A happy quilt – my first machine-quilted quilt:

Was thrilled at how my first machine-quilted top turned out recently. Had several of these 9 patch blocks for a number of years before getting around to making enough for a queen size quilt. The fabrics in this quit (the 9 patches and blue sashing) are all 30s and 40s fabrics, including the blocks I pieced together. Also yellow in the blocks and in the squares between blocks is old fabric (36" wide). Some of the yellows are darker in value – but that adds to the charm, don't you think.

 

Kinda got carried away with piecing the backing for this quilt. 

Have been admiring quilts that have a little "extra" added to the back and maybe I went over board with this one. Wanted to use up as many of the 2.5" squares that were left over from the piecing of the blocks on the front. And, I pretty much did that. What few squares I had left were incorporated into the patchwork coasters I posted earlier.

New color for shelf

Had a quart of Benjamin Moore paint that I bought for another project that didn't come to fruition .... so here's the primitive shelf with its new paint color .... butterscotch.

Here's the next mini-project. "Mini" meaning it should take too long to finish. Plans are to recover this wonderful old footstool with some new fabric.

Found this piece of upholstery fabric in the remanent bin .... just love the color and pattern. It's fresh and contemporary feeling.

Sometimes mistakes are made...

I let myself be talked into picking this turquoise color to paint a primitive-type shelf that we have sitting on our front porch area. Wanted a color to compliment the cushions I made for the glider – normally, I would have chosen a variation of a lime green that is in the fabric. But, my hubby picked the paint to match some of the turquoise blue in the fabric. YIKES! If we lived by the ocean, this would be a wonderful beach color. But we are near the "shores" of the Arkansas River as it flows through northeastern Oklahoma. The shelf is getting repainted. Will should you the new color soon.

This past week has been project week at our house. Here's a wonderful mid century solid "rock maple" dresser that I stripped and painted with a Behr paint. The color is called "Bleached Linen". Don't you just love the names they (whoever "they" are) give to paint. Sometimes, I just feel like painting a wall or piece of furniture just because of the name given to a color. Consequently, choosing paint is a fun part of the process, but I can also agonize over making the right color choice – just need to realize it can be repainted!

The green glass pulls on the drawers make the dresser more "cottage-like" and they are much more aesthetic than the original wood pulls that looked like large peanuts. 

The name of the furniture maker is burned on the side of one of the drawers. This was a pleasant surprise, since we had recently moved from Indiana. Not much to be found on the internet about "Peter Klerner Furniture" other than there were several Klerner furniture makers in the Corydon area. So I am just guessing on the date on this piece being from the 40s or 50s based on the design.

More butterflies and moths

Block Nº 8 in the series is the Twin-Spotted Sphinx moth.

Block Nº 9:  is an Apollo butterfly.

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Block Nº 10 is the Arched Hook-tip moth. Added some leaf-shaped glass beads hanging from an embroidered vine on this block. Am thinking about adding some extra touches like this to some of my other blocks – but not all of them as I don't want to over embellish.

Block Nº 11 is everyone's favorite butterfly – the Monarch butterfly.

The final block for our wall hanging, block Nº 12 is the Question Mark butterfly.

My friend, Vicki, is working to finish embellishing her 12 blocks despite her sewing room is temporarily displaced to their garage while they are getting new carpet. Then we need to decide on how to "exchange" 6 of our blocks with each other. Thoughts are that we would number the blocks and draw numbers or perhaps put the blocks in a paper sack and take turns drawing out blocks. Any ideas out there?

Will share the finished hangings once both are done.

Happy, Healthy People – 58th Annual Cherokee National Holiday

What a wonderful time we shared yesterday with some friends when we attended the 58th annual Cherokee National Holiday in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The event included a pow wow, art show and craft market, traditional food and much more over a three day period. It was an privilege attending the pow wow, seeing such handsome people in their native dress, watching them perform their various dances and listening to the beat of the drum. Truly a magical time. Here are some photos I would like to share from last night. The colors alone are a feast for your eyes, so enjoy...

The butterflies and moths are growing...

More butterfly and moth blocks to share with you. Block Nº 5:  The Wizard butterfly:

Block Nº 6: Giant Grey Sphinx moth:

Block Nº 7:  Luna moth – have seen photos of this incredible looking moth and would love to see a real one – they are so beautiful. Finding a Luna moth would be almost as thrilling as finding an arrowhead – which I look forward to doing someday.

PS:  I may yet add some embellishment to certain blocks – they are still works in progress.  :)

A brood of hens...

I recently made 16 pot holders as thank you gifts for our neighbors back in Indiana. We moved this spring leaving the best neighbors ever.....we really miss these dear people too. Anyhow, they gave us a wonderful send-off party and a lovely birdbath to grace our yard at our new home in Oklahoma. One additional gift my husband received was a rooster to sit on the shelf to remind him of when he was "the only rooster in the hen house." The story behind that is, my husband is a handy man and at one time I counted 26 ladies he did jobs for - many of them included our neighbors. So you can see why these pot holders needed their "hen" theme.

The pattern is from Quiltmania Nº76, a French|British quilting magazine that I discovered at one of the quilt stores I frequented back in Indiana. The magazine has lots of wonderful articles and includes a section of pull-out life-size patterns which is a great plus as the price is around $11.

It's time to embellish...

Have finished appliqueing my 6 butterfly and 6 moth blocks in the wall hanging project my friend and I are collaborating on. Now it's time to go back and start embellishing each block with threads, beads, etc. Originally, I embellished the first 4 blocks after appliqueing - but decided to wait on this part of the creative process for the remaining 8 blocks. Will show each block as I finish them.

Wanted to share this photo of my husband's mother's embroidery tin. It's such a treasure having it. I love the way she wrapped her extra thread around pieces of cardboard collected from random sources such as cereal boxes, etc. The metal embroidery hoop still has the price tag attached - 81¢ from TG&Y. Remember TG&Ys - their philosophy was "have what people want at a price they can afford to pay"? This chain store started here in Oklahoma back in 1936, several years ahead of the Wal-Mart chain. Growing up, I just loved going to TG&Y to buy fabric.