Surprise Shower Idea

Marny here....a little idea popped into my head a few weeks ago.  How do we show the warm fuzzy feelings we have for a bride and her Mom when an "in person" shower is out of the question?  Luckily I keep an abundant quantity of empty space in my head so there was plenty of room for a new idea to take root.

I'd seen this truly wonderful pattern via an email from Pink Chalk Fabrics.  The pattern is available here.  It is called the In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag.  The designer is Jeni.  Check out her blog here.  Eight sizes, from tiny to large, with and without gussets, lined and cute as all get out!  I couldn't resist.  Magically the pdf is purchased and in my computer within minutes.  So the pattern was sitting in my downloads waiting for the right moment.  It is very thorough, well written, beautifully illustrated and easy.  I will be making more bags.    

Jill is the Mom in this formula.  Her lovely daughter is getting married in a bit far from home and all of us sit here clamoring to celebrate them.  So a sneaky plan formulates.  Wonder if we fill bags with little odds and ends of fun?  So thanks to Gale, Jane, Laura, Leona, Marianne and Sue the idea became a reality.  Jill was in D.C.  (which you readers already know) with her daughter when a box arrived to be opened only when they were together.  The drawstring bags were filled with yummy chocolates, bubbly prosecco, cute notebooks, Starbuck gift card and graham treat, unique recipe book, pretty nail polish, little notes, a restaurant gift certificate and our love.  We were all thinking of them and wistful we couldn't be there in person but pleased we pulled off our Surprise!!

Drawstring bags sewn from In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern.

Till Tuesday...

April Showers With Free Napkin Tutorial

 jill here....  Sometimes one has to renew a memory from the past.  This one was fun and easy:  cocktail sized napkins or mug rugs, the more modern version.  We recently hosted a wedding shower and it was a way for the napkins to coordinate with the decor and gift a reusable memory for the bride.  Could be a fun way to use scraps....12" squares to be exact!  I purchased 2 different yards of Windham Fabric's Cabana Blooms designed by Melissa Ybarra for Iza Pearl Design.  You will tear the fabric so make sure there is enough fabric to tear along the grain lines to make the 12"square ( or any size you heart desires).  The print fabric has a modern take on the traditional and will look nice with the bride's white dishes.

Two different scales of modern print to embellish our table setting.

Start the squares by tearing along the grain line.

Nick the next 12" mark and tear width of fabric.  From this strip
tear every 12" length of fabric.  From each yard,
you will get nine 12" squares with some leftovers.

This is one of my favorite tools...my quarter inch foot.
It allows me to speed without thinking too much.
This time, I keep the needle centered for a very generous
1/4" seam allowance.  I tighten my stitch.

Start somewhere along the side and make the rounds,
making sure to finish the stitching line with a "fix".

It will look like this when you're finished stitching the square.
Ready to start pulling threads, unraveling anyway that works best for you.
The stitch line will stop you with the appropriate allowance.

It will look like this after you done fraying it out!
(This is a great task while watching the movie you have seen before.)
Launder, press and fold!

The juxtaposition of heirloom with modern!

The table in all its glory!

Treat yourself to a set today!  'Till next Tuesday...

Cues from Modern Architecture

Modern materials screen on a street in D.C......modern grandog enjoys the walk!

jill here....On a recent visit to D.C.,  I walked to The Textile Museum.  Beautiful day, wonderful architecture and the trees and flowers were at their top! The museum, set among homes in a charming neighborhood, is always worth a visit.  I've never seen quilts but the fabrics, tapestries and carpets are inspirational.

Once a home, the museum is located in Dupont Circle.

Most of the neighborhoods in this city are old and elegant but there are transitions to the modern.

Simple modern angles in metal have been added to an older facade.

Love the modern color scheme and variations in depth and asymmetry.

Even smelled good!

Once a laundry, now a charter school, the style is reminiscent of 30's modern.

Great negative and positive graphic.

Old style, modern paint.

Check out the architecture in your neighborhood. 'Till next Tuesday!

Heading West to Lincoln for Modern Quilt Relish

Marny here...

We set out yesterday morning for Lincoln, Nebraska to retrieve our quilts from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.

The miles flew by while we plotted and planned for the upcoming months.

You can see for yourself that Spring has rolled right into early summer here in the Midwest.

Climbed a tower along the way.  

This is what we saw as we drove up to the IQSCM.  Can you see our quilts hanging inside?
It was an awesome feeling for us.

Another view from the outside.  The quilts are level, but you climb a set of stairs alongside them.

We've shown a similar shot before, but this was the first look for ourselves.

Looking up to the second floor.

Starting up the stairs.

Up..

Up...

and Up.

Look at this wonderful way to list donors to the museum.

You can see it is very three dimensional, using layers and transparencies and a quilt block!

Here is yet another fantastic way to display donors.

Jill and Sheila Green outside the museum.

We enjoyed getting to know Sheila better over a cheerful lunch.  She introduced us to many of the staff and a few students at the IQSCM.  Her docent skills really kicked in as she gave us a thoughtful and energetic tour through the galleries.  It is a wonderful museum.  If you can plan a trip we highly recommend it!

We also got to spend a little time with Ellen Rushman.  She had successfully defended her thesis earlier in the day.  Yipee!!!  Now she is a "Master of Quilts" and smiles as she says it.  Our timing could not have been better.  It was great fun for us to catch the energy of a successful defense!

Upon Sheila's advice we stopped at The Quilt Studio in Omaha for some fabric shopping on our way back to Ames.  It was great advice.  We found fabrics for two new projects.  Now we just need to find the right backgrounds.

The print is Rhumba by Rosemarie Lavin for Windham.  The solids are Free Spirit.

The prints are Weekends by Erin McMorris for Free Spirit and the solid is again a Free Spirit.

   
It was a wonderful day filled with new friends, intriguing and beautiful quilts in the museum galleries, and new fabric.  Can it get any better?
Till Tuesday....