I Knew It Would Be Perfect...

 My Coffee Club girlfriends celebrated my Birthday last Saturday.

It was my turn to receive a collaborative wall hanging from the girls.

They chose one of the few French General fabric lines that I don't have.

(They know how I adore Kaari Meng's fabric lines!)

 They fussy cut the coffee mugs and tea cups, satin-stitched

the appliques' and chose the most wonderful quilting designs

to finish the piece. I love every little detail. There's so much to see!

I can't tell you how delighted I was to see my gift. The fact that I
 received the wall hanging wasn't a surprise...we make one for each
member of the group on their special day. I knew it would be perfect for
me, but they really outdid themselves! These girls really know me!

To Kathy, Nora, Brenda, Joni and Fay:

Thank you. I'm so blessed to call you friends.

I'm looking forward to more happy days and years

of shared projects and experiences with each of you.

Love you all to bits!

xo

Progressing Nicely, Thanks...

I'm just giving a snapshot of the placemats I'm making in the French General "Rural Jardin" fabrics. I'm doing pinwheels on these, instead of the half-square triangles that were the focus on my "Rouenneries" set.

I'm going to make all of the mats first, and then I'll bind them while I chat with the girls at Books A Million this evening. Something simple to do while we giggle and tell "fresh lies", as an old friend used to say.

I'm also going to make my mug mat for my swap partner today and will bind that this evening, too.

I just realized that I hadn't shown you our new floor in the dining room yet. We had a little side project that had to be completed before I could photograph it to share. So, without further ado...
This is the dining room with the old light fixture still installed, and our artificial palm in the corner. It was so past time to tear out that carpeting and now, you can see the "after" photo.
Here it is! No extra charge for the model in the photograph. The chairs are usually all around the table, but Handsome wanted to keep the leaf out of the table for a little while, and the chairs don't fit with the leaf stowed away. I especially like that this table stores the leaves right under the top. Those clever Scandinavians!

We also have a roll-top desk in the corner that previously hosted the palm tree. I store table linens in the bottom drawers, so it's handy to have in the dining room. All of the pieces are teak and are easily cleaned and maintained with an occasional wiping of teak oil. The fixture above the table is also teak. Man, I like it so much more than the fancy chandelier that hung there before. This is more "us".

Hope you all like the new look as much as we do. It really is a vast improvement for us. So, I'm on my way back to the studio for part of the morning; Soundsations rehearsal from 1-3; and then gabbing with the girls this evening. Wishing all of you a fun and creative day, too! Later, 'gaters!

The General's Garden...

These are my fabrics for the next set of placemats, napkins and a small table quilt I'm making. They're for something really special, but I won't be revealing the reason until my Silver Sunday post next weekend.

The fabrics are from the French General's "Rural Jardin" and I've selected all blue/white/tan colors for my pieces. I'm told that "Jardin" means garden in French, so the beautiful florals make total sense. Another French General line to steal my heart!

The piece on the bottom of the stack is the toweling fabric, which I will again use for 17" square napkins. (We've been using the cream with red stripe napkins that I recently completed and are really liking them.)

The rest of the assorted pieces will be used to create the placemats and a 45" square table quilt. I'm going to create a different design for these placemats than what I used on the red colorway. I don't want to repeat the large half-square triangles. I want them to look a bit different.

I'll start sewing on them today, so I'm sure I'll have something to show you of my progress tomorrow.
I also want to share what I received over the weekend from my friend, Denise in Vermont. She doesn't have a blog to link to, but she and I have been friends for quite some time, and she reads my musings here.

She sent this gorgeous ceramic acorn, with the most beautiful lid. She and her husband had found one of these for me over the summer, but it was somehow broken before it was mailed to me. Apparently, she and her sweet spouse went on the hunt for a duplicate and she told me that he's the one who found the new one. Niel, you're wonderful! I love this canister and it will get lots of use.
They also tucked this pretty little snowbird into the canister. See what it's perched upon? I now have an adorable little bird to join my little menagerie in the studio.

Dearest Denise and Niel...Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your beautiful gifts. I love them and will think of you whenever I look at them. Sending you love and hugs from Florida. I'll write a proper thank you note to you, but just had to let everyone see the sweet surprises you sent my way.

An Award, A Giveaway Win, and A Breakthrough...

I recently received a blog award from my friend, Ramona of Create With Joy. I can't tell you how honored I am to have been given this award. Ramona has been a friend, following Brynwood, for quite some time. Thank you, sweetie. I really appreciate the thought and recognition!

I'm supposed to choose 15 other blogs to give this award to, but frankly, I wouldn't know who to single out. If your blog is in my "Inspiring Blogs" blog roll on my left sidebar, please feel free to take the award as a gift from me. You're all friends I love to visit and you're all beautiful in my eyes. Thanks again, Ramona. I hope you'll all visit her blog and please tell her I sent you to say "Hi".
Imagine my surprise to find out that I won a wonderfully generous giveaway from Patty at Shoofly Quilts & Other Musings blog! Look!!! Two charm packs of French General Rural Jardin fabric (you know how much I love the French General!!!); two fabulous quilting books; and the sweetest, rabbit made from a vintage quilt.

Oh, me...oh, my! What a lucky girl am I. Please be sure to visit Patty, to see what she's doing these days. She's a quilter. Need I say more?
The rabbit immediately got comfy next to my squirrelly wall organizer. I guess she felt right at home at Brynwood! I'm so glad. Fitting in can occasionally be a trial around here.
Take these two, for instance. This is the longest Kes has tolerated this little bug since he moved in! Why, just yesterday, she walked up to me and said, "Mom. Is that little butt head going to be around her much longer?" "Why, yes, Kessie. I thought you'd like the company. He's here to be your companion...your sidekick...your teeny Fountain of Youth, so to speak."
Labradors! Dogs that generally keep their thoughts to themselves, but, oh, one expression can be worth a thousand words! This, too, shall pass.

A United Nations Project...

I decided to turn to a completely simple and utilitarian project in the studio yesterday. I knew this wouldn't take much time, but the results would add a nice touch in the kitchen. I decided to make the easiest of dish towels!

I purchased my yardage from Hancocks of Paducah, and...now, don't be shocked...it's toweling courtesy of The French General line. (I'm giggling.) Here's a link to the toweling you see in my photos. (If you order some for yourself, you need to order (2) units to equal (1) yard of fabric.)

When the fabric arrives, the sides have already been prefinished for you, so all you have to do is cut the toweling to the desired length (which I did with a rotary cutter), and finish the ends. The toweling is 100% cotton and comes in continuous lengths, 16" wide.
I cut my toweling into 28" lengths. Next, I turned over about 1/2" and pressed it. I used my lavender linen spray as a little something special while I was pressing. Make sure your woven trim lines match up as you press.
After you press the 1/2" over, you'll turn the fabric over one more time. I eyeballed this step, but tried to turn over the same amount as what is finished on the sides. Pin this hem down to secure it (matching up those decorative lines again) and then, using matching thread in your sewing machine, stitch about 1/8 - 1/4" inch away from the edge. By stitching that close to the edge, you'll also catch the first little fold and keep your hem from fraying after repeated washings.
My little finishing touch is a square of twill tape with a blue Swedish Dala horse. A nod to Handsome's Swedish roots. I only put one on each towel, facing toward the center and located about 1 1/2" from the edge of the towel. Let's see...The French General, a Swedish Dala horse, stitched by an American girl, born in England. My very own United Nations project!
I purchased this twill tape from one of my favorite Etsy shops, lillalotta. Anna also made my Brynwood and Acorn twill labels! Her work is impeccable, she's very artistic, and I highly recommend her products.
So, these are my finished kitchen towels. They measure approximately 16" wide and 26" long. I made four of them in this colorway. I also have the natural color with blue lines, and natural with red lines. I even have the red Dala horses to stitch onto the towels with the red lines. I think I may start to like doing the bit of hand washing I do, knowing that I'll be able to dry all the dishes with these new towels!