Designing Monday

My only sewing this week has been cutting blue squares to start a new project.  I have piles of blue fabric all over.  That's my SOP.  It kind of drives my husband crazy as he is very organized for the most part and I am only somewhat.  I have come to realize that this is my system and that's what works.  I found a pattern from the new Quilt Sampler that has blue and cheddar.  Always a great combo.  Hopefully I can get some traction this week and start sewing.

We have been doing lots of digging and planting this week.  We decided it was time to empty and move the compost bin so we can get all the good stuff from the bottom.  Down at the bottom I found these 3 lovelies.

Can you see the big, bold print?

These have been in my composter for at least 3-4 years.  What's funny is the slogan on the back.  It says "Louder because it's compostable."  I can remember being in the store and the clerk just cringing because the bags were so noisy.  You could hear the person stocking the shelves in the back of the store all the way up front.  Obviously they did not live up to their ads because these are nearly like new except for the dirt.  So into the trash they go.

Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see some beautiful quilt designs.

Designing Monday

I have decided to try and complete some projects that have been on my back burner for awhile.  One of them is to replace the backing on a seat pillow.   The pillow came from my mother's house and always sat in her rocker as long as I can remember.  I think she probably did the needlepoint many years ago and then had a friend make the backing and finish it off.  The pillow had black velvet or velour on the back which had worn down along the sides and the pillow was nearly flat.  It needed some oomph.

Cute worn out pillow

Worn out backing

One of the ladies at my church had massive volumes of red velvet curtains that came from the church attic.  I asked for a 36" square and she gave me an entire drape that was way bigger than I needed but I since remembered that I have 2 more seat cushions that need backs so now I am thankful.

Massive quantities of red velvet everywhere

I had not really looked at the pillow to figure out how to replace the backing and when I did I realized that it was stuffed with feathers.  When I took it apart there was a muslin inner pillow and it had a seam with a large hole so there were loose feathers and dust galore.  Quite a mess.  I reused the muslin pillow and found a feather pillow in my closet and borrowed some of the feathers from it and resewed the seams on the muslin to fix the blowout.

I drew a pattern on newspaper of the circle for the back and cut a very long strip of the new velvet plus the circle and got busy.  A short while later I had a new pillow ready for sitting.  It sits up quite nicely now and looks nice with my furniture which is near in color to the red velvet.

It's so nice when a plan comes together!

Hop on over to Judy's blog to see some beautiful quilt designs.

By the way the image on the pillow is a cat with the words "What the cat thinketh When the cat winketh Little Wots the mouse".  No clue what that means.

History Day

I had a fun morning touring the historic district in our area.  The local historical society is offering tours of the neighborhood by volunteer docents highlighting the architecture and stories of the original owners.  Here are some photos of some of the houses.  They are really grand and it was a cool but sunny morning, so a great way to get in some exercise and a history lesson at the same time.

 Fun bric-a-brac and pretty paint job

 Same house but better view of the porte-cochere

 Great veranda

 Love the little lightning rod

 This beauty is a little weathered and has been turned into apartments.  The 3rd floor of the turret is a porch.  How sweet!

 Beautiful window detail

 Red brick with porte-cochere.  I went to a baby shower in the 3rd floor apartment of this home many years ago.  The apartments have since been removed and it has been restored to a gorgeous home with ballroom on the 3rd floor.  

 Can you see the gargoyle downspouts under the eaves?  

 The only home we toured is called Hazelwood and was the home of Morgan L. Martin.  He was a Congressman from Wisconsin before it was a state and wrote the Wisc. state constitution.  This sweet quilt was on the bed of Martin's wife.  

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Designing Monday

Not much to report here.  I finished two embroidered dish towels.  This are fun filler work for TV time and I wanted to make a set for upcoming summer holidays.  I think this is the 3rd time I have made these same two patterns.

Martha White Transfer

Free Download from Internet

Our daughter made it to Japan safely and started teaching yesterday ( Monday for her ).  She has already made quite a few new friends and done quite a bit of sight seeing in Tokyo.  Her school is outside Tokyo and she has a cute little efficiency apartment.  It's a little larger than a dorm room but not much.  Great for the 3 months she will be there.  Next weekend she is going to a sumo tournament.  LOL.

Hope you had a nice Mothers' Day.   We had a nice brunch out after church.  Ran into my son's best friend.  He is like my 3rd child, so it was so nice to see him and get a big hug since my two are far away.

Hop over to Judy's blog for more fun designs.

Designing Monday

We finally have sunshine in Wisconsin and some almost warm days.  A few of my hardy neighbors were even out mowing their lawns.

We got our daughter off to Japan this week for a 3 month contract teaching English.  She will be located in a  suburb of Tokyo.  Isn't all of Japan a suburb of Tokyo?  I look forward to learning more about the culture and country soon.

I did a little hand embroidery this week and finished a dishtowel.  My only quilting was finishing another block from Barbara Brackman's latest Civil War block of the month called Threads of Memory.  My friend, Barb and I are doing this one together.  So far all the blocks are stars, so I guess that is the theme.

 Canada Star for Lucie Blackburn

First 4 Blocks Completed

Hope you have a great week and be sure to hop on over to Judy's blog to see some lovely designs.