Birthday Party

While we were in Michigan, someone special had a birthday. Since neither of us are too rigid about much of anything, we celebrated yesterday while she was here to sew.

If you guessed that we were celebrating Sharon, you would be correct. Oh, there was wine and cheese and fruit and nuts! Wait, we do that most sewing days…well, add gifts and it becomes a party. 

We have been known to feed one another's habits, so I just had to gift her with some absolutely scrumptious yardage of this neutral by 3Sisters. We are both fans of the many lines of 3Sisters fabrics, she much more so than I. Now you can see what I bought while shopping in Michigan. The perfect neutral to feed Sharon's love of all things 3Sisters.

Here are some more random pics; While it is most definitely a neutral, it’s quite a busy print! There are so many elements to look at, to read, to study. We petted and pointed all over Collages from the new line called Favorites.

Initially, I envisioned her using this in a 2-color quilt - say red/neutral or navy/neutral. But the more I thought about it, those soft pinks or blues that 3Sisters is known for would also look lovely. Then as we studied this piece more closely, it became evident that cutting this into small pieces might be hard to do. Why not piece a quilt with large blocks of this? Well, Sharon certainly has some decision making ahead of her.

In the mean time, she might just stare at this gorgeousness for awhile.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne

Weekend Happenings

I make it sound like I'm all super-crazy-busy with exciting happenings at every turn.

Nah, not so much. However, I do feel like some days run at a fairly phrenetic pace.

(Betcha' didn't think I could throw a word like 'phrenetic' into the post, right?)

Friday, DH and I took a drive to Lake Hope; located near McArthur in Vinton County, OH. The days was largely overcast, but the remote, secluded surroundings of that lake and lodge and campgrounds was beautiful, regardless. DH remembered his parents taking a family vacation there when he was about 8 or 10 years old. He thinks one of the cabins below was the one they camped in so many years ago. How could he remember that???

On Saturday I had History Day, which was the subject of my last post. When that was over, I packed up all my stuff and headed out for a birthday bash in Wilmington. My mom's and my neices' birthdays are one week apart. Mother turned 82 on Thursday, and this week the twins will turn 11.

Intersperse those things with a van that needed to be retrieved from the mechanic's shop, the Buckeyes playing, as well as the Indians and the Browns, and a ga-zillion essays to read and critique, I have been a busy - mostly non-sewing - gal.

(Oh, and laundry. I had three loads. Ugh.)

One quilt-related pic I can include here from my fun weekend - I got to buy some fabric on the way to Lake Hope. There is a sweet quilt shop in McArthur, and I found some perfect baby quilt fabrics. I must get busy on these. Those babies sure don't wait, do they?

And now, I am off. More fun at OUC today! We are writing 'Argument Essays,' and the first rough drafts have just been submitted. Lots to cover, believe me.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Beading and Tassel-Making

As you may recall, my birthday was earlier this month. One of the gifts I was given included a "project" - making a tassel necklace from DD Erin. I moved the box around from spot to spot over the course of about 10 days, and finally brought it up to my sewing room, where I again moved it around a few times. Seems it was always in the way.

Finally, this weekend I decided to make a necklace, doggone it. Then I could put the box away.

What a fun little project. I really enjoyed making the necklace, although I did feel "all thumbs" through the process. Those beads are so tiny! And then making that tassel - who knew it involved so many steps?! I have enough materials left that I can make two more, so I suppose each daughter will get one at some point. They both said they wouldn't mind a bit. *grin*

So, yes, in the midst of finishing my Elizabeth quilt, I stopped everything and made this tassel necklace. Typical me. But I did get myself focused back to Elizabeth, finished it, and will share the big reveal in tomorrow's post. If you have Instagram, I have already shared it there.

Baiting you, I know. But do come back for a look - it's a beauty!

Happy Quilting (and beading), Friends!

Celebrating

Yours truly has reached a landmark - I have entered a new decade. Today I am 60 years old. I am doing better than I would have thought with this new set of numbers to deal with. Perhaps it is because I have had several celebrations in recent days. Here are some snapshots of the frivolity.

On Tuesday evening the Frienzies met at Lyn's for dinner. We had Italian potluck, so you see on the left some Zuppa Toscana and meatless lasagna. We also had some yummy appetizers, Italian sodas, 7-layer salad, bread and wine. All fantastic! On the right is my request for birthday cake - Boston Cream Pie. It was always my request growing up, and it'd been years since I'd had it. Still yummy!

On Friday night my kids arranged for us all to go out for dinner in Columbus. They made plans for us to go to a bar/cafe that Kevin and I used to go to as newlyweds - Planks Cafe on Parsons Avenue. Talk about a trip down memory lane. We had some great pizza there; the best part was having all the kids together with us.

Today we've been to Wilmington (Damon's for lunch) where we met all of my siblings (I am the oldest of 5) and our Mom. Spouses and a couple of children also attended. What a nice time; it was not crowded which allowed for us to linger and visit. Totally enjoyed it. My sister Sandy has a birthday on Tuesday, so we were both celebrating.

 

For me, the celebrating will end with my friends in the card group taking me out for Oriental food on Thursday evening. Whew! Lots of food means I'd better be getting my walking in! The weather is supposed to be warmer this week, so perhaps I will.

For sewing news, I delivered Erin's Diamonds on Friday when we went to Columbus. It looks fantastic on their king-size bed.

And I have finished all the stars necessary for Elizabeth. It has been a fun quilt to work on so far; next up is making 144 little HSTs for the Delectable Mountain blocks; we shall see if I'm still having fun after those are made! I have also been sharing pictures of Elizabeth on Instagram; several have asked about the fabrics I am using so I will do a post in the coming week that provides all the details about fabrics and such. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Mom's Place Mats

I was being a bit less than truthful in my recent posts about place mats. You see, my original intent was to make a set to give to my mother who recently celebrated her birthday. We had the big October birthday bash yesterday at Max and Erma's over at the Roberts Center near Wilmington. Mom now has her place mats, and I can come clean. (These little fibs - my conscience always gets the best of me!)

 Mom likes to garden.  She also likes pretty dishes. She also likes interesting foods. So the panel that combined all of these things seemed perfect for her. As I've done with all of these sets, I rummaged through my fat quarters to come up with suitable accent fabrics for the edges. I especially liked this combination.

 Here's a better shot of the center panel. I wish I'd taken a picture of the other motif. These place mat centers were all cut from one fat quarter panel; two look like this and the other two have a slightly different design. All very pretty.

Here are the set of 4, freshly pressed and waiting on gift-wrapping. And you can see in the background, I have the next set prepped for finishing.

This is my mom, Jeannie, with her new place mats. Photo bombing next to her is my youngest sibling, Carol. And in the background is Ann, my sister-in-law. We had a fantastic time at the birthday bash. Between Ann's family and ours, there are about 10 fall/October birthdays, so this was the reason for the bash at Max and Erma's - no one's house is big enough for all this crowd!!

Happy Quilting, Friends!