It was a beautiful day today...

Excellent weather for a lovely drive to Karla's and craft day!


It seems a while since the last time our regular group got together. Karla, Beth, Mary and I were there today. We missed Shawn this time...she delivered a beautiful baby boy a couple of weeks ago! And don't you know we're looking forward to when he gets to join us for the day:)

It also seems a while since I played in my gluebook, but again lucky, because that's what I had a chance to do today.


Especially fun because I've signed up for Mary's Your Vintage Gluebook Online Class and I can't wait for the first lesson on Sunday, May 16th! Nine lessons total and gorgeous images from Mary's incredible collection are provided in the cost of the class.

If it's something you'd like to try too, just go here to register and be ready to learn from a most talented collage artist!

Marilyn

Happy Easter!

May all that God has planted within you
rise vibrant and growing this Springtime.

Wishing you a Happy Easter!

(Art, "Awakening Dawn," and greeting by Mary Southard, CSJ...courtesy of Ministry of the Arts)


Marilyn

Roses, Beautiful Roses

"The roses had the look of flowers that are looked at."
~ [T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), American poet.] ~


I saw these roses late last week and just had to photograph them...aren't the colors beautiful!


And more roses from Karla (Karla's Cottage)...


Karla has a giveaway on her blog every month and drew my name from all of the comments made in April. She sent me a lovely charm with a handpainted rose (by Karla) on it. I've been wearing it on a chain and just love the dainty sweetness of it! Thank you, Karla!

Marilyn

Weekend Pleasures

Really, where does the time go? Not the "where does the time go?" and a shake of the head when you see how much someone's child has grown...but the "how-did-I-JUST-post-last-Wednesday-and-now-it's-this-Wednesday-where-does-the-time-go?"!

Answers? Anyone? And don't give me that "the older you get...blah, blah, blah".

Anyway, weekend pleasures (last weekend, not this coming up weekend, yet)...

Actually, I could stop with this picture of Grandpa (Rick) holding Cole--it just doesn't get any better!

Hi, cutie!
The weather in Kansas City last weekend was gorgeous--perfect spring days--so nice to be out and about!

I did manage to do some sewing. These blocks are for Tine in the Sew Connected 2 quilting bee group.

I loved working with her fabrics. The colors were so inspiring.


While I was sewing Tine's blocks, I got to thinking about the blocks I've received so far. I hadn't laid them out altogether yet and was anxious to see what it would look like.


I love it already! Everyone is making such beautiful blocks with my fabric...more to come...yippee!

Marilyn

Swap Til You Drop ~ April

I received the most beautiful mini quilt from Sandi in Wisconsin on Saturday! We were swap partners for April's Swap Til You Drop "Spring Flowers" mini's.

(10.5" x 15")
I LOVE it! Sandi did some incredible paper piecing for this one...even into the border, so cool!!!


The fabric she used on the back is really pretty. Rick likes it a lot too--I may have to look for some to do something with for church.


And look at all of the extra goodies she sent..three pieces of great fabric, a really fun keychain and one of my favorite candies, Neccos, which I've finished off already:)


This is what I sent to Sandi...I wish the photo was better but I took it at night and we all know how those usually turn out! Anyway, Sandi loves it and I'm very happy about that:)

(16" x 16")
When I finished Sandi's mini quilt, I had leftover pieces of fabric and some small half square triangles that I played around with and turned into this quilted notepad. I made the notepad part with graph paper thinking she could also use it to sketch quilt patterns, in addition to making other notes.


This was such a fun swap, so much fun that I'm already signed up for the May swap. The theme for that one is "Alphabet Mania" and my assigned letter is "S". I've got some ideas...let's see what happens!

Marilyn

Craft Day and Inspiration

We had a lovely day on Tuesday for craft day at Karla's. So lovely that I didn't take a single photo! It was just nice to sit and visit and craft...and enjoy a pitch-in lunch that was delectable and spring fresh.


I started a project that I read about on Mary's blog. She calls it a glue book and at our last craft day I had the pleasure of seeing it upclose. In a Moleskine pocket size sketchbook, she limits herself to paper and glue only (no paint, rubberstamps, etc.) to create lovely collaged pages.

I was enamoured with her little book and the idea of using paper and glue only. Sometimes (often?) I find myself overwhelmed by the possibilities in a mixed media collage project and spend too much time making decisions instead of enjoying the process. Probably that pesky perfectionist in me that I'm constantly fighting! The glue book would also provide another place for some of the ephemera I've collected over the past many years.

On Tuesday, I glued backgrounds to a half dozen or so pages and completed two pages. It was fun and something I could easily do while we talked. I'm really looking forward to doing more too...remembering that it's supposed to be fun and to shoo away those perfectionist pests should they show up to "play"!

Marilyn

Me & Insects...Loving the Blooms

I am so enjoying the spring flowers this year...and it looks like the bugs are too:)



Marilyn

Signs of Spring

I know it's spring because we celebrated Easter and second daughter's and daughter-in-law's (baby-mama) birthdays this past weekend. But, little by little, it's even started to look like spring in places besides the calendar. The Redbud tree in the backyard is blooming, and to me, that says spring even more than the daffodils and the tulips which, as you may recall, were blooming when we got our last snow!


So today, in true spring-fever fashion, I ignored anything prefaced with "must" or "need to" and played in the craftroom, sewing up this little quilt top.


Last month, in the My Favorite Quilters Flickr group, we had a 4-patch quilt block swap. We made five 4-patch blocks each for five other quilters and received back the same number of blocks. One of the swappers sent me an extra block and another sent two extra so I made two more to bring it to an even thirty blocks, measuring 24 x 28 inches.

I love the random variety of fabrics. After quilting and binding it, I think I'll use it for a table topper here at home or take it along on a picnic for two--you know when you don't want to mess with a full size tablecloth on the picnic table but would like to have something to eat your deli sandwich over:)

Hmmm, picnics...another sign of spring?

Marilyn

Tablecloths and Tulips (surely there's a better title for this post!)

There are some things that just don't seem to translate well to blogging. This is one of those things, even though it's what I've been working on for the better part of the last 5 days. Tablecloths. An essential foundation to holiday table decor, but alone, just how much is there to say?


Well...

I can tell you that I made them for tables at church for Easter Sunday. The colorful ones on the left will be used on two hospitality tables and the lace one goes on the communion table.


And, I can tell you that sewing on this scale is much different than sewing mini quilts or doll quilts. The hospitality table cloths are rectangular, measuring 130 x 88 inches. This morning after I finished the sewing and was ironing them, Rick said it looked like I was trying to iron a parachute...and it kind of felt that way too:)

The communion table is round, 48" diameter with a 33" drop. I used six lace curtain panels, and a lot more physical activity than I planned, to make the tablecloth for it. It ended up being easier for me to spread everything out on the living room floor to put it together, but that also called for bending and kneeling and stretching that I'm not accustomed to when sewing.

Maybe I can look at it as warm up exercises for the bending and kneeling and stretching that comes with yard work.


Fortunately, all of that happened last fall when I planted these tulip bulbs and, now, I can just sit back and enjoy the blooms.


But wait, does it look like this flower bed could use some fresh mulch? Maybe...but I think I'll pass on that this weekend, thank you.

Marilyn

Midwest Spring

In the midwest it's not a common occurrence to see spring bulbs up and blooming bright one day then covered with snow the next, but it does happen occasionally. Like yesterday.

Fortunately, at least in my experience, the snow doesn't seem to damage the plants.


And it does offer some photo opportunities.


And conversation for future years..."remember the spring those tiny little daffodils were covered with snow?"


And give pause for things that seem just a little bit out of whack...like last night, the ground was covered with snow yet it was still light outside at almost 8pm...or this morning, the ground is covered with snow but the birdies are singing just like they would on any other spring day.

Mother Nature can be mighty entertaining!

Marilyn

Still Wishing It Was Spring!

It just keeps getting "better"...today, it's 25° and snowing!


This squirrel...well, maybe not this specific one--we have a lot of squirrels in our backyard and they all look the same to me...SOME squirrel has spent the past few weeks tucking away twigs and leaves under the top step of our deck.


Not every twig stays tucked away though...there are just as many on the ground. In fact, that's what first drew my attention to the nest(?) -- "what the heck is that stack of sticks out under the deck?"


But enough of the snow photos! We're wishing it was spring here!

*********************************************************

Thursday, Rick and I spent a couple of hours at Kansas City's botanical gardens, when the temperatures were in the mid to upper 60's. (It was 70 ° on Wednesday! Crazy midwest weather!))

There was a fragrance garden exhibit that we wanted to see. It was in the conservatory and it felt like we stepped through a door right into spring!




It was the first time I'd seen one of these--a Red Powder Puff Tree.


We also took a walk on the nature trail and it was really nice to be outdoors enjoying some fresh air.


On the way home, whenever we visit the gardens, we also like to make a stop at Cockrell Mercantile. It's a small vintage-y village with an old farm house, a couple barns and little cottages filled with beautiful housewares, mostly for the kitchen.

This is my favorite cottage!


It makes this collector's heart go PITT-TY-PAT!


Fiestaware dishes everywhere!


And I mean everywhere...inside...


and out!


It was such a lovely day and a fun daytrip, and I'm glad our timing was so great--it kind of balances out snowy days like today.

Marilyn

"Wishing It Was Spring" Fat Quarter Swap

It couldn't be more true--wishing for spring--currently, it is 27°(F).

Just a couple of weeks ago, Darci (Stitches and Scissors) hosted a fat quarter swap to help us through days like today.

Donna and I were swap partners and I love the fabric she sent!

The fat quarters are from Anna Maria Horner's "Good Folks" Collection.

After we got our swap partner's name, Donna emailed to ask me if I had a specific request or if I would like a total surprise in the mail. I chose to be surprised. I'm not sure if she knew that Anna Maria Horner is one of my favorite fabric designers, but it was the perfect surprise!

Thank you very much, Donna...I'm going to my craft room now to play with springtime fabrics and colors.

Marilyn

Thoughts of Winter and Spring on a Fall Day

This past weekend, the better part of my Saturday was spent in our yard getting ready for winter(!)--raking leaves, bundling up fallen or pruned tree branches and cutting back perennial plants.

BUT, there were plenty of thoughts towards Spring, too, because I planted fifty of these...

so I could have more of this:

Since this photo from Spring-2002, this bed of tulips had gradually thinned out to be a pretty pitiful sight by Spring-2008 (sorry, no photos of that in my files). So, Saturday, I set out to remedy that, with achy lower back and thighs as proof, and am looking forward to a pretty, tulip-blooming, Spring-2009.

Marilyn

Karla's Bloggers Tea Party

Ask me about yesterday and I will tell you what an enjoyable afternoon it was! I attended the most lovely Bloggers Tea Party at Karla's house. She is just the sweetest woman and is so hospitable! The party was in honor of Becca who was traveling through with her son and planned a stop at Karla's along the way. It was wonderful to 'meet' them and other blogger friends: Beth, Shawn (and her daughter Bethany) and Carla.
The weather was perfect! Sitting around a table on the porch, we visited and drank cranberry tea and nibbled on yummy snacks.

We checked out Karla's unbelievable studio, the place where all the magic happens, and I could have spent hours there--her art and supplies and the decor were amazing!


We toured her home, too, and it's everything you would imagine it to be--warm and welcoming and lovely! Look how pretty the table was decorated:

And we even went home with party favors--isn't this a darling bottle?! Karla made one for everybody!

Yes, ask me about yesterday afternoon and I will tell you it was a real pleasure...THANK YOU, Karla! And Becca, Beth, Shawn and Carla!

Marilyn