase mat to work on. I want to add beading to it but have not worked out what and where yet.

The themes for the rest of the year are -

August : Travel

September : Autumn

October : Party

November : Fire

December : Winter

Colourful Friday - Triangles

2011-07-15T09:13:00.001-05:00

"Triangles" is the theme for this Friday and I opted not to do my "one photo" personal challenge so I could share more photographs from our recent trip.

1. St. Paul's Cathedral, London

2. Old meets new, River Thames, London

3. Part of the optical illusion hands on exhibit at the Camera Obscura, Edinburgh

4. Tile inlay floor at Glasgow Cathedral

5. Christmas place mat and mug

Next time the theme is leaves :) Hop on over to Robyn's blog to see what inspires some of the other participants http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

Scots Corner - some photographs from our trip.

2011-07-12T10:04:00.000-05:00

Looking toward Holyrude Church from the graveyard.

Stirling Castle - A room with a view looking toward the Wallace Monument.

Life size workers in the castle kitchens looking like they are covered in flour.

Dunblane Cathedral tower. When the tower was extended the workers removed the parapet, added in the lighter sections and put the parapet section back on.

Inside the Cathedral showing the two roof lines. The tour guide was a friend of my brother's.

The world famous Hamish who ignored us but "worked" for the camera when a larger group of people visited just after us :)

Creating an office area

2011-07-11T07:40:00.000-05:00

You might have noticed that there has been a distinct lack of quilting/sewing updates. We've been busy creating a new "office" area in our family room, de-junking areas of the house, and doing a lot of work in the garden.

Before I left for Scotland we worked out a design for the new "office" area, decided on cabinets etc. and John set to work. The back wall had to be removed temporarily to put in new wiring/outlets. A friend helped with suggestions for the "floating" tabletop/work surface.We still have some doors to stain, some spots to touch up and some repainting of the wall to do. We are pleased with how it's all coming along.

We are "trying out" the area at the moment to make sure it works for us. So far so good. My "station" will be by the door and I'll have all my genealogy stored above me. It's currently taking up space in our sewing room/spare bedroom.
John has the area by the window for all his "bits and pieces" (there's a lot) :) The two open areas at each end of the small wall cabinets are for speakers.
We should have been finished by now but "life" has had other plans. What can I say - school is out, it's getting humid and my allergies/headaches have kicked in big time :)

Our work area in the garage. We are using a mahogany combo stain/poly finish which we really like. While it says to use two coats we have found that three coats is looking better.

Before the staining started. We opted to stain the cabinet carcases and table top in situ and the doors & trim pieces in the garage.

Himself attaching the shaped legs for the worktop.

Measuring slowly and carefully before making some final cuts. Don't you just love our "workbench"!!! It's actually quite solid and works well.

"The Boss" supervising her minions :)
Once this area is finished and everything put away we can start the project at the other end of the room round the fireplace.

Mission Call

2011-07-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

Some of you already know that we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our oldest daughter, Juliet, has been waiting for her mission call. It arrived yesterday. She will be going to the California San Fernando Spanish speaking mission. She has to go to the Provo Mission Training Center (MTC) first on September 14th. We are so excited for her and happy that she will be able to spend 18 months serving the Lord amongst the California/Hispanic population.

Scots Corner - Stirling Castle

2011-07-06T13:09:00.000-05:00

I'm still having issues uploading photographs. This is one of the quieter areas of Stirling Castle. It's the Nether Bailey at the back of the castle. You access this area through the North Gate. There's a wee exhibit in the guard house with prisoner in situ.
At the far end of the Bailey is the Tapestry Studio, which was closed by the time we got there. The tapestries are a work in progress so we were somewhat disappointed to have missed that.
What look like little cottages in the photograph are actually powder magazines. They were built about 1810 and later converted into mobilisation stores.
Just like the rest of castle rock the Nether Bailey has fantastic views of the surrounding countryside. From far outside the castle, the walls surrounding that area make that whole section look like a ship.

Colourful Friday - Red and Green

2011-07-02T08:24:00.002-05:00

I confess I forgot till this morning. Aaaargh!!!!! (That and some uploading photo issues over the past week.)

Last summer some pieces of watermelon were left outside due to some ants invading the sunroom. It turned into a "lets leave it there and see what happens over the next few days" experiment. Voila a gorgeous butterfly visited and stayed a while. My red and green watermelon eventually curled up and died, and bleached out, in the sun (and rain).
Happy 4th of July week-end to all of you. I am singing in an American patriotic concert this weekend which is somewhat amusing to me since I am British.
Now head on over to Robyn at Daisy Quilts to see some other participants in the one photo challenge. http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

Hopefully I can now get back to my Scotland visit and share more photos.

Beautiful Britain - The Back Walk

2011-06-15T16:52:00.000-05:00

We got to visit a number of places on our recent visit to Scotland and for the next wee while I plan on sharing some of that.
There's a number of ways to get to Stirling Castle and we chose to hike up the Back Walk. There's a small section beside the library but the main part starts beside the Municipal Buildings and is "guarded" by Campbell Bannerman and Rob Roy. (A few days after we went for our walk a fierce storm blew threw Scotland and the tree beside RR was uprooted.)

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first leader of Britain to officially go by the title Prime Minister. Why is there a statue of him in Stirling? He was Liberal Member of Parliament for Stirling Burghs from 1868 for about 40 years. He became Premier of Britain in 1905.

"Rob Roy" from behind. Still standing after a nearby tree was uprooted in a storm.

My two traveling companions, having inspected the map decide it is time to move on up the hill.

After a steep climb past a lot of old Stirling wall and historic buildings we are close to the top of the Walk. We took some time to pause and admire the views.

Looking out onto The Carse which once used to be an impenetrable bogland. It is now agricultural, part of the Forth River floodplain and a wonderful scenic view to see in reality from many areas of the Old Town and Castle.

Near the top of the walk is a great stop off area - The Old Town Cemetery which is part of the Holy Rude Church. Due to the lateness of the afternoon we were not able to stay as long as we wanted. 'Tis a fascinating place to visit and I'll show you more next time :)

Greetings from bonnie Scotland

2011-05-22T13:35:00.000-05:00

Well we have arrived safely at our destination and kept ourselves busy over the past few days. Thus far we have gotten over our jet lag, found out about trains and buses to various locations, visited Stirling Castle, Dunblane Cathedral, Callander (and the world famous Hamish), done some shopping, watched my nephews playing soccer, and visited family. We have to keep re-arranging our schedule because of the stormy weather. The local streams and rivers are steadily rising. All going well we will be heading off to Glasgow tomorrow.
The Chelsea Flower Show starts tomorrow but the closest we will get to that is watching it on the telly :) The news media is all geared up for the iminent arrival of President Obama.

PIF gift from ........

2011-05-16T10:59:00.000-05:00

My PIF gift from Cheryl has arrived. A hand made bag and a sparkly long scarf. I love them both.

I might take the bag with me to Scotland. It's just the right size for my wallet and camera. Hop on over to Cheryl's blog to see what else she has been doing. http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com/

Hand sewing

2011-05-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

I'm teaching one of my friends how to hand sew/quilt. The purpose behind this ....... to repair some quilt tops her grandmother made. They were damaged in a fire a couple of years ago. They have all cleaned up quite well (mostly smoke damage and stains) and now the seam repair work is in process.
This is the one we are currently working on. It will eventually be turned into a summer weight quilt since a lot of the fabrics are quite fragile. Once my friend feels comfortable with the hand sewing, (she's doing quite well) we are planning on having an old fashioned sewing bee :)

The fabrics are lovely BUT they vary from very thin to heavyweight which definitely has caused some issues. The seams are all nicely hand sewn BUT a variety of thread was used (including embroidery floss). We may have to replace some of the seams sewn with floss but that can wait till the others are sewn back together.
I'll share photographs of the other quilts and blocks when I get back from my vacation.

It's hot .......

2011-05-11T13:04:00.000-05:00

..... and we have Lilies blooming and 13 year Cicadas emerging. I'm off to Scotland next week and will be back sometime in June.

The Lilies bloomed this morning. I love the color.

The Cicada nymphs are taking over one of our large trees. Once they molt they will turn black with bright red eyes. I'll have to ask hubbie to watch our peach tree and red bud tree since they still have fairly slender branches.

The Peonies are still looking good.

Since I am going out of town I might not be participating in Bloggers Quilt Festival this coming week. I'll have to think about that. It starts on Friday. Thanks to Amy for hosting this again, it's always wonderful. The link is in my side bar.

Beautiful Britain - Westminster Abbey

2011-04-28T14:44:00.000-05:00

THE big day in Britain is almost upon us (depending upon which time zone your in) and I for one will be glued to my chair watching THE event :)
I lived in London for a couple of years. Loved it. Such an historic place with many wonderful sites to see.
Westminster Abbey is gorgeous and a must see if you ever visit the area. Get off at Westminster tube station and walk over to see Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the Abbey, and behind you The London Eye and London Aquarium. If you want to keep on walking you'll find the Churchill Museum, St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. You can also take a bus tour round the area which is very interesting.

Monks have been in the area since the 10th century. Kings and Queens have been crowned in the abbey since 1066. 17 are resting in peace there along with many other famous people. The abbey has been host to 15 royal weddings, though there might have been more.
The current building was started in 1245 and is typically Gothic in style. I love the ceilings, arches and in particular, the stained glass windows.
http://www.westminster-abbey.org/

Blog of the Week - Summerland Cottage Studio

2011-04-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

I am currently experiencing internet access issues at the computer I store photographs for my blogs. I tried using my mini pad to create postings but that was a bust.

While I have access come with me to visit Paulette Adams, the creative genius behind Summerland Cottage Studio http://summerlandcottagestudio.blogspot.com/ Paulette finds inspiration everywhere, particularly in nature, and then translates that to artwork that is delicate and beautiful to behold. I love the way she captures that in the photographs at her blog. From Paulette "I believe that creating beauty and harmony in all aspects of our daily living, feeds our souls, thereby enriching and fulfilling our hearts and lives."

Look at the flower vase in the photograph above and take a guess at how she created the roses............. Have you worked it out yet ........ let me give you a moment longer .............

She used 2" fabric strips ripped from an old cotton sheet covered in slip !!!!!! How brilliant is that. The fabric burns away in the firing process and you are left with delicate flowers to then glaze.

Another of Paulette's "ripped and dipped" pieces. This time using a cotton tee-shirt as the base.

Paulette does some very pretty water color painting. Here's one of my favorites which is based on a client's actual house.

I wonder if she has done anything with this photograph from the Hamlet at Versailles?

This multi talented lady also repurposes items. This jewelry travel case is now her ........... calligraphy supplies carrier !!! You will have to find out for yourself what she did with a small antique travel case :)

Shells show up a lot at Paulette's blog. They are used as inspiration for all kinds of interesting pieces of art.

While my blog was originally intended as a place for me to explore quilting and fabric art I'm of the opinion that inspiration comes from all sources and that we each should try out any kind of art work that makes us happy or intrigues us. (More on that in another posting.)
Paulette's thoughts on the same subject "I believe that if we don't break rules there would never be new art.".
And for those of you wanting to know if Paulette has ever quilted - the answer is "yes - crazy quilts back in the late 70's."
http://summerlandcottagestudio.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Britain - Belfast

2011-04-20T12:48:00.000-05:00

I'm going to do something a bit different today. I'm going to send you to Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti who is currently in Ireland on a business trip (her husband is doing the business part and she's tagging along). She has done a couple of fabulous postings about Belfast.

http://millefiorifavoriti.blogspot.com/2011/04/beautiful-belfast.html
After that check out the rest of her blog. She shares some great information and photographs about New York,

Inspire Heart

2011-04-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

This is the most recent in my "wordy hearts" series :)

Meet Inspire Heart

Post-op Breast Cancer Pillows

2011-04-18T12:06:00.001-05:00

Our Stake Relief Society (church) had an event on Saturday. Ladies came in from all over Nashville to participate in classes and have a delightful lunch. The service project was making breast cancer surgery post-op pillows for the Vanderbilt Breast Cancer Center. I was asked to organize it and we had a very good response. In about 60-90 minutes we managed to make 191 pillows. Another 70+ are in process.

Want to see what that number looks like ? There's 13 in each sack. All of the supplies were donated.

There was a lot of interest in doing the service project again so we just have to get that organized. Next time round we plan on taking a bit longer so that everyone can work at a slightly slower pace :)

Something to think about - The Vanderbilt Breast Cancer Center performs 34-68 breast cancer related surgeries per month. http://www.vanderbilthealth.com/breastcenter/

Colourful Fridays - Hexagons

2011-04-08T08:34:00.000-05:00

My one picture attempt is two this week because my candle mat is packed away with our christmas decorations. Don't look too closely because there is a pentagon shape amongst the hexagons :)

So what did I find in addition to my candle mat? A piece of fabric, a birdhouse, color pencils, sequins, templates, soap and pomegranate wax.

Hop on over to Robyn's "nest" to fond out what all the other "birdies" found in their domains. http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

Beautiful Britain - Outer Hebrides

2011-04-06T08:52:00.000-05:00

Oh be still my beating heart. I am going to Scotland to visit my parents, siblings and nephews, and taking my two oldest daughters with me :)
If I can swing it I would love to visit the Outer Hebrides. It's a wee bit of a hike from my parents house to my cousin's farm but I would at least like to work out the cost and travel just to see if it could be accomplished this time round. My brother made the trip last year with our nephews and sister-in-law and had a good experience.
Having lived on the Isle of Skye (Inner Hebrides) as a child and having a good friend from Stornoway when I was in high school the idea of going to Lewis/Harris and assorted outer islands has always appealed to me.
http://www.scotlandinfo.eu/outer-hebrides-western-isles

Outer Hebrides (orange), Inner Hebrides (pink)

Garenin Black House Village, Isle of Lewis close to the Calanais Standing Stones.

West coast, Isle of Lewis

A pretty look at how Harris Tweed was made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7nbLe9CGNc

The islands have inspired many photographers. Here's one beautiful interpretation by Bruce Percy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8LFbBrZq3E&feature=related

Blog of the Week - Chasing Cottons

2011-04-04T10:54:00.001-05:00

I'm not entirely sure when I ran across this particular blog but when I read it I liked it. Rebecca Johnson hails from Australia and has been blogging since June 2010. The death of her baby boy, Chase, in March of 2010 was the main catalyst for her decision to go full steam ahead with her sewing, pattern designs and quilting. We are the very fortunate beneficiaries of her talent.

"Star Jewels" 2010

"Birds of Paradise" currently at the proof-reading stage.

Starting April 6th, Rebecca will be hosting a 12 week on-line Quilt Class 101. It looks like it will be fun and she wants lots of interaction.

The Course Outline -

Week 1 - Fabric - Choosing fabric, fabric designers, fabric bundles, Fat Quarters, jelly Rolls etc, Where to buy fabric locally or online overseas, shipping costs.. My favourite online shops etc.
Week 2 - Design - 'Sew as you go' OR the Designer - Using a graph book and planning, no rules.. Books/ blogs/ flickr... all the online sources or inspiration..
Week 3 - Cutting - Tools I use, how to cut your material properly, to wash or not to wash, incorporating seam allowances etc.
Week 4 - Sewing - Your machine, threads, needles, 1/4" foot, seam allowances, joining seams accurately, pins,
Week 5 - Constructing your Quilt Top - sections etc
Week 6 - Borders - adding borders the correct way,
Week 7 - Batting - The different types and what each one is used for..
Week 8 - Basting - how to Baste your quilt, spray? Pins? Types of pins? Tape etc..
Week 9 - Quilting by machine - Straight line Quilting, using a guide, free motion quilting, stitching in the ditch etc..
Week 10 - Quilting by hand - Cottons to use, technique, needles, hoops...
Week 11 - Binding - By machine or by hand.. or both.
Week 12 - Quilt block techniques.... This last tutorial will prob run over another 6 week period where i will teach the basics to make various traditional and modern quilt blocks. Sewing curves, 9 Patch, Stars and diamonds, Stack and Slash, Raw edge applique, Needle turn applique, paper piecing, log cabin, spider block, etc...

Anyone with experience in quilting is also invited to join in by writing tutorials of their own related to any of the weekly themes.

http://chasingcottons.blogspot.com/
Oh I almost forgot ........ there's going to be sponsors AND giveaways each month :)

Being Creative Challenge - Garden

2011-03-31T08:39:00.004-05:00

Julie Crossland http://juliacrossland.blogspot.com/ has come up with an interesting monthly challenge called "Being Creative".
I love Julie's intent behind the concept:
"A fun, light hearted invitation to create, open to all.
To build a creative community of people of all abilities from around the globe.
To provide monthly inspiration, guidance and creativity tips as well as shovel loads of encouragement and support should you need it.
To help those creatively stuck souls to become well and truly un-stuck.
An opportunity to make a commitment to regular creativity."

The first theme is "Garden" and the reveals start today. You can choose any medium for your interpretation. I've already visited some of the other participants and I highly recommend you do the same :) If you want to participate click on the link in my sidebar.

I found a way to use one of my leaf applique orphan blocks and my heart theme :) Voila, a small cushion 10"x71/2" that fits the color scheme in my front living room.
All the fabrics are left overs from other projects. I want to add some "emerging buds bling" (and maybe a few small leaves) but nothing in my boxes of bits and pieces is saying "use me", so for the moment I'm calling this one done.
An explanation of fabric choices.
The pillow background = grass, the brown yo-yo's = dirt, the burgundy yoyo's = blooming flowers.
April challenge - Dessert. Yum.

Colourful Fridays - Copper Collage

2011-03-26T07:57:00.004-05:00

I was not planning on participating this week due to spring break, some other commitments AND my computer acting a bit funky BUT when I looked at some of my smaller copper colored items I realized they were all gifts !!!!! Unfortunately I could not get the depth of copper color in my photograph but I still love it anyway.

Background fabric - a surprise gift in an on-line cross-stitch swap. She used it on the back of the exchange gift.
Wind chimes - a surprise birthday gift from our local elementary school librarian (a few years ago). it normally hangs in our sunroom and glows in the light.
Two of my necklaces - the large one a gift from my mother (part of a set) and the small one a recent gift from an on-line giveaway.
Two fabric postcards given to me in swaps. The copper colors sparkle in the light.
A wooden key holder - have you ever looked at wood closely and seen copper colors? There's a lot of that in my house.
Book - a gift to my husband. I love the gradation of "copperish" color.
A flower stem that normally sits in a bud vase with a rose.

Hop on over to http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ to see how some of the others overcame this challenging color choice.
If you head on over to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper you'll find some fascinating information about copper. The greens and blues in my photograph are part of the chemical process ;)

Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts

2011-03-25T07:43:00.003-05:00

There's something about red & white quilts that just appeals to a whole lot of people. Well a whole lot of people are going to love this huge (650+1 quilts) free exhibit that is being put on by The American Folk Art Museum in New York. Joanna S. Rose owns all the quilts and will be donating 50 of them after the exhibition.
http://www.folkartmuseum.org/infinitevariety

Something else unique to this exhibit is the way the quilts are being displayed. Maybe some binoculars might be in order :) I wonder if they will let you lie down on the floor to look upwards?
http://www.handeyemagazine.com/content/infinite-variety

The exhibition starts today, March 25, and runs thru March 30, 2011. Yep, very short but if you can get there I'm sure it will be well worth the effort.

tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/seeing-red-and-white/?ref=design

Thanks go to Joanna S. Rose (and her husband) for an unusual way of celebrating her birthday. This exhibit will also be her first time seeing all of her red and white quilts at one time :)
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/finally-mrs-rose-and-the-public-can-see-all-her-rugs/

Addendum - Do you want to see a video of the quilts? I bet you do :) http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/3563

Beautiful Britain - Ireland

2011-03-17T07:57:00.000-05:00

It's St.Patrick's Day so what better way to celebrate than to send you here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsVd1S6g284&feature=related

Ireland, known as "The Emerald Isle", is a wee country with a huge history, majestic scenery, and the ability to rouse romance and passion in the souls of many.
My ggg-grandfather George McGechie was born in Ireland abt. 1795. I have no idea when he jumped over the channel to Glasgow but he married a bonnie Scots lassie and she gave birth to my gg-grandfather, David, in 1819.

Here's an Irish Blessing for you all.
"Wishing you ... warmth in your home, love in your heart, peace in your soul ... and joy in your life."

Hearts For Christchurch

2011-03-16T18:57:00.002-05:00

My hearts are made. I just need to sign them and put them in the mail.

The small hearts are well travelled. They are left over from a project called "Friends are the Golden Threads That Tie Hearts Together" and have travelled between the US and Britain on a number of occasions. The larger hearts are from an ongoing project. I had fun combining the two. Finished size 6"x5".
Visit http://heartsforchristchurch.blogspot.com/ to see more AND visit Janet M.Davies at http://www.jmddesigns.co.nz/blog.htm to find some free embroidery designs she has contributed just for the event. (8th March posting)

Colourful Fridays - Spots & Dots

2011-03-15T12:39:00.000-05:00

I know it's not Friday but today is the first opportunity I have had to get round to participating. (Too many events and planning meetings in too short a period of time.)
I have lots of items with spots and dots but I opted to show some of my fabric postcard collection. I made the two on the right and the (unfinished) middle card in the center row. The gorgeous lady was the very first one I received.

One of my favorite quilted wall hangings has lots of polka dots in it. You can see it in my blog header. It lives in Ireland and was made for Micki.

To see more fun "spots before your eyes" posts visit Robyn and the other participants at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

We are on spring break here so I may, or may not, be participating in the next color choice which is .... copper :) (I am currently wearing some round my neck.)

Hearts For Christchurch

2011-03-04T14:49:00.001-06:00

A world wide event has started to explode into action. Heart, hearts, and more hearts and you can help.
Please support Evie Harris in her endeavor to provide a heart to as many Christchurch residents as possible. There also might to be an exhibition ... how cool is that !!!!!
I have a stack waiting to stitch together.
Hop on over to http://heartsforchristchurch.blogspot.com to find out what you can do and where to send.

Creative Prompt Project - Abundance

2011-03-03T06:33:00.000-06:00

Creative Prompt #108
Meet "Bubble Heart"
This might be a bit of a stretch for the word ABUNDANCE but the heart I made for myself a few days ago has an ABUNDANCE of circles in the fabric pattern :) It took an ABUNDANCE of snips to fray the edge and a number of fabric circles to create the flower. My new heart is currently hanging from my peg board which has definitely got an abundance of holes in it !!!!

So which definition of ABUNDANCE did I go with....... "overflowing fullness:abundance of the heart."

Scots Corner - music to inspire the soul

2011-03-02T15:46:00.000-06:00

For whatever the reason the Highlands and Islands of Scotland have inspired many composers to write gorgeous pieces of music.
Felix Mendelssohn was inspired by Fingal's Cave after a visit in 1829 and wrote an overture called The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave). It is a lovely piece to listen to and I hope you enjoy this version found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3MiETaBSnc He was inspired, in part, by the cave's old name An Uamh Binn - cave of melody. Internally the cave is often described as having the atmosphere of a natural cathedral i.e. eerie sounds produced by the echoes of waves.

Photograph shot by Gyuszi Bacsi. I also found it credited to Jim Richardson.
Fingal's Cave, Staffa is composed of Basalt pillars. The cave was formed by seawater eroding the soft volcanic ash that lies beneath the columns.

Photograph taken c 1900
The cave entrance looks out on to, and frames, the Holy Isle of Iona.
In addition to composers, Fingal's Cave has also inspired poets, authors, playwrights, musicians, photographers and artists.
This painting was created by JMW Turner

PIF winners

2011-03-01T13:06:00.000-06:00

My PIF winners are ..... Joan, Mickie and Sue.
Congratulations ladies. I am looking forward to making something for each of you.

Blog of the Week - Flourishing Palms

2011-02-28T06:20:00.000-06:00

Meet Linda from Flourishing Palms. She lives in Iowa where there are no Palm trees to speak off so why that title? I love her thought on that.
"First, a palm tree's roots reach deep to find water, the living water of the Holy Word, and thrive.

Second, the core of a palm tree is inside, protected, just as our souls are protected within us.
And third, a palm tree is strengthened and becomes even more resilient in strong winds, just as adversity can make us more spiritually dependent."

Linda is a quilting teacher, free-lance writer, published author, and creator of tutorials amongst other things.

Recently Linda was blogging about some of her UFO blocks/projects and had a "lightbulb" moment. This is one of the applique blocks she shared as a result. I love it.

Her current tutorial is about Prepping for Hand Piecing. I am looking forward to seeing how this one turns out :) Linda's tutorials are great. Well written and simple to follow. She explains her mistakes as well which is nice.

And isn't this close up of her "Jungle Friends" quilt just adorable (find out more at her January 23, 2011 posting.)

A close up for part of "Snowflake Medallion" I love the color combination and the rest of the quilt is gorgeous. My favorite part........ the flower being descended upon by all the flying geese.

Linda's first attempt at quilting spirals. I think it looks impressive.
So hop on over to http://flourishingpalms.blogspot.com/ to see some fabulous projects. Find out why she spends time in Australia and how that has that helped her creativity :)
AND then scurry on over to http://www.stitchinmission.blogspot.com/ to find out what Linda and the rest of the Stitchin Mission group have been doing with some quilts destined for Africa. Congratulations ladies.

(Photographs used with permission.)

Colourful Fridays - Black & White

2011-02-25T06:04:00.000-06:00

There's so much black and white at our house it was hard to pick out just a few items for my "one shot wonder" :) And just a wee bit of color crept in there.

So let me give you a list (just for a change).
1. lace drapes bought from a thrift store (they hang at a number of our windows.)
2. black & white music folder (belongs to my oldest daughter)
3. caricature of me drawn by a friend when we were both at the Edinburgh Festival in the 1970's
4. one of my black ink sketches of a flower (usually sits in my craft/sewing room).
5. a hand cranked emergency lantern (from my youngest daughter's bedroom.)
6. ladle from the kitchen with a wee candle in it.
7. black sequined evening purse (a gift from my parents.)
6. black and white ceramic Scottish dogs (usually sit on our mantlepiece.)
7. A Love mug :)
8. yoyo
9. cell phone
10. penguin (a gift)
11. Old Bible
12. Snowball candle (from the main bathroom)
13. Fabric postcards (received in swaps)
14. Pandigital - a christmas gift.
15. alphabet beads
16. velvet skirt
17. Marble pieces from the Nashville Temple given as a gift after the dedication.
18. Lipstick

Hop on over to http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ to see what everyone else found around their homes. Look who showed up to visit Robyn :) Party on dudes !!!

I made a Heart ........

2011-02-24T11:30:00.002-06:00

meet "Sparkle Heart". She is about 5" wide.

I have a stack of hearts cut out and I am having fun playing with them. I'm hoping that "Peaceful Heart" has arrived at her destination.
Oh before I forget, sign ups for my PIF gifts close tomorrow. Scroll down a few blog entries to Tuesday February 15th, if you want to play along :)

Scots Corner - it's been a while

2011-02-23T06:51:00.000-06:00

I know a number of you enjoy reading my Scots Corner posts and they have been absent for a while. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things again. This year they will be posted on Wednesdays.

So where shall we go today I wonder ......... mmm ........ oh I know ........ Mull. In fact why don't we visit some of the islands off the west coast of Scotland for the next few weeks.

Mull is a fabulous island and very popular for day trippers and holiday goers. I have relatives and friends that wax lyrical of the place. As for me ........ the closest I've been is Oban, but it's on my list.
Lonely Planet has this to say "From the rugged ridges of Ben More and the black basalt crags of Burg to the blinding white sand, rose-pink granite and emerald waters that fringe the Ross, Mull may lay claim to some of the most varied scenery in the Inner Hebrides. Add in two impressive castles, a narrow-gauge railway, the sacred island of Iona and easy access from Oban and you can see why it's sometimes impossible to find a spare bed on the island."

Duart Castle is old, as in really old. It was originally a rectangular wall surrounding a courtyard and was part of a line of fortifications. You can see Ben Nevis to the north and Jura to the south. When Mary MacDonald, daughter of the Lord of the Isles, married in 1350 she was given the castle as part of her dowry. It's been added to over a period of time and even those additions are really old. Like many old monuments in Scotland it eventually was abandoned and lay empty for more years than you really want to know about. Sir Fitzroy Maclean bought the place in 1910 and started the mammoth task of restoring the place. (If you collect Lilliput Lane it's in there.)

Torosay Castle is a whole lot younger and was completed in 1858 in what is known as the "Scottish Baronial Style". The castle and gardens were open to the public up until October 2010 and as far as I know it is still up for sale. Oooh who wants to buy a Scottish "pile" with a gorgeous view?

One one of my visits to Scotland I watched a program, with my kids, called Balamory. Loved it. It used Tobermory, the capital of Mull as it's backdrop. I loved the colorfulness of the town AND the characters and wished I could be there watching the program being filmed. It looked like so much fun.

Photos found at
http://eiluned.com
http://www.duartcastle.com
http://www.castles.org
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.panoramio.com
http://corkmull.com
http://www.tobermorybandb.com
www.123rf.com

Meet Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824). Now why would I want to talk about him? Well he was a local laddie, born on Ulva, who is buried on the island at Gruline. An inscription on his tomb says "The Father of Australia." He transitioned New South Wales from a penal to a free colony and helped to shape Australia. He also took part in the American War of Independence in 1777 (via Nova Scotia) and stopped off in Jamaica for a wee while, so he got about a bit :) Before becoming Governor of NSW he did a stint in India and Egypt. He is credited with designing one of the original street layouts for what is now Sydney. While he did not think up the name Australia he was the first to use it in official dispatches in 1817.

And just because I love the scenery here's Carsaig Arches on the Ross of Mull. mmmm shades of "How to Train Your Dragon" don't you think ;)

Fabric Postcard

2011-02-22T07:51:00.001-06:00

This one is heading to Shirley P. in Canada. She is the newly retired leader of Learning FA an on-line fabric arts group I am with. Her husband recently had surgery and she had a bad fall. We all hope both of them recover well and soon :)

This is my "before" picture of the pieces cut out ready to do something with. Each piece is cut 4"x6" and depending on how I decide to embellish I either iron all the pieces together and do some surface design or iron the top three pieces together and do top design stitching and then iron the back on afterwards. Regardless of how I start I always do 2 to 3 rows of zig-zag- stitching round the outside to hold everything together.

Blog of the week - Karanan

2011-02-21T07:32:00.003-06:00

I absolutely love the photographs and projects in this blog. This artist of whimsy and quiet beauty hails from Finland. I showed the blog to my daughter and she went "oooooh, how interesting ..... I like that one." She likes the dragonfly, I like the snail :)

There's whimsical people by the bucket load celebrating all kinds of activities.

And since I am in the mood for making hearts I had to show you this one :)

There are fun loving animals.

And what self respecting artist/crafter does not have a "quality control" expert in their midst.

To those of you from Northern Europe I apologize for not having the ..'s and o's above the a's. I know there's a way to do it but I have not worked it out yet.
Anyway ....... fabulous blog, great projects of excellent quality, a delight to visit. Enjoy. And if you are a Tilda fan K. has lots of links to go oooh and aaah at :)

Addendum - Oh please excuse my foggy brain the link is http://tygodamm.blogspot.com/ (Thanks Elaine for spotting that).
Also if you want to see how I am re-arranging my sewing/craft room hop on over to http://stitchacrosstheborder.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-creative-space.html

I made a star ......

2011-02-18T10:40:00.000-06:00

just one ..... to send to Jaye at http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/ Her mom is making some star quilts for family and friends that were impacted by the St. Bruno fires.

I did a deliberate raw edge so that it will fray when washed but if Jaye or her mom decide to sew down the edges that's okay too.
Size - 81/2", blue background, yellow star (any kind) was the requirement.

PIF 2011- do you want to play?

2011-02-15T12:57:00.002-06:00

I am going to be the recipient of a gift from the delightful, and very talented Cheryl at http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com

If you would like to receive a PIF gift from me (by Jan 2012) just leave a comment. I'll do a drawing for 3 people on Friday 25th February. You can then PIF (or not). Entirely up to yourselves :)

Addendum - Drawing now closed. The recipients of a PIF from me will be Joan, Mickie and Sue. Congratulations ladies. I'm looking forward to making you each something.

Colourful Fridays - valentine

2011-02-11T17:22:00.002-06:00

Most people probably associate the colors red and white with Valentine's Day. Mine gravitates more toward burgundy, a color my grandmother enjoyed, but really for me it's more about a shape and a feeling. I have a collection of hearts ....... much more than this picture shows ....... and they come in many forms. All are special to me in that they bring back fond memories of places, people, events. A gift given made with love, a poem shared, the sweet scent of vanilla as candles are lit, love of home, family, friends and a far away country.
So what is your favorite color of this sweet heart time, what memory does it bring to your mind and heart? To find out more about what some other wonderful people think hop on over to http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/
It's our wedding anniversary on the 14th and the day of the event was cold, damp, and windy. No flowers could be seen because spring had not come. I wore a hand made white dress and veil and borrowed my sister-in-law's shoes. Another sister-in-law and her hubbie travelled a far distance to surprise us. We ate dinner together at a nearby restaurant. I had been in the USA for a short 6 weeks with excited expectations for a new life ahead. The hubster was still in school and working part-time. We never did have a honeymoon. Many years later we marvel at having 4 almost grown children that have survived some of our blundering attempts at parenthood. Who knows one day we might become grandparents but that's for them to decide :)

I made a bird ......

2011-02-10T09:47:00.000-06:00

two so far. If you can guess the purpose I might make you one :) They're all the rage I hear.

I made a heart ........

2011-02-09T07:07:00.001-06:00

yep, just one. There will be more though because I am in the mood to make some.

Meet "Peaceful Heart". She measures about 5". I fussy cut the fabric so there is a surprise on the back for the recipient :)
My doctor told me that I have bronchitis and fluid in my ear, hence the earache (in addition to my regular sinus and allergy "issues") so he gave me a shot, antibiotics and something for my cough. Hopefully I will be right as rain in a few days.
Our school district is letting out 2 hours early today ....... something to do with a weather system heading our way. So my high school kids should bound in about 12.30 ish.

I made a boob ............

2011-02-08T13:16:00.000-06:00

Actually I made more than one .......... for Nina Lise aka Mrs. Moen :) They are packaged up and ready to mail.

If you want to help her with her amazing community project hop on over too http://makeaboob.blogspot.com/ Be ready to oooh and aaah over some of the ones that have already been sent her way.

Fabric Postcard

2011-02-07T10:20:00.000-06:00

The recipient for this Postcard Pizzazz swap lives locally. I might just drop it off at her house once I get past my dose of the "Tennessee crud" - cough... cough ... splutter .... splutter.

Aaargh I feel like such a failure :)

2011-02-05T13:04:00.000-06:00

Not really ..... well maybe yes, just a teeny weeny bit ..... but I am frustrated with my lack of quilting ambition at the moment.
I had committed myself to making a smaller version of the "Leaves of Green" quilt by Susan Brubaker Knapp http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/ (give that lady some hugs ... her mom died a few days ago). My goal was this week-end. Not happening.
So I got my first 4 blocks cut out and sewn and went ...... yuck ..... my daughter went ... yuck also BECAUSE they did not work out with the very pretty patterned fabric I had chosen to sew with them :( So back to the drawing board and the realization that I really do need to make this a scrappy leaf quilt for it to work AND buy some blue fabric for the background AND make it bigger than I was going too AND so on and so forth.

As for the practice blocks .... they are going "on point" and will be made into either little cushions or a Christmas wallhanging. Don't expect to see anything soon because I am going to do some embroidery on them and that takes me forever and a day to get accomplished. The burgundy red fabric in the background is going to show up in the re-arranged project somewhere.
So the hubster and darling son are off to "Home Depot" to spend more money :) Some big manly tools have being showing up in the house the past few days ... (maybe we should turn the garage into a workshop.) in preperation for our fireplace project.
The hole in our bathroom ceiling is now closed up and the hole in the wall is about to be, which means ......... I will probably be painting some time next week. Hopefully our hot water heater will be fixed by then because I always get paint on my body somewhere and the thought of a frigid cold shower is not appealing to my delicate Scottish body.
I'm about to do another fabric postcard swap and this time the recipient actually lives within 15 minutes driving distance. Maybe I will show up on her doorstep with it.
Enough of my rare Saturday ramblings. I'm off to eat lunch, do some more visits at OWOH2011 and finish up some prep work for teaching a genealogy class.

Conversation Hearts Swap - Big Hill Goddess

2011-02-03T09:50:00.000-06:00

If you love to make fabric hearts and enjoy motivational quotes/words then this might be the swap for you. It's just starting up AND is being run by one of our local crafters right here in Nashville :)

Head on over to http://www.bighillgoddess.com/2011/01/would-you-swap-hearts-with-me.html to find out more details from Angie.

Every Inchie Monday

2011-02-02T09:57:00.000-06:00

Now here's an interesting, tiny art work, year long challenge, for anyone that might be interested. An inch a week can be found at http://www.everyinchiemonday.blogspot.com/ The weekly themes are in their sidebar.

OWOH2011

2011-01-31T13:37:00.000-06:00

One World One Heart 2011 has started http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/. This will be the 5th and final year of this world wide blog hop - get to know other crafters/artists event. Thanks to Lisa Swifka for being the heart, soul and organizer.
I am participating at my hand stitching blog http://stitchacrosstheborder.blogspot.com/2011/01/owoh-2011-welcome.html All the participants have door prizes so after visiting me hop on over to the other sites. There will be a lot of them over the next couple of weeks. If you want to participate there are details at Lisa's blog.

Colourful Friday - Favorite Colors

2011-01-28T14:21:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite colors is not really a "color" ......... CREAM. It goes with almost anything and does not look harsh like white can. It can look modern or antique, sophisticated or rustic, vibrate or subdued, all depending upon which direction you take it and what colors you pair it with.

This is one of the wall hangings I hope to get completed this year. The blocks are from a 4th of July themed swap I participated in a few years ago. I have more of them but really liked these four together. I confess the blocks lay to one side for more time that I want to confess too and then once the middle section was sewn together I still did not know what direction I wanted to take them in. The cream border was added last year and will also be on the back.
Navy blue also appeals to me. I wore it a lot growing up and in my early adulthood.
So if you want to participate in Colorful Fridays or just visit the other participants hop on over to http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com This year we will be sharing every other week instead of weekly. Next time round we will be doing Valentines colors :)

Postcard Pizzazz - Back in the swing of things

2011-01-27T17:09:00.000-06:00

I'm finally back to making and swapping fabric postcards again. For the time being I am going to do 1to1 straight swaps.

For PP#147 this is what I sent to Pam C.

And this is what she sent to me.

A few weeks ago I received a surprise package of Oriental looking fabric from Australia. I've decided to use some of it for my postcards.

Remodeling Round our Fireplace

2011-01-20T17:10:00.000-06:00

We've been casually talking, on and off, for years about doing shelf/cupboard built ins around our family room fireplace. We have had a number of ideas but have been concerned about to how to accomplish them. (Not wanting to drill holes in the brick).
Today I think I found something on-line that might just work :)
http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/01/fireplace-remodel-with-built-in-book.html#more
This site is actually a great place to go for lots of other ideas. I really like the fact that real world remodels are used showing the before, through, and after process. The 5 R's also prevail ... which is always good :)

Civil War Sesquicentennial - block of the week

2011-01-18T07:30:00.001-06:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that this year is the sesquicentennial and that I might try something out of my comfort zone. Well here's an interesting blog http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/ written by the ever wonderful Barbara Backman.
Each week there will be a free 8" block pattern posted and a story related to the people who lived during the Civil War. It all looks very interesting so far. So if you have an interest in quilts from that era (or just want to read the history) this may well be the blog to watch (and participate in.)
Blocks so far -
Catch Me If You Can
North Star
Seven Sisters

Example of "Catch Me If You Can" block found at Civil War Quilts. If you complete all the blocks and try the suggested layout you will have a 72"x82" quilt to add borders too.
Mmmmmm - I think I see a "spend some of my Christmas money on repro fabrics" visit to Franklin in my future.

A Gift From Mrs. Moen

2011-01-17T13:53:00.001-06:00

I won one of Mrs. Moen's recent giveaways - The Napkin Challenge. "Nisse's Got a Girlfriend II" showed up in the mail on Saturday evening. I think it is gorgeous and will look good hanging in our family room or front living room. There was also a cute little bar of Norwegian chocolate in the package. Needless to say that gotten eaten by my kids and I almost immediately :)
Thanks Nina Lise.

I did a blog feature on Nina Lise a while ago because I really like her designs. For those of you that have never been to her blog I highly recommend a visit. http://mrsmoen.blogspot.com/

Creative Prompt Project - #101 - Pink

2011-01-14T21:59:00.000-06:00

QLD Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-14T20:17:00.004-06:00

http://www.tonicoward.blogspot.com/ Toni at Make It Perfect is coordinating this auction that's on Monday (some blogs are already taking bids). I have friends and relatives that live in, or close too, the flooded areas. Safe, thankfully.
The devastation there makes the flood we had here last May look minor in comparison.
If you want to help in other ways visit Robyn at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ for a list. (14th January entry)
Also The Gumtree Designers are gathering items for "New Beginnings" sewing kits http://www.gumtree-designers.com/ (11 January entry). Items need to be to them BY the first week in February.

It's an Interior Thing - A Bowl Full of Lemons Challenge

2011-01-07T08:17:00.003-06:00

Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons has organized a New Year "lets get organized" style challenge. It's on day 6 (organizing your dresser drawers) but could be done at any time IMHO :-) Once the hubster wakes up I will tackle mine.

So far she has challenged her readers to organize :-)
1. junk drawer - I have one beside the phone full to the brim of papers. It gets cleaned out maybe 2 times per year.

2. computer desk - well that took me all of 5 minutes to fix and most of that was trying to untangle two sets of earphones my kids use.
3 Tupperware cabinet - always organized because they have my baking supplies in them.

4. Linen closet - definitely needs tidied up.
5. Under kitchen sink - maybe some storage baskets would be useful.
If you want to participate, or just enjoy some before and after photos, hop on over to http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/
My thinking is if I get myself organized around the house again it might get me moving along with finishing all the wall hangings I started last year.

The big event for today here though is .... drum roll please ....... our new family room couches are being delivered. Yeah verily we finally found something we liked enough to buy. The hubster and the songbird (DD#1) are going to demolish our old ratty couch and just because I am a softy at heart we are holding on to at least one cushion for Lucy to continue using.
On the stitching front I have done nothing quilty except download and commit to making a design, albeit smaller, from Susan Brubaker Knapp at http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/ It's a freebie and there's also a giveaway.
I'm also starting back into making fabric postcards. (My wee break from that turned into almost a year.) Now that's embarrassing because I love making them.
Aaargh it looks like I am out of photo storage space for my blog. Now that's not good :-(

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T23:02:00.002-06:00

Christmas wreath - done or not?

2010-12-20T08:54:00.000-06:00

It's up on the wall BUT I really want to add some narrow plaid ribbon. Can I find any .... NO, not at the moment. I tried some plain red but it's too much. Everything from the dove down is detachable so I can change the theme every month if I want too. The twiggy bit is actually two wreaths tied together so that they swirl in opposite directions.

Finished - table centerpiece

2010-12-17T13:28:00.000-06:00

I wanted something simple for our kitchen table. Voila :) The taper candles are buried in a box in the basement and will get added at another time. My daughter and I found the pull apart tree and table mat at Target this morning. Everything else I already had. The leaves will tie in with the wreath I am making.

Our daughters are now safely home. The weather issues this week impacted one of their flights. My two youngest ended up with a couple of snow days. I love snow but ice and hilly conditions round here makes for dangerous road situations. Hope you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas.

Colourful Friday - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas .....

2010-12-09T23:19:00.003-06:00

everywhere we go etc. etc. etc.
Greetings one and all and welcome to my little corner of Colourful Friday Christmas fun. The tree is trimmed, the fire has been lit, the stockings have been hung with care, and an advent calendar is on the go.

We've almost finished up our outside decorating and I'm feeling ready to "Deck the Halls" :) I'm making a wreath at our kitchen table and had my first hot apple cider of the season.

The weather is brisk outside ...... no snow yet but I'm sure it will come and my snowmen will be oooooh sooooo happy to have their "cold weather cousins" visit.

Hark I hear someone knocking at the door. What's that you say. You saw a star.

By all means come on in, you are more than welcome. Rest a while, You look like you have travelled far distances.

Yeah, verily, the baby has arrived - Praise be - "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, unto us a son is given, for unto us a child is born ....."

(My mother-in-law and I took a ceramics class together many years ago. We made large nativity sets from scratch. Mine has been through a few color changes over the years but I think I'll stick with the pearl glazed terra-cotta.)
To everyone that has been participating in Colorful Friday I hope you have a wonderful festive season filled with great joy. South of the equater have a fabulous summer.
To all my blog followers and those who have left comments during this past year - thank you and may this season be memorable and joyful for all of you.
To my family and friends ..... love you .... may you sing and play away till the midnight hour tolls to bring in the New Year and may all of us celebrate in style.

Join in the celebrations with Robyn and the rest of the crew at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ t'will be the last Colourful Friday visit for this year. Adios amigos, let the party begin. (Sorry people, I think there must have been something in the non-alcoholic apple cider, I'm feeling a wee bit merry ;) )

Mrs. Moen's Napkin Challenge - done :)

2010-12-07T12:39:00.002-06:00

So as a reminder here's the napkin I used. I took the different shapes as the inspiration for the finished piece and modified them slightly based on the fabric I had in my drawers.

So what did I make ......... voila ........ a mini cushion approx. 8"x8" :)

And since it's a brand NEW project I'm also using it for the Creative Prompt Project. This weeks challenge word is NEW :)

Project update - Mrs. Moen's Napkin Challenge

2010-12-06T09:36:00.001-06:00

It's moving along but not done yet. I had a busy week-end doing lots of Christmas related events :)
So here's a look at the same corner. I'm adding french knots at the moment using colors from the "stripes". Any guesses as to what I am actually making? It won't be quilted and the deadline is Friday (Norwegian time).

I'm dispensing with a number of my regular blog features till after the New Year. Expect Christmassy type stuff to show up. I hope you will still visit when you can. As always comments are appreciated and will be responded to if you are not set to no-reply :)

Colourful Friday - TEAL

2010-12-03T07:49:00.002-06:00

TEAL is a very pretty color that ranges from grey blue to grey green. It can also range from quite bright to very subdued in tone. I've seen some lovely skies and ocean colors and birds with that color but I would have to raid WWW to get some of those.
Here we have what's left of any TEAL colors I have in clothing. (Mmmmm I think I need to hang them up to release the wrinkles.)

Two TEAL wall hangings "in progress" and some other crafty stuff. The bright thread and tiny bit of fabric is related to a large sewing project that is going on at the moment. My daughter painted the vase years ago as a mothers day gift and I added the pebbles. The fabric postcard came from a color swap and the cow head is one of the motifs on some "still to be made" PJ fabric.

Our synthesizer has bright TEAL buttons and when it plays the keys light up. Tons of fun for a beginning pianist :)

The heart angel was a gift from a friend when we lived in Michigan years ago. It's in the GREEN side of TEAL and goes on our tree every year.

Head on over to Robyn's blog for some more fun TEAL and some light hearted banter about her choice of color :) http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/

Oooooooh, I just noticed a TEAL napkin sitting on my family room floor. What's that doing there?

Next weeks color is - ANYTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS.

A hexie mug rug I made this week only I am using it as a candle mat :)

AND for Jaye at the CREATIVE PROMPT PROJECT :) This weeks word is #95 THANKS http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/

Mrs Moen's Napkin Challenge

2010-12-01T10:50:00.000-06:00

The reveals start today so head on over to http://mrsmoen.blogspot.com/ to see some creative interpretations. I like them all so far.
I'm still working on mine.
Here's my "inspiration" napkin.

And here's a sneak peak at one of the corners in progress. What ...... you were expecting something white !!!!!!!! I confess I was originally going to do a whole cloth style but I got rummaging in my fabric drawers and had an AHA moment ........

Got to go finish painting walls then I can work some more on it.

It's an Interior Thing - Split Personality

2010-11-30T08:58:00.000-06:00

I'm in the middle of painting our family room in preparation for Saturday and putting up our Christmas decorations. If we don't paint this week it won't get done for a few more weeks because I for one don't want to work round our tree. Once all the painting is done we will come to a decision about the fireplace.
The wall looks a bit funky at the moment with the two colors but I am working my way round the room.

I caught our "men at work" recently when they assisted with scrubbing off wall paste in the bedrooms/bathroom hallway.

Our kitchen chandelier created an interesting (I think) pattern on the hall wall and ceiling during the painting process.

Back to the family room. This is the section I will be painting today. There's just enough room with everything pulled out for me to get my wee stepladder in behind the entertainment unit.

Tomorrow afternoon I hope to get the little bit by the other window and round to the fireplace finished off. While I still miss the tone on tone stripey wallpaper from our hallway I am enjoying the new calmer color in our family room.
The other project I am working on is the master bathroom. I'm scrubbing the shower stall area in preparation for new paint and might repaint the rest of the room. Given that it is the size of a small closet it should not take too long to do :)

Artist of the Week - Melani Kane Brewer

2010-11-29T07:30:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned on a number of occasions that I am interested in learning how to do 3-dimensional textile art properly. Melani does some beautiful work. http://melanibrewer.com/ Since her work is under copyright I have opted to show a couple of details from two of her pieces.

Sunset At The Saltmarsh (detail)

Walk In The Woods I (detail)
Melani is originally from Ohio but now lives in Florida. She has a background in biology (teacher) and anthropology which is very apparent in her work. Melani's attention to detail is stunning.

Colourful Friday - SILVER

2010-11-26T07:24:00.001-06:00

Good morning one and all. For those of you who celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday I hope you had a fabulous day. We stayed home this year and had a restful day enjoying each others company. Ate waaaay too many desserts (as usual) and don't feel ready for breakfast yet :)

Onwards to the color SILVER which can range from white through dark grey depending upon the light. It's one of my favorite colors and I had a hard time culling photos :)

Darling daughter #2 looooooves shoes and I actually miss not seeing so many round the house anymore !!!!! This pair is still here and for the photo they are resting on top of one of the dresses she made for her flute trio.

Nashville dust has a silver/grey hue to it ..... at least at our house it does :) Wouldn't you know it ....... the shadows look silver/grey and the highlight could just sneak in there too

I make rice pudding from scratch and am currently stocking up on evaporated and condensed milk because Christmas is coming :)

Darling son is reading and DD #3's elephant decided to join in. The book cover has a lot of silver in it that changes color depending upon the light.

Our kitchen has tons of "SILVER" aka chrome, the biggest item being the fridge/freezer we bought a couple of years ago at our local scratch and dent store.

The Hansen great grandparents originally came from Norway and our Viking hangs in the front living room with all our family photos lending a very whimsical look to the arrangement.

One of my flower sketches is on paper that has silver stringy bits in it. For those of you who have visited my blog for a long time you may remember this one from being one of my blog headers last year.

I'm working on a project for Mrs. Moen and need lots of circles.

Head on over to Bev's blog (our temporary hostess) to see some more fun SILVER blog entries. http://kaingahappenings.blogspot.com/ Robyn will be back next week so many thanks to Bev for keeping the party going.

Next weeks color is Teal.

Creative Prompt Project - TWIST

2010-11-24T10:00:00.002-06:00

Another photograph for this week. This is what happens to your truck when you slide on black ice, fly through the air and land sideways in a ditch - a lot of TWIST(ED) wreckage :) (The accident was in February and I have recovered quite well. Thanks for the concern.)

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I for one am thankful for life, family, friends and the beauty around us.

One of my Celtic Knots for a signature block swap event I participated in. Love Celtic knots with all their TWIST(S) and turns

Beautiful Britain - Horse at Water

2010-11-23T13:23:00.001-06:00

A few days before John visited London an new sculpture was unveiled (14 Sept. 2010). Titled "Horse at Water" by Nic Fiddian-Green it stands an impressive 33 feet high. It's made of bronze and took about a year to build. It weighs 17 tonnes and currently is the tallest free-standing sculpture in London.

When I first looked at the hubsters photograph I thought "Oh look at all those wonderful little birds. How are they attached?" On closer inspection I realized they were real birds, probably pigeons :) Given that particular birds propensity for pooping everywhere you turn I doubt that the sculpture will stay pristine for long.

To read more about the sculpture and why it came about visit http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=40761&int_modo=1 I pinched the picture of the artist with head from the article. Take a close look and work out if he is standing up or lying down :)
Before I forget the sculpture is located near Marble Arch.

Here's another one of the artist's equestrian sculptures, this time it's "Still Water" that was installed at Ascot Race Course on June 8, 2010. It's a bit smaller at 20 feet but still impressive. (This one, I think was a temporary installation.)

An interesting article about Nic Fiddian-Green and his sculptural philosophy can be found at http://www.holmesadamsprojects.com/nicfiddiangreen.php

Artist of the Week - Dog Daisy Chains

2010-11-22T19:49:00.000-06:00

Meet the very popular Jackie Cardy of Dog Daisy Chains. An embroiderer who lives in Lancashire, England she specializes in using silk and velvet which she embellishes with machine embroidery. She has developed her pieces into some very interesting jewelry. Some of her work has been featured in Quilting Arts Magazine http://www.quiltingarts.com/Fine-Sewing-Techniques/.
Her hearts and leaves are wonderful. http://dogdaisychains.blogspot.com/ I love the texture and atmosphere (yes atmosphere) she creates with her pieces.

Quilts to Comfort Christchurch's Kids - update

2010-11-19T21:15:00.002-06:00

Three blog entries in one day, now that's a record even for me :)

The sew-in starts tomorrow (Saturday) at Jillianz Patchwork and Quilting for all the blocks donated to Cat thus far. http://catalinanz.blogspot.com/ see her Friday November 19, 2010 posting.

Here's a few of the blocks scattered round the store floor in anticipation of the big event :)

Colourful Friday - BROWN

2010-11-19T08:30:00.002-06:00

Brown is such a grounding color. I love it. It goes with almost any color you can imagine.
I have to show you this picture because darling son is having a chocolate themed birthday party tomorrow. Hubbie bought a fountain yesterday so of course we had to test it last night :) Messy but fun.

Oh I just noticed BROWN pretzels and a BROWN lighthouse rock in the background!!!!!

I made some singing reindeer fabric postcards for a christmas swap last year. Ho, ho, ho, who says santa has to have all the fun :)

My daughter took this photograph for a digital photography class project. It ended up pink and round with flowers by the time she was done manipulating it !!!!!!

I received this wall hanging in an autumn swap last year. Isn't it gorgeous. Turns out it was the "dry run" for a design that has since been published by Krista at http://poppyprintcreates.blogspot.com/

If you look really close you can see my happy wood nymphs. They sit on their wood wreath year round. We have lots of brown wood furniture and brown wood floors in our brown brick house but if I showed you all the brown related photographs this post would go on for ever and a day.

And what would life be like without chocolate chip cookies? Yum. Gotta have them with milk. Nothing else works well in my opinion.

I designed and made this biscornu. My first attempt. I eventually gave it away as a gift. I'll be trying it out in different colors at some point. It's also the start off point for a sampler that I am trying to design but have not gotten very far with yet.

And back full circle to that grounding color. Your basic dirt that we gardeners (or attempting to be gardeners) all love. It looks more like mulch to me but who's to argue with what's written on the dirt bag. It worked well and my plants loved it so all is good.
So now dear readers I must bid you adieu. I'm off to paint some walls cream. It'll probably take up a good chunk of my day.
Hop on over to http://kaingahappenings.blogspot.com/ for some more BROWN fun. Next week SILVER.

Patches For Lissa update

2010-11-19T07:21:00.006-06:00

The quilt is done and has been delivered. Lissa and her quilt look gorgeous together but the important thing is ...... she is now home with her family :)

To find out more about the update visit http://melsownplace.blogspot.com/2010/11/lissa-and-her-quilt.html Mel did all the piecing for her sister-in-law's quilt.

http://milliesquilting.blogspot.com/2010/11/lissas-quilt.html Millie did the long arm quilting. All the signature blocks went on the back.

and http://janesfabrics.blogspot.com/ (Tuesday November 16, 2010 entry) Jane collected the blocks and signature squares from all of us.

Creative Prompt Project - Sparkle

2010-11-17T19:33:00.001-06:00

I opted for a photograph I took last christmas of a little vignette I created. For me SPARKLE is associated with light of some kind. It is a joyful, fun word that brings happiness. Sparkle can create moods anywhere from frothy to drama.
So now that I've said all that I just realized the prompt word is Twinkle. I think my santa covers both words. He sparkles in the mini lights which make his little jewels twinkle :)

Beautiful Britain - Christchurch Mansion

2010-11-16T15:26:00.000-06:00

This is about the only house John has interior photographs of and he took a whole lot of them.

Christchurch Mansion can be found just outside Ipswich town center and is a museum of some worth. The area was originally the site of a 12th century Augustinian priory that was disbanded by Henry VIII
during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Withypoll family bought the land in 1545 and commenced building the mansion. At some point in the 18th century the mansion was bought and expanded by Claude Fonnereau. The mansion changed hands again in 1892 and Felix Cobbold saved the mansion from demolition by turning it into a museum and art gallery under the care of the city of Ipswich. Would you believe admission is free ! With lots of nooks and crannies to explore it's a great place to take all sizes (and ages) of kidlets :)

SewCalGal's Christmas Quilt Show 2010

2010-11-15T06:29:00.002-06:00

It's time for another blog hop (with fun prizes), this time at SewCalGal's blog. Her Christmas hop last year was enjoyable.
I have a little double-sided wall hanging (13"x13") that's a wannabe table mat so I had some fun over the weekend and tried out three options for usage. I made it two or three years ago and just love the color combination. The floral was my jump off fabric and then I picked out a few fat quarters from my collection and played till I was happy with the combination. I did traditional 9 patch blocks on the front and free formed the back.

Option #1 probably won't happen since we hang our stockings on the mantel.
Option #2 looks great under my prayer plant and picks up the colors from the leaves.
Option #3 is where it sits at the moment till I get ready for Christmas :)

Before I forget here's the back of my "mat". I might add more stitching but I'm in no rush to do so.

So hop on over to http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com or click on the BIG button on my sidebar and join in the fun.

Project update - it's not quilting but .....

2010-11-12T14:49:00.001-06:00

Lucy wants to show you something that's going on at our house. It's one of the reasons I have not done any sewing this week. (The other was preparing to teach a genealogy class at out local YMCA, which happened today.)

See that step stool? We are stripping wallpaper in our back hallway. The top vinyl stripey part is all gone and we are now tackling the paper backing. Our darling son is having his birthday party a week from tomorrow and so we are aiming to have everything stripped and painted before then. I confess I miss the tone-on-tone stripes that were there but life moves on.

And this is the other room that is going to get painted. We've moved a lot of the furniture around and the ratty old couch will be leaving fairly soon. Since both areas run off the central kitchen everything is getting painted cream for the time being. (Sounds kind of boring but given some of the strong color combinations we have in the house it'll be nice to have some calm, restful areas for a while.)

I'm going to be participating in a new project soon. Click on the link on my sidebar and find out what that is all about :) I hope some of you can join it too.

Colourful Fridays-Lavender

2010-11-12T07:22:00.005-06:00

I think lavender is a very pretty color. It's one of my oldest daughter's favorites. Her room was decked out in various shades of lavender and white. Unfortunately most of her items are with her at university.
One of my favorite artists when I was a teenager was Cicely Mary Barker who created the delightful Flower Fairies. I think I collected pictures of almost all of them at one point and had little books with poems. Guess which one is the most popular in her garden series ............ LAVENDER :)

There is a wonderful interactive site that you can visit http://www.flowerfairies.com/home.html so hop on over there and play for a while :)
So I went rummaging through my drawers (do I sound like the armoire from Beauty and the Beast !!!), and a closet or two and found a few surprising items.

On the floor and .......

on my daughter's much loved, and almost totally shredded, lavender quillow. Seriously if you hold the quillow up the seams fall away and some areas have been completely worn through.

Look at the lavender dress on the book cover. Isn't it just gorgeous. The jewelry box came all the way from India.
High up on one of our "treasure shelves" sits this lovely pair. I cleaned the shelf specially for today. If we ever do the color grey I'll take a picture of Nashville dust :)

There's a slight change to the link for November. Robyn is out of town so head on over to http://kaingahappenings.blogspot.com/ where the wonderful Bev is being the guest host.

Around America - Carolina BalloonFest

2010-11-11T15:54:00.000-06:00

I don't know about anyone else but I love to see hot air balloons gliding along. There is something so magical about them as they pass (almost) silently overhead. The level of art work that is seen on many balloons can take your breath away. I have ambitions to go up in one if I can keep some of my vertigo issues squelched :)
I was reading a posting yesterday about the Carolina BalloonFest and a book called "Lighter Than Air" by David Owen.

The photographs in the post are stunning so I hope you will take the time to go visit.
http://homeiswheretheboatis.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/lighter-than-air

Just to whet your appetite a bit here's one of Mary's montages. Reminds me of a quilt pattern ...... what do you think?

Then check out the rest of her blog because it is gorgeous and I am having photography envy in a BIG way !!!!!!!

Oh ...... before I forget here's the link to the BalloonFest http://www.carolinaballoonfest.com/ This is an annual event, the first being held in 1974.

Creative Prompt Project #92-MOVE

2010-11-10T06:41:00.001-06:00

Okay so with this one I got whimsical and based my sketch on the sound cows make :)

I like to draw on tracing paper and put colored paper behind it just to see what happens. This time round it is placed over a sunset/sunrise. The "randoms" could be clouds or cow hide patterns (no not patties) ....... whatever Moooooves you in your singalong :)

Beautiful Britain - Ickworth House & Park

2010-11-09T14:00:00.000-06:00

We really wanted to visit Ickworth near Bury St.Edmunds, when we went to England last year but did not have enough time to do so. John was able to go this year and enjoyed himself. Not many photos because he did a video on what sounded like bit of a windy day.

The rotunda is over 100 feet high. There's some very pretty friezes round the outside.

The park was laid out by Capability Brown. The rear of the house looks out on to some beautiful gardens.

Quiltmakers 100 Blocks vol.2

2010-11-08T14:41:00.000-06:00

http://www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks-vol02.html

Coming soon to a computer near you - The 100 blocks blog tour Nov 8-12. The last one was a whoooole lot of fun.

Colourful Friday - Pink

2010-11-04T19:18:00.001-05:00

There's a lot of pink around our place - not deliberate - just happened over a loooong period of time. Four rooms are painted various shades of pink and we "inherited" a bathroom with pink flowers in the wallpaper pattern. I love magenta/fuschia so it shows up a lot in the back garden.

Our Christmas tree in the family room from last year. The hubster and kidlets painted the walls and ceiling and laid the floor when I was on an extended visit to Scotland a few years ago. We are getting ready to redo the room. While I love the color of the walls they have been an absolute bear to try and decorate round :)

A gift I received in an exchange last year. She sits in my deep blue sewing room year round :)

One of a pair of children's galoshes I found abandoned in the grass on one of my walks earlier this summer.

Speaking of boots. We got some fairly decent snow last winter and I had to borrow my daughter's longer winter boots to go outside because I don't have any. There was a hard layer of frost on top of the snow which made it extra crunchy to walk on.

Our soon to be 18 year old daughter lives in a yellow and pink room of her own design (when she is not hanging out in her sister's pink, white and green room watching TV!!!) Teddy is waiting for her party to arrive :)

My absolute favorite quilt block. This is why I have decided to try and "walk the path" of quilting and embroidery together. I made it a few years ago, look at it often for inspiration, and yesterday had an AHA moment about how to finally finish it.
(I'm posting my Friday blog early because of other commitments tomorrow.)

Around America- Pacific International Quilt Festival 2010

2010-11-04T08:58:00.005-05:00

I don't live conveniently close to any of the main quilt festivals :( Once my kids are done with school (2013) maybe I'll start traveling too some. Anyhoo there was a lot of cyber chat about the California Festival and here are two. They are deliberately "Japanese" linked, albeit VERY subtly, because I am totally impressed with what has been coming out of that part of the world over the past few years.

http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2010/10/pacific-international-quilt-festival.html Love the zipper quilt. (Take some time out to visit the rest of her blog.)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltotaku/sets/72157625051799367/show/ She does a good job of showing labels and details.

I am currently taking a landscaping class at QU (birthday present to myself) so I really like this award winning quilt by Kathy McNeil.

I am at the "picking out a landscape and deciding on fabrics" stage fro my mini so have nothing to show yet and probably won't for a while. I do have the small zig-zag stitch on my machine up and running again so that is a start :)

Creative Prompt Project -Autumn

2010-11-03T09:52:00.001-05:00

We have two tall scarecrows that sit in our front entryway during part of October and November. They are supposed to sit outside but after a couple of years I got a bit weary of picking them up every time gusty winds knocked them over. So my sketch for today shows part of one of them. He used to have a perky hat like his companion but it is now keeps falling off his head ... poor wee thing.
Taking photographs at my house can be a bit of a challenge and today was no exception. My download cord had fallen behind my sewing machine desk last night when I was attaching scout badges to my son's uniform. Now I have to tidy up my sewing room .... again.
I took the photo in our sun room - which is slowly filling up with the hubsters main hobby, Lego and Technics - next to this beastie which almost poked me in the eye. It needs repotting but after my last painful experience doing that I might have to invest in a suit of armor.

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

2010-10-29T08:27:00.003-05:00

No it's not a doll quilt but it verily well could be and my daughter would love to have it for her twins. The hubster chuckled as I wandered round our un-photogenic house with quilt and baby dolls clutched to my heart looking for a place to take photos :)
It's not the quilt I was planning on sharing today but my other one is not finished yet and won't be for a while. I'm embroidering some blocks.
This is one of the few quilts that I have finished this year and it is for The Gracie Jane Project (button in sidebar). Ironically I found out about this new project last year while reading one of the Blogger Quilt Festival entries.

I love the design. It's very simple to put together if you pay proper attention to the instructions :) I forgot to attach the border on my first attempt and did not notice till the whole thing was quilted and ready for it's binding!!!!! Attempt #2 goes out in the mail this week-end and I hope it warms a preemie baby well.
There's already a whooooole lot of people participating in the festival and as usual I plan on visiting everyone over the next few days (better make that weeks since there are so many entries.) Thanks to Amy http://amyscreativeside.com/ for giving us this fun opportunity to interact with each other. Love the mini photos for the entries :)

Colourful Friday - Halloween

2010-10-29T06:26:00.002-05:00

Greetings from a halloween baby - my birthday was yesterday. I could do all kinds of fun play on words for this time of year but to be honest I really don't get the point of Halloween. I never grew up with that tradition (or birthday parties) and it took me many years to even feel somewhat comfortable participating as my children grew up, Having said that the one thing I do like is seeing how creative a goodly number of people get with their costumes :) So have a spooktacular time everyone as you greet all the little ghouls, goblins, ninjas, pirates, ghosties etc. We will be at a church carnival having a wickedly good time :)

So hop on over to Daisy Quilts to see what everyone else has submitted for this Halloween theme. My word verification at Robyns blog was .......... MONSTER and my # is ........ 13 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Y'all can howl with laughter now :)

Creative Prompt Challenge

2010-10-27T17:23:00.003-05:00

I've decided to take part in the Creative Prompt Project. I want to get back to drawing/painting on a regular basis. I think it will help my design/quilting/embroidery creativity. The prompt is posted at http://artquiltmaker.com/blog/ every Friday but I will probably post my effort on Wednesday's.

I'll put the link in my side bar and if you are interested in participating it will take you to the start page.
The current prompt till this Friday is #90-symbol. I am looking at Celtic symbols since they are part of my life as a Scot that is interested in history. I'll add my drawing as soon as it is finished.

So here's my sketch. Not your typical Celtic Knot :) (I did it in pencil first then went over it in ink.)

Beautiful Britain - Ipswich

2010-10-26T10:46:00.000-05:00

A few of the photographs John took while he was walking round Ipswich town center.

Cornhill Town Hall, Market Square

St. Nicholas Street

Cornhill Town Center, Ipswich

St. Nicholas Street

Artist of the week - Bernie Rowell

2010-10-25T08:03:00.000-05:00

Bernie Rowell is a painter turned textile artist whose past experience definitely influences her current work. She lives in the mountains of western North Carolina and acknowledges that as being one of her primary inspirations along with her garden. www.bernierowell.com/

"Tree Life" 46"x43" mixed media painted quilt.

If you look closely at some of her work you will notice that she recycles objects.
This one is called "Moonscape Memories" and is part of a series using a stamp collection she inherited from her great uncle.

http://wnc-woman.com/1202bernierowell.html An excellent editorial by Melissa Stanz.
http://ladybuglive.com/gallery26.html An on-line interview with one of her friends Dottie Moore.
In "Studio Conversations: Bernie Rowell Spring 2010" Bernie demonstrates how she puts her artwork together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UZV5WWn9Cw

Colourful Fridays - Orange

2010-10-21T16:06:00.005-05:00

It's already Friday on the other side of the world and has been for a while so I am posting early :) Link is now on my sidebar.

One of the silk flower arrangements in my kitchen (early version).

A sunshine stencil one of my girls requested for the back of her bedroom door.

Fabric used for my youngest daughter's PJ's. Bzzzzzzzzilly happy :)

A gorgeous easter 2009 quiltie made by Ann Hudson that I was given in a swap.

I collect snowmen and this is one of the cross-stitch christmas tree snowmen I made. Love his orange hat :)

One of my original autumn design mini samplers used for a swap.

One of our summer lilies. They vary from yellow through orange to red.

Ya never know what will show up in your photo album when your children borrow your camera :)

Many people find orange a hard color to work with yet it is viewed as sunny, vibrant and happy. On a walk or two through my house I found a whoooole lot more than I expected - cereal box, bread packaging, cereal bowl, knife handles, a small amount of fabric, my husband's shirt and tie, an old cushion, book covers, a box full of fall decorations, shampoo and body wash, hand sanitizer.

One of the official colors of Tennessee (pin taken off the web, photographer unknown).

and an award I received recently

Beautiful Britain - Dunstable Downs

2010-10-21T10:08:00.000-05:00

Bet y'all were expecting an historic building of some kind :) Not today ....... today we are going to look at some flying "machines".

When you visit Dunstable Downs in the right kind of weather you are likely to see two activities happening ...... kite flying and glider piloting. Both dependent upon others to get them in the air and both dependent on the right kind of wind to function properly when up in the glorious freedom of the sky. Both are beautiful to watch.

Paragliders and hang gliders also use the downs but they were already on the ground during the time John was taking photographs.
So why all this flying type activity? It's all about height and elevation. The Downs stand at 797 ft. which is the highest point in the county of Bedfordshire. The London Gliding Club is based there.
If you like to walk there is a 61/2 mile circular path and due to the terrain (it can get muddy) you are advised to wear sturdy shoes or hiking boots.

Birthday month giveaway 2010 - and the winner is ........

2010-10-20T16:41:00.006-05:00

Aren't these just the most gorgeous looking water features? There's a number of them in the formal reflecting pool on the upper terrace at Cheekwood. The Dale Chihuly exhibition runs through the end of this month (extended through the first week of November). We have one more visit planned to see some of the sculptures lit up at night.

So the winner of 10 fat quarters of the color of your choice (blue) is ............ Marga from the Netherlands. Congratulations. She has a lovely blog so I hope you all take some time to visit her at http://www.marpie.web-log.nl/. Give her some cyber hugs her mother-in-law died unexpectedly last Friday.
(Himself is heading off to the Netherlands tomorrow for a few days. How ironic is that.)

Thanks to those of you who did some fun guessing and descriptions. They all made me smile greatly :)

Birthday month give-away 2010

2010-10-15T16:14:00.009-05:00

It's my birthday this month and this time round I'm doing a giveaway of a different kind.
All you have to do is guess what this "up close" view is of and you might win 10 fat quarters in a color-way of your choosing. You have till Wednesday 20th, morning, to guess. (Addendum - It is now Wednesday, just after midday. The giveaway is now closed. The winner will be announces later today.)

So have some fun with this but remember to leave a comment with a way to contact you. The winner will be drawn from those that participate, and announced on Wednesday afternoon.

On to a totally different subject. I happen to like green and wear it a lot. My friends might be surprised to learn that it is not my favorite color :)

The ever delightful Robyn at http://daisyquilts.blogspot.com/ is doing Colorful Friday. This week it's GREEN so I am joining in. Woohoo :) I hope you enjoy my choice of photographs and have a splendiforous week-end. If you are on fall break like us ...... party on people ... do something fun and creative with your children whatever their ages :)

An exchange gift (last year) from Jean Boyd at http://jeanboyduppercanadaquiltworks.blogspot.com/

A gift I sent for Christmas last year. I really like stitching mini alphabets.

Some beautiful overhang greenery near the main house at Cheekwood. We went there today.

At the visitors center in Historic Kirtland, Ohio. We went there this summer.

Darling son creating a mini snowman this past winter. Yeah we got decent snow :)

A donation block for a cancer research fundraiser sponsored by the amazing Donna at http://stitchingforacure.blogspot.com/

A christmas gift for last year.

Walking through the trees to the Kirtland Temple. (It has a green door but the photograph was not good.)

I am learning to crochet. This blanket is going into our green/pink/white guest room.

Well lookie here we have a surprise visitor .....

"Who are you looking for?" Cousin Kermit you say? "I'm sorry he has not arrived yet. Maybe you should rest here for a while or if you are in a hurry pop on over to some of the other GREEN blogs. He has been visiting some of them :)"

Beautiful Britain - Waddesdon Manor

2010-10-13T08:06:00.002-05:00

View of Waddesdon Terrace from the North Fountain

Part of the Sevres Rooms

large 3 dimensional bird near the Aviary.

The original was first created in the late 1890's

"Perceval" by Sarah Lucas

(no they are not giant peanuts they are giant marrows)

Welcome to Waddesdon Manor and Gardens originally one of the estates belonging to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. It took a wee while to build the house - 1874-89 and was done specifically to exhibit his art collections and to entertain. It was designed in the neo-Renaissance style i.e French chateau so expect a romantic type feel. When Queen Victoria invited herself for a visit what do you think was her favorite part? ...... The electric lights ..... she supposedly played with one of the light switches for quite a while :)
'Tis a gorgeous place to visit and the gardens are fabulous. The estate was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 but is administered by a Rothschild charitable trust.
John brought home "The Waddesdon Companion Guide". It is gorgeous and I am looking forward to reading it properly. (He also filmed some mini movies but I have not worked out yet how to add them to bloggie posts.)
www.waddesdon.org.uk/
In 2006 the property was used as the double for Buckingham Palace to film "The Queen". Personally I think it looks a lot prettier than the London "pile":)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddesdon_Manor
There is an absolutely stunning Youtube site with romantic music added in that y'all have got to visit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f4lOtnNwc8

Volunteer Project - Quilts to Comfort Christchurch's Kids

2010-10-12T09:34:00.000-05:00

I have a soft spot in my heart for New Zealand. It's one of those places I have wanted to visit since I was little. At one point I seriously thought about living there but ended up in the USA instead.
Recently the area around Christchurch has been experiencing earthquakes starting with a magnitude 7.1. Yesterday I happened across a lovely blog called Catalina's Cottage. Cat has organized a quilt project that is already proving to be successful. http://catalinanz.blogspot.com/2010/09/quilts-to-cheer-and-comfort.html

All you have to do is send her some of your orphan blocks and they will be made into quilts for children in the Christchurch area.
Some people have sent quilt tops already pieced together, finished quilts, and fabric. She has a big push on at the moment to get a number of quilts ready for Christmas.
I have a stack of orphan blocks pulled from my drawer (along with some fabric) waiting to go out in the mail.