The stars are aligning for something big!

I came to Philadelphia last week for my son's engagement party which is scheduled for Saturday night and also to meet and visit with some new found cousins and family I haven't seen in awhile.

 We were enjoying a wonderful luncheon in New Jersey with family when all of a sudden the lights starting swaying the table shook. Everyone was looking around not knowing what was going on. We had no cell phone service and it was just a little disconcerting not knowing if it was an unheard of earthquake or some sort of terrroist attack. We had a couple of smaller aftershocks later that day but nothing serious. Now this in and of itself is pretty unusal for New Jersey but the next day they start talking about Irene making a path up the eastern coastline and we should start preperations for the "storm of the century".  We have pretty much just been going about out usual days shopping and enjoying the wonderful weather of the east coast. My future daughter in law Greta and I went to Phildelphia's Magic Gardens on South Street and had a great time taking in all the wonderful art that Isaiah Zagar has blessed the city with. If you haven't ever been here this should be on your must see list if you come to Philadelphia.

Sunday we went to Atlantic City

  and walked the boardwalk , shopped and enjoyed the wonderful early fall weather they have been enjoying.

 This morning my cousin Diane and I decided to drive to Ocean City, NJ and see what was going on and do some more shopping and walk the boardwalk. We hit everyone of the TaDah shops on Asbury Ave. and came away with some fun stuff.

We shopped for all of 2 hours and then everyone was buzzing about saying we needed to get out of town because the NJ govenor was calling for all out of town people to leave the area and they were already making preperations for evacuations of Cape May that will be mandatory tomorrow morning. And to think I was so excited when I got here last Thursday to finally see rain ( we haven't had rain in central Texas in a long long time). Be careful what you wish for. With any luck the engagement party will still take place on Saturday night in time for us to get home and batten down the hatches before Irene hits on Sunday. With any luck my flight will still make on Monday afternoon.

Say a prayer for us all that we are safe and the kids enjoy their engagement party and if nothing else it will be memorable.

Summer Sunday reads...

 So another book I just finished is one of Nicholas Sparks, Safe Haven. It's an easy read with a good ending and a good feeling book. Not too heavy just a sweet love story. I wouldn't exactly call this a favorite but it's definately something I would read again and feel safe recommending. I have read a number of his books , some better than others and this is at least a keeper book. Have you read this one? What did you think? I just finished "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand another great book. Do you have any suggestions? Any avid readers out there.

Happy summer reading....

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday bag

I've been meaning to make this little bag for my sister for her birthday (belated) and while it's supposed to be a Two-Hour Tulip purse , I think that only means if you know what you are doing. It's only my second bag and it took me more like 4 hours but I hope she'll love it none the less.

I chose to make mine out of batiks which I really loved

 with a beautiful purple lining (batik) with all the pockets and dividers but I added a cardboard covered square to the inside to give it some structure. I also added a peice of polymer I had for the button and she's all set. Hope she loves it.

Heart warming

Have you seen this yet, it will make you smile and hopefully make you want to pass it on.

Have a wonderful day!

Calming Effects

It's that time of year again when the fawns start stepping out on their own and it's so fun to finally get a chance to photograph some of them. I am working on a quilt called Calming Effects and love the similarity in color and peace from both the fawns and the quilt. This is a pattern I bought a few years back at Creations Quilt Shop in Kerrville and only just this weekend got the top finished.

The concept of the quilt was to use striped fabrics cut into strips and then into triangles. Then you sewed the triangles into squares and the squares back into rows. I played around with various striped fabrics but ultimately went with a neutral batik stripe for that calming effect shown on the pattern cover.

 A close up of the squares sewn together and the overall effect  of the batik.

The inner border is a stonehenge in green/brown tones and the outer border is another batik with a lavender hint. I am thinking about hand quilting this in purple with a matching lilac/purple binding.

Here's the batik going on the back.

 

Happy August, stay cool and pray for rain for Texas!

Summer Sunday reads....

So anyone who knows me knows I am an addicted reader and thought I would start sharing some of my favorite books. This is a new one for me, but it easily made my favorites list. It is a story told like none other and deserves to be read by everyone. So have you read this already? What did you think? If you haven't read it I hope you'll add it to your summer list.

I also made the leap this year to a Kindle reader and I my gosh, can't believe it took me this long.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

and all through the house.... I have been diligently working on this stitchery for the past year and finally got all the pieces complete and recently put the top together. I am working on this for a family member who loves all things Christmas and hopefully I'll have the backing together soon and get it quilted and in the mail to her by Thanksgiving so she can enjoy it for the holidays. The stitchery is a set of patterns I bought from Hugs 'n Kisses. The designer, Helen Stubbings  is an Aussie stitcher with some great patterns and kits. I do alot of stitchery but this is the first redwork I've done and I loved not having to pay attention to where the colors change. I just started on a new one and can't wait to get some quality sewing time.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Santa Sack Swap 2

Recently I signed up for a Santa Swap that is being organized by Carol at Carol's Crafts Blog.  This is a swap that will take place over the next four months. We will each make a little sack/bag and add two small wrapped gifts and then mail them on Sept 1st and then each month mail two more small gifts to go in the sack. Then in December we'll also send a larger gift. All of these will be opened on Christmas and the anticipation of getting these gifts each month will be very tempting to look, morning and we've all taken a vow of honestly to not peak before then. So today we found out who our partners are. My partner is Kim from Creating by the Lake in the arid state of Arizona so I'll be working on some surprises very soon for her. Kim I'll be checking on your blog to see what surprises you would love the most :)

Yoko Saito - My Home Town

About a year ago I bought a tapestry wall hanging kit My Home Town by Yoko Saito, a well known Japanese artist/hand crafter quilter. Once I actually had the 6 kits in hand I was overwelmed when I realized it was all written in japanese and I had never even done needle turn applique in english much less japanese. I eventually contacted her to see if she would translate the instructions for me which she graciously agreed to do. Now with the english translation  in hand I was ready to start. So I made a sample block using scrap fabrics and using a pattern from her book House House House. I love love this book. I will definately be doing more houses down the road. So now with some practice behind me I was ready to start on the real thing. The kit is made up of 6

Sample block

 separate months , 5 of which I'll be making houses, barns, trees and lambs, and then on month 6 I'll sew all the separate kits together and begin hand quilting. She has very detailed instructions on the hand quilting lines which I am already looking forward to starting on. All of the awesome fabrics are included in the kits and most of them are taupes that she has designed herself. So below are some photos of my progress so far.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the hand work process but the pieces are very very

tiny so when I finally get to the applique process my fingers always feel like they are in the way. I have the first two sets/months done and working on month three. The progress is very rewarding but slow.

Beginning House 1



House 1 roof



  

Flower Cart complete

House 1 complete

Month two row houses complete

Happy Wednesday