Throwback Thursday

Don't be shocked that I'm posting twice in one week!

For once, I have an opportunity to participate in

Throwback Thursday

sponsored by Jenn at A Quarter Inch from the Edge.

Don't you just love the name of her blog?

Anyway,

all my old pictures are in storage a thousand plus miles away,

but I visited a friend in Houston last month and this is what I found.

Back in the late 90's, my daughter's college friend asked her 

if I'd make her a quilt.  She was told to ask me herself!  

Can you imagine that?   What was my daugher thinking?

(I don't think she wanted to share me.)

So, she secured my email address, 

wrote me a letter introducing herself,

asked for a quilt, and a new friendship was forged.

(I sew for her and her family all the time, now.  As a matter of fact,

I slipped a parcel in yesterday's mail to her address.)

At the time, I was entranced with tesselating patterns,

and even back then, I was a scrap quilter.

Guess I've always been a scrap quilter.

I appliqued a kitty laying on one corner, taking a bath.

I used the blanket stitch and this is when I learned it did not quite

hold up to being washed and dried, so now I use it only on wallhangings.

I added a few frolicking mice,

and shipped it off to TX.

It's been well-used and well-loved over the years,

and I was so happy to see it again after all this time.

I am linking up to Jenn at

A Quarter Inch to the Edge!

See you there!

~Karen

An Extra Day to Sew!

Happy Leap Year Day!
An extra day!
It should be a holiday so everyone can take advantage
and do whatever they want!

But that means it's the last day in February,

and I haven't posted all month!

Believe me, it's not for the lack of sewing!

Seriously?  I've just never taken a fancy to my new laptop

and cringe at the thought of booting it up and trying to work on it.
Last spring, I bought a Dell, and it's as slow as molasses.

No computer time meant more sewing time!
I accomplished many small projects while waiting
for some inspiration,

until I saw THIS block from Hyacinth Quilt Designs.

I only intended to try one block, but I couldn't stop making them!
(You can see from the above picture of the Crayon Wallets
that stopping at just one is often a problem for me!).

Thank you to my friend, Sew Sweet Susie, for sharing her left-over
Riley Blake Extravaganza jelly roll with me!
So, this is, officially, my first finish
for 2016.

I have a few other projects in the works,
but that's all for today.
Its time to sew!

Common Buckeye
(Junonia coenia)

Have a wonderful day,

no matter what you decide to do!

~Karen

Just Curious

I mailed my thank you note this week, did you?

I'm curious to know

just how much attention do you pay

to information that is placed 

on someone's side bar?

Some blogs have so much.

And what about blogs with so many ads

it takes forever to load?

Then when you do, 

its difficult to figure out how to move past them?

That's really all I have today.

The sun is shining, 

although it's ch-ch-chilly outside.

Think I'll go for a walk!

Enjoy your day!

XO,

Karen

2016 Word of the Year

If I were to choose a word for the year,

it would be "mindfulness".

I even whipped up a quick, quirky wallhanging flimsy.

Mindfulness is synonymous with

'living in the moment'.

Click on the picture to see that I just inked in the word.

Without getting into 'my story'
(don't we all have one?)
I will share that when I embraced mindfulness
several years ago,
my life became much happier,
I experienced less stress,
and my world opened up to serendipity.

Becoming mindful is a process,

much akin to breaking old habits to create new ones.

Being mindful is a powerful magic.

I've determined that it's time to revisit
the concept again,
as a gentle reminder to myself.

~

I was delighted with the response
I received on my last post.
Thanks so much!
It was fun to read everyone's thoughts on the subject
(and all the excuses).
:)

This is the perfect opportunity
to introduce you to Crafty Daughter's Etsy shop,
GardeniaDrive.

She has listed some very special cards for sale
that I thought you might be interested in,

Color Me Thankful Note Cards

the impetus behind that last post

about teaching our children the importance

of expressing their gratitude by writing thank you notes.

I was helping her with the write up,

and felt compelled to do a post about it, as well.

These delightful cards enable even the youngest child 

the ability to take pride in being part of the process,

even if they are unable to write, yet.

Please share with anyone you know

who might be interested!

Shipping is free to US customers,

and international postage can be negotiated

just by asking!

Have a wonderful, funderful 

longggg weekend!

XO,

karen

A Dying Art?

Is sending written thank you notes through the mail a dying art?  

Are we teaching our children the importance of reaching out, 

showing gratitude and appreciation, 

not just for receiving gifts, but for a simple, kindly gesture,
or for random acts of kindness, as well?

I encourage you to read this warm, fuzzy, and very poignant story

and I challenge you 

to find a reason 

to send at least one thank you note a week!
Not an email. Not a twitter.  Not a text.
Real mail, with a stamp and everything!

"Showing gratitude is one of the simplest 

yet most powerful things humans can do for each other."

You won't be held accountable;
there will be no random number generator issuing a prize.
Your remuneration will be intrinsic,
that warm feeling you get
and slight smile you make
when you drop that envelope into the box
and know it's on its way!

XO,

Karen

And a New Year Begins

Well, Christmas has come and gone,  

we've heralded in yet another New Year, 

and this is the perfect opportunity to say thank you 

to everyone who stops in for a visit, 

whether it's from time to time, or regularly, 

whether a comment has been left or not. 

Blogging has been an incredible journey 

and I am so blessed to be a part of this online community. 

In a nutshell, 

it has kept me motivated, enlightened, 

challenged, and enriched.

Of late, I've just been playing in my stash, 

attempting new to me techniques that I've tagged, 

but never taken the time to try.  

A little of this, a little of that, 

but nothing big, nothing planned. 

Yet.

My most recent sewing frenzy is 

the Mod Mosaic Quilt Block 

from a tutorial by Elizabeth Hartman at Oh, Fransson.

So much fun, I couldn't make just one.

Crafty Daughter will be accompanying her students 

on a trip to Washington, DC come spring, 

and we've been exploring hipster bag patterns, 

trying to find the perfect one to customize for her every need.

Any suggestions?

Have a safe, healthy, and happy New Year!

Make it fun!

XO

Always an Adventure

Not much new in my neck of the woods,

well, except my neck of the woods has changed!

I am back in Texas for the winter months.

During my travels, I had a 5 hour layover,

so  I entertained myself by listening to an audio book

and making some hexies to use later.

I really wanted to try out this tutorial, 

so made a pillow.

Such fun!

If you haven't already tried it,

and like working with hexies,

I suggest you add it to your list of things to make next.

I put a zipper in the back

with a tutorial recommended by SewFreshQuilts

at s.o.t.a.k. handmade.

It was so easy peasy, I'll always finish my pillows this way!

I have been pet sitting my crafty daughter's 

3 dogs and 3 cats for a week.

It has been an interesting adventure,

to say the very least.

Hope you are on an interesting adventure

of your own!

My new motto:  Make it fun!

~karen