Perspective

per·spec·tive

   /pərˈspɛktɪv/ Show Spelled[per-spek-tiv]

noun  

1. the state of existing in space before the eye: 

2. the state of one's ideas, the facts known to one, etc., in having a meaningful interrelationship

I chose to use these two definitions in my blog post today.

Today was grandparent's day at my grandson, Griffin's school. How did he get to be 7 already? From my perspective he is still a baby. Where is time going? They read us all a poem that was very sweet. You just got to love a first grader!

Elliot is on the left, he is almost 5. The principal thought he was already in kindergarten (her perspective), again I still feel like he is a baby too! In all fairness they are both very tall for their ages and everyone thinks they are older than they really are....but still!

 

They were asked to make a picture using  pattern.....his perspective, I on the other hand am thinking quilt patterns.

 

One of his classmates had no grandparents at school today. I wondered why, were they working? were they no longer here? What was her perspective on the whole "grandparents day"?

I felt the need to adopt her for the morning and had her read to me and helped her with the word search. She drew me a picture of a lizard. She did such a good job, look at the detail. Do I see a quilt pattern there? I love how she drew the eyes.

 

My friend Cheryl made a book of her trip to Israel. Isn't the cover cool? She loves to embellish.

 

 

This was her perspective of the trip, lucky her to make it into something that is an awesome keepsake.

 

It has been a long sad week. Not a lot of sewing got done but I need to put things into perspective and know that sometimes it needs to take a back seat. Like way back, in the old station wagons of the 60s where you looked out the back window.... Life is going on all around and sometimes I think I am not paying attention. Time is whizzing by, my perspective, today.

 

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

It's no secret that the weather has felt like late spring around here. We filled up the bird bath and were rewarded with blue birds, cardinals, chickadees and finches frolicking in the water. There are days where there are 5 or 6 birds hanging out and it is fun to watch them.

I decided to use thread sketching to add the details to the bath. Yesterday I really didn't like it but this morning I did! I also used birds cut from fabric rather than make something very small. I like the scale and that is something I am not very good at. I don't think we have any green birds around here......

The green things along the bottom are the weeds growing in my garden. I am a fair weather gardener, no cold weather for me, today the high is going to be 55. They can wait!

My granddaughter Maddy has been asking to do a tie dye shirt. We did not have any plain white ones around so we used one she got from Boston. She decided on purple and had great fun un-doing all the rubber bands. I think we may be making some more.

Kelly

Keeping It Real

Kelly

AMAZING!!!

A Light In The Garden

The Longwood Garden quilt is finished and it is a beauty!!! It was made in 3 panels. The first represents light in the garden in the morning, the second panel, light in the conservatory and the third panel, light in the moonlit garden.

I took a bunch of close ups so you can see the extraordinary quilting by Lisa Calle. It is all very random but enhances the design so well.

There was a lot of research done to find flowers that bloomed in the late hours of the day.....

This originally had a hanging basket with a plant in it at the top. They switched it out for the birds which I think was perfect.

Just look at the quilting!

I really like the rays of the sun.

The swirly hearts around the butterflies suggest flying to me.

Just beautiful...

Don't you like the cross hatch quilting that just stops randomly?

A very detailed bird.

I was very happy to be a part of this group. If you ever get to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square Pennsylvania be sure to look for this in the lobby. I think this is the best one yet!

Kelly

Happy Day

All I can say is that I missed out the first time Flea Market Fancy was released. So I indulged and bought the re-issue of it. These are so my colors, ask any of my friends and they will agree.

I really love these green dots, I might have to get some more.

Elliot and Maddy

This is what the quilts are all about, making a fort for cousins to hang out in.

Elliot made super hero glasses out of pot holder loops, he thinks they are cool!

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

I almost forgot that today was Tuesday. Here is my block, very simple yet colorful. Last week I met my friend Judie and we went to the quilt show together. She has recently moved to Annapolis, about 2 hours away so we don't see each other as much as we used to. This block is such a good representation of our friendship, colorful, we always have things to talk about.....simple, we always pick up right where we left off........enduring, we have always said we thought we were seperated at birth. Have you ever met some one that you just feel like you have known them all your life? I know we will be friends always and forever, love you Judie!

I wasn't going to show you this until it was done but I have nothing at all to show in the sewing department. These are the blocks we made when we had a play date at Sujata's in January. I was going gang busters on these until I had to get going on the other quilt, which has a name Zigzag Diamond, but I still can't show.

I have the center quilted but am not making much progress because....

I am in cleaning mode and I just have to go with it! This is the next room to tackle, our office. It is going to take a few days, maybe even a week. Again it doesn't look this bad but I started cleaning and then took pictures.

Ugh my husband's spot, it needs some big time work. So the closet is cleaned out and now I need to go through the files. Maybe if I did it on a more regular basis it wouldn't be so bad?? If anyone has some great tips, let me know. Like how do you keep your husband from boogering up the room with their awful "decor"?

Kelly

Quilt Show Loot

Last week was the Lancaster Quilt show. It is usually a nice show and some really amazing quilts are entered. The winners were spectacular and all I can say is I need some work on my machine quilting! I don't know how they can do some of the things they do....I guess that is why they are winners.
Besides the quilts I look forward to the vendors, come on admit it you do too. This year was a little disappointing. Not very many vendors and nothing new! Do you think it is the economy?

I have looked everywhere for a 15 degree wedge and did find one. The little snips on the right are one of my favorite tools. I love using them for applique and got another pair to keep next to the machine. The flower head pins are my favorite as they are very thin.

It is also the place to get my Aurifil thread. It is so fun to look at all the colors, but at $9.98 a pop I got the ones I know I needed. So compared to most years I came home with almost nothing or maybe I have everything???!!!

Today I am off to pick up my quilt from the quilter. I am anxious to show it and will as soon as I am allowed. Now I am sort of in limbo trying to decide what to work on.
Enjoy this beautiful spring day!

Kelly

Spring Cleaning

Before

Growing up I can remember my mother doing big time cleaning in the spring and fall. Do people still do that now a days? I am a person who LOVES a clean house but does not enjoy cleaning. My sister Flynn and I recently had a conversation that a dirty/messy house can put us into a really crummy mood. If you ever watch the show "Hoarders" I think there may be something to it, on a much grander scale.
Enter my laundry room......as you can see from above it is a great space, large, bright and in need of a good cleaning. Let me "come clean" this was taken as I started pulling out all the stuff in there. It does not look like this all the time, wink wink.

But there was this.......

and this.....am I airing my dirty laundry? Sorry I could not resist.

My goal was not to make it look like Martha Stewart was coming over with the white glove. Just clean and a little more organized.

I even hung up some quilts to make it more inviting. The box on the upper shelf contains my dyeing supplies, not beautiful but functional. To keep it real, dirty and CLEAN laundry for your viewing pleasure!

This was made for me when I was pesident of Calico Cutters. My board each made a signed block and then my friend Cheryl put them all together in an old window. I love it and this was a nice sized wall to put it on. I had to take it down when I reorganized my sewing room.

I could have put all my different laundry products in glass jars etc, but then I would have no idea what was what so it will remain functional and not so pretty. Ok, House Beautiful won't be knocking on the door any time soon,but it is clean. I am contemplating going throught the rest of the house and doing the same thing. It really does feel good, I think I just might be on a roll....... I do have one question though, how does the inside of a washing machine get dirty?

Kelly

Keeping It Real

Kelly

Liebster Award

The very nice Susannah of http://www.fiberchic.blogspot.com/ has nominated me for the Liebster Award! Thank you Susannah. Susannah and I have recently gone back and forth about her Lone Star quilt, which is coming along very nicely! Go check it out.

I am nominating some blogs that I think you will enjoy reading.....

My friend Cheryl who has a new book coming out this spring and is at http://cheryllynchquilts.blogspot.com/ Go check out all the great things she does in silk. She also has an Etsy shop.

Sujata, another friend, is a very eclectic quilter, she loves it all, old new and everything in between. You can find her at http://therootconnection.blogspot.com/

Sharon of http://indigothreads.blogspot.com/ is working on some cool projects and I love the name of her blog. Check out the mosaic on her blog too.

If you want to see some amazing applique, check out Mary's blog at
http://gwendiesquilts.blogspot.com/ . She is fast at applique and good! Wait until you see her quilt Beyond The Cherry Tree.

If you love strings quilts like I do you must go and see Judith's blog at http://quiltingbyjudith.blogspot.com/ She does lots of interesting things and I love her header!

The Liebster Blog Award rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Link back to their blog.

3. Copy and paste the Liebster award to your profile.

4. Pick 5 blogs that you feel deserve to be in the spotlight (they must have @200 followers or under).

5. Blog about it and leave a comment for your nominations to let them know that you have chosen their blog.

Enjoy some good blogs!

Kelly

Big No No

Just found out you cannot post pictures you take at the AQS show. I think that kind of stinks but oh well. I had to delete the whole post!
If you want to see the winning quilts you can check them out here...http://aqsshows.com/AQSLancaster/homefeature/aqs-lancaster-show-contest/

Kelly

Diary Quilt Tuesday

This week's diary quilt block is Snowdrops. They are one of the first flowers to bloom here in the spring. They are so pretty and dainty yet often bloom in the snow.

I had fun making this block and am happy with the way the green veins came out on the flowers. If you look at a real one they are there.

I have finally finished the quilt I can't show you and it is off to the machine quilter. As soon as I am allowed I will show you but I don't want to ruin Bob, the designer's surprise.

Last night at guild we had a really cool challenge. It was to recycle something and turn it into something. I did not get any pictures and I did not participate because of not feeling well. Pat and Rob did a great job organizing it and made beautiful ribbons for the winners.

We also had a silent auction and I got all those old cool retro silk fabrics for a $1.00. I must find something to do with them!!!

Kelly

I am so tired of not feeling good. It is taking it's toll on my sewing!! I have so much I want/need to get done and I just don't feel like it. Above is my 12 x 12 challenge for March, yeah it's done. I love the starkness of it and also the straight line quilting, it feels so zen like.

This is also done, no name yet. It is going to go into the basket for our guild auction. I really want to make this in a bigger size.

You can kind of see the quilting a little better from the back.

Here is a close up of the front. Just a leaf pattern with some meandering in the background.

Here is a shot of my diary quilt with the first 2 rows put together. I am planning on working on my block today so it will be ready for tomorrow. No more late blocks.....

One more whine....I am not a fan of the time change. What's the difference if is stays darker in the morning? I think it would be better if they go back to changing it in April, I still feel like it's not warm enough yet. Also doesn't it feel like the day flies by? I need every second I can get! Okay, can you tell I have been in the house for a while and might need to talk to people other than my family???

Enjoy this beautiful spring day if you live on the East coast, the rest of the week is supposed to be pretty good too.
Kelly