Love Birds And Lovely Gifts...

I didn't finish my quilt top on Monday, but I did put the blocks together. I'm going to add three borders to surround the blocks. The next time you see this quilt top, it will be finished and ready to assemble. I'm so glad that I've called it Love Birds, because I am completely smitten with it.
I received a package in the mail on Saturday. I was so tickled to see a new atc for my collection! Bobbi Ann of The Bead Goes On... sent me a thank you package for including her in my 400th Follower artist card giveaway. She wrote about our exchange on her blog, too. You can read it here.
I think the dog featured on Bobbi Ann's atc looks just like Kessie! Isn't this adorable? I'm almost expecting her tail to wag!
Bobbi Ann even decorated the back of her card to me! I don't usually decorate the backs of my cards, but I've noticed beautiful backs on many of the cards I've received. I may have to rethink this. I usually pour my soul into the fronts, but I so love the cards I've received with decorated backs!

Bobbi Ann, girlfriend, you really outdid yourself on my behalf. Not only the artist trading card in exchange for the one I sent you, but also a piece of beautiful red cotton fabric, the two stretch bead bracelets (I love the letter beads spelling out "Jesus"), and the autumn-themed stickers (that even include acorns and a squirrel!). Even her little card with the sweet patchwork cat makes me smile.

Thank you so much for your lovely gifts, Bobbi Ann. I was surprised and so grateful to have received such a thoughtful package from you.

Right Under My Nose...

These are the fabrics I've chosen for my 12-month quilt project. I joined a local quilt group, The Disconnected Piecers, last month and one of the members is teaching a free class. I'm learning applique' techniques, and there will be twelve blocks to complete...one per month. At the end of the year, I'll be able to assemble the quilt.

I'm really fond of the colors I've chosen. The pattern shows the design sewn in dark colors, but I want to go for a different look, so I pulled the jelly roll from my stash with all those pretty patterns, and then selected the coordinating fabrics. I also had to purchase the lightest color fabric as the background for all the squares.

I promise I'll show you each square as I finish it so you can share my applique' journey. I think it will be an interesting twelve months, don't you?
Guess what else happened yesterday? This will probably be a yawner for y'all, but I was pretty excited. We had our usual summer storms pass through on Sunday night. I always run into the studio to make sure all of my machines are unplugged. I guess, without realizing it, I had also unplugged the "accelerator" control on Prissy. When I went to sew yesterday, nothing happened. When I figured out why, I had to plug it back in.
Look. Do you see it? There. Peeking out from under Prissy. Could it be? Tell me it is! Slowly, I reach for it and this is what I found...
Woo Hoo!!!! It's my favorite, sharp, almost vintage, seam ripper! What was lost is found. It had been right under my nose the entire time. Safe and sound, but virtually invisible.
From my vantage point, the seam ripper had been obscured by the connector for my foot pedal. I swear I'd looked there before. I even lifted the machine up once, but apparently, it was still covered by the machine and I didn't see it.
I was so grateful that I got out the brass polish and cleaned it up. Then I perched it on the crocheted (tuffet) pincushion that was created by Twyla at Two Crazy Crafters. I left it there for the afternoon and then hung it on the hook right next to my machine for safekeeping before I turned out the light in the studio for the night. One lost item from my list moved to the "found" column. Now, if only I could find those berry bowls!
One more thing...
Some of you had voiced your regrets at not requesting one of my 400th Follower Artist Trading Cards. I contacted you, asked for your address and told you I would do a Phase II set. Not exactly like the first set, but incorporating the same elements. (The embroidery on the right side of the ballerinas is a different design and color.)

They're ready now and will be mailing out today. Thanks again for asking for one of my mini art pieces. I hope you all enjoy a creative day!

I Hope You Like Them...

Guess what I'm popping in the mail today? If you said the 400th Follower ATCs, you're right! I finished them yesterday, so now they're ready to send off to their new owners.I used one of my current favorite fabrics, lace, silk ribbon, my signature acorn and of course, the giveaway image. These are "special edition", and I won't make anymore like these (unless I missed someone's name when they requested one).

Here is the list of (20!!) individuals who requested one. If you asked for one by the Friday deadline and you don't see your name here, I missed your email or message. Please let me know so that I can add you to the list and make a card for you.

• Maggie B. of The French Bear
  
• Carol D. of Beads and Birds
  
• Raeann D. of Lady Farmer Parables
  
• Sherry E. of Creatology
  
• Marydon F. of Feedsack Fantasy
  
• Denise G. from Vermont
  
• Natalie G. (I still need your address, Nat.) of Tins and Treasures
  
• Lisette H. of Liszha
  
• Nancy H. of Huggins Haven
  
• Zsuzsanna of Zsuzsanna Zeirlerne'-Kosma blog (Sue) in Hungary
  
• Diva K. of Diva's Musings
  
• Lisa L. of A Cuppa Tea With Me
  
• Marsha M. of Sassy Mini Dolls
  
• Connie M. of She Dreams Big
  
• Debra O. of Common Ground
  
• Linda P. in Iowa
  
• Peggy in the Philippines
  
• Lynn S. of Trash to Treasure Art
  
• Nancy S. of Nancy Matters
  
• Lesley W. in England

Thank you to each and every one of you who asked for a card. I'm so grateful and enjoyed making these with each of you in mind. It's always fun to know where your gift is going while you're creating it. I think I can add a little extra love into the project when I know who'll receive it. So, they're heading your way, girls. I hope you'll be happy with my efforts.

PS. Sorry for the big tag in the left corner of my blog header right now. (grrr!) I did update my blog background, per their instructions, but it's still there. I want to let you know that I finally decided to contact everyone's blog heroine, Karen Valentine, and will be working with her in the upcoming weeks to transform my blog look. (I'm more than a little excited!)

400th Follower (Friend) Giveaway Winners...

Today is the big day!

Thank you to everyone who regularly follows and reads my blog,
and thank you to all the new friends who have decided to get to
know me better. I spent the day yesterday creating all the gifts
for my 400th Follower Celebration. Goodness, I hope they're
"swoony" enough for you. You're all so "swoon-worthy"!
But, if your name doesn't get chosen, don't dismay.
I have something else up my sleeve, if you're interested.
More on that later...

What I'd like to do first is show you the four gifts I've
made for the lucky followers this time. First name chosen will
have first choice. Second will have second choice and third
will get to choose after that. I really hope that "Fourth"
doesn't feel like they got "leftovers", and is equally happy
with the final gift being given in the celebration.

Kes and Handsome came into the studio more than once
yesterday just to ask me what the heck "swoony" meant. I'd
just pick up the project I was working on and say, "I think
this is swoony." They'd smile (well, mostly Handsome did that)
and then they would turn around and walk out.

I made this necklace, featuring the celebration image, one of my new acorn charms and sparkly beads on a silver chain. There is resin covering the image, so it will be protected, although not waterproof. Is this swoony?
Then, I made a table runner. This is the last project I finished - after dark - so the color looks different from the next pieces, but they were all created from the same fabric, so it's just the studio lights that caused the image to color shift. I played a bit in Photoshop, but it's still not as accurate in color as the next images. I placed a pocket, embellished with the same image and then added handmade, vintage crocheted lace. The ruffle is unbleached muslin, and there is futher vintage crocheted trim on the top of the ruffle. The winner may choose to have me add a little color to this (I'll explain later), or leave it creamy, as it appears here. Is this swoony?
Using the same vintage, hand crocheted lace, I created a set of three, lavender-filled sachets for one of the winners of the giveaway. Not too big, but not small either.
They'll arrive stacked and tied with a muslin ribbon, which I hand stamped with my acorn logo stamp. Are these swoony?
Finally, one of the winners will receive this lined tote. Also made in canvas with a heavy cotton toile lining. Oh! Did I tell you that each of these gifts was cut and sewn together using one painter's canvas drop cloth from Home Depot? I even have enough fabric left over for a few more ideas. Anyway, the tote is a perfect size for a quick trip to the grocery, or can be used as an open handbag.
Here's a closeup of "The Girls", along with the vintage buttons, laces and trims I used to make it more special. I placed a muslin ruffle on the top edge of the front pocket.
There are more pockets (made from blue toile) on the inside, so the winner will have a place to tuck their cell phone, notepad and pen away for safekeeping. So, do you think this is swoony?

Here are the winners of Brynwood's
400th Follower Celebration Giveaway:

• First Choice goes to: # 76 Meri Wiley of Imagimeri's Creations (UPDATE 7/15/10 - Meri has chosen the tote. Next...)
  
• Second Choice will go to: #37 Marva of Purple Paint (UPDATE 7/15/10 - Marva has chosen the necklace. Your turn, Tracy!)
  
• Third Choice will be selected by: #150 Tracy Suzanne of Cotton Pickin' Cute UPDATE 7/15/10 - Tracy has chosen the sachets)
  
• The winner of the final gift is: #61 Ramona of Create With Joy (UPDATE 7/15/10 - Ramona will receive the table runner.)
  

Congratulations to all the winners!!

I'll be emailing these friends to let them know they've won. If you've won, I'll let you know when a choice has been made so you know which gifts you can choose from. If the winners of the sachets or table runner would like me to add colored ribbon to their prize (like I did on the tote) please let me know when you make your choice. I can add pink or blue trim if you'd like.

Now, here's the little surprise...

If you were entered in this drawing, I'd like to send you one of my Artist Trading Cards using the ballerina celebration image. If you'd like one, please email your address to me and I'll send one out to you early next week. (If you'd like to know if I already have your name and address, just email me to ask.) If you're not sure if I have your name and address, please just email the information to me. I'm going to make these ATCs after I find out how many of you would like one. You'll only have until Friday at 5 pm to let me know if you'd like one, along with your address. Just my way of saying "thank you" for being a friend.

Empty Nests...

The woods hold not such another gem
as the nest of the hummingbird.
The finding of one is an event.

- John Burroughs, naturalist

When I was in Wisconsin, my best friend, Lee, gave me five
empty bird's nests. One was larger, but there were FOUR
hummingbird's nests that she'd found and saved - just for me.

If, in John Burroughs words, "the finding one nest is an event",
then receiving four of these treasures was a full-blown holiday!

The hummer's nests had dried berries that the little
birds had placed in the nests. There were even little
snips of black dog fur from Lee's black Labradors
woven among the twigs and grasses to make a soft bed.

They're tiny and precious, and did I say there were FOUR of them?
I am so looking forward to doing something wonderful with them,
but for now, I'm going to place them in the studio and think of the
little jewels, and their babies who nested snugly inside them.

There was also a larger nest.

I don't know what sweet bird patiently brooded in this nest,
guarding her eggs and feeding growing babies, but I'll smile when
I think of it, built to keep another family safe until they
fledged and left their protective refuge to fend for themselves.

Thank you, Lee.

Today is the last day to enter my 400th Follower Giveaway! Midnight (ET) is the deadline to sign up. Good luck and Thank you to all who entered.

PS. One of the bloggers posted great photos of a hummingbird sitting on her nest recently. I can't remember who it was, though. If you know (or if it was you), please email a link to their post or blog to me. I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!

I'd Rather Be Sewing...

On Monday, my whole day was spent in a city commission meeting without even so much as a crafting magazine or needle and thread. Wasted time in my book! So, I'm not going to talk about Monday, but I do want to share a photograph that I took on Sunday.

Handsome and I were out near Myakka State Park in Sarasota, FL when I happened upon this egret standing watch on the shore of a beautiful pond. I couldn't resist taking its picture so that I could share it with you. (A good blogger always has her trusty camera in hand, right?)

Today, I'll be back in the studio. I'm going to work on a few of the gifts for my current giveaway. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you tomorrow. Until then, I'll take a deep breath, forget about city politics and drink in this calming image of a day spent with nature. Nature. Saves me every time!

It's Called "Stripping"...

I thought you might like to follow some of the process for making the blocks for my latest master bedroom quilt project. (Apologies if you have no interest whatsoever! I promise I won't do this every day.) I decided on the fabrics that would be used in this quilt, and where each fabric should be located on the blocks. Actually, I really like the fact that it only uses three different fabrics, and I think you could safely use just two if you wanted to.

I started by looking at how the square is laid out and then worked out in my head how I might make the process a bit simpler than cutting out 1) large squares, 2)narrow strips and 3) small squares and then sewing them all together.
Quilters know that you can sew strips together, and if you've made the strips the right dimension to start, you'll be able to cut and assemble much quicker. (Hence, the term "stripping". Those clever girls!)
First, I chose the leaf fabric. I need to have 6 1/2" squares of that fabric. I also need to sew that square to 2 1/2" x 6 1/2" rectangles of gold paisley fabric, so I cut strips of leaf fabric 6 1/2" wide by the full width of the fabric (42"). Then I cut 2 1/2" wide paisley fabric the full width of the fabric (again 42").
After I cut the strips, I put the leaf and paisley fabrics (right sides together) and sewed them using a 1/4" seam.
I ended up with strips of combined fabric (all 42" long). I pressed the seam open so it looked like this.
Then I did the same with the gold paisley and green fabric. Remember, the paisley needs to be 6 1/2" long by 2 1/2" wide when finished, and it's sewn to a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" vine square.
I sewed the strips together as before, and pressed the seam open along the full length of the fabric.
It looks like this. Now I have to cut the fabric strips to end up with the blocks in the sizes I need.
Remember, I need 6 1/2" squares of the leave fabric and 6 1/2" x 2 1/2" strips of the gold. I know that my width for the blocks is correct, so I just measure off 6 1/2" and cut across the strip. I'll repeat this down the full strip of fabric, making sure I square up each time so that the blocks are even for the next step.
The next strip has to be cut so that I end up with gold sections that measure 6 1/2' x 2 1/2" and the vine fabric will just be a small square 2 1/2" x 2 1/2". That means I just cut 2 1/2" across the width of the fabric to end up with pieces in the size I need. I'll repeat cutting across the entire combined strip as I did in the previous combination.
You can see here that I end up with the leaf sewn to the paisley, and the paisley added to the vine in the sizes I'll need to make my blocks. After completing all this, I decided to take a breather for the rest of the day. I'll assemble the blocks today and show you how they end up creating a bow tie pattern in the middle of the big blocks.

I know if you're not a quilter, I probably just bored the pants off you. Maybe you can just look at the pictures and let me know what you think. Are you liking my final color choices? I put that finished block on the bed yesterday afternoon. Handsome and I both agree that this is the layout for the fabrics that looked best in our room. Hope you like it as much as we do!

Please enter my 400th Follower Celebration Giveaway if you haven't yet. I'm giving away four gifts this time, and your comment may determine just what you'll receive!

Rain Didn't Dampen Our Weekend...

I hope everyone spent their weekend doing something they enjoy.
I spent some time in the kitchen, preparing an indoor cookout
to feed Handsome and some of our musician friends and their
spouses. They had two concerts Sunday morning, a break and
then a final concert last night. I served up dinner during the
break (in all honesty, it was a four hour break).

I decided on an indoor cookout - because it
rained cats and dogs all weekend. Really? Really!
Fireworks were held anyway.
Families gathered anyway.
Parades were marched and enjoyed anyway.
Patriotic concerts were held outdoors anyway.
It was only natural that I would cook on the grill during the
morning concerts, and have grilled food and all the fixin's ready
for our guests when they arrived. It really worked out well.

Handsome just recounted his musical weekend by reminding
me that he played four concerts, in three cities, over twenty four
hours (including the outdoor concert in the rain Saturday night),
and drove nearly 350 miles in that same time frame.
No wonder he was tired by the end of the day Sunday!
A photo from one of Maggie's blog posts.
I'd like to ask you to say a healing prayer for my friend,
Maggie at Just Between Me and You.
She was seriously injured at work a while back and cracked
two vertebrae. She celebrated Independence Day by tying a flag
to her cat, Tinkerbell's, tail and watching her parade around
the house! In spite of her ongoing and constant pain, she manages
to find humor in her life. I admire her immensely.
So, if you get a chance, a prayer, or perhaps a visit to leave a
comment on her blog would help her feel a little better.
Don't forget about my 400th Follower Post giveaway.
You can enter - and share with your blog pals - up to July 14th.

Until tomorrow, my friends...

I Was Just Wondering...

Thanks again to Karen of The Graphics Fairy for this image.
I so love giving gifts to my friends in Blogland!
Creating something four somethings to give will be even better!
I have a few ideas of what I want to create for my
400th Follower Giveaway, but I'm really interested to know what
you would wish for if you were to win one of the four gifts I'll be creating.

You'll notice that I ask you to become my "follower" in my giveaway,
but as mentioned by Carol in her comment on that post, I
also prefer to think of you as "friends". I refer to my list as
my Friends List, but even so, Blogger refers to y'all as Followers.
Just know that I don't think I'm leading anyone anywhere, and
I consider myself of friend of your blog, even though I have
to click the "Follow" button to join you in your journeys.

Your comments today won't count as an entry in the giveaway,
so please be sure to enter here, if you haven't entered yet.

So, if you were to win, what would you wish for?
Would you like me to make a cushion, embellished
with vintage buttons and lovely old lace?
Perhaps, you'd prefer a charm with added crystals,
hanging from a beautiful ribbon?
Is a sachet, with bits and bobs of vintage goodness
and filled with sweet lavender buds more to your liking?
or
Oh, yes...Maybe you'd love a tote or handbag with
the image of the two ballerinas to carry with you
or keep in your studio to hold some of your craft supplies?
I might create a wall pocket to hang in your creative space,
or
make a special keepsake out of a clay pot!
A pincushion, or a glasses case?
A keychain, or a table mat?
Whew!
I'm still thinking...
but, I'd love to hear YOUR idea of
the perfect way to fulfill your wish.

You all mean so much to me...I'd love to make
something special to show my appreciation.

I can't wait to read what you have in mind!