This and That

My but this year has gone by quickly! Each year seems to come to an end more quickly than the year before. Before I know it, the rush of time will cause me to spin like a top!

This has been another eventful year. Due to some chronic health problems, which are being taken care of, and being pressed for time as well, I did not develop any of the new patterns I’d hoped to. The patterns are planned but I could not get to the writing of directions and illustrating – something else I hope to remedy in the New Year.

I had the privilege, pleasure, and joy of teaching online quilt classes at QuiltCampus both in the spring and the fall of the year. Being a former elementary school teacher, I enjoyed getting back to teaching, especially with quilting as the topic! If you are new to quilting, visit QuiltCampus to view the classes on offer. If you are a more experienced quilter, there are classes there for you, too.

This year has seen my Quilts for Sale site grow immensely. Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to me to record how many quilters and quilts were advertised when the year began, so I cannot compare it to the numbers with which we are ending the year. We now represent 79 quilters and have 283 quilts and quilted items on display – numbers which change weekly as new quilters and quilts are added.

Normally all of the quilts offered are new but we have just added 10 quilts from the estate of Ethel Brown. Ethel was not only a skilled quilter but a talented embroiderer specializing in cross stitch. I cannot begin to imagine the number of hours she devoted to the creation of her quilts! You won’t want to miss admiring them! Click here to view them.

After completing her cross stitching, Ethel brought her quilts to two local church quilters’ groups in Decatur, Illinois to have them quilted. Her son, Scott, provided me with a photo of some of the quilters gathered together for a good, old fashioned quilting bee, and included their signatures as well! What a treasure!

Quilting Bee Signatures 1962

Here are the quilters themselves. I wish we had all of their stories!

Quilting Bee 1962

Those who love embroidered quilts or who collect older ones, should know that Ethel’s family want her quilts to go to homes where they will be loved and appreciated. Although Scott has a set price for each one, he is ready to accept any offer! So – if you would like to own one of Ethel Brown’s exquisitely embroidered quilts click here to view and purchase them!

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Today’s entries take up more than this one web page so be sure to click on the “previous entries” link at the bottom of the page to see the rest! I’ll have the finished baby quilt to show when I next add to Maria’s Quilt Scraps in the New Year.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukah!

Happy Kwanzaa! Happy Holidays!

May there be peace and joy!

Maria

Great Gift Idea for Quilters and All Needleworkers!

I found these magnetic Needle Minders on Kay Mackenzie’s website By Kay Mackenzie some time ago and meant to add them to Maria’s Quilt Scraps immediately. However, due to several circumstances, I have been unable to keep up with blogging since the last of October, a situation I hope to remedy in the New Year.

I ordered the blue butterfly version for myself for two reasons – my favourite colour is blue and I love blue and white together. I also love butterflies so I just had to have it! Here is a selection of only two of the designs and colours available on Kay’s website.

I love using mine! Not only is my needle now always right where I put it and therefore quick and easy to find, but the Needle Minder is so pretty to look at and use. I smile every time I see it.

You might be able to order these on time for Christmas, though I’m not sure of that. Visit Kay’s site and email to ask her. However, even if there is no time left to give these to the quilters, sewers, and needleworkers on your list for Christmas, there will be many gift giving opportunities throughout the New Year – birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day are just a few – and then there is the best reason of all to give – just because!

All About Appliqué Giveaway!

Be sure to visit Kay Mackenzie’s All About Appliqué blog immediately! Do it now! Right away! Don’t forget to come back here and finish reading today’s entries though!

Kay is celebrating her December 17th birthday with a giveaway – two wonderful appliqué books all appliqué lovers will want to add to their collection! I won’t name them here. Go and see what they are!

All you need do to enter the giveaway is to leave a comment before 7:00 p.m. California time on the 17th. I already have.

Quilters Niche Blog and Website

The Quilters Niche website offers a wealth of digitized designs for purchase and offers many free ones as well. You’ll especially want to see their lovely holiday designs right now, but there is something for everyone. Georgette Dell’Orco makes me wish I had an embroidery machine right now! I would love to use her designs in my quilting. Be sure to take a look at them and all that she has to offer.

Vist her blog, Quilters Niche Scraps and Bits as well. You’ll find lots of tutorials there along with a lovely variety of quilt photos and some freebies as well.

Interesting that we both used “Scraps” in our blog titles!

Pattern Winners

Our pattern winners are:

October: carolmix@ . . . . . . . .
November: wkirkw@ . . . . . . . .
December: aefoerde@ . . . . . . .

Congratulations! You can choose from any downloadable PDF pattern on my pattern pages with one exception – the patterns on the Guest page.

Winners can claim their free patterns by leaving a comment here and including the pattern name they have chosen.

Winners must claim their free pattern by no later than December 31, 2009 after which they are no longer eligible.

*Note: Winners will need the free download of Adobe Acrobat Reader to print their patterns.

Quilting in Difficult Economic Times

We quilters are all figuring out ways to continue our quilting during times like these. Maria Peagler’s Top Ten Ways I Budget for Quilting in Tough Times provides good suggestions for all of us. Maria is the author of Color Mastery: 10 Principles for Creating Stunning Quilts.

Colour Palette Tool

The Palette Generator automatically creates a colour palette from any photo you upload – and it’s free. You simply use their site to upload a picture, then click on Create and up come 15 colours from the photo along with their names.

Below is a photo I took of our roses this past summer and the palette that came with it when I used the generator.

Colour Palette Generator Example

We quilters can have fun with this and use it for inspiration when planning our quilts.

Humour – Puns

“The ability to make and understand puns is the highest level of language development.”

Here are first-place winners in a Pun Contest:

1 A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, “I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.”

2 Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says “Dam!”

3 Two men sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Not surprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can’t have your kayak and heat it too.

4 Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says ”ve lost my electron.” The other says, “Are you sure?” The first replies “Yes, I’m positive.”

5 Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

6 A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. “But why?” they asked, as they moved off. “Because,” he said, “I can’t stand chess-nuts boasting in an open foyer.”

7 A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named ‘Ahmal.’ The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him ‘Juan.’ Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, “They are twins! If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Ahmal.”

8 A group of friars were behind on their belfry payments, so they opened up a small florist shop to raise funds. Since everyone liked to buy flowers from the men of God, a rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. He asked the good fathers to close down, but they would not. He went back and begged the friars to close. They ignored him. So, the rival florist hired Hugh Mac Taggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town to ‘persuade’ them to close. Hugh beat up the friars and trashed their store, saying he’d be back if they didn’t close up shop. Terrified, they did so, thereby proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars.

9 Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and, with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him a super calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

10 And finally, there was the person who sent ten different puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.

- source unknown

Book Review: Creative Scraps – Quilting With Bits and Pieces – Editors: Jeanne Stauffer & Sandra Hatch

The subtitle of this book is 67 Beautiful Quilts to Enjoy and that says it all. The book includes complete directions and templates and beautiful full colour, full page photos for each quilt. There are lots of wonderful patterns to choose from for adults and some for children as well. Imagine working your way through this book and making all 67! Even if you don’t, this book is well worth it because you are sure to make several of them.

Click on the photo to purchase the book from Amazon.

Publisher: House of White Birches
Number of Pages: 304
Cover: Soft
ISBN: 1-59217-157-5

Quotations

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.”

- Shunryu Suzuki

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“Take the risk! Remember – there are no rules.”

“When others compliment you on a painting, just say, “Thank you.” I used to tell them everything that was wrong with it, until someone gave me this advice. . . . At first it was hard to get those two words out of my mouth, but I practiced. I did not believe my admirers. My mind was saying, “Surely they don’t mean it. They’re just being nice.” It took many years for my mouth and heart to connect and I really mean it when I say, “Thank you.” My heart feels it, too. Say it with pride!“

- Catherine Anderson from her book: Basic Water Color Answer Book

Doesn’t that resonate with us quilters? It’s a lesson many of us must learn, especially when we first begin.

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Christmas Gift Suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponenent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.

- Oren Arnold (1900-1980; American Writer and Editor)