Flying Geese

Happy Easter everyone!

After church this morning, we visited my Mom, who lives near Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  She made a very yummy Easter feast, and was shared with my brother Dave and sister-in-law Lynda.  It was a very nice day.

While I was there, I snapped some pictures of her quilting work to share with you today.  This is her pride and joy, her Flying Geese quilt.  She lives in a very nice apartment, but cannot paint, so she must add color to the walls in a different way.  She made this quilt several years ago.  The geese are flying in vertical columns, surrounded by a dark blue floral print (used as both sashing between columns and for the outer border and binding.)  The fabrics are a variety of prints including many batiks.  When she was finished with this quilt, she discovered that she had enough fabric for another set of geese.  So, she made another quilt, and it resides at my house.

Mom also has a guest room with a twin trundle bed unit.  She made identical quilts for these two beds using kits purchased from Connecting Threads.  They turned out beautifully!

Yes, folks, those white dots outside are snowflakes, thanks to a little snow squall that moved through the area in the afternoon.  Fifteen minutes after this picture was taken, the sky was blue and the sun was shining.  What do you expect...it is March in Wisconsin, after all.

 

A very Blessed Easter to All!

Tag Collage, Scrappin' Syle

While paging through a scrapbooking magazine, I saw a really cool project...a photo collage made with tags.  I knew immediately that I wanted to make one of these for our niece, Heather.  She is Denis' brother's daughter.  So, it was off to the picture vault (old albums from Denis' mother.  Thank you, Stella, for saving every picture!) to find just the right ones.

I started the project with a picture frame, the size I chose was 16" x 20".  I then cut a piece of foam core to fit.  I then covered the foam core with paper (I used papers from the Emporium collection by Close to My Heart).  I added some inked Dimensional Elements borders (also Close to My Heart (CMTH).  My daughter, Kristy is a consultant.).  I used my Cricut to cut the tag bases in a dark brown (CMTH Cocoa) cardstock and the tag fronts in an off-white (CMTH Colonial White).  Some of the tags also feature a photograph cut in the shape of the tag.  The photograhs of are Heather, her Mom and Dad, her brother, and each set of grandparents.  I embellished each tag with various brads, ribbons, buttons and other items.  One of my favorite tags is the one of her grandfather Bill in his army uniform.  During WWII he was stationed stateside and rode the troop trains (as an MP) across the country.  We had several of his rifle medals, so I used one on this tag.

Here is the finished collage in the frame, followed by close-ups of some of the tags:

 I tried to use a variety of brads, ribbons and other embellishments on the tags.  I used the Cricut to cut the photos on the lower left tag.  These are in the shape of a travel trailer, which emulates the subject of the photos.

 Because the wedding photo is so light in color, I used a blue patterned paper for the front tag, as well as ribbon roses for embellishment. 

 I used my Cricut to cut the wedding photo tag shape and the picture frame.

 These were done with acrylic rubber stamps (also CTMH)

 I copied the Michigan logo from the University's website, printed it on photo paper, cut it out, and used a foam square to stand it off the tag.

Here is my favorite tag of Grandpa Bill. 

I gave this collage to Heather for Christmas, 2009.  She loved it.  It was the WOW! gift of the season.  It made her cry.

Pillowcases, Part 3

So, you ask, how long can this Pillowcase Saga go on?  I'm happy to report that this is the third and final installment.  After I was done making pillowcases for my family, I couldn't very well leave Denis' family out, so I found fabric for 4 more.  Here are the results:

 This one is for Denis' brother, Gordon.  He's a fisherman.

 Heather, Denis' niece, is a graduate of Michigan (twice). 

 Kurt is Denis' nephew and is into computers and computer games.  Pac-Man for him.

 This was a fitting subject for Bev (sister-in-law).  She loves chocolate.

Here we all are with our cases.  You know what comes next....

Yep...you guessed it, on our heads.

 

In all, I made 30 pillowcases in the fall of 2012.  In the process, I perfected the pattern and my pillowcase making skills.  My enthusiasm for pillowcases has not dulled, however.  I'm ready to make more!

Pillowcases, Part 2

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, those first 10 pillowcases were not the end of this pillowcase story.  I made some Packer pillowcases for both my daughter Kristy and for Lynda, my sister-in-law (they are both AVID Packer fans!).  After than I got to thinking about my other two daughters, their husbands, my mom, my brother, Denis, and then, what the heck, myself.  So, a few more pillowcases to be made.

I made this one for Crystal, the daughter of a good friend at work.  She is 10 and loves wolves. 

This one is for my brother Dave.  He is a Guitar Man.

 This is Chris, Kristy's sig other.  He's a golfer.

Here's Lynda and her Packer pillow case. 

And Kristy with hers.

 

 Here's Denis.  He (I'm helping him) is building a HO model railroad layout in our family room.

 My youngest Kerri, who has loved Mickey Mouse since she was little.

 This is Kim's.  She loves orca.

This one is Doug's.  He's a baseball fan. 

This one has a sewing theme.  Guess who belongs to this one...you guessed it...Me!

 

 This one features Kokopelli in vibrant southwest colors.  This one is for Mom.

 Rick is the deer hunter in our family.  This one was his.

These are two fun M & M pillowcases.  Two very nice boys named Cameron and Cory received these. 

So here we all are, wearing our pillowcases on our heads.  I don't know why...it's just what we do!

 

 

Once I decided to make a special pillowcase for each member of the family,  I faced the daunting task of finding just the right fabric print for each person.  I found almost everything at Fabric.com  They have a fantastic selection of novelty prints and great prices and free shipping over $35.00.  They are my favorite place to shop for fabric on the internet, and the first place I go when looking for that special fabric.

 

No, friends, this is still not the end of the saga of the "Pillowcases of 2012".  There is still more to come in Pillowcases, Part 3.

Pillowcases

So I was going through my fabric stash last fall, and found I had a lot of pieces 1+ yard(s) in length.  Some were juvenile prints I had purchased for projects for my grandchildren, curtains for Denis' office, etc. but didn't use or had leftover (don't we all do that...buy fabric, then find the perfect one later).  I was thinking about doing another donation project and decided upon pillowcases this time.  I searched the internet for the best pillowcase pattern, and wound up creating my own from several others I found.  I think I have incorporated the best of all of them into one.  Each pillowcase now takes me 45 minutes or less to complete.  In all, I made 10 pillowcases for donation to a local child abuse intake center.  They loved them.  I just hope the children who receive them love them as well.  I tried to make a variety for both girls and boys.

 Footballs and helmets

 Minnie Mouse

 Old Fashioned Kitties

Teddy Bears 

 Airplanes

 More Airplanes 

 Kitties at Play

Owls







I have plans to make more pillowcases for donation this year.  Earlier this winter, my grandson Corey was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, and spent several days at Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.  They took very good care of him there, and he came away with his own pillowcase (which he is very proud of) that someone had lovingly sewn and donated.  I want to repay this kindness.  My goal is to have 10 more pillowcases ready for donation by September.  I'll be in Madison again for the Quilt Expo.  I'll keep you posted on my progress.

So, you're thinking, "WOW" that is great!  Well, those first ten pillowcases were  not the end of this pillowcase story.  Stay tuned for the next installment of "Pillowcases, Part 2" for more details.

Betty the Cat (BTC)

We have a kitty cat and her name is Betty.  She also answers (when she feels like it, of course) to the name of BTC, the Bets and Betzer.  She has been with me for 15 years and provides love and companionship (again, when she feels like it) to Denis and I.  Her breed is known as American Shorthair and she is an indoor cat only.

Being the scrapbooker that I am, I have made a book of Betty's life and times.  As a pet owner, I am aware of her finite lifespan, and know that someday she will leave me.  So, I made a book to commemorate the highlights of Bets's life.  Here are a few of my favorite pages:

We live in a split level home, 8 stairs up and 8 stairs down.  She loves to play "gotcha" on the steps through the stair rails.

This is my favorite page of the entire album.  Don't you just want to know what thoughts are behind those eyes?  On second thought, maybe not!

Dogs and cats are notorious for having very reflective eyes.  To a scrapbooker, no photograph is a bad one.  The result of that philosophy is this page.

I love this kitty bowl set.  It's made of ceramic.

Desert Sky

Shortly after I made the Stonewall Farm quilt (from an earlier post), I was in JoAnn Fabrics and noticed this quilt.  This is one of their quilt block programs, and when I saw this I just had to make it for my mother.  She had just recently (after the death of my stepfather) moved back to Wisconsin after many years of living in the west, first in Reno, Nevada, then in Grand Junction, Colorado.  She missed the desert, and I thought this might be of some comfort to her.  So, I collected all the blocks, binding and backing fabrics and set about making this quilt.  This is a full/queen size quilt, and was quite the project for a beginner.  I learned many things making this quilt.  It consists of 12" pieced blocks surrounding an appliqued medallion.  I finished this quilt in time to give it to Mom for Christmas. 

Here is the quilt on Mom's bed.

Mom and quilt at Christmas (2009).

Here is the quilt diary page showing all the elements of this quilt.

Overall, I was very satisfied with this project.  I came away with a great sense of accomplishment and with some very valuable learn-as-you-go lessons.  It is not perfect, but nothing handmade ever is.

Molly

As I mentioned in my profile speech, I am also a scrapbooker.  I've done a number of books for myself, but also some gift and commemorative pieces for family and friends.  Here is a commemorative piece for Jerry, a friend from work.  His golden lab, Molly, died from illness in 2011.  I made him this 12" x 12" page in a frame to help remember her by.  He displays this piece in a prominent place in his home.

Quilt Show Manitowoc

Yesterday, Mom and I attended the Patch of Lakeshore Quilt Show in Manitowoc, WI.  Here are some of my favorites:

As you can see, there was a wide variety of types and styles of quilts on display.  We had a great time and came away with several ideas for quilts of our own.