Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Getting Ready for Our Art & Craft Bazaar

Our Quilt Guild is having a Christmas in July Art & Craft Bazaar July 1-2.  I have been trying to find some different things to make that use up a lot of the stash I have, both quilting stash and non-quilting stash.

This first project is a Friendship bracelet that uses a huge long piece of hard cording that did not work for the original project I bought it for, leftover batting from customer quilts, strings of batiks (that I have a million of) and some of the hundreds of DMC threads I have accumulated over the years!!

These are really fun to make and are a perfect project while watching night time TV.

On this next project I saw an advertisement for Washi Tape on Facebook.  I was intrigued and then bought some, not really knowing what to do with it.  I was walking past some short pieces of wood that Kelly was saving for some project and a "Hoo! Hoo!" moment crossed my mind:

These are small (2" x 4") blocks that I have covered with Washi Tape and Washi papers and lots of other fun things and then tied them with a piece of raffia and sealed them with wax!!  I'm hooked!! 

 

Then, I thought what else can I do with my DMC thread?  And when I walked into my bedroom to go to bed the other night and there hanging on the lamp was a tassel!!  Ah! Ha!!  So,  I made up a bunch of tassels!  I think I might add a small metal embellishment on them, but not sure yet!!  Another super fun project and wow, it uses a lot of thread!!  YAY!!

It's a start!!  I still have 3 lifetimes of stuff to use up and at this rate, I am not going to make it!!  But I am having a ball for now!

On to other things!  I LOVE paper piecing for 2 reasons:  1) it is fun to do, including pulling off the papers and 2) the results are usually perfect!!  Take this heart block that I made for a "Hug" quilt for a gal who fell coming through the door to our last Guild meeting and broke both her wrist and her arm.  Perfect, right?

Well, with the idea of perfection in mind, I am sooooo frustrated with the Churn Dash blocks I am TRYING to Make for Chooky Blues SAL (HERE).  Even with the paper piecing technique I am losing some of my points!! Grrrrrrrr!

I'll have to keep trying but at this rate I won't make the June deadline!!  

Until next time and for the love of Blogging!!  Kris

What is Flag Day?

I thought this was pretty interesting!!

The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'.

On June 14, 1889, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned appropriate ceremonies for the children of his school, and his idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York. On June 14, 1891, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration, and on June 14 of the following year, the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution, celebrated Flag Day.

Following the suggestion of Colonel J Granville Leach (at the time historian of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution), the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames of America on April 25, 1893 adopted a resolution requesting the mayor of Philadelphia and all others in authority and all private citizens to display the Flag on June 14th. Leach went on to recommend that thereafter the day be known as 'Flag Day', and on that day, school children be assembled for appropriate exercises, with each child being given a small Flag.

Two weeks later on May 8th, the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution unanimously endorsed the action of the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames. As a result of the resolution, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia, directed that Flag Day exercises be held on June 14, 1893 in Independence Square. School children were assembled, each carrying a small Flag, and patriotic songs were sung and addresses delivered.

In 1894, the governor of New York directed that on June 14 the Flag be displayed on all public buildings. With BJ Cigrand and Leroy Van Horn as the moving spirits, the Illinois organization, known as the American Flag Day Association, was organized for the purpose of promoting the holding of Flag Day exercises. On June 14th, 1894, under the auspices of this association, the first general public school children's celebration of Flag Day in Chicago was held in Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks, with more than 300,000 children participating.

Adults, too, participated in patriotic programs. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, delivered a 1914 Flag Day address in which he repeated words he said the flag had spoken to him that morning: "I am what you make me; nothing more. I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol of yourself."

Inspired by these three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

                     It is truly a majestic flag, isn't it!! 

Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Churndash SAL

 This is my first Churn Dash block EVER!!  I am participating in Chookyblue's Churn Dash SAL.

This was supposed to be the first block in the quilt, but after I squared it off, I can see that I am going to be losing some of the points.  On some quilts that is tolerable, but on this one, I think the points are such an intergal part of this block, that I would not be able to live with it.

I am using some batik charm packs for this quilt, so my blocks will be much larger than Chooky's (her blocks are 9.5" unfinished) but that only means I can make fewer blocks!!

I know, I know, these fabrics are not the traditional look of a Churn Dash Quilt, but ya know . . . 

I watched Jenny Doan do a video on YouTube for this quilt block, but I am going to need to find another method to make the 1/2 square triangles, so I don't lose the points.  Oh, I know, I think I'll paper-piece them and then ask Janet O. over at Rogue Quilter to rip the papers off for me!! Ha! Ha!

Until need time for the love of Blogging!!

For the Love of Blogging!!

When I was reading Janet O.'s blog over at Rogue Quilter, she was talking about how she had been blogging 11 years this month.  And I thought to myself how I had been blogging for 12 years this past February and how many wonderful friends I have met through blogging.

For about a year now, I have mainly been posting my Saturday Smile each week with a few, very few, posts in between.  I have decided I am going to try to blog more often.  Mainly because this blog is a journal of sorts of my life for the past 12 plus years.  Also, it motivates me to work on my own projects.

One of the gals in our local Guild fell a few weeks ago and shattered her knee and all the bones below the knee.  She is still in the hospital up in Coos Bay waiting for a bed in Portland so they can reconstruct her knee and leg bones.  So, the guild is making her a "Hug" quilt.  As Sally, our keeper of memories said, she probably doesn't need another quilt but she does need the hugs!!  

She loves skunks and purple and so here is my rendition of a skunk for her quilt.  

I went online looking for a paper-pieced skunk pattern and found one at Mary Hertel's shop Made By Marney.  She has some really cute PDF patterns!!  It was fun to make, albeit tricky because of all the angles.  My bother, Kelly, says it is very Piccaso - esque!

For the love of blogging!!

Kris

Remembering The Men and Women Who Gave Their Lives for Our Freedom . . .

Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly observed on May 30 from 1868 to 1970. 

Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day to honor and mourn those who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many volunteers place an American flag on graves of military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States. 

Many cities and people have claimed to have first celebrated the event. In 1868, General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic (was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), and the Marines who served in the American Civil War) called for a "Decoration Day", which was widely celebrated. 

By 1890, every Northern state had adopted it as a holiday. The World Wars turned it into a generalized day of remembrance instead of just for the Civil War. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as "Memorial Day" and changed its observance to the last Monday in May. 

Two other days celebrate those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military: Armed Forces Day (which is earlier in May), an unofficial U.S. holiday for honoring those currently serving in the armed forces, and Veterans Day (on November 11), which honors those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.  Wikipedia

Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Trying Something New, Again!!

 I have been trying to figure out a way to use alllll the DMC thread and Valdani thread I have inherited from various sources.

First I tried some small counted cross stitch pieces:

This one was really fun, pretty quick and it was a gift for my sweet friend, Janet over at Rogue Quilter.  It didn't even put a dent in my thread stash!!  LOL

So, I thought, I'll try one of those big ginormous, gorgeous Counted Cross Stitch charts over at Heaven and Earth Designs.  Wow!!  What an amazing selection.  I thought I would make one for my brother, Kelly.  I first picked this one:

It finishes out at 21" x 14 1/2 inches using 25 count fabric!!  Tried it and these old eyes just couldn't do it!!  Then I tried another one:

Again, this one finished out at 16" x 19 3/4" on 25 count, so I thought, well, I'll try 18 count Aida.  The size worked but the final piece would be 23" x 28" inches.  NOT!!

So, I decided to try punch needle again.  The first time I tried punch needle I tried using Moda Bella solid quilt fabric.  It was just too, too hard, because the weave is so close, so like I usually do, I put the needle away.

Found it again on Sunday when I was moving around stuff and also found some beautiful linen that I was going to use for something, just can't remember what!!

Tah daa!!

A primitive free hand daisy!!  I promised a friend that I wouldn't just make this one and quit again, so I am working on a cute rabbit.  Stay tuned!!

Saturday's Smile!!

Saturday's Smile!!