PUTZ HOUSES

I have fallen in love this Christmas with Putz houses.  This is a picture I found on Pinterest that made my heart go pitter-pat!!!  In one of my Christmas magazines I was inspired by a vintage cupboard all decorated with these sweet Christmas houses so I set out to decorate my Hoosier.

Here's what I came up with. 

And here's a close up.  The red and tourquoise houses I did myself.  They are from a Mary Stewart kit I bought years ago and just needed to be finished up.  I am very happy with my new Christmas display.  Wishing you a Merry Christmas as we all celebrate the birth of Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

AUTUMN QUILTS

I was just enjoying some autumn quilts from bloggers and pinterest and thought I'd share some with you.  The first one is called Split Leaves.

This last quilt is a Jan Patek quilt you can get in a pattern or kit.
Hope you enjoyed a little fall time.

APPLIQUE QUILT

About 15 years ago while visiting a friend in Walnut Creek, we went to a local quilt store and this was their block of the month quilt.  Always wanting to do an applique quilt I signed right up.  I made all the blocks and stopped, put it away but decided recently it was time to finish.  The quilt is called Simpleworks by Susan Fuquay.  I'm so glad I FINALLY finished.  Now I can't wait to have it quilted.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

I love this country and the freedoms we enjoy here, even though so much evil has taken some of our freedom away.  My husband and I will be spending the day with our BFF's, they happen to be married to each other.  We have had many years of laughter and some tears but can't imagine life without them.

Here we are laughing so hard because we were trying to get the right picture....you know, no double chins, trying to look really young!!!
                            HAPPY 4TH!!!

BONNIE K HUNTER

The NW Quilt Guild in Portland waited 4 years for Bonnie to come to town and I feel so blessed to have been one of 24 in her Cathedral Stars class, which is the quilt hanging behind us.  She is quite the character!!! Favorite sayings...if its ugly fabric, cut it small.  There are two groups of fabric...neutral, which is white, cream, beige, and tans, as long as it's not darker than a brown paper bag.  All other fabric is color.  I learned how to spin a seam, and use a recs tool, tritool and easy angle rulers. These rulers takes all the math out of quilting, and don't we love that!!!  We sewed like crazy until noon, had lunch and then sharing time.  Here are some quilts from that.

This is the back of the quilt from above.

We laughed our heads off even though she told us not to.  These vest panels where made in the 80's.  Yeah!!! it's fabric.

These hexagons where 1"!!!!

The following pictures are the result of our days work. The first one is mine.

                                                                                                             

This one was so different and stunning!

When the class was over we had dinner and then Bonnie entertained us with her quilts. She's quite the commedian.

Front of the quilt....

Back of quilt is made out of foreign blocks people have sent her.  I loved it.

And this pineapple quilt was my favorite.

I had to get a close up.  See the tiny red triangles in the corner of her boarder?  WOW!!!

A day with Bonnie...got another one off my bucket list.

LES SOEURS ANGLAISES

I would love to introduce you to a wonderful and enchanting web site called Les Soeurs Anglaises that is located in the south of France.  They offer workshops from teachers like Julie Arkell, Janet Bolton and Rosalind Wyatt.  Rosalind's work is stitched calligraphy on textiles and incredibly beautiful!  Here is some of her work.
                           Waulking Jacket

This is a close up of her detailed work...notice she used paper in this piece.

This is her stitched calligraphy...what an incredible form of art!!

This calligraphy is done on a handkerchief...beautiful.

I am told that many women from the United States have gone for classes at Les Soeurs Anglaises, so I have a special treat for you!!!  If you mention my blog when signing up for Rosalind Wyatt's workshop you will receive 10% off. 

Oh what JOY!!!

GLASSES

Since I was in fifth grade I have had to wear glasses.  Even though I have tried to wear contacts three different times, I always return to glasses.  I have been blessed with DRY eyes and contacts feel like suction cups taking all the moisture out.

So I made a glass case.

The main fabric is a sample of upholstery fabric and I used wool and wool felt to appliqued the design in place.  To sew the case to the latch I found a tutorial on line.  Check You-tube also, you can find all sorts of things to try.

LIVING ON A FARM

There are so many things I love about living on the farm....
Peaceful, space, God's creation, digging in the dirt, the smell and sounds of harvest, the beautiful colors, watching my grandkids learn to ride their bikes, people visiting....

But there are some things I HATE...
losing a friend...                  
                           My sweet Bulldog Maggie

and our Shetland pony Buster

We cry and hold each other tight.....and move on.

GREAT WEEKEND

On Friday I went to a friends house and stitched for three hours.  Her husband repurposed the garage into her sewing studio!!

And of course Oscar one of her three dogs was there to help me.

Then I went to a Master Gardner show in a near by town and got these.

Besides sewing, cleaning, cooking & mowing, this will keep me busy!!! 

MINICK & SIMPSON

It finally finish....my Sacajawea quilt I started last year with my friend Laurel.  We wanted to do a sewing project so we could spend some time together giggling.
The quilt is by Minick & Simpson who I met and took a mini-class from.  What fun sisters.

Now on to other unfinished projects and a New York beautiful quilt for this year.

WORK OF MY HANDS

Last year I kept my hands busy. Here's just a few things I've made.

The house pincushion is a pattern from Mimi Kirchner.