Today's Task

First, I want to say a big Dobry Den (Hello!) to my pal Ruzena from Czech Republic!!! Ruzena figured out, with the help of her daughter, Hanicka, how to navigate into my blogs and check out what I'm up to. Ruzena, I think it is great to have you visiting my blog! Next step, Hanicka can show you how to do your own blog, so I can check on YOU! :-)

above: the quilt as a "flimsy" (before being quilted)

Today I am working on the binding for this quilt. It is a high school graduation gift for our nephew, Carter. Tomorrow we are going to his party, so I am scurrying to finish the binding today. Last minute, as usual... I guess I work well under pressure.

Carter asked for green, for jaggedy lines, and he asked for some Tlingit art work in the middle. Hmmmmmm... at first I wasn't sure what to do about the Tlingit art work. (Tlingit is the Alaskan Native tribe of which my husband's family are members. Carter is a nephew in the Tlingit line.) The green and the jaggedy lines were easy (log cabin block, green "logs").

I did manage to make one Tlingit-style killer whale, thanks to inspiration from Israel Shortridge, an artist who has a studio in Seattle. Here is a link to his gallery and gift shop web page:

http://www.shotridgestudios.com

I apologize to the Tlingit people for my rough rendition of Tlingit art. I certainly can't do it justice so made only this one piece and hope Carter will be happy with it.

The quilt was machine quilted by Diane of Diane's Creative Machine Quilting. Here's her website:

http://www.dianequilter.com/

Didn't she do a great job?? She gave it a lot of thought and went with some of what I suggested, even though I think she wasn't thrilled by my ideas... she put her own slant on them (running her ideas past me, which I appreciated) and the quilt turned out gorgeous. She did a nice watery look in the center where the whale is. She did leaves in the white logs and serpentine lines in the green logs. She did more leaves in the black border and serpentine lines in the outer green border. I really love how it turned out.

Next fall Carter will head off to Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, and will take this quilt with him to keep him happy and warm. I hope he has a wonderful, fun, and insightful adventure at Carleton!

Now I need to get busy on that binding.........

Fun Weekend!

I started out the weekend thinking I would pull out some UFOs and finish them. I did not pull out a single UFO! I had a lot of fun sewing, however. I did all new stuff. Silly me, but it was fun. I used my ducky fabric to make this quick and easy little baby quilt. (I only had a half yard of the ducks, so this plus a few random blocks is about all I will get out of that fabric)



This quilt, made of crumb (scrap) blocks, was another quick and easy one, using Tonya's letters for the Xs and Os. I thought about writing "sweet dreams" or "sleep tight" in the border, but realized that I don't enjoy doing the letters enough to write anything of any length. I'm just not good at them! I can handle the Xs and Os, though. They're quick and easy... that's my M.O., I guess. Quick and easy? I'll do it!


I got bindings put on these two: Swirly and Gs. The one I call Gs is made of wonky blocks and strips that someone donated to someone who donated them to me. They were kind of challenging to work with, but I decided just to slap them together and pretend it was a Gees Bend style of quilt. I don't dare categorize mine with the Gees Bend quilts, so I just call mine Gs.

This is Swirly--


This is Gs --

I belong to an online Block Lotto group and made the May and June blocks. Here they are:

(May - Grandmother's Choice from quilterscache.com)

(June - Really Split Nine Patch from quilterscache.com)

I had planned to make a bunch of the June blocks, but was unhappy with how my points ended up not meeting very well, so I stopped at two. I like how the blocks go together, though, so I may make more of them over time. Maybe I'll have the right karma with my points on another attempt.

Today, Memorial Day, we had a fun lunch at the Blue Park with our grown-up kids. (Back when she was about 3 years old, Daughter named it the Blue Park because of a blue swing.) They are such nice grown ups! I love spending time with them. And the Blue Park is a very pleasant, beautiful place. We had a nice little visit, enjoyed good food, and still got home in time to do more fun stuff (laundry, prepare for going back to work, and maybe a little more sewing). Have a super duper week, everyone!

Long Weekend!

Yesterday after work I dropped off my Project Linus quilts at Treadle Yard Goods, and came home with these fun fabrics. They were calling to me, and I gave in to the pressure!

Aren't these duckies just the cutest?? Not sure what I'll do with these. They'll have to sit and wait their turn, until something comes along that wants their cute, bright selves to join the fun.

Meanwhile I am sewing a bit and interrupting myself with blog viewing and generally being very disorganized, but having fun. I think I will pull out some old UFOs and see if I can get them out of my to-do pile.

Here's something beautiful for you to enjoy. My co-worker has a green thumb the size of Texas and brought in these absolutely gorgeous irises (and peonies) for the rest of us to gaze upon. I took about 4 zillion pictures of them. My irises are still little green pointy things about 3 inches out of the dirt. This iris, from the point of this white petal to the point of that back petal, is about 8 inches! Awesome!

Did Some Quilting

Last weekend I finally got some quilting done. I think I posted these tops before, but now they are fully finished quilts. When I send tops away for someone else to quilt them, it's easy to part with them. But when I finish them myself, I fall in love with them, and I have a hard time giving them away. I do it, but it's hard. It's funny how much cuddlier it becomes when it's quilted, and it even makes a huge improvement from being quilted to putting on the binding. It becomes a "sealed"unit and so great!

OH, I love this quilting hobby of mine!! It would be fun to see all the quilts I have ever made in a big pile somewhere and paw through them all and have happy reunions with them all. I hope a lot of them are being cuddled and loved by kids all over the world.

These two quilts are headed to Project Linus, St. Paul MN chapter.

Difficult Times

I have not had time or energy to do much sewing this week. I hope to get some done this weekend. Right now I am working on sandwiching a few charity quilts so I can get them off my mental "to-do" list and get them sent off to the kids.

I work in a public school district special ed program with Deaf/Hard of Hearing students. Our program has had a tough spring. Two deaf children have died this spring. While I did not know them personally, I know how it is to suddenly lose a student with whom you have built a strong bond. The DHH program is closely knit and we feel so tied to our students and hopeful for their futures. When someone is lost, it is a big blow.

One child was only about 6 yrs old. He and his family were fishing in the Mississippi when their boat capsized, and four people drowned, including the young deaf student who was in our program. Then this week there was a terrible and bizarre car crash in which a 14-year-old girl died. I hear she was a very loveable, personable, kind and friendly person. It is so hard on the staff who have worked with her over the years.

If you want to say a prayer for their families, please do so. Joshua and Amber are the children who are now mourned and missed so terribly.

Life is so precious and wonderful that the losses are deeply painful. And it's the sorrowful times that remind us of how precious life is. May we all celebrate our every moment with our children and friends and not take a moment for granted.

In honor of friends, I am posting this photo of my son and his college buddies, celebrating life and friendship:

Hat

I once had this posted as my profile photo. I have no idea why it disappeared after only a day or two in operation. I'm trying again... they say to post it to my blog first. Please bear with me as I try in my bumbling way to figure out computer-management (not my forte)!

Another Basket

I haven't worked further on the quilt pictured in my previous post. Thanks for your ideas. I don't have much of that yellow left, but I can see if they still have it at the store... it's one that I actually remember where I purchased it. I have a border idea in mind, but not sure if I know how to do it. So it's on my thinking back burner.

Today I made this smaller basket quilt. It's a block I made for the lotto, then won it back. I made this to give away but think I'll keep it. I like it except I wish the foliage in the basket showed up more.. it would be cuter with some dark purple flowers. I still have some other basket blocks. Not sure what they will all turn into.

I put together another red/yellow quilt top. These are for kids but some of them are turning out kind of adult-looking. I hope the kids like them... if nothing else, they'll like the bright colors.

A Star Among Baskets

I won some basket blocks in a lotto! This is just some of them. I spent almost a whole day making 4 blocks to set inside where I now have the blue/yellow QSTs. (See the star they create?) The first blocks had lots of small pieces and took forever to make. Then when I tried them in this quilt, they looked awful. So now I have 4 new orphan blocks to use in some other fashion. I made these QSTs in a snap, and they look MUCH better in this setting than the intricate ones did.




Now I'm thinking about what kind of border to put on here. I'm going to put a thin separation border of a dark blue.. then something pieced. What would YOU do?

Prayers

Patty has asked for prayers for her grand-daughter, Mei-Ling. Visit Patty's blog here.

So Many Blocks, So Little Time

Thanks to everyone who visited my 100th posting and left a comment! I appreciated each and every visit. I drew a name and Norma of Silver Thimble Quilting is the winner! I'll send off a nice little prize to Norma (who has a gorgeous quilt posted at her blog today. Check it out!)

A few people, at my invitation, have sent me their orphan blocks. I will put these together and make charity quilts for kids. I have an enormous pile of them on my cutting table! Don't know when I'll get time to work with them all, but I'll try a little this next weekend. I usually have more time in the summer, too, so that will soon be upon us, and I'll get busy sewing.

The other day I popped in to one of my favorite quilt shops ( Colorful Quilts in St. Paul, MN) and bought these beautiful oriental fabrics. She always has a great selection in her sale area; I got these at half price! She loves bringing in new and gorgeous fabrics, so she keeps the "old" ones moving fast through the sales area. It's a very beautiful shop and aptly named. Her quilts are bright and beautiful.


It has been a long, busy week at work, and I'm looking forward to the weekend. My son's college choir is having their big spring concert on Sunday. I always love their concerts.

Quilty, Warm Weekend

Later: I'm adding a P.S. at the beginning. I got this idea from - darn, I forgot who it was - anyway, this is my POST #100!!! Anyone who comments on this day's blog (before I post another) will have their name put into a pot for a small drawing. I'll send the winner a prize, as yet undetermined, but it'll be wonderful, of course. :-)

Even though it was a gorgeous, warm weekend here, I spent most of my time inside sewing! I ate meals on our deck, and I took a couple of short walks outside. Otherwise I was really on a roll and didn't want to stop. Recently I found some blocks I had forgotten I had. These were made by other people in response to some challenges I coordinated. I had such fun putting them together! Look at all the colors I got to work with!!! A couple of these were made earlier, but most were put together this weekend, along with another one that is not pictured here... and I quilted one top. I couldn't do more, because I ran out of batting. I had no idea I was that low on batting.
.

Some people are able to wait and post pictures only after the quilts are completely done. Not me! I want to post these right away because it's too hard to wait until they'll be quilted and done. I want to share the pictures right now!

So here you go. These quilts will be going to Wrap a Smile and to Project Linus. Enjoy!

This is a crumbs block top made by me. I like making crumbs when I need some mindless sewing. I love how bright this one turned out!

The one I wanted to quilt today, but I ran out of batting --

A cheery yellow and green one!

I'm not crazy about doing borders, so I decided not to use any on the next couple of tops. You may think they need borders, but I don't want to! So I'm not going to! Dum dee dum... quilting is supposed to be fun! I sure had fun making all of these!



This red one will be going to Project Linus.


This is the only one I got quilted this weekend. The four patch design was inspired by Missa B. and her 4-patch challenge at Sunshine. This one is going to Project Linus as soon as I get a binding on it.

Tammy S. shared this fun setting with me. I love it and plan to use it again. (Thanks, Tammy.)

Here's a link to another quilt of mine, going to a different collection. This is going to a veteran through To The Top. Mary is helping by quilting it, and doing a lovely job. Thanks, Mary.

Hope you all have an excellent week!

The Joy of Friends

Last weekend I went to Omaha. I got to spend a day with my pal, Carrie! She is literally my pal. First we were pen pals, and after a while we met and have become friends for real. (And we still write each other lots of letters.) We had a nice day in Omaha, just hanging out and finding our way around the city. This is Carrie emerging from a Domino's Pizza after asking for directions. Hint: never assume that pizza drivers know the city backwards and forwards.

We went to Old Market, shopped a little, and ate lunch outside at this spaghetti place. It was yummy, and such a nice day to be outside.

One place we shopped was called "Nameste." This beautiful blanket was in that store. It is from Nepal or India, one of the two. I broke a bracelet in this store, and the clerk didn't even make me pay for it. Bless her heart. I did buy an intact bracelet, but I want to add more beads to it to liven it up a bit. (So I'll have to "break" this one, too.)

Cute store name! We didn't go in, but I photographed the sign. And ever since I have been singing...Oh, Mairzy Doats and Dozey Doats and Little Lambsey Divey!

We went to the Joslyn Art Museum. It's gorgeous there! This is the atrium. There is a beautiful, tiled fountain there, but all my pictures of it came out blurry.


This big hall was being set up for a wedding reception. I love the shadow pattern on the wall!

The museum is featuring some impressionist paintings. I got to see Renoir and Monet works up close, an inch from my nose! It was so tempting to touch them! But I didn't... just knowing that those were the VERY PIECES that those two artists worked on was so exciting. You can see the brush strokes, and oh, the colors are so beautiful in person! Just like quilts... no picture can do them justice.

This is Carrie and me at the museum. Carrie's the cute one. the guy behind us was hunting for our dinner, but he wasn't having very good luck. I ate shrimp for dinner, which I don't think he caught with his bow and arrow.

Last, we squeezed in a visit to a quilt shop in Omaha -- Country Sampler. I bought these pretty spring colors for who-knows-what project. Carrie didn't like them much! We don't have the same taste in fabrics. But we like each other anyway. Hooray for friends! Thanks for the fun time, Carrie!

I got a new hat!

After some beautiful but not-very-welcome spring snowfalls, it was wonderful to have a gorgeous, sunny, warm Saturday. I went out on a random sort of drive, taking a circuitous route to my final destination. I stopped at a garage sale, stopped at a Fair Trade Arts/Crafts sale, and stopped at a lemonade stand!

These girls sure brought back memories... the fun I had doing the same thing with my sisters and friends when I was their age, the fun I had helping my kids do the same thing a few (or is it umpteen) years ago. And then these cuties, drinking more than they were selling, and way excited that I gave them a dollar (for a ten-cent cup of lemonade) and told them to keep the change. Life is good when you have a cup of lemonade in your hand on a warm, sunny day!

And look at what I bought for myself at the Fair Trades sale (real name: The World Jubilee sale). Isn't this a great hat???? This is me photographing myself in my hat. And the next photo is me trying to show you the top of my hat while I'm still wearing it.

This is the woman who made my hat. She put one on, too, and allowed me to take her picture. I thought she looked so cute in her hat! Around here we have a plethora of outlets for purchasing these beautiful pieces of Hmong handiwork, but they won't last forever. Most of the younger generation has not learned how to do this fine art work. It'll begin to fade away with time. Maybe, with luck, there will be a resurgence like there has been with quilting!

This was my "real" destination of the day. My son and his friends are moving into their first apartment. They are renting a duplex. It's nice, roomy, and close to campus. Today was painting day. The very top level was a little dark but looks much brighter and happier with the white paint they are applying. They had an inter-generational work crew, not to mention an international one! A couple of the dads were helping, including my husband, and a friend from New Zealand is even helping! My son and another guy met the NZer at camp last summer. He is back to work another summer as a camp counselor. He said it's such a fun thing to do, and a great opportunity for him. They don't have camps in New Zealand, he says. Anyway, here is a look at the painting team. My son is the one in the red bandana, working on the ceiling in the little cubby hole they call "the tree house."

Beautiful Quilts Everywhere!

Did you see that the Quilt Pink auction has begun at ebay?? Just go to quiltpink dot com and follow the link. What a bunch of pretty quilts! I might bid on one. Wouldn't it be fun to own one of them?

Here are some more beautiful quilts! I made them! Yes, I am bragging about my own work! I am so pleased with these. I showed you the blue/red one earlier, before I had added borders. I hate doing borders! They always slow me way down! I managed to get these done during spring break and will hand them off to my machine quilter on Tuesday. It'll feel good to have them totally done!

The blue/red is for my brother-in-law and the green is for my nephew. He asked for Tlingit art work in the middle and jaggedy green lines around it. I felt a little nervous, but love how it turned out! Tlingit is an Alaska native tribe which is in my husband's ancestry. I modeled the whale after some Tlingit art that I found online. I don't know if the little shapes within the whale are supposed to have specific meanings. If they do, I really messed up something, no doubt. Maybe my whale says something like: "because the sunrise and eyebrow" (reminiscent of subject lines in spam e-mails).

It's my last official day of spring break! Things I accomplished: a good amount of sewing and quilting, visiting my mother and playing Scrabble with her, relaxing, finishing my cprint training!!!! (an online training I have been doing for work over several months), and a few loads of laundry. Things I did not accomplish: forget it. Who wants to think negatively??

Happy Easter and spring, everyone!

Spring Break Road Trip

Whose woods these are, I think I know. Their house used to be in the village, though. I stopped by these woods on a cloudy afternoon to visit the resting place of my grandparents and aunt and uncle. I miss these nice people! Interestingly, three of these four were Hamline University graduates. That's me wearing the Hamline sweatshirt. My son is a student there now. He's number 26 in our long line of relatives at Hamline, starting with my grandfather whose stone I am leaning on. He graduated from Hamline in 1903!

My sister is opening up a book store! It's an exciting adventure. We all love books and bookstores. We can't wait to see her new store: Cherry Street Books in Alexandria, MN. She is hoping to open the store this June. If you visit Alexandria, stop in at her bookstore and say hi! It's at 5th & Broadway (not on Cherry Street as you might think). The sad part is that she won't have much time for quilting. She makes gorgeous quilts. I'm one of her biggest fans.

Lucy at Aunt Annie's Quilts and Silks in Avon, MN helped me pick out these fabrics. They are for a challenge at my guild. I picked the gorgeous oriental, and Lucy helped with the rest. Aren't they pretty?? It'll be a while, but when it's all done I show you what these fabrics look like as a finished quilt. If you drive past Avon on your way to Alexandria, stop in at Aunt Annie's. It's one of my favorite quilt shops in the whole world.

I hope you enjoy these pictures. Karen told me it was high time to move on from the previous picture, so I am doing as told. I was going to visit Karen this week, but we had a freak April snowstorm, and she couldn't get out of her driveway. I was snowed in at my mom's house. I could have walked into town, but it was too far to walk to Karen's house. Mom and I played Scrabble, read books, and I took a nap. Isn't that a great way to spend Spring Break!? I thought so.

If you want to see a string quilt that I made, check out Mary's Heartstrings blog here. She is going to quilt it for me.