Later....

Hubby and I will be "taking a break" and heading up to our cottage this week...

...you never know what you will find after three months of winter - I'm looking forward to it all.
Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate...and we will see you on the other side! Cheers, Jewels

I'll Never Know

I wonder who Augusta is/was…

Augusta Wichman that is…
She had an awfully pretty Rolling Pin…
...the initials BW (a relative?) are incorporated into the decorative painting..
Do you think Augusta used her Pin for making Scandinavian or Southwestern recipes?
Personally, I think I'll pass looking at the centerfold
I think she was more likely to use it for baking…
Especially things chocolaty (at least that’s what I like to think)..which of course would have to be balanced with 1 of "500 Delicious Salads" (yep, thats what it says).
To celebrate spring she might have made "Spring Flower Salads"… (the "Flowerpots" are made with unflavored gelatin, cream cheese and anchovy paste, yummy.....NOT)
And of course everyone in the family would have had to "fall in line" for the drum major salad…how fun!
Thanks for letting me be the owner of your Rolling Pin Augusta, where ever you are….

My Quilty Journey, Part 1

Someone asked me the other day if I had pictures of quilts I had made. Well I do, but unfortunately they were taken before my digital camera so most are not very good (I apologize now for the quality). Like most quilters, I have given away pretty much everything I've made so hard to go back and get new pictures. But some are okay so I thought I'd tell you my brief story...I've only been quilting for about 10 years now (unlike some of my Quilting Friends who have been doing forever - you know who you are ;->) and still consider myself an "advanced beginner"....
I actually must have had the bug back in the 1980s - I found these two cushion covers I made when I was "decorating" my apartment. Oh dear - don't you just love the pink and rose....
I took my first official quilting class at a material store in town back in 1998. The pattern was Court House Steps. Now I thought I was pretty clever with the colours I had chosen. And I managed to get the top actually done.
Problem was, I never learned the "quilting" part at that class. Hence the huge stitches and threads on the back (what a dufus I was LOL). I borrowed some books from the library afterwards as I KNEW this was not quite right.

Fortunately after a few more classes and friendly folks willing to show me the "right way" I was able to do the job properly.

That was the early 2000's and some how I got on the Thimbleberries kick (so everything looks "dark" now!).

I religiously made quilts out of McCalls magazines to!

This pattern was actually from a class I took with Beth Ferrier (she taught me how to machine quilt), called Cathy's Quilt. It made up real quick - turned out not to bad (and of course was given away that Christmas!).
I seemed to have done a lot of Baby quilts to - which actually I enjoy - I get the nicest Thank You cards after and I've kept every one....

I like to make a Bear to go with each one *though I seemed to have got stuck on one pattern*...

A friend told me I did not have any problems with using "big" colours - this was a "challenge" quilt with some gals at work - we donated everything we made to our local Shelter House..
...I liked this quilt - but I liked the tag even better!

Both my parents got quilts for their 70th birthday - this was may Dad's... ...and I used a pretty violet pattern for my Mum.

I look back and think "Man that was a lot of work" - I've evolved over the years, so stay tuned for Part 2!

Nightstand Report

Well as many of you know I'm a self confessed book junkie. Just look at my nightstand this week (ignore the box, yes we've lived here for ten years and yes I still have unpacked moving boxes)...
200 Crotchet Blocks, eh...hmmmm Do you think I can get through them all? Which lead me to start thinking about my hoard of craft books around the house...

Looking through the shelves, they really reflect my changing interests and tastes over time.... Some old standbys when I was more into making "big" quilts - though I pulled Harriet off the shelf just the other day for a refresher on a technique. I think the first edition of Quilts, Quilts, Quilts was one of my first quilting book purchases.

I like the Vintage stuff still...
Including this new Redwork book I just picked up - includes 100 patterns on CD (okay so now we are up to 300 patterns I have to try).

..and I'm frequently making Baby quilts (a size I can manage these days)...

But I've also been draw more to fabric art lately...
My first Lesley Riley book got me started I think

As well as Artist Trading Cards

My latest purchases have been around collages - by Blogging Peep Beth recommended True Colors to me...

This past couple of weeks I splurged and here is what I picked up (oh what did we do before Amazon???)
I'm really liking Fabric Embellishments - lots of neat ideas
I had bought Freeman-Zachery's first book and was thrilled she has a new one out..
I also was intrigued by the Good Mail Day book ... maybe the next thing I'll be experimenting with (I agree with Carol - not enough time to try all the wonderful things out there!).
As for my Crotchet book - probably a 4 out of 5 lampshades on this one - I'm still thinking how much wool it will take to make all of them! So what's on your nightstand?

Spring Gossip

Last Fall when we were up in Glen Arbor, MI I dropped in a local bookstore. In the back they sold older books and I picked up the Thornton W. Burgess Nature Almanac, 1949. I loved the graphics and hope you do to. One of the pages was dedicated to Spring Gossip which just seemed to fit the mood today here at Maple Hill - you know, when you can "smell" Spring (aka there is a lot of mud in my yard, but that's besided the point)...
I have not seen a Spring Robin yet but hope to soon.

Our Chickadees are a rather rude bunch - I've noticed they don't share well in the Bird Feeder.

We have a thing about Chipmunks here - cute as they are, I have lots of "tunnels" around my house - lets just say we've had to take some drastic measures much to the dislike of other members of my family (Sis knows what I'm talking about).

We see Hawks around our place all the time - wish they did a better job with Danny Meadow Mouse!

Cardinals are one of my favorite birds - I love their red coats.

Johnny and Jerry are more likely to be found at one of the ponds further up the road from us.

And I'll soon start seeing Redwings on my morning runs - a sure sign Ole Man Winter is giving up. Hope you enjoyed the current gossip in my "hood"....Jewels.