Home Again!

Back to the real world. We traveled home over the weekend. Two whole days of driving! That is probably the worst part of living in Ohio; we are such a long way from the ocean. And I love the ocean. I'm always happiest by the sea. Our vacation was lovely. Sanibel Island was a very nice place to spend a week. The beach was beautiful with many, many shells. The water was very warm and very calm. It was very peaceful and restful. But now we're back and need to get back up to our normal pace of living. School starts on August 26, and we have a lot to do before then.

While in Sanibel, I visited a quilt shop called Three Crafty Ladies. It was a quaint little shop. I picked up a little kit and a pattern which I will have to add to my list of projects to do. Somehow it never gets any shorter... At the top of the list is my Doll Quilt Swap 4 quilt. The fabric is all there, I just need to decide on the design and get it made. I want to do something a bit different this time.

I've been checking out Flickr to see all the quilts in both the Four Seasons Quilt Swap and Doll Quilt Swap groups. I've seen many I would love to own. I don't know if the one I am to recieve is one of the ones posted or not. Our mail was held last week while we were away and it is due to be delivered today. Hopefully there will be a package containing a quilt in with the mess of magazines, junk mail and bills.

I also need to get busy and make some things for Etsy. I've got some ideas but they seem to take some time to develop into actual finished items. Realistically, I'm not going to have much productive sewing time until after school begins. My kids are growing up so fast; I'm going to just enjoy the rest of the summer with them and worry about my shops when they're at school.

Spring Quilt from Alice

Spring Quilt from Alice
Originally uploaded by On a Whim | LittleWhimsies

The mail lady was kind enough to deliver this lovely quilt in my mailbox. I was so excited to see what someone made for me. Pink and green is one of my very favorite color combo and what a fun little quilt this is! See the pink flowers embroidered in the corner? Very pretty!! It came all the way from Alice in Texas and I like it very much. Thanks Alice!

Here's a close up of the flowers:


I found some more pink flowers blooming in my garden to go with my new quilt.



We are having a lovely spring in Ohio. Quite different from the last few years when we had a late freeze to nip all the flowers. This year the flowers have been able to bloom their little heads off and it has been lovely to see. I haven't been able to spend much time outside and am very behind in my gardening chores, but it looks pretty through the windows. My azalea in particular is covered in beautiful blossoms. I have to remember to stop and enjoy the flowers before they're gone. Summer heat will be here soon!

And a belated Happy Mother's Day wish to all moms everywhere, especially to my mom who is no longer here but who is with me everyday in many small ways. Miss you Mom...

A Beautiful Day

It's amazing really. Just a few days ago, it snowed. A lot! We had a good 14-15" of soft white snow and windy conditions that may have qualified as a blizzard.


Today, the snow is nearly gone, just a few small piles where it was heaped during the removal process. It was a beautiful 64 degrees, with sunshine and blue skies. I left my coat in the car and felt the sun on my face.

Lovely

Gives one hope that spring is actually near!

On the swap quilt front, I've played with EQ5 this week. For hours. I've got some basic ideas that I really like, but I'm having a huge problem making them work with my stash. I've decided that my stash isn't a very good one. Most of the fabrics are in the muted, mid-tone range. I want to make a quilt with happy, bright pastels, not muddy roses and muted blues and greens. So, I'm tossing my "rule" to use my stash out the window. I'm going shopping early next week for something fun. Bring on the sunglasses! My stash can sit and wait for another project. I've certainly designed enough doll quilts to keep me busy for awhile!

A Blizzard?

I was so ready for Spring and today we are having a blizzard!! Yes, a real blizzard, which really doesn't happen often in Ohio. Look at what I found outside my front door! We've had 12 inches of snow and it is still snowing. The winds are blowing, the snow is drifting and we are housebound. The roads are treacherous. I was supposed to attend a bridal shower today about 1 hour away in Kentucky. But, I'll be staying home instead. Thank goodness I have lots to do! I think I'm going to sew.

The arrival of the blizzard also marked the arrival of my Winter Swap Quilt from Abby. The package contained a sweet little blue and white quilt and lots of extra goodies. Very sweet! Thanks Abby!


So I'm off to the sewing room to play. I'd like to decide what I am making for the Spring Four Seasons Quilt Swap. I've got a couple of good ideas, but I need to sort through my stash to see what will work. I've made a goal to make it completely from my stash, if possible. I should be able to do so; I've got lots of fabric piled up but sometimes the right colors/values just aren't there. So I'm going to start with the stash and design around that for a change. I usually do it the other way, which almost always means a trip to the fabric store! Have I mentioned that I LOVE to buy fabric??

Have a happy Saturday!

Winter's Last Hurrah!?!?

Maybe.

I took this photo yesterday when I went out to check for mail. Still no quilt. Maybe Monday. Anyway, we've had too much wintery weather lately. Last week was a very strange week. Holiday on Monday, snow day on Wednesday and another one on Friday. Thank goodness for snowblowers. Of course they don't do much good when you get ice!

All of the trees were covered with a glistening layer of ice. How pretty when the sun came out and made everything sparkle. I'd like to make a quilt like that. My picture didn't quite capture the sparkliness.

More icy pictures:






Enough of the cold stuff! Bring on the Spring flowers!!

And I almost forgot! Sign-ups are going on now over at the Four Seasons Swap Blog for the Spring installment. I sent my information along to the marvelous Margaret who arranges all the madness. I find the swaps a great opportunity to try new techniques and complete a fun, small project at the same time. Go visit the blog if you'd like to give it a try!