Help me choose!

Bethany, you're right; the blue & red pot holders look boring next to the more colorful samples. I love the fabrics in it, and I was inspired by the colors in my swap partner's home, but she also likes creative and unique things.

So, here are four options, and I want anyone's opinions on which to send to my swap partner. Then, I want to get back to work on Grace's birthday quilt!


Spring. I like these cheery, buggy fabrics!

Birds. Just for the fun of piecing shapes.

Selvages. She says she's been sewing forever, so she'd be amused by these, I think.

Quatrefoil. I just love this design, and she has a lot of these colors in her home.

Okay, tell me what you think!

Funlittlethings

I signed up for a potholder swap on A Stitch in Dye (take a look at what she does with fabric, color, and pattern: wow!). Before I send a pair of potholders off to my swap-mate, though, I am having fun trying out ideas.

Spoiler Alert! Photos of swap items ahead!

Here is a bird I'm piecing together with lots of ripping out stitches and trying again! It's fun to see it taking shape.

Next, I played with selvages; the side edges of fabric where the design data and color test are printed. I sent these off to Linda S, my sewing buddy!

My sister, Pamela, just moved into a new house, so I made these as a housewarming gift. The fabrics are two prints she sent me to use in Grace's quilt, and she told me they remind her of the doodles she draws. I know she'll like them!

And since I had some triangles left from making the flying geese in this Dutchman's Puzzle, I made them into little pinwheels and embellished a couple dishtowels.

Who doesn't need more dishtowels?

Here are a couple I whipped up for Laura A's birthday:

And here are the front and back of what I'm making for the swap. What do you think? Should I go with these, or keep trying?

I earned this haircolor!

I spent the afternoon at a quilt show in San Luis Obispo. I enjoyed perusing stacks of fabrics, studying quilt patterns, admiring perfect points and color combinations and creative compositions, and watching all the white haired ladies. I found myself thinking, "There sure are a lot of white-haired ladies here. I wonder if there's anyone my age here? Hey! Wait! I am a white-haired lady! I'm one of them! O.M.G.!"

It was kind of shocking! I went to the show thinking about joining a quilt guild in order to make quilt friends, and I was wondering how I'd fit in with the ladies I was chatting with at the show, and I kept thinking of myself as younger than they. (And yes, many of the guild ladies are older than me, and have been quilting a l-o-o-o-n-g time! So I'd definitely enjoy learning from them!) I look at myself every day, and I monitor the sags and spots and sprouting hairs... but I see the me that has spent 50 years being under 50, and only (almost) 3 years in my 50s. I'm okay with it, but I'm not used to it!

Sunday Scenes

Breakfast on the patio at F. McLintock's in Arroyo Grande.

Then a long walk on the beach in foggy Pismo.

Then home to a bowl of sweet Santa Maria strawberries.

I'm thankful!

Modify Tradition Quilt Blocks

I'm having fun trying new quilt blocks with the Modify Traditions quilt-along, and with this collection of fabrics! Some months ago, a co-worker told about her small closets in her small house, and how she'd tried to convince her husband to give up his accumulation of Hawaiian shirts from the days when he wore them to work at Trader Joe's. I suggested that if he decided to let them go, I'd be happy to have them to use as quilt material. A couple weeks after our conversation, she came home from work and found hubby stuffing three grocery bags full of shirts to take to the Goodwill! Hooray for Kara and her new access to closet space, and thank you! Hooray for me, since I cut them up and started immediately playing with them!

First I made this quilt top, which is hideously, frenetically busy!

I was going for a "Bento Box" design, but there's not enough contrast between the fabrics. It's my first UFO (unfinished object).

I also made some cute pillow covers for Kara and her husband to thank them for the bounty, but I forgot to take pictures. Oh well.

Then, I was looking for fabric at the thrift store, and found five yards (that's five yards!) of high quality, even-weave, natural color linen! For $3.95!! For all of it!!

When I brought it home I washed it, and it's in perfect condition. I burned some to see if, surely, it had some synthetic something in it, and got soft, black ash and the smell of burning paper. According to this, it's mercerized linen. I think it's beautiful!

Now I'm putting the Hawaiian prints and the linen together in traditional style blocks, and I love what I'm getting. I'm playing around with different ideas to put them together; linen or contrasting sashing between blocks, or without sashing altogether. Any suggestions?

Doesn't it look like sand and sea and beach glass?

Yesterday it was time to get out these:

Some friends came over, and we made some of these:

John made these:

I made these:

We all ate most of these: