a cardinal christmas

Christmas is only 63 days away.

Only.

Time to think of a beautiful quilt to hang on our living room wall.

I just received Quilting for Christmas magazine and was instantly drawn to the beautiful wall-hanging, Carol of the Cardinals.

(And this is a 'just-pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming-moment'. I just found out that the designer of this quilt has commented on my blog! ~~Wendy Sheppard from Ivory Spring....yes, I am in awe & have an ear-to-ear grin!)

Time to mix-and-match all of my fabric scraps.

I so love this pattern because it worked up quickly, but the design still maintains that quaint, simple allure of Christmas.

And then to add my most favorite bird to enhance this!?! This is just so perfect.

Just a few more stitches to finish the edging of the applique and then I can tackle the basting & quilting -- and I'm not sweating that like I usually do because it is small enough that I don't have to clear out the furniture.

rainbow connection & randomness

A rainbow connection -- quilt colors connecting with crocheted rug blocks. When our tween picked out the cotton thread for her quilt, I didn't realize how close the colors really were with her quilt.

She laid them out on the floor and we mixed and matched and moved the blocks until she/we came up with this pattern. (Shhhhhhhhhh. Don't notify the crochet police -- yes, I really did machine stitch this together. With pets and children a-plenty in our house, I need to be realistic enough to know that this thing is going to have to stand up to repeated washings.)

See? Already -- scruffy shoes & silly, little kitties.

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Cara, from that beautiful blog -- Quilt Nook, tagged me.

Here are 7 random facts about me:

1. I am 2 years older than my husband.

2. When my husband & I are old enough to retire -- our view out our front window will be trees, barn and more trees.

3. I would love to dress just like they did in the 1940's.

4. I have always wanted a huge family -- just like The Waltons. Loud, loving meals all surrounding a huge kitchen table.

5. I love, love, LOVE to read.

6. Much to my husband's dismay -- I could easily become a crazy 'cat lady'. (ha. Sorry, dear! I can already hear your groan! *grin*)

7. Coffee is very much a part of my daily diet.

~~

And now, I will try and tag 7 of you that have never been tagged by me.........

Fabric Fantastic

Daisy Quilts

Stitchin by the Lake

Two Crazy Crafters

Dearfii ......

Okay, so it's not 7.

And don't worry if you don't want to do this/or you have just recently done this on your blog. I just appreciate every one of you visiting and leaving such beautiful, encouraging words....you ALL are my inspiration!

rainbow sandwich

Slices and slices of rainbow-colored blocks. Our tween picked out these yummy colors for her crocheted bedroom rug.

She wanted the rug to match her quilt. I hope (emphasis on--->hope!) to get the finished floor rug posted by this afternoon........

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Aaaaand I was tagged by my blogirl-friend, Cara -- so I hope to include the answers to her tag in that post also.

hooked on (d)elmo

A sweet 2 year old came to our house and just stole our hearts with her absolute cuteness. Tiny curls sweeping her head, wearing adorable little girl Elmo pajamas....what is not to like about this endearing little young lady? Well, come to find out she is obsessed with a certain, red Sesame Street character. And since it is her birthday tomorrow -- and since I have shopped every store for an Elmo she doesn't have -- I came to one conclusion: make one for her. But where does one find a crochet pattern for Elmo?

Paging through my CROCHET YEARBOOK vol. 1, I found an adaptable pattern. Hmmmm. Can Elmo spring from this Kathy Kitty? Squint a lot and it looks workable. A stitch here and there to sort of change the shape and here is......

(D)elmo. Elmo designed by Dawn becomes --> (D)elmo. I know, pretty bad, but my kids were quick to point out that his head is more round than the actual Elmo, whose head, I'll admit is more oval.

But kids, work with me and my creative license to change a few things. ....... in other words--'fly by the seat of my pants' as I try my hand at crocheting something w/o a pattern. *grin*

sweet 16

Sitting in the kitchen, our daughter tells me that it is her friend's Sweet 16 birthday -- and could I please make her friend a bag for that birthday?

And here's the thing, Mom -- it has to be done by tomorrow.......

~~~

Oooooooooookay. So I draw a rough pattern on paper. And make a very hasty stop into the fabric store, lazily strolling down each row of fabric, fingering all those beautiful patterns and texture...Note to self--Shopping with a time constraint is not the way to shop in any fabric store!

And of course at home -- there's slivers to take out of 9 year old boys who play too heartily at recess. And suppers to get on the table. And daughters to be picked up from catechism class. And 4 pages of a history assignment. And styrofoam cells that need to be hot-glued into place....

And a bag for a very sweet 16 year old. Happy birthday, Kara.

<3's for Lin

I have 'met' a beautiful lady, Lin and she is making me a sweet quilt and I -- in turn -- made this 12' x 12' quilt for her.

We had to somehow incorporate hearts in our quilt and I pulled this 'theme' from a girl's shirt that was on the cover of a flyer for school clothes that came in our local newspaper. I added off-white embroidery swirls to highlight the khaki background fabric.

And seeing knotgarden's glorious flowers (oh! you must go & take a look!) that she has featured on her beautiful blog, I decided to include a flower for Lin & crocheted this mum. Now, it's all boxed up and headed off for a very loooooooooooong plane ride. Destination: Thailand.

~~

Enjoy the <3's, Lin!

simple bird

~I heard a bird at break of day

Sing from the autumn trees

A song so mystical and calm,

So full of certainties,

No man, I think, could listen long

Except upon his knees;

Yet, this was but a simple bird,

Alone, among the trees.~

William Alexander Percy 1885-1942

This simple bird, hand-embroidered with appliqued flowers is now done. Phew. Took a bit longer than I had anticipated, but coupled with the yellow cabbage rose fabric -- I am SO pleased at how it turned out.

The bag itself was quite easy to sew. But thank goodness for the drawings because I am not someone who can just follow the written word. Draw it out for me and you got yourself one happy lady.

The inside of this bag is that aprony goodness that my GrAnna would have made and worn. Obviously no more explanation why that fabric went into this bag. Just one tiny draw-back about this bag -- it is too small for me to use. I tend to use a purse the size of a suitcase. My husband just looooooooooooves that.



But my girls DO like the smallness of it. And especially the wonky way the handle slides into the other handle as the closure. I just love the colors, the texture of the embroidery and the eclectic choice of fabrics. We'll see how well it does in the bag challenge.

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Edit: Dandy will have our pics loaded for the bag challenge by this weekend. You can go to All People Quilt and take a look at the bags.