In the post before this, I shared the quilt that I made for the Doll Quilt Swap #14. Anna (woollykat) loves her mini & I am so relieved! She does great work & I'm a fan.
This is the mini quilt that I received, it was made by Laura VanVleet & it is a striking piece! I love the colors & design of the blocks! She sent some fun scissors (yay!) & cute bird magnets (sorry, no pic). I'm pretty vague on swap questionnaires, so she did a fantastic job with few details. Thank you, Laura!
pinwheel, pinwheel, spinning around
Last fall, I participated in the Pillow Talk Swap on Flickr, I shared the pillow I made already. This is the pillow that I received from a different person. Isn't it great! She used fabrics that I really like and colors to match my studio! She is a real sweetie, she even sent me some extra fabric from the pillow. I love it so much! Thanks Debra!
hand-quilted, for my pleasure
A local friend, Angelina, made this pillow for me! It was a Christmas gift, which is so unexpected (I don't do Christmas with friends, just birthdays (it gets to be too much and I talk to A LOT of people, A LOT). I gasped when I opened this, I love dresdens, I love these colors (obviously), and I really want more pillows right now! The white plates really make the other colors shine, it is a hit!
Angelina also gave me a label, "made with blood, sweat, + needles," I pinned it to the pillow for now, pretty funny! My daughter (5) misread it as "sweet + neddles" and asked what that meant...
Thanks, Angelina!
*confession, those are pillows
We are hours away from catching up with aunts, uncles, cousins, and their children.
We are ready to eat appetizers, main course today, and dessert tomorrow.
We are ready to drink good wine and take a hayride through the park.
We are ready to celebrate each others existence.
I'm ready for my quilt retreat that starts tomorrow!
We just want to be happy today and we are.
Maybe we don't talk about those who are without loved ones today, but, we are thinking of you, too!
We will be happy today as we don't have a lot of time to do otherwise.
Thanksgiving at home, 2011
For mothers day, I bought teacups and whipped up little mats to coordinate, I made them a size to accommodate a small plate for crumpets, oh, you don't eat crumpets?
for my grandmother, Mattie Kate
for my mom, Val
for my husband's mom, Sally
It's true, there are bird lovers at this home, the most involved is the tiny one. At the hopeful age of 1, she was certain that she would catch a robin, they would taunt her by letting her get close and as she went in for the grab, they would fly away! She did not let that stop her, although at 4, she no longer tries to do it. Each year since, I've taught her the common birds that we see out of our window, I could not believe that she learned so many so fast, oh, our little orny!
Here is a nest that she made for a dead worm.
My best Bird sent me The Cornell Lab of Ornithology this summer and we hit the ground running! Each Monday we go to CLO and focus on 2-3 birds, we look at their pictures, videos (if available), talk about which part of the world in which they live, and listen to their calls/songs. It was fitting to start with a robin bird, after the lesson, I printed an embroidery sheet that I found online (The Floss Box) and let my little orny color it, she wanted to send it to Robin "because she will be so exciting!" That suggestion lead to an addition to the lesson--bird craft/art.
I found these 2 birds and she colored them as chickadees.
For 2 separate sessions, I sewed some birds while she filled them with cotton.
I showed E how to sew the tail closed, she did it all by herself! Also, we were still in pjs.
Her little babies...
Mommy, daddy, and kid bird...
Stay tuned for the sequel!
She calls robins "robin bird" to make a clear distinction between the person and the winged creature, you know, we adults are just so crazy!
Thanks for thinking of us, Robin!
About a week after sending me a box of goodies, Mrs. Renee sent our little stinker a box of gifts through the mail. What a surprise! E was so excited to open her package (as was I)!
Inside was a board book, a set of hairpins (heavily coveted by me), a wind-up music box that plays "Home on the Range" --it only plays as you turn it, some paper eyeglasses, and lots of big handmade confetti. This entire package is a win-win!
Wins for parents: No plastics and no noisy stuff.
Wins for little one: Aforementioned wins, a book, confetti, and most importantly, a box--she had it for months! She kept her confetti in it and played with it as necessary.
I grew concerned one day that she sorted all of the confetti by like items. It was a good concern, I must say.
Thanks, Renee!
Today, I want to show you a gift that I received from a woman that I met over a year ago, Renee.
Robin and I met Renee at a Paper Crown class last March, we met a lot of characters that day.
I have been running into Renee at that same store, in Omaha for Silver Bella & we even shared a flight to STL to Mary Engelbreit's workshop weekend!
She's great (although once she tried to tell me not to talk badly about a waitress that we had. I reminded her that it was behind her back and that made it permissible). She loves to take notes, she keeps a pen handy and writes down the crap that we say b/c she thinks that we are quotable, I can never run for public office with her jotting...
Much to my surprise, one day in May, I received a package in the mail from Renee...
OMG, that box was so warm and intriguing! Look at this bird!
The tag with green ribbon says "2 Birds in a Pod!" What??
She made some really amazing items, I really love the aluminum tags! Also, she packed some glitter in there, that can boost a package's awesomeness by 10%.
Paper rosette...
It's all so great!
Thank you, Renee! I can't wait to get on the road with you!
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