WIP Wednesday

Seems like I have gotten a lot of sewing done in the last couple of days, but only a little to show you.

I have two new projects, neither of which I should probably be working on. But are you ever working on something and then you get this brilliant idea and you have to drop everything and spend some time working on your new flash of inspiration? That's what happened to me this week.

The first one involves these:

And these, which arrived today. Perfect timing! Thank you Fat Quarter Shop for your super speedy service!

It isn't a secret or anything. I just want to make a little more headway before I show what I'm working on.

Elizabeth Hartman's new book arrived in the mail the other day. When I saw this:

 

 It reminded me of these:

 

Several years ago I was in a block exchange where everyone did paper-pieced birds or birdhouses.  They have been sitting on a shelf because I just couldn't figure out what kind of setting would do them justice. When I saw Elizabeth's "Neighborhood," it was a eureka moment. Okay, so her little focus birds are only 3" and mine are 8".  I just enlarged the pattern, kind of eyeballing each piece until it seemed like the right size.

Her finished block is 11x15 inches.

Mine is about 19x28 inches. But I'm only putting six blocks on the front.

This is the back of Elizabeth's quilt.

I plan to stack the birdhouses side by side, and put the owl on top of that cute red birdhouse that has a branch on top of it. And that's it for this week.

I'm linking up here.

Farmer's Wife Friday: Rich in Blessings

This week's farmer's wife is from Roanoke County, Virginia. It is a rather long letter, and thus, there are four blocks.

The letter writer extols the virtues of farm life versus city life, as many writers have done before her.

#97 Waste Not

So this week, I'm veering in a different direction. I find the title, "Rich in Blessings,"  to be very appropriate, so I'm going to share with you some recent blessings of my own.

#48 Homeward Bound

Carla and I started following each other's blog over a year ago. In the course of commenting, and then emailing, we started realizing that we not only had many interests in common,  we also had a lot of similarities, sharing many of the same life experiences--age, number of years married, the importance of our faith. (Someone even told us we looked like sisters.) Although I could easily chosen the title "City Mouse, Country Mouse." I'm a confirmed city girl, while Carla lives in a beautiful home in the country.

#13 Buckwheat

I can't remember exactly how we came up with the idea of Farmer's Wife Friday. Maybe it was the idea of accountability, thinking that having a partner to keep us going, making all 111 blocks would become an achievable goal.  (And we are getting really close!)


 #76 Sawtooth

When I realized spring quilt market was going to be in Kansas City this year, and Carla lived so so close, it seemed the ideal time to meet. I've been to market before (Portland, 2008), and while I was excited to see the new fabric lines, the primary purpose of this trip was to meet my Farmer's Wife Friday partner.

Carla came up with the idea of bringing some of my blocks so we could have a photo shoot with her blocks. I went through the blocks we had each completed so far, and specifically chose those with names relating to some aspect of the farm/outdoors or, more importantly, friendship.

I brought along: Country Path (24), Practical Orchard (69), Weathervane (100), Country Farm (23), Spider Web (83), Farmer's Daughter (32),  Farmer's Puzzle (33), Prairie Queen (70), Storm Signal (90), Spool (84--okay, not obviously, farm-related, but I just couldn't leave it out), Wild Geese (104), and most importantly, Friendship (39) and Friendship Star (41).

I spent the night at Carla's house (more on that later) and the next morning we had a good time going through all her blocks, choosing the same blocks as those I brought along.

 We took them out to the deck, put them in a "friendship" circle and took some photos.

The obligatory photo which includes our feet

Our blocks look great together. I think they enjoyed their time together as much as Carla and I did.

We put our Friendship blocks on top of the stacks.If you have become friends with someone through this world of blogging, I am here to tell you that if you are fortunate enough to meet in person, there is a good chance you will feel like you have known each other for a long time. Meeting in person will just cement a friendship that has already has roots.

Five years ago, I would not have imagined that some of my closest and most valued friendships are with women who are scattered all around the world.

Thanks, Carla, for your warmth, hospitality, and most of all, your friendship. I feel richly blessed.

Spring Quilt Market: The paparazzi/friend version

Let's be honest here. There are LOTS of posts circulating right now about Spring Market in Kansas City. It's been interesting as I have read through a lot of them. It seems that I took more pictures of people than booths, fabric lines, etc. How did that happen? There were so many awesome things to see, people to meet.

So right off the bat, here is a picture not taken by me. Thanks, Stephanie! (Peas in a Pod)

And this is the paparazzi section--pictures of me with lots of people I admire, most of whom don't have a clue who I am...

Anna Maria Horner--taken especially for my friend, Terri

Amy Butler

Camille Roskelley

Denyse Schmidt--it was closing time on Friday--she looked really tired

David Butler. Swoon. (and I'm not talking about the pattern either...)

Elizabeth Hartman

Who thought I'd get a picture with Darth Vader and Chewbacca?

So it struck me that the highlight for this trip was meeting people I have a connection with.

 Lee (Freshly Pieced), Carla (Lollyquiltz) and Linda (Flourishing Palms)--more on them tomorrow

 Carla, me, Linda, and Doris (Made by a Brunette)

Tammy (Marmalade Fabrics)--I got to spend lots of time getting to know Tammy better, along with her two friends, Lisa and Arlene

Jacquie Gering (Tallgrass Prairie)

Jeni Baker (In Color Order)

  Katy (I'm a Ginger Monkey) and Amy (Diary of a Quilter)--I gave Katy a small version of "My Granny is Amish"--and I wish Amy and I had had more of a chance to chat.

 Elizabeth (Don't Call Me Betsy)

 Breakfast with Stephanie, Amanda Jean (crazy mom quilts), Amanda Jean's sister Claire, Shelly (Prairie Moon Quilts), me and Tara (Tinkerfrog)

I have some pictures of fabric highlights. More on that later. The friends I saw in person and was able to spend time with--that was what spring market was all about for me...

Blogger's Quilt Festival, Spring 2012: Double Dutch

If you are here from Amy's Creative Side, welcome! I have been pondering which quilt to showcase for Blogger's Quilt Festival. If you have been following along for the last couple of months, you have seen many pictures of Colorbox, from inception to completion.

So I decided instead to show this quilt.

I first saw it in an issue of American Patchwork and Quilting and fell in love with it. I ordered the fabric (all American Jane--love anything by American Jane!--a kit is still available) and started working on it.

It was originally intended to go to friends who were having a baby. But after I started working on the blocks, which are really large, with a crazy amount of half square triangles, I decided to make an easier quilt for the baby (all American Jane scraps), and give Double Dutch to someone else.

When our  best friends' daughter got married two years ago, this quilt went to live with the newlyweds.

 Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of the Festival!

The Name Game: Ellison Lane Quilts

Are you ready for a beautiful explosion of color? I'm thrilled to have Jennifer here from Ellison Lane Quilts. I have read her blog for a long time, and we are currently in a bee together.

 Note: Don't you think our logos look great together?

 Jennifer, how did you choose the name for your blog?

 
The name for my blog came from my daughter's middle name- Ellison. To me Ellison is such a pretty, feminine name, and I thought Ellison Lane sounded like a lovely place so that is what I went with. In my mind I imagine a lovely tree-lined street with charming cottages, stone paths, picket fences and rambling flowers.  

Where there other names you considered, and can you share any of them with us?

I think the only other one I considered was Sewing in the South since I am a born and raised Southerner but in the end, I liked Ellison Lane the best because it is so personal. 

Now that you are recognized by Ellison Lane Quilts, are you happy with it, or do you wish you could change it to something else?

(don't you just love the touches of orange??)

I am definitely happy with the name although sometimes I think about dropping "Quilts" which I think would be fine too. I need to have new labels made and am thinking about just Ellison Lane on those- walking on the wild side, I know! :) 

(I really want one of these zip pouches...)

If you haven't already been to Jennifer's blog, please go say hi, and spend some time looking around. She has a great series she is currently running, The Summer Sewing Contest, with a blog hop and lots of fabulous giveaways. You will not want to miss this one.