Mailbox and Basement Goodies!

Found something really fun in my mailbox this afternoon....a package from Amy of During Quiet Time! Her hubby does these amazing lathe turned seamrippers and Amy...the creative genius of the family...does EVERYTHING including printing on fabric!
Look at the adorable buttons she has on her business cards....go check out her blog and see for yourself....so much goodness....made During Quiet Time!:)

Last weekend...before the Earthquake and Hurricane...we went down to visit my folks...brought dad a lot of wood and trims....took home a bunch of treasures!

These two chairs were hanging in the garage..."Dad...can I have them?" YEP!:) Haven't decided if I am going to strip them or paint them...I have time.

There was one other chair hanging in the garage...

...the one on the right...awesome yes?:) I took the other one out of dad's workshop...I think it was the one he took his breaks on...I replaced it!:) I love all the bits of paint still on that one. I think I'll go ahead and finish stripping the other one. Check out the turnbuckle on the green one!

We brought home one other treasure....this bench that dad refinished for me...it is part of a banquet we took out of Don's granddaddy's house in Hampton, VA. Was this dreadful peach color...dad worked hard taking off many layers of paint. The seat lifts up for storage....this one and the mate are going in our mudroom. Thanks DAD!:) xoxo

See the little treasure sitting on top of the bench? That's the awesome quilt I received from my secret partner Kristy (Love Old Houses)at Doll Quilt Swap 11!

It's only 10 3/4" square! Those are some itty bitty HSTs!! Kristy included the squares from her first idea. I think I was a winner either way she went with this quilt!;) Thanks Kristy!

What to see another treasure in our basement?

Yep...it's a sailboat. Red and white with an aqua interior and a natural mast...love it!;) Maybe one day we'll take it out on the water!!

Lastly...these have been mailed to the boy....I wanted to try to make something that he and his band mate's could sell at their shows along with their LPs and t-shirts. I drew the owl/Hold Tight! on Paint and printed it on fabric and the skull...the boy drew that. I scanned it and put the band's name in the eye sockets...a few bits of scraps....some ribbon, a keyring...voila...Hold Tight! key fobs! They can always give them away too!:)

~d

First Shaken Earth...next Sky Opening!

We are only about 100 miles north of Mineral, VA....not far enough! At 1:51pm today the shop shook! As you can see from the map ALL of VA had at least light to moderate shaking...that was enough for me!
James lives 35 miles away...way too close...but of course it was all fun for him!

If you felt it you can go to this map at the U.S. Geological Survey and let them know. Thanks for finding this Foo!:)

Next up for the east coast....Hurricane Irene! Ugh!

On a lighter note...I just had to share this photo. That's Maria when she visited Vienna, Austria this past June.....gotta love red Chucks!:)

~d

Graduation, Anniversary, Baby Gifts Given...Oh Yeah!

Maria and her flatmate Rose want to give their expecting friend a handmade gift and asked me if I would make them a baby quilt.....HECK YEAH I yelled across the Atlantic!! Their friend doesn't know what she having...other than it's a baby:) ....so I ran to my stash, fondled a bunch of fabric and sent them some photos. They pondered my wonders and picked their favs...elephants, owls, monkeys, camping critters, donkeys...and some Pips!:) This is what I did with them....

Gotta love simple squares in frames some blue fabric on one side and some mauve on the other!

Oh the wonders of the washer and dryer!! Crinkly goodness!

But my favs of what they picked were the farm animals...and castles!

Perfect for a wee babe born in the UK! Yes, the animals and castles are going in different directions but I didn't want to cut up the fabric so I took some artistic license and just went with it!:)

I used some of a tapestry I bought from Urban Outfitters for the binding and

in the bottom corner I embroidered "From Maria & Rose 2011"

Hope you girls like it...I'm sure the baby won't mind what he/she is snuggled in as long as it is warm!!:)

My pal Sandie's youngest graduated from high school this June. I wanted to make her a little something to remember it all...something she could put her pins and stuff on....this is her growth from elementary school to high school and the seed that has been planted as she begins her new adventure at Temple! Congrats Court....Do Everything!!!:)
It's my folks 57th anniversary tomorrow....they love the beach, especially the Outer Banks. I was inspired by this quilt by Kelsey Creates I saw on the Fat Quarterly blog of four lighthouses (BTW...on that blog post my little quilt is #7!:). The folks don't need another quilt...but I think a little wall hanging might just do the trick!:) You can't tell from the photo but the black stripes are 4 different black batiks and the whites are tone on tones....looks better in person!:)
Now I finish up a few more projects that need to head over the ocean and then it will be time to start working on Christmas projects. In the mean time we are still enjoying the yard...finally got some much needed rain last week....and look what bloomed in the crack! Gotta love freebies!!:)

~d

Trees and Houses and Gourds...Oh MY!:)

Been playing with my bitties again...now I am all caught up...not a bitty left to be sewn together...PHEW!

November 2010 the Bitty Block Committee made houses...adorable houses....they hung in a bunch from my bulletin board. February we made trees...so freaking cute....they hung next to the houses. Until this past week! I was going to try to come up with some cute neighborhood with a cul-de-sac and an orchard and the Big Woods and Nob Hill for the (s)n0bbier neighborhood but in the end kept it simple...I'm glad I did!:) Plus it was going to end up huge! I made the castle block.

Around the same time we were doing the trees one of the group...who will remain nameless cause she is a trouble-maker...Flossieblossoms...had this wacky idea rolling around in her head and thus was born Out of Our Gourds! Each of us picked a veg and made it human....here is the motley lineup:

Billy the Kidney Bean (Quiltinkimmie)

Carroty Kid (Sandy in Buenos Aires)

Ludwig von Beet-hoven (Ruthiequilts)

Alexander the Grape (the crazy person)

Melon-y Griffith (EdyB1)

Tina Turnip (Fingers, Inc)

Lima Minnelli (LethargicLass)

Pablo Pea-casso (Spiced Coffee)

Beety Boop (Sewjo)

Black Scallion (Lucyellen06)

Dr. Pepper (me)

Squash Buckler (Marilynkb)

Grapeful Dead (Nanotchka)

Abraham Lin-corn (Hohnstreiterrific)

I printed the names on some fabric and put that next to each veggie because I figured we all weren't up to figuring them out...heheheh!:) Thanks Ladies!!!

So...now I am all caught up....I'm hoping to convince the gang that we need to do a bathroom theme...can't you see it...toothbrushes, tubs and toilets...OH MY!:)

On the Doll Quilt Swap 11 front I'm finished. I wasn't feeling it...I mean I really like it but it was outside my comfort zone being new to paper piecing so I'm not really satisfied with my workmanship. Everyone at DQS was so encouraging that I'm going to send it on. Hope my partner likes it!:)

Just for fun I made this little colorful thing out of some Makower Sew scraps that I brought home from work. I was just having fun sewing these weirdly cut strips together adding some Meadowsweet on the outside...looked cute as individual blocks....now I see from the photo that the Meadowsweet wasn't a great idea cause there are some wacky zig zags going on there! Alas I still think it is cute and was going to send it to one of my online buddies....think I still should?:)

~d