Cafe Au Lait

Finshed....my first block for the Cocorico Bee.  Lauree chose Kitchen Couture and I decided to do a Cafe Au Lait theme.  I love my french press but it isn't very stylish.  I found some great images for antique coffe pots and decided to change my french press to an old fashioned French coffee pot.  This image is the test block.  It was actually the combo I was going to make for Lauree but later found out she loves orange so I made this block for her

The "lait" and "Cafe" labels were printed on fabric from my printer.  This is such a great way to take cool images and use them in your sewing projects.

Ok...I've have a list to make and some new blocks to make for a few more bees.

Happy creating to you!

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Tama

I've been entrusted with the care of this little doll named Tama.  She is so sweet and has been well loved.  I swear I felt a connection with her the moment we met.  Her Mommy asked me to give her a little TLC.  She is missing an eye and her nose and her clothes are a wee bit damaged.  I feel like the doll doctor on "Toy Story II" and am honored I've been asked to fix her up.  In the meantime she will be getting the royal treatment until she is reunited with her family.

Teeny, Tiny Inspiration

I'm so excited about the new block I'm working on for the Cocorico Bee!

Annabel's theme is orchard so I'm going to use this tiny fabric swatch as inspiration. It came with a group of vintage fabrics I purchased on Ebay and it is by far my favorite piece. It only measures 4" x 3 1/2" with each little square at about 1 1/2". I'm not sharing which little square I'll be using, but I thought it would be fun to share my inspiration.

I'm off for a little swim with the family on a beautiful 80 degree day!

Happy Creating !

Yummy Ice Cream....mmmmmmmm

We have had a wonderful August filled with outdoor swim lessons and a few fun get - aways. But I've found time to sew! I was so honored to be invited to join an incredibly talented group of ladies in the new Flicrk Group - Patchwork Pattern 318.

Each month we pick a theme from the book by Kumiko Fujita and make a block for that theme.

The first month Ayumi picked sweets' shop. You must check out her site here. She is an incredibly talented sewist and sells super cute fabric on her etsy shop.

I chose this truck and paper pieced the itty, bitty ice cream cone.

I used a new paper piecing technique from Kerry and you can find it here.

She is another incredibly talented gal in the group and you should really take a look around her blog - very inspiring!

Happy creating to you!

Living in God's Open Air

" If this question put by THE FARMER'S WIFE had been asked me fifty or even twenty years ago, I am sure I should have said No. But no position in life has changed so much this last fifty years, as the standing of the farmer's wife.

I could give you a hundred reasons for saying yes. I would have her marry a farmer because there she has the chance of living in God's open air, of living a pure life, away from the meanness of a rural town, and the petty thing they make so much of and away from the temptations of a big town."

Mrs. J. E. F.

Valley County, Mont.

So I've decided to approach the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along in a different fashion. I was doing the blocks in numerical order but was not reading the letters which is really an integral part of the book and the quilting blocks and is honestly the best part of making this quilt. The author, Laurie Aaron Hird, designed blocks to correspond with a particular letter. So, going forward, I will do the blocks and share an excerpt from the letter that corresponds with the block!!

Week #9 *** Farmer's Wife Quilt Along

I'm caught up with week #9 in the Farmer's Wife quilt along. Still loving making these blocks!

Ok, I'm off to do some sewing. Rainy summer day in Seattle!

Happy Creating!

Paper piecing and a Bee Block

The weather has finally turned around here in

Seattle so I've been a bit remiss in my blog posts. I started designing the block I'll make for the Cocorico Bee. Theme is "Kitchen Couture".

Lauree wanted kitchen themed items you would find on shelves. I love my french press (we use it every morning) so I thought I would do a French theme.

Go Here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/cocorico/ and see the incredible blocks that are starting to trickle in.

These are the pics I'm using for inspiration.

I finished one of the blocks for the 4 x 5 bee I belong to. I found the pattern on Ebay - it is an Alice Brook's vintage mail order pattern. I think it would work nicely as a whole quilt.

Enjoy your summer and Happy Sewing

Fun with Paper Piecing

My latest sewing obsession has been Paper piecing! I got the bug awhile ago when I found images from an incredible group of ladies who formed the Ringo Pie Bee. I've watched the group and the incredible things they create. You can find it here>

About a week ago I was invited to join a Bee of incredibly talented gals. We are following Ringo Pie and will make blocks for the Member of the month based on their theme. I was so honored and excited to be included with this talented group of sewists.

Our "homework" for July and August is to practice our quilting techniques. Lauree who co founded the bee had a link to this fabulous book.

Here is my first block from the book.

And my second.

This is my design based on elements from the book. I'm on a roll.....

Happy Creating!

Farmer's Wife Progress and some Bee Blocks

I'm making some nice progress on my Farmer's Wife Quilt. Love the scrappy blocks and I'm learning with each new block I make!


I made two of these blocks! I really wanted to see this block in red and aqua.


I am planning to do a lighter version of this block.

These are the blocks I've received so far in the 3 x 6 bee. I love the way they look together. The block in the upper left hand corner is the sample block I made for the bee. I simplified it to have only the teapot.

Heading outside to enjoy the day. It is suppose to be 80 degrees today!!!

Happy creating!

WIP Wednesday

More progress on my Farmer's Wife Quilt !

And a pile of scrappy goodness!

WIP Wednesday

The Farmer's Wife Quilt along has been a lot of fun. Here are the blocks together so far.

My Hex quilt is coming along nicely. It is nice to have a hand sewing project.

I finished my bee blocks for the 3 x 6 Bee. Lots of work but well worth it!

An interesting observation

Last Wednesday night I started a new class in enameling at Danaca Design with the talented Aran Galligan. I'm really excited as I have not done any enameling on metal in at least 5 years! I went searching for my old enameling technique samples and was quite surprised to see my color choices. They are very similar to the colors I'm using in the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along blocks. Interesting that we are often drawn to the same things over and over.

Happy Creating to You!

Farmer's Wife Quilt Along and We *almost* had a farm

I'm thrilled that I am caught up with the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along. I have my 4 blocks done ( we are doing 2 per week) and I only have 107 to go!! This is so much fun. Picking fabrics for each block is a treat!

When signing up for this quilt along, I was reminded of some farm related happenings in our past.

We almost had a farm. About two years ago, my husband Jay and I were looking for a vacation property on Vashon Island. We love the island because it is so close to Seattle (a 30 min ferry ride ). 

We found this lovely house with an acre of land.

It is the McNair house and was built in 1884.
This is the historical info from History.org:

"In 1884, Thomas and Etta McNair began living on and improving their land claim near Burton on Vashon Island. Every Monday, Thomas McNair commuted to Tacoma by rowboat. He would spend the week in the city while Etta worked on their farm. Like many other early settlers, the McNairs lived in a log house while starting out. In about 1890, Thomas built a substantial two-story wood-frame house that reflects the influence of the Queen Anne style in its asymmetrical elevations, ornate gable-end ornamentation and elegant porch. Thomas McNair also constructed a number of other Burton structures, including the Quartermaster School."

The house needed a lot of work and we were in the midst of finishing our 1908 house in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle.   You can read about it here.

We thought long and hard but knew it would be an amazing house and sanctuary from the city. 

I had so many wonderful dreams of the boys spending summers in the beautiful grounds, climbing trees, building forts and doing what boys do.

So......we made an offer on the house and then......my husband Jay lost his job.

We obviously didn't buy the house.

While writing this blog post I have a pit in my stomach. I really loved this house and more than that the possibilities. I knew we could bring it back to its original glory and create many more happy memories there.

This is original wallpaper in the linen closet.


All the windows have the original Victorian style moulding.

This is the view of Quartermaster Harbour.

The upstairs bedroom has a view of the harbour.

I know that home is where the heart is but I'm still heartbroken that this one got away.

The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along

So I have decided to add another project to my long list (check out the right side of my blog : )

But I'm so glad I did. It is the Farmer's Wife quilt along. Angela over here started it based on the book "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt" by Laurie Aaron Hird. The book includes 111 quilt blocks inspired by letters written to The Farmer's Wife magazine which was a popular magazine in the 1920's. The magazine asked their readers the following question: "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in the light of your own experience, want her to marry a farmer?"

Ninety four percent of the farm wives said they would want their daughter to marry a farmer!!

Here is an excerpt from one of my favorite letters:

....How beautiful our home was! It was only of logs, covered in summer with a wild clematis vine. I told our doctor that after five o'clock on winter nights we became New York milllionaires for we had our easy chairs, a big fireplace and good books. We could not have had more in a mansion.

Mrs. J.E.F.

Valley County, Mont.

I am not a farmer's wife - far from it, but I love the letters in this book because they emphasize how simplifying ones life makes for a rich life. I'd like to think I've tried to do the same. I don't have chickens or cows and my vegetable garden consists of two tomato plants, but my husband and I have tried to simplify the best we can. We live in a very small house, we don't have fancy cars or take elaborate vacations. We Do spend time with our kids every day and I try to cook a "real" meal a few times per week. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

This is my first block, attic windows. I'm going to incorporate as many farm themed fabrics as possible. This has been so much fun to do. I love the process of picking out the fabrics for each block and incorporating the title of the block into each design.

My color inspiration is aqua and red with grey, red and pink accents.
Inspired by a few bee blocks I have recently made.
You can find the Book here , the author Laurie Aaaron Hird's website here, and the Flickr group here.

I had to throw in a few photos of my garden : ) My roses just started blooming!
I really am a farm girl at heart....................

I love having flowers from my garden!

Happy creating to you!