The Hamster Wheel of Life

Well it's taken me 2 weeks to make a whopping 3 pincushions. (For comparison, 2 weeks is how long it took me to make my last Work Quilt... what gives?) I feel like March has been one big hamster wheel, and I'm the hamster!


These three pincushions are now available in my shop. I have a few more in the works, but at the rate I'm going I may not finish and post them till the end of the week...


I hope April proves more productive then March has been for me... I think I'm starting to develop a complex :0)

P.S. I used the some of the Sulky® Cotton Blendable Threads for the hand stitching. I like the subtle shifts of color and am anxious to machine quilt with them, too!

Quilts, BABY!

I was very excited last week when the mail carrier brought me my preview copy of the new Quilts, BABY! book, published by Lark Books and edited by Linda Kopp. I am so happy to be one of the artists included in this truly delightful book, due to be released in May. Loaded with fun baby quilting projects, including blankets, crib bumpers, and art work for the nursery, the projects are hip and fun! The whole layout from writing to illustrating is just wonderful!


I have three small embroidered wall hangings featured in the book, shown on pages 107 to 113. (That little baby photo is me!)


I adore the illustrations found throughout the book.

These are photos of my three featured quilt projects...


"River"


"Morning Glory"


"Ho Jo Space Spores"

And don't feel you have to have a baby in your life to enjoy this book. I think all of the projects, techniques, and ideas in Quilts, BABY! could be enjoyed by any age. It's a wonderful resource for anyone just starting to get their tootsies wet in the world of quilting, and great inspiration for experienced "swimmers" as well!

New Color, New Work

I hope everyone had a lovely long holiday weekend. I know that for a lot of folks in the New Orleans area, the only thing lovely about it was that they weren't hit as hard as originally feared. Thank goodness for that, however they still got slammed pretty good, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that all future storms spare them. They have been through enough. And by the way, thanks to everyone who left such thoughtful comments on my hurricane quilt from the previous post.


We spent part of the weekend giving our kitchen a much needed paint job. I choose this pale sunny yellow color, and am delighted by how cheery the kitchen now looks. Seeing as it was on my to do list for the last 5 YEARS, (!) I am thrilled that it is finally done! Hoping to tackle the dining room next week!


And this is my latest mid-century inspired
table runner/wall hanging/art quilt, which I posted a few days ago here in my shop.


I am really enjoying designing and constructing these pieces, and am looking forward to doing more!
(But now I need to go blog hopping and catch up on everyone else's weekend!)

Pretty Pretty Pincushion

I decided to skip my usual Friday "Everyday Pleasures" post today so that I could share with you the exquisitely pretty, pretty pincushion that I recently purchased from Karen, of Etsy's Contemporary Stitches and of the lovely blog Contemporary Embroidery.


I have been enamored of Karen's work for sometime now, and am thrilled to have a piece of it! This beautiful hand stitched silk pincushion features cutaway areas with bits of vintage embroidered textile peeking through!


I love the attention to detail!


And it's just as pretty on the reverse side!

And look at the beautiful gift that Karen included for me!

Darling handmade silk and vintage embroidered buttons!! I am in heaven! Thank you Karen, I will treasure your work forever!

In keeping with the vintage textile feel of today's post, here is today's "BooDilly Daily Dilly"...

A vintage cloth tape measure!



Purchase this "BooDilly's Daily Dilly" featured item, from my BooDilly's Shop from July 25th to July 27, 2008, and I will refund you via PayPal, 10% of your purchase price for this item, plus 10% of your shipping price for this item! All you have to do, is after your purchase, leave a message either in the comment section here or through Etsy, to let me know you saw it here! This offer is only good for the days listed, and only as long as the item is available! Check back on Monday for the next featured Dilly!