Knit One Quilt Too

Special Delivery

During the Gwen & Freddy retreat I was sitting next to a remarkable artist, Marion.  Her blog is well worth looking at.  She makes these amazing art dolls with your own scraps.  Lots (maybe all?) of the ladies at my table bought a small or large doll.  I didn't get my order in fast enough to get it at the retreat, but I did place an order that just came today.  What a treasure!

 

From the bottom to the top, I love all the details.

 

On the left, you can just see that she's carrying a basket.  These fabrics are all from the quilt that I worked on at the retreat.  All of this was scraps that I was throwing away!  Marion added in beads, wire art and the button face.  It's all placed on an antique bobbin.

 

What a great keepsake from a fabulous retreat.  She will have a place of honor in my sewing room.  More photos of Marion's dolls and fabric flowers here and check out her completed retreat quilt top here.  Fun, fun fun!

I've got the Indigo Blues

In the past month or so I've become enamored of all the indigo blues around the internet, most especially on Spirit Cloth, Shibori Girl and the Flickr Quilting with Indigo pool.  So I started collecting my blues.  I've gotten some spectacular packages, though so far have only these photos of the one from Jude.  I bought one of her boro packs and, oh, is it fabulous!

 

Rich texture, color and pattern galore.

 

 

My own woven bit of Jude's magic.

 

 

And, best of all, my very own tiny magic feather.

What will I do with all this?  I'm not sure, but I think I will do something small and rich with embroidery.  I will use my indigo scraps from Jude and Glennis and other ebay and etsy sellers.  This is spring break and since we are heading out to soak up some sun, I will take my indigo, scraps and threads with me and see what comes of it. 

In addition to the indigo I'm also exploring the Slow Cloth movement.  It's quite interesting, but I don't feel like I fully understand it yet.  You can find lots of links by searching for slow cloth, but here a few to get you started:  Slow Cloth group on Facebook, 10 Qualities of Slow Cloth, and some discussions of slow cloth here and here.  I've also been reading lots of the archives at Spirit Cloth.  What a treasure Jude's blog is!  I think there's a book or several in those posts.

Hope you all have a great week!

Owly favorites

 

Some of my favorites from the 6"-12" mini quilt swap on Flickr.  Owls/mushrooms was the September theme.  I just recieved my lovely barn owl quilt from Calamity Kim (bottom left).  It's amazing how many hand stitches are in this one! 

I also got a bonus because it's 15" square!  Don't you love how different all these owls are?  Kim wrote a really lovely blog post about the quilt she sent, you really should go there to read about it and see her amazing photos!  Kim's blog is very inspirational too.  Thanks so much, Kim!

 

A little fall color

A few weeks ago I won a contest over at Syko.  If you haven't seen Kajsa's blog yet, you must get over there and look at her whimsical appliques.  This interactive project is especially delightful (and if you participate you might even win it!).  Well, I kind of forgot about it, but the other day the most lovely package arrived in the mail.  Such a treat to see her work up close.  Thank you so much, Kajsa!

 

In other news, we had the most amazing flock of Evening Grosbeaks invade our pond yesterday.  There must have been at least a hundred of these guys and they seemed like they hadn't seen water in ages.  We often have flocks of robins or cedar waxwings, but this is the first of this kind.  They were in and out, flying all over and hitting the windows too. 

 

I've got a new project going and it's all Tonya's fault.  I'm still working on the old stuff too though.  Photos to come!

Christmas in August

Actually, it was Christmas in July when I got this fabulous package from Lazy Gal Tonya.  I was thrilled to win some L-O-V-E letters from her, but I didn't know that she'd send these other treats- all Christmasy, since she knows I'm a fellow Santa lover.  I got one of her little gift bags with a snowman print and an adorable Santa ornament.  Thank you so much, Tonya!  This is the last you'll see of the letters until sometime next year.  I have sworn to keep the resulting project a secret until then.  So it's lucky for you that I have another Santa project going that I was working on just when this package came.

I made some wonky stars for the sides and a bit of crazy sawtooth that I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate.  There will be more to come with this.  I have realized that with some projects I really need to let them marinate for a while while I think of what to do next.  I guess that's the problem with letting the quilt make the decisions.  When I started this one, it was to be a small wall hanging about the width of the center panel, but the quilt wanted more, so I'm happy to oblige. 

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime

Last week was a particularly good one for the mail.  It's been like a summer time birthday for me, a November baby!  Out of the blue came a package from Linda at Colorplay Fibers.  I met Linda last year at the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Sock Camp on Orcas Island.  She has a beautiful blog and also has started hand dyeing sock yarn in luscious colors.  She sent the handmade bag, Sugar n' Cream and dishcloth pattern, as well as some tea and jelly beans (long gone!).  Thank you so much, Linda!

Then, this package came from Alicia at Lucy's Quilts.  I didn't figure out that it was the Four Seasons Summer Quilt Swap until it was opened.  What a sweet little quilt!  It's it funny that she put those yo yo flowers on hers like I did on mine.  Thank you so much, Alicia.  This one is even hand quilted and embroidered.  Lovely work!

I'm getting together the packages for the aforementioned Clare and Tricia.  However, it's your lucky day because today is my 3rd Blogiversary!  I would like to give away one more package of these quilt blocks.  I've been calling them blocks, but in reality they are quilt units.  They are all different sizes and are not squared up.  They do give you a head start on your own scrap quilt though.  I hope that everyone who receives them will send me a photo of the finished product that I can post here.  No rush on finishing though!

So, here's the new deal.  Post a comment here and tell me something about your summertime adventures (or winter, as the case may be).  I'll pick a random person to win a prize!  Comments close on Thursday, July 31 at midnight PDT.  Good luck!  These photos are from the rafting tour we took with my dad and sister through Big Eddy here in Bend.  These are class 3 rapids, and so much fun!

Lucky me!

I just got home to a fabulous prize in the mail.  A few weeks ago, through the grapevine, I heard about a blog contest at Hither and Yarn.  For the contest you had to donate to one of four charities and then be entered to win a skein of yarn.  I chose to donate to Knitters for Knockers- a team doing a Komen Race for the Cure in Richmond, VA.  Well, when Cathy let me know I was a winner I was thrilled! I wasn't expecting all the other goodies, but just look at what Cathy sent! The beautiful Doctors without Borders colorway of sport weight sock yarn from The Unique Sheep, lavendar soap, a nifty little notebook, shea butter, caramel popcorn, chocolate covered cherries and a bar of Green & Black's chocolate!  I think she has my number.  Cathy even sent one of her moo cards!  I have a few that I made, but have never gotten one from someone else.  Thank you so much, Cathy!  I'll put the yarn to good use and the goodies will disappear quickly I'm sure.  Be sure to check out Cathy's blog, there are all sorts of neat things to read about there.  I'm heading to Portland for a week tomorrow, so don't expect me back til late next week.  Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Christmas treasures

We are the very lucky recipients of the Holiday Traditions exchange from Alisa.  I was overwhelmed when opening the box!  I hope our box for Alisa didn't underwhelm her!   Just look at the treasures we got.  First of all the lovely framed stitched quilt square.  Is that not the cutest!  I want to know how she did it and how it's framed.  Here's a closer look.

Alisa also sent these beautiful handmade journals and a great list of her family's holiday traditions.

She sent an added bonus, a box of goodies for making Artist Trading Cards!  Chloe and I love to make ATC's and this will be a wonderful addition to our supplies.  Thank you so much Alisa!  This swap was really fun to do.  I hope we can do it again next year!

 

Goodies in the Mail

I've gotten a few goodies in the mail lately, plus something I picked up in person.  My bookshelf is groaning a bit more nowadays with the addition of these treasures.  I finally ordered Jane's book, The Gentle Art of Domesticity, from Amazon UK because all the reviews about it were so amazing.  I just love it so far, though I'm only part way through.  It's one that you can pick up for just a moment and savor over a cup of tea.  Lovely!

I ordered the Selbuvotter book after an ongoing discussion with Jan about her gorgeous Latvian mittens.  I am also working on some stranded mittens and was glad for Jan's experience in this matter.  The Selbuvotter book is really well done and has some gorgeous patterns.

I had a pre-order for Kristin Knits going for a while- how could I not get that one!  I am a fan of Kristin Nicholas' blog, Getting Stitched on the Farm, and knew when this book was mentioned that I'd be getting it too.  The patterns and discussions about color are really glorious.  Kristin even signed it for me!  When we were in Portland I also picked up Colorful Stitchery and have found it to be quite inspiring too.

Last, but not least, is this pretty little pouch by Glittergoods.  I'm not sure how I came across her blog, but I did and found that she has some lovely items in her Etsy shop.  I ordered this to keep in my purse for all the little things that roll around.  She also sold some nice hand dyed twill tape that I got in my favorite chartreuse color.  I'm a happy camper and now I have plenty of reading material for a while! 

I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.  Today we are getting the house ready for Christmas.   The elves are busy setting out the Christmas lights!

 

Gifts

First off, I've been meaning to show you the prize I sent to Dani in my blogiversary contest.  I found a few yarns in my stash that have been lingering too long, a bunch of pretty note cards, a couple of sweet treats and a set of beautiful stitch markers.  I think Dani was pretty happy!

I also wanted to show some of the gifts I got from friends after my diagnosis.  There are so many pretty handmade things.  First of all, there is this cozy blanket knitted by Robin from Imagination Tribe, the prayer shawl that is crocheted by my local friend, Sarah, and this handmade bag from Deanne to carry projects in.

Jenn, the amazing friend who organized the Healing Basket, made these supersoft knitted face cloths.

My friend, Myria, is an amazing artist and she made this beautiful sunflower with pastels.

Here are socks knit by Pam and Jill and a scarf knit by Pam.  Aren't they all beautiful?

I also got hand mixed CD's, candles and several bracelets.

Here are the bracelets close up.  The top one was given my by my mother-in-law and is from Friends of Mel.  The other two are handmade by my friend, Kim, and by Zenmomma, Mary.

The hand painted lavendar filled pillow and wish doll (for Chloe) are from Robyn.  The Best Thoughts cards are from Deanne.  Toy Maker has really nice graphic paper arts that you can print at home and cut out.  Definitely worth checking out!

Jenn made the Blessings box and filled it with Artist Trading Cards sent in from friends at Imagination Tribe.  Jenn also gave me the book which I've been reading slowly.  It's full of essays about birds and is so well written I just want to jump in and be where ever the auther is talking about.  Zenmomma made the Believe box to hold the bracelet she made.

And here is the Healing Basket for presentation.  Everything I received came from the heart and will always be cherished.  Thank you all so much!