Category Archives: Lorna’s Vine

Applique a "wheel" off-the-block…

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I’m learning new things! I found flickr and pictobrowser. Flickr is a photo sharing website. Pictobrowser works with flickr to make cool slide shows like the one below.

What I’m showing below are the steps that go into making a “wheel” off-the-block. This particular wheel is going into a smaller version of the Lorna’s Vine quilt that is in our book Amish-Inspired Quilts. This is a big wheel –  the block it goes on has a finished size of 6″ x 6″.

You will find smaller wheels in the center of the Aunt Millie’s Garden blocks. The construction technique is the same for the smaller wheels.

I wrote notes to go with each image, explaining what I’m doing in each step. Run your cursor over “Notes” on the bottom right side of the slideshow and they should show up. The window cuts off a little bit of each image, but you can grab the image with your cursor and move it around. Next time I’ll make the slideshow narrower which should eliminate this cropping problem.

I have posted this slideshow on our website with each of the books mentioned above.

Elanor’s Family Tree Project

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Chris and Lorna (my son and daughter-in-law) are home schooling Elanor and have joined a local home school association. One of Elanor’s first assignments was a family tree. There is a prize of a book for the best one and Elanor really wanted to win it. I have to admit that it’s entirely possible that she got a competitive gene from her Nana. I’m way more laid back now, but I was pretty intense back in the day. 

Lorna asked if I had any suggestions and it took me a bit but I got to thinking “why not a real tree with felt people?” FYI – I have some bendable felt people from Hearthsong that gave me this idea. The bendable dolls I have are no longer on their site, but they have good stuff for kids.

Lorna found an appropriate stick and planted it in a flower pot with plaster. I loaned them the Wee Folk book and bought supplies. Elanor did most of the cutting and gluing with Lorna’s help. It turned out really well! Apparently Elanor is playing with her ancestor-leaf/dolls. It’s an interactive family tree.

Here’s a detail showing me and Steve and my mom. I’m proud of the job Elanor did! No word yet on whether she won the prize or not. I hear that her tree was definitely different from the others in the room.