Spring is here?

I have been busy, two University of Michigan quilts!
Unfortunately, they are not out of the basketball finals.  This makes a lot of our family sad. All of my nephews and son are fans.  One of these quilts is going to a nephew in Florida and the other will be for my son. Can you tell they are fans??  And I still have some U of M fabric left over.

Snowdrops seem to always be the first up.  Still have not seen any other bulb in flower.  The daffodils are coming out of the ground.

The Cardinals are singing such beautiful songs.

I have been sewing, and getting some old projects done.
Had two small piles of half square triangles that have been sitting on my sewing table for over a year. Decided I really need to do something with them.  They have each been made into zipper pouches.  Had a kit for a scissor holder, done!
Had another kit for a key chain holder, done!
Have been prepping wool kits for hand applique work, as well as a few other applique blocks for quilts.
In the evening I like to sit and do handwork, easier to see!.

Did get out the other day for a 3 mile walk.  It felt so good to be outside.
Today I have been trying to get some letter writing done and packages ready to mail.

I have also been cleaning out "stuff."  That time of the year to clean up and recycle out.

Have a great day.
Mary

Gifts and Kitties

Kitties do like boxes. Princess decided to curl up in this box while we were cleaning it out of papers.
Ron had been using the box like a file try and putting papers in it for later sorting.
She was helping by keeping them from flying out of the box!

I received some lovely gifts at Christmas, that I did not share.
My friend, Sandy, in Atlanta sent me this cute, 10 minute table runner. Love the fabric. 

Joke, in Sweden sent me this cool tote bag and these beautiful trims.

My friend, Isabelle in France sent this beautiful door hanger stitchery, and these delicious chocolate twigs.
Those are so gone!  Delicious!

Barb, my secret Santa, from our quilt bee,  made me this beautiful needle book.  There are even tiny flamingo charms on it. I had to show it open, so you could see all the lovely stitching.

Isabelle, from France, sent this lovely table topper that, she hand quilted, and and these delicious cookies, for my birthday.  They taste so good with my morning coffee.

Jan, from our Thursday bee, made this table runner for Christmas.

This little doll quilt has been quilted with the "big stitch" technique that I learned while on the quilt cruise in February.
I had taken this little top, thinking it would be a great way to finish.  We used quilting stencils. You can't see the stitching very well. I used a thread that matched.  It was a fun way for finishing.
I also have finished two more pincushions.  Actually, I have 4 more that are done, but not filled. I ran out of the medium I have been using for filler.  Pincushions are great projects to work on in the evening. I love the hand stitching.

Charlie, not to be outdone had to show he can fit in that same file box that Princess had laid out in.

The other evening, I put fresh catnip in a small kitty quilt that she likes to lay on.  I put it in this other box they like to lay in.  See the edge of the bed next to the box, neither uses it. The box is their favorite place to take a snooze. Princess love catnip, Charlie not as much!

I was hoping I would be able to show you a picture of flower bulbs popping out of the ground, but not yet.  A lot of the snow has gone in the last few days.  It got up to 50 degrees yesterday and sunny.  Today it is raining  Lots of birds have been coming to the feeders.  I think we have rounded the bend on the winter weather.  I did overhear someone at the fabric shop on Monday, saying it would be fun to have a bit more snow to set some new records.  We are at the 3rd spot for the worst winter.
I think I have had enough snow.

Time to get back to some more sewing. Have been doing some spring cleaning, and sewing in my sewing room.  Have a great week.
Mary

It is my day to Ruffle Up

Once again it is my day to show off my ruffles!

But first let me thank our Ruffled (in a good way) cheerleaders. Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy has kept us ruffled and ready for our big day. Madame Samm of Sew We Quilt, is our Ruffle Queen. (I think her real name is Madame Samm Ruffler.) Ruffles just has to be part of her name, don't you agree?

Well they have inspired and supported us.

Who knew all the things you can put ruffles on, from socks, to dish washing gloves, pillows, and quilts. They are there for our bikes, beds, and tables and even the clothesline.

Trust me this has been a tough act to follow.

First up is my new apron.  Who doesn't like hens that cook fried eggs!

I even came up with a drawstring bag (a stretch on the ruffles) well, it sort of looks like ruffles.
I had a little of the hen fabric leftover, but had to pair it with yellow toasters.  Hey, it is a kitchen theme.

Then in anticipation of SPRING and warm weather, I made a May Day basket, with ruffles eyelet and filled it with spring flowers!
And still thinking that SPRING may arrive one day soon, A cute Tammy Bag with flowers and ruffles.

I was having fun making Tammy Bag.
This has a cross-stitched geranium, but no ruffles.

Then in honor of Madame Samm's love of gingham, chose red and white check with eyelet ruffles.

You can't have too many ruffles.

My lovely models, Pinky, and Floozie had to show off the Flamingo Tammy Bag.

I did made all the ruffles by hand.  It was like, once I got started, I just couldn't stop.

I now have a list of items I can apply ruffles to.

Stop by these wonderful ladies today, and see what they ruffled up for you.

March 14^th

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Jane's Quilting

Bear Creek Quilting Company

Ipiece to Mary

The Quilting Queen Online

Miss Priss Quilts

Sew We Quilt

Time to get back to some more ruffles.

It is time to replace all this snow with ruffles.

Have a great day, and stay warm.

Mary

Ruffling and Pride of Prairie Quilt Show

Saturday and Sunday was Pride of the Prairies quilt show.  I got to spend the day enjoying the lovely quilts and scheduling appraisals for our quilt appraisers.

One of the fun things, is seeing the finished quilts that I saw being worked on at our last retreat in Racine, Wisconsin.  The one above was one of them.  Christie received a first prize.  She did such a beautiful job on it.

How about this framed hexagon quilt.  These are the itty bitty one.  Amazing.

My friend Jo did this beautiful applique quilt.

All the hexagon's are Halloween fabric. It was so much fun to look at.

Another beautiful quilt.

Love this sampler style quilt.

This was a super autograph quilt.

This hexagon quilt was all from fruit and vegetables.  

Christine, made this house quilt. There was a challenge to make one three inch house a day for one year.
What an incredible quilt.  It won Viewer's Choice.

This hexagon purse was part of the silent auction!

This was the Judges Choice and a First Place ribbon.

Sandy's Jamestown Landing.
This is one of the quilts I am trying to get done.

It was a wonderful show and a great day.

How about all the lovelies so far in this Ruffle Hop.  Today's Wow Factor Winner was so much fun.  When was the last time you saw a chicken named Lilly wearing a ruffle scarf.
I am working hard on my ruffles.  I will be showing them on Friday.

March 13th

Seams To Be Sew

Tea Time Creations

Sew Peace to Peace

mila+cuatro

All Thingz Sewn

More Stars in Comanche

Stitchin' By The Lake


 

March 14^th

 

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Jane's Quilting

Bear Creek Quilting Company

Ipiece to Mary

The Quilting Queen Online

Miss Priss Quilts

Sew We Quilt

Don't forget to visit these lovely ladies and show them how much you love ruffles.
See you on Friday. 

Ruffles are in!

Aren't you impressed with all the wonderful ruffles you have seen on this latest hop, that Madame Samm and  Amy have been hosting.  There are some incredible ruffles out there. These first three days have been so fun.

Monday starts the week of more ruffles.

March 10th

 

The Tilted Quilt

A Geeky Crafty Life

Constantly Quilting

Life in the Scrapatch

Pig Tales and Quilts

How arT you?

GrammieQs


 

March 11^th

Needle and Hook

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Blessings From Our Nest

Little House on the Dairy

Just One More Stitch

Creatin' in the Sticks

Just Sew Quilter


 

March 12th 

Quilted Delights

Patchwork Breeze

Sheila's quilt world

vicky myers creations

Words & Stitches

Sew Many Yarns

Sew and Sow Farm


 

March 13th

Seams To Be Sew

Tea Time Creations

Sew Peace to Peace

mila+cuatro

All Thingz Sewn

More Stars in Comanche

Stitchin' By The Lake


 

March 14^th

 

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Jane's Quilting

Bear Creek Quilting Company

Ipiece to Mary

The Quilting Queen Online

Miss Priss Quilts

Sew We Quilt

As you can see, I am scheduled for Friday. Stay tuned.

Have a great weekend.

Mary

 

Anniversary Trip

We started out early and made it to Davenport area in no time.
We were hoping to see eagles along the Mississippi.  Well, we did!  There were too many to count. It is probably a normal sight to the folks that live around there, but to us, WOW.
As you can see by Ron bundled up, it was cold.
We had a beautiful day. The sky was blue and the sun was shining.

Our first official stop we were not disappointed.  This beauty was sitting there as if he was posing for all the cameras we were seeing along the river.

At the lock and dam on the Iowa side, the birds were coming and going from this tree.
We were so impressed.
We stayed the night in Davenport and had a great dinner at the Machine Shed.
So far it was a super anniversary day.

The next morning we headed back to the Illinois side of the river.
At Rock Island, while we were watching the eagles, I spotted this pack of coyotes.
Impressive.
The eagles presence was everywhere.

As we started home, we had decided to take Route 6.  Keeps you off the expressway.
We both saw this barn quilt at the same time.

You just never know what you will see along the way.  These guys were giving us the eye!

Llama's are not a common sight.

Coming back to Princeton, at the fairgrounds we ran across this barn with quilts on it.

We made a stop at Starved-Rock and came across this beauty.

The view of Lover's Leap from the lodge at Starved-Rock.

We stopped along the Illinois River in Ottawa. This barge we had seen earlier being loaded in to the lock and dam at Starved-Rock. There were several barges on the river waiting to be moved through the lock and dam.

We stopped at Hank's for dinner.  This restaurant has been one we have wanted to try for a long time. We made it this time.  Looking from the front, we saw this herd of deer down the hill.  They were beautiful against the snow.

These deer were not far front the front door!

You can see the different ice lines on the trees. A lot of the ice has gone away on this river.

As we came out of the restaurant this was the sky we saw.  The beautiful sky was amazing. An amazing sight for a fun and amazing two days.
Happy Anniversary to us!

Bee retreat weekend

What a great time we had.

Friday afternoon 8 of arrived for a fun, sewing weekend.

I think everyone brought enough projects to work on to last us 6 weeks of sewing.

Linda was working on this beautiful 30's basket quilt.

I needed to make 2 of these Michigan quilts.
My nephews wife had asked me at Christmas to make a U of M lap quilt for him.
Not enough time at Christmas, so we agreed I would have it done for his birthday in May.
It just so happens that my son is also a Michigan fan, so if you are going to make one, you might as well make two!
This was the weekend to do it.
I just have to add borders.  I used up all of my royal blues, and this bright yellow.  I don't have enough of either to make thin borders before I add the final one.
Just another excuse to go fabric shopping, as if we need the excuse.

Marita is working on a Kaffe, and solid nine patch.

Christy was working on a baby quilt to a friend.

Marge got out her New York Beauty, she had started a couple of years ago.  Down to one more block to complete.

Sometimes you need a little help in deciding which shade to use with a block.

Finally for me some progress on my Jamestown Landing.
On Saturday we take a late break for our lunch dinner.  We go to one of the many restaurants in the area and eat and chill out for a while. Then back to sewing.
Saturday night I packed up and came home. Time for me to get ready for my next adventure.
Everyone else is still hard at work.
One thing has happened though.  No more sewing until 2:00 am. We are all starting to head for bed or home by 10:00.  Getting older cuts into our sewing time.
Last night there was a storm warning out.  More SNOW!  Will it never end???
When I left, they had not even cleaned the roads yet.  I think they were waiting until it ended.  It was midnight when I arrived home.

Today, I have some handwork to do, and packing a little later.
Monday is our 30th anniversary.  We are going to take a little overnight. We are going to head toward toward Davenport. Ron is great in finding super places to visit, (eagles and white pelicans on the Mississippi) and wonderful food.
More on this later.
Mary