MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

 

 

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!  XO j



PILLOWCASE'S FOR SANDY HOOK

 

 

 

I have made hundreds of pillowcases over the years.

I have used them as gift wrapping.  Quilt bags.

Wedding Gifts.  Birthday Party favors.

 

Really a token of love.

 

This November, my middle son turned 29.

He called a couple of weeks before his birthday, and told me

all he really wanted was a few new pillowcases.

 

We have collected pillowcases for many causes.

To me they offer comfort, as well as make a little cheerful statement.

 

When I heard of the ultimate tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School,

I knew I needed to do something.

 

Pillowcases came to mind.

Yesterday, I learned of a Quilt Shop in Milford, CT

 

http://www.quilterscorneronline.com/

 

They are collecting Children's Pillowcases.

Bright, Happy, Sports, anything fun, non holiday.

 

I will package up any that are donated to the shop, and send them out on January 2.

 

I hope that you will be generous with your donations.

These children all deserve to have sweet dreams again.

 

xo j



WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

 

 

 

Yesterday I received an email from my

Sister-in-law.

 

She was wondering what I had been up to.

She had checked my blog, and saw that I hadn't been here

since early October.

 

Sigh.

 

Well, in a nutshell, I went to Quilt Market at the end of October.

My little lap top had been running so slow, that I didn't take her with me.

 

Instead, I took my hubby.

We had a grand time.

 

We shopped till we dropped, several days in a row.

We dined with friends.

We did not ride the mechanical bull.

However, there was flirting with Reba!!

 

I came home to a hard drive that had crashed.  My advise, is don't ever let this happen to you!

I was without a computer for 10 days.

Things are still missing, and now Blogger tells me I have no room for pictures.

Another day, I will figure it out!

 

My Idaho Boy, came home for a few days.  It was dandy to see him!

 

I put the binding on a quilt.

We went to Portland for Thanksgiving.

Yesterday I made 5 pillowcases.

 

I will get back in the groove, I promise.  xo j



A LITTLE BIT OF FALL

Fall is such a beautiful time of the year.

Today was the first day I wore a vest.  I guess that makes it official.

I made this little table runner, from the book

Fast And Furious For The Holidays.

by Gudrun Erla (GE Designs)

I love her books and patterns. 

Her projects are quilt as you go.  So, when you are done piecing,

you just need to bind!

( I did add a little extra quilting to make pumpkin lines)

The 'curve' comes from a folded triangle that you 'roll back' and stitch down.

The book has other great projects!

I decided we needed to decorate our 'naked' pumpkins.

So, 4 yards of rick-rack, a couple of yards of black and white ribbon, about 10 minutes and look how stinkin' cute this is!!

I just pinned one end of the rick-rack, went under the pumpkin, pinned the other end.  Repeat 3 times.

Tie a cute bow, and you have the cutest pumpkin, ever!

xo j

ZIGGY BABY

We are all in love with Chevrons.

The shop has chevrons in many sizes and many colors.

I have made a Chevron quilt, which I love.

I ordered a new pattern a few weeks ago

Super cute.

Just what every baby wants.

So, I asked Lisa if she would like to make a shop sample.

We went right to work, selecting fabric for this cutie.

She made it over a weekend,

and passed it off to Jenny to quilt.

OMG

Check out Jenny's quilting.

There is no way a baby is going to spit up on this precious quilt!!

Thanks Lisa and Jenny for helping make the shop look fabulous!!  xoxo j



FRIDAY'S VINTAGE FIND

Last weekend, I had the chance to poke around

in an Antique store. 

It's always fun to go into a new place, don't you think?

Especially, when you find a little treasure!

This sweet hand quilted baby quilt, was just waiting for me!

It is made up of little 4 patch blocks.

Each with a print and a solid.  They finish at 3".

The fabric seems to come from several decades.

This little purple and orange print is probably 30's or 40's.

The brown and turquoise paisley looks like the 70's to me.

The little red floral looks like the 60's.

So does the daisy print.

However the pink, looks 30's.

Here is the same daisy print in a different color way.

I was thinking I needed a 'stunt' baby for this quilt.

And then it came to me.  A 'stunt' Julie!

She looks so happy on this Scrap Bag Quilt!

Perfect for her 70's lifestyle!  xo j

NYC Shopping

During my recent trip to NYC I spent a little time visiting

the local fabric shops.

If you are a Project Runway fan, then you know all about Mood.

It reminds me of fabric stores when I was a child

A lot of garment fabric, tons of buttons,

braids, trims.

3 floors of wonderful Textiles.

This little gem, is also in the Garment District.

There were lots of Quilters shopping, we walked over after the Quilter's Take Manhattan event.

This is taken through the front window.  It was pretty crowded!

This is the front window of Purl Soho.

Yarn, Liberty of London, lots of Solids.  Ton's of inspiration.

In an amazing part of town. 

I can't believe it's only been a week.



Did you know that George Washington took his oath of office in NYC?

Yes, this is the spot.  He is facing the New York Stock Exchange.

I wonder if Martha was near by?  Or Betsy Ross?  xo j

QUILTERS TAKE MANHATTAN!

I have just returned from a wonderful week in New York City.

What an amazing place.

I stayed close to the garment district, blocks and blocks of shops full  of

buttons, feathers, spandex, trims, sequin fabric.  You name it.  It was AWESOME!

This bronze statue was really beautiful.  I walked by it every day.

There were always people having there picture taken with it.

People speaking all languages.

It speaks to all of us.

This is on the corner. I love it!

So wonderful to see, Sewing Art!

I attended a wonderful event.  Quilters Take Manhattan. 

It was the second year for the event.

Great speakers. Great ideas.

Mark Lipinski was supposed to speak. 

He was not able to travel,

But he sent a delightful letter for Marie Bostwick

to read to the group.

All the CupCakes in the room were happy to hear that

his sense of humor is still in tack!

Meg Cox interviewed Denise Schmidt. 

This was for the Alliance For American Quilts SOS (Save Our Stories) project.

Denise describes herself as a Modern Quilt Artist.

However, she has studied vintage quilts, and gets her inspiration from them.

Like this Robbing Peter to Pay Paul,

and this Pickle Dish.

Both are very traditional quilts.  Beautifully pieced.

We also learned a few other things about her. She was a dancer. As an engineer she designed a font, that is still used.  And, she was photographed for French Vogue, by Andy Warhol.  She also like a great pair of shoes!  An all around great woman!

A great book, full on inspiration!  xo J



FRIDAY'S VINTAGE FIND

I saw her in Idaho.

Last summer.

I have thought about her many times since then.

This summer, I told my DH,

"If she is still there, she is coming home with us."

"Really?"

"yes, really."

Much to his surprise, she was waiting for me.

Again, he said, "Really?"  "yep."

A pristine beauty. 

1961 White Singer Featherweight.

Amazing.

Beautiful.

Brand New Sewing Machine Smell.

And, she was $155 less than last summer.  She is so happy to be living with me!

She has only had a chance to sew a few seams.

But, in a week or two, I have plans for her.

Vintage Sewing Love.  xo J

Catching Up

Where has the summer gone?

I know I have been away.  A lot.

LA

Lake Chelan

Portland

LA to NYC (6 days in a car with my boy.)

Mt Rainier

Lake Chelan

Birch Bay

McCall, Idaho (Birthday Boy)

Odyssa, WA

Reardon, WA (Buggy Barn Show)

and this week, NYC (more Boy time)

Yep, this is my list.  I think there were a couple of other trips to Portland.

I have taken a lot of pictures and written a number of Blog Posts in my head.

Let's start with Reardon.

If you are local, you know that there are only a couple of business in the middle of the wheat fields.  The Buggy Barn, is by far the best!

The Rooster Cafe was a close second.

This is it.  The famed Buggy Barn Shop. 

All decorated for the show.

I knew it was a small shop.

Packed full of wonderful sights

Inspiration.

It didn't seem too crowded.

So, we thought we would take our chances inside.

I tried to stand in one spot and take a few pictures.

To give you the idea of just what 'not too crowded' looks like

on Show Day! 

I was able to wiggle myself up to the check out area,

and make a few purchases. 

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL QUILT SHOP!

The sky was so blue, and so big!  Really a beautiful sight.

Quilts on fences as far as you could see.

Just loved this flag.

Beautiful Wool quilt. 

I don't know who PLS is, but she did a beautiful job.

Mary Lou Wiedman's influence was all through the show.

I love a basket quilt, and the simple applique really set these baskets off.

Stunning.

Love.

I didn't take a far-away picture of this beauty.

It was a vintage quilt top.  Machine quilted, and little bundles of french knots in the center of the design.

Really great to give an old top a new twist.

The colors in this quilt were really wonderful.

If you are ever in Eastern Washington, the last weekend of August.

Go.  It is worth the trip!