Long Time Gone (again)

 I feel like a turkey, because I have not written a post since August! So this is a photo dump and catch up.  

Kindred Spirits won first place at my local fair in September.

It went on to win Best in State at the CT Fair Banquet earlier this month.  Thank you to all who commented on my IG and FB post.   It was a thrill to win and of course I share it with Jill.

The Wedding quilt was gifted to Rich's Goddaughter in Breckenridge.  Here is it after quilting.

It took quite a while to quilt it, but I liked how it turned out.

I continue to work on my Jane Stickle potholder blocks.

I made my first crochet hat of the season for  my friend, Scarlett.

Hooray - I finally finished Helen's horse barn!  It now lives in Colorado.

I finished this bag that I started 2 1/2 years ago.

I did a lot of traveling and teaching and had the busiest fall I can remember.  Here are some workshop samples.  

After my quilting trips the quilt storage room looked like this!  Nutmeg doesn't mind.

I've just finished this quilt top, which as you can see is like the wedding quilt I made earlier this year.  This is not the final layout.   I'll share the finished quilt next month.

We had an election.  Now we wait to see what comes next.  I was inspired to see this sign on a walk last week.

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.  Ours was very peaceful and quiet.   We watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  It is such a great story and beautifully filmed.

Thank you to everyone who follows me on Instagram!  It is not the same community as blogging, but it offers us a chance to share.

In the meantime, enjoy the holiday season and stay well.

xo

The Circle is Complete

Kindred Spirits; Jill's Quilt, is finished!

Jill started this quilt in 2006.  It was a group project of our Cupcake Club.   A group of four quilt friends who met every month and did a number of quilts and other craft projects together.

Here we are will red velvet cupcakes.

This how I inherited the project after Jill passed away in 2014.  The pink angel near her initials broke my heart a little.

After completing her appliuqe' blocks, I added a house in the middle.  I chose purple because Jill loved to include purple in her quilts.   Isn't this sweet?  I'm sure it is Jill, her husband, Scott and their son, Justin.

Here is the label I made.  I miss Jill so much and think of her so often.  All in all, I think she would be pleased.

I quilted them the same, using my extra large fan stencil.    It is available in my etsy shop - click here to see it.   I also have a set of 38 patterns that I used for my quilt available.

Here is my quilt.

This is Mary and her Red and White finished quilt.

I love her unique version.  Very modern, and very Mary.

Susan's quilt:  Animal, Vegetable or Mineral.

You can read another post about the inspiration and orgins of the project here.

Here is Lin McQ's  quilt.  She used my pattern set Kaffe Fassett's and added her own patterns,  How great is that striped border?  

I'll be visiting and meeting her next year in Ohio where I'll be presenting a lecture and workshop.  I can't wait to see her quilt in person!

If you are still here, I'm offering a 20% discount on my Etsy shop for  30 days.  Use the code:  JILL20

See you next time.

xo

Baby It Is HOT!!

 Oooh weee, it's been hot! I've been staying in most afternoons and sewing.  Here is Jill's. 

As of now, the whole center section is finished.  I am on target to finish by end of September.

I attended a Bonsai workshop at a CT nursery with my friends, Scarlett and Lisa.

Here are the results of our efforts.

Here is my plant in it's home setting.  A lot of petals dropped off at first but it is doing pretty well.

I finished my new quilt top.  

I pinned it and I'm almost finished with the machine quilting on my Janome Home sewing machine.

 Last weekend I attended a workshop to learn how to make Shibori fabrics.  They are dyed with Indigo.  Our friend, Liz, did all the prep and walked us through the process.

It was hot but the process and results are so cool. 

Aren't they Wonderful?  I just love how each one is different!

Here are the four pieces that I created.  My pieces are a bit lighter because I had to leave early and my soakings were not quite as long.   Nutmeg approves.

Over the 4th of July we had family time out on the Long Island Sound aboard, our boat, Manitou.  Here she is finally on the water.

After months in the repair shed......

Here's her new keel - nice, huh? lol.  Now I don't know much, but those look like holes in the hull to me.  just saying....

My beautiful kids.

Our son in law, David, he looks like a natural.

I wish you all a happy summertime!  Stay cool and Be Kind.

xo

barb

Happy June !

Hello!  Popping in finally for  a post.   First up:  UFO update:

After spending a lot of time making these flying geese - I don't like it as a border.  I feel it detracts from my Scrappy Stars.  Still a UFO at this stage. 

Yay!  Nutmeg is done!

I am continuing to hand quilt Jill's Quilt.

I went to Arizona with my Best Girlfriends.  I'm so lucky to have these women in my life for some 45-50 years. We had a side trip to Sedona.  It was incredible.

On the way from Phoenix I saw so many saguaro cactus.  

We visited the Phoenix Art Museum.   They had a great exhibit on Barbie!

It was so fun to see all these vintage dolls and accessories.

I potted lots of flowers

I received this new planter for my Birthday.  I love it.

So I had a funny Birthday this year.  I was born on 6/2/62 and I turned 62.  Rich and I hosted a little dinner out with our best CT friends.

My friend, Wendy Reed, send me a half-size version of my Scrap Happy Quilt.

Isn't it the sweetest thing you've ever seen??  She used the directions in Quilt Mania and cut them by half.  Wendy even added hand quilting!  What a special friend.

I am continuing to work on Jane Stickle Sampler blocks.  I've quilted and  put red binding on several.

  Here are three new ones.

I got together with Scarlett to make zippered pouches.  Aren't they cute?  I still have one to finish.

I have a new finished (not originally planned) quilt top.   The blocks are 10".

It was an unusual color scheme and a bit challenging.  I was inspired in part by the decore in our VRBO in Sedona.

I'll end this post sharing this sweet flower stand I saw on my early morning walk.

Such a sweet display and the bouquets were priced at $2.00 and $3.00.  I bought 5 and took to them to a sew day and gave them to friends.  It was so old timey and charming.

Happy June!

xo