A very special talent

I want to share something very special with you. These are two beautiful baskets that I bought at the Pearl Buck Gift Shop. I only planned on buying one but then the second one spoke to me too. The baskets were made by Jill Heir of Intertwined Art. She came to Pearl Buck for the first time to participate in the Christmas Craft Show. After viewing the destruction from Hurricane Sandy, Jill got very excited about the "sticks" that were just waiting to be put to use as handles for her baskets. And from that came the Pearl Buck baskets.

 This picture shows a close-up of the handle on the first basket. If you look on the top of the picture you can see how the root twisted and grew back on itself. Truly one of a kind.

Another view of the handle twist and the weaving that holds it in place. This is the same pattern on Jill's wedding ring. Don't you love it.

Now for the second basket. Jill was in the gift shop and we were looking at the baskets once again. I picked up this basket and when Jill said it reminded her of a teapot, I had to have it. Being a collector of teapots, that one had to come home too. The picture shows a piece of bamboo that Jill wove onto the handle.

Another great view of the basket. All of Jill's baskets are meant to be used so now I just have to decide how I'm going to use it. They are pretty enough to just look at but I promised Jill I would use it!

If you're in the area, stop into our gift shop to see the baskets in person. I did leave a few behind!

Another Quilty Night!

It was another great meeting night for the Good Enough Quilters. One thing we noted was how nice it was for everyone to arrive in daylight. Have to love the longer daylight hours. 

Peggy shared a quilt that has been in the making for almost 10 years. She didn't start sewing it but kept planning and drawing until it was as she wanted it. We think the person who will receive it will be very lucky.

Fran is taking a quilt of the month class. Each month they make a small quilt and this was last month's project. We loved the colors and arrangement of the quilt.  I thought it looked very French General but they were from a scrap box! Way to go, Fran.

 Peggy also shared her finished top for our  5 1/2 yard challenge. I wish mine was that close to finished. Hmmm.

This is Laura's very long table runner. She wowed us all with how she used the remaining fabric from a block of the month. It does belong on a very long table in her bedroom and matches the quilt that she made with her blocks of the month.

Dru has her challenge quilt top finished too. We loved the way she put together the center. I had to take a closeup and maybe use it in mine. Perhaps there is a reason why I didn't finish mine!

The picture below shows Laura's challenge finish. I think that leaves only a few of us who have to show ours next month. Guess who is one of them.

No, we are not fighting over the fabric in the picture. Cindy brought a box of fabric scraps that were headed out. We each chose a few different fabrics and will cut 2 1/2 inch squares and will decide next month what kind of quilt we will make. A few of our ideas were Linus quilts, chemo quilts or a donation to a homeless shelter.

I did have something to share, not my sewing, but want to give that its own blog post. I hopefully will get back to share that in a day or two.

Happy Sewing, everyone!

A touch of spring...

Yesterday, I went to the Flower Show at Peter Becker Community. It was their 30th show and was as delightful as always. This painting was in the lobby. I love the way it looks as if it was being torn out of paper.

I just wanted to share a few of the delightful visions that were there today. I am not sure you can tell but there was a waterfall rolling off the piano.

The backdrops were all amazing. It is always tempting to try and take them home.

This section was a retrospective of the past 30 years of the show. I heard a volunteer saying that the first show was simply house plants grown by the residents. Oh my, how they've grown.

One section was filled with terrariums put together by the residents. In the background you can see the wood spirit. Close up of these is coming.

The miniature world wasn't forgotten either. If you look really close you can see two people sitting by the pond.

Here is the wood spirit. Outside in the hallway, there were pictures of the entire process, including a picture of the model for the treeman!

The theme for the show was Our Favorite Things. Do you see the white dress with a blue satin sash? Does that sound familiar?

An inviting treehouse door. Alas, no one invited us in.

There were some wonderful ideas and painted furniture. I love the blue in this dresser.

It was hard to believe that yesterday I was looking at wonderful springtime flowers and today I was cleaning snow off my car. We had a surprise storm today. Starting as snow but never changing to the rain they predicted. And only 4 more days until spring!

A lovely tea

A great thing to do before staring the next project - go out to tea. Last week I went to my favorite tearoom! I was thrilled to see they were all ready for St. Patrick's Day, my favorite holiday. Trish does such a wonderful job with decorating for every holiday. This was the lovely teapot on our table. No, we couldn't take it home...

 You have to love the decor on the windowsill. Queen Elizabeth was constantly waving. Too funny.

No detail is left undone. We loved the curtain pulls and tried to figure out how to do this ourselves. What a great way to use the odd teacup.

As usual, our wonderful tea plate. Trish only serves raisin scones which are the traditional kind. Sandwiches and sweets are great too. I forgot to take a picture of my soup and salad which we started with.

Love this wonderful little BLT. Who knew you could do that?

One final picture of my teapot. She has the most wonderful teapots which I also do want to take home! This lovely pot with Big Ben on it was mine today.

Have a lovely sewing day.

I'm finished!

The quilt finally moved off the table and it is finished. As much as I dislike doing the quilting, I do love to hand sew the binding on. That part is just so relaxing. 

 Since we were in the middle of a messy snow, there were no pictures to be taken outside. This was the best I could do. I really love this quilt, and the colors in it. I'm really liking the white sashing in quilts.

 Here is the back. I just used a little more of the turquoise to make it big enough. Below you can see the clouds!

Once I started, it was easy to decide on quilting. I simply followed the blocks and outlined them. I know I broke rules and had more than 2" between quilting lines but I love the softness of the look.

I was hoping to deliver this in person but plans changed and I took it to the Post Office this morning. My fingers are crossed... Might be able to uncross them by Monday.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Going on record

Okay, I have to admit that this quilt is still in the exact same spot. I do my best work under pressure but haven't felt that yet. It is starting. My deadline is March 6th which is fast approaching. Today is the day to continue the process. I have started the pinning and have time today, once I get off the computer, to keep going. I hope to finish by the middle of this week.

So, I didn't get my wished-for snow day, but Oscar day seems to fit. I am ready to start watching ALL the Oscar coverage at 4:30 so pinning and sewing seems to be a good activity while Oscar watching. The second choice would be eating and that is never a good thing.

Do you watch the Oscars? I have watched the Oscars every year since I was about 7-8. Our mom would make us take a nap in the afternoon and then we were allowed to stay up for the whole show. We didn't go to the movies that often but I always loved the glamour and style, or lack of it, on display.

In preparation, yesterday I watched Argo and Beasts of the Southern Wild On Demand. Both were really good. I'm glad I don't have to make the final decision. Being nominated does mean something.

Have a great night! Enjoy the show. 

More than Good Enough...

Tonight was the meeting of the Good Enough Quilters and boy, what a night. There were so many things to share and all very impressive. The quilt above was for Laura's new grandson. I had shared a quilt she made earlier when they expected a baby girl and then Hunter was born! Don't you just love the new quilt. The green fabric with monkeys is the backing she used. 

 Cindy surprised everyone with her 1/2 yard challenge quilt. Don't you just love it. Such great colors and love the way they work together.

 Another bright and happy quilt from Fran. This is a small quilt she made for a class she is taking - making one small quilt a month. The class sounds great since they also give directions for a larger version of the same quilt.

 It was great to have Deb, Dru's sister, with us tonight. She brought lots of quilts from her home in Massachusetts. This one belongs to her grandson. Deb cut out the small blocks from a panel she bought. Look closely at the back below. The quilter did a great job with quilting the alphabet into the quilt!

Deb's other quilt was a wonky block. I'm afraid the colors don't show well in this picture but they were wonderful spring colors.

Deb is trying her hand at English paper piecing. The little box below was made with this technique. She said English paper piecing is all handwork, no sewing machine.

 This block was also made using the same technique. This was a wonderful surprise for Dru and does match the colors in Dru's sewing room. What a thoughtful gift.

As we moved around the room, Dru was next. Don't you love her shamrock door quilt. She got some of her green pieces from Lynn and Peggy. We didn't count but she is closing in on forty shades of green!

Debbie brought a finish from another group sewing project. This was her jelly roll quilt, which was pretty as is but then she added the ocean appliques. They make the quilt even better than it was before. She had planned this from the beginning so chose her colors to reflect an ocean theme.

 Lynn was just coming off a weekend visit from her sisters from California. They call this weekend Quilt Fest and they always have special gifts for each other. The lunch bag below was one of those gifts. Lynn brought it complete with her lunch containers in it. She didn't waste any time in putting it to good use.

These felted wool slippers were another one of the gifts. Aren't they just too cute. As they were being passed around it seemed that everyone wanted their own pair. Everyone takes their shoes off to sew. I think I may be the odd man out since I wear shoes all the time. What is your preferred footwear when sewing?

Lynn also shared her messenger bag. I think this was another gift but not really sure.

This is Lynn's 1/2 yard challenge quilt. That is number two top already finished. Wonder if the other 6 of us will make the April deadline. I'm just glad I wasn't alone.

Lynn shared another finished top. Everyone looked a little closer to make sure she hadn't sewn that black and white sashing. It was the print of the fabric.

And we finally got to Peggy's share. She brought her laid out 1/2 yard challenge quilt. It stayed in place on the flannel backed tablecloth. She is trying to choose a border to finish it off. We all still love her French Provincial blue and yellow. Can't wait to see this finished.

It was great to have our member in absentia with us tonight. Deb, I hope you had a good drive home, with no snow along the way.