Cottons 'n Wool

Civil War Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:00:00 +0000

It's Civil War Sunday with Karen again. This week we're showing you 2 blocks to make up for missing last Sunday's deadline. These blocks are nice and easy to make, so we should be able to finish up on time. (whenever that is). :)

This first one up is called "Strength in Union". It's been interesting to follow along with Barbara Brackman's stories of the Civil War.

And this one is called "Fox and Geese".

And, the two of them together.

Head on over and see what wonderful blocks Karen has stitched up.

And now, we return our previously scheduled programming... Quilt Market. LOL

This is Joyce Weeks of Geoff's Mom Patterns. Isn't she cute?

I love this quilt she's standing in front of.

Here's a close up of the applique.

But check out the basket border surrounding the applique blocks. I think it's genius. I can't remember seeing that before.

This is a great pattern too. You might remember it from Karen's giveaway last week. Two lucky winners get to make this quilt.

This one with the little stars caught my attention. I love stars, and stars on a light background just gets me every time.

Striking, yes?

Here's Joyce's helper knitting in front of another lovely quilt.

I'm cutting this short because we are having thunder and lightening right now and I want to get off the computer and into the closet! Yes, I'm scared to death of it.

Only a couple more things to show you from Market and then another giveaway.

Have a great week everyone.

Hugs, Anne

More Quilt Market designers

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I hope you're not getting tired of these pictures. And here I thought I didn't take many this time. Hmmm, my camera says differently.

This time we'll feature 3 wonderful gals who have fabulous patterns.

Since I'm on a Civil War kick right now, first up is Carol Hopkins of Civil War Legacies. I think I have all of her books and a lot of her patterns.

She just continues to outdo herself!

This is Jennifer Gaston of The Woolen Willow.

Her wool designs are just wonderful, aren't they?

I fell in love with this little quilt. So simple...

And here is Joan Grenke from Bits and Pieces by Joan.

I have been a fan of hers for a long time.

Even before I started quilting.

She has such cute patterns.

I know she had more new patterns than just these. I must have been too caught up in talking to her and forgot to take more pictures. Darn!

I just wanted to tell you wonderful readers out there that I usually try to send an email to all your comments. But, we have been having the most fabulous weather the last 2 weeks and I can't seem to bring myself into the house. We've been planting flowers and just sitting on the patio enjoying the sunshine. I've spent very little time on the computer (and even "littler" time at my sewing machine). So, if you've asked me a specific question and I didn't get back to you, please email me again. I promise to respond.

Happy Sunshine!

Hugs, Anne

Aunt Maggie time!

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Since Karen is still moving into her new nest and can't even locate the book that we are doing our Civil War Sampler from, I figured it could still be a Civil War Sunday. This time I'll show you the progress Sandy (no blog) and I have made on Aunt Maggie's Patchwork quilt by Lori Smith of From my heart to your hands.

We are trying to do 4 blocks per month, so here are the next 4.

These are Sandy's.

These next 4 are mine.

Here are all of Sandy's together.

And here are mine.

Here they all are together.

Now, head on over to Karen's blog. Even though she hasn't had time to make her blocks, you might be surprised to see what she has been up to for you all. (Hopefully we'll be showing you our blocks next Sunday...right Karen?) ;)

I'm going to finish up the Quilt Market pictures this week. After all, it's been almost a month since market. Geesh!

Have a great week.

Hugs, Anne

Embroidery anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:00:00 +0000

I love that embroidery is becoming so popular and shops are really kicking up their sections of stitcheries. I'm lucky because one of our local shops, Sew Many Quilts, has a huge embroidery section and great employees who keep the store well stocked with samples. And we all know that samples sell the patterns!

Meg Hawkey from Crabapple Hill Studio had 2 darling booths across the aisle from each other.

This is her reaction when my camera appeared. LOL

Ah, that's better!

This new design is gorgeous with all the coloring and shading in it.

Meg does such wonderful Christmas and winter designs.

Check out all the snowflakes in the centers of the blocks. Each one different.

Cute for our sewing rooms, right?

How about a fishing theme for the men in our lives?

One of the designers I look forward to seeing at Market is Barri Sue Gaudet of Bareroots patterns. I took a class from her when I lived in California and it was the weekend after 9/11. Needless to say, we were all thankful to be there and did some serious bonding. She is truly a sweetheart and one of my favorite people.

A perfect little book for the little ones in your life.

How sweet is this?

You can never have too many Christmas items in your house...

This is her new book with tons of projects to quilt and stitch.

We all need finger puppets when the kiddos are around.

Thanks to Meg and Barri Sue for being so gracious.

Hugs, Anne

Timeless Traditions and Marcus Brothers booths

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 22:20:00 +0000

One of my favorite booths this year was Norma Whaley's, Timeless Traditions. Norma used to be part of the Geoff's Mom design team, but has since broken off and started designing on her own.

Check out the quilt behind Norma. It was another "stop me dead in my tracks" quilt. It's all wool on cotton backgrounds. I think all the backgrounds are the wonderful Japanese Daiwabo fabrics.

Here's a better look at it. Stunning, right? I wish you could have seen it in person. Pictures just don't do these quilts justice.

This one is a 9 block gem. I'm sure there will be shops out there doing both of these as Block of the Months. Maybe Karen will be one of them. Right, Karen?

The booth was full of all new designs.

If you're looking for patriotic quilts to make...go no further. This is your place!

How about a stuffed kitty to carry in the 4th of July parade!

Wouldn't this look cute in your entryway?

This is what I'm feeling right now with the wonderful spring weather we're having!

"Oh Happy Day" says it perfectly!

The Marcus Brothers booth had some delicious Civil War quilts. I don't know the name or the designer of this one. Can anyone help out?

This is the new Block of the Month from Paula Barnes of Red Crinoline Quilts. Many of you already know that Paula's husband passed away suddenly at the age of 60 just a few weeks before Quilt Market. Needless to say, Paula, Mary Ellen and their wonderful booth full of quilts was greatly missed. Our hearts go out to you Paula!

Also at the Marcus Brothers booth was this lovely quilt by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts. If I remember correctly, the name of the pattern is Abigail's Pins. I specifically looked for the quilt after seeing it on Pam's blog before market. It was well worth the search.

I'd say there's some inspiration for you with these pictures. There sure is for me!

Still more to come.

Hugs, Anne

Market continues

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 03:00:00 +0000

If you were tuning in to see progress on the Civil War quilt-a-long with Karen, you are gonna have to wait until next Sunday. Karen is in the middle of a major remodel of her nest and can't even find her sewing machine. But...she promises she will have 2 for next week and I'm holding her to that promise. I think she plans to show pictures today of the remodel so I know we're in for a treat.

I'll just keep plugging through all the pictures I took (which aren't all that good, for some reason). Oh well, you can get the idea.

It's always fun to see Kathy Cardiff and JoAnn Mullaly. JoAnn didn't have a booth this time so she was there helping Kathy. Kathy's pattern company is called The Cottage at Cardiff Farms and she always has some wonderful cotton and wool projects. This time was no exception.

I love this one.

The wool mats were fabulous.

Isn't this canister adorable? So cute in a kitchen.

This is Gail Pan of Gail Pan Designs. She one of the wonderful Aussie designers who we all have come to love. I swear...I want that accent! I couldn't even get it to rub off on me!

After Fall Market last year, I got a Facebook message from Gail who was in a quandary. She was supposed to ship her booth goodies to someone who would then bring them to Portland. I guess something came up and they weren't going to be able to do it for her. So, knowing I live in Oregon, she asked me if she could ship them to me and then I could bring them to her. Well, of course I said "Yes, certainly, no problem at all".

So here we are after she got her booth goodies all delivered. (Not the quilts....I might have had to "lose" one or two. Hehe.

But... wait...look what she made just for ME! A darling little sewing caddy.

How sweet is that? When everyone saw what she made me, they were all begging her to store her booth goodies. Sorry gals, I got her first! Thanks Gail. I love it!

And here's Debbie Busby of Wooden Spool Designs. She is as sweet as she looks!

Check out all her new wool designs. Ahhhh heaven!

I think I need to do the sewing one for my nest.

We can never have enough Christmas, can we?

Darling little pincushions. I should have taken a close up of the bee and ladybug because they were absolutely precious.

I still have more pictures to show you and also my quilt-a-long progress with Sandy (no blog). Look for those coming up.

Have a great week everyone.

Hugs, Anne

Red Button Quilt Co at Spring Market

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Right next to Blueberry Backroads (featured yesterday), was Red Button Quilt Co. Emily Hardwig is the creative genius behind this company. The red and white in this booth just spoke to me and we spent quite a bit of time picking out our favorite patterns to buy.

Look who we found helping Emily out? Gosh, it's Tony from yesterday's post. Way to get in good graces with your (maybe) future mother in law? If they all read these posts, I hope I don't get in trouble. LOL

The little embroidery in the centers of these churn dash blocks just warmed my heart.

Tiny little dresden plates with templates in the pattern.

And more tiny red and white quilts. I'm getting tired of making big quilts, so these little ones were right up my alley.

Little snowmen. Too cute for words!

This was probably the largest quilt in the booth, yet not a full size quilt.

Gotta have some fun fall projects, don't we?

I don't know why my pictures are so blurry. I must have been so excited I couldn't steady my hand. :)

Another tiny quilt. The fun thing about the patterns is that the little buttons are included in the pattern so you don't have to spend time trying to find them after you've made the quilt.

Well, there's still more to come. Tomorrow you'll get to see another Civil War block in my quilt-a-long with Karen and then I'll try and get all my market posts up for you to see next week. Again, sorry I'm so late, but...better late than never? Please say "yes". Hehe

Hugs, Anne

Blueberry Backroads and...another winner

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Fri, 31 May 2013 18:05:00 +0000

A darling booth at market was Blueberry Backroads.

Sara Hardwig is the brains (and beauty) behind this pattern company of adorable whimsical embroidery and applique patterns. They are done with both cottons 'n wool, so I'm sure you've figured out why I like her so much. She is the daughter of Emily Hardwig whose pattern company is Red Button Quilt Co (which I will feature tomorrow). Wow, talk about a talented family.

Here's today's eye candy.

The little flower pot pillow is really tiny. Maybe 4" x 4". I fell in love with it.

Or, you can do a small wall hanging with 4 different designs.

Wouldn't this little quilt look darling with a tiny Christmas tree sitting on it for the holidays?

Another darling pillow pattern.

I loved these worded signs

But what I loved even more was the detailed stitching around the letters. How clever. My brain would have just told me to do a running stitch. (That's why I'm not a designer. LOL)

Check out the scale of this cutie using my finger for reference.

This is Sara

And this is her boyfriend, Tony, who was scoring points right and left with the ladies. He's a keeper Sara!

Last night I was talking to Emma and Mason and asked them to pick a number for my giveway. At the exact same time, they both blurted out "ONE". (original for children, huh? :)

SO... the winner of Kathy Schmitz's wonderful Simply Red book is..... Colleen.

Colleen, send me your address and I'll get it in the mail to you! abryson@bendbroadband.com

If you are looking for some new blogs to read, be sure and check out all the comments I got. I found some wonderful new ones that I've added to my blogroll and will get to all of them that you suggested as soon as I've got a minute or two.

I still have another giveaway for ya, so stay tuned.

Hugs, Anne

We have a winner! And...another giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Wed, 29 May 2013 02:18:00 +0000

Thanks to all of you who entered my giveaway to win Lisa's generous donation. It was fun to read all your preferences of thread. Seems like most of us like Valdani but will use most anything to get the look we want.

Drumroll please!

The winner is........ Moosecraft who said:

"My favorite thread for wool applique is Valdani 3-strand...there isn't any sheen to it...and since I also use a casual whip stitch, the finished piece is very prim. Lisa's designs are always a fun stitch... I've been admiring this one since it's release! Can't go wrong with fresh picked daisies in a glass ball jar!"

So, Moosecraft, email me your address and I'll get the kit in the mail to you. abryson@bendbroadband.com

Now, on to more Quilt Market pictures.

This is Kathy Schmitz who designs wonderful quilts and embroidery pieces. If you remember, I showed her trunk show just a few posts ago.

Here she is showing a block that she designed that will be available in September when the Moda designers have their blog hop.

The crispness of the red and white in her booth was stunning.

And her quilt from her new book, "Simply Red" was a "stop dead in your tracks" kind of quilt.

Isn't it fabulous? Well....Kathy is another generous designer who gave me an autographed copy of her book to give to one of you lucky readers.

This time, if you want to enter the giveaway, how about if you tell me what your favorite blog (or blogs) is/are. Please don't mention mine. I'm not fishing for complements, (honestly ;) I just like finding new blogs to inspire me and I'm sure many of you feel the same.

I'm such a sucker for the heart in hand design.

I have lots more pictures for you and even another giveaway, so stay with me people!

Hugs, Anne

Civil War Sunday #6, Quilt Market, and a giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 26 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't posted Quilt Market pictures sooner but...you know me...always a day late. But, I'm like the little tortoise that keeps plugging along and in the end I come through for ya. :)

We're on Block #6 of the Civil War Sampler and this block is called "Port and Starboard". I love civil war cheddar fabrics and decided that this block needed them. Check out Karen's blog and see what she came up with.

After Quilt Market was over, Karen came back to Bend with me for a few days. After some rainy days in Portland, the weather here cooperated and one day we had crystal clear skies. I took her up to Pilot Butte for the view and nice man snapped this picture of us. (My old house is in the background. Can you find it?) Oh, I crack myself up sometimes.

We had a great visit and I hope she enjoyed a little part of my world.

Now, on to Quilt Market. One of my favorite booths and designers is Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings. I feel like I have every pattern and kit she's ever offered, big and little. She's unbelievably talented and such a smart businesswoman. You go, Lisa!

Here are her newest designs. I'll be buying this one for sure.

And here she has more wonderful new mat designs.

Wouldn't this look cute in your sewing room?

The little quilt on the rack had super tiny pieces. Lisa loves working with those itty bitty scraps!

Loving that cheddar fabric.

Check out the crazy stitches on this one.

This is the "freebie" from last Summer's Block of the Week. Oh, by the way, there's still time to sign up for this summer's one. It's a stunner, that's for sure. (and, you'll get freebie blocks too).

So simple, yet so effective.

When I asked Lisa if I could blog about her booth, (I always make sure to ask the designers), she very generously offered a kit for a giveaway. So.... the only thing I'm asking for you to do to enter is...

tell me what your favorite thread is for your wool applique. If you haven't worked with wool yet, then tell me what your favorite thread is for general sewing.

I'll pick a winner in the next couple days. (I hate to give you a specific date, because you know me...) Hehe.

Head on over to Primitive Gatherings and pick up a pattern or kit or two.

Thanks for stopping by and stick with me because I have a few more giveaways.

Hugs, Anne

Civil War Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 12 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

First of all...Happy Mother's day to all you wonderful mothers out there. I hope you all are having a fabulous day filled with love!

I can't believe how fast Sunday comes along and once again it's time to share another block from the Civil War Sampler Book by Barbara Brackman. This one is called "Hovering Hawks". The description is too long to post and I'd be surprised if anyone even read it. LOL

Here are the first 5. Now head on over and see what wonderful colors Karen has put together for hers.

Last week I was at Sew Many Quilts here in Bend and saw the next Block of the Month they are offering. It's called "Freedom Rings" by Paula Barnes of Red Crinoline Quilts. It's absolutely stunning and I'm trying really hard to keep from signing up for it. The colors are so "me" and I'm really drawn to them but am focusing on working with what I currently have going. If you'd like to sign up, give them a call. They would love to have you in the club. It starts this month.

Also in the shop is a trunk show from Kathy Schmitz. It's so fun seeing all her quilts in one place.

The embroidery on her quilts is so rich looking.

At our embroidery group on Tuesday, Linda showed us her finished background for the Buttermilk Basin little monthly mats. Check out her crazy stitches. She's the queen of embroidery, that's for sure.

Barb just finished a baby quilt for her niece. The little chenille charm squares just make this quilt. She got them off of ebay a few years ago but I did a search and you can still get them. Hmmmm, I have a couple of baby quilts to make soon.

Some closeups.

Aren't they wonderful?

Have a great week everyone! See you with the next installment.

Hugs, Anne

Civil war and a challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Wow, it's Sunday again and time for another block reveal. This is block 4 from the Civil War Sampler book that I'm doing as a quilt-a-long with Karen. The name of this blocks is "Catch me if you can". Here's hoping that Karen is gonna give you the description. :)

I belong to a group called Material Girls that meets every Monday. Once a year a group challenge is put out for anyone who wants to participate. This year's theme was "Pinwheels". The only requirements for the challenge were that it had to have at least one traditional pinwheel (made from 4 half square triangles, and that it be quilted yourself.

So, on with the show.

#10 was mine. I don't usually participate in the challenges because I don't want to quilt it myself, but this year I made a small quilt and just did some straight line quilting.

After viewing them all, each person casts a vote for their favorite design and this year, Sue's Underground Railroad quilt won the top prize. (Prizes were furnished by Anna from her de-cluttering)

This year, for the first time, there was an "unfinished" category. These last 2 were in that category.

These little blocks that Linda made were so tiny you wouldn't have believe it. She won the "unfinished" category.

As you can see, there's a lot of talent in the group.

Next year's challege was decided and it's going to be Dresden Plates. The only requirement for this one is that it has to have one full circle of a Dresden. (and of course, quilt it yourself. Bah humbug!)

See ya soon,
Hugs, Anne

Aunt Maggie's Patchwork Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Last month Sandy (aka "Sandy no blog") and I were talking and she mentioned that she missed our quilt-a-longs from last year. She said they kept her motivated knowing there was a deadline to get the blocks shown on my blog. We started looking for a pattern and both mentioned that we wanted to use our Civil War stash as the basis for the quilt. Mary R (a fellow Woolie) had recently finished this quilt and we both fell in love with it. So....our decision was made!

The pattern is by Lori Smith.

We decided to do 4 blocks per month. So here are Sandy's 4.

And these are my four.

And I think I messed up on the flying geese on the outsides of this next block. I turned them around and also switched my colors. But....would you have even noticed if I hadn't told you? Probably not!
I shoulda kept quiet, huh? :)

These are my 4 all together.

These blocks are a bit more complicated than the Civil War sampler which is a good thing, since there are 50 blocks to make for the Sampler quilt but only 18 for this one. Whew...dodged a bullet on that one.

You're probably wondering what has happened to my wool obsession. Never fear...I'm hand stitching away on the Christmas Quilt. You know...the one that I prepped all in one fell swoop? Anyway, I'm just finishing up block 9, so not much longer to go on that one.

Hope you're enjoying your week and getting lots of sewing time.

Hugs, Anne

More Civil War

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Today Karen and I are showing you another block of our Civil War Sampler. These blocks are really fun and easy to make. Karen mentioned last Sunday that she is doing the 12" block version. I'm making mine into the 8" version. Click on over to see what she's managed to do with hers. I know I'm gonna like it more than mine. :)

This completed one belongs to Woolie Lori who brought hers to Woolie group to show me. Such wonderful inspiration. It always helps to see what the end result will look like.

Speaking of Woolies... we are all still working on our Buttermilk Basin Wool & Needle Handwork BOM. These are the March mats. We missed our March get together so I needed to get caught up for ya.

Here are the April mats. It's so fun to see how everyone puts their own unique spin on them. That's mine on the burlap board. I just took it right off the wall for show and tell.

And I just thought I'd show you my little munchkins who were in town last week for my birthday (actually, it was for their spring break, but I can say they came for me). I can't believe how big they are getting. Mason turns 4 in May and Emma will be SEVEN in Sept. Where does the time go? Yikes!

Sandy (no blog) and I are also doing another Civil War quilt-a-long and I'll be showing you those blocks this week.

Hugs, Anne

Civil War and a Village

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Earlier this year, Karen and I were talking about doing a "challenge/quilt-a-long" together and it took us awhile to figure out what we wanted to work on. We finally decided to use our Civil War fabric stashes and stitch on Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler blocks.

There are 50 blocks in the book but we aren't sure if we're going to do all 50. We'll just play it by ear for the time being. Our plan is to post our progress on Sundays....the keyword being "plan"!

The first blocks are quite easy but I can see some challenges as we get farther into the book. I even noticed TEMPLATES, God forbid!

I love scrappy Civil War quilts, so am excited to see how this all plays out. Now head on over to Karen's blog and see her interpretation of the blocks.

In other quilting news, last May I joined a Block of the Month thru my LQS, Sew Many Quilts. The project was The Quilted Village by The City Stitcher. I've actually had the pattern for a few years ago but until they offered it as a BOM, the pattern just sat in the box with all the other patterns I have. I figured the class would be the motivation I needed, so off I went to sign up!

So, here it is...one year later...FINISHED! I actually kept up and it feels so good!

The pattern has directions for paper piecing and applique. Most of the ladies that signed up did the paper piecing technique. While I do enjoy paper piecing, I LOVE applique, so I was one of the few who chose that method.

There was quite a bit of embroidery on the blocks and the pattern called for an embroidered clock on the front of the Town Hall. I wasn't too excited about embroidering those tiny numbers, so chose to just embroider the words, "town hall", after a suggestion from one of the ladies in class.

Sturdy Brick House

Apartment House

Cottage with Birdhouse

Three Story with Dormers

Fixer Upper

Row Houses

The Church

The Schoolhouse

Dutch Duplex

Petite House with Pickets

Saltbox

I can't wait to get to get it off to the quilter for her to work her magic.

Now that it's finished, it's time to round up another applique UFO and get busy. I'll share that with you soon.

Till later,
Hugs, Anne

Woolie Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Yesterday was our Tuesday Woolie group. We meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month but last month, we were kicked out of Quiltworks in favor of some kids on spring break who had a class. So, it had been a month since we'd gotten together and we all were happy to be back together again!

Our photographer/blogger, Anna, wasn't there because she's in the throes of moving to her beautiful new house. Therefore, I felt it was my duty to fill you in on all the wool projects being worked on.

Karleen brought more projects that she's been working on while recovering from shoulder surgery. Looks like great therapy to me.

And, once again, Sandy had us all drooling over her finished gems. This is her Comfort and Joy quilt that she quilted herself. It's to die for!

This is her backing. She realized that she's been "collecting" Kathy Schmitz panels for quite awhile and got to wondering what she was ever going to do with them. Well, voila....the back is darn cute!

She made this little cutie from the Civil War Sewing Circle book by Kathleen Tracy. I think the pink alternate blocks are wonderful.

And this one is a little kit she picked up at a shop on her way to Mt Rushmore last fall. We were discussing the difference between the Churn Dash block and the Monkey Wrench block. Anyone know the difference?

Mari just finished her snowmen quilt. She said she's been collecting snowmen pattern ideas forever and finally put them into a quilt.

A few closeups...

Mary R was stitching on her Block of the Week 2011 from Primitive Gatherings. It's going to be fabulous when she's finished.

Our newest Woolie, Colleen, was working on some Sue Spargo blocks. She was snowbirding down south and said "everyone is working on wool". Can I hear a WOO HOO? More addicts to join me!

Nancy was working on this cute one. I love how the scissor handles match the green in the project. I wonder if she has scissors to match all her wool pieces. Hmmm, not a bad idea.

So that's it for another installment of the Woolie Mammoths meeting. We always have such a great time. Lots of "cleansing" laughter!

Hugs, Anne

The Snow Child - part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from yesterday.

Let's continue on with the show. Again, the quilts are inspired by the novel, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. See yesterday's post for all the information.

I love these dolls!

I hope you enjoyed the exhibit and if you haven't read the book, I hope this will inspire you to pick up a copy. It will be well worth your while.

Hugs, Anne

The Snow Child

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 18:18:00 +0000

Every year our county library selects a novel for the largest community read/discussion program in the state of Oregon. More than 6,000 Deschutes County residents read, discuss and explore one book together. There are events all over town, including photography and art exhibits, craft projects for the younger set, cooking demonstrations, etc. The author will also be in Bend on May 3 for conversations regarding her literature.

This year the novel chosen by the library is The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. The story takes place in the 1920's in the stark Alaskan landscape. It is a wonderful book full of imagery with a magical story. I highly recommend it. It will continue in your thoughts long after you've finished it.

Quiltworks, in Bend, puts out a challenge to quilters to design a quilt based on their interpretation of the novel. This year the response was overwhelming with more than 50 quilters bringing their ideas to fabric. If you live in the area, be sure and visit Quiltworks to see for yourself. The quilts will be on display the entire month of April.

I'm going to have to spread this over 2 days, otherwise, you will experience picture "overload". If you haven't read the book yet, I'll put a "label" on this post and you can come back later and see the pictures again.

Here we go.....

Come back tomorrow for the rest of the show.

Hugs, Anne

Handwork

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:28:00 +0000

I've been negligent about posting pictures from our Stitchery Group which meets twice a month at Sew Many Quilts in Bend, OR. So.......this post might get a bit picture heavy.

Most of the ladies are working on Kathy Schmitz's Sweet Stitches Block of the Month. It has been a huge hit for the shop. They meet once a month to get their new block and to get any help they might need. Then, they come to the Stitchery Group to work on them.

Works in progress...

Karleen recently had shoulder surgery but it sure hasn't slowed her down. She has been a busy bee working on her wool projects.

Here's Pat peeking over her Sunbonnet Sue quilt.

Linda is working on the background for the Buttermilk Basin Wool & Needle project.

A Crabapple Hill design.

Cute pattern by Bird Brain Designs.

I'm not sure what the name of this sweet little mat is, but the shop, Sew Many Quilts, will have kits available for purchase.

Even the back is cute.

Sue is working on the cute embellishments on her Tiny Town block.

A little wool project

Some "blackwork" on this flower basket that Margaret is stitching up.

And Karleen has moved on from Easter to Christmas. :)

Even a little cross stitch was being done.

Oops, I didn't get a picture of what I'm working on so I'll just save it for a future post.

It's a wonderful group of gals who all share in the love of handwork. It's great food for the soul!

Hugs, Anne

Framed

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Hmmm, that title could mean a few things, couldn't it? LOL

Today it means that I got my Alphabet Sampler finished and framed. The sampler is a kit that I got from Primitive Gatherings. I also ordered the frame from them too and then framed it myself.

I don't have much wall space and the only place it looked okay was in the dining room.

And I also figured that it was time to change the wood box display to something a bit more "spring-like". Right now it looks quite Easter-y, so I'll add a bit more color next month.

We finally got a rug, so I think it's a room that is almost finished.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you are all doing well and anticipating the beginning of spring tomorrow.

Another monthly project

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 18:42:00 +0000

Have you seen the Wool & Needle Handwork BOM from Buttermilk Basin? They are a series of 12 small monthly mats that attach to a crazy quilt background.

A few of the Woolies are doing them as a challenge. Our deadline is the last Tuesday of each month and then it's "show and tell" time.

This is JoAnn's background mat.

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a background UNTIL.....Sandy (no blog), brought her project in to share. Once we all saw it, we begged her to make us one too. It's a 12 x 12 board that she painted black and distressed. Then she Mod Podge'd burlap onto it. There are two small old looking nails in the upper corners of the burlap on which to hang the mat.

This is the January mat.

February

Here are all the ones done by the Woolies for our February reveal.

This one is March. My background on this one is too similar in color to the burlap, so I'm going to have to be careful when I'm picking them.

Marla decided to make hers into a pillow. She will then rotate the mats and have a cute seasonal little pillow to set out.

I better get started on the April mat!

Hugs, Anne

Good Fortune

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I think that is a great name for a quilt.

I had the "Good Fortune" of having Karen attend a quilt show last year and find this kit. She loved it, so knew I would too. She texted me a picture of the quilt hanging in a vendor's booth and asked me if I wanted a kit. Since we have such similar taste in projects, I trusted her and knew I would love it too.

I usually have so many hand projects going on that I wanted to make a pieced quilt with no applique on it. Rarely am I drawn to pieced quilts without applique. But, I love the colors of this quilt and the fact that it is scrappy just added to the appeal.

The backing is flannel. I wanted a cozy quilt to cuddle up in.

Right after I got the binding finished, I tried cuddling up in it but it was really stiff. (I don't prewash my fabric). So, I threw it in the washing machine, and voila, a soft and cuddly quilt it was! I always love the "old" look that washing gives a quilt.

It's home will be my nest where I can stay warm and stitch away on all those hand projects I have to do. :)

I don't remember the shop that offered this quilt, but maybe Karen will comment and let you know.

Hugs, Anne

Sheep blankets

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that last year I was making the Buttermilk Basin monthly sheep blankets. I was keeping up with them until the holidays hit and the poor little sheep had no blankets for November and December.

They are now finished and we won't have to worry about the sheep getting cold next winter. Instead of saying that I got "behind" on this project, I'm now saying that I'm way ahead of the game! Glass half full thing!

So here are November and December blankets.

Funny story (to me anyway) about this next one. I made this one for April last year and never really liked the way it looked. It was just too "pastel" for the sheep it was going to be covering. So.......

I decided to throw it in a pot of coffee to grung it up a bit. Well, as you can see, it came out looking putrid. In fact, it looked like dogs pooped on it and then a truck ran over it. (Can you tell how happy I was with the way it looked?) U.G.L.Y.

I knew it had to be re-made, so here's the second version of "April". Much better, don't cha think?

I also remade the one in the upper right, but it looked so much like the first one that I didn't even bother to show the other one to you.

A group of us are now taking on Buttermilk Basin's monthly Wool & Needle Handwork BOM.

Sandy, of "no blog" fame, is making us some wooden frames to put them on. As soon as I get the frame, I'll share what we've done so far.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Anne

More prepping

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I have been wanting to do this pattern by Heart to Hand since it was published a few years ago. It's called "Merry Christmas Quilt".

A couple of years ago Karen at My Red Farmhouse offered it as a block of the month. I was way too busy selling our house and moving to a new one to tackle the project, but I ordered the backgrounds from her in case I ever got some time to start it.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to get busy since I was in my wool prepping "frenzy". Yesterday I got the final block prepped and thought I'd share them with you.

These are all of the blocks.

Here they are a bit closer.

The little baggie is there holding a couple of applique pieces that will be added after the blocks are sewn together.

I changed this block to the candy canes. The original design has an angel.

As you can see, there's lots of stitching and embellishing to be done.

This is what the quilt will look like when it's finished which will, hopefully, be next Christmas.

Believe it or not...there are still more prepping projects to show you!

Hi, My name is Anne...

noreply@blogger.com (Anne) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 19:49:00 +0000

and I am addicted to wool! There, I said it. I can't help it and actually don't care if I ever get treatment for it! Tee hee.

I have been a "wool prepping fanatic" in the last month or so. Only problem with all the prepping is....someday these projects have to get stitched!!! I just keep telling myself....baby steps, Anne, baby steps.

Before I share these projects with you tho, I have a couple of belated thank yous. The first one is to Merumo from pleasentree blog. She sent me this adorable little purse and binding clips that she made. She actually sent them to me as a thank you for winning my giveaway last fall. How sweet is that? Thank you Merumo!

The second thank you goes out to Pat from Silver Thimble Quilt Co. I won her giveaway last month and love the giftys. If you remember, Pat designed the Comfort and Joy quilt pattern that we just finished up in our quilt-a-long. Thanks Pat!

The first project I'm gonna share is the Primitive Banners quilt by Lisa at Primitive Gatherings.

The first part of the quilt is the "frame". This will be the background for 4 seasonal little quilts.

The one for spring is this cute little bunny. Isn't he cute smelling those wonderful flowers. I can't wait until we can ALL be smelling spring flowers!

It's hanging on the wall where I used to hang the sheep with all the monthly blankets (which I finally finished and will show you later)

Here are the rest of the banners. I'll be ~~making~~ prepping ALL of them!!!

The original pattern can be found in this issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects, or you can order from Primitive Gatherings directly.

Isn't that a cute way to display it? Maybe I need to find myself a big basket like that.

Next up is one that is actually almost finished! It's called "Merry Merry" by Heart to Hand. See that strip on the bottom? That's all that's left to do, but I'm thinking of not adding that part. It's just a vine with holly and berries on it but I'm not sure it adds that much to the design, so ....

I'm thinking of just leaving it off. What do you think? Do I really need it? Right now it measures 20"x30". If I do it the way the pattern calls for, it will be 20"x36". Oh, decisions, decisions. (I tried to add the photo of the pattern and for some reason, Blogger is fighting with me on that. If you click the link, you can see the finished pattern)

Here's another project that's almost complete. It's a pattern by Cheri. It still needs a bunch of scrappy squares to add to the final border. I need to get cutting! (and sewing)!

A couple of close-ups.

But wait...there's more! I prepped this project from Primitive Gatherings and loved it so much that I immediately started stitching. Got it finished last week. I just ordered the frame from them so will show you the completed project soon.

Next up is a wool Christmas block of the month that I prepped in 2 weeks. Maybe it WILL get finished by Christmas. Stay tuned!

So, do you think I need a 12 step program or should I just keep going? :)

Hugs, Anne