A few cuties (and not tangerines!)

My friends in Wisconsin have these adorable pincushions made from these antique glass figurines that are just adorable. Have you seen these before? DarLynn made me one a couple of years ago but I'd loved to have had the time to shop at an antique store to pick up a couple of others. I mean, there's always room for more pincushions, right??

I'm going to show you one more quilt from that weekend. It's a simple 9-patch but I love how Rose set them. Apparently it was another swap they did together (I'm tell ya-- these Wisconsin quilters know how to swap!!). I love it. So simple yet so dramatic. And so SCRAPPY!!!

So, TOMORROW is Feb. 1st, and you know what that means!!! Start your machines! Put a new blade into your rotary cutter!  Clean off your cutting mat! Pull your fabrics!! Tomorrow is Part 1 of the Farmer's Wife Sow-A-Long! WOOHOO!!!  Get a good night's sleep tonight!!!

Another very quick weekend

I showed you the start of a project I was working on at my retreat last weekend. I finished it and am pleased with the finished product.  My friend Claire found the pattern in the book Piecing The Past, called Peppermint Dreams. I got my pattern from Pat's shop. You'll notice that some of the blocks are "different". That was deliberate. I like to mix things up a bit... heehee

We were watching a movie last night and going to see my darling grandson in SF today so I decided I wanted to do the redwork on the Sentimental Stitches blocks. I had to scour around for patterns but I think the cherries are cute. I'm not a great embroiderer (is that a word??) but from a distance, you can't tell! VBG

Mark and I took Ryan to the park today while his parents had a little breather. It was another amazing day in San Francisco with temps in the 60s. Golden Gate Park is half a block away and is just a fabulous park.  Here he is playing with his train in their house before we left for the park. He's really getting big!!

Just want to remind everyone that Feb. 1st is right around the corner! Are you putting your fabrics together for our Sow-A-Long?? I'm ready!!! Can't wait to start!


Hope you have a great Monday!

The Eyes have It

I wanted to start working on my sow-a-long and made one block, using my favorite pink/browns. Once I finished the block,  I realized the brown has 2 big eyes staring at me! VBG. I made another one with different fabric in case I got tired of getting The Eye from my own block. That's surely a Contrary Wife, I'll say (block #21).

I'm sewing this afternoon with my friend Claire, so I'm excited about that. I'm still unpacking from the retreat, trying to find everything. I'm missing all my little leader-ender bow-ties I made. UGH.

hope everyone has a great day today!

Binding of a different nature

So, in anticipation of the upcoming sow-a-long, I went to my local Fed Ex store and had them chop off the binding of the book and install a spiral binding on it. Now it can lie completely flat!! It cost about $5 and was well worth the investment, especially knowing how much use I'm going to be getting out of it. Are you all getting ready to start?? Are you picking fabrics? I think anything will be fabulous! I'm hoping  to set it up so we can link everyone's blogs together. And maybe even have a little icon you can click on to get to my blog. I'm going to have to consult with an expert on that one!

I still have another quilt to show you from the retreat last weekend in Wisconsin. This was a swap organized by Pat at Life's A Stitch. I call it an album block; they're small but just fabulous! I'd love to make this quilt, but will have to put it on the list!

Of course, no one said you have to make all the blocks to make a top that large. So don't feel overwhelmed by the Farmer's Wife blocks. You can make it whatever size you want. Laptop would be great; you can put them on point and alternate them with a solid. Anything goes in this group!


Hope everyone is having a great Thursday.

Another Farmers Wife to tempt you

Rose made a gorgeous quilt following the Farmers Wife book. Here is another example of how your quilt can look--- getting ready to start sowing??? Vbg

Inspiration from others

Some of the quilts which were shared at my retreat were absolutely amazing. This wool appliqué quilt, done by Debbie Dodge, is gorgeous! I don't think I am up for doing this type of quilt but it sure is beautiful! I've heard that wool appliqué is "easy" but it still looks very labor intensive and being the type of quilter I am, liking quick results, makes me hesitate to tackle that.
I've also been able to stay on top of the Take 2 red/white project. Here are my latest 6 blocks!

Recovering from retreating

Isn't it always the case that you need a vacation to recover from your vacation? I got back last night from my retreat in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I had a wonderful time with a fabulous group of women who are incredibly kind to include me (a California girl, complete with flip flops in winter!).  It snowed all day on Friday and I was out walking along the lake early Saturday. Isn't this gorgeous?

One of the projects that was organized (and optional) was to make mittens using felted wool sweaters.  I had a great time even though I'm probably not going to get much use out of them in California. Maybe Oregon, though.

We had show 'n tell on Saturday night and I'm going to post pictures each day. Here is Debbie Dodge (behind) showing her Dipped in Chocolate quilt which consists of tiny 4-patches which finish at 1.5"!! Aren't they fabulous?

I have a Farmer's Wife quilt to show you also which was done by Pat's sister, Rose. It's gorgeous and very inspiring. That's for tomorrow or Wednesday, though, along with some other fabulous tops!


Our Sow-A-Long gets started on February 1st.  I'm thinking we will shoot for 6 blocks a month; I'll post them twice a month. You can sow along or not, entirely up to you, or even at your own speed.  So start to think about your fabrics. The blocks finish at 6". So you won't be needing a whole lot of fabric.


Have a great Tuesday!!