Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year
from Texas!!

 

 

(Looking down onto

The Riverwalk,

San Antonio)

 

 



Signature Quilt - A Group Hug

(deleted post recovery #1,
dated 12/06/12)

 

 

Signature Quilts


Whenever  someone in our little community quilting group
faces an illness or an adversity,
I always try to make them a signature quilt
to help comfort them.

It's like a great big, 
perpetual, group hug!

 

 

For Helen.

 

 

 

For Lois.

 

 

For Marion.
,

But last fall, I decided we shouldn't have to be sick
in order to each have our own 'group hug',

I worked all summer on a signature quilt,

 

 

 

 

hand-quilting myself to the moon and back.

 

 

 

 

When we had our Christmas luncheon,

(the ladies always make sure it coincides to my departure),

we drew names for the quilt.

 

 

 

 

Here's the lucky, and very pleased,

winner!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

OOPS!

 

I accidently deleted a whole page of blog posts.

It's times like this that I wonder why I even bother.

 

Does anyone know if I can retrieve/restore them?

Blogger is no help.

No one answers questions in the forum.

And there is no place else to ask.

Thanks,

karen

Oh Little Playmate..

...come out and play with me!

Too cute to miss!

http://www.slothster.com/2352-Cat-On-Boat-Plays-With-Dolphins.html

Connections

Being a nature lover and a quilter,

it is sometimes difficult to connect the two in a post.

No doubt about it, quilters and artists have taken  the very best

of nature and incorporated it into their art for centuries. 

I've posted about owls, bees, dragonflies, and more dragonflies.

This morning, I found another connection, albeit ever so slight.

Several of my quilting followers have asked me

what a life list is

when I'm talking about seeing new birds. 

Birders are great listers. 

They have a life list, a yard list, day lists,

trip lists, wish lists, state, county, and even country lists.  

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. 

Now there is e-Bird,

and they can keep track of their lists on the internet

with thousands upon thousands of other birders. 

This opens up a whole new playing field!

Visiting a new area?  Just hop onto the internet for a list

of birds that you can expect to see while you are there.

I looked 'lister' up on Dictionary.com

and discovered that a list is also:

 /lɪst/ Show Spe

1. a border or bordering strip, usually of cloth.

2. a selvage.

3. selvages collectively.

4. a strip of cloth or other material.

5. a strip or band of any kind.

 

 

Therefore, although the term is now obsolete,

a 'lister' is also 'one who applies a border or edge to...'.

Quilters are great listers of lists, as well. 

It's the only way they are able to finish all the projects they've started,

and manage their life around their sewing! 

Have a great weekend.

Hope you check off everything

on your list!

All the Rage

Dresden Plates are

all the rage. 

Miss Kyra

Isn't this one beautiful??

All proceeds from the sale of this pattern

are being donated to the family

of a very sick little girl.

Kyra

To learn more, please visit

Erin

at

One Piece At A Time.

To order the pattern from Erin's Etsy store

because you're just too excited to help

 and want to do it right now,

click HERE!

Erin has graciously posted tutorials

on how to construct this beautiful quilt.

Dresden Plate

Appliqued Flowers

Not a quilter, but it is in your heart to donate?

Click HERE!

Thank you, Erin, for giving us the opportunity

to help this beautiful girl and her family

as they stumble down this long, rocky path.

The Intriguing Owl

Owls have fascinated man from time immemorial - to some cultures they are symbols of wisdom, while to others they are harbingers of doom and death.

The Owl Pages 

Barred Owl
Forest Glen, Nova Scotia
11-2012

And to crafters, they are just too darned cute!
There are owl cakes, owl quilts, owl jewelry pieces,

owl die-cuts for scrapbookers, and owl just-about-anything-else!

Because owls have stormed the craft world this past year,

I thought it might be fun to post a few owl facts. 

Christmas 2011 gifts for all the kiddos!

Most owls are nocturnal birds of prey with some exceptions:

Northern Hawk Owl, Snowy Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Burrowing Owl. 

Several types of owl, however, are crepuscular — active during

the twilight hours of dawn and dusk; one example is the Pygmy owl. 

Because of the nocturnal habits of owls,

they are a coveted check mark on any birder's life list.

"Their habits, and cryptic plumage,

make it easy for us to walk straight past them."

The CROSSLEY ID Guide

Pendant

Worldwide, there are 223 species

In North America, 37

My life list:  only 3 visual, 1 audio

Barred Owl,
Somewhere in Maine

Though owls are typically solitary,

the literary collective noun for a group of owls is a parliament. 

Interestingly, if you look up parliament in the dictionary,

there is no mention of owls.

Sunflower Baking

The smallest owl — weighing as little as 31 g (1.1 oz)

and measuring some 13.5 cm (5.3 inches) — is the Elf Owl . 

The largest owl by length is the the Great Grey Owl,

which measures around 70 cm (28 in) on average

 and can attain a length of 84 cm (33 in).

Wikipedia

Scientists studying the diets of owls are helped by

their habit of regurgitating the indigestible parts of their prey

(such as bones, scales and fur) in the form of pellets.

These "owl pellets" are plentiful and easy to interpret,

and are often sold by companies to schools for

dissection by students as a lesson in biology and ecoloogy.

Instead of moving their eyes, owls swivel their head

to visualize their surroundings.

The swiveling radius of the owl’s head is around 270˚,

easily enabling them to see behind them without relocating the torso.

Barred Owl,
San Antonio, TX
12-2009

I jumped on the owl bandwagon, too, when I saw this adorable quilt kit

from  Connecting Threads.

For the backing, I used a flannel sheet from a sheet set

that I had purchased at half price after Christmas.   

I appliqued my little friend's name to the accompanying pillowcase!

Now she has a little matching 'set'.

The CROSSLEY ID Guide advises that if you want to see an owl,

"you will have most joy looking on the first calm evening after a storm."

Good Luck!