Laundry Day

Greetings! I've been busy making garden beds, mulching (40 bags!), power spraying everything in sight and that's just the outside! It's only five weeks until 40 members of my husband's family overtake Sarasota for a family reunion. Still much to do, BUT, I must find time for quilting and applique to keep my sanity.

This is what I've been working on the last few days. I call it "Laundry Day". I'm really pleased with it. The dress template comes from Nannette Merrill of Freida's Hive. The rest is of my own making. The clothes line is made with needlepoint ribbon stitched in a wrapped stem stitch, the pink stitched edge is Cosmos thread in a backstitch. The dresses are done in needle-turn applique with buttons and ribbons added. The center dress has a chain stitch at the top done in Cosmos. It's about 12"x24".

Now I'm going to quilt it and hang it in the....Laundry Room! (do you think it will encourage me to do laundry?...don't hold your breath!)

Hope each of you is doing well.
Melanie

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Where does the Time Fly?

Well, today marks another birthday. Wow!

How did I get this old? I still think I'm 28 in my mind, but when I look in the mirror I ask "who is that middle aged woman"?! Not really what I thought I'd look like when I was older, but then again, I never thought I'd be old!

Have you ever really looked at the lyrics to the Beatles song "In My Life"? I really love it. Here's how it goes:

There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affectiion
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more.

Though I know I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more.

My life has been full of good and bad things. The beauty of getting old is I realize I can survive pretty well. I grieve the loss of friends and family. I am thankful for my many blessings. I am even thankful for my Multiple Sclerosis because it has taught me how to live each day and squeeze joy out of every moment. 

Today I have a fun schedule. I'm going to Tampa to the IKEA store with two quilting friends from my monthly quilt group. We are going to drool over the fabric and perhaps buy some! And tonight my honey is taking me out to eat at a favorite restraunt. I just might have to have crab cakes! Yum!

Thanks for letting me wax philosophical. Have a beautiful day!

Melanie

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Busy Bee

Where have you been, you ask?!

Busy, Busy. It's spring here in Florida which means "hurry, hurry, do everything you need to outside because soon it'll be too hot to venture out". So I've been doing a lot of outdoor work. 150 cement border pavers to be exact, 20 bushes planted, trimming, cleaning out a disgusting garage etc. I'm walking around stiff like a little old lady. And the mosquitos are as large as hummingbirds right now. You see them flying towards you and you think "oh no, there goes a pint of blood". Why are slow creatures like mosquitos so hard to swat?

But really, don't you want to know about my quilting? Yes, I've been quilting! Or should I say piecing? I finally finished piecing the queen size quilt I've been making for my guest bedroom. What do you think? (Still needs to be quilted)

I just love it. The fabric is "Verna" by Kate Spain. The pattern is from Moda Bakeshop. (I wish I had sewn the borders as a unit and attached them together to the quilt. Would have been a lot easier. Too bad I didn't think of that until I was almost done!)

I also made two pillow cases. I found the pattern on You Tube and it was a blast to make. Works like magic. (I made the accent strip 1.25")

I also added a 2" trim to some basic valences I bought from Bed, Bath and Beyond for $14. And, for overkill, I added a 4" trim to the shower curtain. Aren't we coordinated?! (Shams still to go)


Hope each of you is doing well.

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Poppy

I want to introduce you to "Poppy". I just finished her this evening.  She's about 12"x12".

She was a kit/pattern from Cathy Van Bruggen Designs. The little kit cost $12 and included background fabric, floss, applique fabric and pattern. That's a good deal! I used needle-turn applique and machine quilted her.

I'd really like to take a quilting class from Diane Gaudynski. My machine quilting skills are sad to say the least and detract from the applique.  Hopefully I'll get into a class of Diane's this next year or two.

Hope each of you has a wonderful Easter holiday.

Melanie

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Finally a Solution

As you may remember, I had a little "emergency" with my little wren applique. The berries bled...

Thank you all for your concerns and suggestions. I finally came up with a solution I'm quite pleased with. In fact I think I'll use these ladybugs in all my applique projects. Kind of a "signature". What do you think?

Have a great April Fool's day.

Melanie

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