Something Blue Saturday

Earlier this week, Julie http://justtickety-boo.blogspot.com/ suggested doing a post on Something Blue this Saturday. Check out Julie's blog for her post. Above is a picture of a beautiful cloud formation right over my street one evening. Isn't it a beauty? The pictures that follow are some of my favorite things that are blue. In Dow Gardens, last summer. What a beautiful place to take a walk and see all the lovely flowers and trees. Morning Glories - a picture from the internet.
My husband worked for the Santa Fe for 41 years and was a railroader through and through. He also had an HO layout for almost all of our married life. This is a picture of the Santa Fe Blue Goose that ran in the 1930's. Ray had a model of this engine in his layout - it was a prized piece of rolling stock. Gorgeous forget-me-nots - taken from the internet. I have grown them, however. Gardening has been one of joys in my life.


Thought this was very cute and how most of us feel some days. Snoopy looks so comfy!The little Smurfs. Are they still around? Would watch them with my two older granddaughters. I took this picture from my front door after an ice storm. Kind of pretty.Fabric - blue fabric!!! Love it - and also red, green, pink, purple, etc. etc.! These are batiks and they have a special place in my heart!!

A blue small quilt made from Kaffee Fasset fabrics.Gorgeous hydrangeas from the same walk at Dow Gardens.



My ornamental kale from last year. The curly leaves are so pretty and the color is scrumptious.


Started out with blue skies - now the best for last! Two beautiful big blue eyes of a most darling little girl (one of three, may I add, but the other two are brown eyed) that I love so very much! She is all grown up now but still has those big blue eyes!

Hope you enjoyed my "Something Blue". (Click on the photos to enlarge)

Tomorrow is May Day

Happy May Day tomorrow!!

When I was a little kid in grade school eons ago, we used to make cone baskets from wallpaper and fill them with flowers then hang them on someone's doorknob. Does anyone do that anymore? I can remember putting lilacs in them and maybe lillies of the valley - whatever was available on May 1st. Another nice memory I have of spring - early spring - is the sound of the frogs in a pond in our neighbor's yard. Just loved to hear the soft croaking in the evening.

If You Like Vintage

drop in on http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/ for a cute post with lots of pictures of collections, quilts, and some really cute bottle aprons that she made for members of the Clothesline Club. There are so many really fun, really pretty, really addictive blogs out there!

Two Little Sisters

Here is a picture of two little sisters - Nan and Nelle - all dressed up and standing in front of a stone lion someplace in Peoria, Illinois, in the early 1900's.
They are looking very somber - maybe their poor little feet hurt in those high button shoes! Such cute coats and hats - and my Mom has lost one of the buttons from her coat. It looks like she has some pretty mittens on, also. Hope the button is in her pocket! Another picture that I love. (Click to enlarge)

Would You Be Interested

in joining in a posting of "Something Blue" next Saturday, May 2nd? My friend, Julie, who has a blog called Just Tickety-boo ( http://justtickety-boo.blogspot.com/) came up with this idea. Each blogger would post a picture or pictures of anything blue that she (or he - have to be politically correct here) loves. Somehow or other we could all be linked together by a list on someone's blog. Could be mine - or one of yours that more people go to.

Would love to have comments on this idea. By the way, I didn't take this picture, of course, but isn't it gorgeous?

Musical Monday

Something for Musical Monday. Here is a silly little song that was popular a little later on and I think it is actually Patti Page singing this but there are pictures of Doris Day. I thought Jonathan and Amy would get a kick out of this little bit of fluff! Maybe I will try to find the song "Three Little Fishies" someday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTPMkVHUsNU

Enjoy!

Four More Little Blocks

Four new little blocks - the first one on the left has not been stitched yet, but the other three are all done.

Don't know how many of these I will make, but have an idea for a layout and it would need six more. It won't be very big - I don't seem to be making any large quilts anymore. Fun to do the smaller ones and try different colors, etc. (Click to enlarge)

Note to self: I thought I had these two rows side by side - but as you can see that isn't the case. The reason is I had checked the box for "medium" and that just won't work - it has to be small. However, I am not going to delete these and redo the post. Will just try to remember next time!

Working on Some New Flower Blocks

I put together three more flower blocks and they are in varying stages of completion. One is finished and down on the wall in the basement with the others. Just took a picture of the remaining two - one of which is almost done and the other needs to have some new leaves put on and be buttonholed. This is just a peek and will post all three when I finish the stitching. I have been using Sulky for the stitching and I really do like that - it looks smooth and has a pretty sheen. Still staying with mainly Kaffe Fassett fabrics - there is a little love-hate relationship with them for me. The colors are wonderful but some of the fabrics are kind of ugly. I do love his books and all the quilts in them, though. Think you just have to be ready to dive in and mix 'em up!! Anyone else feel that way? (Click to enlarge)

Stairsteps

My mother and her siblings in the stairstep picture. Mom is the second from the right. From the right - Ed, Leah, Ham, Nan (Mom) and Nelle. This was always referred to as the "stairsteps". Neat picture! (Click to enlarge)

More Show Quilts

Here are a few more from last weekend's International Quilt Show in Chicago. Above is a beautiful pansy wall hanging in wonderful colors. I thought this was so pretty - loved the twisted panels and the pretty colors.Another lovely pansy piece. There was just no end to beauty in that show. Another one that really caught my eye. I only was able to capture a fraction of the quilts there. Again, I apologize for not being able to give credit to the makers of these lovely pieces! Isn't this the Dear Jane (I may have that wrong, but I am sure you know what I mean) done in lovely pastels? A beauty! Will do a few more later on.
(Click to enlarge)

Musical Monday on Tuesday

My friend Jonathan is having a Musical Monday on his blog posting videos of some of his favorite songs and singers. I have been trying and trying to put an actual video in a post but so far have not stumbled on how to do that, but I think I have found how to put in a link which can be clicked and a video will come up. Jonathan is 15 now and his music is that of today - he loves Miley Cyrus. I watched the two videos he had posted and she really is a good singer and cute as a bug. The music from my youth was so much different - the big band era, swing, jitterbug, etc., so will try to put up a song on Monday that was popular when I was in high school back in the 1940's. This week it's on Tuesday!! Here is Glen Miller's Moonlight Serenade.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n92ATE3IgIs

And here is his String of Pearls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2uoH6kcpMc

Enjoy, Jonathan. I will post more next week if you like this music.

Sit and Sew Day

Enjoying our once a month guild get together is Linda, on the left, and Nancy on the right. Nancy is a long time member of Q2 and does lovely work. Linda is a much more recent member and she does wonderful work, also. She won viewer's choice in two - maybe three - categories at our recent quilt show with her intricate and beautiful paper piecing.

The third Tuesday of each month is Sit and Sew Day for Q2 members. You can bring your machine, handwork, your lunch or not and spend the day with other quilters in a really great room in a lovely church. The lighting is good and there is plenty of space. We can come early for our guild meetings and chat and socialize, but the time is short and it's hard to see everyone or get to meet some of the new members. I think we will be doing this through the summer months, too, so it will fill in for the guild meetings we don't have. I certainly hope we do, anyway. Above is a picture of Tam working on her darling Aunt Gracie quilt.

Here is Barbara on the left and Alice on the right each working on their chosen projects. Come join us next month if you can.

Five Pretty Girls

I have this fascination with the old family pictures - especially my Mom's side of the family. They took a lot of pictures for the time and actually would write on them (sometimes right on the front of the picture) and identify the people being photographed. In the case of this picture, though, I only know one....my Mom. I love the clothes! These lovely ladies in their pretty dresses and fine hats are so pretty - and my Mom is the last cutie on the right. It makes me wonder what they were doing, where they were going, how old they were, etc. Aren't they just as sweet as can be??? (Click to enlarge)

What a Fun Time in Chicago!

Really fun, kind of goofy traveling companions, gorgeous quilts, lots and lots of things to purchase if you have the inclination (and most of the showgoers certainly did), good weather, and good food--that's a recipe for a great weekend.
Isn't this a gorgeous quilt? The colors are so beautiful. I'm sorry I don't have the makers name of any of the ones that I am posting, but they certainly make beautiful quilts.

I love this one with the cows - it's so realistic. It's at an angle, but still lets you see how absolutely wonderful it is.

The zigzag piece really appeals to me and aren't these houses wonderful?

Two more lovely pieces.

In reading lots of blogs over the past year, I have been intrigued by the many mentions of the Polka Dot Girls and many other books and designers from Australia. I love the patterns they design and the fabrics they use. Well, while we were checking out the many vendors, I found a booth called Treasured Threads from Jefferson, Iowa. There was the packet of patterns of the Polka Dot Girls along with a lovely display of quilts, purses, funny little animals, etc. It was kind of pricey but I figured why not - I'm worth it and it is something I could work on if I would ever be unable to get to my sewing machine. The only other things that I bought were some fat quarters - some Aunt Gracies and some that I will use with the little bluework quilt. Here are my quilting buddies!! We had lots and lots of giggles and such a good time. They also did very well shopping and each brought home some great purchases. Kathy, Dana and Janna are easy to be with and I am so glad they asked me to go along. I think each of us will sleep well tonight and get rested up from a great quilt getaway!! Hugs to all three of you!! And don't forget who is smart!!! (Click to enlarge)

It Promises to be a Great Weekend!

In the morning, I will be on my way to Chicago with Janna, Kathy and Dana to go to the International Quilt Festival - I'm so looking forward to this. Didn't think I would probably ever get to go to a big show again - have been to Paducah about five times. However, that is the only one. Now, I will get a chance to see this one and also to check out over 1100 vendors. WOW!

Another Basket Block

The Easter basket - cute little blocks and fun to do.

Nan and Charlie

Another old picture, around 1920, of two people I loved very much - my Mom and Dad. They must have been on a "date" and went duck hunting! Love the way Mom is gingerly holding the duck. They both look so happy! I have always thought the lady walking back up to the cottage (probably after looking at the duck) is my Grandma, but don't know for sure. My grandparents, who lived in Peoria, had a cottage (the Sionilli--Illinois backward) in Rome, Illinois, along the Illinois River and that is where my parents met. Another picture I love. (Click to enlarge)

Hundreds of YoYo's

It's been a while since I put up anything quilty. Since I've been home, I really haven't worked on much except doing the little bunny block which is not quite finished enough to have it's picture taken. In the early 90's, my sister was very sick in Illinois. One of the things that she did to keep herself occupied was to make yoyo's and from those there were several things that she made. After coming home from visiting her, I cut a lot of circles from my stash and sent them to her. I also cut some for me. This was the result of my yoyo making. There are over 1100 of the crazy things in this coverlet and, of course, they are laid out in the Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern. I think why I was so taken with them is that I can remember a yoyo coverlet on my grandparent's bed - but I have no idea who made it or whatever became of it. What fascinated me was that it looked like a bunch of little tams! We should ask more questions when we are younger!! I used a lot of scrap cream on cream and blues and pinks. Those colors were what I used most in my early quilting days - there was lots of blue in our homes. (Click to enlarge)