Upside-down House in Poland

This was a project by businessman and philanthropist Daniel Czapiewski of Poland. He was making a statement about the Communist era and the state of the world. It has attracted thousands of tourists. Many of them say that they feel seasick after a while. See more at

http://freshome.com/2007/09/08/amazing-upside-down-house/

I don't know if this is "Onion Chair," but you have to look, right?

See Mary's Beautiful Lake

Have you seen "Mary on Lake Pulaski" in blogland and wondered about her lake? I have. And here it is! She lives in Minnesota, the "Land of Ten Thousand Lakes." She doesn't even have a photo of it on her blog, so you have to see it here!

I love lakes. Looking at this photo, I can hear the little waves lapping the beach. You are so lucky, Mary! Thanks for sharing your lake with us.

See Mary's blog at: http://maryonlakepulaski.blogspot.com/

Samantha Kelly's Neighborhood

Samantha Kelly is a quilter who lives in Sydney, Australia. The beach above is near her, and Samantha, I've walked along that very path overlooking the beach! What a gorgeous place! Winter in Sydney is very gentle compared to New York. Both places have equally good quilting weather, though.

In the photo below you can see the view from Samantha's balcony at sunset. You can see Centrepoint Tower in the distance. Just beautiful. Thanks for the tour, Samantha. Check out her blog at: http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/

How Do They Do This?

I was amazed to see the quilts in the latest L.L. Bean catalog. Usually quilts offered in most catalogs are uninspiring to say the least, especially if you're a quilter. But I have to say that their collection is very nice. This is hand-quilted according to the ad, and it looks dense too, judging by the photo. Prices: Twin: $199, Queen: $229, and King: $249. I'm assuming they are made in China, but still, how do they do this? Have any of you seen these in person?

Selina in Queensland, AU

This is the view from Selina's front door. She lives in Queensland, Australia. The photo was taken at 5PM on a recent winter's afternoon. (Flowers in the winter; that's nice!) They have 3 acres and love it there.

Thanks for inviting all of us to your front yard, Selina! You can tell your husband that you had over 500 quilting buddies visit today.

You can also visit her blog at: http://selinasvintage.blogspot.com/

Magic Shopping Bag!

"The handles of the shopping bag are made of transparent fishing line, wich makes it look like it is being held without handles." - Toxel.com



This bag is the idea of an advertising genius in the Netherlands. See his blog at:

http://directdaily.blogspot.com/2009/02/magic-i-floating-bag.html

Cyndi's Neighborhood and a Hungry Bear

Update: After Cyndi sent me her photo (below), she had a visitor in her backyard - a bear! She was baking some good smelling brownies and he was looking for them.

Cyndi Holman sent this photo of her part of the world.

"I saw your pic of NY and you said, send me your pics of the world outside your door. Well, here's mine. I live in a little town in the mountains in Southern California called Forest Falls. It's named for our "Big Falls," which are about 1/4 mile away from my house. (I can hear them when I sleep at night--so relaxing.)"

Oh, that sounds so nice! Nothing like the sound of water fall asleep to. (But watch out for that bear!)

Take a look at Cyndi's blogs (and read more about the bear):
http://cyndistitches.blogspot.com/

http://cyndisitichesfreebies.blogspot.com/

http://cyndicooks.blogspot.com/

http://holmantravels.blogspot.com/

Selvage Quilts for Alzheimers Fundraiser

JoAnne in Texas made these 2 small (9" x 12") selvage quilts for Ami Simms' Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. They will be sold or auctioned at the Houston show in October. If you want to make a quilt for this worthy cause, visit: www.amisimms.wordpress.com. What a great idea. Nice job, JoAnne!

See JoAnne's blog at: http://nappinnanaquilts.blogspot.com/

A Quilter's Backyard, Obviously

This is Anya's backyard in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. Don't you love the hand-dyed fabric lawn decoration? She and her quilting buddies have been enjoying a lot of hand-dyeing lately. They have 4.5 wooded acres. I love those white pines, green all year.

See Anya's blog at:
http://hillscreekquilter.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-side-of-rainbow.html

Valentina's Neighborhood in Cyprus

Valentina in Cyprus was enjoying a perfect stitching day at the home of a friend, and she happened to have her camera. Thanks for thinking of us and sharing this photo, Valentina. That's a very pretty bag on the table.

Isn't it fun to be "invited" to all these quilter's porches and yards?

She said she wouldn't, but she did!

Make more selvage purses, that is. Joan Jordan says:

"After I made the original selvage purse, I said I wouldn’t make another one, but I’ve made two more. As with every selvage project, no two are exactly alike. It takes me about twenty hours to make one, although I figure I could shave some time off if I could convince the cat to go away while I’m working!"

Aren't they pretty? That polka dotted fabric looks great with her selvages. One of these is for sale on Etsy (see links below). I wonder when Joan's going to make her next batch of selvage purses!

This is the view of Joan's backyard from her screened porch. She lives northwest of Atlanta. I like those little birdhouses. What a verdant paradise!

http://connectingthedots-jj.blogspot.com/

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28975101

Lois' view in Nashville, TN

Lois in Nashville, TN has this view from her sewing area. I love Nashville; we lived there for 14 years. Wonderful people, gentle climate, and all kinds of music. Lois says:

"I'm a beginner sewer/quilter who is back sewing after 30 years (high school home ec class). I started back in April with a big project (redoing the upholstery and curtains in our airstream travel trailer)."

Yikes! That is a big project. See her blog at: http://www.lowdownfromlois.blogspot.com/.

Pre-Cuts from The Fabric Square Shop

I just received these pre-cut fabrics from Laura Sampsel's Fabric Square Shop. Aren't they delicious? I'm starting to appreciate how the variety in a charm pack can really jump-start a scrap quilt. Sometimes you just need a smidgen, not a whole fat quarter.

I couldn't help laying out a few squares of the pretty Kaffe squares above. (My surface was wavy; the squares are accurate.)

The soft arrangement below is a jelly roll called "Spring Magic" by April Cornell from Moda. I'm tempted to just sew all these strips together "as is" for a summer hammock quilt. (If I had a hammock. I guess I could set one up between 2 parking meters. I'd probably have to feed them quarters every 15 minutes. That sounds restful!) Just kidding, not whining!

Visit Laura Sampsels sites at:

Website
http://www.fabricsquareshop.com/shop/
eBay Store
http://stores.ebay.com/Materialgirlchic-Fabric-Square-Shop
Etsy Shop
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5616898

Selvage Fashion

Diane's bangs were driving her nuts when she was trying to do some machine quilting, so she reached for a selvage and created this very cute hair-do! Are quilters smart or what?

Have you visited Diane's blog? http://bearcreekquilter.wordpress.com/2009/08/07/flimsy-friday-posted-called-off-on-rain-delay/#comment-501

Natima's Neighborhood - Oh, my!

What a gorgeous city! This is Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia. If the Selvage Blog was a big bucks operation, we would have a convention there! Natima would show us around and we'd take a ride on those boats in the foreground. Visit: http://www.thatsmelbourne.com.au/

Natima is a quilter, stitcher, basket weaver, book maker (with paper, not bets), mixed media artist, photographer, and she works at a university library! You can see her projects on her blogs:
http://fromrags-riches.blogspot.com/
http://notjustnat.blogspot.com/

More quilter's neighborhoods all this month!

Selvage Birthday Card Among Janiacs

Anya of Wellsboro, PA just made this postcard for Rita, a quilting friend who's having a birthday soon. They're both "Janiacs" (Dear Jane quilt aficianados) so the fabrics are very appropriate.

Anya has taken the first step toward making a Dear Jane Selvage Quilt: thinking about it, and saying what a dumb idea it is! We've seen this kind of thing before. That's how I started my selvage lamp.

If you want to encourage Anya in this endeavor, or see what else she's up to, visit her blog at: http://hillscreekquilter.blogspot.com/.

Tomorrow: More Selvage Blog reader's neighborhoods!

.....Today is a good day to start a new quilt!.....

Debra's Little Selvage Quilt

Debra's motto is: "When I have money, I buy fabric; with whatever is left, I buy food." That makes sense to me. She's also an RN, so don't worry; she won't take it too far! Isn't this a pretty mini selvage quilt? That polka-dot sashing is pure genius!

I like Debra's sense of humor, keeping her selvage stash in this bag. Talk about green living!

Visit her blog at: www.quiltchicksrule.blogspot.com.

Kathi Price Sews While Others Sleep!

Kathi Price of Frisco, TX is already hard at work making wonderful Christmas stockings! Like Rumplestilskin, she is sewing while others are sleeping, or are on summer vacation. She has a nice collection of new Christmas fabrics too. Light colors and lots of words.

These stockings are so cheerful. Kathi really knows how to "put it all together." I like how she sort of framed the peppermint flower above with the turquoise selvages.

See stocking #2 below:

Below, see the tape that says "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?" That's perfect in a selvage arrangement, don't you think?

These two stockings make a great pair. Thanks for the inspiration, Kathi!

There are lots of ways you can see what Kathi's making, and contact her. Visit:

http://kathiskreations.blogspot.com/
http://kathip22.etsy.com/
http://twitter.com/kathip22
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathis-Kreations/48640534442?ref=mf

"Salvaged Selvedges" by Linda Robertus

See the back of the quilt below.

Linda Robertus of Brisbane, Australia has finished her quilt, "Salvaged Selvedges" for an article in the December issue of "Down Under Quilts" and it is truly stunning! She used the "quilt as you go" method, so each block was already quilted before assembling the quilt. Isn't this a beauty? See more photos at: http://www.q-linda.blogspot.com/.

See the online version of Down Under Quilts at: http://www.downunderquilts-digital.com/downunderquilts/issue125/ It's free.

Linda has a few other things on her plate at the moment too. She's a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. Her topic is the transmission of tuberculosis. Yikes! And she's a Mom, she has a job, and she just discovered the joy of Photoshop! I need a nap!

Martina's Selvage Pillow

Selvage quilter and lawyer Martina Odenthal of Cologne, Germany made this unique selvage pillow for her son. What a great combination of fabrics! The striped background fabric adds lots of energy. She is way ahead of the curve. Yayyy, Martina!

Visit her blog at: www.stufenzumgericht.blogspot.com.

A New Blog by Quilt Diva Julie

Julie of Memphis, TN has a new blog called "Contemplate Then Wait." (You remember Julie; she made the selvage quilt named "Garcia." See sidebar.)

In her new blog she captures what quilting could mean in my life if I actually made the quilts that I want to make for people. I get the idea, but then I usually don't get around to it. She conveys the "heart" of quilt-making. Visit the link to see for yourself: http://contemplatethenwait.blogspot.com/ Thank you, Julie.

Panda Quilt from Labels!

Quilter Jill Buckley sent me this photo of a quilt called "Made in China" by Anita Payne of Stratford, Ontario. I hope you can see in this photo that the panda is made completely from labels! Isn't this amazing? Thanks, Jill.

This quilt was made by Lisa Thompson's sister. Here's what Lisa wrote:
"This is my sister's quilt. She asked me and other family members for labels from our clothes. She was known to cut a label out while someone was still wearing the shirt it came from! She also went to thrift stores on days they sold clothes by the pound and bought things just for the labels."

Show Me Your Neighborhood

Kwiltmakr lives in Kansas, and this is her neighborhood. She saw the post yesterday showing my neighborhood and promtly emailed me these photos of her backyard.

As you may have guessed, her place and mine are both perfect for quilting!

Visit her blog at http://wwwundertherose.blogspot.com/

This is my neighborhood.

Send me a photo of what your part of the world looks like.

This is White Plains, New York. You can see a little bit of my building on the far right edge of this photo. We live on the 18th floor. We can see a little bit of the New York City skyline, trains, lots of trees, the Bronx River Parkway, and usually about 8 planes over JFK and LaGuardia. We park our cars underground. I can walk to Macy's, Target, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, and the train station for NYC. It's a nice place to live. We've been here for 2 years.

I'm guessing the view outside your door is a little different. Show us!

White Plains Curiousity

This building in White Plains, NY seems to be sinking into the ground! The sign on the building isn't in very good shape either. Tilt your head to the left and you'll see that it's just perched on a hill, and is perfectly level. I passed this building several times before finally stopping to take a picture, aligning my camera with the sidewalk.