So pretty!

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I recently received an email from Shellie who wrote: “I thought you would like to see pictures of our 2014 Raffle Quilt titled ‘Pinwheel Paradise’. We used your applique designs with the pinwheels. I was inspired by another raffle quilt that was hanging in a show. It was by the Carquinez Strait Stitchers . We copied their over all lay-out but changed things a little.

RaffleQuilt

This is one of the happiest quilts I have ever worked on. It was lots of fun to play with the pieces, applique them and finally finish the quilt.  We have received many many compliments and Ooh and Ahh’s. Thank you for such cute designs and inspiration.”

I think it’s a lovely quilt, and I’ll be you do too! If you’d like to contact Shellie about purchasing raffle tickets, click here to email her :-).

 

Cloth for the table…

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My friend, Amy, has a cotton tablecloth that I love and, since she’s my friend, she took me to the store that sold things from Thailand where she bought her cloth. I bought one without even thinking about opening it up to see what size it was because I liked it so well that it didn’t really matter to me.  When I got it on my table and realized that it was square, I knew I could fix it because I can sew!

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I cut the two long sides off and sewed one to each end…

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I topstitched the seams and then hemmed the long sides. Sew easy!

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The icing on the cake was that there were scraps large enough to make 4 napkins. Sweet.

Napkin

Thai textiles have interesting colors and patterns and are not particularly expensive. The cloth is not perfect nor is it tightly woven, but there are many fun ways to use it—pillows, garments, backs of quilts, even fronts of quilts! It’s good to remember that there are many, many different places that we can find fabric. (FYI: wash and dry the fabric in the washer and dryer a couple of times before you sew with it. It will shrink.)

I’m heading to Georgetown, TX, today to lecture and teach a workshop. I probably won’t write a blog post while I’m gone but I do hope to post to instagram. If you don’t follow me there but would like to, you can :-).

 

10% off of fabric through Sunday…

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I sent a newsletter, but if you are not on my newsletter list, you may have missed the news.. I have some new fat quarter bundles! They, and the rest of my fabric on the bolt, are all 10% off from now through Sunday. I don’t know when on Sunday. (For more on that, go to the end of the post.) The coupon code is ‘fabricfun’. Enter it in the coupon box and the discount will be applied. (If you forget to do that, we’ll take care of it when we process your order.)

WarmSet-400

Sunny Day Bundle

CoolSet-400

A Day at the Beach Bundle

Neutrals-400

Naturally Neutral Bundle

I think that each of these bundles is a great starting point for a quilt. I would take them to my stash and start adding to them!

You would have no reason to know this, but setting up a coupon in my Yahoo Store is a almost convoluted. I had a choice of when the coupon code would expire and I chose ‘through Sunday.’ It didn’t give me a choice of time zone… in fact, now that I think of it I hope it is this coming Sunday. I suppose on Monday I’ll know if that is the case or not :-). Honestly, ‘d rather be sewing than sorting out these pesky details!

 

The best tomato sauce, ever…

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I subscribe to Martha Stewart Living magazine and every now and then there is a recipe in an issue that turns out to be amazing and, by that, I mean both very tasty and not hard to make. The MSL Roasted Cherry-Tomato Sauce has become my new favorite thing to eat!

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I didn’t actually make it, Steve did. He’s probably going to be tinkering with the recipe a bit because that’s what he does but it was wonderful as written. It’s not exactly a ‘tomato sauce’, it’s more of a juicy-roasted-squishy tomato topper that is good on many things… pasta, bread, salad, etc.

We’re going to try making it with larger tomatoes because my tomato plant will (I hope) produce lots of big tomatoes :-). I suspect Steve will cut them into wedges, but maybe not. At any rate, if you are looking for something quick and tasty for dinner, try this!

UPDATE: We tried it with bigger tomatoes last night and it was just OK. Lots more juice and less intense flavor. Next year I’ll plant cherry tomatoes.

 

 

She’s Peaseblossom!

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The Downtown Sherman Preservation and Revitalization organization has done something new… they are producing A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a (relatively new) outdoor amphitheater in a local park. Our very own Shakespeare in the Grove was great fun!.

Steve and I, and many others, attended the first show last night. We took our lawn chairs and breathed outside air and watched the play as the sun went down. Our granddaughter, Elanor/Peaseblossom, was the first person onstage which gave us both a big grin!

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It rained a couple of hours before the show started and a small shower moved through during the first act. It left a rainbow in its wake…

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As the rain came down the audience mostly moved under cover, on the stage floor. It was then that I got this quick photo of Peaseblossom and the lead Fairy, Sarah. After the rain, the show went on.

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This production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is being put on by gifted and enthusiastic thespians. Many talented people from our area worked together to start a new tradition, one that I hope will grow and prosper. I’m looking forward to seeing another production of Shakespeare in the Grove next year!

There are 5 more performances as I write this… tonight and tomorrow, and next weekend: June 6, 7, and 8.

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The wonderful wheel of color…

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Three of my friends at C&T (Lynn Koolish, Kerry Graham, and Mary Wruck have written a book about color, and the ‘Wonderful Wheel Of Color’ for kids and I’ve gotta say that I am impressed! (FYI, you’ll find this book on my site here.)

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First, the color information is written for kids but it is not dumbed down. The language is clear and written in a way that kids will relate to. Elanor is already looking forward to getting her hands on this book :-).

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There are plenty of activities. Some are what you would expect in a book about a color wheel with color wheel patterns to paint, collages to make, and designs to color. But there is even more! There are projects perfect for kids, and maybe adults!

Elanor’s BFF, Lola, is coming to visit for 2 weeks this summer. They’ll be spending quite a bit of time at our house and I can see t-shirts…

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…and paper flowers…

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…and hand-sewn stuffies in our future!

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This book is only $12.95! You can find it at pieceocake.com here.