Shoo Fly Don't Bother Me...

Shoo Fly do delight me! I received this little quilt (Humble Quilts Doll Swap) from Juliann in Washington state yesterday along with a sweet little doll hanger and strawberry needle sharpener.

Isn’t this a sweet one? And I adore the backing fabric! Not sure how that one slipped by me, I thought I owned every reproduction fabric ever made!

Sorry Betsy!

In my haste to post my super win yesterday I spelled Betsy's name wrong (twice!) and forgot to add the link to her blog so HERE it is. I really do know better since I have ALL of her books and fabrics, but it has been a crazy week. Enjoy Betsy's blog!

Doing the Betsy Chutchian Happy Dance!

I’m so excited! I won this adorable “Frivol” tin from Betsy Chutchian. I adore her quilts and all of her fabric lines. This one is “Eliza’s Indigos. I am a tin collector and I am not ashamed to admit it, but when it comes with fabulous fabric and a little notepad and two patterns, well. You know!

If you don’t own any of Betsy’s books, I highly recommend them all. I particularly love “History Repeated” and “Lizzie’s Legacy”. You can find them on her blog (here).

Thanks Betsy!

Enjoy the day!

Happy Earth Day

 "Earth on Piece" for Peace on Earth.

May you stitch something "green" today.

Shenandoah Valley Botanical Album Block of the month

I have always had a soft spot for Tiger Lilies, so the April SVBAQ block for April was one of my favorites. I forgot to photograph it before I put it into the hoop but I will share how I backbasted the stems. I placed the petals on freehand with no backbasting guidelines because I like the “wonky” look for the flowers.

  

My daughter and her husband, on their quest to visit all of our National Parks, will be heading for Shenandoah tomorrow. I’ll be with the “grand dogs”, So this seems a timely post to me.

Enjoy the day!

Better late than .....

I’m a bit late (a whole week to be exact!) in linking up with Quilty 365. I have been keeping up with my daily circles, just not my daily photography! No excuses except that it isn’t light enough in the morning before I leave for work (that is changing rapidly, thank goodness) and by the time I remember it at night, well…

Anyway, here are the first 8 rows all wrapped up. I’m having so much fun with these little circles. It will be a cinch to put all my rows together next November and I will have an instant quilt that took only 365 days to make!

Row eight (18 circles in each row)

This project has really made me happy. Hope you find your happy today!

Face to Face in Wonderland!

I had a fantastic time at the AQSG (American Quilt Study Group) regional event at Old Sturbridge Village on Sunday. It was a great weekend all around.

First, I got to ride down and back with three fantastic quilt buddies (Cyndi Black – Busy Thimble blog, Laurie LaBar, Maine State Museum and Sue Rivers, who doesn’t have a blog, but is often on Facebook with her fantastic quilts) and yack all the way. And, we met our friend, Lynne Zacek Bassett for breakfast (I will be posting later this week about her new exhibition at the Wadsworth Atheneum, “Gothic to Goth”).

We woke up to whiteout conditions, which turned into a most beautiful white covering on a bucolic “Old Sturbridge Village”. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture of the draft horses just coming around the corner.

We enjoyed some fantastic quilts from OSV, some close up in an auditorium venue and then a number of beautiful examples in the old houses on beds.

But the best part of the weekend was that I got to meet two blogging friends face to face for the first time. Cynthia Nanto from Wabi-Sabi quilts and Barb Vedder from Fun with Barb. I was so excited about all the quilts and seeing old and new friends that I didn’t take many photos! I missed taking Cynthia’s photo, and only got this one of Barb because she brought a few tops to share.

This was my favorite of the day. I have seen it before, but it was great to see it again. It has been published in Northern Comfort, by Lynne Bassett (if you can find this book it is well worth owning!!!) and I believe it is in the Massachusetts documentation book as well. It has over 12,000 pieces. Right up my alley! The quilts and the stories were wonderful.

If you do not belong to AQSG and are even remotely interested in quilt history, I highly recommend joining. It is such a wonderful organization. I have been a member since 1986 and have never met a member who wasn’t willing to share openly of their quilts and their knowledge.

A great time was had by all!