Mountain Laurel

The mountain laurel is in full bloom at Nipmunk State Forest,

 a 9,000 acre forest in Northeast Connecticut. My DH and I visited this week. 

Each flower is one bowl-shaped petal that has 10 indentations, each with a red dot. 

I love these flowers.

While there, we met this little fellow. He peeked out of his shell like this, 

but wasn't taking any chances.

Tiny Pieces!

This gorgeous quilt is the creation of Brenda Henning of Bearpaw Productions. She sells patterns for this and other scrap quilts. Brenda lives in Alaska where quilting season lasts a long time.

The Wedding was Wonderful!

More photos to come. We all had a wonderful time in Short Hills, NJ on Saturday.

Now the happy couple is in Europe on their honeymoon.

Thanks to my friend Barb Marroquin for the photos.

Wedding is Coming Up!

Our son Brian is getting married to his sweetheart Lauren. We took this photo last summer on Squam Lake in New Hampshire. (The shutter was open for 30 seconds to get those stars.)

After the wedding I'll be back. Bye for now!

Selvage Star

This selvage star quilt is the work of twins Jessica and Jennifer of Twin Fibers. I love how they cut the selvages nice and wide to show the beautiful fabric prints. And the quilting is great!

Their newest projects involve upholstery.

Interesting tutorials too.

Scrap Creatures

This scrapy snail is just one of Sandra Hanken's charming patterns. Her shop is Becoming Bears ETC on Etsy. ETC stands for Especially Terrific Creatures, of course. Sandra lives in northern Minnesota.

Jubilee Quilt

"Jubilee" quilt by accomplished fiber artist Diane Melms.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery

There is a wonderful tutorial for silk ribbon delphiniums on Carol Daisy from Carol Steemson.

This would look fantastic on a crazy quilt! 

And here's another silk ribbon beauty made by Danielle Roothooft featured on Stitchin Fingers.

Teapot Quilt

See KateThemel on Indulgy for this and similar quilts. I followed numerous links on Indulgy but I'm still not sure who make this quilt. If you know, please leave a comment.

UPDATE: Thank you for the links to Kate Themel's sites in the Comments below.

Kati's Striped Quilt

This fresh modern quilt was made by Kati and is featured on her blog: from the blue chair, a good source of inspiration for modern quilts. Nice work, Kati!

Art from Recycled Items by Magdalena Godowa

Recycled items and apple quilt (below) by Magdalena Godowa from Poland. See more of her art on Flickr.

Modern Log Cabin from Insung Kim

Modern log cabin quilt by Insung Kim on Flickr. 

I like how she used  prints with white backgrounds. They make the blocks look light and airy. 

Nice job, Kim!

Spider Web Selvage Quilt

Here's Beth's blue spider web selvage quilt. See more photos on her blog Run and Sew Quilts.

Nice job, Beth!!

Thumbprint Selvage Quilts

Thumbprint selvage quilts by Cheryl Sorg of California on Etsy.

Cupcake Collage

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At first it looks like a selvage quilt, but this is a painting by Nancy Standlee. 

Yarn Bombings!

Made by Aquaholic and featured on Edhat where you can see more photos and read about the process.

Jennifer Marsh on flickr: Interdependence Tree Project, Huntsville, Alabama.

The Yarney Stone from Parents.com.

Yarn tee pee by Bloesem class teacher Natalie Miller.

This looks like fun! The trees and rocks in my yard could use a little color too.

Gathered Selvage Skirt

This gathered selvage skirt is the creation of Emily Levey from the UK (Strawberry Patch). 

Selvage Skirt by Flourishing Palms

Selvage skirt by Linda (Flourishing Palms). She calls it Name Dropper for all the designer's names featured in the selvages. Haha.

Selvage Skirt

This selvage skirt was made by  Rachel van Tilborg from Canada. Her blog is Not Your Run of the Mill, but I couldn't find this particular post there. Photos from Google images.

Wabi Sabi Quilt: Off-Center Medallion

This is the center medallion of the third wabi sabi quilt (except that the medallion won't be quite in the center). I like the batik in the middle. See the close-up photo below. I found both dark batiks at the Quilted Ewe in Winsted, CT. The green fabric that looks like grass came from there too. Mary (the owner) has lots of great fabrics. I always find some treasures there. I'll show you when this quilt is finished.

Wabi Sabi Quilt 2

 This is quilt top #2 in my new Wabi Sabi series. It measures 63" x 82." The actual sewing was fast, but it took me some time to consider the layout. It was fun to make. The close-up photo below shows the individual fabrics a little better. The background is taupe (Kona Sand). Now I'm daydreaming about #3.

Wabi Sabi Quilt is Finished!

And the pattern is finished too! This is a raw-edge machine applique quilt. The final task is trimming off all the loose threads after machine washing and drying. But then it has a nice soft texture. 

Wabi sabi is a Japanese aesthetic that finds beauty in simplicity, authenticity, imperfection, and the natural cycle of growth and decay. It also involves asymmetry which goes against my natural default settings. That's part of the fun of making a quilt like this.

Wabi Sabi quilt by Karen Griska.

All of these photos were taken after machine washing and drying.

See the Wabi Sabi Quilt pattern.

Ice Cream Quilt Variations

The Ice Cream quilt designed by Kaffe Fassett. Delicious!

I found this Ice Cream quilt on Pinterest (above). Originally from Kaffe Fassett.

Kimberly Gervais' version of the ice cream quilt (above). See her blog post about it here.

Terri's version (above) is featured on her blog Quilternity's Place. And here's a close-up, below. She made all her strips the same width.

Quilt by Liz Kuny

Colorful contemporary art quilt by Liz Kuny of New Jersey. Nice!

Blue Quilt

 Stunning blue quilt by sewshaz made with Kaffe Fassett fabrics, pattern by Quiltology. Nice! I love the little bits of lime green in this very blue quilt. It seems to add depth.

This quilt reminds me of photos I've seen of Jodhpur, the blue city in India.

P.S. Not to be confused with Jaipur, the Pink City, below.

Happy Easter!

Nifty Tulips by Katell

Katell from France made this beautiful springtime tulips quilt. She was inspired by a tulips quilt in the book Georgia Quilts and by LeeAnn's tulips quilt on Nifty Quilts. You can read more about Katell's quilt and see photos of all three quilts on her blog Quilteuseforever.

Nice work, Katell!

Wabi Sabi Quilt

I've been wanting to make a wabi sabi style quilt for a while, and just finished my first one today. Now I can't wait to make another. This is raw-edge machine applique. The frayed edges will add a nice touch. I'll show you how it looks after machine washing and drying.