Lynn Carson Harris

The Ugly Fabric Quilt

This piece is another that I found in the unfinished projects bin. I do think I will make a doll quilt or little quilt for table top out of this.

It is made from the left over blocks from this quilt.
We call this the ugly fabric quilt. My quilt group exchanged 4.5 and 2.5 strips of ugly fabrics. We challenged each other to make a quilt that included all of the fabrics from the exchange. We could add fabrics but could not eliminate any.

I added some tan and cream color prints along with some of my other scraps.

My son, M, sleeps under this quilt every night. He is the only one who had anything positive to say about this quilt while I was making it. Isn't he the lucky one!

 

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions for the appliqué pieces. I think I'll start with finishing one as a little quilt and see how that goes. I may do some of both pillows and quilts.

Unfinished Applique

Yesterday, I dug around through my bin of unfinished projects. I pulled out these long forgotten pieces.

I remember choosing the fabrics

and hand stitching them.

But, I never made them into anything.

They are still just blocks.

These blocks are made from patterns in Elly Sienkiewicz's book,Baltimore Beauties and Beyond: Studies in Classic Album Quilt Applique, Vol. 1. There was no plan for them when I started.  I just wanted to do the appliqué part. Often I  don't work with a plan. Sometimes it turns out and sometimes I end up with a pile of unfinished stuff. I have thought of putting one in the center for a medallion quilt but am not really happy with that idea. I have also thought of making pillows from them. Now, I am thinking I should just finish them off as little quilts and call it a day.

What do YOU think?

It's the Process

Years of crafting and needlework projects have taught me things about myself. I enjoy the process of making something. For me the fun is in the making more than the finished product.
When I started making greeting cards to sell, I decided that I would put my shop web address on the back of each card. I could have ordered a stamp that would make the process very quick. Instead, I searched until I found this little gem.

I really enjoy using this old Royal typewriter at my Steelcase desk. I feel like a kid playing office when I type out my mailing labels and make greeting cards. I like the clickety clack sound and the feel of the glass keys under my fingertips. It is not about speed and production. It is about enjoying the process.

Hoping you enjoy the process of all that you do today.

Brown

As we were walking off our extra caloric intake last week, I noticed a lot of brown outdoors.

Browns can be cool or warm.

I am inspired by it all.

I am thinking of making a solid fabric quilt in shades of cream, tan, brown, and possibly a bit of gray.

baby quilt

Scrappy quilts are my favorite kind of quilt.

The more fabrics in a scrap quilt the better it looks. Add one or two fabrics to give a unified design.

This crib size quilt belongs to my youngest niece. She is in first grade now and it is used as a couch throw.

Nephew's quilt

I love sleeping under quilts. This is the quilt I am sleeping under while visiting my sister. I made it for my nephew a few years ago.

I saw a quilt done only in red and white in this pattern.

It inspired me to use the same pattern with light and dark fabric scraps instead. I like the way there are light and dark diagonal rows across the quilt.
      
There are two double four patch blocks that constitute the pattern, one of light large squares and the other with dark. Just make sure that the blocks are rotated the right way when sewing them together to get the lines of light and dark.

This is an interesting design because different parts of it "pop" depending on the angle and distance from which it is viewed.

My niece

We are visiting my sister and her family. Today as we headed out to see a matinee (a big thrill for me as I very rarely get to see a movie in the theater),  I noticed my niece wearing this shrug that I sent her last year for her birthday.

And don't you just love those acorn earrings with it?

I made this with some of Chris' yarn from a pattern in Wrap Style.

Tagged

Thank you Stefani!  I was wracking my brain trying to think of a post-Thanksgiving blog topic that didn't involve food, tight jeans, or dirty dishes, when Stefani graciously tagged me for the "5 random things" meme.

1. Here I am at three.

You can see from the photo I started early with my love of chocolate chip cookies. Today I still love to have cookies for breakfast (or any other time of day).

2. My sister and I have birthdays that are nine days apart. We always celebrated together, but our mother made sure we each got our own cake. That is me on the right with the fashionably wide collar.

3. While in middle school I had the unusual ability of being able to do a backbend on my elbows.  Back then I thought this was really something special.  Now, after spine physical therapy and massage therapy I am not so sure.

4. I fell in love with and married the first and only boy I ever dated.  We were married in the gazebo where the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed.  My husband and I were honored to have Janette Carter (who at the time was the last surviving member of the legendary Carter Family) and her friend, Bill Cliftons, sing and play at our wedding. 

5. My last random fact is that I once almost threw up on Jeff Daniels. Really. When I was pregnant  with P., I had difficulty keeping anything down.  Even water.  I went to the doctor to have the glucose test. I had to go in the little blood draw room and drink a bottle of nasty syrup and wait for an hour to have my blood drawn. As I was waiting, and trying very hard to keep the syrup down so as not to have to drink another bottle, Jeff Daniels came into the lab area. He sat next to me and I just sat there thinking "Please don't let me throw up on Jeff Daniels..." The nurse looked out of the little window and asked if I was OK. I guess I didn't look good. I said I was OK. I sat quietly until the hour was up. They called my name and I carefully went to the back and had my blood drawn. I just made it out to the parking lot before I threw up! I'm sure Jeff Daniels does not realize how lucky he is!

Thanks to my sister for the old photos, scanner, and the super fast internet connection to do this post. My set up at home is a super slow dial up connection. We are eagerly awaiting another faster choice...

I had fun writing this post but I hesitate to tag anyone specifically because I fear putting folks on the spot. I know we'd all be entertained with random facts from Kim, Beth, and Jodi, if they feel inspired to give it a whirl.  Or, you could join in and send me a link in my comments.  Thanks.

Thankful Jar

Our Thankful Jar.

This jar sits next to our dining room table all year long. We keep a small pad of paper and a pen inside. Throughout the year we write things that we are thankful for on slips of paper and leave them in the jar. The boys used to tell me things to write, but now they are old enough to write their own. During our Thanksgiving dinner we put the jar on the table. Throughout the meal we take turns pulling a paper from the jar and reading it aloud. I enjoy hearing the things that make people pause and write something down. It is especially nice to hear things that the kids are thankful for. I keep an envelope for each year of our thankfuls. We sometimes go back and read them from years past.

Enjoy your day of giving thanks.

Leaves

This morning we walked in the woods near Grandma's house.

Last month was the warmest October on record here in Virginia. They also have had a drought for several months. I wonder if that has anything to do with the leaves staying on the trees longer than normal. One of our usual Thanksgiving week "chores" is to rake all of the leaves in Grandma's yard. We make a huge pile for the kids to play in. When they have had their fill of the leaf pile we drag the leaves down to the back of the yard on tarps. This year most of the leaves are still on the trees.

There were enough leaves to make a small pile for P.