Public Boat Docks in Seeley's Bay

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Second Section of "Master Bentley's" Quilt

Just finished the second section of the quilt I spoke of this morning, not sure exactly where in the top lineup this section will go, but, at least I have another little bit accomplished on it.  I confess, it isn't too too difficult and I will never really become a designer.  This is afterall for a little person who I know won't be too judgmental so I am not being over critical with myself on this project. 
Possibly it isn't something you might do nor even approve of, but, it is my creation and I can live with it.




Here are both sections side by side.  What do you think, separate them and place them apart from each other within the top, or,keep them together?  


I need to find a choo choo train! 






No More Dark Mornings of Winter

The sun crept through the curtains very early this morning, bringing me full awake and raring to start my day.  Lately I have been burning more than just the midnight oil and sleeping far too late to get a decent beginning to my days, one can only tolerate decluttering for so long.  Once upon a time I could stay up round the clock but this ole frame of mine won't allow for such behavior anymore, either I go to bed early or I sleep late, but this morning I am up early and have enjoyed my first coffee and read the news, not a bad start to a new day. 
Back in May, 2010 ROSSIE of Fresh Modern Quilts put forth a pledge for us to consider taking - in it she states "The goal of the process pledge is to create a new sensibility in quilting blogs where we don’t just show finishes or occasionally confess about our moments of indecision, but chat openly and often about our works in progress, our inspirations, and our moments of decision. I know that many of us are already posting about our thinking on quilts and the processes involved from start to finish, let's do more!  And let's post about quilts as we work on them.  I want to see more half-done quilts, not just the finished thing with a journal entry about the process." so this morning I thought I would take the pledge. Wanna take it with me?
So, Rossie, you being such a DIY Explorerand keeping this in mind, I thought what the heck, the Quilt experts might burn me at the stake for this, but I just have to go for it. 
Having no expertise in the art of design and without any real planning I began Mr. Bentley's baby quilt.  I had no real idea as to what I wanted it to look like, had all these leftover novelty prints for little men and decided to make use of them.  Eventually when he begins his quest to walk upright he might deign to schlepp this quilt around, he'll want to begin making use of the words that surround his little world and want to know what some things are, with this in mind I wanted to make a sort of eye-spy and just do it. 
I grabbed a bunch of those novelty prints, sat myself down in front of the cutting mat and my sewing machine and this is what I have come up with so far.  Now please remember I am not a designer in any way shape or stretch of anyone's imagination, but for this little boys quilt, well, I am betting that he won't criticize me when he's drooling, dragging, napping or playing on it and just having fun, at least I am hoping he'll like it enough to make it his binky/blankey or whatever it is that little people call those much loved and frayed pieces of cloth!


This is what I accomplished yesterday.  The blues are backwards, possibly I should have begun with the lighter and worked outwards to the darker, but, I was just putting it together, sort of using the "scrappy" idea where you pull from a bag or a container and sew... Odd shape's and doing my best to fit blocks together.  Now that I have one unit made it measures 17" X 16",  I wonder what will happen with this next?  Should I construct another unit the same size, maybe border this unit with a striking red or a bright green?  Stay tuned, possibly this will be my folly or maybe end up looking not too bad.
What do you think, how am I doing?
I would appreciate your comments, constructive or otherwise.
Have yourself a great day, I am off to play with my fabrics. 





Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Meet "Master Bentley"

Master Bentley William James has finally entered into out midst.  He was born March 27th, 2011 all 9 lb.s and a crop of blond hair you wouldn't believe. 


Hey, I'm tired, getting here was hard work

My golden locks



My friend Marg is a new granny and by way of my friendship with her I have now dubbed myself as Gamma II and am so looking forward to cuddling this new baby and simply cannot wait, but first, I have to run into the loft and pull special fabrics just for him.  Every new baby deserves to have their own special Binky and Master Bentley cannot be the exception, can he?  So Gamma II is gonna forgo the decluttering (as if I didn't really want to do more decluttering), shove some of the other projects aside (like I really need an excuse to start a new project) and get right into the fabric stash and come up with something colorful, fast and fun!
All babies are sweet and bring out the best in all of us, don't you agree?
Thanks for stopping by and have a great one, I'm off to work for Master Bentley this afternoon. 

Monday, March 28, 2011

My Junket With Very Interesting Quilters

After all the enjoyment I had on my dateless Saturday evening spent visiting with so many wonderful quilters at their blogs last night, I couldn't resist quickly going back and discovering more interest and informative blogs.  On my Sunday sojourn, I followed someone's favorite blog and discovered FRECKLED BEAUTIES.  What Kerry displayed there was so intriguing I just have to share it with you.  What she blogged about at the time of my visit were Earths Berries Soap Nuts - I grabbed a picture from her blog to show you what these look like.  You won't believe what these nuts can do, and the only way to find out id for you to go to Kerry's blog and read all about it while your there.  She has a very, very interesting blog and so very worth your time to make a visit.



 - not this all sounds quirky but wow am I impressed and I just have to order some.  Anything natural and that works and is good for our environment is a worthwhile addition to my daily living tools.  If this natural substance is as good for vegetables or body washing, then, obviously it should also be great for washing fabric as well as our quilts.  Do yourself a HUGE service and check it all out on her blog, her review of this product is concise and to the point, no fripperies here, just honestly put. She has actually tested it and as she is a registered nurse and soon to be mother I believe every word she wrote. ....
Finally I decided to leave the computer and all of the new blogs I visited and found my new book "Figures In Silk" by Vanora Bennett and got lost in the year 1471 and Edward IV.  So far the book is well written and has my total attention.  If your at all interested in historical novels, pay her a visit and learn all about her other novels.  I am certain this author will provide you with a great read.

Which Authors entertain or inspire you to read?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Aren't Quilt Bloggers Sew Much Fun?

It's Saturday night, I don't have a date, so I went on a Quilt Blog Junket and have been enjoying the company of other Quilt Bloggers....First I went to visit Meg, the Mad Quilting Librarian who I find a very interesting lady and then after catching up with Meg I sauntered over to visit with one of her favorite bloggers..... 
Angela of Cut To Pieces wow is this girl ever talented and you should see what she has on her Design wall, then and after a delightful visit seeing how very busy she has been keeping that design wall.  I than took in Angela's  "Folding Fabric" tutorial, ooed and awwed over her Rainbow Blocks, I discovered she was also springing a Giveaway.  IN the description of the giveaway she sent me on my merry way to visit with....
Rachel of Stitched In Color who is hosting a wonderful rainbow sew along which began in the beginning of this month and hopes by June of this year everyone might be ready to put all of their sewn blocks together.  What a wonderfully inventive way to teach us about color!  The concept is so easy and again this quilter is using scraps so new fabric purchases aren't necessary and she makes it all sound sew easy and financially painless too.  Rachel's audience participactions ( participating and action) are great if you take a walk back in her blogging history you'll notice she is all about having others join in on the fun, and along with the fun there is always some little educational tidbit hidden along the way.  How fun is this?  After a half hour or so visiting with Rachael, I went to visit one of her inspirational quilt bloggers...
Katie of Sew Katie Did and discovered yet another great blogger.  Today Katie is blogging about quilt back and a little about quilt bindings and it was very interesting too.  Do you know she actually started a Flicker Group for Quilt Backs to provide her with inspiration.  How unique is that?  In ending her blog post today, Katie asks the reader what it is that you do for your backs?  Interesting concept.  Following one of her favorite quilt bloggers, I  finally landed up visiting...
Melanie of Texas Freckles who is hosting in a very BIG way a Hexagon Charm Quilt Piece Along.  Its really so very interesting to discover just how many have joined in and she even has a Flicker Page for this piece along too with detailed information and tips to go along with it.  I am seriously considering keeping track of the number of hexies I have sewn but not too sure I could keep up with them.  
How many of you are working on a hexagon charm quilt?  
Shamelessly I have enjoyed a totally do nothing day today, and in no hurry this evening,  nor,  had I any plans.  I wandered aimlessly through Quilter Blogging land and spent a very pleasant number of hours just visiting.  I wouldn't be a very hospitable guest if I didn't share their whereabouts with you so tonight I kept track of all the links so that you can visit them sometime too. What a great way to spend an evening.
I am hoping I haven't been a bore and possibly you might consent to follow along with me on my Blogging Saga, it would be nice to count you among my world wide friends.  See you tomorrow.



Saturday, March 26, 2011

String Quilts Ohhhh the Possibilities

Here it is 12:30 already on a sunny but bitter cold Saturday morning and I have done absolutely nothing - after being out the entire day and not home till 8:30 last evening shopping with my 88 year old mother, I am totally exhausted.  There is hardly anything I want to shop for at this stage of my life other than fabric or quilt related items and shopping with mother is never a treat.  She hails from an era that remains very frugal and inspects each piece of fruit, has to have the best of the best bargains, and will spend money on gas getting three more pennies off a product at another store before admitting what I said about penny wise and pound foolishness being the order of the day.  I have tried (unsuccessfully, I might add) to get her to just admit she is a shopaholic, but nope, in her mind she's saving money - who is she fooling?  I take her because at her age it seems to be the one bit of pleasure she gets and it gets her out of the house for a few hours, something  different from her usual routine.  Having said that I don't really mind being worn out today and she certainly is snookered too, she's parked in her easy recliner all bundled up and watching CNN on her television screen and her tv ears on and totally lost in recline to her exhaustion.
I have been following other bloggers Blog Titles and one lead me to 
JulieKQuilts
and promptly fell in love with her Header picture on her blog of the string quilt she made using a pattern from Evelyn Sloppy's Strings Book, and to me it is a stunner!
Thus my excitement when I followed someone else to Julie's door, saw this quilt before even getting to the rest of her blog and this pretty quilt rocks my imagination and it made me drool.  
This quilt has taken its place on the list of "I need to make this one like this" as number 2 which comes right after Bonnie Hunters'  "Diamond in-a-Square Strings Quilt"!  


This quilt is so beautiful and I just have to make one like it.  Every time I visit Bonnie's site and I see her beautifully made creations and these fire me up providing me with brain excitement and the belief that I too can create something beautiful from the scrap heap.  Bonnie's instructions are so easy to follow, you cannot miss making something beautiful because she has made it easy and relaxed as a hobby should be.
When my best friend introduced me to quilting away back in 1994 I never imagined I would be anything but a "traditional"  quilter, you know, squares and rectangles and everything being traditional encompasses, but, Bonnie's method of looking at fabrics and the possibilities has totally changed me into someone who isn't afraid to look inside the scrap pile and come up with something that is different and yet there remains hints of the traditional to it.  
I have so much that I seem to have piled on my plate lately and really shouldn't even think about beginning a new project that has the potential of becoming another UFO, but I can't seem to help myself, so maybe this afternoon I will pull out the scraps and play. 
I can't sit here and write anymore and after visiting with Julie earlier, I simply have to stop now, get out my scraps and play.
Thanks for stopping by today and if you need me you'll find me playing with my scraps, thanks to Julie K and her beautiful quilt!







Friday, March 25, 2011

Check Out This New Diamond Quilt Tutorial & Some Giveaways

01 TitelbildWhat a fantastic way to spend a Friday, take jaunt over to THE QUILTED FISH and see this great new tutorial on how to create and sew yourself or for someone you know who is having a new addition in their family this  sweet diamond baby quilt, pictured above.  If you read through her blog today you'll discover that she is giving away some pre-cut packs of Sweet Divinity by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake. The giveaway is open to all.  Read through her blog and follow the instructions and you could possibly win that neat new jelly roll.  
Now I don't do diamonds cause these always somehow alluded me and ended up making a fine mess and setting it aside never to see it again.  After reading through this tutorial today, I honestly believe using this method and easy described template instructions I can do it.  Only way to find out is to give it a try.  Seeing as I am going shopping this afternoon I am certain I can find a few delicious remnants to put into this project.  This tutorial has made me really want to give Diamonds another whirl.  This is such a great tutorial.
My two hours of decluttering has been done for the day, I deserve to try this Diamond project.  This then will be my Friday reward.  
Don't you wish you had time to spend on all of the quilt blogs on the internet?  I do, but then if I tried first I wouldn't get them all and second there simply isn't enough time, but, so rewarding to find wonderful quilters so giving of their time to sit and write a tutorial for you the reader and to make it look so easy, Johanna isn't the first to accomplish this and she won't be the last, but oh my she does it so well, Thanks Johanna, love the fabrics you chose and the colors and especially my reward, this wonderful and easy tutorial. 


Now if you want more eye candy and a good read, hop on over to JACKIE'S ART QUILTS she's going to be celebrating her first year blog anniversary - the give away isn't bad either.....


BEFORE I leave you this afternoon, have you stopped by the Golden Quilters Awards which is being hosted by SEWCALGAL, have you voted yet?  Don't let your favorites go without your vote, I just know you would love to see them win this coveted award, wouldn't you?


Thanks so much for stopping by today, hope you have alot of pleasure reading at the above blogs and joining in on their giveaways, I am positive you'll really enjoy yourself.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I Love Reading Other Quilters Blogs, Don't You?

I have been in an organizational mood these past several days and have such a lot to do that it will take me at least a good month slogging at it every day.  I decided two hours a day was more than enough time to devote to my organizing and then back to doing other things that provide me with a reward for my dedication to this cleaning project.
Todays' reward is enjoying my time reading other quilters blogs, I love reading them, there are so many, each one a real treat, and so many are informative or instructional with fantastic tutorials.  This morning I stumbled upon Sewcalgal and a 12 pocket bag tutorial free pattern which she is giving for us to make up and give as a gift, or personal use or even a fund raiser, but not to sell for profit.
Check out this blog and while your there, go and check out the voting requirements for The Golden Quilters Award.  We,  the general public can vote,  so why not take a few moments from your busy schedule today and read up on it and then vote, and let your favorites know how much you like them and it's worthwhile to be certain.  Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's Quips & Snips  is a nominee for Best Teacher/Instructor and for Best Author as well as Most influential person in the world of quilting to-date, aka "Lifetime Achievement"  Bonnie, whom I have followed since the mid 90's  is my all time favorite Instructor and quilter her talents are so numerous and her style easy. She's thrifty and clever.  If you need direction on Scrappy anything, Bonnie's the quilter I turn to.  For years she has been extolling the virtues of being scrappy and how to best use your scraps up, not only what to do with scraps, but how easy it is to organize the scraps too.  IF you haven't met Bonnie, your in for such a wonderful treat.  Go and visit her today.  The link I have given is her Blog, but, she has a link to her Quiltville site and it is the site I turn to all of the time for inspiration and techniques.
Getting back to what I said earlier, go and cast a vote at the site for the Golden Quilters Awards and see all of the sponsor give-away prizes.  WHAT FUN and If you want to make certain your favorite or most influential quilter/designer/teacher/author gets a win, you have to go there and vote and let that person know just how much he/she is appreciated.  The prizes in this contest as give-aways are nothing to sneeze at either. 
Thanks for stopping by, I am going to continue visiting my favorite quilting bloggers my special reward for my two hours I put in this morning. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

Sewing Room Round Up

In an earlier last post I shared pictures of just some of my quilts, and also showed you the Scrappy Heart blocks I was making, however somehow my February posting about the Frost Fest Donation quilt I was making for the Silent Auction got missed and there it sat waiting for me to publish.  I have been a bit turned around and not organized at all, Frost Fest has come and gone, and here I am nearly at the end of March and what with the death of my little four legged companion and other necessary "have to do's" here in the house I didn't show off the end result of how the Strawberry Fields turned out. 
Frost Fest is a annual event here in my little Town and we try very hard to make it better than previous years, this year being no exception.  Not only did I donate Strawberry Fields, but I managed to make three fabric Checkers Games which were given as a silent auction item and two were given as prizes in the annual winter scavenger hunt. 


This years quilt Strawberry Fields  



It ended up 50" X 50" a good lap sized quilt.  Into the Silent Auction it went and what it finally sold for I do not know, but it was a donation so I do hope if fetched a few scheckles for the cause. 

I also managed to make three sets of Fabric checker games with plaster of paris checker game pieces which I made and painted to match the fabric colors. 


 Aren't these cute?

In addition to the other events going on during Frost Fest, my Lions Club Members sponsored a Winter charity ATV Poker Run.  Our club raised $200.00 on the Saturday morning and this amount went directly to the Food Bank. 

After tidying up the sewing area it was time to start another project.  I began to put together Cindy Carter's Scrappy Hearts Blocks which block is fantastic and a great way to showcase the scraps and the bits of clothing from my friends mothers who passes away a year ago this past February. 



In addition to the hearts I printed out lots and lots of 1.5" hexagons and spend my evenings with these, I have set my goal for at least 1,000 but who knows, conceivably I could need more.  I am enjoying the tiny pieces and will keep searching for just the right pattern to use them in.  Since my sons' marriage this past December, I have acquired two grandchildren, so, the tiny hexies should really be used in a quilt for my granddaughter who is not only adept at drawing and color but at her tender age of 7 has very good taste.  Here are a few that I have - so far I have made over 100+ guess I have alot more to do just to reach the 1,000.





Thanks for stopping by, maybe by the time you make a return visit I won't read like such a scatterbrain. 





Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I'm Back

Here I am, back again after many weeks, but I honestly have a reason for being absent. My wonderful pet of 15 years was so sick and neither the vet nor the medications she was taking could make her better.  Since December my precious lady has been battling some sort of bronchial infection, but after many treatments which were not working I finally had to put my princess out of her suffering, so I did this a week ago and I am still really mourning her passing it left me with a hole in my heart.  


She disliked having her photo taken but she was only 7 lbs. and when soaked she looked like a little rat....but really she was such a cuddle bug.


Here she is with my mother whom she adored and when granma was having a puff, she'd sit with her and keep her company.... once I find some close ups I will post these too. 

Play on in your heaven Mitzji-dog you'll be forever missed.