Thursday, May 27, 2010

Toby’s new love


There once was a pup named Toby who loved his tennis ball more than anything else in the world.
ariz 001
The tennis ball was Toby’s best friend. 

They shared lots of good times. 

But as much as he loved his tennis ball, Toby knew that it  was a one-sided relationship.  Sometimes he wished he could have a real friend to play with.
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Then one day, someone new moved into the neighborhood.
ariz 1

Toby wasted no time running to meet her.
ariz 1a

They exchanged pleasantries.
ariz 2 

Toby ran a few circles around her in order to impress.
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Then he resorted to playing  Mr. Cool.
ariz 2a

After a while, he won her over, and even introduced her to his friend the tennis ball.
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Then, being a true gentleman, Toby saw her safely home.
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The End

Toby’s new friend was recently adopted by a neighbor of ours.  Her name is ‘Arizona”, and she is a 6 month old collie/basset hound mix.   Toby is also part basset hound, and they both have the bassett’s  long body and short legs.  They are pretty close in age, so they share a similar energy level.  I hope Toby and Arizona get to be friends for a long time.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Garden is Growing

At last, my stack of hexagon flowers has a new bloom.


Here is the latest addition:


This is the same green fabric that I showed in last weeks photo:


I had forgotton that when I cut the fabric I had made sure that each one had a small red flower centered in the middle.  It was a very unexpected surprise as I began basting  them to see the fussy cut flowers being revealed.   (That's when I realized just how long it has been since I started this project.)

I am very glad that Karen decided to start One Flower Wednesday.  It was just the motivation I needed to get back to making these fun flowers.  If you visit her blog, you'll find links to lots of other bloggers who are also working on hexagon flower projects.



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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

One Flower Wednesday

I didn't get as much done on my hexagon flowers this week as I had hoped, but I thought I'd show you my latest finish.


Hopefully, the purple and the green flowers-in-progress will be finished flowers by next Wednesday. 

Last month, Lori Holt at  Bee in my Bonnet  posted a two part tutorial on how she makes her hexagons.    I thought it was interesting the way she uses a paper clip to hold the fabric to the hex template while she bastes.
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Friday, May 14, 2010

Hexagon Garden Party


Over a year ago, I started a Grandmother's Flower Garden table runner, made up of English paper pieced hexagons.  I blogged about it here and here.   At some point, the project got put aside for other things, mostly because I did most of my stitching in front of the TV at night, and suddenly I found myself with a sleeping puppy in my lap  instead of a needle and thread in my hands.

I have wanted to get back to the project and have found the perfect motivation....One Flower Wednesdays. Karen at Journey of a Quilter came up with the idea of  a weekly goal to make at least one hexagon flower per week, and to post your progress on Wednesdays.   She's calling it a Garden Party and has invited anyone working on a hexagon project to join in.  You can find a link to her post about the project in my sidebar if you'd like to join the party.

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Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Farmer Takes a Wife

farmers wife cover
I got an unexpected gift for Mother’s Day.  My lovely friend Gwen, sent me a copy of the book, The Farmer’s Wife Sampler Quilt by  Laurie Aaron Hird.  It’s a collection of letters from farm wives of the 1920’s who entered a contest where they had to answer the question: “Would you want your daughter to marry a farmer?”
More than 50 of the women’s letters are transcribed in the book, and each is paired with 2 quit blocks which were inspired by their words.
farmers wife pages
Gwen had wrapped the book in a country blue fat quarter which suits the book perfectly.  It was such an unexpected and wonderful gift to receive! 

Gwen had also included the perfect-for-me card with a hilarious dog photo that reminded me of Toby:
puppy cardOn the inside of the card it says:
i was just…uh…
getting you
something to drink
for mother’s day.
yeah…that’s it…


I know that Gwen pops in and reads my blog, so “Thanks, Gwen”!  I’m looking forward to reading the book and am already thinking about making some blocks.
Oddly enough, there was another farm related quilt book that I heard about recently.  It’s from Eleanor Burns and it is called Quilt Blocks on American Barns .  Eleanor’s sister Patricia visited our quilt guild and did a presentation of quilts from the book.  You can see Patricia’s version of her quilt here.  All I can say is that once again I was absolutely floored by the clever people at Quilt in a Day.  They come up with the most creative shortcuts for easy piecing.
Looks like this city girl might be heading to the country for a future quilt.  I never know where this quilting journey will take me next.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Needle cozy

What can you do with a bit of fabric, a snippet of ribbon and a couple of expired gift cards?
needle keep 1
Well, the lovely and talented Karen of Sew Many Ways came up with a great idea.  She designed a nifty needle keeper, and she generously shares her instructions here.  Her directions are easy to follow and it’s a quick and easy project.  Here is what the needle keeper looks like when closed:
needle keep 2
And this is what it looks like when opened:
needle keep 3 
When my mother gave me her sewing machine, she also passed down all of the sewing notions that were stored in the drawers of the sewing cabinet.  I realized that even if she doesn’t sew on the machine any more, she still needs a few sewing items in case she needs to sew on a button or make a small repair.   I decided to take the vintage sewing box that she also gave me and re-fit it with some new sewing items. Then I’m going to give it back to my Mom for Mother’s Day. 
a new sewing box
I found a tin with a vintage dressmaker print on it to hold her pins. Was that good Karma or what?
I think Mom will get a kick out it.