APRONS

I've been thinking about making an apron.  Did you know that the Monday after Mother's Day, is National Apron Day?


I love the idea of having a fresh new apron to wear on the upcoming holiday.  So, I did some looking on line today, and I was reminded just how much I love a Vintage Apron.




I love the packaging of the patterns.  The stylish hair.  The tiny waists!  And this is a size 14-16!

 Look at the great options in these 3 patterns.  I love the pockets in the center!  You could put a lot of Lego's in those babies!  Again the tiny waists!

 This is so adorable.  And, it was a free pattern.  I wish little blue birds would come tie my apron strings, and turn down my sheets at night.

 I love these flirty see-thru aprons.  Just what would you put in those pockets?  These must have been worn at fancy cocktail parties in the 50's.

 This looks more like it.  Cherries, a nice sized pocket,  a flirty ruffle at the bottom, and a normal waist line!


FYI-I mailed 72 'Just One Star' blocks to Moda last week.  Thanks for all of your participation!  J

More Quilt Show Peeks

 Inspiration was everywhere during the QA show.  I wanted to show you a few more quilts.  This was called Bay leaf.  What a wonderful way to use your 30's fabric!  I loved this quilt.  Hand appliqued and hand quilted.  The old fashioned way.

 I was thrilled to see this quilt.  I sold 3 or 4 bolts of the panel used in the squares.  I have seen a couple of quilts and everyone did a terrific job creating something unique.

 I love Mary Hickey and her quilts!!  This is such a beauty. Judy Pollard gave Mary several of these urn blocks, Mary made a few more and whipped this up.  I love the picket fence border.

 This was made with a vintage piece of fabric, from the Seattle Worlds Fair, in 1962.  There are fireworks quilted in the background.  A true Seattle tradition!

 You could almost hear the jungle sounds when you were looking at this quilt!

Loved this still life!

Amazing paper piecing and color selection!  Way outside of my box.  But, I loved it!

Quilt shows get my juices flowing.  So much of what I make, is done in a hurry, so I can use it in as a shop sample.  It is so nice to see these works of art.  One of a kind quilts.  Love, love, love them! 

There were over 500 quilts in the show this year.  The guild should be proud. 
They are encouraging their members to act on their passion.   

I have a a small quilt groups collection of quilts that I will post here in a few days.  So check back.  J

MARCH

March is a busy month at Keepsake Cottage.  The month starts with Sew Expo, we don't have a booth, but many people come to the shop on their way to or from Expo.  Then, the Quilters Anonymous Quilt Show followed the next week by the Tri County Quilt Tour.  The Tour ended yesterday.  I am taking a day off, and thought I would share some photo's from the Quilt Show last weekend.

 There were 2 featured artist's at the show.  One Traditional quilter, Bunny Johanson, and one very artistic quilter, Maureen Roy.  This shows the diversity of the membership in this guild.  The quilt above is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  Bunny told me it is the largest quilt she has ever made.  I couldn't get back far enough to get the whole quilt in the photo.  It was a beauty!

This is one of Maureen's original creations.  It was a show stopper!

 This Beautiful quilt was made by a friend, Joan Dawson.  She is so talented,  I just like to stand near her, and watch what she is picking out!  This is mostly wool.  The bias stems are cotton, and a few pieces of the applique are cotton.  She dyed most of the wool herself.  Some of it with Kool Aide!

 This amazing piece was made by Donna Eines.  She has been winning ribbons at QA and all of the local fairs for years.  It is hand appliqued and hand quilted.  I took a few photo's so you could see her work up close.

 This is the true meaning of stippling!!

Her choice of fabrics for the leaves was all over the green color spectrum.  Just amazing!

 This was the quilt that was hanging across from our booth!  8,160  1 inch triangles.  Hand pieced and hand quilted.  It was had to get a picture of it, because there was always a crowd in front of it! 

 This is a close up.  The fabrics were from the 30's, 40's and 50's.  The quilter made this over the last couple of years. Amazing!

This is the back of a quilt made by Judy Irish.  She is a pretty incredible machine quilter.  This quilt was hung so you could enjoy both sides.  She has a Koi pond, can you tell?

There are many more pictures to show you.  So, stay tuned!  J

Quilts of Valor

Last fall when I was at Quilt Market there was a lot of buzz about Quilts of Valor. Since 2003, Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) volunteers have made over 32,000 quilts to donate to wounded service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  They have extended their efforts, and want to donate quilts to all American combat veterans who were wounded or touched by war, no matter what the conflict.

Nine fabric companies have designed patriotic fabric collections to help in this effort.  They will also have free patterns on their websites.  The participating companies are, Andover Fabrics, Clothworks, Marcus Fabrics, Moda, P&B Textiles, Quilting Treasures, Red Rooster Fabrics, Timeless Treasures and Windham Fabrics.

All of the companies are shipping the fabrics in March.  (Yikes, it's March!)  So, we are going to have the best selection of patriotic fabric, ever!   I love a red, white and blue quilt, and I know I will be inspired to make a quilt for this great cause.  If you don't want to make a quilt, but would like to get involved, Moda has a plan for you.  It's called Just One Star, http://www.unitednotions.com/LA_just_one_star.pdf.  They are hoping to make 100 quilts in 100 days.  Flags of Valor, just like the one above.  They need 1800 star blocks.  They are pretty magic at the Moda Warehouse, but that's a lot of star blocks.  So, they thought if quilters wanted to make Just One Star, it would be a huge help!! 

If you want to make a block and drop it off at the shop, I would be happy to mail it to them!  I think I will make one tonight, to get the ball rolling.  J

How I spent my last weekend...

 Last week, with my car packed full of sewing supplies and my 2 BFF's, Suzanne and Betsy, we headed off for 4 bliss full days of sewing.  We were joined by 10 of our best quilting buddies.  What a wonderful weekend it was!

I put the borders on a beautiful red and white scrap quilt that I started a year ago.

 Colleen finished her Christmas stocking that were made from a vintage bed spread.  They will look elegant for years to come.  Ellie was working on the cutest tiny 9 patches.

 Betsy's was working on her daughters wedding quilt.  Super Cute!  The center of each square was signed during the reception last October.  It is going to be a wonderful memory of that magical evening.

 Suzanne was working on a Moda Bake Shop project.  It will grace her bed on the 4th of July.

 Marla brought her hand appliqued blocks to sew together.  This was breath taking!

 This is a close up of one block.  This was a pattern in a magazine, by Pat Sloan.  I believe it was called August Breeze.

 This is Laurie's tidy work station.  She was working on a quilt for Quilts of Valor.  A wonderful cause.

 Kay made this cute little zippered pouch.  I was the lucky recipient. 

 Marla brought this for show and tell.  She had worked on it at a previous retreat.  I love house blocks, and those little floating stars.  The best!

 I made this Hobo Bag for the shop.  It's a Kwik Sew pattern. 

 I am in love with orange fabric!! An Orange Crush if you will!!  I jumped into my basket of orange and started to make pinwheels.  Before I knew it I had 35 of them!

Bob the Turtle Purse was along for the retreat. He had a difficult time selecting from the menu at JJ"s Fish House!!

There were many projects that I did not photograph.  Aprons, quilts, receiving blankets and more.  However the very best part of the weekend was the friendship in the air.  We have been doing this for 13 years. We have been through a lot with each other.  A sisterhood of women, brought together through the love of quilting.  I cherish our time together.  Long Live the Killer Bee's!!

BIRDS OF A FEATHER-SNEEK PEEK

 I have been working on a project for our upcoming Tri County Quilt Tour.  This is our Spring shop hop.  3 county's, 91 miles, 14 wonderful LQS's.

Each year we decide on a theme, and each shop designs a quilt block reflecting the theme.  In September we meet, bring our blocks for show and tell, and exchange patterns.  We each go back to our shops and design a quilt using all of the block patterns.  It is really fun to see what everyone comes up with.

This year we are calling the Quilt Tour 'Birds of a Feather'.  We each designed a bird house block. Super fun, don't you think?

 This is the block I designed, Noel did a beautiful job of appliqueing it!

 This darling little house was pieced by Patty.  It was designed by Calico Creations in Mount Vernon.

 This Chicken is from The Quiltmakers Shoppe in Arlington.  Kay Harris made this for me,  her little scarf is 3 dimensional!

Here is our quilt.  I am taking it to my quilter today.  We used fabrics from many different Blackbird Designs collections.   Then center block was embroidered by Pamela at Moondog Embroidery.  I am super happy with the way it turned out!

It will come to life when Pam is done quilting it-'It's not a quilt until it's quilted'.  J

Happy Valentines Day!

I have always loved Valentine's Day.

 This early Valentine with the treadle sewing machine reminds me that I wasn't the first generation to enjoy this holiday!

I remember decorating a shoe box, to place on my desk.  Such anticipation about the cards that would be stuffed into that box! 

 The selection process for me was very important.  Each card had to really remind me of the recipient.  Not too mushy for some, and kind of suggestive for others!

 This one is kind of racy for it's time!  Don't you think!

 Oh, I wish I had that dress to wear to dinner tonight!  Let's not talk about Tarzan's outfit...

This was a box of valentines from the 60's that was listed on eBay.  What a find!  There is one on the top with a cigarette, amazing.  I am sure there is one in that box for a teacher. I loved filling out the teacher card.  Using my best penmanship.

Here's a little secret about me, I was married on Valentines Day, 29 years ago.

It was a great day for a wedding, but it is not always a great day for an anniversary.  You need to make your dinner reservation at least a month in advance.  Restaurants are Super Crowded, so lingering is not an option.  We spent this past weekend in LA visiting our middle son.  We had wonderful meals, sunshine and great company.  A great way to celebrate.  Tonight, our favorite local spot.  Where they know our names, and how we like our food. 

I hope you spend the day with the love(s) of your life!! J