something to go with the card and the check.....

Always like to give a little SOMEthing giftie to go with a wedding card and gift of money...Old fashioned--probably...a bit more personal--certainly...! The little pillow on the left will hopefully find a nice spot in the newlyweds' home after their wedding tomorrow. The groom and family lived next door for 20 years and i babysat when he was 3. It promises to be a wonderful time!! (the words were a PDF, i'm sorry i didn't copy the site, they were meant for 2 pillowcases.....)  On another note...  

this is one of my favorite new books!!!! Everything in it is a 'project in waiting'!! Enjoy the weekend, all! And happy sewing............

Blogger's Block of the Month.......

September's block by Sherri. Trying to use all Kaffe's from the (ancient) stash & realize there's not much to call a neutral or background in the bunch! Seems my purchases have been mostly the big and bold prints. The green print at the lower right is from Botany by Laren & Jessi Jung for Moda. (no green Kaffe in the stash!) Hoping these Floating Flowers will serve as the background throughout....Hmmmm.

Two baby showers in October!! This is a work in progress, with the brown to be used as binding. Hope it will read BOY-ish well enough.  OK--back to the sewing cave to add borders to BQ II ! Have a great week ahead, and Happy Sewing!

Wolcott Mill Quilt Show.....

Walkway to the picturesque Wolcott Mill

to visit their annual quilt show........the weather was perfect, with a capital P!!

This quilt was beautifully embroidered--all cars!!

Love the little bug jars.......

<...LOTS of lovely applique.....


Great patriotic log cabin

Two more great quilts in keeping with the season!! It was a fun time with Barbara! I should've thought to get my camera out to snap one of our friends from the guild, Nancy, Linda and Mary!! They had already seen the show and were headed to a nice LQS with a gift card! It was good to see them!
Back to the house for us and Jim and brother Paul put Barb and me to work helping to hold up the first wall of the new garage!! (you CAN get good help these days!!;-) Enjoy the rest of the weekend, all! :-)

Nothin' but oops.......!

Was VERY happy at how nicely this paper pieced #24 Country Path block was going together...until near completion (very near), I noticed the colors on the one side should've been reversed. If I keep tilting my head sideways, I can kinda forgive the placement....In other words--it's stayin' like this! The colors are pretty and hopefully won't stand out too much in the finished quilt! Being 6 blocks behind in the FWQAL doesn't help either. :-)   On a happier note:

Picked out these 5 fabrics so far for the Designer QAL with Canton Village Quiltworks that starts September 25th. Been saving these for just the right time--and I'm thinkin' this is it!!
Have a great weekend, all! Headed to a nice quilt show at Wolcott Mills Metropark tomorrow with one of my BQFF's, Barbara. Woo-hoo!!  Happy Sewing!

Oops, i did it again....... ;-)

Jumped back into the Farmers' Wife QAL and made the same block I ended with 3 weeks ago!! The one on the right will live on as a mugrug...! Printed out the paperpiecing pattern for the Country Path block. Sorta draggin' my heels on that one. BUT, one of the nicest notions I've found lately is the Creative Grids 6 1/2" X 2 1/2" ruler I purchased at Delphine's in Gaylord Michigan. It is VERY hand to use on these small blocks and pieces!!

Thanks, Donna at Delphines for 'suggesting' the purchase!           Now I have to share some lovely gifts received for my birthday on Sunday...........

A handmade card

and a lovely candy bar assortment from my BQFF, Judy.











AND....

Loi Lou Thi  fat quarters folded into sweet liitle trees from my other BQFF, Barbara. These 2 really know how to spoil a person!! They are the best!

Last, but not least, our DD and great SIL gave me the sweet, original artwork they bought during our trip to Saugatuck!! My birthday was so special this year. The day seemed to unfold, every hour held a new surprise and blessing to remember. My watch stayed on the dresser, never looked at a clock all day--and it truly turned out to be one of my best birthdays yet........
Wishing all who stop by the same kind of day... :-)   Happy sewing!

Favourite bits...and more pieces :-)

These are some my favorites that have served me well and hope to it make into scrap or crumb quilts. (wish i could find more of that red one!!) Love the teacups in the Martha Negley bit and the dark blue Eleanor Burns fabric was beautiful too.

The brown  R. Kaufman is wonderful and, of course, almost anything Kaffe gets saved!!! In fact i'm glad to participate in this 'linky' posting---the brown Kaufman will be used up as the binding for a baby boy quilt in progress!

Thanks go to http://patchworknplay.blogspot.com/ and http://mollyflanders.blogspot.com/ for the great idea!

Happy sewing this weekend, all! :-)

are YOU lookin' at me????

Had a marvelous weekend in  

with these two

great friends of mine....

Visited Delphine's Quilt Shop!

(this is Barb, Judy & me)

Stopped at the elk preserve and we were able to feed them carrots !

Walked thru beautiful trails under cool, towering trees...  

Enjoyed one of the BEST dinners at our hosts' home....and ended the day watching U of M beat Notre Dame!! Thankyou Judy and Dan for a really special, memorable weekend!! And to Barbara for her friendship and laughter, and great driving to and from Gaylord Michigan :-) Such good friends are truly gifts!!       P.S. the great Gaylord Michigan quilt (top of this post) was done by Mrs. Judy Stone!

p.s.s. here's the DD's birthday tablerunner finished :-)

     

Have a great week. Saying prayers for the peace i wish for all those touched by September 11, 2001......

                                            

My first string flimsie !

This one will be for my sweet SIL, for an October birthday. It was very fun to make and am quilting it now. (needed a breaking from stippling for a short minute!) Had a great Labor Day weekend. Hit the Romeo Peach Festival Craft show on Saturday--but stopped at the used book sale first and JACKPOT!!

Three books for $7.00!! The 'America's Beautiful Quilts" is more of a history book and a very enjoyable read. 'The Joy of Quilting' has lots of great instruction and patterns. Almost every 'That Patchwork Place' book is a keeper, I think!! The Home Dec. book has pillows and projects for the winter months, and will be a good one for the DD to borrow :-)
Back to work for a short week--Happy sewing, all!!

how HOT is it??

Well, let me just tell you--better yet...SHOW you! See the lower right corner where it says 104?? The word above that is 'outside'.  One hundred and four degrees on September 2nd! Gracie and I were in the AC after 11 am because of that little number. So inside time is perfect for birthday sewing projects....

Here's just a sneak peek 'cause the DD reads the blog :-) . Her big day is next Saturday.....
Her older brother, our DS and first-born....will be 30 tomorrow, September 3rd! Where does the time go??
Here's a gift from DD she found in Charlevoix last week. It's a solar powered flower!! The flower waves from side to side and the leaves flap up and down! It's perfect for the dash of my VW beetle!!

Have a safe and fun holiday weekend, all. (Stay inside where it's cool and sew :-)  !