New Challenge - New Hope

This morning a tremendous crack of thunder made me sit straight up in bed. We enjoyed an hour of a good soaking along with Mother Nature's fireworks display. I can't remember the last time there was such brilliant lightening! The morning was cloudy and dim, but I decided to try and get a few pictures to blog about anyways.

Last evening I clipped off 6 nice full roses and put them in a bowl of water to bring in the house. They smell so wonderful. Tiny things but very potent. This morning I decided the bouquet needed one more blossom to make it a full circle, so I ran out and snipped another one. Can you find it? Hint.. it is covered with raindrops.

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So now let me tell you about a fun new project. My friend Ulla from kotkarankki and I have been chatting lately about quilts and flowers and things we love in common.. and she thought we might have fun with a summer challenge. Now Ulla is the Queen of Recycling, and we can all learn a lot from her. She does magical things with used clothing and scraps of things you might never think of as useful. I was so excited when I saw how cleverly she used some old shirts to make the cutest shopping bags. See them here. I kind of stole her idea of the shirts to use in a new quilt I want to try and make. Our actual "challenge" is to make a quilt from our stash or things we have on hand.. not buy anything new.. and have it done by August. Here is the start of mine..

Not exactly sure where it's going yet, but once I get working on it we'll see. I'm quite certain I won't have to buy a thing.. there is enough stuff here to make many quilts. But my real challenge is going to be this..
Finishing these little white dolly underpinnings and aprons. I need to get them done and in the mail BEFORE I do one more minute of anything else. These are for someone else, not for me.. and I am simply taking forever. :(

The fabric really is lovely.. very fine batiste and vintage windowpane organdy.. and I love making tatted lace. But for some reason I'm having such a hard time keeping at working on them. So maybe if I have these pretty fabrics sitting here in front of me and don't let myself touch them beforehand.. I can get my work done.

And on a final note... HOPE for my DAISIES! You can see where I chopped all the flowers off, and this plant seriously looked very dead. But here this morning... a new bud. I am so happy.

And the sun is now shining. So I'm going to turn on a fan, put some music on and get to work. Hope you all have a lovely day.

Tusen takk

Pretty words, huh? They mean "Thank you" in Norwegian, and I have been saying them to my friend Anne Marie for the delightful package of goodies she sent me in the mail this past week.

The deal was, we thought it would be fun to trade a couple pieces of fabric from our stash with each other. I would send her 3 from the US, and she would send me three from Norway. Well she totally outdid me, as I did only send her three pieces of fabric. From now on I will know to throw in a few extras!
Is this not the cutest little flower and leaf button set? To my delighted surprise, it was one of the things inside my package along with three pieces of pretty black and red Danish quilting fabric. Not only that, but also a very cute pattern for appliqued mice, AND this wonderful quilting magazine "Quiltemagasinet". Eye candy galore! How did she know I LOVE all this kind of stuff?

I think all the red and black together in this package are so pretty, and I do plan on making a quilt with this color scheme. Maybe even this summer yet.

Anne Marie wrote a very sweet note to me in perfect English on this beautifully handpainted card. I am so happy with all the things! Tusen takk once again!

And since it is the first of June, here is my Diane Phalen calander picture of the month. I can almost feel the humidity in this picture.. can't you?

Saturday Evening

Can you smell this yet? I kept getting wafts of a lovely scent all day, and discovered it must have been coming from this bush of little roses in the corner of the garden. None of the buds are really open yet, but there were several that were far enough along to leak out a little of their perfume.

I want to say a huge thank you ALL for the lovely comments lately. I am so lucky to have met so many wonderful new blogging friends.. I never knew this life was out there.

And a lovely day at the post office! The newest issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, plus a package covered with these awesome stamps. Let me tell you, inside are some terrific goodies, I will have to show 'n' tell next week.

So I think I might have killed my daisies.. boo hoo! This is what they looked like the other day, before I messed around with the roots. I was trying to free them from some mesh that I had layed down several years ago to keep the weeds from taking over. But evidently the daisies were fine until I did that..
This is what they looked like shortly after.. and by the next day the flowers were very very sad. I cut them all off and put them in a vase.
They perked up enough that I can enjoy them in the house a little while. But I really think the plant is done. I see no sign of life. I keep watering it.. and hoping. At least these pots turned out pretty I thought. Some impatience and coleus.
Now Im off to sit and enjoy the evening with the flowers and my new magazine. Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing tomorrow.

Two Trips Around the World

The other day Nadine from Friendship Threads reminded me that I had mentioned blogging about my Trip Around the World quilt sometime. So today seemed like a good day. I got them out of the trunk and hung them up out in the sunshine. These are not really quilts. They are actually what we call "comforters", and are knotted instead of quilted.

If you would let me, I'll tell about the one on the left first, because it has a special story.

In the circle I am in, men and women piece patches together into quilt tops using new scraps or parts of blankets and clothing that have had little wear, then knot them into comforters. These are then donated to our "disaster relief service" for people who are in need. Unfortunately, the ones who have been faithful at keeping this going in my immediate area have either passed away or grown very old. It is hard to find anyways who wants to donate their time to make the tops or knot them together. Here we are at one of our last get-togethers putting knots in a comforter that my friend Laura made. This is not the blanket I'm telling about, but I just wanted to show you how we put them in this antique frame and tie the knots. Laura is on the left. She is 93. Her hands are blurry because she works so fast.
Anyways, when I was cleaning out some of my mother's things several years ago right after she passed away, I found a box full of square patches all neatly cut. They were 100% polyester, and I noticed a lot of prints were very familiar. Pants that she used to wear, fabric from a dress she had made, and stuff we used to make summer tops and shorts.. Here is a picture of my mom about 30 years ago, wearing something made from that fabric.

In the box was a note. It said "Give these patches to Laura to make comforters. There should be enough for two."
So I did.
Several months later I was taking a trip to the place where we deliver all the blankets we made, I had a cleaned out our closets and had some clothes to donate as well. So I asked around to see if there was anyone who had things to send with me. Laura said she had about 6 blankets done. She gave them to me in plastic bags.
Well when I got there, before I went into the building I looked into the bags. And when I saw that two of the comforters were made out of my mother's clothes, I simply could not part with them. I felt guilty knowing that Mom would have wanted them to go to the needy. So instead of keeping them both, I donated only one of them, keeping this one I am showing you. I gave the organization some money. But now I wish I would have kept both blankets!

So anyways, this second blanket that is hanging on the clothesline is very very old. Pretty, isn't it? Wish I had somewhere to display it properly.

It has been in our family for years, but no one remembers who made it. It is SO heavy and made of wool. There is some staining on it, but I would have no idea how to clean it, or even if I should clean it. The fabric is pretty fragile. So I just take it out and admire it and love it a little, thinking about who might have made it and the clothes it was probably made from. The I refold it and put it away in the trunk.
So that's it for today. I better go get busy on some things I'm making. After I make some coffee. Have a great rest of the day! And thank you Nadine for reminding me about these!

Blogging Friends are Tops!

Last week right before I left for vacation, a delightful surprise came in the mail. I was totally not expecting this, but Nanette from Freda's Hive shared one of her new Sarah Smith's colorful cleaning cloths with me.
This is the prettiest thing, and I don't even want to use it and get it dirty! Plus look at the fabric colored button with a mother sheep and her lamb on it that Nanette included.. it matches the cloth exactly. Of course it would. :) And she has a the cutest business card. Such a sweet blogging friend to send me this.. I just love it all. Thank you Nanette!
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Then the other day I was reading one of my favorite blogs - Anne Marie's Quilt. If you hurry over there now, she is having a give-away! But in the previous post, someone had given her a beautiful award for "Kreativ Blogging". Of course she deserves it because she has the cutest way of writing things, and I love seeing how she lives her life in Norway. But surprise! ..she passed the award on to me as well. So I am proudly displaying this honor on my sidebar.. thank you Anne Marie!.. and I would like to also give it to the following people because they always leave such lovely comments here and I love their blogs too. You guys don't have to even pass this on if you don't feel like it.. I know there are lots of "tags" going around lately and it's hard to get people that haven't already been tagged. But just display the award at your site with pride.. you deserve it!

Melanie at jellybeanangel

Cindy at artsythreads

My friend at dollzandthingz

And also in the mail the same day that the surprise cleaning cloth came, was a new Martha Pullen "Sew Beautiful" catalog. I recently ordered a half a yard of Nelona Batiste from her to make some dainty dolly nightgowns, and so she put me on the catalog list.. ..which I don't mind at all. Look at some of this cute stuff and beautiful needlework...
I especially adore the smocking. Someday we will talk more about that here too. :) And now I can hardly write a post without showing at least one of the fabulous things in bloom at the moment. This is our enormous horse chestnut tree, which is usually mistaken for a Buckeye which is our state tree. There are some differences which you can read about here if you are curious. But if not, and you just want to call it a Buckeye.. that is ok with me. It is a beautiful tree.. but very messy. There is always something dropping from it that we have to clean up.

Just to give you an idea how huge it is, we were standing out with some friends waiting for the parade to go by our house yesterday, and my son snapped this picture. Guess I never realized I sometimes nibble my nails. Or maybe I was just thinking about the conversation. Ya.. that's it.
Hope you all have a good week. This feels like Monday to me.

Salem Ohio - A Get-Away at Home

14 miles from our house. This is one of my favorite places. And one of my favorite people to go there with is my daughter. I guess I should clarify.. she is not a litle girl. She is a beautiful 27 years old who is a lot of fun to be with :)

So..

With gas prices going as high as they are, we are paying particularly close attention to combining trips to the gorcery store, the doctor's etc. And since Jodi had an appointent at the massage parlor and to get an oil change in her car in Salem, and that is where the I like to do my shopping, I decided to hitch a ride with her. We did take time to stop and sit in our favorite coffee shop, Friends Roastery....

This little place, which is an old converted bank, not only has fabulous coffee and yummy chocolate shortbread, it is full of wonderful vinage treasures. They use Fiestaware, and I love to stand and look at their colorful cupboard full of dishes while we are placing our order.
They roast their own coffee, right in the front window, and the bags of beans are sitting inside the door.
If you look closely, you can see in the back the bars to what used to be the bank teller's window.
Everything here is so cute and unique.. and I found myself coveting this little fellow..
some more chairs..

Oh. Did I mention that around the corner from the coffee shop is the thrifty GoodWill store? Some treasures that I found there today. Someone obviously cleaned out their mother's fabric stash, and I was the happy recipient. I don't need one more old scrap, but I could not pass this up. There is a whole bag of colorful taffeta too. And even though I have enough ceramic bowls, this robin egg's blue one had to come home with me. And another Little Golden Book to add to my collection. I did not have this one by Richard Scarry.

I really had not planned on bloggin about this today. I got some very cute things in the mail from some wonderful blogging friends, and I was going to post about those today.. but this one is getting a little long for now. I will share those tomorrow. I hope!

Once more picture of the town of Salem..
Hope you have a lovely Sunday!

Deep Creek Lake (back from my getaway..)

It feels so good to have spent a few days at this lovely resort chalet, with my wonderful extended family. Aunts and uncles and cousins that I see about once a year. And whenever we are together the time goes so fast.

It rained most every day, and was very chilly. But we did manage to take a couple of walks. Here are some of the things we saw along the way..

big rocks..

wild pink azaleas...
a peek at the lake..
Back at the chalet, some of us relaxed with handiwork..

a crocheted doily...
some quilt blocks...
My one aunt's "handiwork".
Snack chips. All of my family seem to have a sense of humor.

I personally did not put a thimble on my finger the whole time. Just sat and talked and laughed and snacked on things and played games and puzzles. Next week after the flowerbeds are done and everyone gets back to work, I will dig out my fabrics again, and maybe be creative with them :)

There are some other good things that I want to share with you about.. but I'll save them for the next post. It really is good to be back on my own computer.. with my own photo editor and a slot to put my camera card!

Blueberries and Fly-Swatters

Thank you all for the lovely comments on the baby quilt. :) I really appreciate each and every one. Such wonderful people in Blogland.

The baby shower on Saturday was lovely. But our weather here in Ohio has regressed. I know I should not complain, because we are not digging loved ones out from under rubble or trying to salvedge our belongings from 4 feet of water. 49F and rain is ok for spring. And the plants don't seem to mind it at all!

Here is my Cotoneaster. The little pink flowers are so tiny and dainty, and the leaves so shiny. It is one of my favorite plants in the back yard. Except it does tend to be quite invasive, and I am always chopping it back. In the winter it displays beautiful red berries which the cardinals love, and the robins feast on in the very early spring when they first arrive and there is nothing else to eat. I've been having such a fun time with my daughter too. For Earth Day she bought some Blueberry Bushes to plant in the back yard. They have been sitting here on the porch steps for weeks, we just have not had a chance to plant them. So yesterday we did that.. in the cold rain and wind. There was a tiny break with sunshine.. so we hurried!
I know absolutely nothing about growing these, so hopefully we are doing it right. We did follow the planting directions, which called for potting soil. We didn't have any here, so we hopped over to the Dollar General Store down the street and bought some. While we were in there, we spied the most adorable little fly-swatters and could not resist them. I don't know how sturdy they will be. You know when you are swatting at a wasp or a terrifying centipede, you tend to use all your might. At least I do. But they were so cute..

Anyways, back to the Blueberries. We found the sunniest place we could, which was a feat in and of itself because there isn't anywhere in our yard that gets full sun except for right in the middle of the yard up by the house. And they could not go there. So here they are way in the back.. where rabbits and sometimes deer will wonder and nibble. I have lost some little tree saplings to the deer already. So we'll have to put some kind of wiring around them. I'm pretty sure bunnies might like these.. but I don't know for certain. I'll have to look that up.
Tomorrow I'm leaving for a little short break. Some of my Dad's side of the family get together every May in Deep Creek Maryland. It is just a small group of aunts and uncles and cousins.. we rent a cottage there. Last time I went they did have internet connection, so I will be able to pop in.. and maybe I'll even get a chance to blog from there.

Hope you are all starting out the week on a lovely note!

Yay!

I have been such a terrible blogger all week. But it has been somewhat crazy around here. I finally finished the baby quilt I have been working on for a couple months now, and not too soon. The shower is tomorrow afternoon.
I was very happy with how soft and fluffy it turned out, even after a light washing and drying.
I used mostly "Every Iota" fabrics for the blocks, and one piece of the cutest Japanese print from Fabric Tales. It is the one with the tiny flowers and honey bees. The backing is a soft yellow percale sheet, and I loved the way it quilted up.
The pattern is from the April 2007 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting.

I was so worried about a bird flying over while I had this out on the line.

Fingertips are doing fine. Yesterday my right thumb was a little tender, but it is perfect today. Now I am ready for the next project. Something totally different! But I think this evening I will just relax with some butter pecan ice cream and watch a movie. We rented "Pirates of the Caribbean -At World's End". I have not seen it yet. Fun!