a blessing house

This one's for a friend in Kentucky.  I stitched all sorts of prayers and wishes for happiness into it!  Excited to bring it to her in a few weeks.

And Sew It Goes

coin purse success!

Look what I made!!  With a pattern.  (My first one.)  It only took two hours...  I'm pumped to try it in different sizes and with different materials.  Hooray for sewing!

Olivia's felted flower

 Such a sweet video on how to make felted flowers!  We're going to try it with the kids at school next week.  Fun!

Supplies we'll need:
* bubble wrap
* spray bottle with soapy water
* felting wool
* container with hot water
* rolling pins
* towel for cleaning up
* lingerie bags and a dryer
* sewing machine or needles and golden thread
* buttons and beads

Maria Snell

Suzanne just introduced me to talented quilt artist Maria Snell.  Such beautiful work!  

Check out her online gallery HERE.

progress!

 

Excited to sew this puppy together, then send it off to Amanda's mama to finish!  Cheating, I know, but still lots of fun.  Now to find a good sewing machine for myself!

scrappy quilt

Amanda and I are taking a Scrap Quilt class!  I love it.  The scraps I have are mostly extra material from napkin sets that Beth's made over the past few years.  So a lot of the material reminds me of her and of the folks who now own and use the napkins :o).  It's been super fun to hang out and sew with Amanda, and to remember the times I've sewn before: dress-making with Grandmom in KY, quilting for Mima - who was an extraordinary quilter - with the rest of the Herde/Amshoff ladies...  The colors are a great antidote for the winter blahs; I love to just spread the finished squares all over the carpet and dig in to making new ones.  Thanks for the idea, Amanda!

genius grandmom

my amazingly talented grandmom
makes personalized ornaments
for each of her 20 grandkids
every year.
this year's knitted mice are SO sweet!

Today's visit to the Speed Art Museum was delightful :o). Aren't the kids' galleries the most fun??

Just back from Tennessee, where I got to hang with Nancy and Jesse, Irene, Cayuse and Gracie for a few days. Lovely. Blake's family is what you would expect-- incredibly kind, easy to get along with, interested in interesting things (music, being outside, living a good life). Nancy and I played music, talked, got massages (sigh), walked the dogs in beautiful sunshine weather. We also did a little bit of knitting, and I am excited to learn more about felting! I want to make felted flowers for hats and lapels... Will report back with progress and pictures. Here's an amazing blog I found that I think will be a source of inspiration (when I'm not bothering Nancy and my Grandmom for tips!).

p.s. Here's Cindy Lou, in her current favorite hangout... And a minute ago I found her hiding out in a not-so-large poinsetta plant!! Crazy cat :).