A Local Thing...

For a number of years I have made wine bags... 

Bags of all seasons...  They are available exclusively from me or from Hops & Vines Liquor Store located on Santa Fe Trail in Trinidad,CO...  

I have Valentine's, Saint Patrick's Day, Easter and Religious.  I have summer themed and Patriotic.  I have Fall and Autumn, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I even have a Bride and Groom.  I have Happy Birthday, Thank you & Congratulations...I have denim and lace, I have mountain scenes and wildlife.  I have some Colorado sports teams - Broncos and Rockies.

And now I have local Trinidad, CO  bags... using some of my specially designed fabric.

I didn't realize I had so many wine bags until I started packaging them for the Farmer's Market on Saturday... I have over 30!  


I really focused my attention this week in preparing items for the sale.

And in rummaging through my existing inventory, I have discovered that I have several items that have not sold for the past three years... 

Last year I marked a few items down... this time I will be offering a selection of free items with each purchase...

It is time to clear some things out!  Curious?  You will have to come by and see me  and Dave on Saturday.  We will be at Cimino Park...

Among a few other items I have made this week...








This play on the Colorado flag... My friend Kara had suggested this as she had noticed that there has been an increase of CO items available in gift shops.  While it looks big, it is really only a table runner (20" x 40").  It would be perfect for a table, cedar chest or buffet.  I used prairie points to make the mountains and I appliqued Fishers Peak in the yellow sun - Fishers Peak is a local landmark that I feature on my Trinidad fabric as well.

This Trinidad Table runner will also be available... The Trinidad Brick fabric is perfect for the border of this runner.  It too will be available Saturday.

These are just a few of the items I will have available...  

Come on down and see me!  Come down for the market, stay for the Army Band performance (free!) and come see us.

Remember, with each purchase I have a freebie!

Blessings,

Melva

I have linked up with Wednesday Wait Loss.  Go see what is going on over there! ;)

A Nod to My Dad and Grandpa

One of the things I placed on my quilty bucket-list was a quilt using my Grandpa's ties (and the two, yes, the only two, ties that my Dad owned).

The plan was to do a quilt like the one below...

But when I pulled the ties out of the closet and started to lay them out I quickly realized that I did not have enough ties to make a circle... or even half of a circle... or even a quarter!

I gathered them up and had to develop a "Plan B"...

I pulled out a pattern for "lollipops"... 




I then watched a few youtube videos on making Dresden plates...

and then I asked my sweet hubby to make a template for me using the pattern... while batting my eye lashes and looking all cute, I might add.  I added that if he could make it a little longer than the pattern showed, it would be great... He obliged and even scored the template for the original length.  What a guy!  He is definitely a keeper!

I began to remove all of the stitching in the ties to press them open... what a tedious job, by the way!  I did however enjoy several episodes of Chopped and Chopped Junior as I performed the task.  


Once all opened, since the ties were silk or wool, and on the bias I used fusible interfacing to stabilize them...  

Using the template I cut the pieces out.  

This particular pattern has 15 blades to make up the circle...

Folding the wide portion of the blade in half you stitch 1/4"- 








and then turn to form the point...

I just love how it looks like an itty-bitty tie!

I did a bit of fussy cutting with a few of the ties to capture the insignia or a focal point of the tie.  (The two ties with the arrows are my Dad's ties...) The rest of them were just however the template fit since they were all stabilized with the interfacing.

As I prepared each of the plates I recalled the memories of vacations with my parents and grand-parents... 

Our "extreme weather" trip that included:  

     The high temperatures and desert like terrain in Arches National Park (the hike that we failed to take water with us and we came upon a hiker going back down the trail with an aluminum water container with ice jiggling it) 

     The "follow the leader" in our trucks/campers in Salt Lake City because we got lost (Grandpa and Grandma made U-turns, and we were right behind them, lol!)

     The very wet and soggy stops in Idaho (and the excitement of my Grandpa when the toilets at the campground were once again flushing [the campground was on a septic system and the ground was saturated], lol!) 

     And getting snowed in while camping in Yellowstone (and the breakfast prepared on the tailgate of a parking lot, and the enticing smells of bacon and eggs that all the others in the lot wanted as well) {{I think they felt as we did in Arches and the guy with the water}} 

     I will never forget these memories! Yep, all in one trip! And sooooo many more memories!

I recalled spending a few weeks in the summer with them in Tucson... how I was so homesick the first few days of my first visit... getting up early so that we could work in the yard or do whatever chores needed to be done while it was still cool... taking naps or going swimming in the heat of the day... and enjoying ice cream every evening... 




(<<==this picture is a recent picture that I took while in Tucson in February)

I easily recalled the routine of getting ready for church each Sunday... Dad would be the first ready with his tie and cowboy hat in place would go get the car so that it was strategically placed at the end of the sidewalk so that we wouldn't have to cross the muddy or rutted driveway...  

And the smell of roasted chicken or ham and baked potatoes as we returned home.... Mmmmm!

Okay, that is enough time down memory lane... But what a special project this has become... I'm not yet sure how many plates I will get from all the ties or what I will do with them when I have them done, but I sure am having fun making them!  Thanks for joining me as I get all nostalgic.

What memories would you recall if you had your Dad's or Grandpa's ties?  

Please share in the comments below... I love to hear what my readers think.

Happy Father's Day!

Melva

The Heart of the Home...

In most homes the kitchen ends up being a gathering space for all that are present... It has been that way for generations.  

Below is my dad with his parents, obviously admiring the feast that lies before them... 

And an after-dinner visit with my cousin's baby... in the kitchen!

It still holds true for many households today.  As the meal is prepped, the conversations and laughter ensue...  the food is placed on the table and family and guests gather together... some may offer thanks and some may just dive right in and dish up.  

It matters not, but conversation seems to flow much easier when there is a meal involved.  

Defenses are dropped and everyone becomes a bit more honest and real.

Conversations, sometimes heated conversations, ensue.  The recounting of the days events are given.  The good. The bad. Even the ugly.  Laughter is shared... Tears may be shed... Bodies are nourished... Energy is renewed...  Opinions are shared... Jokes told... Milk is spilled... and how many of us cried over spilled milk??? And then were told "I'll give you something to cry about." ? ME!

The table is where games are played... where cheaters get caught... stories are told...

The kitchen table is where memories are made.

This table cloth, I am certain, holds many memories.  Just imagine the stories it could tell... 

And when I was asked by my customer to turn the table cloth (that had been embroidered by her mom) into a quilt, I was more than happy to oblige.  

The table cloth was made from flour sacks...  

you can see there is still a light stamp "Bakers"

It was well worn, but patched with love...

I would have loved to have done some sort of "whole cloth" design on it with a wreath of feathers, but my customer requested an overall lattice design...

And when the quilting was done, it was obvious to me that it needed a pop of color so i pulled from the flowers and did a flange binding...

It has a cozy flannel backing as well as flannel for the batting...

Just imagine the memories that will be recalled when my customer Terre gives this quilt to her sister in October... until then, I think Terre may enjoy it herself. **wink, wink**

What memories do you recall when you think of your families kitchen table?

Happy Thoughts,

Melva



Linking up with Wednesday Wait Loss at The inquiring quilter.

See what other quilters are talking about at QuilterBlogs

By Design, My Design

I have taken a big step out on a limb and designed some fabric on Spoonflower... my design features several major landmarks in the Trinidad, Colorado area.

Spoonflower has made it super easy to design!  I snapped a few pictures and borrowed a few (with permission from the photographers) of the landmarks that I wanted to feature, played with them in a photo editing program on my tablet to turn them into sketches and sketch/photo combination.  I then uploaded them the design page.  They offer several layouts and options of repeat, size, etc. and when I was satisfied with the look and the size of the photos for the projects I have in mind, I ordered them.

I have three fabrics in the collection...

This one is a sketch/photo combination featuring Simpson's Rest and the Trinidad Sign atop Simpson's Rest, Fishers Peak, the Spanish Peaks and the Bloom Mansion.







The Trinidad Brick is also a photo/sketch combo to offer a rustic, worn look... much like the brick-lined streets of Trinidad... (note: the brick does have TRINIDAD stamped in the center)

The sketch offers a simplistic look that features the Spanish Peaks, Fishers Peak and the Trinidad Sign.


I think the combination of these fabrics will be perfect for the "souvenir" type items that I offer, such as the wine bottle gift bags, bibs and pot holders.  



I am super excited to receive them and start creating!  But I have to wait a couple weeks for the order to arrive.... **sigh**





In the meantime, I will be working on another fun little heirloom project.  My customer wants to use an embroidered tablecloth turned into a lap quilt.   

Have you ever designed a custom fabric?

If so, what was your subject/theme?

What sort of items did you use the fabric in?

If you had to design some fabric, what sort of collection would you create?

Be Creative, Be Happy!

Melva

Do YOU Ever Feel Let Down?

Avid readers often feel sad or let down when they finish a really good book, novel or series.  I have experienced this as a reader myself, though I am not really an AVID reader... I have also heard that Authors experience similar feelings... As a commissioned quilter I experience the very same let down when I finish a project...

And that is exactly what I am feeling today.  Just this morning I finished the "Sister Quilts" - The Snowy Day Quilt and The Rainy Day Quilt.  They have their labels and have been washed and and dried and are all wrinkly and squishy... 

And I am sad that they are done. **pouty face**

I  developed a relationship with them... I worked through some challenges - not just with the quilting, but also in my mind and I could probably solve all of the world's problems, if anyone just asked.

But honestly... 

Am I the only quilter that ever feels this way???  

Now, I admit that the feeling is much stronger when the quilts are for someone else.  

If it is a quilt that is staying in our home I toss it over the back of a chair... or the couch... or a bed... and I feel good about it.

I simply want to know that they are loved and cared for properly when they get to their new home.  I worry that the recipient will be nonchalant about it and not care.  

I get that some might think, "Come on, you got paid for them.  Let it go.  They are in the owner's hands now."

But what I'm not sure of is that many of the recipients understand the amount of thought and planning put into the quilt... the effort and love poured into each piece... each. and. every. stitch.  I'm not sure they understand that a little piece of ME goes with the quilt.

It's a little like sending a high school graduate off to college to experience life as an "adult"... You know parents worry needlessly, sometimes obsessively, that their child is getting enough sleep, or eating the right foods, not party-ing too much and doing well and making "good choices"... 

I survived sending off kids to college... and I will survive this as well.  And MOST of the young adults survive too... (though some battle scars are worse than others...)

It's not that I don't have another quilt to make.  

I do, in fact.  I have the next quilt sitting on my cutting table.  A pretty little embroidered tablecloth that will soon be a flannel backed, quilted lap throw.

But for now, I am going to savor my last day with the Sister Quilts.  I can start the next project tomorrow.

Be Happy, Sew Happy,

Melva

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I Like Bread...

I grew up on country music... and years ago there was a song by Tom T Hall entitled "I Like Beer".

Since blood tests revealed that my thyroid started "misbehaving" again I am following the direction from a natural health professional to make a radical diet change and eliminate all gluten (on top of my already restrictive diet of no corn, soy, dairy, sugar and potatoes), I have been experimenting with some recipes... and I have been singing "I like bread... it makes me a jolly good fellow!  I like bread..."  😎 ** sigh** It doesn't really help...

You can see that my "bread bin" has been taken over by my collection of GF flours...

Some experiments have been successful enough that I have or will try them again, like the pancakes and the pumpkin muffins shown here... The biscuits and tortillas were quite successful as well. Yay!

and some others... not so much! Blech!

As I find and try successful substitutions and alternatives my mind-set and attitude has improved.  However, I will be honest, just a week into the diet change there was a pot-luck at church.  I managed to make it through the line with some dry salad (lettuce & cucumbers) and a spoonful of BBQ beef that was made specifically for those that needed gluten-free and soy-free.  It was disheartening and disappointing and pathetic... and I was grumpy. Grrrr...😠

As the day progressed I continued to feel physically ill and did some reading on the supplements that I had started and discovered that one was specifically to help my body detox. 

Okay, so that explained the headache and lousy feeling.  I drank LOTS of water and slept for 9+ hours and felt better Monday morning.



Grateful that I was feeling better I happily headed to my studio and played a bit... The result was some Dresden Plates made with ties.  

There is a Father's Day post coming soon... 

I then plopped myself in the recliner and got caught up on my recorded programs from food network and did some English Paper Piecing...

It was so soothing...

But now it is time for free-motion feathers on the second sister quilt...

But before you go... do you have any gluten-free recipes you would be willing to share with me???

Please???

Happy Quilting!

Melva

See what other quilters are talking about at QuilterBlogs.