contemplating

As I stand here contemplating the next block for this quilt, I am trying to think of something that will show the beauty of our trees with maybe a cardinal perched on a branch singing his melodic song.

But I am also thinking about my beautiful blogirl-friends and deciding whom I should tag. Because yes, I have just been tagged and want to tag most of you that leave such daily inspiring comments. I so, so appreciate your regular visits and come to look forward to/and lean on your uplifting words.

So I will list you for now, but not link back to you. That way if you don't want to be tagged you can email me and let me know that you would rather not play this time. Here you are:

Beautiful Blogirl-friends that I would like to tag (unless I hear otherwise.....*grin*)

Caroline, Dandy, Jackie, Jacquie, Suzy, Adrienne, Marie, Cath, Meggie, Kris, Cara & Amy

(and if you need it---look directly to your left on the sidebar for my email address)

~~

I'll be back soon-ish for the actual tag.

SpLaSh!

Just in time for this hot, HOT weather we are having & with the sound of our kids splashing it up in the pool---here is block #3 of the family quilt that I am making.

I was mighty scared to try and 'do' hair on these hand appliqued kids. The points of the girl's hair especially seemed impossible to do with fabric. How in the world would you needle turn such a tiny point? So to be safe, I did embroidery instead. And I must say, it makes the hair seem more like hair.

And hmmmmmmm...this boy looks remarkably just like our 8 year old.

And the girl certainly resembles our teen and tween daughter. Of course, our soon-to-be-15-year is rolling her eyes right now because she is 'so not like this little tyke pictured'! *grin*

As a teacher, one of my favorite parts of my job was doing bulletin boards. I loved designing them, cutting them out and seeing them come to life. Well, this is so similar to that. Only I'm using thread, needle and fabric instead of construction paper and staples.

we all scream for ice scream

Here is the 2nd block for my Family Quilt that I am putting together.

As a family we don't necessarily 'scream' for ice cream, but it is a family favorite of ours to drive on over to our local drive-in and order our favorite ice cream treats. The kids are convinced it should be a nightly destination for us, but ha! like that is almost going to happen....although when planning the weekly menu, that would be a nice way-out from cooking meals....

And I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as purple ice cream, but it seemed to go really well with the pink ice cream in the other cone and it fits so well with the rest of the color theme of this quilt.

A little bit of embroidery to accentuate the shape and it looks pretty realistic. Yum.

Here is the next block in progress. Yup. You guessed it. Swimming is big at our house. In fact the kids have already started swimming in the near frigid pool--not me!--and so I must somehow sew up a block that shows this favorite of our family.

humphrey

We have a beautiful hummingbird that the kids have named 'Humphrey' and we see him flit here and there throughout our trees. Unfortunately, every time I get ready to take a pic of him, he seems to disappear. Only to reappear in our crabapple tree blossoms or sipping his sweet nectar from our hummingbird feeder. So I decided to get a lasting impression of him by doing an applique quilt block.

By doing a sketch on theme paper of the hummingbird & flowers, I then hand-appliqued it by following her wonderful technique.

I have visions of this becoming a fabulous family quilt with different blocks showing the different loves of our family. Each block would depict something we all like: music, piano, violin, purses, baseball, dirtbikes, snowmobiles, purses, flowers, golden retrievers, purses, kitties, pine trees, peonies, purses, etc.....

But sometimes what I picture in my head is far different from what I can actually accomplish. High hopes don't necessarily = reality in Dawn's world.

So for now, I'll finish the curlique embroidery on these pretend flowers and start picturing what the next block might look like.

no more hoopla

Phewwwww. Here is my first attempt at hand-quilting. And. it. is. finished. Key words for me.

I was using a 14 inch hoop and found it quite difficult to maneuver/transport/carry. Well, lo and behold, I saw this beautiful book, written by Suzanne Marshall and she does not use a hoop when hand-quilting her quilts. I couldn't believe it--she has this huge quilt on her lap and she manipulates the quilt and needle w/o a bulky hoop.

(Here is one of her gorgeous books)

Could this be possible?

Well... I decided to drop the hoop and set this small quilt on my lap and found the stitching to be so much easier. My stitches were even smaller and more consistent. And Suzanne is right--you rock the fabric up and down to meet the needle and it is quicker and not so strenuous on the hands.

Previously I planned to add a busy, flowered border but it seemed to take away from the simplicity of this small quilt. So I just added a plain matching fabric binding.

Now, granted--there are a few puffy places, but this is such a huge accomplishment for me because I could not believe that I could attempt something like this---but more remarkable...I actually finished it. Small steps, but now I can not wait to do something a bit more challenging.

busy, busy, busy

Not only are we busy, busy, busy with spring violin recitals, band concerts, youth baseball, marching in city parades & school field trips--our kids are winding down another school year. Yippee. They are gleeful and counting down the days to a blissful 3 month summer vacation which begins soon.

And that means mom busily trying to get this quilt completed & out of the way so our 8 year old does not spy it before his birthday rolls around.

The borders are sewn on and as I step back I am hit with the thought that this quilt is also quite busy, busy, busy! Okay. It's really busy, busy, busy! I will add a dark gray-almost-black binding to frame the busy-ness of this quilt. Keep everything intact. Otherwise it looks like these planes will take off and never return.

Definitely a Bold & Busy Boy quilt!

pretty ladies and their parasols

' I always think of an assortment of fabrics as a flower garden. As you see them in the store, they are buds with the promise of beauty. Each one expresses texture and color; but its full beauty flowers only when it is made up into the kind of garment for which it was designed, in a pattern keyed to that particular fabric.'---Constance Talbot, The Complete Book of Sewing 1943

I just recently purchased this quilt and already found it being used as the bedspread on our daughter's bed. Hmmm. She, too loves the beauty of these ladies and their parasols.
I love the patience and effort that went into dressing these ladies with the carefully chosen fabrics. A whole wardrobe of vintage garments adorning these ladies.....
And then using the black thread to embroider around each flower, parasol, bonnet, and dress...I have to wonder about the woman that made this quilt and what she thought as she carefully chose each fabric to dress each lady and how much time went into the sewing of each block. *Sigh*

So, so yummy. I think my heart smiles when I see each of these individual ladies~and now I know my daughter shares that same appreciation.