Selvage Art by Sigrid from Germany

 

Take a look at these creative mug rugs and place mats made by Sigrid in Germany. She uses selvages from  a fabric collection in each project. Shown here are:

1. Mug Rug Anni Downs "Favourite Things"

2. Mug Rug Lynette Anderson "Secret Garden"

3. Place Mats and Mug Rugs: Judie Rothermel " The Civil War Chronicles" 

You can see more on her blog: Sigisart. 

So much text on these place mats. Nice work, Sigrid!

I love it when bloggers show what it looks like in their part of the world. This is Eifel in May. Sigrid likes nature and as you can see she has some beautiful photography on her blog. 

And look at her amazing quilt! She had it professionally quilted. Wow, I love it. Enjoy Sigisart!

Quilts from the Packwood House Museum Collection

This beautiful quilt exhibit was held at the Packwood House Museum in Lewisburg, PA last fall. I found the above photo at AboutQuilts. I love the arrangement of pink and yellow in the photo above. The photo below is from the Packwood House website.

Broken Dishes Quilt from 1950

This Broken Dishes quilt by Dorothy Lambert White is from The Old State House website. This site features  quilts from Black Arkansans. I like the busy look of this scrap quilt. 

Take a look at the quilts in the various categories here. Lots of inspiration there!

Here's one more. You know I can't show just one! This is Double Wedding Ring by Essie Jackson, c 1950.

Waterford Crystal in Ireland

 

The Waterford Crystal tour was very interesting. This isn't the main manufacturing location, but there are some artisans working here and you can get up close and watch the whole process. It takes 5 years to train as a glass cutter, and 3 additional years to train as an etcher. (Etching shown below.)

 

Cinderella's horses and carriage, in the elegant retail exhibit.

And here's my mom taking a close-up photo of a huge crystal mirror frame. I'll probably see that photo in a camera club competition. Mom's 84 and I'm so proud of her. She's fun to travel with too.

Ireland Trip was Wonderful!

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Ireland. If you have the chance to go, I recommend it highly. It is an absolutely beautiful place with lots of interesting things to see and do. The people are very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious. The hotels were spacious and had all the modern comforts you could hope for (down comforters, lots of pillows, two beds in each room, TV, hair dryers, etc.) The towns have an annual competition for being the most beautiful. And no town may opt out of the competition. It wasn't until I got home that I realized that I hadn't seen one piece of litter the whole week. 

We chose a tour operated by CIE Tours called the "8-Day Irish Adventure." We traveled around the whole perimeter of the country, including Northern Ireland. (Relations are good between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. You don't notice when you pass from one to the other.) The price for the trip was $2,500 per person, including hotels, airfare from NYC, breakfasts, dinners, entertainment, and the tour on a sight-seeing bus with comfy seats. Prices vary depending on the time of year.

Ireland is a popular tourist destination for descendants of the 1 million Irish emigrants who moved to the US, Canada, and Australia during the famine in the 1840's. My great-grandmother came to the US from Waterford in the 1890's, and our traveling party was made up of two of her granddaughters and four great-granddaughters. Wouldn't she be surprised to know that we visited Ireland!

The photo above is a walking path near the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland (above).

Here are some more of my photos (below).

The Cliffs of Moher (above).

 Cottage in the town of Knock (above).

Part of the church where W. B. Yeats' grave is located (above).

My traveling buddies (l to r): me, Diane, Joan, Eileen, Bonnie and Mary, at the Titanic museum in Belfast.

This is the Library at Trinity College in Dublin (above). 

Charming pub in Waterford (above).

There are many castles and castle-like buildings around the country. Some are ruins and some are nice hotels. I'd like to go to Ireland again to explore the castles.

Do You Like Bed Scarves?

I'm starting to think about adding bed scarves to my offerings on Etsy. But I can't decide if I like bed scarves or  not. They are pretty, but they're not "the real thing." I have mixed feelings about table runners too. 

Maybe I'll give them a try. Do you make them? Any thoughts?

The bed scarf shown above was made by Phyllis in Florida.

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Take a look at this ruffled throw made by Abby Metz of diydesign! She calls it a ruffled throw. I like it, but I think my DH would be somewhat less enthusiastic. 

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The crocheted bed scarf below was made by MackMade in England.

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The lovely vintage crazy quilt bed runner below measures 30" x 60." It's offered on Etsy by Yesterday's Treasures 3 in Texas. Wow!

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And here's one more if you're thinking about making hexies. It's from Susan Yoder of Florida.

Word Play Quilts - Giveaway Winner!

The lucky winner of the Word Play Quilts giveaway is...(drum-roll)...Ellyn from Texas!

Visit her at Ellyn's Place. 

Congratulations!

Gone Aussie Quilting!

I'm so excited: I just discovered the Gone Aussie Quilting blog! It's full of wonderful inspiration by longarm quilter Jeannette Bruce of Bombala, NSW, Australia. This quilt is called Steam Punk Fever. 

And this is called Must Stash Bee. Haha! What a wonderful new blog discovery!

Everybody Loves a Scrap Quilt!

This quilt was made by Michelle Foster of Canada and featured on the Quilting Gallery.

Nice job, Michelle!

Crazy Quilts to Write Home About

 

This amazing crazy quilt with the circular fan in the middle was featured by Kerri Murphy of California on her blog: Crazy Stitcher. She has lots of eye candy there for crazy quilt lovers (like the close-up below).

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This stunning crazy quilt (above) was made by Stewart West in 1883. It now resides in the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. It was featured by CQ Magazine Online. 

Thelma's Red and White Quilt!

Thelma of the Cupcakes and Daisies blog made this fabulous red and white quilt a while back, but I just saw the photo for the first time and want to show you in case you missed it too. She was inspired by the exhibit in New York City a few years ago: Infinite Variety. This is a sampler quilt of sorts. The quilts overlap, except for the tree in the middle. I love this quilt! Beautiful work, Thelma!

*** You can now see the Infinite Variety exhibit on YouTube! ***

Selvage Flower Table Runner

This selvage flower table runner is the creation of Elena of CarolinaSquirrell on Etsy. She lives in Texas and offers a big selection of very beautiful selvage items, hooked rugs, punchneedle, and patterns. 

I really like these leaves/petals. Selvages look so good with black and white prints, don't they?

Carol's Word Quilt and Giveaway!

Carol E. is making a word quilt. She has a few more words to go, then she's going to arrange them. Carol's blog is Giraffe Dreams. She has lots of good quilt photos there, and some book reviews as well.

"Sleep" is a good word for a bed quilt, right? 

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If you haven't seen Tonya Ricucci's book Word Play Quilts, take a look. I made the word "Give" shown on the front cover, bottom row. 

LEAVE A COMMENT HERE TO WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK!

Winner announced on June 21.

Queen Size Scrap Hexie Quilt!

Made by Karen Million of Nicholasville, KY, and SewMillionStitches on Etsy, this quilt measures 83" x 99!" The hexagons are 2" in diameter. It's hand pieced and hand quilted. The back is orange.

I've been wondering how a big scrap hexie quilt would look, and here's the answer!

Nice work, Karen!

Quick method for hexie-making here: Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts.

Hexagons and Diamonds by Twoems

This hexagon print was made by Melanie Mikecz of San Francisco, CA. Her Etsy shop is:  twoems. She's also a dog-lover and a wannabe ballerina.

Wouldn't this make a gorgeous quilt? I think Melanie might love quilt-making too if she gave it a try.

I like this one too. Melanie calls it "Funky Diamonds." 

Jet House

This new home in Malibu, California has roofs made from a used Boeing 474. 

See the post here on Earth 911, a site dedicated to making good stuff out of junk.

Helen's Fabulous Met Men Quilt

"Met Men" is a metro/retro/modern quilt. It was made by my friend (and fellow Empire Quilters member) Helen Beall of Long Island. Here's what she says about the quilt:

I made this quilt for the NYC Metro Mod Quilter's challenge.  The only requirements were to interpret Metro anyway you wished and to try something new.  Since the materials in this quilt came from guys who rode the subway every day in their suits and ties, it fits my impression.  The back is a NYC subway map print from City Quilter, and the old subway tokens "tie" it all together.  This is my first wool, silk, and metal quilt!

Wonderful job, Helen! See more on her blog: Helen No Blog. (That name came about before Helen had a blog, of course.)

Hexie Pillow by Lori Holt

This hexie pillow was featured on Julia Wood's Hexie Blog.

It was made by Lori Holt of Busy Bee Inc. and you can see it here on Etsy. 

Charming as can be!

Hexie Book Give-Away Winner!

The winner of "Quick and Easy Hexie Quilts" is Dar of Dar's Patchwork Garden.

What a fun blog hop that was! All the reviewers found different things to love about this book.

I'm starting my first hexie project to bring on my upcoming trip to Ireland. My sister Eileen who is also a quilter is going, so I'd better pack some circles for her too. That's the decent thing to do, don't you think?