Charming Addition for Hubby

November 14, 20167 Comments

I subscribe to a few quilting magazines, how about you? I leave them around the house for inspiration and then after awhile, I give them away to quilting friends. The December 2012 edition of American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine featured a quilt pattern called Charming Addition.

“Charming Addition” Quilt made by Cindy

My husband spotted this quilt pattern and suggested I make one. At first, the quilt looked easy but then as I read through the instructions, I realized how complicated it would be to lay out all those plus signs! AND I had to cut out hundreds (yes hundreds!!) of squares from my stash…gasp! I gave a half hearted “someday” reply and moved on to make other quilts. But RK would not give up! Every once in awhile he would come back to me and say “This quilt is really nice” or “Isn’t this beautiful?” After finally taking a not so subtle hint I decided to make RK a quilt for Christmas using fabrics that represent our life together (Schnauzer included!)

Sadie Sue loves Charming Addition! Haircut scheduled for Wednesday!

I began to search for fabrics that had meaning to both of us and secret messages from me. For example, RK is my prince charming so I had to include this crown fabric!

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And he is the apple of my eye!

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RK likes military planes and I was so happy to find this fabric! We frequent the The National Museum for the United States Air Force.

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Every spring, we hunt for Morel Mushrooms, so mushroom fabric was a must! By the way, RK won first place for men and I won first place for women in the 54th Annual National Mushroom Hunting Championship in Boyne City, Michigan a few years ago. You can read about the festival here. We had so much fun and it’s our claim to fame… but that’s a story for another time!

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We always have fun at Buckeye Football and Basketball games!

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RK is a rock collector, as in boulders! Our yard has many a boulder just waiting for a permanent home somewhere on our property! Needless to say, I seriously needed to find some rock fabric!

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I enjoyed making this quilt for RK. It was fun to shop for the fabrics and I was actually very organized in how I cut my fabrics into squares. I stacked and layered my cut squares in shoe boxes and used blank, white paper to separate my layers. I used wool batting and a warm, navy blue flannel for the backing. Now that it’s getting colder outside, it’s time to bring out this beauty and snuggle by the fire!

Dreaming Juneau

September 8, 20163 Comments

When our ship docked in Juneau, the weather greeted us with a misty, cold rain. No problem…we made lemonade from lemons…especially while on vacation!

Port of Juneau, Alaska

Since Juneau is the capital of Alaska, we decided the Alaska State Museum might be a good place to escape the rain and spend some time immersed in Alaskan heritage. A recreated life size eagle’s nest greeted us just inside the entrance…nice start! Things just kept getting better!

Alaska State Museum Exhibit, Juneau

The exhibits inside the museum include tributes to the Native peoples of Alaska who have rich, diverse histories and cultures. The colors in these masks were striking and beautiful.

Alaska State Museum Exhibit, Juneau

These woven baskets were exquisite! The colors and designs were bright, cheery and looked a bit quilty!

Alaska State Museum Exhibit, Juneau

After spending several hours in the museum, I found the Changing Tides Fabric & Needle ART Gift Store where I encountered the art of Barbara Lavallee for the first time. After just visiting the museum and then seeing Barbara’s work, I was totally enchanted by her designs! Her depictions of Eskimo women celebrating every day life events are colorful and joyful!

Barbara’s prints have been translated into fabric panels and complimenting fabrics for quilting. The Changing Tides shop had a nice selection of Barbara’s panels and after much deliberation, I decided to make a wallhanging from the fabrics in the Eskimo Snow Collection.

I can’t wait to start working on my wallhanging! Every time I look at the fabric, I smile as I remember a rainy but dreamy day in Juneau.

Museum + Fabric…what a winning combination! Here’s one more picture to bring color and joy to your day!

Alaska State Museum Exhibit, Juneau

Hanging in the Breeze

May 18, 2016May 18, 20165 Comments

One of my favorite memories growing up on the farm was playing in the back yard around the clothes line. Someone put a lot of work into that line. The end posts, one on each end of the line, were thick metal pipes with a cross bar ‘T’ at the top. Hooks on the T were used to loop the cotton clothesline rope to make the hanging rows. The pipes were sunk in concrete — they had to be sturdy because I recall climbing on them frequently. Every couple of years my sisters and I had to repaint the posts to keep them shiny white or silver, depending on my mother’s whim.

When Mom hung up sheets, we’d hide inside the drapes and run between the rows. There is nothing better than the smell of sheets and clothes that have dried in the sun. Mom is still hanging clothes out on that line — even in the wintertime. As long as there is sunshine, she’s got her clothes on the line.

The next best thing about clothes on the line is the clothespins. Mom hoards hers like a miser. The old fashioned pinch kind with the really tight spring are her favorite. A while back we were wandering through a tag sale and I spotted a beautiful antique clothespin holder full of pins. Score! The bag had a few rough spots, but I was intrigued with the design.

I found this laundry pin bag at a tag sale. Mom wanted those good antique spring-loaded clothespins. I wanted the bag for a quilt.

I discovered that the Champion Clothespin Bag Company was based in Minneapolis, MN.

After I took the bag apart (and gave mom her clothespins) I put the panel on my design wall while I contemplated its future. A couple of months later I felt confident enough to trim it so that the torn bits were eliminated.

Trimmed panel — all the messy bits are gone. Measures 10.5 inches square

Next I added some borders. I took my inspiration from the cool graphic — I tried to mimic that funky mid-century modern vibe.

Skinny orange-red accent and blue checkerboard border

I had to get outside of my color comfort zone for this design. The tea-stained checkerboard squares match the panel fabric. I’m usually a stark white kind of girl.

The full checkerboard border

I added some wide borders and some corner pinwheels to remind me of the wind at the farm, then sent if off to the quilter. She did a beautiful job. I am so happy with this quilt! It’s hanging in my laundry room, far away from the sunshine and fresh air <sigh>.