A Perfect Picnic blog hop

We are packing up our baskets and getting ready for the last blog hop of the season with Madam Samm at Sew We Quilt!

This blog hop is a little different than the others, because we will be taking a friend/spouse out on an actual picnic using the quilt we make! We will take pictures as well. It will be so much fun to see our fellow quilters out enjoying fresh air and friends. 

My DH is so excited about this hop....really! I explained it to him on a two hour drive back from Orlando last weekend. He listened and asked a few questions, then we continued listening to our audio book. About a half an hour later, he turned off the book and started telling me about his favorite picnic foods when he was a kid! The book went back on, then about a half hour later, off it went again. He had come up with three more picnic themes along with menus to go with them...I was so delighted!

Saturday we went to out and hunted for dishes, silverware and heavy duty fabric for the quilt backing. He was involved with all of the phases of this adventure...what a guy! 

I decided against a laminate backing for several reasons:

* You can't rip it out without leaving a hole

and since I will be making up this pattern, 

ripping out may happen alot!

* I won"t be taking a picnic outing when or where it is wet.

* I want to be able to wash the devil out of it, 

since I am going to use the devil out of it :)

These are just personal choices, and does not mean I am not a fan of laminate fabric

...I am a BIG fan! Just not for this project.

I thought I'd put in a little tease of my fabrics for the quilt (as of my thinking today) with the Riley Blake accents to be determined in the next day or two....

Come join us!!

It Bugs Me to Have to Sit Still!

This week I had cataract surgery and it went very, very well. What I didn't know going into it was that there is a 4 week healing time, that you have to be still after the surgery....still, and if you are like me, with rimless glasses and very blind, you are stuck wearing all kinds of jacked up contraptions in order to "sort-of" see...

All of that was okay, even the not driving part, except...you guessed it....being still. Sheeesh!

I am sure you have projects you have filed away in your head for "when I've broken both legs....". Well, I guess that day had finally come. I had to be still and my jailer, I mean my DH, made sure I was in compliance.

I got out a fantastic tea box that I have been saving, waiting for inspiration. My first idea was to cover the box and put a rosette on the top, but then the sides looked so plain

So, I got out some beautiful photo postcards, which I love and have hoarded for several years. The postcard set is called 

The Insect Art of Christopher Marley. 

I added the card sections to either end, but then I realized there was no connection between the flower and the insects, other than great color. 

I decided I needed a real insect on my flower and don't you know it, I had some in my workroom! So, now I had a cute box!

 

I hot glued a new sponge into the top of the box for needles and pins, 

then loaded the inside up with the handwork I keep in many places, like the car, my luggage and my library (for faculty meetings). 

 The box is hard enough to keep everything safe, especially in my luggage, but small enough not to take up too much room. I think I mentioned before that I am not throwing away anything larger than an inch, so there are lots of little scraps to stitch together whenever there is a spare minute.  

 Anyway, I enjoyed this little project and I have six boxes left, so I think a series might be happening :)

Thanks for stopping by to see my silly "still-ish" project :)

My Second Africa Quilt

My second Africa quilt is finished! I took it with me to California and left it with my capable sister, Deb. I loved making this quilt. I have never made anything like it. I was inspired by Jen Kingwell's Gypsy Wife quilt. The quilt measures 100+" by 86" and it is on a king sized bed in this picture.

I arranged the blocks smallest to largest, but either end can be the top.

As you can see, the quilting, which was perfectly done by my hero, Bob at Country Crossroads Quilt Shop, is a geometric. Bob bought it especially for this quilt and it looks so good!

So, I hope this quilt will help do some good 

for the City of Joy in the Congo.