Lynn Carson Harris

The Flower Pot Quilt

Last night I finished a quilt that I started many years ago. I don't know exactly when I started it but I do know that I only had two children then.

I started this in an applique workshop with Gwen Marston.  The flowers were cut directly from folded fabric without a pattern.

I have always wanted to try a sawtooth border and finally did it on this quilt.

I really like how that bit turned out.

The quilt is all hand applique and hand quilted. The center portion is quilted with a cross hatch design and the border has a miniature version of the bishop's fan.

It is a happy looking quilt.

The quilt measures 39.5 inches wide by 44 inches high.

It can be found here in the shop.

Wordless Wednesday - the beautiful day edition

 

For the Birds

Saturday I took a class with Pat Holly!

We made miniature applique postcards. First we used the fancy stitches on our machines to embelish the background fabrics. Then we fused the applique on top and added some tiny blanket stitch. That scallop border was a bit tedious.

I don't think I'll be using this technique much but it was a fun day. I even finished my project during the class!

Pat brought a bunch of her miniature quilts to show. They are AMAZING. She does some pretty incredible stuff. I was also impressed by her stitch sample books. She stitches out swatches before making her quilts and had a whole notebook of different combinations of fabrics, stitches, threads, and stitch patterns for use as background fabrics. She had made an amazing plaid looking fabric by just straight stitching with different colored threads. If you ever have the chance to see her work in person don't miss it! She is one impressive woman.

Thoughtful Sunday

"Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!"

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J. K. Rowling, 1997.

 
(M had his senior violin recital today. Beautiful music and good friends - you can't ask for more than that.)

Baking

We're having another busy weekend.

I've been baking.

I have also been working on some sewing projects. I'll have a couple of things to share with you next week.

 

Summer in the Sewing Room

Summer sewing has a different routine. I have company in my sewing room.

Yesterday we had a very clean sewing table. When the fabric is out of the way we use this big surface for other crafty projects and activities, like working puzzles.

Most of the time it is not so tidy.
It can look more like this. But usually it looks much worse.
I have returned to an old but not too old work in progress involving lots of half square triangles.
After a bit of sewing I determined that I didn't have nearly enough half square triangles made so out came the scraps. Then there was a bit of mission creep and I decided to cut some 1.5 inch squares from the fabrics that are not quite big enough for the half square triangles.

I like to have these squares handy for some scrappy nine patches. If I have enough of each fabric I group them in fives for darks and fours for lights. Sometimes I will make groups of four or five that "read" the same. I save the odd squares for even scrappier ninepatch blocks.

I'm trying to keep it organized as I go.

P has been working at a little featherweight at her desk while I sew at my machine.  She has been commissioned to do some sewing this summer. I'll be sure to share more about that with you later.

Fun times!

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Now We're Talkin'

They just don't make them like the used to. That is so true. Some of the old things are much better than new. This little beauty now sits on my freshly cleaned desk. How can I have a cluttered desk with THIS sitting on it? I tell you this will change my desk keeping habits1 - or so I hope. I love this "new" phone. It makes such a satisfactory sound when you dial up a friend and it is heavy enough that it doesn't move when you use it. Someone please call me so I can hear it ring!! It replaces this less than perfect but still fun phone.

While cleaning my desk, (I did a deep clean involving the drawers!) I found the box of 64 crayons I had as a child. I remember wanting the 64 color box for a long time. My sisters and I had lots of crayons that we kept in a shoe box all jumbled together. Many were broken but we still loved to color with them. I remember visiting my friend Mary and when we started to color together she got out her crisp new box of 64 crayons. Those crayons were lined up like little soldiers wearing pointy hats. Oh, that is when it hit. Crayon envy.  I finally did get a new box - much later.  It was so special that I made sure I labeled that box. My name is written on it in at least three places. And as you can see, I was old enough to write in CURSIVE!

The box in the background is the box I bought for the 64 colors project. (The colors have new names and I had to make sure I was finding the right color for my photos.)

I think the old box graphics are much better.

Maybe I just don't want to grow up. Whatever it is, these things gave me a little thrill today.

Oh, and look what I found at a rummage sale this weekend - a flower shaped hankie!

Fun stuff.

I'm off to do some food preservation. We have garlic scapes and strawberries coming out of our ears and the peas are coming on strong too. We'll be shelling peas till the cows come home later in the week. I love it when the freezer is full of home grown garden bounty!

Thoughtful Sunday

"Thou hast only to follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it."

The Door in the Wall, Marguerite de Angeli, 1949.

A Snail's Pace

I have been enjoying summer vacation this week. The alarm clock has officially been turned off for the summer!

The mosquitoes aren't quite as bad this week either. For some reason I get SWARMED with mosquitoes when others are not bothered. I feel like Pigpen in a cloud of mosquitoes while others are playing normally. Sigh. M noticed the phenomenon while we were in the garden today. He was picking peas with no mind to the mosquitoes and then looked over at me swatting them all over myself. He calmly said, "Mom, there is a CLOUD of mosquitoes around you." Yeah, I had noticed that.

I have been walking on the road a couple of times this week and found that if I walk in the MIDDLE of the road that the mosquitoes are not too bad. I do, however, get swarmed when I go to the side of the road to take pictures.

P and I went to the registration for the summer reading program at the library. That is always a fun event with lots of activities, games, and snacks.

I have been slowly progressing on some sewing and knitting projects in the evenings but have nothing really exicting to show you.  These roadside photos will have to do.

M has been busy though, he made this cool robot magnet for his middle school art teacher who wrote a poem for him for graduation. He thought a simple thank you note would not suffice.

I hope that my snail's pace on crafting projects will soon yield something that I can share.