A finish and a few finds...

Stacy Nash Primitives

Country Sampler's Spotted Hare Pinkeep

It continues to be hectic both at work and at home and has taken me longer to finish this than I thought. This was an exclusive class kit and was supposed to be a pinkeep drum, however since I couldn't attend the class I felt more comfortable finishing it as a pillow instead. I changed a few of the color placements and decided to put the word "hope" in the center rather than a year. I really love this piece and think I like it even better as a pillow ~ you can see all the motifs at once...

I really enjoy going to local estate sales - both to hunt for treasures and to get a chance to peek in wonderful homes. There haven't been any estate sales for a while (which I guess is a good thing.) When I saw an ad for one near my house I couldn't wait to go.

The woman who lived there was a sewer. Not much left by the time I got there but I did find some great vintage yardage of this sweet flowery cotton and a quilt top. The quilt top would fit a twin bed and appears to be completely pieced. Not sure what I will do with it (any suggestions?) but when they said both were $6 I couldn't leave it there now could I???

In the garage I found a few treasures as well - two little wooden holders that I thought I could use for needles or pins (the larger one has copper wire wrapped around it). And a wooden what not that certainly intrigued me. Any idea what it might be? It seemed like a very well made clamp. I loved the detail on the screw and noticed that every piece of wood was marked with the initials FAS. I'm not sure what I will do with it, but for $3 it certainly intrigued me.

Look how much fun you can have for $9 lol!

I don't think I ever shared these estate sale finds:

A sweet Steiff rabbit and an antique puzzle ball pincushion. I think that they look so nice together and I've been enjoying them all spring.

Well, I hope to work on my TDIPT offerings tonight. Some creations are close to being finished while others have a ways to go.

Wishing you time to enjoy your heart's desire.

Blessings, Patti

The Last Quilt Show

Primitive Gatherings

Geranium Baskets

Table Mat

This weekend was the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. I promised myself that I would finish a project purchased at a prior show before attending this one and buying even more projects :) I finished this just in time!

And I had just the place to put it.

My sister-in-law and I always look forward to this show, but we were a little sad this year as it is the last one in Chicago. The show is moving to Cincinatti next year. Living just 10 minutes from the show has truly spoiled us and I don't see us making the trip to Ohio next spring. So we enjoyed every minute of the show this year...

The Quilt show was incredible. I'm partial to traditional quilts, but a few of the modern quilts stopped us in our tracks. The colors and stitchwork above really created an optical illusion.

What a busy home depicted in this quilt. So many details to take in...

Last year this quilter submitted a goat that was so sweet. This little piggy made everyone smile.

We spent most of our time admiring the antique quilt exhibit. These quilts were all created between 1830 and 1900 if I remember correctly.

Aren't they incredible?!

They've clearly been treasured over the years.

The fabrics in the antique quilts are just stunning.

It's interesting the combinations of fabric used.

I think that this one was my favorite. I couldn't get a photo of the full quilt as it was constantly being admired. You can't get the perspective here, but the quilt/applique pieces were tiny.

Don't the flowers on the right look like perfect pansies?

Of course knowing that this was the last show I did more than my share of shopping at my usual favorite booths:

At the Country Sampler, I bought the new Blackbird Designs book that I've been wanting. And a Stacy Nash kit that I had never seen before - I think it will be a great companion piece to the one that I am stitching now.

At Primitive Gatherings I did some damage to my pocketbook. I LOVE Lisa & Carole's new book and would love to stitch up every wool project in it. I highly recommend this book and couldn't resist buying a few of the kits right away.

The wools in the kits are so beautiful.

I had to buy another geranium table mat... I love the terra cotta pots and the flower petals are teeny tiny.

I bought a few vintage items - some neat metal buttons, a few old wooden spools for a project I have in mind inspired by something I saw, and a wonderful old fabric from a quilt backing.

Then I was so inspired by a new booth that really isn't my usual taste...

Handbehg Felts!

Photos in the vending area were discouraged, but these ladies encouraged it.

What sweet and helpful women, who were wonderful salespeople! After exploring their creative booth, I just wanted to go home and start creating!

It was a feast for the eyes and my creative soul :)

The possibilities are endless for these little felt balls. And I've always had a soft spot for wool!

These little acorns were the clincher - I just knew that I had to make some!

I felt that I did my best to contain myself and not overdo it. And can't wait to have some finshes to show you!

We had such a wonderful time!

I did promise myself that I won't start another project until I finish stitching this one and put it together...

Luckily I am pretty close to finishing the stitching.

Thanks so much for sitting through my blabbing on and on. When you enjoy something so very much you just want to share!

Wishing you a lovely week filled with creativity!

Blessings, Patti

***flowers***

It's the time of year for flower shows - a lovely way to enjoy spring.

This week it is "Spring is in the Air" at Macy's on State Street in Chicago. We've been in the midst of strong April showers (hopefully it will bring lots of May flowers). We even had golf ball size hail on Monday night. Luckily, this flower show was inside so weather didn't dampen it.

This display really struck me ~ it took me a minute to realize that I was looking at hundreds of balsam wood airplanes cascading down from the Tiffany ceiling installed in 1907 containing 1.6 million pieces of glass. The beauty of it really touched me.

The scent of spring was lovely. All the displays of spring flowers really sang, but the crown jewel was the "Bouquet of the Day" by the truly gifted team from Stems, Inc.

Wow! The creativity and uniqueness of this display was incredible!

Hanging from a tree of baby's breath were these glass bulbs filled with blue hydrangea blossoms in water.

These tall vases were filled with flowers under water. I never thought about flowers being displayed under water. The shimmering colors under the water were hypnotic and intriguing.

I just couldn't pull myself away from the display ~ the colors, the tall fresh spring grass, the unique combinations ~breathtaking.

I wonder who will create the "Bouquet of the Day" tomorrow... I may just have to stop by and take a peek.

Here's a peek at the flowers that I have been working on:

I haven't had time to create for a bit, so I am really enjoying watching this spring piece unfold.

And here's another:

I'm putting my own spin on this piece and am seeing where it takes me. Hopefully I'll have a finish to share soon.

I hope that you have a chance to enjoy some spring flowers in your corner of the world.

The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come
~Song of Solomon 2:12

Blessings, Patti

Just in time...

Prairie Schooler

"Farm Fresh"

Book #108

I've been under the weather this week and am not where I would like to be for Easter preparations. It will be a busy day today preparing for tomorrow.

The good news is that I finished two projects that I wanted to put out for tomorrow.

I fnished this little bunny as a pinkeep with rickrack edging. You can't really see in the photos, but I tea-dyed all and was pleased that they all took the dye the same and matched really well.

I'm rather partial to standing rabbits with baskets on their backs as you can see :)

We had pet rabbits when we were little and I always loved how curious they would look when standing on two legs.

Ginger Cookie Company

"Hippity Hop"

I also finished this table runner. It's not backed but that will have to wait until I find some matching backing fabric. I bought this pattern in Dubuque a few weeks back and new it would be perfect for a vintage pale green wool blanket that I bought some time ago. The bunnies are also made from a really thick vintage wool blanket.

Well, now that I can set the table I better start working on the menu... Can you see where my priorities are? ;)

Here are a few original decorations that I made in years past.


Wishing you and your family a Blessed Easter!

Allelulia!
He is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!

Blessings, Patti