Penmanship

I really like this fabric. It is written in cursive handwriting. There is a pressing matter at hand....they want to change the name PENMANSHIP to  PENWRITER.  Yes, that is what they want to start calling PENMANSHIP! Seriously? We don't have more important things to fix? I would also like to know, do you print or use cursive? My friends make fun of me because I use cursive, always have, always will, ever since 2nd grade. Ok I will stop my rant now....

add some fabric......

a little bit more.....

Now we got something going.....

I am still not sure about that vase....

Decisions, decisions.....

Come back tomorrow to see what I made.

Kelly

Rainy Blue Monday

It is a rainy Monday, one of my favorite kind of days! I feel very inspired to get things done around the house. Last week I worked on my blue scrap quilt and made some good progress.

I dumped out the scraps and went to town, cutting and sewing. It is quite a mess.

Some other colors are working their way in....

But I think it will keep it from becoming too blue and add some interest.....

Technically not a scrap but too cute not to include that blue typewriter in the mix.

Kelly

Are You Making One?

A Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild has a tutorial to make some flags to send to Boston. They will fly them all together in the city hopefully some time in June.

If you want to make one check out the The Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.
My mother and father in law were both born and raised in Boston so I felt compelled to do this for them.

Kelly

Stepping Back In time

Yesterday I had to take my sewing machine in to get serviced and have a small issue looked at. I got out the Featherweight so I could keep working on my Blue Scrap Quilt in the mornings before my workouts.

It is a delightful drive to Hinkletown Sewing Center.
Only in Lancaster County can you find a sign like this and only in Lancaster County will some one not rip it off the pole.

It was a beautiful April day.

This is where I take my machine, to a farm. The store is in an old chicken coop. For those of you (like me) who have not been there in a while, Erv Zimmerman has done some renovations!! The back of the store is now the front of the store. It still cracks me up that you can get your machine serviced and pick up some eggs and butter to take home with you. PS He has also built an additional new house, I am thinking for one of his boys.

As I was leaving the one room school house across the street was unloading a bunch of children off a wagon drawn by 2 horses. I am thinking "field trip"?

Traffic was very slow......

I stopped at Good's on the way home for clothesline. I knew they would have it, not every store does any more. This is a destination stop for lots of tourists. There is also the very famous Shady Maple Buffet. I have never been but I have heard it is amazing.
As much as it was nice to go back in time a little today, I really do enjoy my computer, electricity and a nice hot shower! I do think it is funny the Hinkletown Sewing has a Facebook page! I am pretty sure they are Mennonite and not Amish, but still.....

Kelly

Sewing Date

OOPS UPDATE! I forgot to say Happy Birthday to my lovely daughter Caitlin! Today is her 30th birthday, oh my baby is 30!!!!

Saturday I had a sewing date with my son, Colin. He asked me to help him sew a tent for his next hike on the Appalachian Trail in May.

Directions, check.

Supplies, check.

Pattern pieces, check.

It took forever to cut out the tent. You had to draw the curve on the green fabric and cut it out. The fabric was very slippery! Think trash bag material....

He liked my Gingher Scissors, should they be cutting this fabric????? I didn't even think about that one.

He did do some sewing.....

Even for an experienced sewer it was difficult to keep the edges together. After 4 hours we still weren't finished but almost! Now I can add "tent maker" to my list of accomplishments.
Now we know why it costs $300 for a finished tent. The beauty of it is that it only weighs 13 oz and you use your walking poles to hold it up on each end.

UGH! The kids bathroom is in major need of some sprucing up. The lavender is pretty gross looking and of course there are the toothpaste and feet marks on the walls that won't wash off any more. I would love to get rid of the tub/shower surround, the sink and toilet but that is not in the cards right now with a wedding right around the corner. The towel bars are already in the trash..... All that beige is so 1980's which is when we built the house. I picked a nice blueish green, I am mixing 2 paints together. I painted the ceiling all by myself, which is a big deal considering my neck issues and it looks perfect.
Except for finishing the tent there is not a lot of sewing going on.

Kelly

Blues Scraps

I am calling this my workout quilt. I am an early riser and always have 2 hours  in the morning before I workout that can easily be frittered away. Like on the computer which can be a major time sucker. I could be cleaning or doing the wash but that is no fun.

I also want some quilts for the beds in my house. Even though the kids are gone we still have lots of beds for guests and we are not moving any time soon, if ever.

So I am going to revisit old friends in my scrap baskets and make some quilts. Nothing will be planned and I hope to use up a lot of these scraps. After all they are my favorite kinds of quilts and it is a good use of my time!

On a different note, this has been a week of tragedies. On Tuesday I made a quick run to my favorite Amish  farm to get my eggs. In the little shed where they sell them it is often unattended. Usually you just wait a few minutes and some one comes out of the house to complete the transaction. This time there was a shoe box on the table that said "put your money in here". It restored my faith in humanity by just that small gesture! Now I am sure you are wondering was there any money in the box? Yes and not just change but bills too. This is 2013? right? This is the world I want to live in.

Kelly

Mother Nature

Kelly

Wedding Shower

This weekend I went to a wedding shower for my nephew's future wife. Look where it was held! At a quilt retreat house!!!

It has tons of bedrooms......

all with quilts on the beds.....

This room would be for the ones that stay up all night talking......

All of the furniture is beautiful antique oak.

Plenty of room for sewing machines........or food.

This room they use for their cutting mats and ironing boards.....or food.

This is where you could relax with your glass of wine after a hard day of sewing. I took this picture from the top of the stairs....

It was also a very charming place for a wedding shower. Mandy was very happy to receive a leaf blower!

If it is nice out you can drink that wine on the porch!

The Christiana House is located in Christiana PA. Right around the corner from Lancaster. To top it off there is a quilt shop called, the Quilt Ledger right across the street! Does it get any better than that?

Kelly