She's a Violinist and a Quilter!

Linda Hall of Tampa, Florida is a symphony violinist and a quilter. Her new blog is The Quilting Violinist, "Holding life together with stitches and notes." Isn't her selvage quilt with yo-yo's a beauty? Nice job, Linda! Take a look at all the fabric that Linda and her quilting buddies are using to make charity quilts. Wow!

Michelle's Clothesline Quilt

Michelle from Florida (Nostalgic Cafe blog) made this great quilt and do you know what she thinks about it? She says: "meh." What's not to love? I think it's wonderful. What do you think?

Have You Visited Nifty Quilts?

Nifty from Seattle of the Nifty Quilts blog made this stupendous quilt! I love everything about it: the border, the quilting, the webs, the "backgrounds," and the binding. Her blog is loaded with more wonderful quilts and fantastic fabrics. It's a real treat! She is a new blogger, so stop by and say hi.

This quilt makes me want to drop everything and go make a string quilt. How about you?

Yulia's Braids

This is Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine. She's iconic in Europe for her braids. They're very pretty, like a golden crown. A beauty salon named Muse used braided hair extensions as handles for these bags sporting Yulia's photo. (See below.) Pretty clever.

Thanks to LeeAnn for the "heads-up" about this story which first appeared on the blog: http://www.blog.ivman.com/. ("IV" stands for Instant Vacation.) Also visit LeeAnn's blog.

Inspiration from Nostalgic Cafe!

Wowzers! Take a look at all these selvage projects by Michelle from Florida on Nostalgic Cafe!

Numbering them 1-9, top to bottom, left to right, which is your favorite? I especially like #4 the spider web and #8 the house (or pool cabana). Oh yeah, #9 the Asterisk blocks too! Cool selvages in #2 too. Nice job Michelle!

Selvage Quilt for a Bear!

Edda in Portage, MI has finished her third selvage project, a table topper. This quilt will be wrapped around a stuffed bear at Christmas-time and donated to a charity with many others made by her guild. What a great idea.

Beautiful job, Edda! I love your colors.

Sunrise on Golden Pond

On Saturday morning I got up at 4:30AM to climb Rattlesnake Mountain in the dark (with my husband Jason and sister Eileen) to watch the sun rise over Squam Lake in Holderness, NH. You may remember this lake from the movie "On Golden Pond." I recommend that movie for great scenery and some funny lines. It was so quiet and beautiful this early in the morning. The lake in the distance is Lake Winnipesaukee. It's a much bigger lake, busier too.

As the sun got higher in the sky, the colors changed (below). Isn't this beautiful? I love it here.

After this excursion, I went back to bed for a few hours! Then Eileen and I went to Keepsake Quilting, 10 minutes away from her house in the town of Center Harbor, NH. Of course we found some fabrics that we needed. I got some pea green Kaffe ikat fabric that I'm sure will come in handy. That night we had the "dump dinner" (see yesterday's post). What a perfect day!

The Dump Dinner!

Meet my sister Eileen Lovett (above). She's the one who made the optical illusion selvage quilt that you saw here yesterday. Eileen is the queen of creativity and fun. She actually owns two copies of the Fun Encyclopedia. She could have written it! Take a look at what we did for dinner Saturday night at their summer house in Holderness, NH. We had a dump dinner! The name had us all pretty curious all day.

Eileen boiled several big pots of shrimp, sausage, kielbasa, white potatoes, purple potatoes(!), pearl onions, and corn on the cob. She poured off the water after it was cooked, and then "dumped" it on the center of the table. Her husband Campbell (in the white hat) served each of us a little dab of coctail sauce (ketchup and horseradish), butter, and mustard. Then we ate the delicious dinner with our hands! The funny thing was that eating like this without a plate, I didn't really know exactly how much I ate. Twelve of us didn't finish all this. We had covered the table with a plastic tablecloth, then newspapers, and finally aluminum foil, so the clean up phase took just a minute. Everyone volunteered to wash the dishes. Eileen made blueberry pie for dessert, and fortunately we got plates and forks for that!

After dinner we all played a game called "Apples to Apples" and we laughed so much that our faces hurt. It was dark for a long time by the time we left the table. Then I sat outside under the stars and enjoyed the sound of the crickets. I love evenings like this.

In case you're curious, in the bottom photo you can see our other sister Lynne in the pink shirt on the left. Next to her is her son Oliver, then our brother Bruce's wife Jennifer, Sam in the "Halftime" tee-shirt (he's one of Eileen and Campbell's two sons), Michelle (Bruce and Jennifer's niece), Amelia (Lynne's daughter) is standing, and Campbell is on the far right. Our mom, Mary, is standing in the photo at the top. Not shown: Bruce, my husband Jason and me. I was taking the photos.

Eileen's Optical Illusion Selvage Top

My sister Eileen Lovett of Rhode Island is having a selvage quilt challenge with her friend Nancy Poor. This is the start of Eileen's quilt, the center. This "box" is about 18" tall. She'll add a 4" or 6" piano key border of selvages. I'll show you a better photo when it's finished, but I couldn't wait 'till then to show you this.

I'll feature photos of both quilts in October when they're both finished. Okay?

Handknitted Christmas Stockings

These pretty Christmas stockings are 8" long. They are available on Taraluna for $23. I like the colors and designs, especially the blue one in the top row. It looks selvagey. Haha.

It's not too early to start thinking about making stuff like this. Well, maybe it is a little early. :)

Poster Supplies Quilt Inspiration

I saw this poster by James Rizzi in a store window in New York City recently. I asked the store owner if I could take a photo so I could make a quilt like it. He looked like he'd never heard that request before! But he said okay. There's something kind of Anna Williams-ish about this. What do you think?

Thanks, Ellen, for telling me the name of the poster artist.

Awesome Little Selvage Quilt!

This beautiful little table topper selvage quilt is the creation of Wendi Irons of Galt, CA. She used a pattern by Schnibbles for inspiration. This quilt measures 33" x 33." Didn't she do a wonderful job?

I can't quite figure out what it is about this quilt that I like so much. Is it the bright colors, or maybe it's the crisp white border that ties in with the selvages so well? The binding is pretty too.

This would be a stunning quilt studio wall quilt! Wouldn't take that many selvages either. Wendi says it didn't even make a dent in her selvage stash. :)

Molly is Famous!

Do you remember Molly? She's the daughter of my dear friend Sandi. I've known Sandi since she was born, 50-odd years ago;) I wrote about Molly's blog a while back: Lessons from Elephants. Well here's an update: she graduated from Simmons College and now she has a job at NASDAQ. She recently visited New York City and got to ring the closing bell at the NYSE. Pretty cool, don't you think? She's on the right in the photo above. Smart and pretty.

Happy Blogiversary to Nickels!

Nickels from Nickels Pickels in Germany just made her first selvage projects, the charming little purses above. She's giving them away to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her blog.

There is a Translate button at the top of her blog, so you can read her posts in English or Chinese or whatever you want. She has lots of quilts, crochet and other things to inspire us. Keep up all the good work, Nicole.

Dainty Squid Update and the Future of Colored Hair

Remember how we were wondering if the sewing machine tattoo on the Dainty Squid blog was real? Well I heard from Kaylah, the Dainty Squid lady herself, as yes it is real. (As in "permanent.") You may want to click over to her blog and see her pink hair. I think it's beautiful, especially because there are some purple highlights in there. I wish I had the guts to sport pink hair. Visit the Dainty Squid.

I think someday exotic hair colors will be very common. Then old photos of people with unaltered brown and blond hair will look very old fashioned.

Photo above by Kevin Cyr on the Dainty Squid blog. Now there's a way to get your exercise!

Modern Log Cabin and Stone House

This modern log cabin house is the creation of Olgga Architects in Paris, France. Now we'll have to think up some new log cabin quilts to go with it.

This house was built between two boulders in the Fafe mountains in Portugal. It was inspired by the Flintstones cartoons. Photo by Feliciano Guimaraes.

So there you go, some creative input to tickle your fancy today.

Silk Scarves by Hermes

Take a look at these gorgeous silk twill scarves by Hermes of Paris! (www.hermes.com) I think this ad is so beautiful. Is it the fabrics or the idea of taking a nap on a big pile of pillows by the water that appeals to me? Lol. I could buy a lot of quilting fabric for the price of one scarf: $350!
Yikes.
I used to have long hair like that in the late 60's and early 70's. Did you?

Photo by Publicis EtNous.

Awesome Spider Web Quilt

Isn't this a gorgeous spider web quilt? It was made by Tia at Camp Follower Bags and Quilts (see http://www.campfollowerbags.blogspot.com/ for more photos of this and other cool stuff). The colors are wonderful, and take a look at those quilted spider webs in the white areas! I love black and white striped binding; that's exactly what I would have chosen.

Tia is a military wife, and you can meet General Stanley on her blog. :)

Selvage Quilt from Houston

Liz in Houston made this wonderful selvage quilt that she calls "Salvaged Selvages x Migraine." She'll be donating it through her local guild. Wow, someone's in for a nice big surprise!

Liz says she's hooked on selvages. Well, of course. What's not to love?

Selvage Stash at Loft Creations

Stephanie of Loft Creations (blog) in Ohio has a nice neat selvage stash in a blue box (above). They're all ironed!

Mine hasn't looked this neat since about 2003. And it never will again, either. They're all jammed into 3 big boxes. And that's after making 20 selvage quilts! Where do they all come from?

Stephanie is thinking about making a spider web quilt for her daughter. I think that's a great choice!

Come back in 2 days to see an awesome spider web quilt. You'll love it.

Show us your in-progress photos, Stephanie! Have fun.

Danity Squid Blog!

Are you in the mood to enjoy a quirky, creative, happy blog? Well this is your lucky day! Visit the Dainty Squid at http://www.daintysquid.blogspot.com/. . I was searching for in-progress photos of that big sewing tattoo that I showed you recently. Flossie Blossoms said she saw it there. I didn't find it, but I found these two photos and lots more! Have fun.


By the way, there are over 1,500 followers of the Dainty Squid blog. Are you curious? :)

Edda's Selvage Quilt

Edda in Portage, MI just made this beautiful selvage quilt. Don't you love it? The combination of selvages and batiks really looks sharp.

Edda works part time at the Bernina Sewing Center and Quilt Shop in Kalamazoo, MI. Owner Karen Kortman is a long arm quilter. Edda made this quilt as a store sample to entice people to buy "Quilts from the Selvage Edge." Now there's an idea! :)

Selvage Bag to Carry Water Bottle

Silvana Flamini of Rome, Italy made this clever bag to carry her water bottle. That's a good idea! She has a tutorial on her blog. You can also learn how to cook some wonderful dishes there.

Trip Down Memory Lane - Green Elna

This is the kind of sewing machine that I learned to sew on! That was back in 1963 when I was just 10 years old. I wanted to sew my own clothes. My Mom, sisters and I put a bazillion miles on that machine! We made dresses (shifts), skirts, pajamas, bathing suits, prom dresses, pants, cheerleading outfits (modest ones out of courduroy), jackets, vests...you get the idea. Then came the quilts. Oh, what a blast we had. :)

I found this photo on Gertie's blog: http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/. By the way, despite the advertisement copy, I think it is a machine. Lol.

Hello to Mom, Lynne, Amelia and Oliver today!

Sewing Tattoo??

I really hope this is a temporary tattoo. But I don't think it is. Gertie in Queens, New York has a post on her blog http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/ where you can read (and see) about sewing tattoos. It's a very interesting blog about vintage fashion.

P.S. My sister Lynne says this is a temporary tattoo. She enlarged the photo and looked at the edges; also the tat is shiny on her left collar bone.

P.P.S. FlossieBlossoms says she thinks this is a real tattoo. She saw progress shots on the Dainty Squid blog. Thanks, Floss.

Crochet Sculpture

When I saw these crocheted bowls on www.rem-nants.blogspot.com, from Jamie (a mixed media artist) in Montana, I wanted to show you right away. These bowls are so delicate, especially lit from behind like this.

I suspect they are doileys soaked in starch and dried over a bowl of the desired shape. Like crocheted Christmas tree ornaments.

Jamie tells the history of doileys on her blog. She has great photos of Montana on her blog too.

Brenda's Selvage Placemats

Brenda from Manitoba, Canada made these beautiful selvage placemats. I'm sure she had a good reason to take this photo on an angle. Lol. I'm just glad there aren't glasses of iced tea on that table!

Look at the bindings, more selvages. I like the layout of the closest placemat best. These are so pretty. Visit Brenda's blog at: http://www.scrapsandstrings.blogspot.com/. She's awesome.

Selvage Winners Announced

Here are the two winners, chosen at random, who will receive a package of interesting selvages. Congratulations! I really wish I could send a nice package to all of you.

1. Michelle from East Texas, www.betwixtthebetweens.com.

2. Pamela from somewhere on Earth, www.pamelaquilts.blogspot.com.


This stunning photo was taken by Liz Nemmers and posted on flickr. She and I are members of the Fabulous Flowers Group.

Happy Birthday to Debby in Georgia!

This is Debby's quilt. Isn't it beautiful?

Happy birthday to you!

Another Give-Away! from Above All Fabric

Click here to enter this give-away at jaybirdquilts. Julie is featuring Above All Fabric, the sponsor of the give-away. This is an awesome site with delicious fabrics. Take a look. My favorite fabric is the Garden Henna (Farmer's Market Collection) in every color way. Good luck.

P.S. I love your comments, but to enter you have to click above and put your comment there.

Selvage Give-Away (2 Winners)

Could you use some interesting selvages to jazz up your stash? How about some little boots, some selvages from the Netherlands, and more! Your comment is your entry. Sign up to Follow this blog, and enter a second comment. (If you're already a Follower, enter twice.)

Winners chosen at random and announced on August 4th. You must live on Earth to enter.

Gift Package of Dutch Selvages!

I received these beautiful and interesting selvages in the mail from Elsbeth Wallenburg in the Netherlands. (Do you remember the stunning selvage jacket that she made? See my post dated July 2.) So I took some close-up photos to show you (see below), and the contact info is included too. Thank you so much, Elsbeth!