Bubble boys...

Seamus and Miles on Memorial Day:

Sewing for me...

I've been making a lot of pieces for our Civil War Program.

This week I just wanted to work on something more 21st century so I started working on my poppy quilt (seemed somewhat appropriate for Memorial Day weekend).  Here are my block so far:

I saw drawings of this chevron style (or quarter or half) log cabin on pinterest a while ago and filed it with this fabric as a possible pattern.  This fabric is so beautiful I just wanted to allow the fabric to "sing" and really be the focal point.

I love this fabric!  I wish it was still available but am happy I got some when I did!  What are you working on?

Memorial Day 2014

“May thy sweet blossom never cease to bloom in love and trust and peace.”

From the attic...

Here's a different piece of embroidery.  It is a coverlet that would fit a full size bed.  It probably had matching shams because it goes to just below the pillow line.

It's chicken scratch!

Love the dog, horse and birds...

 Okay so these monkeys remind me of the wretched creatures (flying monkeys) from the Wizard of Oz but you have to take the bad with the good....

 Love her:

I've never seen a coverlet like this in any of the old magazines I've collected through the years.  However, I am reminded that when I did cross stitching in the 1980s, I often used old lace patterns instead of store bought ones, and I wonder if this lady did too, way back when.

And as always, what pleases me the most is the evidence that the piece was loved:  a patch pieced carefully from the back near a cat teasing a squirrel.

Hope you enjoyed this little trip to Mick's attic!

Garden garden garden...

No big news here, I'm in the garden as much as my schedule allows.  This year we lost a lot of plants and bushes but I am taking it as an opportunity for change and pruning...LOTS of pruning, here is my handsome Teddy who is always barking outside:

Normally, we have hummingbirds nesting in our "Butterfly Bush" tree (it got so big it was like a tree).  It's the only Butterfly bush that survived but had to be cut back so severely that we know the hummers won't nest there, no privacy.  I've been filling the willow tree with hummingbird feeders and hanging plants in the hope that they will nest there...

Ted likes to be in the picture.  Here are some other photos of the garden:

Above: view from Sewing room window

columbine

Tree peony:

Gifts in the Garden: GIRL POWER!

No big surprise I am getting older and sometimes it is harder to do things in the garden.  I do have my ways of navigating so that I don't hurt myself while working.  But last week I had a wonderful gift, the gift of help from Katie and Elizabeth.  They were doing a class and had to do some kind of service and asked if they could help me in the garden on Friday....uh...YEH!!!!

They helped me trim and deadhead the plants and then helped mulch the ENTIRE front yard!  They did all the mulch spreading...I can't even begin to tell you how much work it was.  And such good music in the garden, the birds sang, the breeze rustled the leaves and the girls chatted and giggled.  What a glorious day!

I do think girls do a great job at spreading mulch, much better than my boys ever did.  They have a good idea on covering things up and understand that mulching doesn't mean a lot of mulch just a nice covering.  Doesn't the garden look fabulous?  Thank you Katie and Elizabeth!  

My new old quilt

Isn't it pretty?  It is signed with people from Susquehanna County, PA which also happens to be where my mother's family live and lived.  Most of the people were born in the 1820s and I am hoping to learn more about the folks in the coming months.  Here is a close-up:

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

My little boy, 30 some years ago...

Wishing you a day of happiness and cheer be it that you are remembering or celebrating your mother (or whoever raised you) and the children that made us the women we are...
Hugs to all of you!

Springtime in the garden:)

Spring is coming slowly to eastern Pennsylvania.  Today we have a real warm day and a lot of humidity but more often, we are wearing jackets.  I've lost a lot of things in the garden, especially butterfly bushes (3 died) and tea roses (so far, 3 lost).  As my nursery man said, "it was a zone 5 winter and we are supposed to be zone 6."

We used to have a large butterfly bush in front of the trellis, that is gone now...

Still it's not all bad, I like the idea of an always changing garden, it forces me to try new things and experiment.  

Here are some other photos from the garden:

 

 Had to uncover the stepping stones the kids painted years ago: 

Tomorrow at the Chrin

Beth and I are launching our new (joint) program together called "Money, Myth, and Madder:  Women and Quilting During the Civil War."  We'll be giving the program at the Chrin Community Center at Colonial Quilters Quilt Show.  We were just told there are only 50 seats available for the program but fortunately we will be at other venues (for a list, post and I will email you).

Beth and I also built what we jokingly refer to as "the mobile museum"; this option is available to the guilds and organizations we visit.  Women did so much during the Civil War that we wanted to honor their work as much as we could (and yes, we even had to edit how many boards we could do because the women DID SO MUCH!).

It's been an interesting year of research and we are excited to share our findings. It's a part of our history we rarely learn about and SHOULD.  
We have a lot of groups that have already booked us and I think it will be a fun year!

Enjoy your day! Happy Friday!