Great mail.......................

In my mail preview I saw a card from Vicki Welsh.  This was my favorite of the three she made this year.  It is so exciting to receive one of her cards.

I did a little rearranging of the cards from the previous 14 years plus the new one.  They are up on my bulletin board year round and I look in that direction while I'm sewing so I'm enjoying them all of the time.

Also in the mail was a new book.  The author contacted me a while ago and asked if she could use the image of one of my quilts in the book she was working on.

If you do a search for her name you will see she is the maker of the gemstone quilts.  Her diamond was the first one I saw.

There is more interesting information on the back of the book.  Click to enlarge.

If you go to her website and click on SHOP you can order the book directly from her.

It was hard to hold the book open with one hand and take the photo with the other hand.  This is my quilt in her book.

I finally got in the mood for baking and made the English Toffee Bars first.  Then I made 2 batches of Chex Mix and mixed the dough for a batch of Kringlas.  It needs to be refrigerated so I will bake them today.

I found a surprise bloom on one of my red-orange cacti.  It was on the side facing the window.  This one was repotted in the summer.  I have another bud ready to open on one of the white with pink edging.  It had already bloomed and then set another bud.

I'm not sure if I'll have any blooms on Christmas.  

The weather forecast is saying we might be in the 50s for Christmas.  It has happened before but is always surprising.

 

Two...............

While the little Christmas fabric squares layout was still on my sewing cabinet, I sewed another table runner together.  It's as identical as it gets when some of the prints were larger and different areas are in the squares.  At first glance they look alike.

There were still 7 squares in some of the stacks so I did a layout of 9 patches.

This shows the secondary layout when the blocks come together.

I sewed the first pile of nine patches.

Happy mail!!  I feel so fortunate to be on the list to receive a Christmas postcard from Vicki Welsh every year.  This one is so pretty.  The blue is a little darker than it looks in this photo.

I just moved 2 to fit the new one in my collection.  I'll probably rearrange them at some point.  The blue is a nice addition to the group.

 

Busy day.............

Yesterday started with cleaning up from baking the night before.  Then I had to get the last supplies I needed for the treats that I make for family.  It was 28 degrees with a 30 mph wind when I left for the stores.

When I got home my mail was there.  I was so excited to get a Christmas postcard from Vicki Welsh.

I was surprised there was no postmark.  I think these have to be hand cancelled so my card was missed.

Here is the whole collection of the postcards.

I only got one treat baked, one of my 2 recipes of Kringlas.

I was too tired to bake anything else last night so I worked on the Rosy quilt.

All of the holes are filled in now but I'm sure this isn't the final layout.  Next to cut are 3" and 2" finished squares for the 2 borders.  I'm still considering taking out more of the dark 6" squares.  I started out with a pile of squares that were cut several years ago.  I think I can find some more lighter fabrics to use.

Hopefully I'll get to this project today.

 

In the mail.............

I was so excited to get another Christmas postcard Monday from my friend Vicki Welsh.  It was in excellent condition after travelling over 1000 miles.  

Here is my entire collection that she has sent me over the years.  They reside on the little design wall in my main floor studio year round.  I wish I could get as nice a finish on the edges with my serger.  She has lots of practice since she makes LOTS of these cards.

In the mail...........

I was so excited to receive a Christmas postcard from Vicki Welsh again this year.  The one in the center is the new one with previous years' cards surrounding it.  She uses her hand dyed fabrics to make them with an occasional commercial print on them.  I have these on display in my studio.

My waxed Amaryllis bulb that doesn't need watering is growing nicely.  Last week's photo is here. 

Last night I sewed another batch of 16 blocks.  One of the 8' fluorescent bulbs is burning out by my best design wall.  I need to decide where I'm going to lay out this quilt.

Another of the pink and white cacti is blooming.  The next one that will bloom will be the one I call champagne.  It is a pale gold or beige color.  I have 2 of those and they both have buds.

This is just taken at a different angle.  I love the size of the blossoms. I have 28 cacti plants right now and I have 2 plants with these large blossoms.  I love my indoor winter garden.
 

Things I love...........

12 pairs plus 2 singles, flannel pillowcases done and pressed, ready to gift.

My collection of Christmas postcards in the mail from Vicki Welsh, 3 from previous years and the Zentangle with crystals this year. 

A Christmas gift from a friend who knew I would love these Charley Harper drinking glasses.

Decision made, sewn together............

I decided on the alternating horizontal/vertical spools layout and sewed the top together.  I thought it was the best pattern if you viewed it draped over a couch.  It is 58" x 77" right now.  It will probably lose an inch or two in quilting.  Today I need to get some quilt backs pieced together and cut batting for the 3 flannel quilts.

A few days ago I got a surprise in the mail.  It is a postcard that was sent "naked" and made it here in good condition.  it's actually surprising how clean it is after coming through the postal system.  I sent some of my tiny batik scraps to a friend who moved away from this area a couple years ago.  She mixed a few of my scraps in with hers and made this for me.  I love it!

For the past five days I have been making some pastel batik blocks.  I'm using my cutaway strips from straightening my fabrics and cutting them in 11" lengths.

Last night I trimmed them into 10.5" blocks and sorted them into three piles- light medium and dark pastel blocks.  I'll play with a couple layouts today.

Happy Valentine's Day

Here is another of my antique Valentine postcards. They are so different from today's cards. This is a repeat that I showed last year when I showed a series of heart quilts in February. If you are interested in its construction, click on Prismatic Garden on the Label list on the right side of the blog and it will take you to the whole series I have made as well as some in progress pictures of some.

It's just another day for me, cleaning the house for the company on Monday, continuing to make blocks for my next project. We got a coating of snow last night which should melt today. Hurray, no shoveling!

Postcard trio

In Sept. 2007 I showed the 3 postcards with one just a background and the other 2 finished. I didn't have and idea for the third one, and Robin suggested just leaves. I tried the leaves that were on the other 2 postcards but didn't like them by themselves. Then I found this other Kaffe fabric with leaves and knew it was the right choice.

If you click here you will go back to the page with the one unfinished one pictured with the 2 finished.

Vicki F asked yesterday what size the little bag is. It is 10" x 6" x 2" high. It is perfect for carrying all of your sewing tools to classes or retreats. Also it is a good size for cosmetics. If you click here it will take you to a post where I showed a bunch of these little totes.

Postcards

I was taking the postcards down from the design wall when I noticed a hole in one of the fabrics on the postcard on the left. These were made from the scraps of the Turning Twenty Again quilt top that is on my blog-shop. I immediately thought I need to cover the hole, and walking by the table of yo-yo's, I saw a brown Fossil Fern one that I thought might work. Then before I took all of the postcards down I decided to take a picture of them as a group. Here are the fronts...
and in the same order, the backs.
I was trying to clean off my cutting table and found this piece of patchwork, leftovers of the Fossil Fern fabrics that I made yo-yo's from. I added the new fabric that I had purchased on each side and backed it and finished it. Did the cutting table get cleaned off? NO! I had fun instead.
I think this fabric on the back might be one of the Ricky Tims fabrics.
My mother is doing fine again, now taking her pills with applesauce. The independent living facility is now giving her ground meat so she can swallow it easier. The sun is shining and it is supposed to be in the 40's, so I hope some of this snow melts.

Update on borders, finished postcards

Here is the piece I showed yesterday, that I am not happy with the borders on. Thank you everyone for your comments as they make me look at my pieces with new perspective. I even received some emails, one with a cropped version for me to view. This is how I have changed the borders since yesterday. Even though I love wide borders on other people's quilts, they don't usually please me on mine.
I just have the borders folded under at this point. I will measure them and make notes so I can cut.

Below are 2 postcards which have been in progress for at least 7 months. I finally put backs on them yesterday and did the satin stitch edging.

Don't mind my crooked photography, they are a lot straighter than this picture!
I really like my little pieces when I finish them, and even though I had originally thought I would try to sell them, I really don't want to part with many. It may have to do with the fact that I am going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff in the next 2 years (maybe sooner) and the big stuff is what will make a difference. The little stuff I could keep in a small pile and still own a lot of variety without it taking up a lot of space. Pros and cons: (pro) little things sell better because they are more affordable for most people ( and for impulse purchases), (con) they are often little studies for larger pieces or techniques and I need to keep them for inspiration.

I know some people never sell anything they make. Some people give it all away as gifts and never keep anything for themselves. I am in the position to need the cash flow and that makes it extra hard to make the decision, especially when I love the piece I have made. Decisions, decisions, isn't that what life is all about?

Busy work

Thank you everyone for your prayers and good wishes. I really appreciate it.

My mother came home from the hospital yesterday late afternoon. The swallowing therapist wanted her to stay one more night but she let them know she wanted to go home. The hospital is only about 9 blocks from her apt. so we can easily get back to meet with the therapist.

You have all heard the saying that when you get older you will have either your mind or your body, probably not both. My mother's body is full of arthritis, she is hard of hearing, and has macular degeneration in one eye, glaucoma in both, and a blocked retinal artery, and she is pretty sharp yet in her mind. My dad on the other hand was physically able to do almost anything up to his 92nd birthday, however his mind had started deteriorating at 90. I made him fix his own sandwich to see if he was capable. I purposely left him unattended yesterday to see how he would do if Mother was gone for any length of time. He walks with a cane now and sometimes a walker. As a pair he helps her walk and she helps him think. It is the next step I dread, the one where one of them is gone.

To keep busy Tues. night I picked up the scraps from the yellow and green crazy pieced blocks and started playing with them in postcard size. I was working on automatic because I was bone tired. I just did what I can do without thinking, lay the strips down until they covered the heavyweight product, zig zag their edges in place, trim any fabric hanging over the edge.

Last night I came back to it and started adding a few things to it. Below is the batik on the back of the postcard.
I am going to the sewing store today to teach a class on designing as you go. They are bringing their embroidery machines and while the machines are busy embroidering I will teach them how to take many different size blocks and plan a layout.