Friendship Basket

After seeing Victoria this weekend, I was so inspired I just had to make a quilt! Sujata had sent me this lovely little basket block, along with some scraps. So I combined these with other scraps I'd received from several of you wonderful blogger friends, including Tonya, Buffy, Mary and Helen, along with some of my own.

Those churn dash blocks are 4". I've never made a block that small in my life!





I don't know what got into me, but I really enjoyed working with small pieces. So I made hot pads with the scraps of the scraps. Those little triangles are about 1/2"!

As I count my blessings, I am so grateful to all of you for this whole new world of friends in blog land! Thank you!!

Today's Goodwill Finds

The day after Thanksgiving, most of the thrift stores around here have their 50% off sales on just about everything. Of course I just HAD to go shopping.

Look at this dress! Can't you just see Twiggy wearing it! I actually paid full price for this one, $7.99. I love late 1960's and early 1970's prints. What can I say? Those were my teenage years.



My grandmother had an apron like this, only without the skunks. I can't remember what the style was called. Does anyone know? I've found a few, and I always buy them, in honor of her.



This one is not my favorite, but the print was so cute and ugly at the same time, I couldn't resist.



Throw in a few half-price shirts,



a few cloth napkins and some taxi cab yellow--in honor of Victoria, and it looks like a quilt to me!

Speaking of Victoria, the Rebels and I got to spend Wednesday with her! She's even more beautiful and inspiring in person than she is on the web.

Harvest Baskets

Snowflakes are falling outside my window, so it's time to put another lap quilt on the couch. I made this one at Gwen Marston's Beaver Island Retreat in 2008. It's inspired by a small crib or doll quilt from the late 1800's. Buffy was with me at the retreat. Thanks to her, there are a few pieces of corduroy included.

Don't miss her corduroy quilt at the Rebels! blog. Speaking of corduroy, check out Deb Rowden's post on 11/11/11 as National Corduroy Day.




This was my first experiment in hand-quilting. I used wool batting, which is a dream to stitch through.



Happy Thanksgiving! I'm about to jump out of my skin, I'm so excited. A certain blogger friend from NYC is visiting this weekend, and I'll get to spend a day with her!!!

Wall Quilts

Since I haven't sewn much over the last few weeks, I thought I'd show you a few quilts that I look at every day. They hang around the walls of my house. I used to think that quilts on walls were silly. Aren't quilts made for warmth and comfort? Well, these do warm and comfort me!




This one hangs above the fireplace. It's made of mostly home decorator fabric samples. Everything but the sashing is from thrift stores. The border was the ugliest fabric you can imagine, but it worked on this quilt.




This one greets me at the front door. It includes buttons that I played with as a little girl at my grandmother's house. Before I made quilts, I stitched needlepoint pillows.




This one hangs in the living room, and reminds me that life should not be taken too seriously. It's inspired by Gwen Marston. I also made dolls years ago. This one is about the experience of caring for my baby son. Remember "diaper brain?"

Seeing Red!

Here's what's up on my wall today, with many thanks to Victoria and the wonderful gals over at 15 minutes play. Every few days, I receive a few of these lovely red blocks in the mail, as part of the 15 minutes quilting bee. The quilt is inspired by one in the book, Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again, by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran.



Meanwhile, I've been painting the kitchen. It's been several years since I got out my painting overalls. I was looking at them today, thinking they might make a good inspiration for a quilt.



Before I started making quilts, I used to think a lot about paint colors. It's amazing how you can change a room with a gallon of paint.



These overalls have been with me for 40 years! See the lazy daisies at the top? I embroidered those one night in 1970, when I was waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up. There are more on the legs, but they're covered with paint.

Back to painting. It's almost finished!